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Eurovision 2008

Semi-Final 1 – Tue 20 May

01 Montenegro - Zauvijek volim te – Stefan Filipović
02 Israel – The Fire In Your Eyes (Ke’ilo Kan) – Bo'az Ma'uda
03 Estonia – Leto Svet – Kreisiraadio
04 Moldova – A Century Of Love – Geta Burlacu
05 San Marino - Complice - Miodio
06 Belgium - O Julissi - Ishtar
07 Azerbaijan – Day After Day – Elnur Hüseynov & Samir Javadzadeh
08 Slovenia – Vrag Naj Vzame – Rebeka Dremelj
09 Norway – Hold On, Be Strong – Maria Haukaas Storeng
10 Poland – For Life – Isis Gee
11 Ireland – Irelande, Douze Pointe – Dustin The Turkey
12 Andorra – Casanova – Gisela
13 Bosnia-Herzegovina – Pokušaj – Laka
14 Armenia – Qele Qele – Sirusho
15 Netherlands – Your Heart Belongs To Me – Hind
16 Finland - Missä miehet ratsastaa – Teräsbetoni
17 Romania – Pe-o Margine de Lume – Nico & Vlad Mirita
18 Russia - Dima Bilan - Believe
19 Greece – Secret Combination – Kalomira

Semi-Final 2 – Thu 22 May

01 Iceland – This Is My Life – Eurobandið
02 Sweden - Hero - Charlotte Perrelli
03 Turkey – Deli – Mor ve Ötesi
04 Ukraine – Shady Lady – Ani Lorak
05 Lithuania – Nomads In The Night – Jeronimas Milius
06 Albania – Zemrën e lamë peng – Olta Boka
07 Switzerland – Era Stupendo – Paolo Meneguzzi
08 Czech Republic – Have Some Fun – Tereza Kerndlová
09 Belarus – Hasta La Vista – Ruslan Alekhno
10 Latvia – Wolves Of The Sea – Pirates Of The Sea
11 Croatia – Romanca – Kraljevi Ulice & 75 Cents
12 Bulgaria – DJ, Take Me Away – Deep Zone & Balthazar
13 Denmark – All Night Long – Simon Mathew
14 Georgia – Peace Will Come – Diana Gurtskaya
15 Hungary – Candlelight – Csézy
16 Malta – Vodka - Morena
17 Cyprus – Femme Fatale – Evdokia Kadi
18 FYR Macedonia – Let Me Love You – Tamara, Vrčak & Adrian
19 Portugal - Senhora do Mar (Negras Águas) - Vânia Fernandes

Final – Sat 24 May

02 United Kingdom – Even If – Andy Abraham
04 Germany – Disappear – No Angels
19 France – Divine – Sébastien Tellier
22 Spain - Baila el Chiki Chiki - Rodolfo Chikilicuatre
23 Serbia - Oro - Jelena Tomašević ft. Bora Dugić

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Chig's Gigs 2007-8

Coming Up:
20+22+24/05 Eurovision Song Contest, Beograd, Srbija
12/06 Yazoo - Wolves Civic

Gone Down:
21/01 Sing Live! - B'ham Symphony Hall
05/02 Mika - Berkeley Square, London
13/02 Shayne Ward - Nott'm Arena
21/02 X Factor - Nott'm Arena
04/05 Scooch-Nightingale, B'ham
12/05 Hosting Eurovision night @ The Nightingale
17/05 Jason Donovan-Nott'm Royal Concert Hall
25/05 Pet Shop Boys - Wolves Civic
26/05 Liberty X - Nightingale, B'ham
27/05 Scooch & Björn Again - B'ham Pride
16/06 Muse, The Streets, Dirty Pretty Things, Rodrigo y Gabriela & Zane Lowe - Wembley Stadium
28/06 Brotherhood of Man & Buck's Fizz - Nott'm Royal Concert Hall
14/07 Sing Live! - Summer in the '60s & '70s - Royal Leamington Spa Centre
14/09 Rise - Leek Wootton Village Hall
16/09 Erasure & Onetwo - Wolves Civic
17/09 The Twang & The Priory - B'ham Carling Academy 2 (private gig - Janice Long's Radio2 show)
20/09 Turisas & Abgott - B'ham Carling Academy 2
27/09 McFly - Wolves Civic
10/11 Buck's Fizz & Futureproof (The X Factor), Nightingale, B'ham
17/11 Vengaboys & Andy Williams (The X Factor) - Nightingale, B'ham
01/12 The Human League plays Dare! - Hammersmith Apollo
10/03 Gary Numan Replicas Tour & Daggers - Wolves Wulfrun
15/03 David Gray - Symphony Hall, Brum
18/03 Russell Howard, Alexandra, Brum



Who is Chig?
Contact me: chig at cmdh dot freeserve dot co dot uk

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Chig is Nicki French's official stalker...but she doesn't seem to mind.

