.

Alcazar & Same Difference for UK 2011?

2011-01-29T12:46:00.004Z

Straighteurovision understands that the beeb has contacted both Alcazar and Same Difference to perform in Dusseldorf this May.

Personally if this does turn out to be true, its probably five years too late!! However, you gotta love both bands in their own way. Alcazar for being one of the greatest pop bands of the last decade, and Same difference for growing up on the South Coast...the provence of Great Britain. ;-)

BBC surely unlikely to surprise?!?!

2008-02-02T11:58:00.000Z

Well goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood mornin!

We are expecting a full eurovision 'making your mind up' lineup on Thursday 7th February from the BBC Headquarters, and Straighteurovision can reveal that us UK fans should not be expecting too much....

Previous rumours included Daz Sampson, Daniel Beddingfield, Dannii Minogue, Same Difference, Futureproof & Booty Luv, and Straighteurovision can confirm that the line-up is likely to be more Z list than C or D list.

Straighteurovision has inside information that Daniel Beddingfield was expected to make the final line-up but has pulled out!

Therefore don't be surprised if we see H from Steps, the girl from S Club 7 who never sang (think Tina was her name), and some unknown boy or girl band.

However, with every cloud.....If the song is good, the artist(s) can sing in tune, they have a credible performance, frankly let it go to Belgrade...not that a good song seems to matter these days! lol

P.s. At least it couldn't be as bad as Brian Harvey's off-key, embarassing effort this time last year

OUCHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Rickys Cabaret Bar

2008-01-30T20:15:00.001Z

Just time for a shameless plug!

If you ever find yourself in Gran Canaria (in particular Playa Del Ingles) go see Rickys Cabaret Bar.

Camp Camp Camp! Fab!

Outrage in Romania!

2008-01-30T19:50:00.000Z

Evening All!

So, LaGaylia of MF fame finds herself in the Romanian eurovision selection...How the hell did that happen? Especially as the queen 'Sahlene' was supposed to be singing the song 'Mr Frankenstein'. Hmmmm! Not happy here!

LaGaylia never quite made it to MF final, but her two songs were hits in Sweden....Editors note: Not sure they were hits in Romania though!

Of course Romania are no strangers to ex-MF stars....try the Rednex for example! Below is the LaGaylia song...frankly its pants! Next!

I havent had a chance to comment on the Albanian entry just yet, as we at straighteurovision were too busy enjoying christmas to worry about the albanian selection which is according to Mrs straighteurovision 'a 3-hour long streak of piss'. Delicately put!!!! Anyway, she is right, and as always the finished article is worryingly poor. Its the kind of song which makes you smile at the face you couldn't be bothered to tune in anyway, and laugh at those who did! :-)

For anyone who cares, the live video is below....

BTW its incredibly dated....even more so than the 'ming the mercilous' look-a-like that Albania sent last year....I am still troubled by his sister wailing at us fans at the fan centre last May...things that only nightmares are made of!

Malta have also chosen with an aptly named 'Vodka'. Listen to this load of shite for more than 30 seconds, and you wont be just grabbing for a bottle of Vodka, you will be eyeing up the parafin and matches! Trust me its truly awful. The songwriter was clearly deaf when he wrote this tripe...with any luck this song will send Malta over the edge (no offence Schlagerboys!)

Switzerland who were clearly robbed with DJ Bobo's monumental effort last year (manequins and all) have gone back to the 1980's with their entry.

Actually its OK, just very dated, like the majority of selected songs thusfar!

Czech Republic have decided to 'have some fun'. I like this! Actually ive decided I like her :-)......A lot!

Anyways, more on eurovision hopefuls later.

Over to Belgium, for the most bizarre national final entry so far!

Norway into final stages

2008-01-26T08:49:00.000Z

Well the first big national final approaches, and in Norway all three semi-finals have been completed with just the 'sista chansen' remaining. I still remember last years Rocket Ride and Dusty Cowshit (either should have gone to eurovision in my opinion - dusty cowshit moreso, especially as they were in Tallin anyway, presumably in case Guri Schanke broke a leg or something!)

Anyway, here are the chosen finalists (with two further winners of sista chansen to be added):

Torstein Sødal - Eastern wind

A power ballad with theatrical similarities. This would not be out of place in the Lion King - Strong, but incredibly dated for eurovision - 6.5/10

King of Trolls - Far away

A far cry from Hall of the Mountain Kings, the trolls perform a cross between a bad Lordi and the Poodles (MF 06). Frankly, this again is quite dated, and whilst you can understand what the trolls have tried to achieve, they have failed miserably! - 4/10

Crash! - Get up

Crash were one of the favourites to win the Norwegen final last year with 'Wannabe', however one year has passed and clearly so has puberty for the boys (and girls) of Crash! This years entry seems to have similarities to Bryan Adams and McFly. This certainly stands out amongst the other finalists. One to watch! 7.5/10

Maria Haukaas Storeng - Hold on, be strong

Another song with slight similarities to other artists; in this case the Sugarbabes. A pop/rnb ballad. This is certainly a front runner. 7/10

Veronica Akselsen - Am I supposed to love again

Bossanova-pop-ballad with slighly French/Latin influences from Veronica; by the way Veronica made the final of MGP last year qualifying through the 'Sista Chansen' round. This entry is good but possibly too sleepy for eurovision, however it certainly has its qualities. 6.5/10

Ann-Marie Anderson - Ándagassii

Tip: If you want to do well in a national final (outside UK) try singing in your native tongue! This clearly works here! Actually this is possibly the best song in the final, and with only Crash! as major competitors, I could see this winning by a clear margin. 8/10

Melodifestivalen Hots Up For 2008!

2008-01-23T17:15:00.000Z

Hi All

So....first post of 2008....

Give me a chance to get back into the swing of things as I have had an unforseen absence since my last post, but as always as soon as January appears, eurovision and in particular MF starts to hot up...

So MF 2008 will grace us with some of the best known eurovision singers, and established international performers of all time. In my opinion, MF 2008 is by far the best swedish national final yet.......Oh boy its gonna be great!

CAROLA - Winner 1991

CHARLOTTE PERELLI - Eurovision Winner 1999

BWO - 2nd 2006

SANNA NIELSEN - Has been in more MF's than I care to remember - and her boobs get bigger with every entry!

LINDA BENGTZING - Ok so she has never got within an asses roar of eurovision, but she is highly rated in Svenska!

VELVET - My personal favourite, but if you have ever read Straighteurovision, you will know that...

ANDREAS JOHNSON
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My tips :

My Heart says = Velvet
My Head says = Carola & Andreas Johnson

Part 3 Eurovision Legends:

2008-01-23T17:07:00.000Z

Carrie Grant (born Carrie Gray August 17, 1965) is a British celebrity vocal coach and session singer. She is best known for her work on the television talent contests Fame Academy, Comic Relief does Fame Academy and Pop Idol, together with her husband and colleague David Grant. She is also personal voice coach to many successful pop stars.

