And The Winner Of Eurovision 2012 Is.....?: Part 7

At the moment very little is happening so we continue with the series And The Winner Is Eurovision 2012 is...? and this part is for France

France

Oh La France! After not winning in 2011 despite being a hot favourite, France should be disappointed. I more blame the song than the singer, but anyway. France has come with some of the most original and impressive songs in recent years, but 8^th place was as high as they have went. Interestingly France 3 has announced it will change to a National Final format in 2012. This may change the style of song from alternative to more mainstream. However if they were to do a national final solely consisting of alternative entries, it would definitely be a step towards a win. 

Paris 2013? France will rarely do well with a generic ballad or pop song however if they keep sending good or unusual songs to the contest they certainly could be in contention next year. However I expect a poor song to come from them next year largely due to a poor national final. But they could be in contention in the next few years.

Something Actually Happened!!!!

I think it is fair to say that there has been a drought of news of late, however today it was announced that the televoting would be adjusted back to a televoting window. They are doing this because they believe that very few people cast their  vote in the early part of the show.


In my opinion they are very right to do so. It clearly seems that songs towards the end do well because no one really votes without hearing all the songs, this is not the case in other music competitions such as the X Factor were it is much more contestant orientated. However I think that the televoting window should be at least 15 minutes.


Comments are always welcome

Many Things

Until some real news about Eurovision actually appears you shall have to forgive me for not posting any real opinions on Eurovision matters.

The only  big news today was that Nikki/Nigar, whatever you call her, is to release an album on her own i.e. without Eldar/Ell. This surprising in a way I had expected that they would record four or five songs together and the to go their different ways. However even though she was the weaker of the the pair I really hope she does well  with her album.

I'm Back!

I'm back from my brief holiday, so I did not write a blog. However if you were in Ireland yesterday, you should not have been busy online but out in the sunshine. 


Anyway Eurovision goes on (with very little news). RTÉ has announced that they made a profit, albeit a small one, from Eurovision. To be honest I am delighted for them. I have long argued that it makes financial sense for Ireland to be in Eurovision. RTÉ are at the moment trying to save costs everywhere. When Eurovision makes profit or breaks even then RTÉ should be delighted. However as always, I firmly recommend that a larger national final is needed of at least 10 songs to attract big name artists with reasonably good songs. Shoving it in with The Late Late Show makes it to low key. Promotion should have started from before the national final. But it is unlikely that the Big wigs at RTÉ will be willing to change anyway.

And The Winner Of Eurovision 2012 Is.....?: Part 6

I am going away today for the weekend so there will be no posts until Monday. So until then I leave you with why Sweden may not win next - but they're going to come close:

Sweden

After not seeing a good result since 2006 this year Sweden came roaring back and were within two points of a win in the televote. Personally I would love to see Sweden make it win number 5. Melodifestivalen is without a doubt the best of all the National selections. However they have an annoying habit of picking a middle of the road song at the expense of more international friendly songs but the international juries should balance this out if they stick with 50% international juries. They also have given more power to these juries by the new way of giving the televote points. They are in the Scandinavian block however they did not score as well as you’d expect within the block given they came third this year. A win is far from out of the question. Personally, I think they should look to Sanna Nielsen but Timoteij or Le Kid could also conceivably win for Sweden. One of Sweden’s biggest problems is they don’t change entries from their Melodifestivalen performance. Not everything that works on the MF stage is going to work on the Eurovision stage. With Sweden having such a vibrant music industry and so much input into other Eurovision entries they should use the expertise from that to craft their entry on the Eurovision stage.

Stockholm 2013? There’s a good chance. However, I think Stockholm 2014 is more likely largely because I believe that they will be too confident this year and send a similar act to Popular. They also need to make their entries look a bit better on stage, which they largely did this year but have fallen down in the past.

In the autumn I hope to have an article about exact who I would like to see represent Sweden in 2012

What to write about?

The last week has seen a change in the amount of news being produced, so there was little to write about yesterday and I finished my exams so I didn't have the time to write anyhow. However, the marked decline in Eurovision articles means there is very little to talk about. Therefore, for today and tomorrow the is a And the winner of Eurovision 2012 is...? article. (Norway is below). After tomorrow I'm on holidays for the weekend so there will be no blogging til Monday. However over the summer I hope to build up a stock of articles on voting trends which will be the next series after And the winner is?. Blogging is much harder over the summer but I will try to do as much as I can.

