it's the Eurovision Song Contest tomorrow

[stuart.uk]

This is a show that tends to show the worst of the music scene in Europe, but might be worth a watch to hear Sir Terry Wogan's mickey taking comentary of the occassion. Terry sometimes gets into bother with comentators from the other countries because he pokes fun at a show they take seriously.

Britain at last has got a decent entertainer singing this yr Andy Abraham, an ex-binman, who was runner up a couple of yrs back on Simon Cowells Ex-Factor talent show. however, with the Baltic countries voting for each other, it's unlikely we'll see a British or for that matter Irish win.

to be fair though Eurovision did give the world Abba, who won with Waterloo in the 70s. it also made a National star out of future Irish polititian Dana, who sang All Kinds Of Everything in 1970. recently it was strongly suggested that in 1968 Cliff Richard was robbed of victory, because of vote rigging when he sang his classic Congratulations. he also later finished 3d with Power To All Our Friends

British winners include

Puppet On A String-Sandi Shaw-1967
Boom Bang A Bang-Lulu-1969
Making Your Mind Up-Bucks Fizz
Save Your Kisses For Me-The Brotherhood Of Man
Katrina And The Waves-Love Shine A Light

[Synnove]

It's interesting for me to hear a different perspective on this. In Britain, this contest isn't so very important, but in smaller countries like mine it's about the hugest thing there is.

I used to watch it on TV because it's fun, but I stopped when it became so big and hyped up. I mean, what is it? It's great entertainment, and a good place for fresh talents to emerge (I think our ABBA was the most successful there), but to me it isn't fun anymore when it becomes a matter of life and death. It's become like football.

I think that Terry Wogan is exactly what Swedish television needs here, someone who will put even our contestants in a proper context. Because really, most of the contestants, even ours (sigh) don't deserve to be taken so seriously. Every year I say, "we need a guy like that sarcastic Brit, are we going to kidnap him or what?"

As for the Baltic states voting for each other, that's the way Europe looks today. The most extreme things I've heard are people being nostalgic for the days of the iron curtain, which is pretty horrible.

There is a lot of friendship voting, instead of people voting for quality. On the other hand, here in Sweden, we vote for, lets see... Norway, Denmark, Finland and Iceland... Yes, what we really need to do is to divide up the Scandinavian nations into smaller countries. If there were more of them, we'd win for sure.

I couldn't watch last night because I was working. It was a pity, because it sounded like an interesting show. What did you think, Stuart.uk?

[stuart.uk]

Synnove

I didn't realise Terry's fame had spread to Sweden. i only watched it up and till Britain's Andy Abrahams song which was second up. Terry said it was the best Brit performance in yrs. however, what happened he came last. even Terry, who loves presenting the show, thought about giving it up. he even suggested that western Europeans should stop competing in the competiotion as they have no chance of winning.

are Sweden not in the same boat now as Britain and Ireland as far as actually winning the competition, even if you have the best song

[Synnove]

Yeah. Well, we're worse off than you guys, since we don't automatically have a place in the final.

Europe's changed since the show started in the 50's, and that inevitably means that a lot of smaller countries can vote, and are voting, for other countries with cultures similar to theirs. It's no stranger than England voting for Ireland, or Sweden voting for Norway. I agree that it's tough for us, but I don't see how that can change now, unless everything suddenly goes to heck for the Eastern block, which I don't hope for.

In the old days, the western Europeans had the advantage. Especially the English speaking countries, back when you were only allowed to compete with songs in your own language. Now the western European countries no longer have a clear upper hand in this contest. On the other hand, it's a great prestige for a country like Ukraine to host it.

What I'm hoping for is that Sweden, and Britain, will finally produce a really good song next time. Or something original, like Finland did. They won recently, didn't they? They tried something new. That's what you've got to do these days.

I don't know where I first heard of Terry. I think he's pretty well known, because of his unique style. I wish we had someone like that.

[stuart.uk]

I think the BBC is so powerful an organization that it would be very difficult not to have them pre-qualify for the final. likewise it would be difficult for the Beeb to pull the plug, becuase they make a lot of money from showing the show. i also wonder if some of the smaller countries actually depend on the UK for their coverage of the show.

during the cold war the show was often hosted in Britain, in the days when we had a chance of winning, often hosted by Katie Boyle (on the last show Terry had a bit of a go at the Serbian presenter, saying 'That voice can gut right through you.') apart from Cliff, Lulu and Sandi Shaw, other big name Brit enterteners took part like Stage star Michael Ball and pop group The Shadows. the Shads finished 2nd. in Michael's case, i think he regretted taking part. the question is who is going to put their reputation on the line and compete in a competition they are likely to be humilated in, no-matter how well they perform on the night.

another problem for Britian might be Iraq. with our involvement in the war, many countries might take it out on our performers giving them low or no marks at all

[charliechaplinfan]

I don't think voters would vote against Britain because of Iraq, I may be wrong but it's like children voting for their friends. Countrues vote for neighbours because it's more a kin to them. I do think that some of the bigger nations are regarded as the land of plenty or the nations that make the rlues when it comes to the European Union. It's good that other nations enjoy the prestige. It is a pity that there isn't a feeling of a level playing field about it now but as Synnove says, perhaps there never was. It is nice to have the opinion of someone from another European nation.

I believe the larger nations help pay for it so it might not do the contest any favours in the long run if Britain and Germany pull out. I hope they don't because it's like someone taking home their ball because they're not winning.