Russia’s Eurovision 2012 entry was Buranovskiye Babushki, the folk group from Buranovo in the Udmurt Republic, performing “Party For Everybody”. At the time this was written, on 14 May 2012, the contest had not yet taken place: Russia was due to appear fourteenth in the first semi-final on 22 May, with the Grand Final scheduled for 26 May in Baku.
Will someone please explain to me why this isn’t unmitigated awfulness?! I’m watching this and thinking logically “Who on earth is going to vote for this crap?” – then I remember Scooch and all the other shit that has gone before. I really really hope this falls flat on its arse.
There is nothing redeeming about elderly women on stage singing what sounds to me like the same riff for three minutes. I know people will tell me it should do well, and people that ought to know better love this song….
“Party For Everybody” was not, in fact, simply a repeated musical riff: it combined Udmurt-language verses with an English-language refrain and a dance-pop/disco arrangement. The group’s presentation drew on its folk identity and homespun image, including traditional dress and a cooking routine. Whether the performance was meant to be funny was the author’s judgement; contemporary descriptions more often treated it as an endearing, crowd-pleasing novelty.
And yet, I am seeing it as a pathetic, sad attempt to “be funny” – It’s as funny as anal warts.
Retrospective note: The author hoped that Russia’s performance would “fall flat”. It did the opposite. Buranovskiye Babushki qualified from the first semi-final in first place with 152 points, then finished second in the Grand Final behind Sweden’s Loreen, scoring 259 points.
