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

22 May 2006   Well, what can I say... apart from "Hallelujah!"  LORDI WON EUROVISION   -   WOO HOO!!! The atmosphere in that hall on Saturday night was fantastic, and just got better as the Monsters began to run away with it.   I was hoarse wtih screaming by the end of the voting.  How fantastic for Finland, who have been in the thing for 45 years without so much as denting the Top 5 even once, then they blow the competition away with the highest EVER score.  Only 3 of the 38 nations voting failed to award any points to Lordi, so those who claim it's all political can stick that one in thier pipes.  The whole of Europe loved the Monsters - and rightly so!   They even gave us a rousing chorus of "We are The Winners" during their post show press conference!   Another interesting fact about Finland.  In thier 45 years of competing, until this weekend they had NEVER finished higher than the UK in any of the contests!  (Even when we sent nul-points Jemini

19 May 2006 Phew!  Huge sighs of relief and screams from me as my Top 3 all went through last night!   I imagine there were screams of horror as Lithuania made the Final, but you DID hear it here first!   So 8 of my 10 predictions went through, with Armenia being one of my outsiders getting in over poor Kate Ryan from Belgium.  Poor cow was in tears afterwards in the press centre!   Not half as funny though as Silvia Night from Iceland who appeared live on Greek TV with her mascara all over her face from crying, screaming at the Greek press "you did this to me! you hate me, you are all Bast***s".  Nothing like a gracious loser..eh? So, now we have just sat through the first run through of the Final, and yes, Nana Mouskouri DOES make a very special appearance!  Hoorah! So, as I did yesterday, here is that very latest low down on what's hot and what's a pile of mousaka here in the Athens of the South...  In performance order, here we go: Switzerland: Poli

Afternoon Troops!   Your intrepid reporter here with all the goss and insider info for tonight's all-important Semi Final (which I know you will all be glued to on BBC3 at 8pm!).   After a vey fab show indeed last night, we trundled off to Euroclub (quelle surprise!) for another evening of voucher spending fun and frolics.  4 vouchers worth of treble whisky & cokes later we we in the taxi, where I proceeded to sing (in Greek) a number of Greece's better Euro entries to our bemused taxi driver.  "Oh you speak our language?" he asked, "No Honey, I just sing it" was my slurred reply...  Ho Hum.   Anyway, down to business and the runners and riders for tonight, along with my tips for qualification.  Remember, of the 23 songs sung tonight only 10 will qualify, 13 will be going directly to jail without collecting 200 Euros on the way.   So, in order of performance (and can I just say - best EVER opening 5 minutes to a Eurovision contest EVER!!!)...

17 May 2006 Hoorah!  Objective No 1 of my trip has just been fulfilled... I just met, talked to, and had a photo taken with the very fabulous and handsome in a "bit of rough" kind of way, Andruis, lead singer with the phenominally fab LT United from Lithuania!!!   Joy of joys.   They are coming over SO well, it looks as if they might even qualify over the more widely fancied Silvia Night from Iceland (who consistently fails to deliver the goods).  Paul, I've moved them back up to 3rd, above Silvia! In the press centre now having taken most of today off for "rest and recuperation" after the excesses of last night's Greek and Russian parties.   The Russian one was fab.... they were pouring our trebles for each voucher we handed the bar staff!  I lost count after my 4th... Oh deary me, talk about stocious!   Apologies to poor Simon, who had to suffer me phoning him in the middle of the party to sing along with the Ukranian girl down the phone.  I&

14 May 2006 It's late on Sunday afternoon now, and naturally, being the consumate professional journalist that I am, I can confirm that this year's Euroclub is indeed the best ever!   My third consecutive night there last night was as much fun as the first two - with Eurovision music being played all evening again (including Bem Bom for the first time - how excited was I?) and the free booze voucher system in full swing.  They really do serve BIG measures of spirits! Leaveing the club last night to get our taxi back to the hotel I bumped into the Belgian singer, Kate Ryan, who was getting into the taxi in front of us.  Now, it may well have been the drink talking, but I was waving frantically at her, blowing kisses to her and shouting, "Kate Ryan - Je T'Adore Kate, woo hoo!"  She giggled and waved back at me as her taxi sped off... Boy, it's REALLY hot here!  High twenties again today.  Sat out earlier in the car park that now houses a restautran

12 May 2006 Well, what can I say - Athens is, of course, Fab! Wasn't quite so fab when we took nearly two hours to get in from the Airport on Wednesday in our taxi!  For some reason all the public transport workers decided to go on strike for one day so the entire population of Athens were in thier cars or taxis, and as we arrived in the evening rush hour then we had big delays. The hotel is lovely and very central, just off Pneumonia Square for those of you who know the city.  We have a 20 minute metero ride to get up to the Olympic complex, which is just HUGE!  It's still every bit as impressive looking as it was 2 years ago when the Games were held here.   The Hall we are in is right next door to the main stadium and has enough space for a 16,000 auditorium for the contest, plus press centre, where I'm sitting now, with seating for over 1,000 journalists. Our first evening was spent catching up with many of the guys from over Europe that we know.  We went do