The 2018 Eurovision Song Contest: Grand Finale Pt.12

This can be read as a continuation of the previous parts; https://watchitdie.blogspot.com/2018/06/the-2018-eurovision-song-contest-grand_7.html

Daniela Ruah.

This year there were four presenters of the Song Contest; Silvia Alberto, Catarina Furtado and Filomena Cautela. However it was the fourth that really caught everyone's attention.

Daniela Ruah is probably best known for her role as Special Agent Kensi Blye in the US TV Show; "NCIS: Los Angeles."

Like the other Naval Criminal Investigative Services (NCIS) franchises NCIS: Los Angeles is really at the coal face of syndicated, network TV.

All shows of this type have to produce around 25 episodes each year. Those episodes can't be particularly violent and portrayals of sex or bad language are strictly forbidden.

In order to allow them to be sold on and chopped up by other broadcasters each of those episodes need to be self-contained. That means a crime happens, a crime is investigated and a crime is solved all within the same episode. This leaves little room for complex story arcs and character development.

So rightly no-one would believe me if I claimed that shows like NCIS: Los Angeles are better than high budget, premium cable shows like; "Westworld" or "Game of Thrones."

However in many ways I think that the people involved in shows like NCIS: Los Angeles are more talented. They have to work with fewer resources and more restrictions than the people involved in shows like Westworld. That's something that appeals to people who have to create songs within the strict confines of Eurovision rules.

Incidentally Westworld doesn't half have a sense of superiority about it. For a show that is really only rehashing very rudimentary concepts from Animist religions and the Humanistic school of psychology. The likes of  Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers.

I think the people involved in NCIS: Los Angeles will appreciate then that I don't watch it in the same way that I watch something like the Eurovision Song Contest.

Also when watching any sort of TV show or movie I like to completely suspend my disbelief and totally believe the characters are real people living in a real world. I find that the more I know about the actors the harder that becomes.

A prime example of this is the show; "Big, Little Lies" which I watched recently.

In it you've got the Jane character who is new in town and has a troubled past. You've also got the Madeline character who seems a little crazy but is generally a good person. Then for reasons that are in no way explained these two women are friends with real-life Hollywood movie star Nicole Kidman.

Nicole Kidman's portrayal of the Celeste character has been widely acclaimed. However I just couldn't get past the fact it was Nicole Kidman to realise that there was a fictional character being portrayed. I think though that was a problem with my brain rather than her performance.

So like a lot of people when it popped up in my Twitter timeline that Daniela Ruah was presenting the Song Contest I did that thing were I sort of recognised the name but couldn't place it. Discovering that she's the woman from that American TV show really posed more questions than it answered.

Daniela Ruah was born in Boston, Massachusetts in the US to Portuguese parents. Aged five the family returned to Portugal where she lived for the next 13 years making her TV acting debut. Daniela Ruah then spent the next six years living the UK. However from her work in NCIS: Los Angeles its clear that she has been based in the US for the last 11 years.

The Eurovision Song Contest has a long and rich history. Amid the round of shows, rehearsals, press events and parties that make up the contest week there is an unwritten rule; "You Can Only Talk About the Song Contest." You really have to wonder whether someone who has been based in the US for the past 11 years has the depth of knowledge needed to let them stick to that rule.

According to her Wikipedia biography at least Daniela Ruah does not have any previous experience presenting live TV. The Eurovision Song Contest presents a massive challenge for even experienced TV presenters. The mixture of a wide number of competing nations along with almost experimental broadcasting technology means that invariably something goes wrong.

One of the longstanding traditions of the Song Contest is announcement of the results. This involves doing a live satellite link with each of the participating nations and the host nation. The participating nations then give their scores one-by-one.

At the 1981 Song Contest these satellite links failed spectacularly. The presenter Doireann Ní Bhriain was forced to resort to bringing a telephone on stage to call each of the participating nations up one-by-one. They were unable to establish even a telephone connection to Yugoslavia and when they finally did get through no-one in Yugoslavia had any results to give.

There are also a few things in Daniela Ruah's biography which risked being controversial at this year's Song Contest. Not least her role in NCIS: Los Angeles.

All of the NCIS franchises enjoy a close relationship with the US military. In return for letting the show play with some of their more expensive toys such as aircraft carriers the show portrays the US military in a positive light. The joke is you almost end every episode overwhelmed by this strange desire to join the US Navy.

Occasionally this has crossed into the show pushing US political propaganda. For example in the third season episode; "Deadline" which first aired in October 2011 the team race to protect a blogger who is helping to support the anti-Qaddafi 'revolution' in Libya. This pushes the American line that Libya's Islamist militias are heroic freedom fighters rebelling against tyranny.

Seven years later no-one, particularly not anyone at the Song Contest are any under illusion that Libya's Islamist militias are the bad guys. Not least with the current focus on the US support for those militias leading to the resumption of the African slave trade. Watching it now you find yourself hoping the NCIS team fail.

