Aesthetically, I will acknowledge from the outset, to be a "high art" advocate in the same mould as the Frankfurt School (Adorno, Horkheimer and Marcuse in particular). I do think there are ways and means of evaluating the arts in a manner which does not result in mere subjectivity.
As I have expressed elsewhere, if the arts were dependent on the votes of the masses, then we'd have professors of literature specialising in Hagar The Horrible rather the Poetic and Prose Edda; culture would be whatever the culture industry produced, and The Kalevala would be replaced by a Eurodisney production of a title more consumable for a Anglo-American audience.
Aesthetic analysis can be applied to music; the conceptual construction of time using tones (vertical harmonies, horizontal melodies) and silence for a psychoacoustic effect. In contemporary (that is, 20th century onwards) music is often accompanied by lyrical content in which poetic analysis can be applied.
I have listened and viewed several Lordi songs and, heaven help me, read through more than a dozen of their lyrics. As has been pointed out to me there are moments where lyrically they reach a Spinal Tap moment, but this is the exception rather than the rule. Psychoacoustically, they seem (and this is subjective, as the sense are subjective) to lack the sort of passion, emotion and especially originality that I have found in other bands in their genre (I am thinking specifically of Ne Plus Ultra and the amazing narrative depth in Elend).
As for Finland, apart from your good self, noone has made a mention of the importance of Finland per se winning Eurovision. Most seem to have been attracted to the outfits - which I don't think is a good basis to judge the competence of musical skill or lyrical content. Perhaps, as it has been suggested in this thread, that Eurovision is a competition in bad taste.
Re: The heat must be getting to you. vittulinen mies.
Aesthetically, I will acknowledge from the outset, to be a "high art" advocate in the same mould as the Frankfurt School (Adorno, Horkheimer and Marcuse in particular). I do think there are ways and means of evaluating the arts in a manner which does not result in mere subjectivity.
As I have expressed elsewhere, if the arts were dependent on the votes of the masses, then we'd have professors of literature specialising in Hagar The Horrible rather the Poetic and Prose Edda; culture would be whatever the culture industry produced, and The Kalevala would be replaced by a Eurodisney production of a title more consumable for a Anglo-American audience.
Aesthetic analysis can be applied to music; the conceptual construction of time using tones (vertical harmonies, horizontal melodies) and silence for a psychoacoustic effect. In contemporary (that is, 20th century onwards) music is often accompanied by lyrical content in which poetic analysis can be applied.
I have listened and viewed several Lordi songs and, heaven help me, read through more than a dozen of their lyrics. As has been pointed out to me there are moments where lyrically they reach a Spinal Tap moment, but this is the exception rather than the rule. Psychoacoustically, they seem (and this is subjective, as the sense are subjective) to lack the sort of passion, emotion and especially originality that I have found in other bands in their genre (I am thinking specifically of Ne Plus Ultra and the amazing narrative depth in Elend).
As for Finland, apart from your good self, noone has made a mention of the importance of Finland per se winning Eurovision. Most seem to have been attracted to the outfits - which I don't think is a good basis to judge the competence of musical skill or lyrical content. Perhaps, as it has been suggested in this thread, that Eurovision is a competition in bad taste.