Tuesday 14 October 2014

Only 7 months to go!

So the Eurovision Song Contest is an agonising 7 months away. I know I'm not the only one saddened by this damming statistic. Still, there's reason for optimism!

We have some returnees! Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia and Cyprus. Eurofanatics will be extremely excited by this news, I certainly am. It's good to see the former Yugoslav bloc coming back together, simply because the Bosnians and Serbians have given us some absolute treasures in the past so we will all keep our fingers crossed for more gems next year. The last time Serbia "returned" to the contest was 2007, and there is absolute no denial that Molitva was a defining Eurovision winner for Serbia. An absolute smasher of a ballad, sung in the national language, by a member of the LGBT community. More Molitva please.

And as for Cyprus! Well what a relief for Greece, douze points again! How the Cypriots are Eurovision this year is remarkable, but then we can say that for most countries, most notably the Greeks who despite all their financial hardship, give us something to remember each year. When Cyprus do it right, they do it good. I'm still singing La La La La La La La La La Love.

So what about the withdrawals?

Well it's time for sorrow everyone. Let's take a minute's silence, just as we did for Slovenia in 2009, for the withdrawal of Ukraine. Ukraine! They have one of the best records in Eurovision and I love so many of their entrants. I'm so gutted that we know we're not going to see a Verka revival or Zlata nonsensical tune that I hope Moldova step in and really bring a wonderfully bonkers song as good neighbours. I'm also hoping that because if any avid readers of my blog already know, I love Moldova and have a soft spot for them every year. Chisinau 2016. Let's keep our fingers crossed!

Other than that, it's all good. Russia still lurk, Georgia escaped a ban, Sweden are already exciting us for MF, and Austria have to bring it as hosts. That could be interesting. 38 countries have confirmed, which is brilliant news, and in less than a month, FYR Macedonia will already have revealed their representative. No excuses this year, Macedonia have to do well because they have 6 months to promote their candidate. Maybe they've planned so far in advance so they can teach their representative to sing, a quality often lacking. Sorry to be so crude.

Any hope for the United Kingdom this year then? Well, before we get pessimistic and start talking about how we have no hope and need to withdraw, let's remember what a fantastic artist Molly is and what an incredible platform it gave her! Hopefully we will hear more from her soon, cos let's face it, we all know it'll be great. So saying all of that gives me optimism! The glass is half full guys. Are we going to win? Hell no. We've got a greater chance of not qualifying than winning, and considering we have automatic qualification, that should put our chances in perspective. I'm optimistic because the BBC are using the same internal selection again. A credible artist will be chosen, and along it we will discover another one of our many hidden talents, and with that comes respect. If we continue along this successful path, countries will sit up and listen. And eventually it will pay off. So what if it takes us a couple of years to reach the top 5 again? So what if it takes us 10 years to even be within a shout of winning it? Only Russia, Sweden, and Azerbaijan should be disappointed with a placing outside the top 5, and when 38 countries take part, winning is hard and not regular. So UK readers, shut up and enjoy the fact that the BBC are taking it serious for once! "It's not about the winning..."

So after a quick update of the 2015 season, I'll leave you with the new motto:

BUILDING BRIDGES.

And we shall build bridges Vienna, we shall.