Chig's life can sometimes be a right pain in the balls...






Chig watches...

Dogtown, The Amazing Mrs Pritchard, Robin Hood, The X Factor, Spooks, Extras, Mock The Week, Popworld, Ideal, Deal Or No Deal, Eggheads, Hollyoaks, Never Mind The Full Stops, Doctor Who series 2 repeats on BBC3, The Bill, Match Of The Day, Ant'n'Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway.

Chig has failed at two attempts to watch the whole series of Invasion, so if you have it on DVD...

Chig still fancies Jesse Metcalfe...


...and Brandon Flowers, Roman Sebrle, Jonas Armstrong, Matthew Fox, Stefan Booth, Stuart Manning, Gary Lucy...

The 50 Number Ones Project.

49= 49= 48 46= 46= 45 44 43 40= 40= 40= 39 38 37 36 35 33= 33= 31= 31= 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Where I live:

Birmingham: It's Not Shit
icBirmingham
BBC Birmingham
The Nightingale
Club DV8

Interests:

Flickr
gaytimes
Popjustice
The Official Charts Co.
Launch (UK charts)
British Hit Singles
Aston Villa FC
GFSN
Eurovision 2006
Eurovision 2005 in Kyiv
Popjustice Eurovision
Friends Reunited
Mr Gay UK

Eurovision 2007:

Official EBU Eurovision
Helsinki 2007 Official
DotEurovision (News)
ESC Today (News)
Eurovision Songs
OGAE Malta
Norway: Melodi Grand Prix
AsianMissionToEurovision(Blog)

Eurovision 2007 acts:

Qualifier:
Albania: Aida & Frederik Ndoci
Andorra: Anonymous
Austria: Eric Papilaya
Belarus: Dima Koldun
Belgium: The KMGs
Bulgaria: Elitsa Todorova & Stoyan Yankulov
Croatia: Dragonfly ft. Dado Topić
Czech Republic: Kabát
Cyprus: Evridiki
Denmark: DQ
Estonia: Gerli Padar
Georgia: Sopho Khalvashi
Hungary: Magdi Rúzsa
Iceland: Eiríkur Hauksson
Israel: Teapacks
Latvia: bonaparti.lv
FYR Macedonia: Karolina Gočeva
Malta: Olivia Lewis
Moldova: Natalia Barbu
Montenegro: Stevan Faddy
Netherlands: Edsilia Rombley
Norway: Guri Schanke
Poland: The Jet Set
Portugal: Sabrina
Serbia: Marija Šerifović
Slovenia: Alenka Gotar
Switzerland: DJ Bobo
Turkey: Kenan Doğulu

Final:
Armenia: Hayko
Bosnia-Herzegovina: Marija Šestić
Finland: Hanna Pakarinen
France: Les Fatals Picards
Germany: Roger Cicero
Greece: Sarbel
Ireland: Dervish
Lithuania: 4Fun
Romania: Todomondo
Russia: Serebro
Spain: NASH
Sweden: The Ark
Ukraine: Verka Serduchka

UK MYMU entrants
Big Brovaz
Brian Harvey
Cyndi
Hawkins & Brown
Liz McClarnon
Scooch(!)

Artists:

Prata Vetra (Brainstorm)
Marc Almond
Pet Shop Boys
Scissor Sisters

Family history:

Chig is directly descended from the following families. If you have one of these surnames, we're possibly related, so feel free to get in touch: Crowe, Harborne/Harbourne, Higgins, Hutchins, O'Sullivan/Sullivan, Talliss/Tallis.

Above: My Gran with her Gran. Snitterfield, Warwickshire, c.1930.

Shameless exhibitionism:

Chig's January 1999 Gay Times article, behind the scenes filming 'Queer As Folk'

People we know:

After The Boyf
B-Boy Blues
Bitful
Daren & Justin
David Belbin
Glenn Ball
I'm Hip To You
Loobynet
Melodimen
Over Your Head
Poplicious
Quarter Hours
Reluctant Nomad
Schlagerboys
Simon & The City
Thoughts From Fish Island
Troubled Diva

Other people we like:

AceDiscoVery
Come Into My World
Club Contact
Following Adam
Diamond Geezer
My Ace Life
Naked Blog
TheSnowInTheSummerOrSo-So
Welshcake
Zbornak

Archives:

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April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
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February 2007
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18.5.08
Competition

So there you have it, 38 of this year's songs, leaving just my favourite five to be revealed, after I get to Beograd tomorrow. (I'll probably reveal them on Tuesday afternoon, before the first semi-final.) This is where the competition comes in. The top 5 is settled. It's not exactly in a golden envelope, but it's in an Excel list along with all the others, which I am about to put onto a memory stick and take to Serbia with me.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to work out which five countries haven't appeared on my list yet, then put them in my order in the comments box below, from 1 (my favourite song) to 5 (my fifth favourite song). You're guessing what you think my favourites are. You're not predicting the results, and nor am I. Go for it! The prize will be some unwanted rubbish from my Eurovision pigeon-hole which is small enough to carry back.