I do not know Daniela Ruah's personal political affiliations.

However working in the entertainment industry, particularly in a show set in Los Angeles she is very representative of America's Democrat supporting Hollywood liberals. Something which is not helped by the fact the actual First Lady Michelle Obama appeared in a 2016 episode of NCIS to promote the Democrat Party's Presidential election platform on US veterans.

Particularly at this year's Song Contest Barack Obama's Presidency is viewed as an unmitigated disaster. Many seem happy that Hillary Clinton and the Democrats were defeated in 2016. Despite all the support from NCIS.

Also Daniela Ruah is Jewish. Her father is of Portuguese-Moroccan Jewish heritage while her mother is of Ukrainian-Russian Jewish heritage.

A massive issue at recent Song Contests was the decision by former US President Obama to back the Waffen SS to overthrow the Ukrainian state in 2013 creating Shamali Province and plunging the area into civil war. Funnily enough the Waffen SS have some robust views about Ukrainian and Russian Jews.

At the time of the 2014 Winter Olympics probably the most famous Ukrainian Jew was the actress Mila Kunis. Due to her role in; "Black Swan" based on Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky's ballet; "Swan Lake" she received a lot of attention at the games. Particularly in the figure skating.

Unlike Daniela Ruah Mila Kunis is actually Ukrainian born and Russian is her first language. English is only like her third. In November 2017 Mila Kunis and her husband Ashton Kutcher tried to visit the town of her birth - Chernivtsi.

Despite being globally famous the local residents refused to let them in because they didn't want to be reminded of the time the Soviets forced them to live alongside filthy Jews.

So the conflict between Daniela Ruah's apparent support for Obama and her Ukrainian Jewish heritage would seem to put her in a tight spot at a Song Contest where those were both huge issues.

For these reasons Daniela Ruah caught the attention of quite a few participants this year.

Adopting the slogan; "All Aboard" the entire event had quite a nautical theme to it. The Netherlands focused their entry around the Soviet Naval flag which has been adopted by the ethnically Russian forces in Shamali Province's civil war. Israel even sent an actual veteran of their navy.

The biographies of many of the artists and songwriters trumpeted the fact they had studied at the Berklee College of Music based in Boston, Massachusetts. Britain went one step further boasting that their singer SuRie had also studied at the Berklee College. Only at its more prestigious New York City campus.

However there were two nations that made Daniela Ruah the central part of their entries.

Cyprus: This year they were represented by Eleni Foureira with the song; "Fuego (Fire)."

I hesitate to say that there is a main character in NCIS: Los Angeles. However then the show launched in 2010 I think the main audience draw was Chris O'Donnell who played Robin in the 1997 movie "Batman & Robin" alongside George Clooney.

In the show Chris O'Donnell's character; "G Callen" has this really complicated backstory. Raised as an orphan he has no idea of his family or heritage. He doesn't even know what the initial "G" stands for. Many of the early episodes are about him trying to uncover the secrets of his past.

One of the ways that NCIS; Los Angeles in particular tries to show the US military in a good light is by pretending that the problems which exist in wider US society such as racism don't exist in the US military. Daniela Ruah's character Kensi Blye and LL Cool J's character Sam Hanna are key to this.

Sam Hanna's backstory is that he is an ex-Navy SEAL. As such the fact he is black doesn't really come up. His family is the US Navy and the US Navy doesn't see race. Likewise Kensi Blye's father was a US Marine so the fact she is Hispanic doesn't really come up. Her family is also the colour blind US Navy.

That said Kensi Blye is of obviously Hispanic appearance. So when the team are investigating Mexican criminals she goes undercover as Mexican. When the team are investigating Colombian criminals she goes undercover as Colombian and so on.

In one episode they're trying to bluff their way into an exclusive members only club. So Kensi Byle pretends to be; "Paula" this very famous Brazilian lingerie model.

I think this stuck in my memory because I first saw it around the time of the 2016 Summer Olympics held in Brazil. A big part of those games - particularly the Para-Olympics - was Brazil making a point of reminding people that they speak Portuguese rather than Spanish. NCIS: Los Angeles seemed to be reminding their viewers of that same point.

I think what really made it stick in my memory though was just how bad Kensi Blye's fake Portuguese accent was. It was a surprise then to learn that Daniela Ruah is actually Portuguese and her Portuguese accent is beyond reproach.

Although from her name you may mistake her for Hispanic Eleni Foureira is actually Albanian. Rather like 'Paula' she is probably most famous as a model. Both on stage and on social media she likes showing off her body in skimpy costumes and lingerie.

Almost every member of the songwriting team has been very successful in Latin American pop music. Alex Papaconstantinou, Geraldo Sandell and Viktor Svensson have all written for Jennifer Lopez. In a twist Sandell who is known as Teddy Sky and wrote Jennifer Lopez's hit; "On the Floor" is Brazilian-Swedish.

