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TALLINN (CITY PAPER) A Golden Plover from Iceland Friday walked, or rather flew away with the first ever Eurovision Bird Song Contest—modeled after its counterpart for humans to be held here in Estonia the following day.
The winner was named at a news conference at the Tallinn Zoo, not far from several caged lions and bears, and just across from the venue for the better known contest featuring non-feathered singers from 24 mostly European nations.
The 21 competing birds, including a Slovenian red-breasted Flycatcher and Maltese Shearwater, didn't participate live, but sang—sometimes squawked, crowed or clucked—in 30-second recordings on the Eurovision Bird Song website. The birds _ nominated by ornithological societies—had to be native to a participating country or migrate through it to qualify.
The Golden Plover—or Pluvialis apricaria by its latin name—is a brownish, yellow-tinged bird that nests in Iceland's lowlands and its call is regarded as a harbinger of spring on the North Atlantic island and other Nordic nations. "It doesn't necessarily have a beautiful voice. It's got more of a fluty call than a song," said one of the contest organizers, Robert Oetjen. "But it's interesting, and so lots of people voted for it."
An estimated 30,000 people visited the site over the past four weeks to listen to the mp3 audio files of the bird songs and rate them from 1-5; the Golden Plover received the highest average rating, a 3.6, to take the title.
Second place went to a Belgian Bluethroat and a Belarussian Aquitic Warbler came in last. A panel of professional bird watchers named Estonia's entrant, a Thrush Nightingale, as its favorite. They were less enamored with the Icelandic bird that won the popular vote, putting it in 14th place.
The competition was organized by Estonian environmentalists, who said their goal was to raise awareness about threats to European birds. One contest news release, headlined "Illegal Killing of Bird Eurovision Artist," said millions songbirds are trapped in Cyprus each year, many for food. It said the Cypriot entry, a Blackcap, was among birds prized as a gourmet dish. "The Blackcap is better alive and singing than dead and pickled in a jar," the statement said. It criticized the government in Cyprus for not enforcing bans on the practice and said similar killings were also common in Italy and France.
Top prize was a small trophy and "national honor", said contest spokesman Kristjan Adjoaan. He said it wasn't yet clear whether the contest would be held next year or whether the winning country would take the lead in organizing it. A local communications firm, Tele2, foot the 20,000-dollar bill to put on the event, the brainchild of Estonia's Nature Fund and Ornithological Society. The Bird Song Contest was not formally sanctioned by the Eurovision Song Contest _ though organizers of that annual extravaganza gave their tacit approval, including by helping to publicize the birdsong competition.
(To hear the competing birdsongs, go to www.birdeurovision.org)
See previous report below.
A Slovenian red-breasted Flycatcher and Icelandic Golden Plover are among 21 birds that began squaring off Thursday in the first ever Eurovision Bird Song
Contest—modeled after its counterpart for humans. Other participants, selected by national ornithological societies, include a British Blackbird, a Swedish Bluethroat, Hungarian
Mustached Warbler and an Estonian Nightingale; an entrant had to be a bird native to that country or migrate through it to qualify.
The competition to select Europe's most beautiful birdsong was organized by environmentalists in Estonia, which hosts the better-known
Eurovision Song Contest on May 25. Birds don't participate live, but sing—in some cases squawk, crow or cluck—in the form of 30-second recordings posted on the
Eurovision Bird Song website (see below). Four weeks of online voting, open to all visitors to the site, began Thursday.
A main goal was to raise awareness about threats to European birds, said
Eurovision Bird Contest spokesman Kristjan Adojaan. One contest news releases, headlined
Illegal Killing of Bird Eurovision Artist, said 10 million songbirds are trapped in Cyprus each year, many for food. It said the Cypriot entry, a Blackcap, was among birds prized as a gourmet dish. "The Blackcap is better alive and singing than dead and pickled in a jar," the statement said. It criticized the government in Cyprus for not enforcing bans on the practice and said similar killings were also common in Italy and France.
Adojaan said organizers were
surprised at the level of international attention the event has
received in recent weeks, saying scores of newspapers and wire
services from across Europe have called for more information. A
headline story that appeared in The Guardian newspaper in
Britain read: Call Goes Out for Feathered ABBA.
Website visitors can rate each birdsong from 1-5 and the one with the highest average
wins; there will also be a separate vote offline by bird experts.. A winner will be named May 24 in a ceremony at the
Tallinn Zoo—just across the road from the auditorium venue for the pop music contest the next day. Top prize is "basically national honor" and a small trophy, said Adojaan. He said most money appeared to be on the nightingale and blackbird to take the
European Birdsong title, though he said his favorite was Malta's Cory Shearwater. A local communications firm, Tele2, is footing the
20,000-dollar bill to put on the event, the brainchild of Estonia's Nature Fund
and Ornithological Society.
The contest for non-feathered singers, derided as a celebration of kitsch by some, draws over 200 million television viewers a year. Estonia won the right to stage the 2002
Eurovision Song Contest when its entrant won last year in Denmark. The
Bird Song Contest is not formally sanctioned by the Eurovision Song Contest— though organizers of that annual
extravaganza have given their tacit approval, including by helping to publicize the birdsong competition.
(To hear the competing birdsongs, go to www.birdeurovision.org
and click on "voting.")
—CITY PAPER-The Baltic States
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“The Blackcap is better alive and singing than dead and pickled in a
jar.”
