英语听力精选进阶版 6058（在线收听）

This year’s Eurovision Song Contest has been won by a singer from Serbia with a powerful ballad about an estranged lover. But it was a disappointing night for the UK, whose team tied with France in joint second-last place.

The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition between more than 40 European countries, which is broadcast live on television throughout Europe and the rest of the world.

Each participating country sends one musical act to the competition to sing a song. Once all the acts have performed, each country awards points to the singers they liked best – these points are usually based on phone and text message votes sent in by viewers in the various countries.

However, the contest has faced mounting criticism in recent years as countries have tended to vote for their neighbours and "friends" rather than judging each entrant on their merits.

This process, known as "block voting", often sees Scandinavian, Baltic and Balkan countries voting for each other while other countries receive few votes or even no points at all – the dreaded "nul points".

But some commentators say the competition should not be taken too seriously and that national partisanship is all part of the fun.

Whatever the result, the Eurovision Song Contest is always a spectacle featuring camp acts, baffling lyrics and incomprehensible titles such as "Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley" and "Ding-A-Dong".

The competition has acted as the springboard for a few successful musical careers and many failed ones.

Eurovision winners who have gone on to superstardom include Abba, who won the competition in 1974 with the hit song "Waterloo", and Celine Dion, who won the competition in 1988 representing Switzerland despite being a French–Canadian.

GLOSSARY 词汇表

ballad 民谣

estranged lover 离异的情人

tied with 并列;平手

broadcast 广播

musical act 表演曲目; 表演团体

text message votes 短信投票

mounting criticism 越来越多的批评

tended 有…倾向

merits 成绩

block voting 盟友互投票

Scandinavian 斯堪的纳维亚(的)

Baltic 波罗的海(的)

Balkan 巴尔干(的)

nul points 零分

national partisanship 国家派系

spectacle 壮观的场面

camp acts 夸张的表演

springboard 跳板

baffling lyrics 难懂的歌词

superstardom 超级明星的地位