FinishMySong Blog

It's going to be a funny evening for television tonight because the BBC is dedicating almost 6 hours of it's primary two TV channels, BBC1 & BBC2, to broadcasting two music competition shows, both with massive followings, I suspect for entirely different reasons.

First off at 17:20 on BBC2 is the final of the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition - this is the climax of the series of programmes I mentioned in this blog a few days ago. Now this is something really worth watching - the kids that enter this competition are not only massively talented in their individual disciplines but also show each other the utmost respect, presumably because they are in a position to understand just how much dedication it has taken for their peers to have made the final. And those who have made it this far and are in the running for the title of BBC Young Musician of the Year 2006 are the crème de la crème of a field made up of some of the strongest technical masters of Britain's youth and, when all is said and done, some truly wonderful classical musicians.

Each competitor tonight will perform a solo concerto on their instrument (one from each section of the orchestra chosen at the semi-finals stage), accompanied by the Northern Sinfonia of Gateshead. The young person who is deemed to have performed most convincingly and musically on this single performance will walk away with the title - it can't be expressed strongly enough what a huge feat this will be; many people study an instrument for their whole life and never acheive this level of technical accuracy and general musicianship. In any case, this programme will be worth watching as much for the performances themselves as for the competitive aspect of the show - we can expect to be offered some great pieces performed with a real sense of freshness and perspective by a group of people who show us that the stereotype hoody-wearing teenage thug who hangs around the street causing trouble is often just that : an unfair stereotype.

A competition dealing with the slightly less refined but possibly more 'glam' side of the international music business will then be screened on BBC1, starting at 8pm : The Eurovision Song Contest. The contrast between this and the Young Musician of the Year will no doubt be striking - I think it's fair to say that the music we will hear on this show is very much secondary to the spectacle put before us as a whole.


Indeed, Eurovision contests of the past have been responsible for many many truly awful songs (although the odd gem has also found its way onto this stage aswell, not least ABBA's Waterloo), lots of politically motivated voting on the part of the esteemed judges of the various nations involved, and some truly marvelous television! For example, after the duet Jemini (Chris Cromby & Gemma Abbey) got up to perform their song Cry Baby back in 2003, their joint lack of ability to hold a tune was blamed on the monitors at the venue in Latvia. Hasten to add, the UK was awarded with nul points that year!

Personally, I find the show most entertaining each year thanks to the commentary traditionally made by Terry Wogan. He does give you the impression that the rest of Europe takes this competition very seriously whilst he casually takes the Michael out of everything that appears on stage and screen. I've got a sneaky suspicion that this is the game everyone across the continent is playing but that noone is willing to admit openly to, at least not to each other! If nothing else, anyway, it's all a bit of lighthearted fun with 20 of the cheesiest pop songs squeezed in there for good measure. Hey, what with the dancing schoolgirls, the catchy melody and lyrics that are reminiscent of Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall - Part 2 ("We don't need no education" etc.) the 2006 entry for the United Kingdom, rapped by Daz Sampson, might just have a chance of getting somewhere!