Oggie, Oggie, OGAE
You'll recognise the man on the right - it's Mr Danny Lynch, the intrepid soul who tried his damnedest to get some backstage gossip at last month's Eurovision Dance Contest in Glasgow for Boom Bang a Blog, but was thwarted by a lack of internet access.
But never mind about all that - that's me and 'im on the darncefloor of one of the function rooms at Birmingham's Jury's Inn on Saturday night for Eurobash 2008. It's a wonder some of the enthusiastic souls bopping away to Eurovision classics didn't crash in to us while we posed for a pic.
Although Boom Bang a Blog didn't get there until the disco, the event began at 1pm and included, as we mentioned last week, an appearance by Bill Martin who co-wrote the UK's 1967 winner Puppet On a String and it would have been quite fun to hear what he had to say about his experiences.
Also, it seems the BBC despatched a researcher to Birmingham to gauge fan opinion on how Auntie Beeb should best progress with the 2009 selection process. From what the researcher was saying, Andrew Lloyd Webber's participation next year isn't a given - and neither is Terry Wogan's non-participation.
Well, BBaB wasn't there to offer some nuggets, but ideas we do have (in case anyone is reading this) are:
(a) Get rid of John Barrowman from the panel on the night the song is chosen. He talks absolute rubbish and has no idea what makes a good Eurovision song. It's his fault we sent Scooch.
(b) Don't worry about getting a 'name' to sing the UK entry. It's the song people vote for, so worry about getting good songwriters on board before anything else. The Feeling would be top of our composers' list, followed by Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy, Guy Chambers (worked with Robbie Williams), Cathy Dennis (wrote Kylie's Can't Get You Out of My Head and Britney's Toxic) and perhaps the teams who turn out the singles for Girls Aloud.
(c) Don't worry about getting a 'name' performer, but do get someone who can confidently belt out a tune in a stadium which holds at least 20,000 people. The last international 'name' to do Eurovision was tATu for Russia in 2003 and they didn't get a single point from the British voters. We gave our 12 to a cheeky-faced Irishman with a guitar, charisma and a good set of pipes, instead.
(d) Don't pick our entrant via a Maria/Joseph/Nancy-style audition show. Eurovision doesn't work like that as it's about songs, not people. Pair up 16 songs with 16 acts first, have eight performed one week, eight the next, with the top four from each going through to a grand final. It's a bit like the way the Swedes do it, but on a smaller scale and hopefully something the public will take to in the same way they took to Maria/Joseph/Nancy.
(e) And don't be afraid to be seen to be making an effort to do well.
Anyway, back to the disco. We all had a marvellous time and particular dancefloor favourites were Shady Lady, this year's runner-up from the Ukraine and the Swedish entry Hero from Charlotte Perelli - not a personal favourite, but it would be churlish to get sniffy about something so clearly popular.
All good clean fun. Who knows, maybe we'll see you there next year.
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Jamie McLoughlin - The news editor of Southport Visiter reveals all about his musical hobby that more people should admit to having.
I totally agree that John Barrowman mustn’t be let within a thousand miles of the BBC studio on the day of the UK selection. As he left Scotland over 30 years ago to live in the USA, he’s still stuck in the ‘Congratchaboombangabox-on-a-string’ mentality. To think he did his darndest to send the atrocious ‘funky chicken’ effort from Michelle Gayle this year. Shudder! Regarding singers, I still think someone with an element of a ‘name’ should be asked to compete as they have some cred with the public. Experience counts for a lot at Eurovision these days as a song has to be really sold to make any mark at all. I still think getting a foreign artist to represent the UK would be a good idea as there is not such a stigma to Eurovision in other countries and they would have little to lose. Above all, find some decent songs. I don’t care if the writers are Swedish, just make them good songs! I feel 16 songs are going to be too many for the UK audience to cope with. They get confused easily. But six is inadequate as there just isn’t enough quality to be found in the short-listed stuff the BBC usually decides upon. Perhaps two semis with five in each would be ample. So on the whole, I agree with everything you say (sort of).
Oh yes, I’d like to add that under no circumstances should Lisa Andreas be allowed any role in the UK’s efforts next year. Her truly horrific performance in 2004 of a startled rabbit frozen in the headlights whilst missing just about every note in the musical scale must never, ever be repeated.