| Eurovision Song Contest News - 2008 Belgrade, Serbia 

Mark Eastwood

Hello to all my little Eurovision friends

Apologies for the shameless outpouring of Euro-nostalgia to follow, but every year since I was born in Hartlepool 1974, I've sat and watched this spectacle of the best and worst of European music & TV. Initially this formed a family bonding exercise, then grew through phases of forced watching for the annual disappointment, Ireland win yet again, the silly dancing and hopelessly ethnic music, criticising Greece & Cyprus (year in year out), laughing at Wogan's cynicism and then finally, slowly coming full circle and starting to actually like the music again (gasp).

If you manage to get to the bottom of this, you have my deepest respect and thanks, I'd have given up by now. You must be a genuine fan.

I guess my love / hate relationship with the ESC started properly back with Bucks Fizz in '81. I know I must have watched previous song contests, it was an annual family tradition as in most homes in the UK, but I don't remember any song having as much impact as the moment those skirts came flying off. And then to go on to win just put the icing on the cake. I was hooked aged 6.

I continued to watch year in, year out thinking this song contest was just like any another national sporting event (World Cup Football, Olympics, Miss World, etc) and complaining when we kept coming second, every single time. I think the UK secretly quite enjoyed this - a good result, but still something to complain about. Very British.

Along came The Herreys in their Golden Shoes in '84 I remember cheering that one on to victory, a couple of Johnny Logans stuck in the memory and then we hit that dreadful time when the Irish just couldn't stop themselves from winning (literally - My Lovely Horse). It was the darkest time in British - European history. At first the UK tried to buck the trend and lift the Eurovision into modern contemporary music (well music that was modern and contemporary about 5 years previously - Love City Groove). It was getting hard to watch; at least it was only once a year.

Around about this time, I was primarily watching the ESC just to laugh at the silly Europeans, their stupid outfits, hopeless dancing and their pathetic attempts at making music. Okay there was the occasional song I liked, but it was Terry Wogan's scathing comment during the voting that was the highlight. The show was just something you had to endure. But then it all started to change...

It's hard to say when I fell in love with the ESC, I think Gina G had a lot to do with it. I moved out of home in late 1995 and I was making new friends in Cheshire when Gina hit our shores. Finally a modern dancey, pop song for the Eurovision. I actually liked it - who would've thought. Of course the Europeans didn't agree (I know it wasn't much of a performance on the night) but that didn't matter. It was a moral victory and we were leading the Eurovision again. I don't think we'd be shaking it with the Greeks and Turks today if it wasn't for Gina's entry in '96.

I have to admit, I wasn't a fan of Katrina & the Waves at the time (I thought we were taking a step back again), but it didn't matter, we won. The Eurovision was coming home. And then it struck me. Where was the build up, were was the excitement. We'd won, but when it came round to our turn to host, there was still no particular promotion from the BBC. Just as I thought the ESC was going to be popular again Birmingham came and went without much fuss.

I'd just like to share a couple of thoughts on the show from Birmingham. 1998 was the first show I watched with my new girlfriend Carol. She merely sat through the show with me and only liked listening to Terry's comments. Guildo Horn earned our vote, which says a lot about what we both like abut Eurovision. Generally speaking our musical tastes are not particularly in sync.

It's hard to pass comment on '98 without mentioning Dana International - It had become clear in '98 that a certain pink section of society were making their claim on the song contest. Something I had been completely oblivious to at that point, and I thought the whole thing might end up on the TV (television) fringes but now the two go hand in hand quite nicely.

My most vivid memories of the show were the interval act. Having been bored to tears in previous years by Riverdance (sorry my Irish buddies), where there was only one highlight. After the first demonstration of the lucrative professional Irish jig the camera came back to the presenter. He was striking his hands together and proclaiming with deep reverence "Isn't that the greatest thing...you've ever seen in your life." only to hear Wogan on the UK commentary reply "steady on". My thoughts exactly.

The '98 interval show was the best I've ever seen with dance and musical groups from around the UK and Commonwealth. We brought (apologies if my memory is a little rose tinted) Scot’s bandsmen, African tribal dancers, Indian musicians, and Aboriginal warriors. It really reminded me that there's a bigger world out there than just this little self-deprecating (extra points for using today's bonus word) isle. We have been a major player and can have a strong leading role in the future of world politics. Sing four bars of 'Rule Britannia' and close.

Anyway, things took a turn for the worse with lack lustre performances and shows over the next few years. There were some memories, we particularly like the way Wogan upset the Danes in 2001. And does anyone else remember Stefan Raab talking to Johnny Vaughn on the Big Breakfast? He was explaining that his entry was nothing like the Spice Girls 'Say You'll Be There' - yeah, riiight. Funny.

2002 and suddenly a couple of songs stood out. I actually liked them. Particularly Laura's 'Addicted to You' for Finland. It was actually a good pop song. What was going on? Of course Carol preferred 'SAGAPO' from Greece, but as I said we rarely agree musically. I think the Greeks were mainly on my side on this one.

2003 was the year things really changed for me. I was looking forward to the show and I wasn't disappointed. I still think this was musically one of the best years with most of the songs sounding good. I'm not sure about the technical expertise of the Latvian organisers tough. I know Jemini blamed a technical failure on one of the stage monitors for the nul points. The press liked to think it was because of the war in Iraq. I just think that certain parts of the rest of Europe had figured out how to win the Eurovision. And they were planning on keeping it for themselves.

