OK, now I'm getting excited about Eurovision.

Most people still dont have accommodation for Moscow, and thats really f*cked up. Fortunately its all sorted for me and I'm so happy I booked and paid when I did last August/September.
LESSON ONE TO POTENTIAL EUROVISION GO-ERS : BOOK ACCOMMODATION AS SOON AS THE HOSTING CITY IS CONFIRMED!

The entries are starting to be finalised...

- UK has Jade (kind of a Beyonce for the UK) singing a powerballad by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Diane Warren called "Its my time". Its actually very good, quite moving and she's a great performer. I think it could be the year that the UK could return to the top 10 (but not win it). I'm not usually a fan of the powerballad, but theres always a couple that feature in the top 10.
- France has Patricia Kaas. No song announced yet, but from what I can understand of her career, she's very well known for doing great jazz material
- Israel once again has a controversial entry - Noa and Mira Awad, a Muslim and Jew doing a duet. Yeah... I'm waiting for the boos and cheers... no matter what the song is. But I think its poignant considering the events of the last few months.
- Andorra is sending Andrea Demirovic with "Just Get Out of my life". To me it sounds like a tune by ABBA, and I have a feeling may have nicked lyrics from "Outta My Head" by that Ashlee Simpson. Doesn't bode well and sit well with me.
- Denmark just announced Neils Brinck with "Believe Again" written by Ronan Keating. He sounds like Ronan Keating. But the song is a nice, leisurely, singalong, bopalong sort of tune. Not a winner (I think), but one that will stick in peoples heads.
- Finland has Waldos People singing "Lose Control". Its a dance/techno tune with a female singer and male rapper. The performance could make or break it, but it doesnt do much for me listening to it now.
- Romania has Elena Gheorghe with "Balkan Girls". Its more of the latest Eurovision-typical-entry, a dance tune with Eastern beats sung by a beautiful girl and performed with 4 scantily clad backup dancers
- Turkey has Hadise with "Dum Tek Tek". Like Romania, its a dance tune with Eastern influence (we can blame 2003 winner Sertab Erner from Turkey for this wave of such entries). She's a good performer though, great singer, great dancer... could be one to watch and a certain finalist.
- Czech Republic has Gipsy.cz (no song announced yet) who are a Romani rap/folk/dance group. After listening to their stuff, it borders on sounding the Cat Empire. I like them actually, but it really depends on the song and the performance, and I don't know if Europe and Eurovision really goes for bands.
- Switzerland are sending a rock/pop band called Lovebugs. Again, there's no song announced, but after checking their stuff of the net, I like them. They might look like Matchbox 20 (well, better looking), but they sound a bit like old-time stuff from The Verve. I don't think they are winners for Eurovision, but they will be winners in terms of the exposure they quite obviously want from Eurovision.
- Belarus has Peter Elfminov with "Eyes that never lie". He looks like a Nordic 70s rockstar complete with white bodysuit. The song is an appauling 80s stylee rock tune (with falsetto!), but will grab a lot of votes because he seems a massive self-promoter and quite a performer. God help us.
- Azerbaijan have Aysel who is promising an upbeat r'n'b dance tune (ala "Qele. Qele" by Sirusho last year) even though the song hasnt been chosen yet. I'm thinking something like the Greek entry last year which came out of nowhere and claimed 3rd place - a mindless but catchy pop ditty complete with dance routine. I'll go out on a limb and say she's top 5 already. She's cute, I haven't even heard her sing (she could be dreadful), but she looks like she's stepped straight out of Idol. She'll be up there in the votes based on her energy and youth. As long as she doesnt do any of that 'lung' gurgling that the Azerbeijani entry did last year.
- Greece is sending Sakis again - he's the Greek Ricky Martin. I imagine he'll do much the same as his last Eurovision entry in 2006 - a pop tune and lots of pelvic thrusting, possibly with his shirt off. hmmmm.
- Netherlands are sending De Toppers - an aging male trio who do covers mainly. I have no idea what they'll sing, but I think you can be assured that this will be one of the non-intentional joke entries of this years Eurovision. Their song is being announced tomorrow.
- Albania has Kejsi Tola singing "Me merr ne enderr". Its the first confirmed song not in English at this years Eurovision. Its a dance tune, performed by a female that seems to have no rhythm, and no personality. She can certainly sing but her performance skills need a LOT of work. It was like watching a girl on her hens night doing kareoke after a few too many wines. She couldnt stand still, and couldnt even move in time with the music.

Thats all so far thats announced artist/song wise. Long winded I know. I'm using it as my own reference.

I say keep an eye out for Azerbaijan in the finals (possible winner? who knows), and Greece, Turkey and the UK for top 10 in the final.

The entry I'm really holding out for is the Ukraine. They've been 2nd for the last 2 years. They won in 2004. And featured in the finals every other time. They have the knack of picking great songs and artists. Verka (2007 entry who came 2nd - performing a wonderful show of utter campness) is producing one of the finalists for their own national selection - a duo called NikitA who appear to be leather bodysuit-clad lesbians, blonde and very sexy. They do r'n'b dance style songs with raunchy lyrics. And unlike Tatu, they can sing.

And Russia shouldn't be discounted either. I know they want to be the new Ireland and win lots of back to back Eurovisions now. They will put up a great act and put a lot of effort into the promotion and performance, just like they did with Dima last year. It certainly wasnt the greatest song and didnt deserve to win, but they acted like they had it in the bag months before Eurovision. The over-confidence won because every other act went in thinking Russia had won (and even Terry Wogan said it). It was a self-fulfilling prophecy. Something the UK really needs to learn if they ever want to win again.