World of Chig   

17.3.11
It's not Paddy's day

With an uncanny sense of timing for St. Paddy's day, the very lovely Paddy O'Connell has revealed on twitter today that he has been relieved of his Eurovision duties and will not be commentating on the semi-finals this year;
Just heard I'm being refreshed from EUROVISION, so if you're a broadcaster needing commentary in English, French, or my new German plz tweet

'Refreshed' is such a lovely, gentle word for being sacked, isn't it?

Paddy's glamourous assistant, Sarah Cawood, has also twitterised the same news;
Sad news: @paddy_o_c & I are being stood down from Eurovision duties this year:( On the upside: I can now have a Eurovision party! Whoop!

This is sad news for me and also for Paddy, who is quite the enthusiast, and has become more so since he started this job, partly because various London friends of mine have taken him under their wing in the last few years, had him round for various parties, subjected him to long-forgotten Eurovision videos and fed him their Eurovision propaganda helped him with his research.

As it won't be happening again, here is a final picture of Ms Cawood on last year's BBC Eurovision day trip, where a coachload of us journos toured the sights of Oslo with Josh Dubovie and the BBC PR team, as some people interviewed Josh and some of us photographed him. (It had the desired effect, as a larger version of this very pic ended up accompanying one of my pieces for the attitude website, plus another one on another day.) Oh, and your licence fee paid for me to have an ice cream. Tell the Daily Mail. I don't care.

Seconds after this picture was taken, Josh, Sarah, myself and a handful of other people squeezed into a little cube on a spring, in which we were shown a film to experience the thrills (and no spills) of downhill skiing, while being tossed around in the cube, but without having to bother actually getting on Oslo's Olympic ski slope, which was directly above us (and which is highly visible on the city's skyline). Very good fun it was too.

So, farewell Paddy and Sarah. Who will ever forget, "You can't have a ley without a rimi rimi?" and other Paddy commentary classics? But the question is, who will replace them? Who could? My mind is a blank. Any suggestions?

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It's Paddy's day


DL-2011-03-13 198c
Originally uploaded by Chig66.

So here is a set of pictures on flickr which I took on Sunday at Birmingham's St. Patrick's day parade. Surprisingly, this was the first time I've ever attended the event, despite;

(a) being of Irish descent on both sides of my family
(b) being in Birmingham for over 26 years
(c) living within walking distance of Digbeth, where the parade is held

I was really surprised how long the parade is and how many people turned up for it. It was sunny, which no doubt helped. The atmosphere was great and I will definitely go again, hopefully with some friends and some alcohol next time. I also took the opportunity to purchase a couple of Irish flags, which will come in handy in Duesseldorf.

The full set of 83 photos is here.

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12.3.11
Ikväll är det natt

With any luck, Sweden will be picking this tonight to represent them in Düsseldorf. Eric Saade's 'Popular' has been in my head every day for the last two weeks. You can't beat a Boney M. intro and the routine will keep German glaziers in business for a fortnight. Do it, Sverige!



Failing that, Linda Bengtzing, please! It's her turn.



Or The Moniker. Because this song's also pretty damn good.

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11.3.11
Tonight's the night

...for Blue on The Graham Norton Show.

Time for the new, 'official' Eurovision photo, with the boys' new, official Eurovision image.

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10.3.11
Blue vs. Jedward

So here it is, the UK's Eurovision entry, I Can, by Blue. It has been revealed to the world today, as they recorded an appearance on the Graham Norton show tonight, for screening tomorrow. What do you think of the song?



Here also is Jedward's rather cheap video for their Irish Eurovision entry, Lipstick. It's already been a #2 hit in Ireland, held off the top spot by Lady Gaga's Born This Way.



Now, I like Blue and I like Jedward, but which is best? There's only one way to find out... FIGHT!



Photo (c) Dan Wootton on twitter.

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