2004 - I was getting excited in the run up, for the first time in ages. I was genuinely looking forward to the show. And now there was going to be a semi-final. Two nights for Carol to suffer. Again the lack of promotion in the UK was getting me down. Only the poor performance of the previous year had kicked the press into any kind of interest. Paddy O'Connell made a good job of the commentary of the semi-final. Our pick Greece came in second it was clear that stage performances were becoming a key factor.

2005 and this year I'm doing it properly. I have found the internet. I watch the promo videos before the show and make careful choices from the most likely candidates. The UK sends a good quality song that can't fail (not that that really matters anymore). The stage is set. I take another pop at organising a party to watch the Eurovision but my 'normal' friends still don't quite get it. Most of my friends are proper musicians and don't want to be seen liking anything to do with the ESC. Don't worry guys, I won't be asking you to enter next year.

The show was superb and Greece wins with a song that is actually fairly similar in style to the UK's entry, and yet we only get 18 points (there's something fishy about this voting system). Still I'm not complaining, Norway came in fourth, finally Carol and I agree on something - more rock next year!

It's now February and I'm sat around 'working from home' on a dull Friday. There's nothing on the telly, and I'm bored with video games. I switch on my computer and I'm browsing around. I think 'what would cheer me up?' It'll be Eurovision time in a few months, I wonder who's picked their song's yet. I go to the Eurovision website and guess what…

I'd thought after Greece's victory last year, it wouldn't be a bad place to actually go and watch the Eurovision. It's touristy and there will be plenty of hotels and English speakers. I should say I've not been one for travel in recent years. My job drags me all over the UK (and occasionally Ireland) and the last thing I want to do in my spare time is spend it in a hotel. I'd probably only do Eurovision once and Greece should make a good choice. Hey, after all we're never going to win it again.

Back at the website:
The tickets were going on sale on Monday. Monday. That didn't give much time. But my mind was made up. I won't bore you with the details, anyone that's ever tried to get tickets will tell you just how hard it is. But I got some (on Wednesday) with 10 minutes to spare. We were going to the show.

Can I publicly apologise to Carol for being a right-royal pain in the arse when I first got to Greece. Talk about fish out of water. It was the first time abroad in years and I decided I didn't like it (for about 24 hours). We arrived on Tuesday and we had a 'no-eurovision' embargo until the semi-final. Carol didn't want me boring her to death before the show had even started. We acted as tourists for a couple of days, taking pictures, complaining about the food, getting lost, etc. And then finally it was time for the semi.

I was feeling brave, so I put on my UK Eurovision t-shirt. It's a long time since I've worn a Union Jack, we on the left-side of the political divide generally shy away from the flag and I didn't know what kind of reaction I'd get. I shouldn't have worried. What a great night. Flags everywhere and lots of people to talk to (once we realised you didn't need to sit quietly waiting for the show to start). The party was outside.

We met a few Brits, got embarrassed by an Israeli who could sing our entry better than us, swapped score predictions and then went into the show. It was great, we sung along, made friends with two Germans (who we kept bumping into around Athens the next few days), booed Sylvia Night (genuinely) and Lithuania (jokingly), and oh Lordi! Carol finally became hooked that night; next she's borrowing my MP3 so she can have a listen to the songs in the final.

The final was just the same, only better. It's hard to put into words what it's like to experience the Eurovision song contest live. So I'm not going to try too hard. Come along and find out yourself. We'd bought some flags for the final, but wished we’d dressed up in school uniforms. There were plenty of British Schoolboys, Finnish Monsters, German Cowboys, etc. It was unbelievable and the atmosphere was electric. We watched the show, sung along (a bit better this time), danced with some new Turkish friends, booed Lithuania again and Ireland (prompted by the two schoolboys behind us - how can you boo Iceland and not that boring rubbish!) Point taken. And then it was over.

But you can't just go to the Eurovision just once.

As I write, we're back from Finland, having dressed as captain and stewardess receiving loads of attention and making many new friends. The Finns did a fantastic job hosting the event; there were so many public events it was hard to keep up. And Serbia next year, I think we've finally got this Eurovision thing figured out now. Okay, so everyone we mention it to in the UK thinks we're crazy - they may even be right, but we're not shy anymore. We're out of the closet and proudly flying the UK flag as certified Eurovision lunatics.

See you all in Belgrade.

UPDATE -- Thoughts on Andy Abraham

Good result on the night & I would love to see this make it's way into the top half (particularly having heard some of the opposition). It does need few a little changes to get the most out of it though.

Andy, if you're out there, try to stand up a little straighter, you're going to play to a 10,000+ stadium. you looked good for a small crowd venue but you could get lost on that huge stage.
You also need to engage the cameras a bit more for the people at home, focus on them when you hit those big notes. That's one thing Michelle did very well which made her look relaxed and confident.
Also, the opening line doesn't sound strong enough, it gets lost in the backing track. Get that wrong and... well, Jemini will tell you what happens in that case.

That's just one man's free amateur advice, so can we please enlist the two expert judges to do more than just judge - a little coaching should go a long way. That's a better way for auntie beeb to get a good result rather than rely on Terry's 'expert' opinion.