Norway

After a landslide win in 2009 Norway seemed part of a new wave of western wins. However while their last two entries did well in predictions but once picked they slide a lot when they hit the ESC stage. Norway can hardly be pleased with their last two results, but they should not lose hope. MGP is the second strongest national final system, in my opinion. However, while excellent songs are entered they still don’t take risks with more modern sounding entries, like Vardlokk or Not That Easy. They have the ability to get points across the board but are still supported by a strong Scandinavian Anglo-Irish block. However, after this year, if bland songs are going to do well in the contest then Tone Damli Aabarge may be a good choice.

Oslo 2013? Unless Norway steps out of its comfort zone they may find the Top 10 out of reach, let alone a win.

And The Winner Of Eurovision 2012 Is.....?: Part 4/and some other stuff

Very little is happening at the moment and the post Eurovision Depression is well and truly set in. For those on the edge the weekly Podcast was out today and is well worth a listen.

Anyhow RTÉ have said that their Eurovision budget was €226,000. Now hear at The Best Eurovision Blog we are very pro-Ireland and openly so. This budget figure is excellent, when you consider that they got about 7 1/2 hours of TV i.e. about €30,100 per hour and this represents great value for money at a time when RTÉ are trying to cut costs. Especially if you consider Fair City costs about 3 times this per hour. This figure also excludes the amount of extra promotion on Radio etc.

In other news News.az is expecting 60,000 visitors to Azerbaijan for ESC. While this may seem a bit over optimistic, this is the first time I have seen them admit to the number of visitors they should expect.

Anyway as we are a little short of news I shall put up another country from our series And the Winner is... This one is dedicated to Portugal:

Portugal

Even if they are not best country in Eurovision they deserve a mention. Portugal does have a very strong selection process. However this year they had a minor setback from a hat trick of qualifications which was quite remarkable for Portugal. But in the next three years I think they will break the top 5. However one of the main obstacles is their highly conservative juries, blocking good songs like Tenaso, En Nom Do Amor, Canta Por Mim and Juntos Vamos Conseguir, if they diluted the jury input they may get a better chance. However still when I talk of Portugal I don't talk of them winning. I just talk about them qualifing.

Lisbon 2013? It’s a long shot, a very long shot. 

Small Bits Of Everything

I am always keen to see a Eurovision Song doing well in the charts. However this story is a little different. It seems Kelly Schembri has become an overnight sensation in Malta. Her rise to fame has been noted by some Big wigs in Britain who hope to make her a star and she has made a new video of her song "Love Me Like Your Money"

The Reference Group should have concluded  their meeting during the week and any information that should come from that will be commented on.

Sweden have been first out of the trap and have called for songs for Melodifestivalen 2012 (Wow, first time I've had to write about NF season 2011). As always they have many ways of getting to Melodifestivalen but this year the Web Joker has been reduced down to one entrant. This is probably a good thing as the Web Joker for me has always been a rather dull song. It simply takes away a place that could go to Sanna Nielsen or Timoteij.

8 Ideas For The Reference Group Meeting

Tomorrow the Reference Group will meet to decide various aspects of next years contest and here are somethings that I believe should be considered.


1. Allowing Juries to vote based on the Saturday Night performance. If this year proved anything it showed that juries, who voted on the night before the final, gave very different results to the public. In the cases of UK, Sweden and Russia, they all gave a poor performance on the Friday but gave good performances on the show. For the sake of consistency I believe the juries should vote based on the Saturday Night performance. 


2. Holding the draw for the running order during the show. This year I was not at the contest. The only way I could see the draw was on the Oikotimes site who had a miserable camera at the back of the press conference room. I think that when the results are going to be reveled the Head Of Delegations should be on stage holding their countries flag. When their country is called out they should immediately draw a number  for their draw. The EBU claims this would add 10 minutes to the show but if it was well run I could see it taking 3 minutes. At the very least the press conference after Semi 1 should be shown on Eurovision.tv.


3. Inviting a major artist to perform at the Semi Final interval act. I believe the EBU should invite some big international star to perform the interval act. 2010 saw an interval act of the final second only to Riverdance and Aqua. 2011 saw the poorest ever interval act. The Cold Steel Drummers and Jan Delay or whatever his name was bored the arse off me. Some big name artist like Lady Gaga or Kylie would be only to glad to get a 10 minute gig with a 25 million audience, even them being on the bill may bring some more viewers. Certainly this should be the case in the Semi Finals.