Grant has had various roles in the entertainment industry, starting as a dancer on television and moving into presenting for children's television. She was a member of the singing trio Sweet Dreams, who entered the 1983 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "I'm Never Giving Up," which reached number 21 on the UK singles chart and gave them sixth placing in the contest.

Grant later became one of the UK’s top session singers, working with artists such as Diana Ross, Roberta Flack, Rod Stewart, Lighthouse Family, Fatboy Slim and many others.

Carrie and David Grant then collaborated on their highly acclaimed gospel album "Watching and Waiting" which went on to win a MOBO Award as best gospel album for 1997.

This led to further work for Grant as vocal coach and producer, working with some of the UK’s top pop acts including Take That, S Club, and more recently Will Young, Atomic Kitten, Melanie C, Lemar, Charlotte Church and others throughout the US, Europe and the UK. In 2006 she appeared in the four part BBC TV series The Sound of Musicals, which was filmed in 2005. In 2006 (broadcast 2007) she took part in the BBC2 reality series Safari School in which eight celebrities were trained in the skills of game rangers at the Shamwari Game Reserve in South Africa. Grant was the series champion, beating actor Jeremy Sheffield in the final test.

Since 1999 has also presented several BBC schools' radio programmes including, Music Workshop, The Song Tree and Something to Think About.

She is also a prominent member of the National Association for Colitis and Crohn's Disease, as she has had Crohn's Disease since she was twenty.

She and husband David have a daughter, Olivia Grant, who played Alice in series 5 of Tracy Beaker the tv series.

Back in Business!!!

2008-01-23T17:00:00.000Z

Hi All

After a long break, a house-move, a few sunny holidays, a cold but not so white Christmas, Straighteurovision is back!

Much love to all!

Malta, Sakis, Big Brother & the Rest

2007-06-03T12:30:00.000+01:00

Afternoon bloggers.

Hope you all had a fat week! OK so Big Brother has re-entered our sad little lives for another 13 weeks of the year....Im sure its on for much much longer, and didnt the last series finish at Christmas???? Hmmm anyway its reality hell for straighteurovision, because frankly what the fuck else is there to watch?

Tracy has to win based on the fact that at some point during the series (around week 7) she will rip off her wig and fake breasts to reveal an aging, balding man who is training for the annual gurning championships...bless. She/He simply has to win! Oh and add to that the fact she looks like Germany 2003's Lou's younger, more attractive sister!

On to euronews....

I had a message from the fab Schlagerboys recently asking me to join them and unite in euroharmony and to petition Malta not to abandon ship off the eurocruse on destination Belgrade....

We can't have Malta leave us at such a delecate time. What the fuck will the UK do for votes?????

Apart from that Malta can't leave us stranded on our tiny little island with no friends and no dingy! Especially after they have given the world the following:

and this...

not to forget their 2nd place from 2002...

but hmmm we can forget this...

oh and frankly we can dump this in the mediterrean sea to be honest....

But generally Malta have often added fab songs to the euro, and I do agree that if they withdrawn much like Israel will do for 2008 the euro will be short of two countries who can bring so much to eurovision. It is a credit to the contest that they are a part of it, and would be a shame to see them leave...MALTA RELAX, DON'T DO IT....

Its fair to assume that sometime in the next 5 years, Sakis of Greece will take part in eurovision, much like Evridiki, Edsilia, Chiara etc. Sakis will surely take part and unlike the Michael Ball, Samantha Janus and Olivia Newton-John's of this world, would jump at the chance to do it all over again. Mind you, eurovision is much different nowadays, and even UK participants are given a shot of fame after the contest if they are prepared to work at it (e.g. Javine who is a star in London's West End).

Finally Nikki French has recently been performing in Brazil. Yes, Nikki French (29 yrs old in Stockholm) took to Brasil like a duck to water, and im reliably told she is an absolute star in Brazil. She was invited over by Energia FM or something to do a mini-tour...how fab??? It must be nice to be a star in say Brazil as opposed to somewhere like Iceland, especially when they are going to invite you over; all expenses spared sorta thing. Oh and the chance to top up one's tan! Lovely! Nicki had 8000 people turn up for her last gig in Sao Paulo. 8000!!!!! Thats like the whole capacity of the Globen! WOW!

Below is small (poor qty) clip of her tour....

She seems to be lovin it!

Right its hot as hell outside, so time to top up my tan.

See you all soon!

Album of the Month

2007-05-27T13:08:00.000+01:00

Afternoon bloggers....

Unlike most other blogs around the world (i.e. sport, music) its a 365 day a year thing, but with eurovision song contest virtually two/three weeks after the contest has finished the news all goes quiet....so whats the answer? Have a long holiday, get back to normal, or maybe pretend you work for the Sport and make up a load of drivel like:

'Serbian singer in three-way love triangle with Dana International and Big Brother's Kemal'.

Hmmmmm Perhaps not!

Talking of Big Brother, Ive often thought maybe its time for Straighteurovision to give big brother a go in aid of fame and fortune, and to plot a possible eurovision 2008 entry????

Again...........perhaps not!

In the meantime lets reflect on a great new eurovision-related album; Mans Zamerlow or whatever, has released 2007's 'Stand By For'. Its basically something Robbie Williams would have distributed about 5 years ago. Seriously, its actually a very credible album from the highly popular Swedish popstar. The only negative is that it is basically a album of covers, which is something which seems to happen a lot nowadays!

Check out the second best track 'Miss America' which was Fredrick Kempe's track recorded on his 2005 album, which he has clearly passed onto Mans.....bless him! Must have been Mans' birthday...(choking!!!!)

The best song is obviously Cara Mia - winner of NFSC 2007 by a clear mile!

The other song of note is 'The Prayer' which has the lyrics 'theres a boy I used to know' in a haunting tale. Is Mans' trying to tell us something secret about his sexuallity or is he simply reminiscing of the man he used to be? Its all a bit cryptic isnt it!

Finally, check out 'Maniac' from the film Flashdance.

If you want to buy the album, then you better google it cause frankly Im not going to give you everything!!!! Im not that generous! Oh you could always LEGALLY download it :-)

In actual eurovision news, yet not too credible, Hugh Grant has said quite candidly that he would consider taking part in eurovision for the UK. Yes, he may consider it, but I might also consider swoping lives with Hugh Grant...It doesn't mean it will actually happen though does it! The guy can't sing, and although he may watch eurovision, its only a throw away comment that the media have taken a little too seriously!

The incredibly nice Mr Bobo who I almost made late for one of his rehearsals, has stated that Serbia was the right song to win eurovision! How very thoughtful of him, especially as he is clearly ready to stake a claim for next year's eurovision. I hear he will offer his services out to various countries!!!! The slut!

The return of Esctoday

2007-05-22T20:59:00.000+01:00

Hello all....

After much digesting and conjetating over the eurovision results, it appears that both albania and andorra used juries as their votes. Whats even more interesting is that both juries gave points to three of the big four. OK so the UK didnt get any points, but with Juries I think it would be safe to say all of the big four would have been top 10.

I really think the voting procedure needs to be reviewed. I harped on about going back to only allowing countries to vote who are actually in the final during my eurovision week, and to be honest I think im right on this. Here's why:

1) In the semi final, ex-Russian and ex-Yugoslav states can't vote for their neighbours or ex-pats can't vote for their country of origin....because they are not in the semi themselves...

