The photos are old news, I know, but I haven't made them public before. I'm just experimenting with making slideshows at Slide.com. This is my first attempt, with a random selection of my photos from the Eurovision Winner's Show at London's Scala, when Ani Lorak totally outshone Dima Bilan. You should be able to hear Scissor Sisters while this is playing, but I can't hear the track. Can you?
The music track did work, but has now been removed after extensive user testing and feedback. Thank you Mark.

Labels: Ani Lorak, Eurovision 2008, Scala, Ukraine

· link

Just as we hoped. Except that it's the kids' version. Ukraine was announced today as the host of Junior Eurovision 2009. (Yes, it is still going, but the UK - in the form of ITV - pulled out after the third contest in 2005.) Can we please have Ani Lorak as the interval act? Then I might watch the damn thing.

Labels: Eurovision, Ukraine

· link

Ukraine - 'Shady Lady' - Ani Lorak

All things considered, this may be my absolute favourite now, in terms of overall song and performance, but we'll stick to the order I had decided on before coming out here. I had to overcome a natural aversion to any song with the word 'lady' in it at first, as it's not a word I would ever use. Woman, yes. Lady, no. I have forgiven Ani because the pop song is great and she sells it like no other, with this year's best dancers, who I'm so happy to say I chatted to in London last month. (Sacha and Bogdan, at least.)

I'll be very happy if this wins and my third trip to Ukraine is on the cards. On the second trip, last December, the first advertising hoardings I saw in the taxi from the airport were for Ani Lorak's new album. I wondered then if she would be picked for Eurovision this year and she was announced a few days after I returned. Is it fate? Here's Thursday's stunning performance.

Labels: Ani Lorak, Eurovision 2008, Ukraine

· link

I was just saying to my friend PJ, who I visited in Kyiv last December, that I didn't really think I'd be going to Ukraine AGAIN, for a third time already, as soon as next year. However, I think it's a distinct possibility. Ani Lorak will probably win tonight's second semi-final hands down, and then it's all about the draw later tonight, where a decent middle draw could see her through as Saturday's winner.

The routine is so slick on TV. It turns out that Sacha and Bogdan, the two dancers that Ani brought with her to the London Scala party, who I chatted to in broken English, are the slickest here, along with the other two Ukrainians. They're faultlessly synchronised every time. It's a joy to watch.

I scored eight out of ten in my predictions on Tuesday, although Mr Mills scored a first ever ten out of ten. We've done this for five years and no one had ever topped nine. Off to do it again now for tonight, but the show is much better, there's more talent on display in every way, and it's much harder to guess. Enjoy the show.

Labels: Eurovision 2008, Ukraine

· link

Tanzen!

Verka Serduchka (left), the Ukrainian bacofoil drag queen who came second in Eurovision last week, has entered the official UK chart today at number 28, entirely on the strength of downloads. The song came third in the UK's televote, behind Turkey and Greece, getting our 8 points.

The song has fallen away a little from its midweek position of #18 (apparently), but at least we have just had the surreal experience of Dancing Lasha Tumbai being played on the Radio1 chart show.

This is the first time that a non-winning, non-UK Eurovision song has made the UK charts since...er...since....hmmm. Help, anybody?

It's possibly the first ever UK chart hit to feature Mongolian in its title, if it really is Mongolian, as claimed, but not the first in Eurovision, as Dschingis Khan and their eponymous song would have a claim to that. Ha, ha.

It's the second of Ukraine's Eurovision entries to make the UK chart, as Ruslana's winner, Wild Dances, spent one measly week at #47 in 2004, after coming 6th in the UK televote, getting 5 points. It's not bad going though, for a country which has only entered Eurovision five times.

Verka Serduchka has also entered the Swedish chart at #6, despite receiving only three points from Sweden last Saturday. Serbia's winner, which Sweden rewarded with 10 points, has entered the Swedish Hitlistan at number nine.

