Quick off the mark, as usual……

……are the Albanians, who are the second country to choose their 2011 entry, Kenga Ime by the frankly terrifying Aurela Gace. We liiiiiiiiiiiiiiike………………

HOW many??????

So, with just a few hours to go until we are in a year when Eurovision has yet to take place, things are starting to take shape for 2011’s Dusseldorf extravaganza. For starters, a whopping 43 countries have confirmed they will be taking part in the contest, the largest number that has ever taken to the Eurovision stage in one go (although we fear we may have lost the will to live by the time song number 42 rolls along).  Of those, we can look forward to the return of Hungary, Austria, San Marino and perhaps most significantly, Italy, who are taking part in the contest for the first time since 1997 (take note Luxembourg, there is only so much longer you can sit there in flounce mode before you also have to give in). They will join UK, France, Spain and Germany as one of the countries who automatically qualifies for the final – thus the Big Four will become the Big Five for the first time. And if that’s not pant-wettingly exciting then we don’t know what is. A big comeback for Toto Cutugno perhaps? Anyway, for what it’s worth, here’s who we’ll be seeing in the line-up come May….

Albania (RTVSH)

Armenia (AMPTV)

Austria (ORF)

Azerbaijan (Ictimai TV)

Belarus (BTRC)

Belgium (RTBF)

Bosnia & Herzegovina (BHRT)

Bulgaria (BNT)

Croatia (HRT)

Cyprus (CyBC)

Denmark (DR)

Estonia (ERR)

Finland (YLE)

France (France TV) 

FYR Macedonia (MKRTV)

Georgia (GEGT)

Germany (NDR/ARD) 

Greece (ERT)

Hungary (MTV)

Iceland (RÚV)

Ireland (RTÉ)

Israel (IBA)

Italy (RAI) 

Latvia (LTV)

Lithuania (LRT)

Malta (PBS)

Moldova (TRM)

Netherlands (TROS)

Norway (NRK)

Poland (TVP)

Portugal (RTP)

Romania (TVR)

Russia (C1R)

San Marino (SMRTV)

Serbia (RTS)

Slovakia (STV)

Slovenia (RTVSLO)

Spain (RTVE) 

Sweden (SVT)

Switzerland (SRG/SSR)

Turkey (TRT)

Ukraine (NTU)

United Kingdom (BBC)

And on that note, let us wish you all a very happy, healthy, joyful and prosperous New Year and thanks a lot for your support over the past 12 months as without our loyal fans nobody would be reading us and we would basically have to give up and find something sensible to write about.   Now let us consign 2010 to the annals of Eurovision history and bring on 2011, keeping our fingers crossed that the UK actually makes a bit of an effort next year as opposed to coming up with something which sounds like it’s been scribbled on the back of a napkin in the dressing room right before show time……:)

First!

They’re under starters orders…….and they’re away, with the first song of the 2011 Eurovision season (yup, that’s right. The first song has been chosen already. We know, choosing a song at the beginning of December for a contest which isn’t taking place for five months is a bit like having Christmas in June but who are we to complain…..?). Now normally it’s Albania who gets the ball rolling, but in this instance an unusually keen Switzerland has beaten them to it with their effort, a winsome little ditty entitled In Love For A While by Anna Rossinelli. A song we can only sum up as pleasant but forgettable. Which is pretty much what we’ve thought of every single Swiss entry since about 1874. Albania will be weighing in at the weekend with the next song for Dusseldorf, but in the mean time heeeeeeere’s the Swiss…….

Waheyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!

Er, just this, really……:) In case you hadn’t heard it already, which you probably have. We hereby predict that Eurovision 2011 is going to be the kind of contest in which the sage elder statesmen of Western Europe make their big comeback and act all serious and proper while the East Europeans giggle in the corner like naughty schoolchildren. Or something. Anyway, all we have to do now is get Luxembourg back in the frame and it’ll be just like the old days……!