Blogs (5)
About me
Once upon a time there was a New Yorker who moved to Europe and discovered the world of the ESC.
Read full biographyDo you know the way to San Marino?
Posted 14/May 2008 at 18:56 by Rick Jacobs. Topics: Complice, San Marino 2008
I'm going back to find some peace of mind in... er... San Marino.
So here is Part II of Rick's Vision of the New Countries Entering Into The Eurovision Song Contest. Isn't that a catchy title? After having exhaustively covered Azerbaijan, I thought I'd go smaller and look at San Marino, providing a public service by letting you know something about the country.
There is only one problem. San Marino didn't want me to know anything about the country. It's as if their small government got together and said, if that nosy American Eurovision obsessive asks you questions, whatever you do DON'T TELL HIM ANYTHING. This was said in Italian of course, as English is probably not widely spoken there. This is of course, a guess, as no one told me anything, in Italian or English. Or Swedish.
Here's what happened. With only 30,000 people in residence in San Marino, it was going to be hard to find out what I wanted to for this post, mainly to discover some interesting things about San Marino that would heighten your viewing experience when Miodio get to perform, and to get an opinion of what they thought of this year's entry. So I found the San Marino Embassy in London and tried to call them. The entire Embassy has a very unique location in the UK - inside someone's apartment. Yes, any business you have to do through the Embassy is in someone's home. Of course, I tried calling them on the number provided but all I got is an answering machine - but not even a machine saying, "Hello, this is the San Marino Embassy". Instead they had the standard message from BT (the main UK telephone company) saying "Hello, you've reached a BT ansaphone." Oh my God, what kind of Embassy is this? If there is a national disaster in San Marino, where is the Hot Line phone located, in the kitchen?
So far their San Marino conspiracy to avoid me was working. But I wasn't going to give up - it was time for some drastic action. Surely they would understand I had deadlines to meet, people to inform. So I went straight to Francesca Michelotti, who is the Secretary of Public Education, Culture, & Social Affairs. She must at least have a personal assistant with a Blackberry and actual voice mail. Some calls and two emails later, still no response. Listen, Francesca, I'm sorry I said your country was small, I didn't mean to use those Italian swear words my ex-boyfriend used to say to me. Please forgive me. Did you get my flowers?
Well, I'm sorry readers. I did try my best but it's hard to overcome a national conspiracy against you. If you've ever found an entire population has turned against you, you will know how it feels. All I have left is to talk about the song they are sending to the Eurovision Song Contest Final this year, entitled Complice. This translates into 'I Hate Myself'. If you don't speak Italian, I've produced an English version of the lyrics for you: 'I hate myself/but I hate the Rick's Vision column more/All American Eurovision fans should be banned/They don't even know where San Marino is/Plus they are not even European'. See what I mean, now do you believe me?!
Break a leg, San Marino. I'll come over to the Embas... I mean... apartment... anytime.
So here is Part II of Rick's Vision of the New Countries Entering Into The Eurovision Song Contest. Isn't that a catchy title? After having exhaustively covered Azerbaijan, I thought I'd go smaller and look at San Marino, providing a public service by letting you know something about the country.
There is only one problem. San Marino didn't want me to know anything about the country. It's as if their small government got together and said, if that nosy American Eurovision obsessive asks you questions, whatever you do DON'T TELL HIM ANYTHING. This was said in Italian of course, as English is probably not widely spoken there. This is of course, a guess, as no one told me anything, in Italian or English. Or Swedish.
Here's what happened. With only 30,000 people in residence in San Marino, it was going to be hard to find out what I wanted to for this post, mainly to discover some interesting things about San Marino that would heighten your viewing experience when Miodio get to perform, and to get an opinion of what they thought of this year's entry. So I found the San Marino Embassy in London and tried to call them. The entire Embassy has a very unique location in the UK - inside someone's apartment. Yes, any business you have to do through the Embassy is in someone's home. Of course, I tried calling them on the number provided but all I got is an answering machine - but not even a machine saying, "Hello, this is the San Marino Embassy". Instead they had the standard message from BT (the main UK telephone company) saying "Hello, you've reached a BT ansaphone." Oh my God, what kind of Embassy is this? If there is a national disaster in San Marino, where is the Hot Line phone located, in the kitchen?
So far their San Marino conspiracy to avoid me was working. But I wasn't going to give up - it was time for some drastic action. Surely they would understand I had deadlines to meet, people to inform. So I went straight to Francesca Michelotti, who is the Secretary of Public Education, Culture, & Social Affairs. She must at least have a personal assistant with a Blackberry and actual voice mail. Some calls and two emails later, still no response. Listen, Francesca, I'm sorry I said your country was small, I didn't mean to use those Italian swear words my ex-boyfriend used to say to me. Please forgive me. Did you get my flowers?
Well, I'm sorry readers. I did try my best but it's hard to overcome a national conspiracy against you. If you've ever found an entire population has turned against you, you will know how it feels. All I have left is to talk about the song they are sending to the Eurovision Song Contest Final this year, entitled Complice. This translates into 'I Hate Myself'. If you don't speak Italian, I've produced an English version of the lyrics for you: 'I hate myself/but I hate the Rick's Vision column more/All American Eurovision fans should be banned/They don't even know where San Marino is/Plus they are not even European'. See what I mean, now do you believe me?!
Break a leg, San Marino. I'll come over to the Embas... I mean... apartment... anytime.
