How Has Eurovision Helped Europe? | QI

This clip is from QI Series F, Episode 1, 'Families' with Stephen Fry, Alan Davies, Ronni Ancona, David Mitchell and Sir Terry Wogan.

[SenMysrana]

Imagine that: Supreme Dictator David Mitchell. No grandiose speeches, just the occasional Angry Logic Rant.

[JouvaMoufette]

Terry Wogan does a really great impression of one of Peter Serafinowicz's characters

[Oscar-Green]

Stephen was right about "E depois do adeus" being from 1974 but I'm guessing Terry just got mixed up with their 1975 entry which was also about the revolution (I think)

[cfgp]

wogan was wrong about the date. the revolution was in 1974, on the 25th of april. he was right about the carnations though.
as for salazar, he fell off a chair and banged his head, in 1968. after that, he was removed from power, but, as the legend goes, still believed he was in charge, until the day he died, in 1970.

[Darkblue]

I was watching Wogan when he used to do commentary on Eurovision.

[LoneManProductions]

And now I miss Wake Up to Wogan and all that went with it. Thanks QI.

[PhilBoswell]

Don't you worry David, Victoria will make sure you're kept in the manner to which you are accustomed 🤣

Missing Terry, and I don't recall seeing Ronni recently: has she been busy on stage or something?

[jb]

David's description of his old age is remarkably similar to the final sketch in _That Mitchell and Webb Look_ about a demented Sherlock Holmes.

[JoeBleasdaleReal]

Stephen’s “it’s divided East from West” makes total sense in the context that this was released in late 2008. That was the last year Wogan was UK commentator, but it was clear he’d given up years prior.

The perfect storm of all the Eastern nations joining after the fall of communism and this new thing called “telephone voting” combined, and new nations were winning the Contest virtually every year, rather than the traditional Western powerhouses like Ireland, the UK and Sweden. Russia won that year, in a decade when Estonia, Latvia, Ukraine and Serbia also had, and Wogan, who’d spent years adamant that the commies were using Eurovision to mount some sort of cultural attack on the West, declared “it’s no longer about the music”.

Ironically, it was his brand of disparaging, mildly xenophobic commentary that meant the West stopped sending good entries bc anyone half decent wouldn’t touch Eurovision with a barge pole, so while all these Eastern nations, who were keen to re-market themselves as modern and democratic, sent their absolute best, we had to make do with cabaret air hostesses and turkey puppets and comedians dressed as Elvis. 2008 was especially bad for “comedy” songs at Eurovision, and it’s easy to see why. The re-introduction of the jury vote in 2009 was, in part, bc the EBU wanted to appease the big Western nations who pay them more so get what they want when they complain.

[richieb]

Ahh..the Toggmeister himself
He was actually banned going to the eurovision song contest by three countries if they ever won, because of jokes they took rather personally.
( these countries never had any hope of winning and it was more of an honorific banning anyway, as Terry was internationally recognised and loved for his unique views and outlook on the song contest...)

[ZondaFRoadster]

Why haven't they tried that idea with Putin?

[MisterItchy]

What does Stephen say 0:12? I hear "has it ass".

[chequereturned]

Stephen as right and Wogan was wrong. The Carnation Revolution started in 1974 and the signal was indeed the Portuguese entry at Brighton. The whole point was that it was secret at the time. In 1975 they used carnations in their entry as an explicit celebration of the revolution that they’d just been through, and Wogan remembered that.

[WilliamSmith-mxze]

Waterloo - Abba
Baker Street - Gerry Rafferty
Give My Regards To Broad Street - Paul McCartney
Finchley Central - New Vaudeville Band
King's Cross - Pet Shop Boys

What is it about the Tube stations that lend themselves to the songs?

[andemaiar]

Why is the old annoying outro back? Btw, this clip was quite interesting.

[johnbibb]

Is there any way we can convince Trump that he’s still in power, and just tuck him away somewhere?

[havocmaverick]

I am never going to pick something Sandi.

[AriaBlue]

Portuguese people crying with that pronunciation

[JJONNYREPP]

How Has Eurovision Helped Europe? | QI 1950pm 23.10.23 the fat lad's impression of old terry.. that dj bloke.. was very amusing... it doesn't detract from old terry's overall radio or televisual persona, though... ahaha...

[robertsteele]

Sounds like the last two US presidents.