Is anyone else watching Smack Idol - sorry, I mean Going Cold Turkey on C4, but feeling slightly uncomfortable about it being on TV at all?

"Day two in the heroin addicts' household. One 'oh' seven A.M. All of the contestants are in bed. All of the contestants have just vomited on camera. All of the contestants are in a daze and receiving medical attention."

"Who recovers? Who leaves in a wooden box? You decide."

Yes, it is, in more ways than one, a bit sick.
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...Brian Kennedy!

Yes, tonight's compulsory viewing here at Chig Mansions was another two inch square screen watching the Irish final live on RTE via t'internet. Brian Kennedy performed three songs, one of them written by him, and that's the one that won; 'Every Song Is A Cry For Love'. It was probably the best choice for possible Irish success in Athens, although lyrically I preferred the second performed song. You can't fault his singing, so he'll be one to watch for at least getting out of the Tursday qualifier. (I reserve my judgment until more songs are chosen.)

The first song performed tonight was called 'The Greatest Song Of All'. As it didn't win the televote, this now seems a questionable claim.

Next stop (for me) is Belgium. Final on Sunday. But tomorrow, the excitement of the first Swedish Melodifestivalen heat! My Swedish friend, who I am joining in Stockholm in four weeks for the final, has said that the Swedish press are going mad about it this year; "The countdown is massive in the media," he texted to me this week, "The Swedes and press don't care about the olympics. I totally love this hysteria! Can't wait."

Imagine that! Living in a country where people are not excited about the Winter Olympics! I know, I just can't...oh yeah. But remember, this is Sweden. We're talking different levels of expectation here...

I'm off to Warwick for the weekend, to retrieve several years' copies of Smash Hits! from my mother's attic - it seems an opportune time - and to research a suspicious death (not in my mother's attic). All will be revealed in good time. Have a good weekend.

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Oh dear! It's not even teatime on the day of the MYMU announcement, and it looks like we're one down already. Sadly, it was my favourite too, based on the 30 second clips. Euro-anoraks and music detectives have discovered that Antony Costa's song, 'Beautiful Thing', has been available, as a download at least, by a singer called Michelle Lawson since 2004. It's even been performed on telly, apparently. This breaks the Eurovision rule, where the definition of 'new' is that the song must not have been commercially available before last October.

These things are supposed to be checked beforehand. Were the writers hoping to keep it quiet?

So bye bye Antony, it was nice almost knowing you. And bang go our chances of us picking up a few votes from Greece and Cyprus because of his family background too. Damn.

I think we'll have to support Kym Marsh now...

(Thanks to various esc_general members for posting all the above links.)


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The REAL list of our Eurovision hopefuls is out, and it contains only two from the News Of The World's 'leaked' list from three weeks ago; DJ Daz (of Uniting Nations) and Four Story. DJ Daz had already announced his participation on Popjustice.com anyway.

The other acts include Kym Marsh (ex-Hear'say) and Antony Costa (ex-Blue, I'm A Celebrity and poorly performing solo single last week). They're joined by unknown Goran Kay and two actresses from Scottish soap River City, performing as City Chix. (Not to be confused with Six Chix, who had a go at A Song For Europe a few years ago, or was it The Great British Song Contest?)

Full biogs and lyrics here. You can also listen to short clips of each song. WARNING! One of them is truly awful.

Hear Kym Marsh's complete song on her own website. She's also on BBC Breakfast from 08:00 tomorrow (Friday).

The full list:

All About You - City Chix
Beautiful Thing - Antony Costa
Hand On My Heart - Four Story
Play Your Game - Goran Kay
Whisper To Me - Kym Marsh
Teenage Life - Daz Sampson


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22:20 Here are the winners of tonight's Brit Awards.

As a reminder, if they’re in italics, they would have been my choice too.
If they’re in bold, they were my predicted winner.
Not counting Paul Weller, I make it six correct predictions, which is two or three down from last year, I think. I got the male and female soloists right in all four categories, but after that only predicted Arctic Monkeys and Lemar correctly.

The biggest surprises for me are Gorillaz not winning anything and Green Day winning two, including one for an album which is from October 2004; the very beginning of the 15 month qualification period, if I understand correctly. Like U2 winning Grammys all over again last week for a similarly old album, it all seems a bit irrelevant. Sixteen months is a long time in anyone's life, let alone in music.

I'm pleased for the Kaiser Chiefs, winning three when I thought they would lose out on all of them, but I'm most pleased for Jack Johnson's win. I hoped for that one, but didn't expect the voters to share my immaculate taste(!)

