Musical differences . . .

I have spent most of tonight glued to the TV watching musical competitions. First the Young Musician of the Year competition on BBC2. In this competition young (usually teenage) musicians from all sections of "serious" music battle it out in categories like strings, brass, percussion, piano, etc through rounds to the final. I pity the judges of the finals because they are not judging like for like, not violin against violin, or piano against piano, but the winners of each category against each other. This year's winner was a clarinettist. His whole performance showed his one-ness with the instrument. I was glad to see that he was the only one of the finalists who didn't come from a musical family. All the others had musicians as parents or close relatives and had been groomed from a very young age. Mark on the clarinet came from an ordinary home where mum couldn't tell a crotchet from a quaver. He had done it all himself. He thoroughly deserved the prize. That should not detract from the pure musicianship of the other finalists, all of whom will surely go on to make fine careers in their chosen art. I especially admired the percussionist who again showed his complete one-ness with the instruments. He dashed from one set of instruments to another in a very involved concerto written specially for percussion. His finale was an almost balletic performance on the chimes - very emotional and dramatic. I think he could go far.
The second competition was the farce called the Eurovision Song Contest. The absolute crap delivered would neither satisfy the young nor the old. This is the music that nobody wanted. It is the detritus of the musical world which, without the hype of the European TV companies, would sink without trace.
At least the winners, Finland, had the guts to show that the whole thing was a farce. They dressed as Klingons and other imaginary aliens and sang about "Rock Hallelujah". The croaking voice of the lead singer was at least in tune - which is more than can be said for many of the other "artistes". The young lady representing France would have benefited from a lesson in listening to the accompanying musicians so that she could at least pitch in the same key. These guys should have watched the Young Musician programme and gone home instead of making fools of themselves.
Nuff said.