Living in America is great. I love cold beer, football and democracy as much as the next girl, but I'd like to think the Founding Fathers might have thought twice about flipping the proverbial bird to old King George if they knew what we were giving up in order for our independence.
One awesome European thing is Prime Minister's Questions.
Imagine that once a week, President Bush got up in front of Congress and all 535 members got to shout questions at him, both serious and ridiculous, and could cut off each other and yell a lot, and you would get the jist of Prime Minister's Questions. Wouldn't that be sweet? You can actually watch the sessions on C-SPAN on Sunday nights and I admit that I've watched a few times for a laugh.
Another awesome thing is the Eurovision Song Contest.
Every May, the European TV network Eurovision hosts an "American Idol"-type singing contest with an entry from every European nation (with varying degrees of talent). ESC is serious business across the pond and the performances are even more over-the-top than the featheriest Las Vegas revue you can think of. Each country votes among itself and the winner goes on to represent their nation at the contest, held in a different European city each year. Celine Dion and ABBA have been contestants in previous years. This year's contest is in Belgrade.
Lordi, a Finnish rock band, won the 2006 contest with their anthem, "Hard Rock Hallelujah," from their album "The Arockalypse." Lordi is a band of grotesquely costumed rockers who look like a cross between zombies and Hell's Angels. Click on the link for a grainy YouTube video of their winning performance.
Marija Sestic of Bosnia and Herzegovina won last year's contest with "Rijeka bez imena."
The semifinals for this year's contest are tonight, with the finals on Saturday.
You can catch most of each country's winning music videos on YouTube, but I DESPERATELY want to watch this program live someday. Doesn't this sound like something FOX would air during the summer hiatus?
Ireland's entry was a turkey puppet named Dustin who sang an insanely catchy terrible song about how much their previously entries sucked, that unsurprisingly did not make it to the finals ("Give us another chance! We're sorry about Riverdance!").
Azerbaijan (vampires!)
France (Looks like a serial killer)
Mallory Medved is an assistant managing editor of weekly publications for
the Sun-Times News Group. She helps cover the Lincoln-Way area and towns
southwest of Joliet. Being naturally nosy has led her to a career in
journalism and fulfilled her dream of getting paid to read. Being a new
homeowner and a future bride, she's also perpetually broke, but enjoys
hearing about other people in the same situation. She lives in Plainfield
but is a native of New Lenox.
Christina Chapman is a Will County resident who desperately wants to live in Grundy County. But since she lost that battle with her boyfriend when they bought a house, she makes due covering Grundy County news for The Herald News in Joliet. When not covering municipal meetings, school events and finding the truth behind the latest coffee talk, she is trying to balance life as a young home owner who is fighting the stereotype that she is living in sin because she is not yet married. She hopes to share with you her perspective on life and the news in hopes that you’ll share yours.
Mallory -
We love the Prime Minister's Questions! When we can't catch it we DVR it - we think it's one of the most entertaining 'shows' on TV.
BTW - love the new puppy! What a cutie.
Caroline
Leave it up to the land of leprechauns and beer to not only invent a singing turkey but ensure that it gets voted to the next round. Well played, Turkey-O-Tools!