4. Take no bull from Azerbaijan. This could be the best or worst Eurovision ever. It could be 1999 all over again. If Azerbaijan cannot produce a credible venue i.e. with a minimum of 15000 seats. Or if Azerbaijan cannot produce enough Hotel rooms the EBU should hit the road for Stockholm or Dublin (Just a hope). But really we could be looking at a poor show from Azerbaijan in terms of the stadium if they have to build it.


5. Keep the Juries. Since the reintroduction of juries the contest has become fairer and more credible in Western eyes. The juries may not always give the result we hope for but in the long term they will do a great amount of good for the contest. 


6. Put in rules about ex-winners performing at the contest when they are participating. In my opinion the contest faces problems if last years winner comes back. A rule should be introduced that the returning winner may perform only during the interval act and not like what happened with Lena


7. Give a wildcard draw to the two countries who have not qualifed the longest. Wildcards get to choose their running spot and this can greatly improve their chances. Therefore to aid a country getting to the final the wildcard should not be given at random but to the two countries the longest out of the final. Currently Netherlands has missed the final for seven years. Bulgaria have missed it for 4 years. These countries should get the wildcards. Also the wilcard for the Big 5 should go to the lowest placed from last year - in this case Spain.


8. Allow internal selection to continue. Internal selection has worked in the past, so it can't not be allowed.


Obvisiously this is a realistic achievable list. I could have included things like open voting in the semi finals but I did not.

JESC 2011

Well now that ESC 2011 is well and truly over, the next major event will be the Junior Eurovision Contest. While many fans turn their noses down at it really it's all we have until November - oh god it seems like ages away. Anyway Eurovoix has been doing a lot of work on this and we can say that around 11 countries are to take part with Latvia withdrawing and I'm not sure about the rest. Sometimes you have to wonder about JESC but it seems like it will go ahead this year. Really their problem is that the Big 5 don't take part. I would recommend that they be allowed to take part for free on account of their high fee for ESC and this may encourage others to take part. I also think that there should be a fee for those countries that agree to sign up to both ESC and JESC for a year that is cheap. This may lead to greater commitment to the show. JESC is plagued by problems but is still going. The countries confirmed so far are: Armenia; Belarus; Belgium; Georgia; Lithuania; Macedonia; Moldova; Netherlands; Russia; Sweden and Ukraine. Russia is the only country to have picked a song so far but Ukraine is due in Mid-July, but you never know with these Eastern European selections.


If anyone else, like me, is cracking up of Post Eurovision depression there is always the Podcast with Ewan Spence over on ESCInsight. It is only every week but it will get you though the dry period - just about. They alternate every second week between news and a Juke box jury trying to find the best Eurovision song.


Next week the Heads of Delegations meeting is due to take place and tomorrow I hope to have a piece about what could be changed at the contest. There's nothing to radical in there, I promise.

Just When You Think You're About To Run Out Of News

As summer arrives Eurovision news declines however just when you think nothing will happen till next week BOOM! Lots out news:


News.az have reported that next year Ell & Nikki will take part in the selection process in Azerbaijan for their 2012 entry. Now even if they have to go back though the washing machine that is Azeri selection process you can pretty much take it that Ell & Nikki will be the singers of the Azeri entry in Baku. This is a copy of what Lena did last year and looks like it could start a tradition that the winning entrant from last year will compete again this year. I think that this is a good idea as it gives the artist an opportunity to showcase some of their other music. It also makes them look like they've done something during the year rather than prepare for the opening act. It also means that the host country has a realistic chance of being in with a shot of winning, which would boost Eurvision just a little more in the host country. Personally I can see them finishing in the 5th-10th range. I think they would need a really strong song to be in the Top 3 and my gut instinct for next year is we will have a repeat of 2006 where there were several normal, strong songs - I'm not saying Lordi will win it again.


As regards the controversial move by the Germans to put Lena in the opening act - well if Nikki & Ell are in Baku next year I think they should form the Interval act with a rendition of Running Scared - after the voting lines have closed.


Germany have announced they will follow the same selection format as 2010. Unser fur Baku hopes to try and find Lena 2. I think the chances of this are slim as Lena is pretty unique for a talent show. Nevertheless I think it could throw up a kind of Jennifer Brown type singer who can deliver a song well, which is all you need for a good placing.   


Raphael Gualazzi has become a success in the eyes of a lot of fans [including me] following ESC. He has announced he will do a duet with 3Js from The Netherlands, which i'm looking forward to. In the meantime Paula Seling from 2010 has release a new single. The SchlagerBoys should like this one - and I love it too.

