The Duke of York's Picturehouse Eurovision Party [BRIGHTON FRINGE 2012]

HEARING THE BEST (AND WORST)
OF EUROPEAN POP IN A BIG
CAMP, SAUCY EXTRAVAGANZA?


OOOH HEAVEN IS A PLACE ON EARTH.

The stage, screen and our camp compère.

What's It All About Then?
Event held on Saturday 26th May at the Duke of York's Picturehouse, Preston Circus, Brighton in honour of the Eurovision Song Contest 2012.

The event ran from 7:45pm until 11:00pm - with a compère providing humorous commentary and organising the activities during the show. These included an introductory  song and dance number, some jokes, a raffle, games during the voting interlude and dancing on-stage throughout.


On each audience member's chair, there was a goody bag containing - a Union Jack flag, some Love Hearts, a glow stick, a Eurovision score card, a pen and a condom. I put the condom to good use, mind you - it made an excellent balloon.

The on-stage dancing for the Russian Grannies was joyous

So Was It Any Good?

+++ Big Fun Event +++

The show was fun-packed - although not a lot happened until about 15 minutes before the TV broadcast, there was a whole load of things going on in the theatre to get the crowd excited. 


To begin with, there was a short dance with some gymnast ribbons (see picture - right) and the compère provided the vocals to Eurovision classic, Waterloo. This was vaguely Olympics-themed (the guys came out with Olympic rings and did athletic-type dancing, I suppose) and the compère had an Olympics-themed chair to boot - complete with the 5 rings and there was some laurel branches stuck on top.



The audience were really geared-up to participate too - there were 2 people dressed as Jedward, complete with twin matching shiny silver outfits - some dressed as the Turkish entry (complete with a rendition of the fabric boat scene) - one woman dressed as the Azerbaijani entry and "performed" on stage with a huge, inflatable microphone - one guy came dressed as the German pretty boy who did a live rendition during the real entry's performance!


It was all very good fun and interactive - audience members were actively encouraged to get down on stage and dance during their favourite entries - so the catchy dance tunes from Cyrpus, Greece, Sweden and Russia gathered huge crowds of fans cheering and boogieing on down!

+++ Toilet Humour +++
The main source of the toilet humour was the compère - a very confident and funny host who relied fairly heavily on insinuations about the acts' sexual preferences - which was entertaining enough for the most part.


As a side note, I went to the toilet at the same time as a guy in a full-over bodysuit who needed his friend to completely unzip him before he could use the urinal. From seeing the view from behind, I'd say that counts as toilet humour too.


Anyway, during the voting interval there was a round of audience participation - 4 lucky contestants got to play a round of "Penny in the Crack". In case you hadn't heard of it, Penny is a game where the contestants must take turns to hold a penny between their bottom cheeks and make their way across the stage - in front of 200+ people - and let it drop into a pint glass on the far end of the stage.


The four contestants made a damn good go of it - one guy perhaps being a bit overconfident and dropped it halfway - but most got the penny into the glass or near the glass. The audience roared with applause to congratulate these 4 brave souls for their embarrassingly-public show of arse strength.


So that was Round 1.


Next the host stepped things up a notch - now they were playing Picked Onion Up The Bum - where each contestant now has to (yes, you guessed it) carry a pickled onion fresh out of the jar and soaked in vinegar between their bum cheeks across the stage. 


One guy's strategy here was to suck all the vinegar off to make it more bearable - but then just ate that onion instead. He was given another to make the stage crossing. I felt most sorry for the 2 women in skirts and tights who had to complete the tasks but neither shied away from the task at hand and got their onions in on just missing the glass.


So that was Round 2.


Finally - and I bet the contestants were glad this was finally - came the Raw Egg Up The Crack round. This was a show of arse cheek control rather than strength (obviously) but the 4 were all admirable contestants for the finale. Luckily, none of them experienced the problems that the host warned them about during the game - such issues as "getting the egg in your vag" and "making an omlette in your arsehole". These were very funny and the crowd was really involved - cheering everyone on as they completed the last round.


Through a vote by way of cheers, it was the guy who ate the pickled onion who was voted the overall winner - Ant from Abergavenny! Well done Sir!

The guys playing "Penny in the Crack" - brave, brave people....

--- Wouldn't want to be German ---

All the camp, silly, cheesy and dance acts got some great reception - but some countries didn't even get a chance before the big boos started. In particular, I wouldn't have wanted to have been German going along to support my country due to the loud booing from across the audience as soon as they were announced!

It was a shit act though - bored the pants off me so much that I may have chosen to boo - but to get such a vocal negative reaction from the mention of the country? 

