June 2008 Archives

Aah... I attended the University of Glasgow between 1995 and 1999 so I am chuffed to bits that the city is hosting this year's Eurovision Dance Contest on Saturday, September 6.

Here is the venue. It was called the Armadillo when it opened (while I was living there) but now goes by the name of the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre. But you can see why it had its original moniker from the pic.

Proper Eurovision may be over for another 11-and-a-half months, but don't fret, if you like nothing more than watching a national spokesperson reading out votes from one to 12, there are two more helpings coming your way this year.

First up - and get this, we're the host country (wahey!) - is the Eurovision Dance Contest, which takes place in Glasgow on September 6. Details are few and far between about this at the moment (I couldn't find a logo for it on the interweb, anyway) but a shoe-in for hosting responsibilities has to be the extra-smashing Lorraine Kelly, since the show comes from her own backyard. Let's hope so, anyway.

Following that, is the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in Cyprus at the end of the year. Now, it's ITV, not the BBC, who organise the UK entrant for this, but despite Britain finishing third, then second, in the first two years of the competition, we haven't entered since 2005. That's probably because the Junior Eurovision is quite rubbish - and even the most determined of Song Contest fans struggles to sit through a dozen-or-so performances of overly earnest youngsters either making a plea for world peace or carrying out some worryingly provocative dance moves.

However, it's still Eurovision - so qualifies for inclusion on Boom Bang a Blog. We'll keep you posted as and when each entry is picked. We're so good to you.