Britons Cross fingers for Eurovision...

[Guest Lottie]

Oh dear me , its that time again and I won't be watching!

Britons cross fingers for Eurovision

LONDON (Reuters) - Fans of the song extravaganza that is Eurovision will be holding their collective breath tonight in the hope the British entry will improve on last year's ignominious "nul points" performance by duo Jemini.

Britain's musical pride rests on the young shoulders of James Fox, who will be singing "Hold On To Our Love". Fox will be a familiar face to some viewers. He was a contestant on last year's Fame Academy -- the talent show he failed to win.

Fox is up against some stiff competition in the Eurovision Song Contest, which attracts a worldwide audience of upwards of 100 million. Some viewers tune in because they regard it as kitsch entertainment, the perfect opportunity for cheesy Eurovision house parties. Others take it very seriously.

The competition arouses amusement among some observers for voting then tends to follow political lines.

Britain's poor showing last year, far from being caused by Jemini's nervous off-key rendition of "Cry Baby", came down to a political backlash against the Iraq war, some Britons claimed.

This year the Greek entry, "Shake It", is tipped as a hot favourite. The song comes complete with a routine that involves two female dancers sliding under the legs of singer Sakis Rouvas before divesting him of his top.

Ukraine's song, replete with folk music and wild dancing from the Carpathian Mountains, is another firm favourite.

Thirty years ago 1970s super band ABBA shot to international fame when they won Eurovision with "Waterloo".

Two dozen countries will battle in Istanbul, Turkey for the honour of winning the competition and hosting it the following year. Just seven competed in the inaugural year of 1956.

For the first time, this year's Eurovision was divided into a two-stage playoff. The first night featured the lowest ranking countries from a year ago -- with 10 advancing to the final.

Britain secured a place in Saturday's final, despite last year's disappointing performance, because the four largest countries in the competition get an automatic bid.

[Seraphina]

Ah, Eurovision...that time of year when we find out who will have the honour being named "least crap" among a huge throng of semi-digested swill

[bathory]

cmon Osama, you know you want to do some good for a change

[DC09]

Eurovision?

I'm guessing that is sort of Europe's version of American Idol?

I'll never understand why people enjoy those shows...

[Guest Lottie]

Kellalor

No Eurovision is not like Pop Idol. Basically you will see a group, solo artist *snigger* performing a very very bad song with no vocal talent, from his/her country, sometimes in their own language and then the other countries vote on how they performed. The voting of course is all political and how well each country gets a vote depends on the current political climate. Meaning I imagine the UK did very badly once again.

I found a quote that sums it up:

Big teeth, lotsa cheese and funny accents. 

There are simply too few occasions where big hair, cheesy grins and overdramatised singing are appropriate, and even fewer where these normally contemptible things are actually encouraged. Enter the Eurovision Song Contest. First staged by Eurovision in 1956 in Switzerland in a bid to help unify a post-war Europe, the contest is open to all countries that belong to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), and thanks to the growing popularity of irony, has been elevated to kitsch/cult status amongst non-European viewers.

The rules are fairly shady. Because there are more countries than slots available, performers have to qualify for a place depending on how well their career has gone during the year, unless you're from France, England, Germany or Spain: countries that automatically qualify. Apart from that you don't necessarily have to even be from Europe to reprazent. Past contestants include Katrina and the Waves, Gina G (she's Australian but went in for the UK), and Nana Mouskouri who's American but sang for Greece.

Fiddly bits aside, there is no better way to indulge your combined loves of cheesy Euro pop, the gratuitous exploitation of children (1986 winner Kimberley Rew was only 13), and sniggering a little about how daggy Europeans are (as you slide into the cushion gap in the couch on a Saturday night in your ugh boots).

[Britannica]

So, we did better this year is suppose...

I love Terry Wogan, the way he sits there and slags off everyone is just fantastic.

And yes, I did sit there and watch the whole thing! Cant believe that Ukranian Wanna be Xena won! She didn't even sing properly, just ran around grunting. It was like 1 Million Years BC - The Musical

[Guest Lottie]

SOURCE: BBC NEWS

Eurovision votes 'farce' attack

The 29 points for James Fox were helped by eight from Ireland

UK entrant James Fox has blamed political voting for the final placings at this year's Eurovision.

Fox, who finished 16th out of 24, pointed an accusing finger at the way some countries voted for their neighbours.

His mother Tina Davies, who was in Turkey for Saturday's final, went further, describing the scoring as farcical.

Their views were backed by former Bucks Fizz singer Cheryl Baker, who said voting was more biased now than when she won.

There is always going to be that element - I knew that before we got there .

The contest in Istanbul was won by the Ukrainian Ruslana with her song Wild Dances.

British TV host Terry Wogan said "biased" voting was worse than ever.

He said: "Someone has got to stop this. The European Broadcasting Union has to take a hand."

Fox, from Bargoed in south Wales,said: "There is always going to be that element - I knew that before we got there.

"Monaco was my favourite one when they gave the 12 points to France - but what can you do? We just did the best we could."

PARTISAN VOTING AT EUROVISION

Greece and Cyprus both gave each other maximum points

Norway gave its 12 points to nordic neighbour Sweden

Norway won only three points - all from Sweden

Belarus gave Russia 12 points

Turkey put differences aside to give high points to Greece and Cyprus

Fox's mother, who was in Istanbul, said the system had become a farce.

Tina Davies told BBC Radio Wales: "There was a person sitting close by me who was more politically aware.

"To be honest, he was able to give me a rundown of the scores - it was so farcical."

Returned favour

Fox's score of 29 points was at least an improvement on the zero points received by Jemini last year, which had been the worst result for the UK in 47 years. Ukraine's leather-clad Ruslana won with Wild Dancing. Public votes in every country determine how many points are awarded to each entrant, with many countries looking most favourably on their neighbours.

The Balkan countries gave each other a major share of the votes, while the French entry - co-written by Swansea's Steve Balsamo - received its only 12-point score from Monaco.

But the UK and Ireland were not immune from good neighbourliness. The UK was the only country to give any points to Ireland - seven - and the Irish returned the favour with eight points for Fox.

Norway finished last with just three points - but they were courtesy of fellow Scandinavians Sweden. For its part, Norway gave Sweden 12 points.

Cheryl Baker, who won with Bucks Fizz' Making Your Mind Up in 1981, said changes had been made to try and take the politics out.

"It should be a song contest but it never has been," she said.

"When they use to have a jury in each country then the voting always looked like it was rigged - Spain would go with Portugal and Austria would always go with Germany."

But she said since the voting was done by the public the situation had become even worse.

"I don't know that you could do it any other way if you want to keep the competition going," she added.

"People are always going to side with other countries whether it is a good song or not."