And with that, it's bed, Birmingham airport at 6am, Zurich airport and then Belgrade, with two countries' parties to attend as soon as I get to the city centre tomorrow. It's going to be a hell of a long day. Expect news on here on Tuesday. Farewell, mes amis!

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Eurovision 2008 - Chig's 6th favourite song

Malta - 'Vodka' - Morena

It's not about vodka. 'Vodka' is a codeword, being used by spies. Got the concept? Good. They're not very good spies, given that their callsigns are 'Spy 1', 'Spy 4', etc. It's not Spooks, is it? Another great video though.

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Eurovision 2008 - Chig's 7th favourite song

Sweden - 'Hero' - Charlotte Perrelli

Following on from Iceland, both here and in the running order on Thursday, it's former winner Charlotte Catface Perrelli. You know what you're getting with this. It sounds exactly like what the Brits expect the Swedish Eurovision entry to sound like. It's slick, horribly dated and very powerful. Douze points from the UK, methinks, inthe semi-final at least. But can she overcome the slot of death, number 2, from which no song has ever qualified for the final?

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Eurovision 2008 - Chig's 8th favourite song

Iceland - 'This Is My Life' - Eurobandið

There are two other fabulous songs in the world called 'This is my life' and this doesn't quite match up to either Shirley Bassey or Eartha Kitt, but it's massively popular (with the usual suspects, it must be said). It's dated, the lyric is a bag of selections from the rhyming dictionary, but it's fun. Iceland has already received the kiss of death from the gays at London's Retro bar, where it won their overall vote, so expect it to sink without trace after providing a stunning opening to semi-final two.

This is the best video, bar none, that I've seen this year. It taps in perfectly to the YouTube generation. Watch it from the beginning to the very end!

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Eurovision 2008 - Chig's 9th favourite song

Turkey - 'Deli' - Mor ve Ötesi



One of this year's best videos, a proper group and a song which stands up in the real world, outside of the Eurovision context.

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Eurovision 2008 - Chig's 10th favourite song

Serbia - 'Oro' - Jelena Tomašević ft. Bora Dugić



Eurovision is Serbia's to lose this year, but lose it they may not. I have strong feeling we may be going to Belgrade again next year. If this wins, one of the hosts will have to get the other one to give him his prize, as he wrote it.

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Caption competition

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Serbia(n) in 1 day

We're back, briefly, so today's Serbian word describes how we're feeling after a friend's stag weekend in the Lake District:

pospan (adjective) = sleepy

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16.5.08
Serbia(n) in 3 days

Today's Serbian word is brilliant! It refers to the wisdom of going on a stag weekend three days before going to Belgrade. No updates here tomorrow, but back on Sunday with the competition details. Lake District, here we come!

glup (adjective) = stupid

Thank you to Ivana for monitoring these words and pointing out an earlier mistake. I blame the lack of detail in my dictionary.

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15.5.08
Eurovision pop quiz!

It's time for a quick quiz question before we reach the top ten of 2008's Eurovision fabulousness.

What's the connection between this UK number one hit from 1997 and this year's Eurovision?

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Eurovision 2008 - Chig's 11th favourite song

Switzerland - 'Era Stupendo' - Paolo Meneguzzi

This has been around for so long,it feels like an old friend. It was a hot favourite with the fans, but the first rehearsal this week was a little underwhelming, vocally and in terms of action on stage. However, I think Paolo looked tired and will be much better later. I think he was saving himself. Judge for yourself:



That said, they had previously produced this amazing video, which is full of energy and very TV-friendly, but it hasn't been transferred to the Beograd stage at all. He's very pretty though, and sounds adorable when he speaks (at the beginning of the one above).

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Eurovision 2008 - Chig's 12th favourite song

Armenia - 'Qele Qele' - Sirusho

Highly thought of by many, perhaps a little overrated. (Big with the gays.) I still have no idea what it means. Armenia have finished 8th in the final both times so far. This will probably do about the same.

