teisipäev, veebruar 05, 2008

serbians perplexed by 'leto svet'

It's not even been a week, and Estonia's Eurovision entry "Leto Svet" is already raising eyebrows in Belgrade:

"There will be at least one song in the Serbian language at this year's Eurovision Song Contest, even if you don't count the hosts, joked Saša on the OGAE Serbia website.

One gets the impression that the lyricist has looked in the 'At the Restaurant' chapter of a Serbian phrase book, as the words for peas, green beans and lobster are mentioned!

Serbs are asking themselves if this is a desperate step by the Estonians to get a place in the final, which they haven't achieved since the introduction of semi-finals in 2004. Unfortunately for Estonia, Serbia cannot vote in the semi-final they take part in.

Is it just me, or does Peeter Oja bear a striking resemblance to last year's winner? Anyway, here's more:
Beta news agency reports from Tallinn that the Estonian contest winners, Kreisiraadio, will brave singing in Serbian as they battle for the Eurovision title in May in Belgrade.

But from the song's title, to its lyrics, it seems that the many intricate grammatical inflections of the Serbian language were lost upon the band.

Beside the puzzling Serbian lyrics, which seem to consist of a list of food items, the song also features words in Estonian and German.

This is it Eesti! This could be the year that Eurovision comes back to Tallinn!

38 kommentaari:

space_maze ütles ...

Beside the puzzling Serbian lyrics, which seem to consist of a list of food items, the song also features words in Estonian and German.

There was Estonian in it? I must have missed it.

In any case, fortunately for Estonia, Finland is in the semifinal with Estonia, and does get to vote.

Unknown ütles ...

Uhm.. so this year only the people in the same semifinal with you get to vote for you? That format is getting more retarded every year. What will they think of next, I wonder.

Wv Sky ütles ...

An Estonian friend of mine translated the song. Is this close?

Summer lights.
Who I am? Check please.
My hostel ran out of gas.
My gas ran out.
Two double piece of chocolate cake.
Enough of green beans!
Enough (sick)!
Summer light, that is summer light.
Summer light, that is summer light
Summer light, that is summer light.
Summer light ,that is summer light.
Potatoes,beans,onions,lobster -
I am enough of these.
Summer light ,that is summer light.
Summer light, that is summer light.
Summer light, that is summer light.
Summer light, that is summer light.
(solo)
Potatoes, beans, onions, lobster-
I am enough of these.
Enough of sausage.
What now? Summer light now,
What now? Summer light now.
what now? Summer light now.
what now? Summer light now.
Summer light, that is summer light.
Summer light, that is summer light.
Summer light, that is summer light.
Summer light, that is summer light.

LPR ütles ...

Knowing how fast and good Serbians are with their ethnic cleansing thing, it is really good that they are too simple to realize that Estonians are mocking their language and the whole idea of the slavic existence.

LPR ütles ...

L�s vaatab seda janti ja m�tleb, et kuradima eesti narkokullerid on end oma kaubast t�iesti sassi t�mmand ja teevad oma ajauvaba lollusi juba televiisoris.

klx ütles ...

Serbians will no doubt see it as some kind of NATO plot to get kosovo away from them...

wasn't the song serbian, german and finnish?

Unknown ütles ...

I was dating a Serbian woman untill she became fat and ended her relationship with me. I became pro-Kosovo and anti-slav.

Unknown ütles ...

I think they are confusing finnish with estonian as my ears didn´t catch estonian in song either.
And what a lyrics, I can´t stop laughing, in eglish they sound even better than in estonian translation :DD

John Menzies ütles ...

Did she tell you, "sardela do jedosta"?

Kristopher ütles ...

Mida siis nüüd is pretty close to mitäs nyt.

Unknown ütles ...

This song is a perfect mockery of my Serbian fat bitch hore. I want to be with her alone.

Giustino ütles ...

This song is a perfect mockery of my Serbian fat bitch hore. I want to be with her alone.

As said previously, you and you alone are responsible for your comments. :)

You know, despite the whole 1999 NATO action, I think in reality Estonians have nothing against Serbs, nor do most Europeans or Americans for that matter.

The propaganda in the US at the time of the action was pretty intense. There were photos of very blond-looking Serbian soldiers cleansing villages, the image was very clearly telling readers that "Serbs=Nazis".

But here were are in 2008 and Eurovision is taking place in Belgrade. Milosevic is dead. yes, this Kosovo issue drags on, but hopefully it will be resolved with some consensus.

So the bottom line is that Leto Svet is about sausages and lobsters and nothing but.

space_maze ütles ...

Is it me, or do we have two blogaddicts here? One with a capitalized B, one with a wee b?

Kristopher ütles ...

One addict sounds like a jaded adult, the wee one sounds about 12...

My question now is: is the "lobster" real lobster (homaar-homard) or something like fake crab-surimi. Or some local speciality? Is Serbia known for a lobster-like product in any way?

Unknown ütles ...

Go to Serbia with your etnic cleansing friends Kristopher! Your comment makes you sound no better than my Serbian girlfriend!

Miserere ütles ...