This is not to isolate the ex-russian and ex-yugoslav states, as it could be agreed that all 10 of the songs qualified deserved to?!?!?!

In the semi and final you have more of an open-field in this case. Picture a situation where an citizen of Georgia (for example) knows of all the russian, ukrainian, belarusian, macedonian, croatian, romanian singers (basically they are all well-known in Georgia)...combine this with loads of ex-pats voting for their country of origin....and let's throw into the mix that the individual also likes the Danish song! What chance does Denmark have of scoring? If they do it will likely only be a maximum of 5 points at best....

If you ensure that countries participating in the semi-final can only vote, then it stops all this nonsense, and potentially results in songs which are UNIVERSALLY preferred to qualify, not singers/songs that are already well-known before the contest...(example TATU)

2) Bring back the jury - but only 50/50

If Svante is hell-bent on ensuring that the voting income is secure, then why not ensure a 50/50 split of jury and televotes. That will ensure that there is a smoother playing field. Often juries are fans, and therefore the neighbourly voting isnt always so prevalent....not always the case, but probably not so much!

Frankly, this is the weaker choice of the two, but it strikes me that you could probably predict that Russia and UKraine will be top 5 again next year, almost 1 year before they choose their song!!!!!! Also, that Macedonia will make the final, and Croatia will either just make it or narrowly miss out! It all frankly sucks, and gives the BIG FOUR or any other western nation vitually no chance!!!!

Why????

Because the western side of europe generally votes for their favourite song without too much bias....Svante has maybe five more years until ALL of the big four pull the plug. This mess must be sorted out, but dont expect a change until at least 2009 (where we enter two semi-finals)

Two semi-finals????

That wont make any bit of difference. You will still see the same country guarantee qualification from the semis, while the countries who should have qualified miss out. How many people felt Andorra were mugged of a place in the final?

Finally, Daz (of Daz Sampson fame) text me to basically rub my nose in it in a kind of 'I told you so...' kind of way. Bring back Daz. I really hope we send him again next year.

By the way, I noticed Jonathon Kind in Helsinki......Lets hope he is not sniffing around the Beeb again!!!! Shock Horror!

Oh and esctoday.com has reappeared as if it had never vanished, in a sort of bermuda triangle sort of way!

Unsubstantial Blues

2007-05-18T07:52:00.000+01:00

How crappy is it when you realise there is no more eurovision until Albania decides in December just in time for Christmas? OK so nobody gets excited about the albanian final, but hey at least we know that the season will soon be upon us!

Personally, ive lost eurovision and now the football season, so its really crappy for me!

It now means that when going online there is f**k all to look at!

Most websites and blogs take a few months out to decide what to do with themselves. Straighteurovision has lots of ideas for the future, but have decided to take four or five weeks break and restart in the summer....so please check back now and again. The changes will be fab (in a kind of DQ double dress change fab, and not a aging old norwegen double dress changing kinda way!)

BTW what the ruddy hell has happened to www.esctoday.com?? Its been offline for simply days now, and there is no word on its return!!!

I look forward to see you all very very soon. In the meantime check out the schlagerboys blog! (see my links)

Flying the Flag home with Scooch

2007-05-14T17:31:00.000+01:00

So another eurovision finale ends, and it was all sadness sadness sadness all over Helsinki yesterday. For me, frankly, I was glad to get home...I was simply gutted on Saturday evening and am not too sure whether I can take much more euro-humiliation!

Congrats and all that bollox to Serbia; frankly they deserved it, and Ukraine did not! Uk deserved top 5, along with Germany, France and Spain, although I liked Turkey, Bulgaria and Armenia.

So the aftershow party was good, Magdi won the songwriter prize...thoroughly deserved, although Scooch came a close second!

The bulgarian girl (who is smaller than a nat) seemed extatically happy with Bulgaria's best ever result! Rumour has it she wore the same costume all week; to rehearsals, to home and to bed and out again! Dirty cow!

The presenters were seen at the after-show party; their first fan appearance of the week! In my opinion the best presenters of eurovision ever!

What did worry me was this, which some of us found walking down the street...

Not quite sure of the eurovision connection, although it was probably something to do with the Serbian entry.

Finally, talking of Serbia, she was very charming at the press conference, saying she said a little prayer before the contest that she would win only if god wanted her too. She came over well and hopefully Belgrade will be ready for a eurofest next year.

Oh yeh, almost forgot the point of the title. Scooch, the beeb, Paddy O'Connell, Sarah Cawood and the backing dancer/singers were all literally behind me on the plane home. In keeping with their character, Caroline bent down to pick up something she dropped down the isle, and David (the man behind 'anything to suck on for landing?') said in a carry on eurovision moment 'while your down there', to which Caroline replied 'oooh wrong end'.....Magic!!!!!!!!!!

Bless them, they gave away scooch t-shirts, pads, and flags! Straighteurovision didnt ask for one, as we had no-where to stash it to hide the embarassment!

Interestingly, Terry Wogan was suposed to be on the flight but didnt turn up....hope he didnt enjoy his eurovision just a little too much!

So, 2nd bottom and the worst UK eurovision result since Jemini....Bring back Daz!

Serbia Was Absolute Rubbish!!!!

2007-05-13T11:36:00.000+01:00

Ok only joking!

It was a superb song and an equally superb vocal! Shame for the UK though, and from the after party Russ was in good spirit, while Caroline seemed very down! Oh its all Jemini again isn't it!

To be fair, the UK did give a performance of an OK song, while following my TXT to mrs straighteurovision after song 14 that Ireland and France were going to do well, I seem to have taken them with me! Oh well at least our neighbours went with us!

The EBU need to look at the voting proceedure, and I would suggest returning to voting from only the countries who have qualified for the final, and a same system in the semis....it's much fairer that way! Serbia would still have won no doubt, but maybe Sweden, Finland, France, Ireland and maybe the UK would have had much more respectable scores....

Talking of respectable scores, Olivia Lewis' blog the other day was all doom and gloom, and one could be accused of suggesting she was close to the edge; well it doesn't get better for Olivia. The news broke out that Malta finished 4th last in the semi, while Austria also only managed 4 points...Switzerland finish 20 out of 28, while Portugal narrowly missed out...thats right Portugal finished 11th...shocker!!

But the voting is neighbourly, or political whatever you want to call it...Croatia (the dire, vomit enducing, elevator music) finished 16th...not because it was any good, because countries like Bosnia, macedonia and serbia all voted for it!

Anyway all in all a great week, but I am not looking forward to Belgrade next year in the slightest. I would have prefered a flight to St Petersberg! Gotta go, am flying later on this evening...hope to see you all soon as I have some aftershow party pics to upload tomorrow.

Finally a word for those who chose to boo during virtually every song last night....MAKE LOVE NOT WAR! Or Alternatively your a bunch of pathetic w##kers!

X

All done!

