EUROMOMENTS

...has been the story of Hungary's national selection for Eurovision 2009. However, it seems that Ádok Zoltán's Dance with me will be the final choice for Moscow. Check out the high-production, high-camp video to this disco ditty in the side bar. In the words of Elitsa & Stoyan (Bulgaria, 2007): We are camming to yeu with piss an lav.

Check out the side bar for the song rumoured to be the Swiss entry for 2009. It takes more than a little from New Order, maybe U2 as well. Not sure what is going on with the lead singer's Irish brogue, but I think this could do well with the juries. A big qualitative improvement on Era Stupendo , but unlikely to be as popular with those fickle little Eurofans. NB this version currently stands at 3:50 so will have to undergo some substantial cuts before May.

Check out the side bar for the results of last night's crucial national final. It feels like all my Christmasses (or rather, Krassimirs) have come at once. Thank you, thank you, thank you Carola for sprinkling your stardust on Bulgaria and making the impossible happen. I might shed a tear of joy.

Sinead Mulvey and Black Daisy. On reflection, I think this is the best result. The live performance was polished, energetic and professional and although I still don't feel confident that Ireland will make it out of the semifinal, they should be able to go to Moscow with heads high and leave with pride intact. A rare treat for Irish Eurosongs in the noughties. The stage presentation really brought it home tonight - Ireland happily makes it nine years late into the 21st Century with one of the most contemporary songs of this year's selection so far. The all-girl line-up makes a refreshing change, with not a little whisper of Vanilla Ninja and just enough campery to keep everyone happy. Good show. For your delectation, the live performance from Sinead and friends.

The time is upon us once more, when we dare to watch an assembled crowd of geriatrics arrhythmically tapping their feet to a range of MOR pop songs on live television. The Late Late Show Eurosong 2009. Oh Pat. Lovely, lovely Pat. Have you heard some of the things they've been saying about you ? They've even been so bold as to interrupt your unshakeable blandery on live television. But Pat - have you heard some of the things that you yourself have said live on air ? Are you not wise? Anyway, thanks to one Irish blogger for hitting the nail on the head re: the RTE schedule . This is at the nub of what I believe will surely prevent the most deserving Irish song being selected for Eurovision 2009 - more below. Regarding the songs, I thoroughly agree with Mr Thompson that while none of them (see below - and many thanks to Emma's YouTube channel for making the vids available) are really that awful, none of them look like they're going to challenge the top of the leaderboard...

How do you solve a problem like Eurovision? With points and popularity in free-fall in many Western European countries some national broadcasters really don’t look like they have a clue where to take the contest and get back on track. They could do worse than lighting a wee candle and asking Our Lady in the second ‘O’ at the top of this page for guidance. You could definitely accuse our dear friends in Donnybrook Dublin of being at a bit of a loss. Is there anything that will cross the Late Late stage tomorrow night that can stop the rot in Ireland or will it be another case of the bland leading the bland as Pat Kenny presents Eurosong 2009? (I am so glad that Kenny Dead is back at the helm and we can recycle that.) As I write, through the wonder of t'internet I am listening to the RTE preview show that was aired on the wireless earlier. I haven’t heard all the entries yet but so far there hasn't been anything truely dreadful. But there hasn't been anything that would defin...

Well, I guess they invented it: I just want to say, for the record, that the producers of the Greek national song presentation/selection show must be admired for putting on a live retrospective of THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF EUROVISION split over about 7000 commercial breaks, but it is nearly killing me. If this was Sweden, Sakis would not have given us 4 lip-synched numbers from his back catalogue at the start of the show then disappeared. Rather, he would have banged out the three songs for selection, there would have been a rapid-fire televote and results announcement and we would have everything wrapped up in 30 mins. Instead, it appears that I am doomed to grow old with this ERT production.

A little research shows this to be 1982 Luxembourgeois entry, "Cours apres le temps" by Svetlana which came 6th. A regular bar favourite across la manche! I hope Gary appreciated it.

Thank you, iPlayer. I too have joined the leagues of the mad/ the masons/ closet Eurofans / Scientologists / French). I love how one of the men sitting down in the bar says 'Zaarrrrkozee!' loudly enough for us to get the setting. Some of us didn't need it. Truly bizarre. We should write to 'Points of View' and demand an explanation!

My life it looks like cabaret. Europe has now blessed us 20 of this year’s 43 entries, and I fear that already I may have reached saturation point. I was beginning to feel overwhelmed (seeing Eurovision entries in my sleep etc.) and wondering if I needed a break. I have been on edge for a number of reasons for the last few weeks and tonight I think I finally went over. Whilst having my dinner I had one eye on Eastenders. I haven’t been following closely for the last while but during the course of the episode it became apparent that one of the main characters Gary was missing presumed dead. In the last few seconds of the show as the episode built up to the duh duh duh duh duh duh duh denouement, I saw something so unexpected that I jumped up from my dinner knocking over a pint glass of water with such force that went over the tv and all the electrical equipment at the other side of the room. The episode had cut from Gary’s worried friends and relatives to a bar that was not the Queen Vi...

