T h e E u r o v i s i o n a r y

The Big Day has finally arrived!  Before I go on to give some predictions for what might happen this evening I want to talk about a love affair that I have had since early December.  I am, of course, talking about Barbara Pravi and her song Voilà which was eventually selected as this year's French entry at the end of January. On my very first hearing of the song on that cold December morning I was just blown away by the raw passion, emotion and nuanced delivery by Mmlle Pravi and I remember thinking there and then that I would be amazed if I heard another song over the entire season that I liked more than this one.  Five months later and I still feel the same way.  For me, no matter the outcome tonight, this song is headed towards my all-time Eurovision favourites list.  I absolutely and unequivocally adore it. Going into the Final Barbara remains second in the betting behind Italy, and whilst I was never a fan of the Italian rockers when they stormed to victory in San Remo, I have

 So, after two years, here we have it... the running order for the Grand Final of Eurovision 2021... Thanks to the fabulous eurovisionworld.com for the graphic! I\"ll come back to this in a second, but let\"s talk about Thursday\"s Semi Final results first. Where were Denmark and Austria?  What in the buggery bollocks was that all about?  The two best songs/performances in the semi and NEITHER one went through!!!  Europe, you have been a BAD BOY!  Go to your room and have a serious think about what you have done!  Bloody outrageous! That aside, I did correctly predict 8 of the 10 qualifiers (Moldova and Albania - you have yours coming...). Really chuffed for Iceland (potential hotel room winners) and Serbia (who are now going to hoover up the entire Balkan vote),  less impressed that Europe was taken in by the epileptic fitting stuffed sofa from Switzerland and the 1982 video wizardry of Greece (woo - green screen - we\"ve never seen THAT before...)  well, certainly

So, last night we had Semi Final 1, and here is how we currently stand in terms of the allocation draw for Saturday's final (thanks to Eurovisionworld.com for the graphic). 6 spots remain open in the first half of the draw, while only 4 spots will be available in the second half. Like many others, I predicted 9 out of 10 correctly. I had Croatia instead of Israel, but I'm pleased with the outcome of the first semi. Of course, everyone is saying Malta probably won this semi, and Destiny did give a super performance, but I think it could have been Ukraine who took the poll position. Today began with the sad news that one of Gagnamagnið from Iceland  has now tested positive for COVID, and that  Daði has taken the decision that if they can't all perform together then they won't perform live during the semi final (and final, assuming they get there).  Instead a recording of their last rehearsal on the Ahoy stage will be used instead.  From the perspective of the viewers

Afternoon from Not Rotterdam.   We've just watched the full first run through of the 1st Semi Final, and I'm delighted to say that - after two years - Eurovision is back with a bang!  Slick production, affable presenters, a fantastic stage and some really good intervals acts (which, of course, may not be seen by the BBC4 viewers, as they tend to do their own thing).  Not massively struck on the postcards, but that really is a minor detail. As well as the 16 competing songs, we saw full run throughs from Italy, Germany and The Netherlands, all of whom are voting in this semi.  I'm presuming we'll see clips of these performances along with the usual quick chat with each one. So, in order of performance, these are the 10 countries which I think will progress on to Saturday's Grand Final: LITHUANIA RUSSIA SWEDEN CYPRUS NORWAY CROATIA BELGIUM AZERBAIJAN UKRAINE MALTA Two years ago I predicted 10 out of 10 in the first semi.  Let's see how close this set is! I would d

 ...it's going to be a bloodbath between two massive nations... For LAST PLACE! After an absolutely dire second rehearsal today, during which very few of the correct notes were sung, it sadly looks like the UK is facing a last place battle with Spain.  And Spain is cheating by giving their song a complete and utter revamp to the point that it's virtually unrecognisable from the version of the song on the official album.  Don't get me wrong, it's still pants.  It's just that these are shinier pants. Italy brought another really strong performance again this morning.  And whether you like the rockier style that they bring or not (and, I'm certainly NOT a fan), you can't deny that they bring a raw power and a fresh feel to this 65 year old contest.  Fab outfits too!!! As far as the bookies are concerned we are now looking at France Vs Italy at the top of the table, and thankfully Barbara brought another flawless performance this morning.  It's very simple,

I posted this story already on Facebook today, but as it's probably the nicest and most moving story I've heard in connection with this year's contest I wanted to add it again here on my blog. Here's a lovely story concerning this year's Norwegian singer, TIX.  Two years ago a 20 year old fan of his called Aurora found out that she was dying.  Her final wish was that TIX would sing at her funeral.  The singer fulfilled her wish and flew to Stavanger specially to sing at the funeral.  For the past two years he has wanted to write a song to dedicate to Aurora, and a few weeks ago he sang it for her family and friends for the first time.  The song is called "Angel don't go" and it's stunning.  I love his Eurovision song, but this is much stronger.  It's lovely to see the reactions of her loved ones as he sings the song. TIX is donating all the proceeds from the new song to a charity which helped Aurora during her final months.  What a splendid cha