The Image of You

Kevin Rudd - Australia's PM - got Eurovision more press coverage than the latest Contest when he invoked ESC to dismiss rumours former Prime Minister Paul Keating could star in Australian Tourism adverts in the UK.

"Paul Keating's chances of being the Australian face of tourism in the UK are as likely as him and John Howard winning Eurovision, the PM says."

And it didn't take long for the photoshopping of Keating and Howard onto various Eurovision bods to begin!

Full stories here:
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23869753-662,00.html

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/06/16/1213468299989.html

Oh, You're Two Semis!

The results of the votes from the two semi finals have revealed a few surprises.

• Russia did not win its semi-final (indeed it came 3rd - trailing Greece by 21 points and Armenia by 4).
• The 20 countries with the most points from the voting public (over both nights) would not include Poland nor jury-selected Sweden - Macedonia and Bulgaria were the two countries in the top 20 who were eliminated.
• San Marino was last overall, getting 5 points. They were one point behind Hungary. Estonia (who truly deserved nul points) got 8 points and were 3rd-last overall.
• All countries who performed 2nd, 10th (middle), 14th and 19th (last) on both nights qualified to the Final.
• Those performing 5th, 8th, 12th and 15th got the Kiss of Death - with all countries being eliminated.

Most of the feedback we've received from regular ESC-viewers and un-initiated was that they felt the best nations got through to the Final - with Switzerland missing out due to a lacklustre performance rather than conspiracy of the East. No one has had a big wrap for Poland, Sweden, Macedonia or Bulgaria - so any argument over whether they deserved to be or not seems moot.

EDU will reserve its judgement til next year - but the signs are good that the Two Semis are less affected by bloc voting than previous systems. (Now, if they'd only limit the Final night's voting to the 25 nations in the Final - this would be sorted for good).

AUSSIE ESC BLACK-OUT

EDU has officially stuck its fingers in its ears and is singing 'La La La [key change] La La La' from now until Saturday night (AEST).

We may be back between the end of Saturday's delayed telecast of the 2nd Semi on SBS-TV (2130 AEST) and the Final commences of Sunday morning (around 0400 AEST) - but we are planning on having an international drinking night, so we may just be in the corner in a drunken stupour giggling at IPL team names.

For non-Australians and Aussies who love spoilers - here are some 'fabulous' sites with all the latest news and reviews:

http://thegogglesdonothing.blogspot.com/

http://www.schlagerblog.blogspot.com/

http://www.pigletwildebeest-eurovision.blogspot.com/

GO ICELAND!!

NB: Oh, and we're pretty sure Wogan is just blowing hard here. He will retire soon - but the UK will stay in Eurovision. ESC is bigger than Terry (we can't believe we said it either!)

I Feel Like TV Tonight

One of our fave Oz bloggers - David Knox of the seminal TV Tonight - has been invited by SBS to provide a Eurovision blog for 2008.

SBS Blog by David Knox

Il Faut Du Temps

EDU is not saying that Greece and Russia are over-compensating for anything...but... apparently their stage props are too big for the stage!

Previous stages have had 2 or more stage doors, allowing the largest props to be cleared and the props for the next act to be brought out within the 30 second 'postcards.' Belgrade has just the one stage door and that has become a problem at rehearsals.

The Greek delegation have adapted their giant book that turns into a heart, adding wheels to speed the movement and making the prop lighter. The Russians however seem to be holding their breath and stomping their feet. They are refusing to crop a ladder from their stage set up. Expect a TV ad break to get moved to before their act.

Where Men Ride

As fans begin to pour into Belgrade for the semi finals which start in 72 hours, some security concerns remain - especially with regard to gay and lesbian fans. In early April the Serb newspaper Alo! included an interview with Mladen Obradovic, president of fascist party Obraz in which he described Eurovision as ‘gay youth day’ and made specific threats against gays and lesbians planning to visit Serbia for ESC.

European Pride Organisers Association (EPOA) has written to the EBU about Serbia's poor record on human rights of lesbian, gay men, bisexuals and transgender (LGBT) people. For its part the EBU has received a guarantee of the safety of delegations, press and fans from the President of Serbia.

Recent parliamentary elections also favoured pro-western parties, which hopefully indicates groups like Obraz are increasingly marginalised.

Never Let it Go

The Director of Eurovision TV - Bjorn Erichsen - has criticised (Sir!) Terry Wogan's commentary for Eurovision. Most right thinking people consider Woganisms the highlight of most years and his barbed witicisms are the way many viewers get into Eurovision in the first place. The attack is really akin to going after the goose that lays the golden egg.

Said Erichsen: "Terry Wogan is a problem because he makes it ridiculous. I know he is very popular, and maybe that is the reason why a lot of people watch. But one day he will have to retire and the BBC will have to find someone else. It will be interesting to see if that attitude changes. The BBC gets a very large audience but it chooses to represent the Contest in a certain way. They take it far more seriously in Sweden. They have a genuine love and respect for it."

They also take it very seriously in Denmark - which is where Erichsen hails from. You remember Denmark, the nation which lodged an official complaint about Wogan after he described the 2001 hosts as Doctor Death and the Tooth Fairy as they used rhyming couplets for the entire night.

"The UK has double standards in the contest. It is something you love to hate. It's something to laugh at. It's something continental. It's a scam. It's ridiculous. The British like to distance themselves from it." (The Contest, not Europe). Erichsen's view is that all viewers of the BBC feed should receive only serious commentary which promotes the quality of the competition. No word yet on when the EBU will regulate for quality to be introduced.

Mr Erichsen also reject out of hand any investigation into the claims that Cliff was robbed of the 1968 Eurovision Song Contest victory by General Franco.