Well, Valentine's 2009 was certainly a packed evening for Europhiles, with five national finals taking place across the continent. All of these songs are now present and correct in our 'Story so far' video bar. My overall feeling at this new crop of songs for Moscow is a healthy level of delight. The ballads from Iceland and Poland are very polished in production and may muddy the waters a little bit for the likes of Chiara and Jade. From last night's two, I see Iceland as the stronger as the Polish contestant doesn't really have the voice to deliver her song convincingly. Nonetheless, this is an improvement in songwriting from last year's For life (sorry Isis). The third ballad of the evening came from Lithuania and Sasha Son. This sits nicely out of time, the way Eurovision should be, and I applaud them for this consistently dated follow-up to Nomads in the night . The song will surely not impact on the leaderboard come May, but Sasha is a confident performer...

Ahead of the irish final next Friday night, one of the songs has sneaked into the public domain by having to withdraw from the Latvian final in which it was simultaneously a candidate. "I wish I could pretend" is a contemporary sounding ballad (albeit with a slightly dodgy late 80s guitar riff) which could find itself on a B side to a kelly clarkson single and for ireland, this is progress. Perhaps I am too used to hearing songs in the very early stages of production and still sounding desperately amateurish make their way into the irish final and it could be that RTE's approach this year of looking for an artist and song with a "polished product" is fuelling me with premature optimism. But on first listen, if this represents the general standard of this year's irish selection I would be far from disappointed... ... so whaddaya think??

Well, it is finally upon us - Miss Kiss Kiss Bang by Oscar Sings Alex Swings (a duo of German DJ Alex C featuring Oscar Loya) will represent Germany in Moscow. The act and song title were announced on Monday 9th and last night a version of the song became available. Take a look in our *ALL-NEW* 'Story so far' sidebar... Now, I have seen that readers of a certain euro fan site have been coming down on this song like a ton of decidedly unswinging bricks. Here is my two penneth. Yes, as many fans have pointed out, it is a surprise to see Germany return to a swing theme only two years after Roger Cicero's disappointing 19th place in Helsinki with ' Frauen regier'n die Welt . However, there are some marked differences in this year's entry. First, it's not really a standard swing song in the way the 2007 entry was. The production is very Europop oriented, thus the song is much better set up for a big stage presentation and for all the Euroclub disco bunnies to d...

Amongst the various live shows to take place this Saturday, Piosenka dla Europy shall see the Poles choose their proud representative (and successor to Isis Gee) for Moscow. Perennial eurounderachievers, the country that brought us JP2 and pierogi has yet to give us a euro winner. I used to await the Polish entry with baited breath. In the mid nineties, the nation pushed the boundaries sending a dizzying series of fantastic female soloists with original and eclectic songs - Edyta, Justyna, Kasia, Ana Maria, they were enough to make me want to move to Poland and become a woman. But the naughties saw the zloty drop that perhaps euroland was not quite the vanguard of musical expression they had once thought... and "I want to know my sin" became "2 long" and "time to party". Boo. But part of me still wants to believe that some day a Polish entry will hark back to those heady days, and as this year there are 10 songs in the Polish final which is a nice sen...

It's that time again. I'm so happy. Anyway, sorry for the late start - I have just missed some light comedy from Charlotte Nielsen (nee Pirelli nee Nielsen?) and part of Song 1. Onwards! Song 1 Nina Söderquist - Tick tock Nina is most well known in the UK for her appearances in the Monty Python Spamalot musical. This first number is very high in energy, quite rocky and a fantastic start to my favourite national selection. It's a polished performance, but I think a little out of kilter with what the general Euro-audience wants. Think Finland's 'Leave Me Alone' from 2007, but with Swedish showmanship. Song 2 Jonathan Fagerlund - Welcome to my life There's always a useful selection of implausibly good-looking young things in MF, and Jonathan falls into this category. It's a nice, upbeat pop song, which he performs almost perfectly. But, I fear that the general high quality will just squeeze this into the lower placings of the semifinal. It could win 25 othe...

A music critic once described the Eurovision Song Contest as a cultural anomaly, having little or nothing to do with the popular music of the day, the music industry, commercially viable artists or the world in general. If this is the case, Malta is to the Eurovision Song Contest what the Eurovision Song Contest is to the world. Home of the Nevergreen (a song out of date in whatever decade it is placed), it is no wonder that Ralph Siegel has applied for refugee status there after having his right to artistic expression banned in Deutschland. This year's Maltese Eurovision final takes place on Saturday night and the big story is of course the return of Chiara. 3rd in Birmingham, 2nd in Kyiv. This time her journey back to the Maltese final has been one with many ups and downs. After the 2005 contest in Kyiv Chiara released her own fitness video in Malta ‘Dance Away Your Flab with Chiara'. The DVD was a huge success and she got her own weight down to 9 stone. “I was feeling great....