Estonian cleverness at sending up Slavs? I don't think so! The Estonian push at every convenient public juncture of complaining of gross historical injustices committed against her, are about to fly into the loving arms of our long lost European brotherhood, once the whole of Europe finds out this bunch of Leto Sveto wackos are pissing on the heads of all Slavic peoples! The body language of the entire clip exposes Estonian racial intolerance-done to a T!!!

Giustino ütles ...

The body language of the entire clip exposes Estonian racial intolerance-done to a T!!!

What I don't get is that people insult Italians all the time, and nobody cares. The mafia is a cancer on both Italian and Italian-American societies, and what do fine Italian-American actors do? They write shows about mobsters starring themselves.

People portray Italians as fat, pizza-twirling morons, and nobody runs around accusing them of "Italophobia". Because it's true -- a lot of Italians are fat and eat pizza. There I said it. I must be a traitor to my kind.

Breaking it all down into being an ethnic thing is extremely stupid. If you wear a flamboyant costume and dance to bad disco, people are going to make fun of you, no matter if you are ugri-mugri or slav.

space_maze ütles ...

When my father was young, his family had a hispanic cleaning lady at the time of some race riots of some sort. And she was so upset about it all. And gave a speech that went something like this.

"I will never understand it. How can people hate eachother just because of the colour of their skin? Intolerance is terrible. I love all people, of all colours, and of all nations."

At which point she made a little pause, and then pulled her face into a frown.

"Except for those god-damned Eye-talians."

Miserere ütles ...

The main problem with Giustino's last comment is the fact that Italians have come to terms with the identity, but Estonians want their pie and eat it too! They want to be the all-time victim AND want to rip the guts out of whoever happens to be in their orbit of antagonism or opinion. Try commenting on the downside of the Estonian personality and see how far you get? I think you'll be dumped with the kind of hidden racial innuendo you didn't think imaginable in this relatively homogenous neck of the northern woods.

Kristopher ütles ...

It is not even remotely an ethnic thing -- though the more I think of it Leto svet might be about a road trip gone horribly wrong in the former Soviet Union where you have to subsist on cans of Zaftrak Turista (and sardells and campground food).

Sorry, Juhan, but I think Estonians do self-criticism pretty well. Did Rehepapp piss anyone off? No, it is hailed by many as a favourite novel. And I actually think Estonians are less pretentious in the sense that you have to be Jewish and then you can make a k**e joke.

So I don't see the victim complex.

For example, some British tourist walks around Viru street wearing a KGB shirt and it's my American friend (though he's physically bigger) who takes issue when the tourist doesn't remove the offending article of clothing.

Giustino ütles ...

"Except for those god-damned Eye-talians."

I hate them too. I am an equal opportunity hater.

Try commenting on the downside of the Estonian personality and see how far you get?

Actually, Estonians are pretty hard on themselves and down right evil when it comes to their own personal agendas.

I've had a few try to explain away their own national identity, as if Estonian identity didn't exist.

They'll say they just borrowed everything from the Finns or the Germans and that Estonian national identity is some kind of hoax.

And yet this argumentative, cynical personality is quite Estonian, like it or not.

I like Estonians though. They never bullshit me.

space_maze ütles ...

I like Estonians though. They never bullshit me.

Bingo.

I would say that there is something to what Juhan was saying .. but I'm not sure it's a victim complex, for the simple reason that Finland has it too, to some degree, in spite of avoiding five decades of occuptation.

In my experience, Estonians have no problems whatsoever ripping themselves to bits - quite the contrary. But they're also highly obsessive about what people "in the outside" think about them. I constantly see articles on delfi about what people in country X think about Estonians. Everytime there is some minor irrelevant event like the story with the dutch ambassador's boyfriend, Estonians wave their hands in the air, screaming .. "oh my god, what will people think about us?"

When the truth is .. they don't.

Similar incidents in Austria will have people shrugging their shoulders and moving on. But in Estonia, wanting to be liked by foreigners actually seems important for more reasons than financial reasons.

space_maze ütles ...

Venelane, eestlane ja ameeriklane seisavad loomaaias elevandi puuri juures. “Saaks seda suurt looma inimestele näidata, teeniks palju raha,” mõtleb ameeriklane. “Teeks elevandi lihaks, saaks palju vorsti,” mõtleb venelane. Eestlane käib ümber puuri ja mõtleb: “Mida see elevant küll minust arvab”.

... I had this very same joke told to me by a Finn in Helsinki, with Americans, Russians, and Finns.

Miserere ütles ...

"I like Estonians though. They never bullshit me". Giustino, you're going to find that out the hard way, bro'. Estonians kissed the asses of the Russians for 60 years and got away with it. We're only into our 17th year of Independence. Stick around a little longer, bro', and you'll start to hear stories that will make your ears more than tingle. Of course one of the hardest things about living in Estonia is keeping a certain distance from all the mud-slinging about other people (read; your acquaintances!)since the criticism is usually no-holes-barred and for those not wanting to delve into gossip, not the most civil way of picking up tips about your friends. But the nation is too small to avoid stories from here and yonder. Insofar as the Eurovision Song Contest is concerned, I think Estonians could've come up with their own unique version of self-criticism about doing "vene lollusi saksa täpsusega", rather the worn out theme of dumping all your emotional garbage yet again on the Slavs.

space_maze ütles ...

stonians kissed the asses of the Russians for 60 years and got away with it.