And The Winner Of Eurovision 2012 is....?: Part 3

Continuing on with our series here is part 3, which is dedicated to Russia


Russia

Without a doubt if Russia put their minds to something then they can do it. Eurovision is no different. In 2006-2008 they upped their game and got three top three finishes for their efforts. It goes without saying they have the support of a massive block and when they put the effort in they generally find they score well in the Scandinavian block and outer Balkan block. As great as they are, this year we saw them take a place on the right side of the scoreboard even with a song by RedOne; however that score was probably reduced by the success of Azerbaijan and Ukraine who both finished in the top 5. It was somewhat surprising that they came last with the juries but there you go. It is not possible to say Russia can’t win Eurovision just because they were not in the top 10 for the last three years.

St. Petersburg 2013? You can’t say they won’t until the winner is declared in May.

One week online!

One week later and I'm still online!
So today I have a rather long piece here for you.


You may have noticed but my commentary tends to take 2 different styles. One is briefly discussing the daily news but the other is largely to look at the contest and to provide some insight on my rather complex thoughts. That what this piece is for. This is a sit down in a nice chair with a cup of tea for 10 minutes kind of piece. This one is for norway.


This year, for the first time in three years, Norway didn't make it to the final. Stella Mwangi did impress the public to come 9th in the televote but didn't impress the juries enough for Stella to make the final. This was a shame because it makes Norway look like a one trick pony with Rybak and can't really sustain a strong record. However what was very odd with Norway this year was that they seemed to do everything right. From the word go very strong songs began to crop up in the Semi-Finals of MGP. Then we noticed Stella crop up in Semi 3. All going fine. Then along comes the second chance round, and then the final, with Stella the hot favorite to win. Then Stella does win it no surprises there. She emerges as one of the favorites for Dusseldorf - All seems to be going fine. Then her odds start to rise, and in fan circles she does not seem to be the favorite she was ahead of the MGP final. Stella's vocals are the centre of attention. By the time we reach Dusseldorf she had come 10th in the OGAE poll and was not really expected to qualify. A fan favorite is now only liked by a few small groups. And then....Norway don't make the final. 

But was MPG really that wonderful? Could Norway done better?

Well the short answer is yes, just not with Haba Haba. Many songs in MPG 2011 could have delivered better than 17th in the Semi Final 1. We will take a look at some of the other good songs. 

To begin with there was my favorite song of the National finals Vardlokk, by HB. Now while she was popular in the Eurofan world many fans may point out it may not have done well at Eurovision I don't think so. I believe the pattern emerging from the juries is that good vocals are generally well received. Helene would have gone done very well with them, especially when you consider that Lithuania won with the juries and there wasn't very much for the juries in semi 1

Then Babel Fish with the song Depend On Me. This year Babel Fish were the poorest song in the final in my opinion. Even though it was wonderfully anthemic and vocally excellent, however it lacked great lyrics and the song felt that it just built and didn't do a proper gear change which we saw in songs like New Tomorrow. It also didn't get going until the last minute. But this could have made the final but would not have rated well on the night.

Dance Tonight by the BlackSheeps was my favorite song this year, after Vardlokk. They had a very rockish song but unlike Turkey it was not an off putting kind of rock. It is essentially a pop song. However the only fault is it starts great but doesn't really change much after that. Nevertheless it was an entertain song and I really enjoyed the BlackSheeps, and they will appear in my "Artists I'd like to see at Eurovision 2012" 

Not that Easy by Aste & Rikke was a very strong song and is just so different to what we're used to it would have to stand out on the stage. The only risk was if they did not give a good vocal performance would fall flat on its face. However if it worked it could have taken Norway to the Top 10 in the final

Even though  I love Alt Du Vil Ha by Sie Gubba I don't think that it would have worked at Eurovision.
My Wildcard: Mimi Blix - Allergic. This was a most memorable performance and Mimi was really good at performing even if she is not a singer. While her song could be at best described as generic, I really enjoyed (it was just something for us heterosexual males). I love her dress and leather gloves!

So that's the lot, as you can see I think Norway could have done a lot better. Any comments are always welcome.

And The Winner Of Eurovision 2012 is...?: Part 2

After winning the contest this year Azerbaijan completed their goal. Azerbaijan’s worst placing in four years was 8th. The big question with Azerbaijan is was it effort or will Azerbaijan continue with the high level of song we have come to expect. However like Russia since their win I don’t think the effort will be there in the next few years to come. Eastern European countries do not try to actively win the contest the year they host it. I think Azerbaijan may put more efforts and money into the event rather than the song itself. Never the less I expect the usual strength. They will be one of the talked about songs but I would be very surprised

Baku 2013? Seems very unlikely. But they are a good top 10 bet.