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Eurovision 2008 - Chig's 13th favourite song

Azerbaijan - 'Day After Day' - Elnur & Samir

Welcome to Eurovision, Azerbaijan! They have grabbed their first opportunity with both hands and brought us a mini opera; a tale of the struggle for power between an angel and the devil, now with added exploding chair. People in Belgrade are saying it's a mess. Oh well.

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Eurovision 2008 - Chig's 14th favourite song

France - 'Divine' - Sébastien Tellier

It will be interesting to see on Saturday and Sunday how this is presented on stage. I do love it, out of a Eurovision context, but find it hard to predict how this will go down until we've seen it. The video's great though:

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Eurovision 2008 - Chig's 15th favourite song

Slovenia - 'Vrag naj vzame' - Rebeka Dremelj

I loved it to start with, but they've turned it into an S&M fantasy in Belgrade, only not in a good way. (She has two gimp men in a cage and on leads - is Europe ready?) People are saying it's a mess and her vocals can't cut it. A shame. Let's enjoy the video (and hunk within) instead.

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Eurovision 2008 - Chig's 16th favourite song

Russia - 'Believe' - Dima Bilan

Everything but the kitchen sink. International megastar. Overrated song. Possible winner.

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Eurovision 2008 - Chig's 17th favourite song

Romania - 'Pe-o margine de lume' - Nico & Vlad

But never mind the song, check out the talent! I had the pleasure of chatting to Vlad at the London Scala party, and made no jokes at all about impaling. Such restraint. He was utterly charming (as was she, Nico). See for yourself in the mini interview below. Swoon.

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Eurovision 2008 - Chig's 18th favourite song

Ireland - 'Irelande Douze Pointe' (sic) - Dustin The Turkey

I think I've said all that needs to be said already about this. It's a mess, but an amusing mess and I'm glad it's in the contest, if only for Dustin's press conferences and the fact that lots of prissy people are really snooty about this song being there. I have no time for people who have forgotten that the contest should include some fun.

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Eurovision 2008 - Chig's next few favourite songs

Now then, my PC has decided to choose today, of all days, to go on a go-slow. It's making strange rumbling noises and frequently refusing to load webpages, as if the memory is full, which it isn't.

Therefore, I am going to take some shortcuts and just post the next batch of songs with minimal details, if any, to save all the time which has been lost today. I have packing to do, for a weekend away and then for Belgrade on Monday, but I will complete my list of this year's Eurovision songs up to the top five. These will not be revealed until (almost definitely) next Tuesday afternoon, when I will be in the Media Centre in the Sava Centar in Belgrade. (It's not a supermarket; that's the name of the building next to the Beogradksa Arena where the journalists and their beanbags are being housed.

The thinking behind this is pure laziness and disorganisation so that we can have a COMPETITION! Details will follow after I've done song number 6, if the PC will allow more YouTubing.

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Congratulations!

Congratulations to Terry George (above, left) and his partner Michael, whose Yorkshire castle has just won 'I Own Britain's Best Home' on five. It came as such a surprise. (Snigger.)

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Serbia(n) in 4 days

Today's Serbian word is something that's here right now in Birmingham, which I'm hoping won't ruin the upcoming stag weekend in the Lake District or the week in Belgrade:

kiša (noun, feminine) = rain

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14.5.08
Eurovision 2008 - Chig's 19th favourite song

In 2003, Ukraine made their Eurovision début with a song called 'Hasta La Vista'. With a title like that, it was inevitable we'd be seeing it again, so my number 19 song this year is;

Belarus - 'Hasta La Vista' - Ruslan Alehno

It's possible that never before have both the song and the singer gone through such changes along the path from national final to Eurovision. In the Belarussian final, Ruslan Alehno was a cleancut '80s throwback with a naff haircut, singing a pop song:



Since then, he has been nicely roughed up and the song has been turned into a soft rock number. He definitely looks better, as we could see in the flesh at the Scala party last month. (See my photo above.) Opinion is divided over whether or not the song has improved. It's quite immediate and the staging wasn't over-complicated in yesterday's rehearsal (below), but why is he standing on sea urchins? I still prefer Ukraine's 'Hasta La Vista' anyway.

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Eurovision 2008 - Chig's 20th favourite song

For all I wrote about this before and despite the way it prevented La Casa Azul with one of my favourite songs of the year from winning in Spain, it's not as bad now as I thought it was.

Spain - 'Baila El Chiki Chiki' - Rodolfo Chikilicuatre



What was originally only 1m 40s long is now a whole minute longer and for all that people dismiss it as a load of nonsense, it's actually one of the wordiest songs in the contest. It's worth examining the lyric here and reading the multitude of footnotes to get all of the references. Some of it is quiet funny and topical, so I can see why Spain voted for it.

