Boom Bang a Bash!

First things first. We teased you with details of Glyn's dishes for this year's Eurobash. So let's have a look at some in detail.

This trifle was based on the Effluence Confluence of Sound Eurovision logo. It's raspberry and blueberry sauce acting as the Danube and Sava rivers, meeting as one in Belgrade to form a big treble clef. But you didn't need me to tell you that. Do you like the plate? I got it in TK Maxx for about six quid four years ago.

Glyn swotted up on Serbian recipes from various internet sources - but more of that to come - although the Continent is well served here in this melange of different coloured pasta, Feta cheese and roast veg. This isn't supposed to look like this year's logo, although it could be a tribute to the various shades of hair colour on display from the German entry. The lady singing for Portugal kindly agreed to stand in front of our salad for this photograph as well, so thanks for that. We don't know who the man is.

Here is the chef himself proudly showing off his finished selection of culinary wares. The dish in the white Pyrex dish is meatballs covered with a crust of dumplings and very delicious it was too. Don't forget, it you close your eyes when you're eating this sort of fare, your brain doesn't know what it is, so can't work out how many calories to add to your belly. We enjoyed it lots.

Jason and Glyn in their stunning Eurovision outfits

As well as the fine cuisine, there was a small amount of effort put in to the evening by most of the guests to adhere to the 'Eurotrash' theme. Glyn and I attempted to resemble the swarthy gentlemen who swarm around nubile lady tourists on package holidays to the Med, while Jason thought Eurovision was a bit 'bling', so donned a waistcoat with a silver back panel (not pictured). After all that effort, we needed a nice cup of tea and a sit down before the Contest began.

And so to the songs. You've already had a full run-down of the 2008 entries in previous bits of Boom Bang a Blog, so we won't bore you with them again, however.

We all loved France. Sebastian Tellier's arrival in a golf buggy and his bearded lady backing singers got a big vote of everyone and was our tip for the trophy (we're well good at predictions, as you can see). We also liked the over-the-top histrionics of Azerbaijan, the sperbly performed tune from Norway and Laka's antics on behalf of Bosnia & Herzegovina divided the room. We're ashamed to admit it, but many of us gave Andy Abraham and the UK the thumbs down as well (we'll be extradited if we're not careful).

Then again, we had Russia about 24th on our list. It was still there once the voting was over.

It didn't matter that Doctor Who had been postponed for a week, either. The moment Charlotte appeared on stage for Sweden, at least two of us hid behind the sofa. She looked far more soft and cuddly when she won back in 1999.

For a while, I genuinely thought Terry was doing his commentary from the comfort of BBC Television Centre. His booth was so well insulated it didn't sound as though he was in a noise-filled arena at all. It's a good thing he was, as said booth was probably filled with fluent Anglo Saxon once the show was over.

Now that a few days have passed, it's unlikely the UK will withdraw. If we are to do well at Eurovision again, the answer is very simple - try a lot harder.

We don't necessarily need a big name act, but we do need a great big song. The lads from The Feeling could put together a barnstormer of a Eurovision song. They don't necessarily have to sing it, but there must be someone with suitably leather-clad lungs out there who could belt it out in Moscow on their behalf.

In 1998, the UK came second with a song perfomed by Imaani. The Derby-born lady was no big name, but she had considerable experience as a backing singer on arena tours for big name acts, including Lulu. When Imaani was paired up with a song written by the composers of (among others) Barry Manilow's Mandy, she turned in a superlative performance and was pipped to the post by Ms Dana International. It's a feat that would be very easy to repeat. If somebody was willing to try.