2007-05-12T13:43:00.000+01:00

Right thats it all 24 have been played and if the Uk could vote for ourselves, Scooch would have at least one set of 12 points. As it stands Russia, Belarus, Latvia, Serbia and oh and the UK....lol....

(BTW) the Norwegens to my right conceded the UK song came over well!

Final Dress-rehearsal - Moldova

2007-05-12T13:39:00.000+01:00

Watch out for the outfit. It seems to be the talk of the town! Plus the serbian girls got her eye on it, or maybe Natalie Barbu herself! Yikeeesss!

The song is a rock anthem, much like evanescence. Some other rumours had this winning the semi-final...I seriously doubt it, but it could go top 5 and be the big surprise of the night!!! Certainly a top 15!

Final Dress-rehearsal - Armenia

2007-05-12T13:35:00.000+01:00

Used tissues, radio-controlled trees and a dark red set describe Armenia. Its also a very good ballad with an excellent draw. This could be the surprise of the night. Possibly creeping into the top 10 for the second year running!
Watch out for the tree suddenly becoming possessed and trying to attack Hayko during his performance...

Im sure they must have pinched those used tissues from malta's Olivia Lewis's dressing room on Thursday evening

Final Dress-rehearsal - Turkey

2007-05-12T13:31:00.000+01:00

As 'shake it' appears on the backdrop the show starts, and what a show! Turkey are clearly in a great position to hit europe with a bit of mediteranean r'n'b and pop!

Kenan gives a great show and the overall performance looks particularly polished. This could slide into the top 8, and at this point in the show were thinking potential winner!!?!?!

Final Dress-rehearsal - Bulgaria

2007-05-12T13:28:00.000+01:00

Back to the drums. This ouses ethnicity and passion. The wailing only enhances this moody performance. Expect this to go top 12 tonight. Every year something purely ethnic does very well, and I expect Bulgaria to do this.

Final Dress-rehearsal - Romania

2007-05-12T13:25:00.000+01:00

This has really dropped in the betting lists. It comes across a bit desperate and as straighteurovision reported it was written in 3 days, it really shows. It gets going towards the end, but by then everyone has lost interest. Prediction 20-24th

Final Dress-rehearsal - United Kingdom

2007-05-12T13:19:00.000+01:00

Come on Scooch!

Fabulous...enough said! They are going to win! LOL

Final Dress-rehearsal - Ukraine

2007-05-12T13:16:00.000+01:00

This is bizarre, camp and car-crash television.

If the UK sent this we would be ridiculed! OK we have been anyway....

I only hope it doesn't win! In fact it doesnt come over as good on TV as many fans would have you believe! In the real world this comes last, but this is eurovision...probably top 3.

Final Dress-rehearsal - Serbia

2007-05-12T13:11:00.000+01:00

Serbia is as always mean and moody. I don't care what anyone says, its not lesbian chic. At one point during the song it looks like the 5 girls are stoping the serbian lesbian from falling down. If only they would let go!!!!!

This song is a grower, but I have a problem with the lead singer who is a cross between Harry Potter and itv's Sue Perkins.

I also heard a rumour that she may be choosing to wear the Moldovan singers costume for tonights performance. How frightening!

Final Dress-rehearsal - Germany

2007-05-12T13:08:00.000+01:00

Roger Civero is a massive star in Germany. His voice is superb, and for some this is a deserved eurovision winner. Its too niche for my liking to appeal to a wide audience, but it does have its fans...Not enough to propel it to the top 10 though. 15-20th for Germany this year.

Final Dress-rehearsal - Russia

2007-05-12T13:03:00.000+01:00

Three sugababes with a slick routine, which is slowly creeping up the betting list. Vocally they are miles better than in earlier rehearsals, and don't be surprised if this wins tonight. If Russia can achieve a top 8 with 'believe me' a few years ago, this is going to definately be top 5.

Final Dress-rehearsal - Latvia

2007-05-12T13:01:00.000+01:00

If strong rumours are to be believed - this won the semi!

It is very strong operatically, except instead of starting last, it now starts in 14th. I think it is a strong contender for top 8 now.

Final Dress-rehearsal - France

2007-05-12T12:54:00.000+01:00

France is bizarre to say the least!

The performers have all the charismas that was lost in Greece. Unfortunately like the rest of the big four this is doomed.

I suspect a bottom 5 position.

Final Dress-rehearsal - Sweden

2007-05-12T12:52:00.000+01:00

The Ark look great behind a whirling black and white followed by a pink background. This probably should win the whole damn thing if not for the neighbourly voting!

If only eurovision was a song contest!

Top 5, or if the voting goes mad, top 10!

Final Dress-rehearsal - Georgia

2007-05-12T12:48:00.002+01:00

Sopho meets the Ghostbusters!

This comes alive towards the end of the performance. Sopho look gorgeous on screen, while the performance is very atmospheric.

This could be top 10 tonight!

Final Dress-rehearsal - Greece

2007-05-12T12:48:00.001+01:00

Good song, rubbish singer and an even worse performer!

Clearly this guy can't dance! Apparantly its a swedish song, but its going down like a lead balloon. The greeks who are in force today love this....I wish I had their enthusiasm. Sarbel has no charisma!

12-18th for this!

Final Dress-rehearsal - Lithuania

2007-05-12T12:40:00.000+01:00

The setting is dark and moody. The singer appears to be sat performing at a jazz club. The four backing accompanyments are behind a white screen. This is agin dull as dishwater, except there is a certain charm about it!

This is heading for relegation, prediction - 18-24th

Final Dress-rehearsal - Hungary

2007-05-12T12:35:00.000+01:00

This poor girl must be having some serious relationship problems. She has packed her bags sooo many times its unbelievable! The song is dull but her performance is amazing and the only reason it qualified on Thursday. This might just avoid relegation for next year. Prediction 8-15th

Final Dress-rehearsal - Slovenia

2007-05-12T12:31:00.000+01:00

Opera Dance!

The singer dressed in black leather and feathers operates a hand light throughout the performance which she uses to build an eery setting.

This could go big tonight. Im not sure its a winner, but Slovenia does deserve some success following years of failing to qualify for the final. Their best result in 2001 with Energy.

Top 15 placing for this, maybe top 10!

Final Dress-rehearsal - Macedonia

2007-05-12T12:28:00.000+01:00

This song is sung by the sultry karolina. She has had a face like a smacked arse in the euroclub this week...which is surprising as Macedonia are heading for a top 15th place this year. The song is acceptable on the ears, but doesn't really go anywhere and the engish lyrics half way through are messy.

Karolina appears in dark green and her male dancer gets a bit of a feel-up which the camera doesnt catch!

Im more angry that this song qualified above Andorra!

Final Dress-Rehearsal - Finland

2007-05-12T12:22:00.002+01:00

Hannah has been likened to Jill Johnson in 1998 Birmingham in terms of looks. Its similar to Moldova in terms of song, except not as good! This for me is heading towards to the bottom!!!!!

The norwegens tell me 15-20th..

Its a rock ballad, but Hannah appears to have virtually no charisma!

Oh Shit!