UPDATE: (Thanks Martin, and Dave in the comments.) From a debate that's already happened on the above issue, on the Eurovision Nation message board, it seems it was 1974 when a non-UK, non-winning song last made the UK chart. Thirty-three years! Respect to the tinfoil goddess and the UK's sense of humour! In 1974, the whole of the Eurovision top four charted here, with the top three all charting higher than the UK entry and having longer chart runs:

1974 Eurovision position / song & artist (country) / UK chart peak (Weeks on chart)

1st Waterloo - ABBA (Sweden) #1 (9 weeks)
2nd Si* - Gigliola Cinquetti (Italy) #8 (10 weeks)
3rd I See A Star - Mouth & MacNeal (Netherlands) #8 (10 weeks)
4th Long Live Love - Olivia Newton-John (UK) #11 (8 weeks)

*Gigliola charted here with the English version, 'Go (Before You Break My Heart)'.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Scooch have fallen only three places in their second 'proper' week on the chart, to number 8. I understand that, in the middle of the week, if downloads weren't being counted and the chart were based on CD sales only, Scooch were Number One!

YET ANOTHER UPDATE: The song which was number one in midweek, by Maroon 5, has failed to clinch the top spot today, in a genuine surprise. They have been nudged away from the top spot by Rihanna and her 'Umbrella', probably helped by the rain here in the last week(!)

THE LAST UPDATE: Last week's number one, by McFly, has broken a record quite spectacularly, by falling from #1 to #20. This breaks the record for the biggest tumble ever from the top spot for a non-limited edition single. This record had been held by Harry Belafonte since January 1958, when Mary's Boy Child fell from the top to #12. McFly have even equalled the all-time fall from number one, set two years ago by Elvis Presley's One Night / I Got Stung (also the 1,000th Number One), which was a limited edition release. No single has ever fallen lower than #20 from #1. All of this indicates that McFly's niche market gets more niche and more tuned in to first week sales with every release, and that the singles chart is excitingly unpredictable.

Labels: chart, Eurovision, McFly, Ruslana, Scooch, Ukraine, Verka Serduchka

· link

Drag queens are like buses. Some of them even look like the back end of one. We already had one drag act in this year's Eurovision, from Denmark, but last night we gained a second, from Ukraine!

Denmark's drag queen, DQ, is of the skinny, Las Vegas glamour variety, but has very little in the way of a show and may struggle to get past the qualifier.



Ukraine's Verka Serduchka, on the other had, is already in the final. She hails from the Dick Emery/Les Dawson school of drag. The song's called 'Danzing'. It makes no pretence at glamour but is more of a German Bierkeller drinking song. (It's partly in German, just to reinforce the point.) This is a DJ Ötzi-style song for Eurovision, in that, by any objective judgment on the song, it's a pile of poo. However, on the 'memorable after first hearing/viewing' scale, it scores a great big ten out of ten. Bearing in mind that the UK gave 12 points to Lordi and 10 points to Lithuania's 'We Are The Winners' last year, I can see where lots of the UK's points are going this time. Still, if we end up in Kyiv again next year, there'll be no complaints from me. I'll be able to afford to go, for a start...

This is the entire lyric of Verka Serduchka's 'Tanzing' (minus the repeats). (Thanks to Adrian B. in Romania for this, which I copied from his message on ESC Today.) Note the 'political' jibe at Russia. If Israel are going to be in trouble for their anti-Iranian lyric, maybe the EBU will have to consider this line as well?

Hello everybody! My name is Verka Serduchka!
Speak English? Don't understand?
Let's get dancing!
Sieben, sieben, ai lyu-lyu (Seven, seven, bye-bye)
One, two, three, dance!

It is good dancing! Where are your hands? Higher!
I want you (to) sing! Russia, goodbye!

Ukraine is cool! Ukraine loves dancing! Let's dance at Maidan (Independence Square)

OK, happy end! [Or is it 'Okay, hit the end'?]

Here's the performance from last night's Ukrainian final. (Thanks to Keith.) The song even has TWO key changes!



Finally, a reminder that this year's national final season has seen even more 'glitter och glamour' than these two, from the drag act which should really have qualified for tonight's Melodifestivalen final. Here's the ode to onanism that Sweden tragically let slip through their hands (ahem) two weeks ago. After Dark finished fifth in their heat with 'Oh, when you take things in hand', so we won't be seeing them in tonight's final at Globen. Nevertheless, this is the funniest song I've heard all year. It's also insanely catchy, once you're past the obvious 'Go West' association. Enjoy!

Labels: After Dark, Denmark, DQ, drag, Eurovision 2007, Melodifestivalen, Sweden, Ukraine, Verka Serduchka

· link