Zdob şi Zdub

Well I can't catch every concert in town, Zdob şi Zdub were playing at Baboon Kvartira on Podil last night promoting their new CD Ethnomechanica. Clearly the Moldovan band found enough of a following when they were here in Kyiv for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005. While it is clearly not Ukrainian music, it is clear that there is an interest in something more that the bubble gum and T/A pop that often comes to this town.

As Howard Jones once sang, "Things can only get better!"

Eastern Europe and its influence on Eurovision

Over the last couple of years we have witnessed a change in the type of music which is being presented at the Eurovision Song Competition, and it would be fair to say that much of the change began to happen with Ruslana's win back in 2004 in Istanbul. Ruslana's winning performance introduced ethnic elements into the competition which previously were less present.

New countries to break onto the Eurovision scene in 2005 included bands like Zdob şi Zdub of Moldova and Kaffe of Bulgaria. They brought a new flavor to the made-for-tv song contest. And while the 2006 Eurovision Song contest didn't feature as many ethnic influences, the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest did seem to have many more such elements present.

I think things will get much more interesting during the next couple of years. More diversity, more good music, and more quality. I guess we will just have to wait and see.