Countertenor Wins Eurovision!

 I gave up watching the Eurovision Song Contest long ago, round about the time when it stopped being funny, but I was interested to hear that last night's winner, name of JJ, is a countertenor with (some) Viennese classical training. A countertenor! Who saw that coming? Well, perhaps it shouldn't be that surprising, as the high male voice – usually categorised as falsetto – has been a remarkably persistent presence in pop music, from Frankie Valli and the Bee Gees to Prince and Antony (when he was Antony), not to mention Justin Hawkins and Tiny Tim. Until the nineteenth century, countertenor was a standard male voice in all forms of music, but by the mid-twentieth, when my musical taste was being formed, it was generally seen as something rather freakishly archaic and quaint, at least in the classical field. How times have changed – now fine countertenors are everywhere, playing a major part in the explosion of interest in Baroque music, and generally sweetening the soundtrack of life. 
  Having watched last night's winning performance – so you don't have to – I cannot say that it does much to sweeten anything, but heaven knows, worse things have won Eurovision. Immediately after watching it, I hastened to soothe my soul with my favourite countertenor Phillipe Jaroussky. Here he is, singing Handel with his perfect musical partner, Nuria Rial – glorious...