Crapfest 2006

Guest post by Greg Prince

Michael Stickings, blogging from London, comments on the regrettable state of pop music in Europe:

As I flip through the newspapers and the various TV channels, it's clear that one story is dominating the domestic scene today:

Eurovision 2006, a massive crapfest that pits the various European countries against each other in a battle of bad pop music.

And, believe me, it's all bad.

He says the Europeans make American Idol look good... I wouldn't know. I refuse to watch it. But it makes me chuckle. We're currently in a period where there are some good things happening in music in the U.S., and not just in country music where otherwise "popish" artists find shelter when pop/rock is in an abysmal period.

But it really frustrates me that some of the really good artists in Europe aren't better known in the U.S. Just a few names to begin with:

Laura Pausini, Nek, Zazie, A-ha, Westlife, Brian McFadden, Eros Ramazzotti, Michael Learns to Rock... the list could continue on for quite a bit. Granted, these aren't new names, but they're very famous worldwide except for North America.

Moreover, they're all damn good and it really bugs me I have to pay a fortune to get their albums since they're not easy to find domestically. Without the internet I'd not have seen many of their videos either.

I have to chuckle at his pain. Maybe they'll find the next Spice Girls on the horizon.

And Eurovision isn't all bad. That's how ABBA was discovered, after all, with Waterloo in 1974.

(Ed. note: I didn't know that ABBA was discovered through Eurovision. Forgive me, Mamma Mia! devotees, but that, to me, lowers Eurovision even more for me. And I didn't think that was possible. Oh, but I did quite like Muriel's Wedding. And, okay, some of ABBA's songs are rather catchy. Sort of like influenza. -- MJWS)