Eurobeat
July 7, 2008
Venue: Theatre Royal, Newcastle
Date Reviewed: 7th July, 2008
Eurovision is not a show that’s ever appealed to me. But after seeing EuroBeat at the Theatre Royal tonight, I may have just become their newest convert.
The premise of EuroBeat is very simple. A two hour musical that basically spoofs everything that Eurovision is renowned for, with a slight twist to it. And it’s done in such a camp way that it leaves Alan Carr, Dale Winton and Graham Norton, all rolled into one, standing.
The countries competing in EuroBeat are Italy, Estonia, Iceland, United Kingdom, Hungary, Russia, Greece, Ireland, Germany and Sweden and all offer their own brand of eccentric and unique acts.
Sir Terry Wogan, one of the foremost experts on Eurovision, opens the night with a pre-recorded message to the audience, explaining what’s coming up and what to expect from an evening that is fantastically over the top, before passing over to the EuroBeat hosts.
Les Dennis and Mel Giedroyc play EuroBeat hosts Sergei and Boyka, who are presenting EuroBeat “Live” from Sarajevo. They basically step in each time an act finishes and keep the pace of the show going while the next act prepares to perform. Their chemistry together is unparalleled and their gags are a perfect send up of all things Eurovision. In fact their gags are filled full of innuendo and are timed perfectly to deliver the most delicious mix of smut and camp send up, that it really is hilarious and had most of the audience in stitches – myself included.
Les Dennis don’s the worst wig I’ve ever seen and tries to pull off an accent that reminded me of Borat so much that if I were Sacha Baron Cohen, I’d be beginning to worry. The best part though has to be that Les Dennis realises the show is meant to be fun and doesn’t take the part that seriously at all. He even allows the mocking of his ex wife Amanda Holden with a gag about her being strangled by “Britain’s Got Talent” Co-Judge Simon Cowell. Later on he actually does a bit of singing himself, which I won’t give too much away, other than to say it produces some pretty comical results.
Mel Giedroyc is great as host Boyka – eccentric, over the top and completely in love with herself, just how it should be. Her accent, although a bit strained at times, is great and her laugh is so piercing, that at times it had me cringing – in time with her lips moving to the pace of her show laughter, of course. She looked glamorous – in an eastern block Eurovision presenter kind of way – even when performing a piece later on that I can only describe as mesmerising.
First up where Italy, performing Don’t Stop Ti Amo. The dancers were excellent as was the singer and they had the audience enthralled from the moment they hit the stage, until they hit their final note. In a hilariously farcical send up to real life, they dedicated their performance to Silvio Berlusconi!
Estonia were up next and their routine has to be the campest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Performing Together Again, Toomas Jerker & The Stone Hard Boys were clearly a send up of the very popular Halifax adverts, in which Howard dances around in his suit. Except in EuroBeat, two of the group went all the way and eventually ended up frolicking around on stage in Man-Kini’s. Not what I was expecting it has to be said, but I’m sure the female quotient of the audience were salivating happily at this sight and it really was great fun to watch. Their routine was fantastic and their hard work shone through, in one of the best performances of the night.
Iceland came next and I thought, although this was most likely deliberate, that it was a pretty lacklustre performance, with the singer not really sounding too enthused and the dance routine certainly wasn’t as animated as some of the others. It was a good to see such a spoofed-up version of Bjork though.
The United Kingdom, Ireland, Greece and Hungary were all also pretty interesting to watch, with their dance routines all being imaginative and their singing of good quality, although not a touch as good as the rest of the countries.
On the Russian front came the KGBoyz, who were blatantly a spoof of the Backstreet Boys (with accompanying Russian accents of course.) Their song was superb and their routine was very kitsch, with all four members donning matching silver leotards. Their Russian accents were pretty ropey, but this added to general bemusement of the audience as they watched the KGBoyz bounce off one another while performing Ice Queen.
Germany followed with a song that actually had no singing in it – it was more of a European Electric Trance number - and I suspect after seeing the way the performers were dressed, with masks covering their faces, that they’re actually a spoof of Swedish born group The Knife (who wear masks when performing and play the same type of music.) This was a nice break and gave the audience the chance to see and listen to something slightly different.
To close, Sweden showcased group Alva (who were the most blatantly obvious camped up version of Abba I’ve ever seen.) They performed Same Old Song – which was very good and their routine was excellently choreographed. The group wore matching, tight, yellow leotards lined with glitter and seemed in their element performing.
After the interval the winner was announced, and the twist I mentioned earlier came into play here. Just before the interval, hosts Sergei and Boyka got the audience to text in their three favourite acts to a number and the results were then added up and presented to the audience in the second half – just like Eurovision. Estonia won during the performance I saw, but this will change depending on audience reaction to specific acts. Getting the audience to text in was a unique touch and most of the audience seemed to whip out their mobile phones and begin to text in before Les Dennis had even had the chance to finish explaining what to do.
If you don’t leave the theatre, wearing your love of Eurovision on your sleeve than I’ll eat my hat! EuroBeat is what going to the theatre is all about. It’s a musical that pokes massive amounts of fun at real life Eurovision, is full of deliciously camp gags presented in a unique format and offers Les Dennis back at his comic best, since his part in Ricky Gervais’ “Extras.”
Reviewed by Chris Conway
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