In Or Out?

Each year there is a bombardment of news and rumour about who is in or out of next years Eurovision Song Contest. So, without further ado the list of confirmed so far is:
Azerbaijan                     
Denmark
Germany                        
Hungary
Austria
Switzerland
Finland
Belarus 
Belgium
Netherlands
Sweden
Estonia
Slovenia
Croatia
Slovakia
and .....Czech Republic (Only country to declare a return)


Withdrawals are possible from Israel and Armenia, due to a National holiday occurring on the day of the final and because the contest is in Azerbaijan respectively


I have a piece prepared for the And the winner of Eurovision 2012  is? series about Azerbaijan which I will post up later this evening.

The Break Up Of The UK

I was wondering what I should write today, however it seems my mind was made up for me. Unusually I seem to have started a little debate over on EscInsight, about the possible break up of the United Kingdom at Eurovision and I shall continue it here. 


Firstly I believe the UK has lost the plot with Eurovision. As the European country with the largest music industry in Europe you'd think they could produce a credible song [cough, cough, Josh]. It is often said that Eurovision is younger person's game, and therefore the BBC decide to send Blue. Allow me to put this in context. I'm a young student and on the night I saw the BBC announce Blue as their choice the first thing I did was look them up on Wikipedia. I never heard of them. 


Blue did do their best. (If their best was what happened on the Friday night jury final.) For me the UK does not work as a Eurovision Country. And this is largely due to the shear size of BBC. Unlike their counterparts in RTÉ who know what all out promotion and drumming up National support is (Jedward are national hero's here), BBC failed to invigorate the British Public. They must do this to try and counteract the infamous British tabloids.


One of my key beliefs with Eurovision is national support for a Eurovision is really important and I believe that national support and how well a country does are strongly connected. I believe that the solution to the problem is to Break up the UK into the four parts. This could lead to some healthy internal competition within the UK. Which may deliver a good result. Some national pride needs to be brought to the table. While this blog is not Political, it would not surprise me if Alex Salmond was to push for this to try and build up the idea of the national Scotland.


As regards the "Big" status I would expect England to take that, with Wales, Northern Ireland andd Scotland in the Semis.

And The Winner Of Eurovision 2012 Is.....?: Part 1

At the end of each Eurovision year I try to make some sense of all the statistics. I try and see where all the countries are at. Normally this is an operation done inside my head, but because I have a blog now I'm going to put it up here. However this has proven to be a success on many years. Therefore I have written up a number of reviews for about 20 countries. The first in this series is Armenia.

If Armenia come to Eurovision at all [that remains to be seen], they may a little try extra hard to win in Azerbaijan. It would be very understandable. Given Emmy’s narrow failure to qualify, Armenia may come out fighting next year. Excluding 2011 they have had a string of good results since their debut; however it should be noted they have been dragged down the scoreboard by the juries rather than the public, who support them. Armenia has a large block and diaspora vote ready if they bring a good enough song, but they don't have a strong neighbour vote. They have a very flexible national final structure which can only benefit them. Armenia also can make any song look good on stage with choreography and large boxing glove chairs….

Yereven 2013? If they turn up [very unlikely] I could see them with a strong entry for the Azerbaijani stage. A win is possible but I don’t expect something over daring for 2012. They may just settle for 8^th place or so. But they always have a good shot at it and are not a country to be ruled out.

My First Review: JESC 2011 - Russia

Today I am doing the first review of a song for the blog - I'm so sorry - for me this is what is all about. Opinion. I intend to review each JESC song after it is picked and one review in the lead up to the contest [the two weeks before]


Even though some fans may turn their noses up at the prospect of JESC however at a time when there is slim to nothing about Eurovision on but we are all brusting to know who is going to be in Melodifestivalen. For me JESC represents the opening of the real National Final season Despite JESC being months away Russia seem to be planning to be ahead of the crowd. [Not that there is a rush on to go to JESC]. 


This year Russia chose to send Ekaterina Ryabova again [she represented them in 2009]. Their song is Kak Romeo I Dzhulyetta. Now it is always difficult to say how good a song is when you have nothing to compare it to for this year. I still really like this. When you first hear this the start sounds somewhat Russian, even though it is not. The song builds very nicely. Ekaterina is a good singer and has matured somewhat in the last two years.

