Eurovision

Imagine the US had a singing competition where every state put forth one artist. Now imagine only songs with no commercial appeal can be used. And every state had its own language. And acts were apparently not chosen on merit.

And if that weren't enough, imagine every state voted for other states by giving them "douze points" (French for 12). Put it all together and you have Eurovision.

From 7 countries in 1956 to 39 today--including Russia, Croatia, Iceland, Armenia, and Israel--it is a remarkable testament to how far Europe has come in the past 50 years. It is also a stark reminder that "music by committee" never works. It shouldn't be any surprise, then, that the most famous artists to come out of this mess are Abba and Celine Dion.

The only surprising thing is how much I enjoy it. My pick from tonight's semi-final was Belgium, but you should probably watch Malta to really get a taste for what Eurovision is all about. (You have to wait 2 minutes to see the bird man, but it's so worth it.)

The final is this Saturday, 29 May.