2007-05-12T12:22:00.001+01:00

Good news, Im not sat with two Norwegen reporters who think UK will get Nul points.....Just what i need

Final Dress-rehearsal - Ireland

2007-05-12T12:19:00.000+01:00

Personally I think this is great. Its Irish ethnicity. It has a real appeal, and we all know how Irish songs tend to do. I think this has been written off too early and stands a chance to reach the top 10.

A real fine performance from Dervish. The backing doesnt change, which actually enhances its chances as it comes across as REAL music!

Final Dress-rehearsal - Belarus

2007-05-12T12:17:00.000+01:00

This looks really classy with almost hidden James Bond theme. The singer is still quite shaky on the high notes, however Mrs straighteurovision back in the UK thinks this is going to do well...

Personally im not too sure, except she is not a fan of eurovision so there will be some merit of what she is saying!

This could be one of the top 5 come tonight!

Final Dress-rehearsal - Spain

2007-05-12T12:12:00.000+01:00

D'Nash all in white look great with a blue background setting. The song is clearly too feminine for a macho boy band, however D'Nash do get it some welly. I will predict a mid-table finish for this.

At least Spain are finally sending pop rather than flamenco!

Final Dressrehearsal - Bosnia

2007-05-12T12:11:00.000+01:00

Marija is lovely on stage, but its a boring start and frankly enough to make you want to use your first toilet break right at the start of the show!

I can see this gaining some points, but not enough to avoid the semis next year

Lets Not Kid Ourselves Here

2007-05-12T11:53:00.000+01:00

Swedish newspaper votes are in after two dress rehearsals and UK is 2nd from bottom with around 0.5% of the vote. F**k!!!!!

This isn't looking good is it!

Note to self: Must remain positive!!!! Yikes

Final Rehearsals Almost Complete

2007-05-12T11:17:00.000+01:00

Morning All!

Knackered again this morning; Mrs Straighteurovision woke me up to tell me that either Belarus or Turkey are going to win....bless her, she hasn't seen Ukraine either. Not only that I have a bet with her mother that Scooch will finish top 5....whereas she is convinced that they will finish bottom ...aaaagh must remain optimistic, must remain optimistic!!!!

Having said all that Mark is dangerously near having his clothes removed tonight, and dancing naked down around euroclub. Ukraine may very well win, but for me Russia, Turkey, Serbia & Belarus are serious contenders. I think following thursday's voting, it could be a case of big four, bottom four!

Right a great press conference with Lordi yesterday, except for the twats who kept asking 'what do you think of the georgian song?' or 'How will France do?' It was obvious the poor guys didnt have a clue about anything, but they did look great, and noone can underestimate what these guys achieved for Finland....

Also, the finnish singer for 2007 Hannah was doing the rounds in the press centre. I just can't get Finland this year...and I think its destined for around 20-24th place which won't be fair to the finns who have simply outdone themselves this year. The organisation for fans is incredible, except their inability to give out tickets for the euroclub or to make the whole accrediation elitist thing feel just that little bit more elitist!

So the UK to be top 5, a visit to kiev next year, and Mark to lose his clothes....sounds like a good night!

P.s. I bumped into Ed last night, and as I had removed the camera from my pocket, he had vanished into thin air....he is so elusive! Straighteurovision promises to continue the search! If you see this man, please photograph him and send to sdjwild@hotmail.com asap

Aftermath

2007-05-11T10:02:00.000+01:00

Straighteurovision is rather shattered this morning!

The night's party at the euroclub went on until 4.30am this morning, so as you can imagine were feeling quite delicate at this precise momento!

Gutted feeling was how most of us would have reacted last night. Frankly its a f**king disgrace all this block voting, and having Kosovo and Azerbajan join the party next year is only going to worsen the situation....Talking of block voting, I think its odds on either Russia or Ukraine will pretty much walk it on Saturday, unless another visually sexy act comes to the foreground. I guess the only other songs which could affect the voting is Sweden or Germany; Sweden would probably have been top 3 if not for Lordi last year, so its probable it could come down to Sweden VS Russia VS Ukraine on Sat night. The big guess is which or Russia or Ukraine will be there, as they can't both be top 3 with all the neighbourly voting.

Many of us are hoping for Ukraine now, as a friend of ours has promised to streak naked across Helsinki, which dodging the cold air, trams and the police! Of course we will try to capture video footage of this when it happens on Saturday!

No 'where's ed watch' today as we couldn't find him anywhere!??!?!?!

Right, talking of last night, the euroclub was amazing and we were lucky to be invited. Inside were a few of the qualifying performers; karolina made a second appearance. Portugal were there, looking quite down however Sabrina did say she was happy with her performance, and that she felt dissapointed that more western european countries did not qualify this year. Dusty Cowshit were in the audience, and yours truly took it upon himself to get really pissed and start singing 'chicken rodeo' at the one with the huge beard, who responded by joining in...all great stuff!!!

Sabrina from Portugal was very nice and welcoming.

Dusty Cowshit proud to be Norwegen

The andorran boys dissapointed, not degected!

The Herreys popped in for a bit of diggy loo diggy ley...great!

Todobobo

2007-05-10T14:35:00.000+01:00

Straighteurovision caught up with todomondo....lovely boys! They mentioned that they had created their song in under 3 days....3 minutes more like! They should be top 10 on Saturday, that im convinced of!

I also go to meet and greet DJ Bobo too...I happened to make him late for the third rehearsal which of course wasn't at all the plan. Maybe he could have sprouted wings and flown to the arena. Whats the dummy shit all about? They look like a bunch of twats who are trying to rob marks and spencers one evening...

Everyone is talking about Verka winning on Saturday. Im hoping she finished around 24th place. What eurovision needs is a good ole' knees up...followed by some duty free!!!!

Sopho of georgia has her fans. watch out for those with faces painted as england flags...bless them! I remember having my face painted with england colours for a football match once; its not nice when your team loses, and youve had your face painted for the occasion...I think you get my jist...Georgia is not going through on today's effort...

It also occured to me that there will be 18 unhappy delegations tonight...must bring my camera! :-)

Right, time for shit, shower and shave and off to the semi-final, while passing go and collecting 200 euros....

Predictions for tonight!

2007-05-10T14:25:00.000+01:00

Sat around the press centre watching the final dress rehearsal, a few of us have our predictions for tonight:

DJ Dave:
Belarus
Moldova
Netherlands
Serbia
Macedonia
Andorra
Slovenia
Latvia
Austria
Malta

Singaporesteve:
Belarus
Georgia
Moldova
Serbia
Macedonia
Malta
Andorra
Slovenia
Turkey
Austria

John:
Belarus
Georgia
Moldova
Serbia
Macedonia
Malta
Andorra
Slovenia
Turkey
Latvia

Straighteurovision:
Switzerland
Turkey
Estonia
Austria
Macedonia
Serbia
Denmark
Slovenia
Andorra
Belarus

So looks as though Belarus, Andorra, Serbia and Turkey are looking good to qualify, we will see how near we are tomorrow morning; normally the fans get it wrong!!!!

Second day in euroland

2007-05-10T10:08:00.000+01:00

Morning all!

