Like the Mongol Hordes Sweeping in From the East
Manolo says, ayyyyyyyy! Only three more months until the apocalyptic return of the Eurovision Song Contest.
Here, to remind you of the unrelenting horror that lies ahead, the Manolo gives you the 1979′s fourth-place finisher, from Germany, Dschinghis Khan.
(Fast forward through the first minute to get to the true horror!)
And here below is the special bonus video to increase your sense of dread.
Thanks to the Manolo’s internet friend the Adalmin
I think I’m in love.
It’s my pleasure!
I love Eurovision because it clearly demonstrates that Europeans really have a misplaced sense of superiority over Americans.
It makes American Idol look so high brow.
(!)
The Annalucia found this to be most amusing. The bright costumes, the attempts at precise choreography, the over-the-top dancing of the gentleman in the conical hat, the complete incomprehensibility of the song (though this is the fault of the Annalucia as she does not do languages with umlauts) – it is the good silly fun. Molte grazie to the Manolo and the Adalmin for passing this along.
If only I hadn’t seen this before breakfast. Or perhaps, considering my attempt at dieting, it is just as well. My cat stopped purring during this. He purred even louder once I turned it off. Do you think he could become a judge for Eurovision? Could they add a kill switch?
Was that [url=http://www.doughenning.com/]Doug Henning[/url] in the green satin jumpsuit? Does his talent know no limits?
man, sometimes i really wish i spoke german. just so i could know what these crazy cats are talking about and why it’s so funny.
Oh, the golden baggy pants of horror! And the laughing Ghengis Khan, always with the raping and the pillaging, what a jolly fellow he was. Let us celebrate him with this happy song.
The rustic light saber & plaid pants beginning had me very puzzled. Was the woman, like, skimming vodka? What did they steal up the chimney? I am full of questions. Then hoo ha hoo ha! wohohohohoh ahahahaha –ahm, stimulating, colors interesting, horseyness, & I want the boots hoo hoo ha hoo! Who knew old Ghingi was such a party guy? Delightful! I worry about the subtext, however. I’ve read that at least 1/3 of the residents of Mongolia are descended from GK. But aren’t these Russian people? I am full of questions.
RIP Louis Poitgeiter (the main character in red died of AIDS in the late 70s).
That being said, I love themed musical groups.
Oh my…I started to watch the first video and my first thought was, “What the hell?” Then I realized–it is Max & Moritz on a miming acid trip! I do not know what I expected after that, but it was certainly not what came…I just…I just…
And then the second video, it felt like something from a clever British television show or something. My day = COMPLETE.
Do we (in the USA) ever get the chance to view the competition, even as opportunity of for cultural exchange? I’ve been intrigued by this competition since I saw the Sound of Music several decades ago….
I think this group sang their theme song in a movie I saw on cable, a very bad Euro soft porn movie that was oh so 70′s ….
Please tell me I am not the only one who has seen this???? (pleeeeese)
I agree with Natalie that it is good to see Doug Henning land on his feet (who! ha!) when that whole magic thing petered out. And to be onstage with the great Yul Brenner once again starring as the King of Siam – what a treat!
So much gold lame’, so little time…
I’m beginning to understand Germany’s love for David Hasselhoff.
Hola to the Aimlessjoys, who has the mind full of the inquiry! In response to which, I provide this link: http://www.artsmia.org/art-of-asia/history/mongol-empire-map.cfm and this link: http://www.lacma.org/khan/map.htm ; http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/97/genghis/khanmap.html
In the event that La BellaDonna is sadly link-impaired (as has been known to happen), she will remind the Aimlessjoys, that the Mongol Empire, it was the largest contiguous land empire in history, five times the size of the empire of the Alexander the Great. At its height, the Mongol Empire stretched from the Pacific Ocean to central Europe, and the land of the Russians, it was conquered by the Mongols; geographically, it is located smack in the middle of the Mongol Empire.
La BellaDonna, she is philosophical (safely so, many of the centuries removed); without the dreadful bloodiness of the Mongol invasions, there would have been no Pax Mongolica, and no Silk Road, and La BellaDonna, she is all about the silk and the shopping!
it’s like watching a mash mix of power rangers and the village people with a dash of abba for sex appeal :) thank you so much – it has made my day complete
Ahhhh, very many thanks to La BellaDonna for the enlightening links! Gross Gott, zey are ze Germans of long ago! More careful reading will be my motto from now on. And yes, philosophical is also the word for the aimlessjoys, because she might not ever have known the great pleasures of snuggling in the cashmere & silk delights on a very early Sunday morning if not for the acquisitive & memorable Mongols & Ghengis Khan!
I am very sorry to hear of the tragic end of the energetic & handsome singer, & meant no disrespect to his memory. The aimlessjoys missed a great part of the Eurodisco history, too. Pleasant Sunday to All!
I just wanted to say that over here in Europe NOBODY takes Eurovision seriously. It’s a sort of ongoing joke — everyone watches it to see who is going to be the most ridiculous this year.
I can confirm Spaniardinthewords’ assertion. Noone here watches it, except to see how stupid it is going to be. One German talk show host, Stefan Raab, even wrote a song as a joke and entered it into the contest. The whole thing was supposed to be ironic, the song was the stupidest thing he could come up with. And it was accepted as Germany’s entry.
However, as a counter point, I told my Austrian husband about this ridiculous, obscure video I had seen on Manolo’s site, a German song about Genghis Khan. And he immediately started singing it.
Ninjarina: Louis Potgeiter died in 1996. He returned to his native South Africa where he was a hotel manager until he died from AIDs complications.
There are a few things I found astonishing about this: 1) They were doing it. 2) An entire hall full of people were watching it. 3) Without rioting.
Reading through the commentary I am grateful to be informed that they were all in on the joke. I’m always the last to get it…
Ah, thank you for the clarification khazar. I understand Steve Bender has recently passed on also.
Here is the English version:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=i2PYKI66DcM
I’ve always liked the original better. Their dancing is more hesitant in this; my guess is that they were concentrating hard on the lyrics.
I like it. It puts me to mind of the operas of bygone times, with their silk skirted shepherdesses and ballet dancing turkish slaves.
Since Manolo posted this I’ve embarked on a tiny journey of discovery of Dschingis Khan. What fun! What joy! What must the yurts look like if those are the costumes? I’ve looked at the Dschingis Khan website (there’s a resurgence of interest! Yay!) and read the Wikipedia entry and even posted to my own blog about it.