An interactive musical parodying the Eurovision Song Contest is taking Australia by storm this year, and is set to hit Sydney's State Theatre in September.
Some of Australia's top performers star in the cast of Eurobeat… Almost Eurovision, which is set at an imaginary contest in Sarajevo where twelve countries compete against each other. The audience members are asked to adopt a country, and actually submit their votes for each song, which are announced, Eurovision-style, at the end of the show. In true ESC tradition, each person may not vote for their own country! The organisers promise "the voting is genuine and a very exciting part of the evening."
Eurovision: The Musical
The Eurovision Song Contest has long been cult viewing in Australia, although the idea of a Eurovision musical is nothing new; in 1993, the musical comedy Eurovision hit the London theatre scene, and two years later the play (this time not a musical) Boom-bang-a-bang, written by Jonathan Harvey, opened to portray a set of mixed-up friends at a tense Eurovision party.
So far reviews for Eurobeat… Almost Eurovision have been good. As summed up by the Herald Sun Review, " The songs encapsulate core Eurovision principles: meaningless pop lyrics, power ballads, lycra, and sequins, key changes, superfluous choreography, kaleidoscopic lighting, trashy stage design, excruciating lyrics, camp dancing boys, big hair, folkloric touches, lots of teeth and, oh joy of joys, the alarming costume reveal. Go see Eurobeat. It is a hoot."
