Every year we hear the dreaded words come from the fan groups. A word that springs terror into the hearts of artists wishing to gain entry into national finals, entry into the Eurovision itself, but only to bring them infamy and disgrace.
No, I'm not talking wardrobe malfunction or off key singing; it's PLAGERISM. Yet every year we have entrants that are accused of the deed causing disruption, embarrassment and in some case expulsion.
Expulsion can be a good thing for some. 1999 was a year where two songs were removed and replaced and co-coincidently the two artist made respective returns to the ESC with two very different outcomes. In 1999, we will never know if Corinna May nor Hari Mata-Hari could have rated higher than 3rd and 7th respectively at the ESC in 99, but they came back. Both as favorites, neither won.
While these two ended in disgrace there are others that have been investigated and passed through. Classic example is Italy's Fiumi di Parole which sounds remarkably like Roxette's Listen to your heart. Estonia's 2002 entry Runaway is reputed to sound like R. Kelly's I believe i can fly. Last year's Danish entry A new tomorrow by A friend in London was believed to sound like Sing for me - an entry from the Melodifestivalen from 2006. And you can pick a myriad of Swedish songs that sound like ABBA [not true - cheap shot : p]
Are they copies of the original or just a sound alike? That can be answered on a case by case basis, but why are the TV stations of Europe letting them through. They need to employ a music expert who can make these comments and hear the similarities and make recommendations. Why should the public vote for a copy of Waterloo that is called Something in your eyes?
Maybe, the music industry is too lazy to come up with unique modern song that the need to copy. Maybe it is that the musicians of the past have been exceptional and bypassed the boundaries of music and the modernists have nowhere to go now?
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