Just sat in the press centre awaiting the final dress rehearsal, so thought I would bring you some photos from straighteurovision's second day...How fab!

The stage is set for eurovision. This is one of the best f##king stages ever, and as DJ Dave said to me yesterday 'isn't the smoke screen absolutely fabulous?' He's f**king spot on!

Some of the Finnish delgates; steve williams, juha repo and Tina K.

Dancing at the fan centre last night. At one point the room was filled with drama queen(s).

First edition of 'where's Ed watch?'

Then it all went soo wrong; the albanian singers sister decided it was a good time to get in some all important karaoke practice...yikes!!!

Schlagerboys dance off!

'Where's Ed watch' part 2

Finally, how fab is it that all along the streets of Helsinki we have eurovision videos...

F##king Fantastic!

2007-05-10T09:13:00.000+01:00

What a brilliant evening at the euroclub last night. Straighteurovision was not a pretty sight this morning, but nothing an alcazelter couldn't sort!

It was the first rehearsal of the semifinal yesterday, and I am very concerned for two things:

1) The show is too long for a semifinal
2) The first 10 songs will be lost, no matter how good they are!

I am very concerned for Belarus, Switzerland, Cyprus, Moldova, Bulgaria and Israel. From yesterdays showing I expect the following to qualify:

Estonia
Austria
Turkey
Slovenia
Serbia
Macedonia
Denmark
Switzerland
Andorra
Malta

Macedonia and Serbia due to the block voting, Turkey because it is deserving, Switzerland because although it is early on, it is still very memorable. Austria, Estonia, Andorra will qualify as they have great performances. Denmark may just scrape through, while Slovenia and Malta will be bottom of the 10.

I hope to catch the final dressrehearsal before the semifinal this evening, so I should post later on.....I need to go back to bed for a while now, or failing that, a fatboy bean bag in the press centre will do!!!

Semi-final Rehearsal - Take One!!!

2007-05-09T08:54:00.000+01:00

Morning.

Following feeling rather queezy when I woke up this morning, I decided it was a good idea to go and get some breakfast. A word of advice to you all, two chocolate muffins, a croissant and two glasses of orange juice does NOT go down well after a night of booze and partying.....

Right were all excited as today is the first semi-final rehearsal. Most of the participants performed last night at the big four party in the euroclub, so hopefully they took their mother's advice, and had an early night!

Im looking forward to seeing exactly who stands out, and who is the next Kate Ryan!

It seems the ebu have put all the OGAE fans together for rehearsals; the afternoon rehearsals. So, it looks like being off to euroclub again afterwards; its a hard life isnt it!!!

Euroclub - Oh what a night!

2007-05-09T00:55:00.000+01:00

Just back from the big four party...

Im writing this with a very very sore head, so please excuse any mistakes that might be made. On the first eurovision party night since arriving in Helsinki, it was the Big Four Party. What a party it was!!! The majority of the participants were present, while BBC commentator Paddy O'Connell was introducing the acts along with a delegate from France, Germany and Spain.

First up was Croatia with a good accoustic version of their eurovision entry.

Next up was Evridiki, who many think may just miss out of a final position on Thursday. She sang both acoustically and with a backing track. The crowd seemed to love the cypriot diva.

Andorra were next; my tip to qualify against all odds on Thursday, and they were very well supported by the large Spanish crowd. Little Nicki is from Guildford remember, so UK vote andorra!

Olivia Lewis was next on stage; by this time the Greek singer Sarbel had stormed off as there was a queue for slots. She sang Vertigo to the enjoyment of the fans. Olivia clearly knew her audience and pleaded to the crowd to vote Malta to the final...

France were excellent. If there performance tonight was anything to go by, they are still in with a chance. They have a little bit of 'brainstorm' in their performances, while the lead singers resemble Jamiroquai and Right Said Fred.

Scooch came on to a huge ovation. Following today's rehearsal they are still very much in with a shout, and even Paddy O'Connell couldn't resist thinking it would be either a top 5 or bottom 5....Top 5 Paddy, lets remain positive!

Bonaparti.lv followed scooch with a good rendition of Questa Notte. Its not my cup of tea, but it is certainly good enough to just scrape in, and its draw of last place will help it.

Roger Civero blew the house down. He was excellent and his voice is incredibly strong. The guy could be an international star in the making. Even if his song doesn't do exceptionally well, he will still make it.

Edsilia followed Roger, which was a tough ask...She looked stunning and her voice was equally good. She performed an acoustic version of 'on top of the world', followed by chaka chan's 'ain't nobody'. Fab! Verka followed and was as camp as usual. I must concede after watching the rehearsal, it comes over very very well on TV....bugger!

Finally, Karolina from FYR Macedonia and Marija from Bosnia concluded the show. Karolina started with some macedonian folk songs, which if im honest, was the worst piece of drivel ive ever heard, so to the bar I went. Marija was superb. She looks great on tv during her performance, and her voice is brilliant too. I soo hope she does well; not as well as scooch mind! She was even nice enough to take this snap with yours truly

Finally some candid shots of the usual suspects. More tomorrow most probably, and start of dress rehearsals!!! Yippeeee...where is that paracetamol!!!

Oh look DJ Dave again...

Arrived at last!

2007-05-08T16:35:00.000+01:00

Afternoon to you all!

Just arrived at the eurovision press centre and how fab, managed to catch the end of the shitty verka, followed by a press conference with Roger Civero, who by coincidence is sitting about 5meters left of me at this precise moment.

Right, scooch is on the big tv in the press centre. Looking rather fine in full costume. The backing LCD panels have changed, we now have a UK flag throughout the performance with little red aeroplanes flying around it. It looks miles miles better....

This is still looking like a top 5, and maybe even a victory to me. Just armenia last I believe, then its off to the big four party, where straighteurovision will be bringing you photos of tomorrow morning, while severely hungover!

Tschus!

We're gonna win!

2007-05-07T18:53:00.001+01:00

Having watched pretty much all of the rehearsals at least once, the UK is looking particularly good, and we will have to wait and see whats on the back of those dinner trolleys too!

Watch out for the UK this year, it may be that we still have a big chance!!!

Who's Hot, and Who's Not!?!?!

2007-05-07T10:44:00.000+01:00

Morning

Tomorrow I go! - Thats right in the words of the 2nd ever albanian eurovision song, straighteurovision is expected to land in Helsinki around early evening ready for the Big Four Party at the euroclub. See you all there!!!!

So, thats it for the semi-finalists, and its now time for Scooch to prove to everyone why straighteurovision is right to keep the faith and deliver the goods! We shall see today....Anyway, the semi-finalists have finished their pre-dress rehearsal warm ups, and according to 300 journalists present here is who they think will qualify on thursday evening:

Belarus
Switzerland
Serbia
Turkey
Cyprus
Denmark
Iceland
Georgia
Bulgaria
Malta

Interestingly, no andorra, poland, moldova, Israel or austria!!?!?!