The reason why the 2018 Song Contest was hosted in Portugal is that the 2017 Song Contest was won by Portugal with the song; "Amar Pelos Dois (For the Both of Us)." 

Due to their shared language with Brazil they benefited from a lot of good feeling due to a deal between the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and International Paralympic Committee (IPC). That made the 2016 Para-Olympics the most widely broadcast Para-Olympics ever.

The tone of cash strapped Portugal's 2017 entry was really them adopting that shared language to go to Brazil and say; "I hope you're not expecting us to pay for the both of us!" Due to the 2016 Olympics Brazil is one of the nations which is very keen to compete in the Song Contest in future.

The fact the Eurovision community's response to this was to force Portugal to pay to host the 2018 really drives the main theme of; "How Did We All Get it So Wrong."

By playing about with the notion of whether Brazilians speak Portuguese or Spanish Cyprus was really highlighting this mistake. It seemed to be suggesting that the Eurovision crowd are so stupid they still don't realise that Brazilians don't speak Spanish.

At around 18:30 on 11/6/18 (UK date) I obviously have much to add. 

Edited at around 19:35 on 11/6/18 (UK date) to add;

The song itself is all about being consumed by this overwhelming fire. Officially it is the fiery Latin passion of music and dance.

With Eleni Foureira being Albanian it could be viewed as a reference to the Greater Albanian Movement. That is the uncontrollable fire that consumed Serbia's southern Kosovo Province in 1999. That fire continues to rage today frequently threatening to consume Macedonia.

It is interesting that Cyprus would raise this issue because Cyprus is very closely allied to Greece. Macedonia and Greece are locked in a long running dispute over Macedonia's name. Greece sees this as laying a secessionist claim to the Greek province of Macedonia which borders what is formally known as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

That Cyprus and by extension Greece are prepared to overlook the dispute with Macedonia over the Greater Albania Movement gives you a clue of how much of a cause for concern the Greater Albania Movement is to its neighbours.

The raging fire could also be viewed as a reference to Cyprus' own concerns.

In August 1974 Turkey invaded and illegally occupied around 40% of Cyprus. It claimed this was done in response to a coup attempt that ended in July 1974. Turkey continues to militarily occupy northern Cyprus. The illegal occupation of a European Union (EU) member state.

In August 2016 Turkey invaded and illegally occupied an area of northern Syria designated; "Garvaghy Road." 

In January 2018 Turkey invaded and illegally occupied an area of northern Syria designated; "Afrin Canton." 

In May 2018 Turkey invaded and illegally occupied an area of northern Iraq. 

Turkey is currently in the process of invading and illegally occupying an area of north-eastern Syria designated; "The Sudetenland."

With the US, the UN and the EU so far refusing to object to Turkey's illegal invasion and occupation of parts of both Syria and Iraq you have to seriously wonder if they'll object to Turkey invading the rest of Cyprus. 

With Turkey making repeated overtures to the Greater Albanian Movement you also have to wonder if the US, UN and the EU will object to Turkey invading and occupying vast swathes of the Balkan region. Such as Greece and Bulgaria.

The video in support of Greece's entry; "Oniro Mou (My Dream)" by Yianna Terzi was heavily inspired by the mythological Battle of Athens between Athena and Poseidon. This provided the "Olive Branch" codename for Turkey's invasion of Afrin Canton.

It's pretty clear though that the moral of the story was completely lost on Turkish President/Prime Minister/Emperor Recep Tayyip Erdogan. After all the capital of Greece is Athens. Not Poeidonville.

For the sixth year in a row Turkey has declined to expose Erdogan's fragile ego to Eurovision.

The main thrust of Cyprus' entry though was to have a good laugh at Danielle Ruah and her baptism of fire at the Song Contest.

Surprisingly Cyprus finished second and came close to winning.

This surprised me not because there was anything wrong with Cyprus' entry. I just got the general impression that rather than trying to win they were aiming for a solid mid-table performance while providing some light relief at the expense of the new girl.

What helped elevate Cyprus into such a successful finish was that Eleni Foureira is a reasonably well established popstar in her own right. She had big international hits with; "Chica Bomb" in 2010 and with; "Send For Me" in 2017. The song is in that Latin style which has become very popular recently through artists like Luis Fonsi.

So with the public vote and sadly some of the jury votes Eleni Foureira's popularity along with the popularity of the style of music gave it a huge boost. Which is a shame because one of the main points of the song was to remind people that unlike Jennifer Lopez and Luis Fonsi Brazilians don't speak Spanish.

That of course contributed to the main theme of how everyone's managed to get it so wrong. It also contributed to the discussion over the expansion of the Song Contest. 

The concern is that newcomers will treat it like The Voice or The X Factor and simply vote for the song they like the best. That risks really screwing up the political and discussion elements of the contest.

20:30 on 11/6/18 (UK date).