Friday Morning Diversion: Eurovision Comes to Chicago

By Kevin Robinson in Arts & Entertainment on May 18, 2012 3:50PM

As the City by the Lake braces itself for the NATO summit this weekend, it might interest you to know that Eurovision will be covering the NATO summit ("via satellite and fiber" as noted in their sponsorship of WBEZ this week!) this weekend. And while it's interesting (albeit not that surprising) that one of Europe's largest content providers will be onsite covering the summit here in Chicago, what is interesting is what Eurovision is really well known for: the Eurovision Song Contest.

Before American Idol and America's Kidz Got Singing were smash hits, the European Broadcasting Union set up a little program, way back in 1956, that could help unite member states around a "light entertainment programme," and history was set in motion. This year's program, hosted by Azerbaijan, features memories of playing Cowboys and Indians in the Netherlands, singing Russian grannies and this dud, Rambo Amadeus.

But for sheer awesomeness and ease of internet transmission, it's hard to beat Sergei Stepanov. Known as "Epic Sax Guy," the Moldovian artist that performs with the Sunstroke Project became an internet sensation in 2010 for his eccentric saxophone instrumental and dance moves on stage.

This video, which of course spawned all kinds of derivative takes, has all of the ingredients of a viral video, ready for the plucking. D-list former communist Eastern European country? Check. Pop musicians dressed in fashion that would look good only in a Northwest Indiana nightclub? Check. Catchy pop tune that apes something out the 1980's? Check. An earnestness in performance that belies the group's professionalism? Check.

More than a cultural product from a small nation-state that eerily could be from America's pop cultural past, Sunstroke Project's Runaway is the kind of song that anybody can participate in, given the number of fan videos on Youtube as well.

So while Eurovision will be in Chicago this weekend with camera crews, microphone and satalite feeds to EBU member networks an ocean away, we'll be on the lookout for frosted blonde hair, white-frame Ray-bans, and the sexy moves of one Sergei Stepanov, playing his saxophone in Chicago, for world peace.