Of course, it's all in Spanish, but Alf Poier managed to come 6th in 2003 with a song in an Austrian dialect of German. If you can make people laugh, the language doesn't matter. Spain has also just had a TV contest to pick the extra backing dancers for this, so they're definitely milking it, despite Rodolfo belonging to a competitor TV channel, La Sexta, to the state channel TVE, which is actually entering Eurovision for Spain.

I think this will be the highest placed of the Big 4 countries, probably top 10. With the wind in the right direction, it could be top five.

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Eurovision 2008 - Chig's 21st favourite song

Greece - 'Secret Combination' - Kalomira

One of two acts this year to change the spelling of their name temporarily so that us foreigners can pronounce it. (She's normally spelt Kalomoira, which is still pronounced Kalomira in Greek, and she will be again.)

There's nothing wrong with this; it's fairly good Greek pop, but we've heard it all before, too many times in recent years. She's no Helena Paparizou, although I think the shaven-headed dancer in this performance from the Greek final is one of Helena's:



This should make the final easily, as it's performed last in the first semi-final. After that, it may make top ten, as this song usually does, but not much higher this time around.

I think the Greeks ran out of money before they even started making the promo, as this looks like it cost about fifty quid:

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Eurovision 2008 - Chig's 22nd favourite song

Hungary - 'Candlelight' - Csézy



A review of today's rehearsal for this by Nick of the OnEurope team had me laughing out loud earlier today. I will have to reproduce his words here:

Meanwhile, in a bid to win this year's Most Unpredictable Staging award, the stage backdrop for Hungary's song, Candlelight, is awash with - and stop me if you're ahead of me here - but it's absolutely awash with thousands, literally hundreds, of small otters.

Nah, just kidding, it's candles.


If you're not reading them, you're missing out. And here's the proof of what Nick says, from today's rehearsal:



I've been ignoring this song for weeks, but it's quite nice really. 'Cheesy', as they're calling her in Beograd, performs the socks off it, so it may well make the final.

It has a classy promo video too, even if it does look alarmingly like a car commercial by the end:

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Eurovision 2008 - Chig's 23rd favourite song

Moldova - 'A Century Of Love' - Geta Burlacu

We've had a millennium of love at Eurovision before, so this is the 90% off version. It's lovely to hear some summery jazz in the contest, but I'm just not convinced by the performance of this, or the lack of a memorable hook. Bravo to Moldova though - they throw us something completely different every year; indie pop with drumming Grandma, shite rap with boyband member, feisty femme rock and now moody jazz.

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Eurovision 2008 - Chig's 24th favourite song

Andorra - 'Casanova' - Gisela



The obligatory jolly-Europop-HiNrg-disco-by-a-woman is provided by Andorra this year, roping in Gisela from Spain's Operacion Triunfo. We've heard it a million times before. Not bad, but nothing new. The poor woman has to follow Dustin the Turkey onto the stage as well. Sadly, for the fifth year out of five, not qualifying. Will we ever see Andorra in the final?

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Eurovision 2008 - Chig's 25th favourite song

Finland - 'Missä miehet ratsastaa' - Teräsbetoni



We've reached my top 25, so in theory we should be seeing the finalists, as there are 25 of them. However, this Finnish entry probably won't make it to the final and the UK and German songs are already below, but have their guaranteed slots of doom in the final anyway, so I'd take no notice if I were you.

This could hardly be more different from the syrupy Belgian slop below. The Finns go for the rock option for the third year in a row, if we include Hanna last year as 'poppy Goth rock'. This ain't no Lordi pantomime though. This is the real deal, played straight, sounding just like Saxon used to in the early 1980s. More power to their elbow, I say. They will apparently be performing shirtless. Sadly, I am saving myself for the Ukrainian dancers and the Romanian singer, but thanks anyway lads.

Here's the promo. It starts as an epic, but then the money ran out.

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Eurovision 2008 - Chig's 26th favourite song

Belgium - 'O Julissi' - Ishtar



Now this might surprise a few people, given that it's one of the songs that some people think might win, but I've had enough of it. The first time I saw this in the Belgian heats, I thought it was sweet and interesting, because it's in a made-up language (but may possibly be about crocodiles).

The second time, its tweeness began to grate. By the third time, I was sick of it. The singer also looks very nervous whenever she performs, on TV in Belgium and in the rehearsal on Sunday.

The Belgians tried this made-up language trick before, with Urban Trad's 'Sanomi' in 2003. They took everyone by surprise and came second, pushing t.A.T.u into third place. As people will only have to hear this twice, I'm not going to say it won't happen again, but if you keep eating sugar, you will eventually be sick.