The last 10 years? Ortal, if you are reading this: I haven't forgotten you: Thompson Pense à Toi aaaaoooow. Seriously though I do think that Tellier was exciting: not like anything ever to cross a Eurovision stage and even though he sung in English, the whole way team France approached the contest last year was very, well... French. Kaas is the present day embodiment of the Chanson tradition. It is exciting that an artist of such renown has agreed to do this contest with a song of such quality. My first listen gave me echoes of Brel's 'Ne Me Quitte Pas' and the thought that France will leave Moscow with its dignity intact and not as many points as it deserves. I hope the returning juries see that this is not the case. My second thought is, that over my time watching this contest , as well as some real classy chansons (notably the 2001-2002 double) and a few wobbles in the wilderness (see HMSS Naya ) France, possibly more than any other country has had a knack for throw...

There has been much excitement around this year's French entrant, Patricia Kaas, which began with a will-she-won't-she media circus that was recently put to rest via an official statement of her participation. The song has now been announced - it will be S'il fallait le faire from Patricia's latest album, Kabaret . A video is below - thanks to esctoday.com . On first listen, I'm very impressed indeed with this ballad. The production is great and the 'fairground' instrumentation adds considerable charm. Patricia has a stunning voice and there is no doubt that she will give a strong performance in Moscow. The song is currently too long so we shall see what comes of the 3 min version, as for the moment it might need a little bit more build to pack a punch with the audience in the final. However, I can't imagine how this won't be a huge hit with the juries. Surely this is the most exciting entry to come out of France this decade and a contender for the ...

I'm monitoring both the Slovenian and Dutch streams and will comment on the winners as soon as I get the info. I'm definitely curious about the Slovenian contest but can expect nothing more than a lower-half of the semifinal table placing for the Netherlands in 2009, no matter which song they choose. Slovenia has decided on Quartissimo, a string quartet crossover number with some 'popera' vocals. I didn't cover this earlier as I reckoned it didn't really have enough vocals to work in Moscow and I thought making a mimed instrumental look exciting would be difficult. But, it's entertaining. The female singer spends most of the song hidden behind some white cloth in silhouette. She bursts through near the end with a climactic melody a bit like the theme from Dallas or Dynasty. Dima Bilan says "I wanna wish you good luck and maybe winner, because you have here many friends." He now speaks in Russian while the host looks confused. I think this is a good...

For as long as I can bear, I am going to watch and comment on the Dutch national final, which has just begun streaming here . God, the Ding-a-Dong woman is on the jury. Brilliant. My understanding is that male vocal showbandy group De Toppers will sing 6 songs, from which a combined televote and jury decision will determine the song for Moscow. I really don't hold out much hope for this at all and expect six almost-identical, cheesy bop-a-long ditties that will hold nothing of interest for anyone outside the Netherlands (or perhaps just the studio from which the show is being broadcast). I would be delighted to be wrong. I am currently being treated to a kind of tongue-in-cheek summary of De Toppers' "Eurovision journey" so far. 19:33 Song 1: Our Night Well, the studio looks good, and De Toppers have appeared in glittering suits (a nod to Jade Ewen, methinks). This has some pleasing group singing but it's not uplifting enough to fit the lyrics. There are women i...

Slovenia has been a tricky customer in Eurovision. Somehow, they never send anything that offensive, which of course is a blessing, but nor have they given us anything to really get excited about since Nuša Derenda flew around the stage in 2001 (God, them were the days). Unfortunately, this year's finalists aren't really setting my heart (or herbs) on fire. I should mention the return of two former Slovenian representatives at Eurovision - Omar Naber who sang "Stop" in 2005, and Karmen Stavec who rather unfortunately crashed and burned with the catchy "Nanana" in 2003. Both return with well-produced efforts. I think Omar rather loses out this time, as his Western-sounding mid-tempo effort is just forgettable and bears little of the charm of his 2005 entry. I wonder if a Swede has had a hand in this composition? Karmen, on the other hand, has put forward a rather sassy little Slav 'n' B number ("A si želiš"), which may, as suggested by t...

We've all been crying out for the BBC to take Eurovision seriously, and finally they listen. Last night, Jade Ewen became the deserved winner of a place on the Moscow stage for Eurovision 2009, singing a brave new composition which strikes at the heart of modern Britain. With global financial crisis in our midst, many young British women like Ewen are faced with a life of shared accommodation, the property market moving ever further from their grasp. Andrew Lloyd-Webber cleverly seizes upon the nation's current love affair with competitive cooking (see Masterchef, Come Dine With Me) to tell the tale of one woman's fight to hold onto her own herbs in a house of multiple occupancy. Gritty, gutsy, true. Well done all.