However the song is presented poorly. I don't like her dress, the white is to simiple against the dancers and complex staging. The song is really good, even a little anthemic  in the way it builds [I adore an anthemic song] but it needs a key change or some lift at the end to make it really stand out. Also she needs to drop the scooter, the little fella pushing her around is a bit sad looking and is risky in terms of consistent vocals. All in all a good song and Russia usually to well at JESC but it is an awful lot less predictable than ESC.

Don't agree with me? Well, comments are always welcome.

Another Day

Ok! So now that we are up properly. I can start to have a bit of fun. At the moment I am making a plan for the blog; how to take it from this stage over the next few months and how to try to gain a few readers.


Over the next two weeks I am going to try to fully develop the blog so don't be surpirsed if there are a few changes from the last day you were here. Some of you may notice the background as changed. I also intend to add some ad's just to give me a bit of an income from the blog. Over the coming weeks and months there is little Eurovision news to discuss so you see a few opinion pieces on various aspects of the contest. I will also review songs for the upcoming contests (JESC Russia Tomorrow).


And why not tell you friends about this blog? We could use a veiw extra readers. In the meantime, i'll be here, blogging away. Writing up a few pieces. I also have a series of articles which I will be throwing up over the next few weeks.


Sorry I don't have anything that great to talk about today. But I have another series to show you entitled "The Best Songs Not To Go To Eurovision". It is for publicise some of the great music in the non-Eurovision world that Eurovision fans may like.


First up we have Poison by Nicole Scherzinger. I first saw this on the X Factor last year. It would have been great at Eurovision.

Next, a group we should all know very well - Alcazar. This is a little different from Stay The Night. However, it is one of my favorite songs and deserves a mention. The song is Harlem Nights.

Day 2

Well, we've made it to day 2. So at least no one has asked for the blog to be taken down and if the stats are correct we had a whole 3 visitors yesterday. Thank you. If ever this blog becomes world famous at least they can say they were the first people to visit. However the odds of this becoming world famous are slim, so anyhow.


As this is an Irish Eurovision blog I felt the first story I should do should be something to do with Eurovision in Ireland. As a result a piece appeared on RTÉ yesterday that Crystal Swing may try enter the Eurovision for Ireland next year. For those who may not have heard of Crystal Swing: They are a group comprising of a mother; her son and daughter. They have become [slighty] famous in Ireland over the last year since their appearance on the Ellen DeGenres show in the US [paid for by the Irish Taxpaper]

Now look, the Americans love their kind of Toora Loora Irish music but really they would be a bigger joke for Eurovision than Dustin and he was the joke to top all jokes. They don't sing songs that have any sort of shock factor to them. They would find it difficult to get any sort of real vote for them to qualify. On top of all this the juries would fall asleep watching them. This would not be the best we could send.


Now I have no problem with them being included in the line up of the National Final but really in the Eurovision for Ireland is a bit of a push. But these people are 2/1 with Paddy Power to be our entry. Until a real competitor comes along I will simply say that I don't support anyone for this years contest.  


Anyway I will try not to be so negative in the future. 


Over the coming weeks and months I'm going to try to give a little time each day to adjusting the blog in terms of design. If you have any suggestions please let me know by living a comment.

Cead Míle Fáilte Chuig Mo Bhlog (Welcome To My Blog)

First of all well done for finding this blog. I warmly welcome you to this little corner of the web that I run. I never wrote a blog before so please be patient and don't expect everything. 

First and foremost this is a Eurovision blog. It is about the great annual event that is the Eurovision Song Contest. As we are about 11 and half months out from the contest this seemed like the right kind of time to set up a blog ahead of the next contest, but we won't stop there, oh no! There is so much out there besides seven and a half hours of television in May.

This is an Irish Eurovision Blog and take pride in supporting Ireland though the contest. However I will  try to keep you informed of what is going on in as many other countries as possible and  keeping a close eye on the Junior Eurovision Song Contest (JESC) and the second best TV show in the world Melodifestivalen (MF). 

I will try not to be a news site but to actually look at what is going on around the Eurovision world and to express a genuine and sincere opinion on the events. 

What is seldom is wonderful so I will try to keep my posts as concise as possible and please don't expect a daily blog. Feel free to comment particularly if you have any suggestions for the blog, and I will try to interact with you as I can.


I called this The Best Eurovision Blog (BEB) and I intend to live up to it.