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Eurovision 2008 - Chig's 27th favourite song

The Czech Republic made their glorious entry into Eurovision only last year, a mere fourteen years after their divorced partners Slovakia made theirs - and nine years after Slovakia gave up. (There must have been something about Birmingham that they didn't like in 1998. I hope it wasn't me, as I did have a chat with the disappointed Katarina Hasprová, moments after her heroic 21st out of 25 had been achieved.)

Unfortunately, only a few hundred people in Estonia noticed the Czechs last year, giving grizzly rockers Kabát their only point and leaving them 28th and bottom of the 2007 qualifier.

So, a complete change of tack from the Czechs this year, with a bright, poppy song. At least it was to start with, but somewhere between Prague and Belgrade, the song has had all the life and energy kicked out of it. The amusing video was the first clue. It's notable only for the William Higgins twinks who have popped into Teresa's café as a break from filming porn in nearby Bratislava, the spooling backwards bit (which has gone now anyway) and the alarming lack of health and safety regulations. A dog! In a café!

Czech Republic - 'Have Some Fun' - Tereza Kerndlová



Sadly, there was then a rehearsal yesterday. This is not going to the final.

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Eurovision 2008 - Chig's 28th favourite song

I think it's fair to say we've passed all the songs which anyone might describe as 'awful' in this year's contest. No, scrap that, it's completely contentious. I have lifted Spain, Finland and Azerbaijan above that threshold, but there will be detractors. I'm only representing myself here. All the rest of you are wrong. Please remember that. [Smiley face.]

This Albanian song is another one (as every year) which, to 8 million UK viewers (except those Albanians amongst us) will sound like three minutes of silence, followed by an invisible reprise. You might as well pencil in the zero on the scoreboard now under 'UK'. (We get to vote in the second semi-final, in which this appears. Well, I say 'we'. I mean you. I'll be in Belgrade.) We just don't get this type of song. After years of exposure, I come to this with a more open mind, but I still wasn't massively impressed when this was revealed as the winner back in December. Yes, December! I thought this performance was a big weak and shaky.

Albania - 'Zemrën e lamë peng' - Olta Boka



However, this has risen slightly in my list due to this video, which has beefed up and improved the song greatly. It's still my #28 though.

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Eurovision 2008 - Chig's 29th favourite song

Firstly, let's welcome 'plucky little San Marino' (as Wogan will probably not get the chance to say, when they don't appear in the final). Their début entry is one of three songs in Italian this year - and still no Italy! (Romania and Switzerland - I read your mind.)

I'd love to like this. They're a proper band. Some of them at least are from the tiny country. It's bringing the variety we need to Eurovision. Alas, the song is dreary. It starts, it drones on for three minutes at the same tempo, it ends. A shame. I've heard some of their other stuff and it's no better. Some people have compared them to Placebo, which is an insult to one of my favourite bands.

San Marino - 'Complice' - MioDio

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Eurovision 2008 - Chig's 30th favourite song

Just when you thought we'd forgotten, it's back! Our count-up of this year's 43 songs in order of quality, from worst to best, according to me. Don't worry, it was always part of the plan to have a break. There was rather a lot of real life to fit in last week, but now I've finished work for a fortnight, with only a stag weekend and some flights to Zurich and Belgrade to get in the way.

So, number 30. There are no countries I'd like to win Eurovision more than Portugal and Iceland, simply because, like Finland, they've been plugging away at it for years and everyone deserves their turn. More of Iceland much further up, but some people think this is Portugal's best chance in years of doing well. She hasn't rehearsed yet - she'll be the last one to do so very soon, but chances are good, mainly because they were unlucky 11th in last year's qualifier, this song is much better and they're on last in semi-final 2. Despite all that, I just don't get it, and I think she looks as frightening as the Lithuanian man, so it languishes at #30 in my count-up. There's also the uncomfortable truth that it's in Portuguese, which is never going to endear itself to the lugholes of the wider audience until Brazil enters the contest. Sorry, but it's true.

[Clears throat.]

One thing's for sure though...

[A hushed silence falls, in anticipation of a much-rehearsed, truly appalling joke.]

In the second semi-final, the show really won't be over until the fat lady sings.

[Chig hangs head in shame. Exeunt.]

Portugal - 'Senhora do mar' (Monster Pirates Woman Of The Sea) - Vânia Fernandes

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Serbia(n) in 5 days

Today's Serbian word perfectly describes what I am getting from OnEurope and All Kinds Of Everything's blogs from Eurovision at the Beogradska Arena. Several laugh out loud moments have occurred already. Quality stuff, spoilt only by my frequent comments.

zabava (noun, feminine) = amusement, entertainment, fun

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13.5.08
That's Not My Name*

The most amusing thing happened to me yesterday. I'm going on a stag weekend, this Friday to Sunday. (Yes, then flying to Zurich and Belgrade at 8am on Monday. It could all end in tears, or broken limbs, or vomiting. I know.)

