2006: An Overview
"FEEL THE RHYTHM" IN ATHENS, GREECE
The 51st Eurovision Song Contest set a new standard for opening acts. The grandeur at which Athens showed off it's ancient culture was awe inspiring. For both the semi-final and grand final, Greece reminded the rest of Europe where the grand tradition of theater was born. The 2006 contest was a true spectacle to behold! The beginning of the semi-final opened with a medley of former Eurovision hits, giving me my first taste of the past of Eurovision.
The contest in Athens was hosted by Sakis Rouvas and Maria Menous, a Greco-American who was recognizable from her many TV appearances in the USA. She knew less about the contest than I did, and it was nice having an American on the show to relate to. She was really "amazed" by the show and she wasn't alone. After Greece had hosted the Olympics, they were determined to continue to show the world what their country was capable of. The stage was the best yet and the countries of Europe were presenting their most diverse mix of music yet.
The semi-final this year was almost as exciting as the final. With 23 very different songs up for the 10 slots into the final, the competition was fierce. The Baltics and Balkans tendency to vote for their neighboring countries, meant that some of the better songs from less neighborly countries got left out. This was the year of the gimmick, with four acts all sending something confusingly different (see the articles below). This year also saw the debut of Russia's Dima Bilan who you'll learn more about when I cover 2008. His song was the hot favorite to win, despite better songs in the line up. It seemed like only the monster rock group from Finland could beat him. By the time the performances had ended, it was clear this contest was between Russia and Finland. Next Greece presented their interval act, an incredible medley of 4,000 years of Greek song ending with a smash performance from last years winner.
The voting proved it was a two horse race. Dima was getting lots of douze points but he'd get lower scores or no scores from some countries. Finland however was getting votes all across the board. Soon they were uncatchable and even before the last country presented their points, it was over. Finland had won for the first time with a record breaking amount of points. It was the first time a hard rock song had won the contest, proving once and for all that the Eurovision Song Contest isn't just a pop show.
The Picks of 2006
2006: The Best (Romania)
2006: The Worst (Latvia)
2006: The Guilty (Germany)
2006: The Weird (Iceland)
2006: The Hilarious (Lithuania)
2006: The Honorable (North Macedonia)
2006: The Winner (Finland)
Semi-Final Song Recap May 18, 2006:
Grand Final Song Recap May 20, 2006: