Results tagged “Eurovision Song Contest” from Boom Bang a Blog

Down girls, they're spoken for...

A gaggle of us gathered in Liverpool yesterday afternoon for another of our regular meet-ups to discuss Life, the Universe and Eurovision. Thanks to some pre-publicity we had some newcomers (hello Jeff and Scott) and the conversation soon turned to talking about which songs we liked best from those chosen at this weekend's national finals. I can only apologise for the quality of the photo, I had the camera on the wrong setting and it looks like everyone has just returned from eight months in Lanzarote to have a nice chat in a sauna.

Anyway, the upshot of the day was that whatever song somebody loathed with a passion, someone else rather liked. We've always been good at agreeing. There was beer and giggles too.

There'll be other meet-ups before the big night in May. We'll keep you posted on dates if you care to join in.

The view outside my window at about 8.20 this morning

It wasn't a pretty sight in our spare room at two minutes to eight this morning. There I was in my dressing gown nervously clicking the 'book now' link on the webpage of the Norwegian agency looking after the tickets for this year's Eurovision Song Contest final.

I was advised by fellow fans in the pub yesterday to take the first tickets you're offered as there's no guarantee you'll be offered any others in the 10-minute-ish window they're available. It took a fair few clicks and a lot of patience to get to the booking page, but by jove, I made it. A few credit card details later, and our four-strong expedition to Oslo will all be sat in the same block (which has a fantastic view of the stage!), but not quite all together.

So, that's flights, accommodation and tickets to the actual shebang sorted.

For the first time in seven years, I have a Contest to go to.

Chanée & N'evergreen. A Bardo for the 21st Century

Tonight's national finals have drawn to a close. In the end, I watched Norway choose its song as there's not much point watching Melodifestivalen until the night of the final, which is still five weeks away. Well, I don't wish to sound boastful, but Didrik Solli Tangen did win in Norway (as predicted) and Hera Bjork brought home the bacon in Iceland, which was another Boom Bang a Blog tip from this morning (see the post below to hear the songs).

The only one not called in spot-on fashion was Denmark. The web favourite Bryan Rice finished in second place, letting the poptastic antics of Chanée and Tomas N'evergreen fly the red-and-white flag in Olso with the song In a Moment Like This. Boom Bang a Blog has to confess to developing a real affection for this from just the first listen, it certainly has the *something* that Hera's Je Ne Sais Quoi is unlikely to ever have. I still think ole Did' will score the highest out of everything chosen tonight, though. What do you think?

Good morning Boom Bang a Bloggers. I've had my porridge with blueberries in and sweated buckets whilst attempting lunges and torso twists on the Wii Fit so here I am, relaxed and refreshed with news of the treats coming your way this evening - and how to see them over the web.

Yes, this very night, Iceland, Denmark and 2010 hosts Norway will choose the songs which will go forth to the Eurovision stage in late May under each nation's respective flag. Not only that, but the biggest national final of them all - Melodifestivalen - has the first of its five weekly qualifying rounds in Sweden tonight. In around six weeks, we should know the full line-up for Eurovision 2010. But before all that, here are Boom Bang a Blog's predictions.

"Welcome one, welcome all. To paraphrase a football song, Eurovision's coming home." So began Terry Wogan's commentary for the first British Eurovision in 16 years. It doesn't make sense of course. Eurovision's home is Lugano in Switzerland, where it all began in 1956 - or Geneva, the headquarters of the European Broadcasting Union - or even Dublin, the city which had hosted six of the 43 Eurovisions prior to this point. But not really anywhere in the UK. However, there was no denying that the events which took place inside Birmingham's National Indoor Arena on May 9, 1998, constituted the most anticipated Contest of recent years. Two of the 25 entrants were making headlines across the Continent in the weeks leading up to the event - and one of them would go on to win the competition.

It also marked the end of the United Kingdom's run as one of the most successful countries taking part in the competition. After 1998, there were very few glimmers of hope to be found as Blighty sank further and further down the scoreboard. But we won't worry about that here. Come with us now on a trip to the Midlands, where the British Broadcasting Corporation decided to be as non-jingoistic as possible and employ an Irishman and a Swede to host its last Eurovision to date, the winning singer won a unique glass bowl by Susan Nixon, the postcard films were a work of quiet genius and everybody laughed at a middle-aged Dutch lady.

The songs taking part in many of the national finals of the 39 competing countries in Oslo are now becoming known. One of the more interesting choices is this one from Romania.

Luminita Anghel finished third in the 2005 Contest and is joined here by Tony Thomas and Adrian Piper for a song called Save Their Lives (In Memoriam Michael Jackson).

Would it be cruel to suggest that this is a cynical way of earning votes from the many, many Jacko fans dotted across the continent if this gets picked for Norway - or is it genuinely written from the heart?

This is one of the latest pieces of perfest pop by UK group The Ultrasonics.

And on their Facebook page today the pair hinted at a secret meeting at the BBC, involving Pete Waterman, Terry Wogan and a lot more that they couldn't say.

Considering Terry's not involved anymore, are they taking the proverbial? Or is this rather heartening news for the U of K?

Finland 2010: And doesn't it just scream 'winner' at you?

The Finnish national final finished last night and the band Kuunkuiskaajat, fronted by sisters who bring to mind thoughts of those dreadfully tuneless twins for Your Country Needs You last year, will be giving it laldy in Norway with the rather unusual number Työlki Ellää.

It starts off rather folky, as though someone's decided to get an especially lacklustre wedding reception going with a bit of a sing-song round the accordion and there are certaimly signs of it having the desired effect among the audience members.

But is it a winner? Or even a song which will qualify to the final itself form the semi? There are still too many songs to be picked to make any concrete predictions, but let's just say that after clicking 'save' on this particular blog entry I won't be dashing to ladbrokes.com for a cheeky flutter.

And they look like such charming young ladies as well. So cruel.

It was announced by the BBC this morning that successful record producer Pete Waterman, the man who steered Kylie, Rick Astley and Steps - among others - to chart success will be behind this year's British entry to the Eurovision Song Contest.

Although the smart money (based on tabloid and supposed insider rumour) before the official press release was let loose into the ether had either Gary Barlow, Cathy Dennis or even Elton John pencilled in for the job, there is already some confusion over whether Pete will actually be writing the song, or collaborating with another composer/s and putting some studio expertise and polish on their work. It sounds a bit like the way Andrew Lloyd Webber worked with American songwriter Diane Warren on It's My Time last year.

UPDATE: Sorry, everyone. The BBC won't be revealing any news until 'early on Friday morning' now. I do hope the composer isn't getting cold feet...


First Andy Murray gets through to the final of the Australian Open and then someone on BBC Eurovision's twittering team announces that today's the day we learn the details of the UK selection for the 2010 Contest. What a sterling morning's work for Le Royaume Uni.

Past experience has led Boom Bang a Blog never to get all that excited about these announcements. Don't forget, the year we could have had Morrissey, we ended up with Scooch. However, with Your Country Needs You looking a certainty for this year's selection process once more - it's likely the identity of a well-known composer who's agreed to take on Mission Oslo will be the thrust of the imminent press release.

BBaB has its fingers crossed for Gary Barlow or Cathy Dennis. BBaB is also hoping and praying that the job hasn't gone to a former Big Brother contestant who knows how to hum quite well, or someone who last had a hit before Britain went decimal.

As soon as it's announced, we'll bring you full details and a personal reaction. Time's a ticking down...

He really does sound genuine. Hmm...

A big thank you to Anita Kinky for this tip off; Hirsute Bristolian Justin Lee Collins appeared on the legendary Irish programme The Late Late Show last week to discuss his (serious) quest to represent said nation at this year's Eurovision Song Contest.

This has been mentioned on Boom Bang a Blog before - Justin is working on a documentary for channel Five in the UK about representing a country at Eurovision and in a real case of hedging his bets he's been all over the place trying to ease his way onto the shortlist for a national final. Estonia and Andorra were two of the countries he visited - but Estonia has published its final shortlist of songs and it is definitely a Lee Collins-free zone, while Andorra won't even be in Oslo due to monetary concerns.

What do you think? Would you give Justin a go? I'd especially like to know what readers in Ireland think...

The A1 now leads to Norway, apparently

Largely British boyband A1 made a comeback last night - at the semi-finals of Norway's Melodi Grand Prix. The group which won the Best Breakthrough Act BRIT award in 2001 and enjoyed two number one hits at the beginning of the noughties are seeing their possible appearance at Eurovision 2010 a bit of a career renaissance. Their song Don't Wanna Lose You Again was one of two entries receiving enough votes to go straight through to the Norwegian final on February 6.

Since day one, A1 has had Norwegian links, especially regarding original member Christian Ingebrigtsen (who was born in Oslo), before anyone cries out that the lads are being unpatriotic.

Lead singer Ben Adams, you may remember, appeared on Celebrity Big Brother last year - and may or not be named after Ben Adam, the title of the Israeli entry from 1988.

Ben finished fifth in Celeb BB, but with the size of A1's fanbase, I'd imagine he and his bandmates will be going a lot further in Melodi Grand Prix.

This is the logo of the 1959 Eurovision Song Contest when the event was held in Cannes, France.

It's all very simple and straightforward and does the job it needs to do, but one thing has always bugged me. What on earth is that pencil sketch to the right of the writing supposed to represent? Is it a cross-section of a lady wearing a strapless evening gown, beginning just below her chin and ending just below her bust? Is it an open handbag with something off plonked upright in it? Or is it something so simple that I've been trying to heard to tell what it is? If you know, or have any theories yourself, please enlighten us all by leaving a comment.

Popstar Queen - disqualified from the Spanish preselection. Tsk.

As you may remember from a previous blogpost, Spanish TV invited potential acts for this year's Eurovision to submit potentail winners online, which the public will then whittle down from the 313-strong (yes, that's 313) longlist via an internet vote to the 10 songs which will be performed in Spain's national final soon.

This is the same process that they've used in the past two years, one producing a comedy song about chickens and the other a run-of-the-mill pop thing which finished way down the bottom of the scoreboard in Moscow.

But in the past 24 hours, four songs have been eliminated from the preliminary round for not playing by the rules. Naughtiness has its price - and these cheeky singers are paying.

I will never forget watching the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest. I was in my second year at Glasgow University, staying in a tenement flat not too far from the Botanic Gardens or the famous Byres Road (you really should try and do the pub crawl) which had rooms as big as ballrooms that were just as difficult to heat. Two days before the Contest was screened, Labour had swept to power after 18 years in the shadows and Tony Blair looked like the sort of bloke who could make Britannia cool again. With such a momentous seachange for Britain, it's understandable that the goings on between acts from 25 nations across the Irish Sea in Dublin's Point Theatre weren't going to register much on neither media radar nor national consciousness. But somehow, it did.

Topping off a week when, for Britain's non-Tory populous, things really could only get better - they only went and did. As though it was written fresh on the statute book in the burgeoning daylight of May 2, as though everyone had decreed it so to welcome in a new age, as though the rest of Europe suddenly realised we weren't so bad after all on this sceptred isle. On May 3, 1997, the United Kingdom won the Eurovision Song Contest.

And it's still the only one I've ever watched on my own.

We know what you're thinking. There's been a few contenders for 2010 revealed to our unwitting eyes and ears by now. There's that bloke from Switzerland whose song sounds a bit dirty, the demo from the Netherlands which defies description, Albania's Happy Shopper version of Womanizer and then there's the singers without portfolio: Tom Dice for Belgium, Harel Skaat for Israel and that gentleman with the very long name for Ukraine.

You must be itching to talk about it with someone, somebody who truly empathises with you in your plight as a Eurovision fan. Well, we're here to help.

On Sunday, February 7, a gaggle of fans will assemble at Dr Duncan's in Liverpool (good pub, they do real ale and Nobby's Nuts) and talk about what's coming up Contest-wise. These meet-ups have been going on for about five years now - but that doesn't mean we don't welcome newcomers.

If you can get to Liverpool in the afternoon that day - there are no footie fixtures, unless the snowed off matches are squeezed in at short notice, so it should be easy enough to find a seat - and have never been before, trust me, you'll be made very welcome. And if you're not sure about turning up on your own, please feel free to bring a chum for moral support!

If you know Liverpool, but don't know where Dr Duncan's is, the link to it on Google maps is here.

All we ask is that anyone who plans to turn up gets in touch with us beforehand as there may be a meal in town to follow the drinks, etc. To register your interest, please email me at jamiemcloughlin@hotmail.com or jamie.mcloughlin@liverpool.com and I can send you more information about what's planned.

Hope to see you there!

Swiss representative Michael von der Heide revealed his entry on live TV last night. The Swiss Music Awards gave him the opportunity to perform Il Pleut de l'or to an expectant crowd for the first time - and give a clarion call to all those with telephones to put Switzerland into the Eurovision final for the first time since 2006.

As you may have noticed in the comments section of Boom Bang a Blog (thanks to Closet Eurovision Geekette) Il Pleut de l'or does indeed translate as 'The Golden Shower'.

It's best I don't dig any deeper there, but I can't help but think a title/lyric tweak might be on the cards when word gets around about the potentially embarrassing translations any English-speaking commentators will be making on the night.

Saying that, I've listed to Il Pleut de l'or a few times now and it just sounds like a very weak Bond theme. What do you make of it, BBaBers?

Snowed in? Got a reliable internet conenction? Like Eurovision? If that sounds like you, then Boom Bang a Blog has something which will warm your cockles in this very brrrr-y weather.

Tonight sees the first round of Melodi Grand Prix, the national final of reigning Eurovision champs, Norway. Held in the main aircraft base of Ørland, seven songs will be fighting for the two available spots at the grand final in Olso on February 6. The songs in third and fourth place will go into a second chance round.

It's a right mix of songs and styles, with snippets of the septet available to listen to on NRK (Norwegian TV)'s website.

Eurovision was getting a popular thing to be part of in 1996. So much so, there simply wasn't enough room to accommodate the 29 nations wishing to participate in Olso. With that in mind, the organisers staged a preliminary round in the months leading up to the show where a group of juries sat and listened to studio recordings of every song (bar hosts Norway, the only country sure of a spot on the big night) and voted on them as though it were a rather sterile version of Big Eurovision. This sorted everyone out, with Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Israel, FYR Macedonia, Romania and Russia all missing out on a place in Norway. By dumping Germany (whose Kraftwerk-ish song was tipped for great things beforehand), those juries had rather foolishly removed one of the largest potential audiences for the show before it had even begun and the 1996 Contest remains the only one so far not to have an entry from Deutschland.

When 23 nations did assemble in Oslo's Spektrum Centre on May 18, some who did badly in the preliminary round soared up the scoreboard, while others who scored very well when the juries were just listening to the CD version nosedived.

Don't worry, we're going to show you the placing in both rounds for each entry so you can draw your own conclusions...

Happy New Year Boom Bang a Bloggers! What with the festive season and everything to be getting along with, it has become apparent that some bits of breaking news in the World of Eurovision have been neglected. For that I can only apologise. And now rectify.