The Winners:

British male solo artist
James Blunt

British female solo artist
KT Tunstall

British album
Coldplay - X&Y

British group
Kaiser Chiefs

British rock act
Kaiser Chiefs

British urban act
Lemar

Pop act
James Blunt

British breakthrough act
Arctic Monkeys

International breakthrough act
Jack Johnson

British live act
Kaiser Chiefs

British single
Coldplay - Speed of Sound

International male solo artist
Kanye West

International female solo artist
Madonna

International group
Green Day

International album
Green Day - American Idiot

Outstanding contribution to music
Paul Weller


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Here are Chig’s predictions and preferences for tonight's Brit Awards.
(Published at 00:15)

Italics means it’s who I would choose for the Brit.
Bold means it’s who I think will win.
Sometimes, they are the same!

Please feel free to add your own comments, predictions or alternative winners.

British male solo artist
Antony and the Johnsons
Ian Brown
James Blunt
Robbie Williams
Will Young

A toughie. I love Antony & the Johnsons but he/they is/are hardly well known, despite the Mercury win. James Blunt dominated 2005 with a single that stayed around for ever and the best-selling album of the year. Robbie’s album was disappointing – surely he can’t win again? Will Young’s album is superb, and he may win, but I think it’ll be James Blunt. (The presence of Ian Brown in this list is a complete joke and just shows up the embarrassing shortage of British solo male talent in 2005.)


British female solo artist
Charlotte Church
Kate Bush
Katie Melua
KT Tunstall
Natasha Bedingfield

The Bedingfield is here to make up the numbers in this, the traditional ‘Annie Lennox Award’. How ironic that in a year when Eurythmics actually did some new stuff, she doesn’t get a nomination. The nostalgics get La Bush instead, but although long-awaited return was greeted with massive praise from fans, both the single and the album sold disappointingly in their first weeks and then dropped like stones from the chart. KT Tunstall is amazing and will probably appeal a lot to the industry voters. Katie Melua is okay if you like that kind of thing (and I love ‘Nine Million Bicycles’), but for me, this is an easy choice. Charlotte Church seems to sum up 2005. She was all over the press, she was in front of me and my camera lens at Cardiff Mardi Gras, where she also performed brilliantly, and her album is a superb selection of songs. Brit for Chav!


British album
Coldplay - X&Y
Gorillaz - Demon Days
James Blunt - Back To Bedlam
Kaiser Chiefs – Employment
Kate Bush – Aerial

Such a strong choice this year. They’re all good in their own way, but I’d marginally give it to the Kaiser Chiefs, with James Blunt in second. However, Gorillaz are cool and trendy, and they’re playing tomorrow, so they will win.


British group
Kaiser Chiefs
Coldplay
Hard-Fi
Franz Ferdinand
Gorillaz

I could live with any of these winning. This list shows that we have a much better selection of British bands than solo males! I’d love it to be Hard-Fi, but it may be too soon for them. Gorillaz again.


British rock act
Franz Ferdinand
Hard-Fi
Kaiser Chiefs
Kasabian
Oasis

Er, where are the rock acts? We used to call this lot ‘indie bands’. This whole list is an insult to real rock bands, but if we must… Anyone except Kasabian deserves it (not because I don’t like Kasabian, but they only had one hit in January, followed by a re-released single). I’d give it to Hard-Fi, and I think they might just get it.


British urban act
Craig David
Dizzee Rascal
Kano
Lemar
Ms Dynamite

Dizzee Rascal hasn’t released anything since he ruined the Band Aid 20 single in 2004, so his nomination is a complete joke. This one has Lemar’s name written all over it, if there's any justice in the world. Boom, boom!


Pop act
James Blunt
Katie Melua
Kelly Clarkson
Madonna
Westlife

Just look at that selection! Kelly Clarkson and James Blunt as pop acts?! Give me a break! Where are McFly and Girls Aloud? They’re the two pop acts who have dominated most in the last twelve months. McFly’s omission, with two number one singles, is a scandal. They should be winning this, not just nominated. I hope they protest by storming the stage, but they’re too polite. Westlife are Irish, hence not a British or UK act, so they shouldn’t be nominated anyway. Oh, stick a pin in it – Madonna!


British breakthrough act
Arctic Monkeys
James Blunt
Kaiser Chiefs
KT Tunstall
Magic Numbers

Dur! Arctic Monkeys.
(It's comments like this that come back to haunt you, but I'm sticking to my guns.)


