Made today...

The Thursday Qualifier:

1. Armenia (Début country gets the début song. That's nice - and it's really good.)
2. Bulgaria
3. Slovenia
4. Andorra
5. Belarus
6. Albania
7. Belgium
8. Ireland

I was waiting to see which song would be drawn in 8th position in the qualifier, as I believe that there have so far been 992 competing songs performed on a Eurovision stage in 50 contests (including the qualifiers of 2004 and 2005). Anoraks are busy checking this 'fact' as I write. If true, this will give Ireland the honour of performing the 1,000th Eurovision song. There's a nice sense of justice there, giving the country with the most wins that honour. It's just a crying shame that Bryan Kennedy's song is so bloody dull.

9. Cyprus
10. Monaco
11. FYR Macedonia
12. Poland
13. Russia
14. Turkey
15. Ukraine
16. Finland
17. Netherlands
18. Lithuania
19. Portugal
20. Sweden
21. Estonia
22. Bosnia & Herzegovina
23. Iceland

So, Sweden get a supposedly favourable late draw again, but it didn't do them any good last year, and this year the worst possible song to follow Carola (for her) has been drawn in that very position. Estonia's song is possibly more Swedish, more poppy, more memorable and just generally better than Carola's effort and will hopefully blow her out of the water. I'm laughing my socks off at the thought that the homophobic god-botherer might be buggered.

The Saturday Final:
(Q) = a song from Thursday's qualifier.

1. Switzerland
2. Moldova
3. Israel
4. Latvia
5. Norway
6. Spain
7. Malta
8. Germany
9. Denmark
10. (Q)
11. (Q)
12. Romania
13. (Q)
14. (Q)
15. United Kingdom
16. Greece
17. (Q)
18. (Q)
19. France
20. Croatia
21. (Q)
22. (Q)
23. (Q)
24. (Q)

So, much certainty there at the beginning, much uncertainty at the end. Daz Sampson doesn't know who he'll follow, but he has to precede the home nation. There'll be a lot of restless Greeks waiting for him to finish, but that's a pleasingly late draw for the UK. Great draw for the newly-promted Croatia, now my favourite of the lot, who have only progressed directly to the final today, following the withdrawal of those silly people from Serbia & Montenegro, who couldn't play nicely with each other and have taken their ball back home.) This is a terrible draw for Denmark, who will be wearing cowboy hats, following Germany, doing exactly the same. Oh dear, call wardrobe!


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