Ivi Adamou performs La La Love at the Cypriot national final

I must confess, I was halfway through my Burns Night haggis (very tasty it was too) when Cyprus was busy choosing one of the three songs on the shortlist for Ivi Adamou to perform in the second half of the first semi-final of this year's Eurovision Song Contest in Azerbaijan.

It is probably the most commercial of the three on offer. Whether it gets through to the final depends, of course, on the other 17 songs surrounding it. Three of those 17 are known in the form of the Albanian, Swiss and Danish entries. Do you think Ivi's song is better than those three?

Right, it all started getting a bit important today out there in Azerbaijan. This year's hosts, Ictimai Television, unveiled the artwork for this year's Eurovision (which looks a bit like the flower used in the logo when Malaysia hosted the 1998 Commonwealth Games and another floral example employed in the logo for Nagano's staging of the 2002 Winter Olympics but we're not going to mention that again. Ever). The slogan for this year's Contest was also proudly announced. It's 'Give Us the Olympics in 2020'. That's a big fib of course, the slogan is actually 'Light Your Fire'. It's not 'Light My Fire' as that, of course, is already being used for the Eurovision Will Young Contest.

Artwork aside, the main business of today's launch (not forgetting some business involving Mayors and Keys of Responsibility being handed over) was to decide which of the semi-final participants will appear in which of the two semis and, more importantly when delegations have to book hotels in time for rehearsals, in which half of that semi-final they are set to appear. This means that relatively poor Albania has to stay in Baku for more nights than the rather richer Swedish delegation as the former is in the first half of the first semi-final and the latter in the last half of the second semi. That's all worked out marvellously then.

Soluna Samay, winner of Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2012 with Should've Known Better

So the two favourites are both staying at home. The rather US College radio sounds of Soluna Samay will instead go on to Baku in May as the Danish entry for Eurovision 2012.

What do you reckon to Sol's chances at this early stage? And will Tenille get a bit miffed if she doesn't get the Captain's outfit back to him, pronto?

With the greatest respect to the organisers of Albania's Festival i Kenges, there is a real sense that the 2012 Eurovision season gets underway tonight as Denmark prepares to choose its song for this year's Contest to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan. This could also be our first audio-type-glimpse of one of this year's proper contenders as the Danes have finished in the top five in the past two Contest. Those lovely folk at Danish telly, probably developing a more overt ruthless streak after the international success of The Killing, have also stated that it is their intention to clinch the title in May and bring the competition to Denmark for the first time in 12 years.

Now, this is where Boom Bang a Blog has a problem. For the past five years or so I have enjoyed a super-quick internet connection at home but in the past few months it has inexplicably slowed to a snail's pace. So listening to national final entries on YouTube takes a lot longer than it used to. So much longer that I really won't have the time to listen to them all, especially if some countries have 20+ hopefuls in one heat. So, until the problem is sorted, I'm having to rely on what other people think of this year's tunes.

Ivi Adamou sings You Don't Belong Here, one of three shortlisted songs for the 2012 Cypriot national final

Could it be? yes it could. Something's coming, something Eurovision-shaped. The 2012 Contest is just under five months away and while the full list of participants has yet to be confirmed (although we can safely assume that Albania and Switzerland will be on the list), plenty of countries will be using January to either get their choice for Baku done and dusted or at least get a few mammoth selection processes under way. Cyprus is one of the nations picking early, having already named Ivi Adamou as its entrant several months back. The nation will give one of three songs the nod on January 25 but the one Boom Bang a Blog thinks has the best chance is You Don't Belong Here.

Although it sounds like the theme song from a dreadfully earnest E4-friendly US teen soap, this is just about the best thing in the trio of tunefulness Ivi will be launching from her lungs in just over a fortnight. As the singer made her name on a talent show, it's probable she has the necessary pow-wow voice-wise to make all three of these sound like absolute belters. However, there is another song in contention which seems that bit more likely to earn a spot at Azerbaijan's Crystal Hall.

Hellom BBaBers and a very Happy New Year!

Thank you for all your kind words about the Boom Bang a Blog Book. If you have read it you will know there was a quiz featuring 144 questions about the Contest and I promised the answers on New Year's Day. Here they be:

Albania 2012: Rona Nishliu performs Suus

Now, this one goes on a bit but if you look beyond all of that it has the makings of a the most impressive Albanian offering since their 2004 debut. Called Suus, it took the honours at the 50th Festival i Kenges, which despite half a century of heritage in its own right has now been adopted as the route songwriters take to Eurovision itself. In its current state, Suus is about a minute too long for the Contest rule book and as Albania is renowned for remixing the Festival i Kenges winner within an inch of its natural between Christmas and Easter, heaven knows what sounds will be coming out of Rona's mouth on stage in Baku.

Merry Christmas Boom Bang a Bloggers. Click right here to open up The Boom Bang a Blog Book 2012. It's a little birra fun for Crimbo. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did putting it together. And if you like it enough, it may *just* become an annual, err, annual.

Over the past three months I've been working on a wee project for all you loyal Boom Bang a Bloggers to get your first shufty at on Christmas Eve Eve. And somebody else who has been turning their hand to online publishing is our ald mucker Ewan Spence (he used to review albums for us, remember?) who has just published the account of his trip to this month's Junior Eurovision Song Contest in Yerevan, the Armenian capital, earlier this month. Called It's Cold and There are Children Singing, the title reflects the below-freezing temperatures Armenia experiences at this time of year as well as the fact that children sing at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.

Ewan's stuff is always worth a read, so if you're interested in his trip, have a click here to find out more.