JOY Eurovision

26 Feb 2012

Musings – In absentia

Posted by Andrew Bell AKA Andreas Ab Alan

With Europe is awash with ESC selection fever spare a thought for those who don’t get a chance to have their say.

Iceland has its “Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins”, Latvia its “Eirodziesma” & Slovenia its “Evrovizijska Melodija”, but in the place so often called “the land of song” its national song contest has no bearing on Eurovision.

I am talking about “Cân i Gymru” AKA “Song for Wales”.

It’s the annual competition screened on the Welsh language channel Sianel Pedwar Cymru.

The competition’s started back in the sixties when one of the ways people made a political point about the status of the language was by singing in it.

Times have changed and “Cân i Gymru” now has an uncanny, if not a frightening, resemblance to almost every other national selection.

S4C is in the European Broadcasting Union, but not an independent nation.

But if or when that happens the machinery is in place to fast track Wales into Eurovision.

Here’s the 2011 winner Rhywun yn Rhywle (Someone Somewhere).

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqtW4jpkbEM]

And the Austrians have got competition !

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDu4hJbHOqQ]

As the BBC stumbles along in its selection processes, perhaps the Celts have the answer to the UK’s under performance of late.

This year’s “Cân i Gymru” is on Sunday March 3rd.

(And for us obsessives – voting is 50% jury, 50% televoting)