Thought for the day….. May 8, 2009

So the failure of the UK on the Eurovision stage in recent years has been blamed by many people on other countries not liking us due to our occupation of Iraq. (and Wogan has similarly been putting the boot in in Lucerne, it seems…..)

Does this mean if we do better this year that these same people will attribute it to the fact that we’re not in Iraq any more, rather than the fact we actually have a better song for once??????? Hmmmmmmm……………….

Wave hello to Katrina…..! May 1, 2009

Back in the dim and distant past there was a time when the UK used to do well at Eurovision. Sometimes we even – gasp! – won it (although most of you are probably too young to remember this fact). The last occurrence of this bizarre phenomenon was back in 1997 when Katrina and the Waves soared to the top of the leaderboard with the anthemic Love Shine A Light – and since then the band, previously best known for the 80s classic Walking On Sunshine, have become synonymous with the contest.

This year, lead singer Katrina Leskanich is giving her backing to Jade Ewen and Andrew Lloyd Webber, on whom the hopes of the nation will rest in Moscow,  and is fronting a ‘Eurovictory’ campaign – backed by the EBU and BT – which aims to persuade UK viewers to talk their friends and family living overseas into voting for Jade. The idea being, of course, that the more ex-pats and Brits abroad vote for the UK, the more chance we have of winning again. Which would be nice. We settled down for a chat with Katrina to find out more….

So tell us more about the Eurovictory campaign….

Well it’s a new scheme called Friends and Family International from BT, and I’ve teamed up with them to launch Eurovictory, trying to defeat the tactical Eurovision voting so that the UK can win, which is a good idea, if every person in the UK got somebody in Germany, Belgium, Scandinavian countries or even Russia and Israel to cast a vote for Jade, we could win. I mean we’ve got Andrew Lloyd Webber, household name, legend, genius, who has written a song with one of the premier writers, Diane Warren, and finally there is a fantastic representative in Jade, it’s about time that Eurovision came into the 21^st Century and cut out these cheesy horrible songs with cheesy performances because what does that have to do with popular music?

So you think we need to actually do something rather than just rest on our laurels…

Of course, we just can’t sit back and hope Ireland is going to bail us out!

Do you think that the UK’s recent failures on the Eurovision stage have less to do with Europe not liking us due to our involvement in Iraq and more to do with the fact our songs have been, let’s face it, pants?

All of the above, I think that the UK’s always looked upon Eurovision as being similar to Miss World or Miss Universe, the kind of women they think are beautiful is a law unto itself, in that Eurovision songs are laws unto themselves, there is a formula, the formula is Abba, it is a novelty song, the novelty was carried on because you have the participation of the other European countries you get the bleed of their culture which is very different from their own and this is what turned it into a spectacle. The UK makes the best music in the world, and so Eurovision could only really be looked down upon from the heights of the Beatles etc, so it has been difficult for it to raise its head and the reputation has disintegrated over the years. Also the mantle has been grasped by people who love Eurovision for what it is and do want to keep it cheesy, and don’t want to see it get too sophisticated, I have heard people said it’s not what they want from Eurovision. Terry Wogan has left the building, enter Graham Norton, enter Lord Lloyd Webber, For me it would seem like possibly a logical thing in future years for someone like Cathy Dennis to come up with a winning song.

Do you think the public chose a good singer this year?

I think they chose smart and I think if Diane Warren had a say in it then she’s going to be able to recognise your Toni Braxtons, your Beyonces and also if she’s got a say in the production of it too, it was probably a challenge for her.

And our position in the draw two songs from the end will help too….

Of course, plus the fact that Andrew Lloyd Webber will be sitting there on the stage with her! People will still be thinking they may not have heard the winner yet and then this will come along…..it happened with us, we were on second last and we went out there and rinsed it!

Does Jade know about the Eurovictory campaign?

I don’t know if Jade knows, she must be bombarded with all kinds of things at the moment, she’s doing what we never did and going round trying to get people to vote for them. We can combat the tactical voting by doing what we plan to do, and I think jury voting will help also.

Do you think the return of jury voting may also have an effect on the final result? And do you think Jade can actually overcome the so-called ‘neighbourly’ voting and do well?

I think it could be a different story this year. And there are people who watch and listen to the contest and vote for the song they like best. They did in 1997, how could anyone hear Jade’s song and not think they want to download it and listen to it again and buy her album, it’s that good. I didn’t do interviews last year because I couldn’t find it in my heart to raise false enthusiasm over a performance that I didn’t think could win. I’m doing it this year because I think she can win and I want to see her go out and kick ass.

Do you think the time was right for Wogan to retire?

I think so, I couldn’t help but feel his frustration over the tactical voting was getting in the way of his ability to be funny.

What was it like taking part in the contest in 1997?

I always say nerve wracking, you can’t imagine why you ever said yes to it, when we went in we were a bit cocky and then you get there….

And what are you up to these days?

I’m a full-time singer now, I don’t have a secretarial job yet, touring mostly, never stop, live in hotels, tour and sing and order room service and empty minibars…..