International breakthrough act
Arcade Fire
Daniel Powter
Jack Johnson
John Legend
Pussycat Dolls

Not sure about this one, and have gone for Pussycat Dolls over Daniel Powter just by virtue of them having two number ones and him only one hit (due to record company stupidity and his second single being banned from charting, but that’s another story). I would love it to be Jack Johnson. His album is brilliant.


British live act
Oasis
KT Tunstall
Kaiser Chiefs
Coldplay
Franz Ferdinand

I think KT Tunstall might fight her way through the boys and come out with a surprise win here.


British single
Coldplay - Speed of Sound
James Blunt - You're Beautiful
Shayne Ward - That's My Goal
Sugababes - Push The Button
Tony Christie - (Is This The Way To) Amarillo

Let’s not let a single from the 1970s win, no matter how many wedding receptions it’s been played at. James Blunt’s was certainly the single of the Summer, but the Sugababes single is a classic too. Difficult decision. Shayne will win instead.


International male solo artist
Beck
Bruce Springsteen
Jack Johnson
John Legend
Kanyé West

Yes, Beck is still alive, apparently and his sole function these days is to fill in the gaps on this particular list, yet again. Jack Johnson would be a nice surprise, but it should be a clear win for Kanyé.


International female solo artist
Björk
Kelly Clarkson
Madonna
Mariah Carey
Missy Elliott

Madonna, of course. If Mariah ‘look at me, me, me singing for the children’ fucking Carey wins, I will…do something very nasty.


International group
Arcade Fire
Black Eyed Peas
Green Day
U2
White Stripes.

On the face of it, an easy win for the BEPs.


International album
Arcade Fire – Funeral
Green Day - American Idiot
Kanye - Late Registration
Madonna - Confessions On A Dancefloor
U2 - How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb

Two of these albums (Green Day and U2) are from 2004, which makes this very difficult. Presumably we can discount Arcade Fire, so maybe Madonna really can do it. No, they’ll go with U2.


Oustanding contribution to music
Paul Weller

I’m unusually confident that Paul Weller may well win this. I’ve never been wrong with this category. I'm less confident of seeing a reunion for The Jam tonight, but that would be good.


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For some reason, today seems like the perfect day for...

Chig's Ten Reasons Why It's Great Being Single
(in no particular order)

1. You can eat when you want, or not eat at all.

2. You don't have to consult with someone else if someone asks you out socially.

3. There's no arguing over the TV remote control.

4. You can go to bed when you want, even on school nights. Or not go to bed until ridiculous times at the weekends.

5. You can watch as much p*rn as you like, whenever you like. (Apparently.)

6. You can play whatever music you like, as loud as you like, and dance around the house.

7. You can talk to the TV or radio and no one else thinks you're going mad.

8. You can spend the whole weekend not getting showered or properly dressed.

9. You can leave the washing-up for as long as you like.

10. You don't have to waste money buying St. Valentine's Day cards. Even if they are only 8p in Asda.


Any more? Or are you all coupled up?!


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Mistakes an' all! And why not? The webstream is a good size and the sound quality is perfect. Thank you Denmark!

Song 1
En Som Dig - Soren Poppe and Lene Matthiesen Norrelykke
Understandable why it's the favourite, even though none of these have been heard in public yet. Very polished, very poppy, but quite dull. He's very tall, or she's very short. They've nicked at least one of Jakob Sveistrup's backing singers from last year - the cute one with the beard.

Song 2
Heaven (Ease Your Troubled Mind) - David Mader
Billy Joel-type man at piano, but with women dancing (shuffling) for no real reason. Dull song. Forgotten it already, even though it was in English.

Song 3
Je Ne Regrette Rien - Neighbours
Fast and folky. We've had Friends in Eurovision (for Sweden), so why not Neighbours? Will come about third.

Song 4
Twist Of Love - Sidsel Ben Semmane
Promising intro. It's about a man called Johnny, who doesn't know how to twist. Cowboy hats. White jeans tucked into boots. So NOT a good look.

Oh bugger. The webstream's stalled. It's rebuffering...

[One minute later] It's back! Phew! But I missed half of that song.

Song 5
Ta' Hjertet Med - Claus Hasfeldt
It's the Has! Mr Hasfeldt does bear a slight resemblance to the Hoff as well.
[30 seconds in...] Oh honestly! The webstream stays up while the comedians are on between the songs and then it fails again 30 seconds into the performance! Well it was sounding pleasant but mundane and that's all I can say, except that the backing singers are possibly ALL of Jakob's from last year, for every act that needs them.

Song 6
Sode Gys - Jorgen Thorup
He is Bono crossed with Vic Reeves, from the intro film. No, more Elvis Costello on stage, except that I don't like this much. Plodding rock-lite. The picture froze again, but came back just in time for a screeching rawk guitar moment. No.

Song 7
Ah Amore - Kim Schwartz
He's released six albums. I understood a whole sentence in Danish!
Weird - the webstream picture has now gone upside-down, and GREEN! It's back!
Quite like this. It has the words tango, fandango, cappuccino and, er, 'sicky-ay-ay-oh' in it. What godforsaken language is this? Ooh, there's a male opera singer at the end. This is good.

Song 8
Make This Night Forever - Kristine Blond
Luckily, given her surname, she is blonde. And wearing a white dress. Promising intro, but her voice is a teensy-weensy bit nasal...and now it's a bit Mariah Carey, which is never a good thing in my book. However, the song builds nicely. Ultimately, pleasant but no winner.

Song 9
Grib Mig - Trine Jepsen and Christian Bach
It's the often seen 'Scandinavian male/female duo with him in a white suit' act. Only she's in black this time. Quite good. Has a word which sounds like 'fella' in it quite a lot. Overly camp backing dancers. Good. Could cope with this one winning; not bad at all.

Last postcard now, and they've made all of these acts film their intro pieces outside in the freezing cold. They all have red noses!

Song 10
2 in 1 - Danni Elmo
The offical pictures led me to believe they might be saving the totty to the end, but no. There is no totty in a lead role tonight. This is like James Fox's effort. Earnest, sung by bloke with guitar, quiet verse and slightly rousing chorus, but THIS Elmo has no fire. Ha, ha! What a brilliant joke! May be a grower.

Chig's recommendation, having now seen the reprise:
Yes Denmark, go for the safe option and song number one if you must. It's good enough, but choose the twisting woman* or Ah Amore if you want to stand out.

Green room bit now, with some painful silences.

TRIVIA FACT: The Danish for 'green room' is 'green room'.

The old man from the folky group is now singing what appears to be a drinking song. Everyone's singing along.

The hosts are now wandering down a corridor and have found some children locked in a cupboard. Is this legal in Denmark?

Now they're finding people in every room, singing Jakob's song from last year.
And now we're.....backintheroom! The crowd sing along to last year's entry, plus all this year's entrants singing a line (rather than taking a line) in the Green Room, and some members of the public on film, Actually, this is really good fun!

Backintheroom! (Again!) And Jakob is here, of course, carrying on the song. He's so lovely. We had a good chat last year at the Kyiv opening party, because we've both worked in schools for children with learning difficulties. We had a bonding moment.

I hate it when this happens! Jakob Sveistrup is now doing the interval act with a song which is probably called 'Writing The Book Of Love'. Guess what? This is miles better than all ten of the other songs we've just heard. It helps that he has a full gospel choir, which would break the six person rule in Athens, but still. Excellent performance. Is he still teaching?

A very excited old man has just run on stage with a red envelope. It's song 10! By which I surmise that we are now in 'super final' territory, so we're going to get a few songs performed again.

Danni Elmo performs song 10 again, and already it sounds better, if a little repetitive.

The second song through to the super final is Song 4, Twist Of Love by Sidsel Ben Semmane. Good, I got to hear it all the way through this time with no webstream crash. It's fun.

My friend Rich has just told me there are five songs in this super final. That's not a super final, it's half the programme again. It's 20:40 and I haven't eaten yet! Get a move on Denmark!

The next two songs through are Neighbours (which I said would be about third, so we're within two places already) and Soren and Lene, predictably.

Oh good, the last one through is Ah Amore. Shicky ay-ay-oh indeed! Rich just said this song is ridiculous. I agree and that's why it is now my joint favourite. Denmark has suffered enough lately. They could do with a laugh.

More voting now, so another interval act. I have no idea what's going on. Briefly, some dancing, then a fat man in a dinner suit, talking, then a DJ who does some bodypopping and now some dancers with crates. The penguin man is talking. He must be very funny. The audience loves him.

Now there's a circus on stage. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?

The fat man is now doing magic tricks with Martini bottles. Blatant product placement. You don't get this on the BBC. Then again we haven't had Seaside Special for a generation on the BBC either, but that's what this act is like.

Thank goodness for that. He's gone.

And now there's a film about cows. Really. I wonder if Mahlene will be on.
Turkeys now. No, nor me.

And we're backintheroom! The hosts introduce Anders Astrup Jensen, because the televoters must have made the wrong decision and DR (Danish TV) are giving them extra time to put it right. Mr Jensen turns out to be one of those people who is half way up to the ceiling on a long piece of material, wrapping himself up in it and rolling around but not sliding off, while someone plays tinkly piano. On the plus side, he is muscular and topless, but really... Get on with the results!

And it's all over in a flash! They don't mess around with spokespeople, thank goodness. The hosts read out the results. The twisting cowboy song gets max points from all four regions, so we have a clear winner. I blame Brokeback Mountain. The problem is that one of my favourites in the UK selection also has a line dance/Shania Twain feel to it, so this is unhealthy competition.

Well, Denmark has decided to go for the light-hearted option, and we don't think there's been a twist song in Eurovision before, so it will really stand out. It's not awful and it's very catchy. Who knows how this will do? At least they're directly into the final and don't have the Thursday qualifier to worry about.

The moment the credits rolled, DR turned our sound off, the buggers! We still have the webcast pictures though, even though the programme has finished for Danish TV viewers.

The webcam is now showing a wall.

And now, at 21:36, they've also turned off the picture. This is the winner: Twist Of Love, performed by Sidsel Ben Semmane. Goodnight Danmark! Goodnight Europe! Goodnight James and Rich on MSN Messenger! This was fun. We must do it again some time.

*The nation listened.


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You can join those of us watching the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix by clicking here. It opens up Windows Media Player directly (on my PC at least). The picture has been on and live all afternoon, so I have been watching technicians walking across the stage during rehearsals. Gripping, I tell you. The programme starts at 20:00 in Denmark, so that's 19:00 in the UK.

Hot favourites are Soren Poppe and Lene Matthiesen, performing song number one, En Som Dig. He (Soren) has been in Eurovision before, coming second in 2001 as part of Rollo and King. However, he's never travelled far to Eurovision, as that one was in Copenhagen, so he must feel the need to go to a contest that's not in his own country!


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I've been acquiring and playing loads of MP3s of this year's Eurovision hopefuls for Athens, and it would be very remiss of me not to bring one particular song to your attention. (Thankfully, you can easily listen to it too.)

One of the songs that has already made it from an Icelandic semi-final into the final (Songvakeppnin 2006, a week today) is by a singer called Silvía Nótt. It's called 'Til Hamingju Island', which means 'Congratulations Iceland'. The lyric is astonishing. It's all about her, how Iceland should choose her, and how she will win Eurovision! How fabulously, arrogantly self-regarding! She's actually playing a character part, but it's still hilarious. When I read about this, I laughed at the lyric, which I've revealed below, for your delectation, and then prepared to move on. However, I then played the song. Instead of being the throwaway novelty that I was expecting, it's actually really good! From her voice and the story of the song, I expected Silvía Nótt to look like a slightly deranged dark-haired type, like Lene Lovich or Nanne Gronvahl, but, as this picture on her Myspace profile reveals (amongst some gratuitously offensive comments in the sidebar), she's blonde and looks more like a combination of Sonia and the Halliwell with a bit of the Bunton thrown in. She also lists her interests as including 'boys who don't pretend they are not gay'.

Anyway, the song! I suggest you go and play it here now, while reading the lyric below. (Thanks to Roger in Norway and whoever posted this for him to nab from the doteurovision message board.) Then let me know what you think. I've asked this Icelandic blogger, who lives in Cambridge, what he thinks of her, as he saw her semi-final on TV last week. Icelanders will surely either think this is hilariously funny or hideously embarrassing? I do think that she should keep it in Icelandic if she gets through to Athens. The joke would be lost if it was in English. She's singing specifically for the homeland, but other countries might like the music anyway.

Two other things to listen out for. Firstly, doesn't that opening note sound exactly the same as the start of The Human League's 'Love Action'? Secondly, she's not singing about Bonnie Raitt in that first verse, despite how it sounds; she's singing 'born in Reykjavik'. Look out Athens, I think (hope!) Silvía Nótt is coming!

Til Hamingju Ísland - Silvía Nótt

Hey you! Really cool!
I wanna talk with you.
I'm Silvia Night shining in the light.
I know you're longing for me.
I'm born in Reykjavik, talentful, no village freak.
I know I'm gonna win the f***ing final.
All the other songs have lost.

Congratulations Iceland, that I was born here.
I'm Silvía Nótt, and you support me.
Eurovision Nation will have a fit when I come along.
I'm born to win this, walk over it.