Now I've known the marrying couple for about six years, I think. But yesterday I had a call from the groom, to ask one very simple question.

He wanted to know my real name! (For the organisers of one of the activities we're doing.)

Some people have only ever known me as Chig, and as he is also one of the few people I know who has resisted the facebook revolution, my real name has never been an issue. How very modern.


* And the fantastic single of that name, by the Ting Tings, is currently Number One after yesterday's sales, holding off Madonna and JT. Hurrah!

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Serbia(n) in 6 days

Today's Serbian word may come in handy in Belgrade. I think I had a mild case of it last week, after two days in the sun:

sunčanica (noun, feminine) = sunstroke

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12.5.08
Dustin ruffles feathers in Belgrade



In one of the best Eurovision press conferences since Alf Poier, Dustin, earlier today, discusses Wogan, Andy Abraham and, er, cock. My Eurochums Richard, Robin and Keith get to pose the questions, with Keith asking about the thing that's on everyone's mind. Excellent question Keith!

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Serbia(n) in 7 days

Today's Serbian word is a reaction to yesterday's general election results in Serbia, where the nationalists were soundly defeated. There was also no trouble in central Belgrade to disturb our Eurovision chums.

reljef (noun, masculine) = relief

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11.5.08
And they're off!

Eurovision 2008 is underway. Rehearsals started in the Beogradska Arena at about 09:30 this morning, many of my friends are already there and the videos of rehearsals are already appearing on esctoday via YouTube. Oh, the excitement!

But first, we have the small matter of the end of the Premier League season, as I hope that Villa win and Everton lose, so that we claim that last place in Europe for next season. I'm off to lie down and hope my hangover goes away while I listen to Five Live.

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Serbia(n) in 8 days

Today's Serbian word describes what is starting in the Beogradska Arena this morning, as Eurovision gets going:

proba (noun, feminine) = rehearsal

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10.5.08
Serbia(n) in 9 days

Today's Serbian word describes when Eurovision rehearsals get started:

sutra (adverb) = tomorrow

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9.5.08
Foxy Flying High



The lovely James Fox is about to remove himself quite spectacularly from the 'failed to have a UK hit after Eurovision' list of UK contenders. None of the last eight UK entrants have ever charted again under their own name after doing Eurovision. The last act to have a post-Eurovision hit was Precious (1999), who managed three.

Compare this with the ten year period 1967-1976, where all nine UK Eurovision entrants (because Cliff Richard did it twice) had UK hits afterwards. Between one hit for Clodagh Rogers and Cliff's 85+, they have an average of over 17 post-Eurovision hits each. It really is clear that doing Eurovision is the modern kiss of death to any chart career, but it wasn't in 'the olden days'.

Bluebirds Flying High, James Fox's song (above) with the Cardiff City FA Cup Squad, is in the top 15 in the unofficial midweek charts. (It's also considerably better than most other FA Cup squads' songs since the beginning of time.) James may therefore eclipse his own hit, as Hold On To Our Love made #13 (and not #12, which it said on Wikipedia until I corrected it a few minutes ago, proving that Wikipedia can NEVER be trusted).

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Serbia(n) in 10 days

Today's Serbian word is in recognition of Eurovision in Birmingham, ten years ago today:

godišnjica (noun, feminine) = anniversary

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10 years ago today

Happy Europe Day! Which can only mean one thing...

It is, incredibly, ten years ago today that Dana International won Eurovision, two months after I had interviewed her for a double page article in Gay Times. Even better, she won it on a gloriously sunny day, just down the road from my house and we were on the front row of the balcony watching it all happen before our very eyes.

It was my first Eurovision and a very, very special day.

As if it wasn't exciting enough anyway, Israel only won on the last vote of the last country. Let's relive the tense final moments of the voting. What you have to remember at this point is that FYR Macedonia were brand new to this game, voting last in their début contest. We didn't realise then what we know now. Of course they were going to give 12 to Croatia. At the time though, we thought Dana International hadn't won, because we thought FYR Macedonia's douze points were going to Malta. When the 12 went to Israel, I was screaming and jumping up and down on the balcony like a mad thing. Happy days.

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8.5.08
Serbia(n) in 11 days

Today's Serbian word is:

obrok (noun, masculine) = meal

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7.5.08
Serbia(n) in 12 days

Today's Serbian word is a special request from Adrian, who thinks it may come in useful when talking to Laka from Bosnia-Herzegovina at Eurovision and asking where his has gone:

petlić (noun, masculine) = cock*

* As in 'cockerel'.

