It's the Eurovision Song Contest this Saturday. I'm sure you're all having trouble sleeping with the excitement of it - I know I am. But let's try to pace ourselves and not get too worked up in the hours that remain.
Now I know that you've all been waiting for my tips before rushing off to the betting shops, but I have to warn you that ever since televoting started I haven't even come *close* to picking a winner.
And so this year I've decided just to tell you which songs I like and have done with it. Much simpler. I'm sure they'll all do terribly, but I like them. If you want to make up your own mind you can listen (and watch) the songs here or here or even here so there's really no excuse.
So what do I like? Well, not really that many of them, actually. It's all or nothing this year - I either love em or hate em. But here are my faves in ascending order of wonderfulness (and you can click on the country names and watch the videos too - thanks to our colleagues over at Finnish Television):
Spain 1 point Derivative but catchy - next!
Poland 2 points In Polish, and I'm learning that...
Greece 3 points Now *there's* a voice!
Latvia 4 points just who fancies who in this video? And what's the Latvian for ménage à trois (points)?
Russia 5 points It's Tatu, but it's not *that* good...
UK 6 points Or am I not allowed to vote for the UK?
Norway 7 points And *note* the absence of a point for Sweden. I'm a sucker for a romantic song sometimes. And it has *nothing* to do with it being sung by a blond Norwegian!
Belgium 8 points I love this. And in case you're wondering, it's in a made-up language. I'm starting the blog in it next week.
Netherlands 10 points OK, it's a bit formulaic, but it has a tremendous vivacity. And it's Dutch.
Iceland 12 points Call me a predictable Scandophile, but I love this. So uplifting.
And that completes the votes of the Eurodan jury. Goodnight, Riga.
Well. Um. Yes. I think we're all a bit shell-shocked after that... I've just finished watching the voting and I think I need to lie down in a darkened room with a stiff drink for a moment.
Still, all credit to Belgium for overcoming the language barrier at a stroke. (I have to say that cos I'm using Fred's laptop.) And jolly well done to those Turkish gels - nothing like using naked sex in pursuit of victory, I say. Maybe next year we can persuade Gareth Gates to do the same.
12 points for the best presenter DEFINITELY goes to Slovenia, tho...
Posted by: Erato at May 25, 2003 1:29 PMSo what was the atmosphere like in Belgium, then? Given that the song was organised by the Walloons, did the Flemish adopt it as one of their own in a rare show of Belgian unity?
Apparently in previous years, when the French-speaking broadcaster has organised the national final, they've had regional votes for the various regions of Wallonia, and then rather than mentioning Flanders by name, they had a mysteriously named region called 'the rest of the country and mobile phones'. Ah, well, twas ever thus.
Posted by: Eurodan at May 25, 2003 2:15 PMOh yes, and I'm in full agreement about the Slovenian jury spokesman!
Posted by: Eurodan at May 25, 2003 2:17 PMAgree on the Slovenian guy although its bc of him we lost,grrrr.
There were no national finals this year.They were appointed directly by the jury AND YES it is a national group.The members of the group came from everywhere in Belgium also from Flanders.
AND YES we are very proud of the results but I've one problem: keep forgetting the name of that country who didn't get any points :-))
VIVE LA BELGIQUE!!!
(Robert takes over) Right, that's quite enough of that, thank you. Actually the situation here is pretty grim, with most of the Turkish quarter cordoned off and the Vlaams Blok organising a firebombing campaign against kebab shops everywhere. And I've just heard that Belgium has vetoed Slovenia's application for EU membership...
Posted by: Fredje at May 25, 2003 3:11 PM