Hooray, the Eurovision Song Contest is back on our screens with the cheesy songs, tacky outfits, outrageous performers, and as for some of the dance routines ‘can you be serious’, but I love it .
I'm not a fan of the semi-finals part of the progress but they are needed because there are just too many countries to have them all on the main night.
It would be a big deal in our house growing up, still with me today. Maybe the wife’s interest will be sparked a little but there will be absolutely no interest from my boys, so no party night here unless I fork out for a family takeaway, not happening.
As a youngster, we would sit around as a family watching the TV ready to pick our winner after hearing the songs, no previews back then. My patriotic leanings meant I would always be in the corner of the UK no matter the song but always have a reserve just in case. You couldn’t always depend on a British competitor. It was the same with beauty contest like Miss UK or Miss World before the feminist and PC brigade high profile campaign to rid TV of this cattle market as they called it. However, as a family we enjoyed both of the final nights
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| Our Molly |
I have not checked out the songs for this year show having decided to go old school to hear them for the first time on the night. I have heard the UK entrant song, and from reports has been well received by the people in the know and it shows in the betting odds now third favourite to win. That is until the voting kicks in Saturday and the old comrades packed comes into play. In recent years, a succession of well-established UK acts have failed to set the Eurovision scoreboard alight. Therefore, this time they are throwing in a complete unknown to the majority of the British public, Molly Smitten-Downes. The singer is currently third favourite to win on Saturday with her power balled Children of the Universe.
If the music is not to your taste then the comedy show that is the voting will get you going, hopping mad more likely and generating a lot of heated discussion.
Rumour has it Australia could be entering the competition in 2015. Can it still be the Eurovision Song Contest? The organisers invited an Australian singer Jessica Mauboy to sing at the semi-final interval, the first time the honour had been given to a country outside Europe. The whole Eurovision thing is highly popular in Australia pulling in a large TV audience.
Every year there is something controversial ahead of the final broadcast, it could be countries or some singer/group this year there is a bit of both. With Russia parked on the border with the Ukraine and war on the cards, the normal eastern bloc voting packed could be broken. These two regularly give each other high marks and have both reached the final, should be interesting. Maybe Ukraine will give Russia ’12 points’ hoping it will reduce tensions between the two. Could Russia be the new UK? After the Iraqi war, there seemed to be a major drop in support from other countries who would normally give votes to the UK. Since the year of the war in 2003, the votes for the UK have somewhat disappeared. That year the UK entrant, Jemini failed to register a single vote.
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| The bearded one |
This years most talked about competitor is Austria’s entry, Conchita Wurst, see photo for why. Drag/Cross-dressing is nothing new to Eurovision or particularly controversial has a transsexual singer from Israel won the competition in 1998. I have to say the beard I find a bit off putting but hey, it’s nothing to do with me. Although some groups have called for the performance to be censored one Russian politician, Vitaly Milonov described Eurovision as a ‘Europe-wide gay parade’.
The whole show kicks off tomorrow at 8pm with a finishing time of 11:25pm but I normally runs over a bit. Graham Norton will be on hand to keep us company with his trademark dry humour and his observations.
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