Who, exactly, was under Russia's thumb and didn't kiss Russian ass?

Kissing ass isn't a matter of choice when you've got a boot on your neck.

klx ütles ...

We're only into our 17th year of Independence.

*cough* 90th *cough*

:)

Frank ütles ...

Show me a less larmoyant sort of people than the Eestlased ...

Compared to the Riigi-Saksad and the Svear they appear like unaffected red-skins bound to the stake laughing at their opponents.

Das ist sommerlich ...

Anonüümne ütles ...

I don't think Oja & Co. were "dumping" on anyone, just having fun and satirizing the whole absurd Uro-vision phenomenon. Remember a few years ago an Israeli transvestite or transsexual won? That wasn't sexist of anti-anything. Just show biz... Oja & Co. just took a silly phrase here, another there... Nonsensical? You bet. Aren't most pop lyrics?

Giustino ütles ...

Estonians kissed the asses of the Russians for 60 years and got away with it. We're only into our 17th year of Independence.

You are and you aren't. I would say that Kyrgyzstan is in its 17th year of independence.

But did Kyrgyzstan have a pre-war constitution? Pre-war land ownership to revert to? Pre-war state symbols? And, most importantly, pre-war gold sitting in banks in Switzerland? And pre-war debt, that was paid off after the restoration of independence?

So you aren't exactly in your 17th year of independence either.

Stick around a little longer, bro', and you'll start to hear stories that will make your ears more than tingle.

How would that be any different from the 'stories' I hear in New York? Stories about blacks, and Jews, and Hispanics? Or how about Denmark, where the Muslims "just don't fit in"?

Intolerance/stereotyping is everywhere and I am guilty of it too. And, as I pointed out about Italians, a lot of stereotypes are *right*, no matter how much we don't want them to be right.

Unknown ütles ...

I can feel Juhan´s pain of beeing estonian..if he indeed is one :).

Juhan, miks sa üldistad, ma saan aru, et sinu arvamused on välja kujunenud sinu kogemuste põhjal teiste eestlastega, aga kas sul ei tule pähe see, kui kitsarinnaline ja rumal on selle põhjal niimoodi üldistada ja tervele rahvale sellist käitumist omistada? Nagu Justin ütles, selliseid inimesi on iga rahva hulgas aga see ei anna õigust nimetada kogu rahvust selliseks.

Kristopher ütles ...

Who, exactly, was under Russia's thumb and didn't kiss Russian ass?

Madisson, Niklus, Tarto, Parek, Pesti, Ahonen, to name a few.

I think Juhan's argument is suffering from "snowball effect" as the thread develops. It's hard to counter, but it's clearly out of proportion.

Giustino ütles ...

I think Juhan's argument is suffering from "snowball effect" as the thread develops. It's hard to counter, but it's clearly out of proportion.

It's actually quite interesting how, if in a discussion one is labeled intolerant or racist, the burden of proof is on the accused to persuade everyone that there are no racist feelings in his or her body.

We run into this a lot with Russian nationalists. If you tell them that Nashi is strange and reminds you of Hitlerjugend, you are a "russophobe" and must therefore prove that you are not one -- which is impossible to do.

Anonüümne ütles ...

Heli said…

I can feel Juhan´s pain of beeing estonian..if he indeed is one :).

Juhan, miks sa üldistad, ma saan aru, et sinu arvamused on välja kujunenud sinu kogemuste põhjal teiste eestlastega


"All stereotypes turn out to be true. This is a horrifying thing about life. All those things you fought against as a youth: you begin to realize they're stereotypes because they're true."
-David Cronenberg, Cronenberg On Cronenberg, ch. 1 (ed. Chris Rodley, 1992).

space_maze ütles ...

Madisson, Niklus, Tarto, Parek, Pesti, Ahonen, to name a few.

If we're talking about individuals, it is of course wrong to say that noone under an occupation will not try to play nice with the masters. When speaking about nations though, you'll have a hard time finding an occupation in which absolutely zero collaboration happened.

Unknown ütles ...

I guess I´m stupid Karla. I agree, stereotypes are true, but does that give everyone right to name others based on that and is smart thing to do?

plasma-jack ütles ...

My question now is: is the "lobster" real lobster (homaar-homard) or something like fake crab-surimi.

the word 'lobster' is not part of Estonian vocabulary, although ETV clearly seems to think otherwise. they probably had some guy's 14-yo sister to translate it.

Unknown ütles ...

Here's an (unedited) interview with Kreisiraadio just before the contest.

Interview was made for ERR Russian language news programme.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruky-6TCBWI

интервью с Пеэтером Оя и Тармо Лейнатаммом из Крейзираадио на записи их песни для участия в эстонском туре Евровидения

Anonüümne ütles ...

I so hope we, Estonia, come last, this song is the worst one ever.. was meant to be a joke and now look at it!!