EUROMOMENTS

and my faith is strong now JADE EWEN what you on? What's going on? Just as Jade is about to release her follow-up single to her Eurovision entry it is rumoured that she is set to become the sixth person to get on the merry-go-round round that is the Sugababes. Some background: It’s January 2009 and the BBC mean business. Eurobusiness. They get off to an uncharacteristically early start with a multi-week selection show to choose an artist for Eurovision. Last minute plant, sorry entrant Jade Ewen is head and shoulders above the competition. Even though the BBC appear to be taking things seriously, the lurking feeling persists that the UK public will push dignity over a cliff as Eurovision is a joke and nothing decent should be sent near it. We need not have worried about Jade coming out on top. The biggest obstacle to her Eurosuccess was not her competitors in the ‘Your Country Needs You’ selection but the song that she would be given to sing at the contest. We were at the height o...

• DJ-less mash-ups • Denim hot-pants • FMBs... F.M.! • Sexual chemistry that knows no boundaries (social, cultural, generational or moral) • Stomping around to music on stage and on walkways • Boobie shakin’ • Motorboating • Back-to-back / peek-a-boo choreography • MILFs • MILFs who like boys • Boys who like MILFs (who like boys to be milfs, who do boys like they’re milfs who do milfs like they’re boys. Always should be someone you really love • Lyrics performed properly for the first time by a professional:"I don't care if I lose my mind..." • Mickey J tributes (they’re back in!) • The nation of Sweden • Eurovision • Allsang på Grensen • Carola Haggkvist • Youtube • The internet Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world I feel like I can't take it, like my heart's going to cave in...Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and it's too much, my heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst... And then I remember to relax, and sto...

What a great result on Tuesday night. My prediction list changed somewhat after the live performances and I ended up getting 8/10. Things are looking very good for a well-balanced East-West distribution in the final, and in the Jade camp they must be truly delighted with a draw that places her far away from Malta and Iceland and nestled neatly between two dance numbers. Anyway, just a quick look at tonight's line-up: Croatia Ireland Latvia Serbia Poland Norway Cyprus Slovakia Denmark Slovenia Hungary Azerbaijan Greece Lithuania Moldova Albania Ukraine Estonia The Netherlands And my 10 to qualify: Latvia Norway Cyprus Hungary Azerbaijan Greece Lithuania Moldova Albania Ukraine This was decided very hastily but I think it captures the obvious favourites (Norway, Greece, Ukraine), a mix of styles (dance, r n b, disco, rock ballad), some novelty/memorability factor (Hungary, Latvia) and geographical/diasporic expectations (Azerbaijan, Greece). Let's see what happens! I'm fizzin...

Well, here we are again. It's Semifinal Day (Part 1), Jade Ewen is playing on Radio 2 and there's a tiny tear of excited anticipation creeping out of one of my eyes. I'm amazed that I have, for the first time, managed to post something on this blog during the actual week of the contest as opposed to abandoning ship, all spent by the end of national selections. Surely that's worth crying about? My own greatness and steely nerve in the face of my extreme pre-contest excitement? It's myyyyy ttiiiiiiiimmmme naaaaaaaaooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwww But, you know, I really think we have a vintage year on our hands. I can say that there isn't really a single song that I dislike strongly enough to begrudge it success, and even if the whole world has decided that Norway has already won the damn thing, I'm hopeful of a nice open contest for places 2-5 if not the top spot as well. I think it's a great year for East-West balance in terms of song quality, a particularly good...

That's not dancin'! And Svetlana certainly knows it, but hell, she's got the demented killer instinct of someone that, taking her artistic inspiration from madge's hard candy, takes the view that i'll do it JUST TO SHOW YOU THAT I CAN. In a contest in which schlager, novelty and even ethnobang have taken an unexpected sudden backseat to the balladeering about peace and love, this will stand out by a mile. It combines the pre-requisite ethno driving beat with the catchiest hook of any song so far. And if the outpouring of moral outrage eminating from a certain popular fansite ("This clip seem to be pure SEX" cries one offended reader) is anything to go by, svetlana will leave nothing if not an impression, favourable or otherwise and svetlana knows full well, lying there bathed in green & blacks finest, that there is no negative marking. How many decent, good quality records have limped to last place in eurovision for faling to inspire and annoy in e...

It's finally here. The Melodifestivalen final takes place tonight, when we shall see the last song to be selected for Moscow, and your entire Euromoments team will be gathering in a certain London Swedish venue to watch events unfold in the company of those who care. It's good to be young, eh? There has been criticism of this year's Melodifestivalen line-up from the Swedish press, who claim that standards have slipped. These people have clearly never seen Making Your Mind Up . However, there have been some bloopers along the way... how did Velvet's The Queen (see below - a riotous Stock-Aitken-Waterman style retro dance number with a giant dress, hotpants, women in drag and great dancing.) not only fail to qualify for the Globen but come in the bottom 3 of her semifinal? I am also saddened that BWO don't have a place in the Globen this evening but that is a matter of personal taste and I managed to stop watching the video on loop yesterday. Sometimes you've ju...

Dear Reader(s?), Please excuse my absence of late - Camp Carlytime has relocated and is currently not connected to the Information Super Highway. I know it's a disaster, but thankfully I have other portals at my disposal. Basically, I chose one of the worst weekends in the eurocalendar to relocate my lair. I have finally gotten around to updating the video bar with entries from Spain, Portugal, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Latvia, Azerbaijan. Even this far into the selection season, amazingly we still don't have a truly awful song in the contest. Israel has unfortunately gone all-out on cynicism, with a mid-tempo 'let's all join hands together around the world' pop song that doesn't do justice to the calibre of the two singers. The Croatian song is very traditional in style and although it is generally pleasant I fear they're a little off the money this year with a male soloist whose live singing isn't up to it. Latvia has put forward a lot of old rope i...