Eurovision: Conflict, Characters, Tension, Twists and Denouements

The Eurovision Song Contest is almost upon us. Francesca takes a look at the elements of story telling within it.

Crazy characters abound

It occurred to me recently, after hearing an announcement about this year’s UK Eurovision entry, that the contest has many of the elements of a story telling, encapsulated in one evening.

For a start, there are a whole host of diverse characters who appear to have been drafted in from several different genres. Who could forget Lordy, the Finnish heavy metal band who won in 2006? They’d surely stepped out of an episode of Star Trek. Jedward, who represented Ireland in 2012, were dressed as futuristic sci-fi characters as envisaged in the 1970s, with their insane silver space suits. At the other end of the scale, grandmas who would have been at home in a Russian epic took to the stage in 2012, namely The Grannies of Buranovo. In 2013 Romanian Cesar brought horror with his (accidental?) depiction of a modern day Dracula, while singing, perversely, a sugary love song. And these are just a few of the many crazy personalities representing their countries.

All Kinds of Everything…

History is recalled in Abba’s Waterloo. For weird comedy, I present you with Ireland’s Dustin the Turkey, a puppet, who sang Irelande Douze Pointe in 2008. This turned out, appropriately, to be a ‘turkey’, not even qualifying for the show. Nil points before they’d even started.

Of course, romance abounds. Feel the profuse declarations of love in Lulu’s Boom-bang-a-bang (1969) and Cliff Richard’s Congratulations (1968), the sweetness of Dana’s All Kinds of Everything (1970). Cry at the heartbreak in Johnny Logan’s What’s Another Year? (1980).

Congratulations!

Romance, history, dystopia, comedy, sci-fi and fantasy – it’s all there. You might say crime is represented, as some of the songs are murdered (Jemini’s UK entry in 2003 anyone?). And there’s mystery – how on earth did some of them even get picked?

The show itself begins with ‘conflict’: who will triumph, who will fail, who’ll make a complete wally of themselves? The scoring, by far the best part in my opinion, provides nail biting tension. Friendships and rivalries surface, even if quite a lot of inevitability sets in. There is disappointment and elation as the show moves towards the denouement and we discover the winner.

Love songs seem to be the most popular

But then, sometimes there is a twist. Take 1968, when Cliff lost by one point to Spain. 1969 saw four winners.  In 1988, the UK’s Scott Fitzgerald was ahead by the time they reached the penultimate vote. Then Yugoslavia gave Switzerland six points, making Celine Dion the winner by one point. Gripping stuff.

Not long now till the next episode of the saga known as the Eurovision Song Contest. What new elements will be thrown into the plot this time, what new declaration of love, what rivalries, what totally bonkers characters? Whatever they are, have a good time loving it or hating it!

 

One thing you could do to generate story ideas is to look at the Eurovision song titles, maybe combining two or more of them to add other elements. What would you make, for instance, of Better the Devil You Know, Knock Knock Who’s There and Waterloo?

For more information on this year’s contest: Eurovision Song Contest

@FCapaldiBurgess

My writing competition post at the RNA blog. Still some comps open for you to enter.

 

Seek & You Shall Find…

Easter Egg hunts, flowers, aunts, cafes and writing inspiration – just some aspects of Elaine’s and Francesca’s Easters.

Forsythia

Elaine: I can’t believe it’s nearly Easter again. The sun has been shining and my garden is in full bloom with the spring flowers. The daffodils and snowdrops gave me the first lift of colour that comes with the change of season, quickly followed by the array of colour provided by the tulips. Many years ago, my aunt, who I’m sad to say is no longer with us, gave me a cutting of the forsythia from her garden. Every year, the bright yellow of the leaves lifts my spirits and reminds me of her. The Camellia I bought several years ago, at London’s Columbia Road Flower Market, steals the show this year with it’s beautiful red flowers. Unfortunately, they are quite delicate and the wind tends to blow the petals off, so it is short lived but wonderful all the same.

Camellia

Easter is a religious celebration that has been grabbed by a rabbit and become all about the chocolate eggs. Thanks to the wonders of television, great and persistent marketing over many years means commercialism wins again. There is probably a generation or two that doesn’t know what Easter is really about, which I find quite sad. Don’t worry, I’m not going to start preaching; it ends here.

Traditionally, my mother visits for a few days over the Easter bank holiday and catches up with all the family. With grown up children, I have long since stopped buying them chocolate eggs, despite their complaints.

Last year, my husband and I came up with an Easter egg hunt for our grandson, who was five at the time. We wrote out clues and hid them with mini eggs all around our house, thinking it would keep him occupied for most of the day, but we clearly underestimated his intelligence and it lasted all of ten minutes! Although, it has to be said, he wanted us to repeat it many times throughout the day. We are planning to do it again this year, but trust me, the clues are going to be much harder and we aren’t just hiding chocolate. We thought we would mix it up with puzzle books and other things he enjoys.

School Easter bonnet parade

Francesca: Of course you could argue that ‘Easter’ itself  was originally the pagan festival of the Saxon goddess of spring, Eastra, appropriated for a Christian festival. But yes, I understand where Elaine is coming from. As a child I remember there only being Easter eggs and cards in the shops, not all the paraphernalia you can buy now. And is it just me, or did Easter egg chocolate have a different, yummier taste? I’ve no idea why. These days it doesn’t seem to taste any different to ordinary chocolate. 

For many years I helped organise a children’s event called the Good Friday Project, which involved a lot of different Easter and spring crafts and the making of hot cross buns. We’d have a huge swathe of children turn up for it in the morning, at the local church hall. It was a joyous occasion (if darned hard work!). My long suffering children used to come along year after year, even when they were too old for it, latterly as helpers. The idea for one of the first stories I ever sold was based on this occasion. There are stories everywhere!

Who can get to the eggs first?

As a child and teen I spent all my Easters at my dad’s cafe. It was the beginning of the seaside cafe season. As a teenager I worked there, first as a washer-upper and later as a waitress. How I longed to spend the festival doing exactly what our customers were doing – enjoying a weekend away. I was 21 before I had my first Easter in a place other than that cafe. Hence the premise of the very first novel I ever wrote – a Young Adult – about a fourteen-year-old stuck in a cafe!

Spoils! Maisie the dog looks hopeful

My three grandchildren will be around over the Easter weekend and, like Elaine, we’ll organise an Easter egg hunt. Hopefully the weather will be good and we’ll do it out in the garden like last time. It’s lovely to catch their infectious enthusiasm and view these occasions through their eyes, instead of our usual world-weary ones. The three of them are a source of inspiration for me as I base the very young characters in my writing on them. Hope they won’t mind too much when they get older.

Happy Easter to everyone and don’t forget to let us know how you celebrate it.

@RobertsElaine11

@FCapaldiBurgess

A recent interview we did with Sophia Bennett, the winner of the Romantic Novel of the Year Award 2017