Im not convinced by Cyprus and think it may bomb big time...On the same topic, Israel is a certain qualifier for me! Turkey, Belarus, Switzerland and Malta are pretty safe, while Iceland, Bulgaria, Serbia and Georgia must have big question marks. Georgia is a personal favourite of mine, but even I haven't been particularly impressed with the rehearsals, and Sopho has been somewhat offkey throughout!

Having said all that, if this 10 do qualify it will certainly compliment an already strong final, which could be considered the greatest eurovision final of all time; or certainly one of the hardest to predict a winner! I say that because there are just so many styles in eurovision this year; there are very few ballads, but those that are there are pure quality, very few schlagers; but again the quality is present, and different style rock and pop songs.

What is evident is that everyone has their own opinion on who is going to win eurovision this year. If I was to name those who I think are in the running it would be:

Sweden
Malta
Greece
UK
Germany
Russia
Belarus
Switzerland
Turkey
Armenia

Others say Serbia will be in there....I remain unconvinced....Its not a patch on Bosnia last year, and the performer just doesn't have that sparkle in her eye either!

The ones to watch are Turkey and Armenia. Turkey is the best performance of the semi-final and has the potential to win eurovision, while Armenia is one of the best ballads to reach eurovision for years, ticks all the boxes, and if eurovision is ever won by a ballad again, it just might be this, especially as their is so much up-tempo quality this year which might cancel itself out.

I just can't wait..

P.s. I may or may not be able to bring you a post until late tomorrow evening....Or I might just sneak one in at the airport....

Love to all...Don't forget to come say hello whenever possible. Check out my myspace page if you don't know what i look like!

Contenders

2007-05-06T09:54:00.001+01:00

Morning all!

Final day of semi-final rehearsals today; and for me the best five performances have been from Switzerland, Turkey, Iceland, Belarus & Poland. What has become apparant is that this years entire Eurovision Song Contest is far better than last years overall, and fans and non-fans are in for a fantastic show.

Switzerland

Turkey

Iceland

Belarus

Poland

Tomorrow is the start of the finals rehearsals and frankly, I am really excited to see Scooch's performance....straighteurovision will as ever keep you posted throughout the day...

In other news, Israel act the Teapacks have claimed they are considering 'pulling the button' on eurovision as their act is being tamed down by the EBU!?!?! Of course the EBU have no history of this do they? Wasn't it Alf Poier who was told not to grab his cock during his performance, and wasn't Tatu asked not to snog during their performance? Hmmmmm....im sure it will be alright on the night!

Latvian group Bonaparti.tv have reportedly gone missing in Helsinki! What a laugh!!! Maybe they have gone for a nice warm sauna amongst the cold cold weather?!?!

Oh and appararantly Sopho from Georgia is giving away free T-shirts and booze to fans in Helsinki. If that isn't a reason to stalk her, then what is???

Contenders

2007-05-06T09:54:00.000+01:00

What A Day!

2007-05-05T08:48:00.000+01:00

Morning

I'll keep this short and sweet today, because frankly i'm getting seriously jealous of those already in Helsinki.

By the way, when visiting the stadium dont forget it's metro Pasila. You have the press centre and hartwall arena both near the stadium I am reliably told!

Gotta say that Turkey looked amazing yesterday and for me have looked the best of a good bunch over the two days. Serbia has been dissapointing and so has evridiki! My tip to qualify hasnt really changed, but have to say its looking more and more like bulgaria and serbia may not make it, while poland, slovenia and moldova may surprise.

My buddies Andorra didn't let me down, and I think they will sail into the final. Stayin on a rock theme, the vote for the most bizarre vocals of this contest go to newcomers Czech Rep.

Cant wait for today's second round of rehearsals....I shall keep you all posted!

Below is a list of videos of the best performances thus far:

1) Slovenia

2) Turkey

3) Andorra

4) Moldova

5) Belarus

Happy Birthday Mary Hopkin

2007-05-04T20:10:00.000+01:00

Happy belated birthday to Mary Hopkin for the 3rd of May. 21 years old again!

Eurovision Contender!!!!

2007-05-04T19:27:00.000+01:00

Thats right folks, you heard it here first; count Turkey seriously in the running. The rehearsal of 'shake it up' was absolutely fabulous while it was clear Kenan was holding back on his performance.

I will predict right now this is a top 5 contender for eurovision. Its absolute class.

Thanks for 12points.tv for the video

Watch it people!!!

First Day Of Rehearsals

2007-05-04T06:41:00.000+01:00

Morning all!

It seems in the first day of rehearsals most of the first 14 participants have really up-ed their games!

Netherlands were well received in the hall. Im not too surprised about Edsilia; she really can sing, except the song isnt strong enough and won't qualify on the night. Onbeurope.biz agrees and state that the song is boring and the performance isn't all that either! Rehearsal video below:

Bulgaria was generally accepted by many that it is a good starting number, but could be instantly forgettable. It is also important to note that the Bulgarian team seemed lost as for what they should be doing next at times, which doesn't strike professionalism. Rehearsal video below:

Israel are a team that will make it to the final without any doubt, and are using the huge backdrop to include part of their video; see the rehearsal video below.

Cyprus were dissapointing, and this song is starting to move down the betting. Evridiki seemed out of tune throughout and there wasn't a lot of movement on stage either. Rehearsal video below:

Koldrun of Belarus was also unimpressive and out of tune on many of his high notes. I still expect this to qualify and we must not forget it was only a first run through. Rehearsal video below:

Georgia and Montenegro were both OK, and were clearly there to break any nerves for later in the week. There is more hope for Georgia in my opinion though!

Denmark was well received in the hall on its first run through. The song is clearly a fan-fav however. DQ was not top of her game vocally, but with fireworks appearing towards the latter part of the song, this could fly through to the final! Rehearsal video below:

Croatia is not fooling anyone; 3 minutes of pure toilet break!

Poland has really come together, and stands out for being the most modern song in the semi-final. The Jet-setters have strong similarities to the 'black eyed peas', and could grab the few extra votes needed to finally make a eurovision final.

Switzerland has energetic, passionate and firey choreography, and I still think this will be up there with the best come the final night. It is dividing some sections of fans as to whether they think the 'song' is actually good enough, but the performance however, makes all the difference for this!

Oneurope.biz are really bigging up the Moldovan effort; no idea why! Natalie Barbu sings an average rock song well, and her performance really picked up by the fifth run-through. Oneurope has this as a qualifier; we're not convinced! Rehearsal video below:

Finally, Albania performed well with a similar staging format to their song last year. Its all very mean and moody, that come song 29 will have been forgotton. Rehearsal below:

So, first day in and at the moment the outstanding song/performances were Switzerland, Poland, Netherlands & Denmark. Can't wait for later....

Interview with the Teapacks - 03/05/2007

2007-05-03T06:37:00.000+01:00

SE: Welcome Teapacks...Many people love your song this year. Will you be singing in your native language or english?
T: Thank you. We get a lot of good vibes from all over the world, people really want us to do our thing without compromising and be the alternative song of this year’s Eurovision. The song did not change since Israelis elected it for ESC, it’s in English, French & Hebrew.