Surely there's more worthy "boo" recipients in the competition? A small smear on an otherwise amazing night.

The rush on the stage during the Swedish act's encore.

Conclusions

The Eurovision Event was as suitably big, fun and camp as you could wish for.


There was plenty of humour and energy throughout the show from both the host and the audience - seeing everyone get involved added to the evening's entertainment.


A brilliant show - I think I'll have to get dressed up for next year's party!


FULL EUROVISION 2012 RUNDOWN

#Eurovision2012 #Moldova 
Weirdest dance of the evening but that mare me like them. That guy must've been on some STRONG drugs...


#Eurovision2012 #Ukraine 
Cheesy dance tune plus men in pink skirts? I'm in love. Probably not a winner though


#Eurovision2012 #Serbia 
Not quite sexy or quirky enough to work. Even ponytail pipe guy couldn't prevent the #yawn on this one. Next please


#Eurovision2012 #Ireland 
Say what you will about #Jedward - they're in their element during #Eurovision. But they're still utterly shite.


#Eurovision2012 #Macedonia 
Nightwish FTW! Pales in comparison to... yep.... here they come.... it's #Jedward


#Eurovision2012 #Malta 
Generic catchy tune. Foot shuffle dance. Fingerless gloves & silly hair. Classic #Eurovision. Bit of a flip too. Nice


#Eurovision2012 #Germany 
Has just led to a round of boos. Sexy man got some interest. Bland song and performance though. Major #yawn


#Eurovision2012 #Spain 
Very intimate dancing on stage @DukeofYorks. Song reminds me of Leona Lewis' cover of Snow Patrol Run. 
Nice finale though.


#Eurovision2012 #Turkey 
Eurocamp gay fantasy meets Borat. More than a little turned on. Wave those capes, bitches! Boat with cloak scene recreated on stage by some drunk revellers @DukeofYorks. Amazing stuff - @DukeofYorks love it! 


#Eurovision2012 #Sweden 
The dance is bizarre (and why the boob grabbing?) but daaaamn that was catchy. Could be a winner #Eurovision


#Eurovision2012 #Greece 
@DukeofYorks Crowd going wild for Greek Shakira. Booty shaking & bass normally goes down well. My booty is a-shaking


#Eurovision2012 #Denmark 
Too much like a crap pop song. Bimbo meets Sgt Peppers look could take off though. Xylophone solo! Mind blown! :-)


#Eurovision2012 #Romania 
This is more like it! Great outfits, dancing and a song you can boogie to! Love it! #Eurovision


#Eurovision2012 #Azerbaijan 
We have a parody performance complete with giant inflatable microphone here @DukeofYorks. Crap otherwise


#Eurovision2012 #Norway 
Justin Bieber will get a few votes. Totes thrown on for the gay crowd though. Shamefully love the campness :-)


#Eurovision2012 #Estonia 
Gary Barlow's singing is pretty good. Loads of wolf whistles here @DukeofYorks. Can see why. Phwoar.


#Eurovision2012 #Italy 
Not too bad. Now everyone quickly back to her dressing room for a quick line. Oh wait, that's NOT Winehouse.


#Eurovision2012 #France 
Good gymnastic shite but song ain't too inspiring. Flailing dress FTW! Go #Gaultier!


#Eurovision2012 #Cyprus 
At least you can dance to it. Live striptease here on stage @DukeofYorks! Could win points for sexy dancing ladies


#Eurovision2012 #Iceland 
Not a great song or performance - still prefer #RussianGrannies and #thehump!


#Eurovision2012 #Russia
#RussianGrannies were AWESOME! #BakeMeACake for the grannies! @StarlightRu #DOUZEPOINTS for grannies or #thehump #Eurovision
#RussianGrannies have swarmed the stage. @DukeofYorks
 Big support here!


#Eurovision2012 #BosniaHerzegovina
 How's that piano still playing!?! No skirt ripping? Wind machines? #yawn #nilpoints


#Eurovision2012 #Lithuania 
From blindfolded magician to Michael Jackson! Amazing! Loving that one! #Eurovision


#Eurovision2012 #Albania 
Getting mocked here at @DukeofYorks but the girl's got some lungs on her! Love the Star Wars outfit!


#Eurovision2012 #Hungary 
Leather-clad but bland. Nothing we haven't seen before on #Eurovision. Not a scratch on #thehump


#Eurovision2012 #United Kingdom
Gotta love #thehump!
Good singing but not too great a song or staging. May not get too many votes though.

Feel free to post comments or contributions to improve the experience!
Any images in this review were taken by Brighton Games Trader.