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6.5.08
Serbia(n) in 13 days

Today's Serbian word (he says, carrying on as if we haven't lost three days/words in a hazy cloud in Amsterdam) can only be...

rođendan (noun, masculine) = birthday

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42: The Ultimate Answer



But not the ultimate version. If anyone can find a short clip of the TV version of this scene from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, please let me know.

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21 again! 21 again!

Chig has reached the ultimate answer to the ultimate question; the answer to life, the universe and everything. Double 21st birthday! Happy birthday to my friends Jason and Jacko, and 'Vse najboljše!' to Anze in Slovenia.

Now, I've known for a few years that I share my birthday with Tony Blair, but a more recent discovery is that I also share it with top Belarussian (and American based) fitness model Anton Antipov. So, happy 25th birthday, not only to Jason and Anze, but also to Mr Antipov - all born on 6 May 1983! I think you'll agree that Anton is far more pleasing to the eye than Tony Blair (or me) in a pair of pants (although Jason, it has to be said, looks pretty good too!)

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2.5.08
Eurovision 2008 - Chig's 31st favourite song

The Netherlands - 'Your Heart Belongs To Me' - Hind



By an astonishing coincidence that almost beggars belief, on the day that I fly to Amsterdam for the weekend, we reach the Dutch song. Amazing. It's almost as if this sudden flurry of songs in the last 24 hours has been designed solely to get to this point. Ahem.

In theory, I should be loving a pop song like this with Middle Eastern influences, but it just doesn't grab me. It's more Holly Pillowcase than Holly Valance. The song doesn't really add up to the sum of its parts and has made very little impression on me. It comes and goes and feels to me like one of this year's fillers.

The singer's name is not 'Hind, rhymes with lined'; it's 'Hind, rhymes with binned'. And I think she will be, as she's going to seem like a pale imitation of the Armenian song before her and she'll be followed by the Finnish metallers, who will blow all memories of this Dutch song into dust within seconds.

And with that, we're off for a friend's 40th birthday weekend of debauchery, liver damage and museums in Amsterdam. Back late on Monday. Have a great Bank Holiday weekend (if you're in a country that's having one).

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Eurovision 2008 - Chig's 32nd favourite song

Oh dear, have we reached it already? Yes, I'm afraid it's time for a bit of British stiff upper lip as we graciously accept the sad fact that the next favourite song in our count-up is our own.

United Kingdom - 'Even If' - Andy Abraham

Let's remind ourselves of Andy Abraham's performance in Eurovision - Your Decision.



Since then, they've improved the intro and made the whole song a bit funkier. It's a pleasant enough song, sung by a really nice guy with a voice in which I have complete confidence. He will no doubt give a cracking performance, in the slot of doom, song two.

However, here's the crux of the matter. No one can remember the song. It just doesn't stay in your mind after hearing it and took many, many hearings before I could remember the tune. In Eurovision terms, this is a looming disaster. It's not so-called 'political' voting. It's not the war in Iraq. We're presenting an unmemorable song, without the advantage of anyone hearing it before in a semi-final, due to our suicidal insistence on having an automatic place in the final, and no one can remember the song. Doomed, doomed, doomed.

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Eurovision 2008 - Chig's 33rd favourite song

FYR Macedonia - 'Let Me Love You' - Tamara, Vrcak & Adrijan

When this won the national final in FYR Macedonia, I was at Glitterball Mansions, so we weren't allowed to hear more than a few seconds of it, as it includes rap, which isn't allowed there. However, I saw enough to think it was a shambolic mess of wailing, rapping and poor lighting. Judge for yourself.



However, there are two reasons that this hasn't appeared further down my list. The first is that the bloke in the hat looks like he might be quite hot, which makes it bearable to watch. The second is that they have tidied up their act, changed the lyric to English for Eurovision and produced a slick, MTV-friendly video (with some men-with-shirts-off moments). What an improvement! I still have the feeling that we get this kind of rhythm from FYR Macedonia every year though.



This lot managed a lucky draw, so they'll perform 18th of nineteen in the second semi-final. However, as the country widely perceived to have benefited most from ex-Yugo voting (making the final from the qualifier every year, then crashing and burning in the final), it will be interesting to see if the EBU's cunning ploy of putting half their neighbours in the other semi-final, now unable to vote for them, will kill off their chances.

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Serbia(n) in 17 days

Today's Serbian word is something I'm starting early and finishing late (on my birthday on Tuesday):

vikend (noun, masculine) = weekend