Katrina is launching the BT Friends & Family International ‘Eurovictory’ campaign, to encourage people to call their friends in Europe to back Jade’s UK Eurovision bid.  For more information visit www.bt.com/eurovision

For more info on Katrina, visit:www.katrina.info

Jade’s doing the rounds…..! April 30, 2009

Well, she has been, and this week the lovely Miss Ewen will be talking all things Eurovision on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross, which will be on on – hey! Friday. Expect the inevitable jokes about nul points, political voting, dodgy dance routines and all the others we’ve heard a million times before and didn’t find funny the first time. But nonetheless will be worth watching if only to hear what the lady herself has to say.

It does seem also as though Jade is winning fans all over the continent, particularly in Scandinavia where she recently had dinner with Alexander Rybak, or as we like to refer to him, the Norwegian pixie. Evidence of this meeting recently arrived in the Team Eurovision mailbox in the shape of this photo…

One of the people in this photo is clearly thinking, “Oh my goodness I can’t believe my luck. I have gotten to first base!” The other appears to be thinking, “Can I go home now?” We leave you to draw your own conclusions……

The Great Big Weekend Round-Up: Part 1! February 2, 2009

Since the weather outside has turned Arctic and Team Eurovision would have to dig their way out of a snowdrift just to make it up the road to Tesco, there’s no time like the present to take a look at the flurry of continent-wide contest activity that dominated the weekend. And what better place to start than with the UK:

Now we know this song has its dissenters and of course we won’t get any points because of our involvement in the Iraq war about 100 years ago, but we are going to stick our necks out and declare once and for all – this is a cracking effort from the UK (and we’re not just saying that for the sake of patriotism, bearing in mind just how utterly rude we were about Scooch in 2007). And while we are the first to admit we were very impressed by the Twins’ version on Saturday night, we also have to say the right person won.

Crucially though, this is the song that we think the UK has needed for such a long time – how long have we been bleating on about the fact that the best thing we can do is to send a soloist with a ballad, giving a simple no-frills performance and simply letting the song speak for itself? Quite a long time, actually. Now it’s happened – and we gurantee Jade will own that stage come May 16. And to all the dissenters: stop calling her the Poundstretcher Leona Lewis. Don’t think we didn’t hear you…..:-)

Next up, we have this little number from Finland’s Waldo’s People. We liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike, and then some….

Staying in Scandinavia, we have the Danish entry by Niels Brinck. Spent the entire duration of the song thinking, “hey, this sounds a bit like Life Is A Rollercoaster,” only to discover it was co-written by Ronan Keating (quite why we thought this we have no idea since Rollercoaster was written by Gregg Alexander, formerly of the ace one hit wonders New Radicals, but anyway….). This is a good solid pop song with the potential to do well, we think….

And finally check out this little number from Romania’s Elena Gheorghe. We didn’t like it at first, now – as with pretty much every Romanian entry for the past five years – we, er, do….

So Who Does Our Country Need? January 29, 2009

We realise that as yet we haven’t said a great deal on the subject of Your Country Needs You (largely this is because Team Eurovision has been away in Malta on a Eurovision vote-canvassing trip, much of which involved lying in luxurious spas being pampered while having a nice in-depth discussion about Chiara’s Eurovision career with the facial-administering lady, but anyway……).

So with the final looming on Saturday, and with us breathing a huge sigh of relief as the Emperors Of Soul are sent packing (no offence to them, they’re very talented, just completely wrong for Eurovision and besides we can’t get over the fact that one of them looked like Andy Abraham in a dodgy wig), while continuing to mourn the loss of lovely Damien, let’s cast an eye over the remaining contenders. Who does the UK REALLY need to represent it in Moscow? Will it be….

JADE?

For her: She is clearly the best singer in the contest by a country mile – witness how she blew away all the competition in the first show – has enormous stage presence and let’s face it, hasn’t exactly been beaten with the ugly stick.

Against her: Leona Lewis, Alexandra Burke, etc. etc……is there actually anything that unique about her or is she just one of a dozen identikit singers? We’re still not sure….

MARK??

For him: The public seem to have taken him to their hearts; a decent singer who has a certain something although we can’t quite figure out what it is at the moment. He has been steadily improving over the weeks, plus has theatrical experience so is used to performing to audiences. And Dima’s victory last year could point to a renaissance for male soloists on the Eurovision stage.

Against him: Used to performing to audiences but they tend to be of the ‘provincial panto in the local theatre’ variety, which may not necessarily come in handy when performing to a crowd of 20,000 people in a Moscow stadium (none of whom will be punctuating his song with cries of, “Mark, he’s behind you!”)

THE TWINS????

For them: “Oh how cute, look, identical twins, what a novelty! And look, they blubber helplessly whenever they win anything! Don’t you just want to kiss them?” (er, no…..)

Against them: They certainly do have the likeability factor and the identical twin novelty, but we’re still not convinced they wouldn’t crumble into a tone-deaf pile of dust if faced with the mighty prospect of the Eurovision stage. Or fall victim to an Azucar Moreno-style blunder and just stand there and cry instead.

OUR VERDICT:

There is an obvious winner here and it should be Jade. But we can’t help thinking that the public will embrace Mark – or the comely Francine and Nicola. We are on tenterhooks for Saturday night….

Any Excuse…. January 8, 2009

…..to drag this old clip out. For those of you who watched Eurovision Your Country Needs You and are excited at the prospect of sending twins to Moscow, we offer this cautionary reminder of what can happen when identical siblings are let loose on a Eurovision stage……

And for the record we are backing Damien. For his obvious talent. And not for any aesthetic qualities whatsoever, you understand…….