Cool, cool, cool.

Nice song, really cool, nothing 90s disgust.
It's cool, okay, it isn't gay, I'm here to stay.
The other bitches have spots, but I'm a virgin.
You love me. You worship me.
But again it sucks.

Congratulations Iceland, that I was born here.
I'm Silvía Nótt, and you support me.
Eurovision Nation will have a fit when I come along.
I'm born to win this, walk over it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Iceland. Congratulations Iceland. Congratulations Iceland.
Congratulations Iceland…

Congratulations Iceland, that I was born here.
I'm Silvía Nótt, and you support me.
Eurovision Nation will have a fit when I come along.
I'm born to win this, walk over it.

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So, another weekend goes by, and three more countries have picked their songs for Athens. And guess what? None of them are rubbish. Hurrah! Estonia, Malta and Norway have all chosen well, even if I liked three songs better in the Norwegian final, which I watched live on t'internet on a screen supplied by Norway's webcast which was, I kid you not, the size of a postage stamp (commemorative, not definitive).

Such is our dedication, my friend James and I watched Norway's Melodi Grand Prix on the net, him in Bristol, me in Brum, texting each other with comments as we did so. Personally, I thought Norway could have won in Athens if they'd picked Lost And Found, sung by Geir Ronning and Jorun Erdal. Yes, that's Geir Ronning who represented Finland in Kyiv, only last year. Traitor! Traitor! Shameless whore! Et cetera.

In Eurovision terms, Norway's winning song, Alvedansen, is a cross between The Voice (winner) and Aava (flop). It ticks the box marked 'ethnic' on our Eurovision checklist, and manages the tricky feat, with some well chosen words, of making Norwegian sound smooth, which it doesn't normally, to English ears. That's probably why singer Christine Gulbrandsen has already stated her desire to sing in Norwegian in Athens. I see no reason why she should change it to English. People might realise the song is really called Elf Dance. And they might laugh. However, put this on the list of potential winners already.

Malta picked Fabrizio Faniello last night - again! Just like last year, they picked someone who's done it for them before. Also just like last year, Olivia Lewis was second. Let her go next year, the poor cow! I'm assured Fabrizio's song is fabulous and sounds like very contemporary Swedish pop, but I haven't heard it yet.

There's a bit of a theme of returning artists already, and we've only heard six of the Athens songs so far! Ich Troje are going back for Poland after only three years and Anna Vissi returns for the home nation, a mere 26 years after she first sang for Greece! The phrase 'a safe pair of lungs' springs to mind. The hosts aren't going to risk being embarrassed by twinkly teens or even musclebound boys in vests. Not on home soil.

The other weekend winner was Sandra Oxenryd for Eesti with Through My Window. Despite having a surname which sounds like an anti-spot medicated facial wash, Sandra has a corker of a song. Pure, driving pop, like Estonia have done before with both Sahlene and Ines. Okay, it's nothing new, but it's dead, dead catchy and it has an epic build up/breakdown, which is the next best thing in the Eurovision Book of Clichés to a key change. The clincher for me though, is that it sounds like it has some of those big metal tubes that you hit with hammers. Yeah, tubular bells, that's it. Cool. (It also has an intro and continuing riff that's a litle reminiscent of Abba's Does Your Mother Know?, but not to the extent of plagiarism, which is more than can be said for Slovenia's entry, which has been pulled from radio* this weekend as it may be facing plagiarism accusations.)

It's worth noting that not one of the six songs chosen so far has any noticeable bloody drums in. After last year's bongo-bashing drum fest, that's quite a relief.

(I wrote loads more on Norway, and it was really funny, but Blogger crashed and lost it. This only happens when I write directly into Blogger and not into Word first. Buggeration.)


*Slovenian radio. Where did you think it was being played - BBC 6 Music?
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Yes, it occurred to earlier, in an Adrian Mole-like moment, that today I am 39 and three quarters. Believe me, if I really have to reach forty in three months' time (and all the indications are that I do), I am going to milk this for all it's worth...

However, any gloomy thoughts of looming age milestones have been dispelled put on hold tonight by reading THIS (via here). I saw Buggerback Mountin' ten days ago (paying twice as much to see it in London as I would have done in Birmingham) and fell in love with the film, the scenery and Jake Gyllenhaal (again - see also Donnie Darko and The Day After Tomorrow), but I don't remember it being as funny as this.

WARNING: If you haven't seen the film yet, but intend to, then DON'T read this, because it really does sum things up rather well.
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