SE: Can you tell us what your song is about?
T: It’s about laughing in face of the insane fanatics that star in our worst fears, Terrorists, creasy leaders etc. It’s about too much power handed to dangerous individuals. It’s about the right to live peacefully on our planet without destroying it. It’s about a big war between reasonable people against extremists all over the world.

SE: Will there be any surprises with your show?
T: We decided not to play the game, no gimmicks, no fancy steps, no big fashion designers; we are a no logo band, we will come like musicians and relay on our unusual song and unconventional look.

SE: How do you think you will do at eurovision this year?
T: Only god knows. We expect to be remembered; we would love to be touring the world with our crazy freestyle ethnic punk pop, if this will happen we will be very happy.

If we will win, it would be a victory of the alternative forces over the saccharin commercial bla bla .

SE: Will there be a full english version available soon?
T: We are a multicultural band, our songs are written in a junction between Muslims, Christians & Jews. We like the sound of languages, we like different accents, it makes us laugh.

So,

No full English version, but we are happy to inform you that our song is being remixed by the Berlin DJ Daniel Haaksman.

SE: OK, so there are different versions due to be released soon...cool...If you don't win eurovision, would you consider doing it again>?
T: We are a live band; we did it to introduce our message and unique sound to Europe. We will never perform with a recorded playback again; it’s shameful to our opinion. We challenge the Eurovision to make the next competition with live musicians.

SE: Live musicians are something us fans have been protesting about for quite sometime now; but only to fall on deaf ears. It seems unlikely this will change in the forseeable future...So you seem like eurofans, if you could duet with any eurovision act from the past who would it be?
T: We loved Amina from France, deep inside our rock & hip-hop music is a very big influence of North African RAI style.

SE: Have you seen or heard the UK song for eurovision. If yes, do you like it? How do you think the UK will do?
T: It’s nice and very professional. We are not prophets just ordinary Jews, so we don’t know about future results.

SE: At least someone likes it...In the UK the standard of our Eurovision songs isnt as good as it should be, would you or international bands consider representing the UK?
T: We admire the UK, you have a wonderful music scene, we wish you would send an energetic punk pop band, or some noisy kick ass musician to make the competition relevant.

You know what? maybe you should send “Cornershop” or “the streets”.

If your outstanding British artists will refuse, we will be glad to take the mission, after all the British mandate over the Middle East was not so long ago. :)

SE: Whats your favourite eurovision song of all time?
T: rendez-vous - Pas de Deux, the Belgium entry for 1983.

SE: whats your favourite eurovision moment of all time?
T: Israely entry for the Eurovision 1974, Poogy (kaveeret) - Natati La Khaiai

They came wearing sweaters and sang a great song. We are big fans of this band, some of them helped us to jump start our Israeli career, we see ourselves as there musical ancestors.

SE: Right well thank you for speaking with us, good luck in your first rehearsals today...any final words for your international fans?
T: The BBC started the scandal of disqualifying Push the Button, but since then we got a lot of support from the UK, grungy fans, noisy teens and people that enjoyed our sound and message. Many of our fans will see the Eurovision for the first time just to see us doing our Jewish mayhem in the palace of kitsch. We hope they will be strong and won’t fall a sleep without voting for us.

To all our supporters:

You are encouraged us to write new spicy and extreme musical stuff, shortly you will find it in our Vibrant MYSPACE page.

Thank you for being on the side of artistic freedom.

SE: Thank you for promoting eurovision to a wider audience, we all hope to see you on May 12th in the final.

Big Party

2007-05-02T06:45:00.000+01:00

Morning!

As most of you know tomorrow is the first day of rehearsals and we shall get the first glimpse of whos looking good, who's not and so on....However, straighteurovision's mind is focused firmly on the 'big 4 party' on May 8th. Its the day of our arrival and we can't wait to be smuggled in the back way?!?! :-)

The party is where most participants go to sing accoustic with other participants; so imagine scooch performing a duet with say Verka Seduckha...that would probably be horrible, in fact Verka duetting with anyone would be enough to make you vomit!

The only act who definately won't be attending will be the Teapacks as they are performing their own gig that evening (which I recommend to anyone not accredited!). They are playing at the Virgin Oil Club that evening. Just in case you miss it, here is there eurovision entry below:

Right were days away from the semi-final on Thursday May 10th on BBC 3 at 8pm for all UK fans. Here below is my few tips for the 10 qualifiers in to Saturday 12th May's final...The only ones I think could maybe surprise is Latvia, Denmark, Austria Iceland & Bulgaria, but at the moment im ruling them out!!!

1) Malta

2) Switzerland

3) Turkey

4) Belarus

5) Serbia

6) Norway

7) Andorra

8) Cyprus

9) Georgia

10) Israel

POSSIBLE MAYBE'S OR MAYBE NOTS....

1) Bulgaria

2) Denmark

3) Austria

4) Latvia

5) Iceland

Stage is set!

2007-05-01T07:43:00.002+01:00

Morning all

Nice to be back in sunny Hampshire again. Spain was nice, but the weather was on a par to England, so it kind of takes the edge off it a bit...

As you would imagine, delegates and media accreditation will be arriving in Helsinki from today and tomorrow with the first rehearsals set for Thursday. Its starting to get exciting now and in the immortal words of the posh guy off the apprentice 'im getting warm fuzzy's' about the euroweek which is getting closer and closer....

Hope you all liked the interview with Anonymous yesterday. Lovely guys!!! I will be interviewing the Teapacks (Israel's entry) sometime before I jet off to Helsinki, so will post that also...

The stage is looking mighty fine, and seems to resemble the Kiev stage. For me Kiev had the best looking stage of all past eurovisions. This stage seems to have taken the kiev stage and added the Istanbul backdrop of LCD's. Can't wait

Looking at the OGAE votes we are still no nearer to agreeing a winner amongst us fans. OGAE's from all over europe have gone for Belarus, Switzerland, Serbia (no chance!) Greece, Georgia, Cyprus & Sweden. For me I could see Belarus, Greece, Sweden and Switzerland near the top, but I just don't get Serbia...maybe its me!!!

I do fear for the UK however, but while sat in the sun during my week off, I remembered that this really is a song contest, and as long as you are proud of your own entry then the result never matters...I think!!!

TSCHUS!

(photo courtesy of www.eurovisiondiary.com) - check it out!!!

Interview with Anonymous - 30/04/07

2007-04-30T15:18:00.000+01:00

SE: Welcome Anonymous. Thanks for chatting...

SE: All of us at straighteurovision love your song this year. Its a totally different style for Andorra. Will you be singing in your native language or english?
A: We will be singing like in the song, in English and Catalan. Catalan is our official language in Andorra and so we decided the song needed to have a bit of andorran culture in it as well as English.

SE: We think its great to have rock at eurovision. Will there be any surprises with your show?
A: We will do our best on show and hope you all enjoy it, it´s all about having fun and if we pass it will be fantastic. We will give it all on stage to pass.

SE: We think you should qualify to the final, plus you have a good draw this year. How do you think you will do?
A: No idea, how do you think?lol ajaj Well do our best and we hope you enjoy! :D

SE: Top 10 maybe?!?!?! Is there a full english version available of your eurovision entry?
A: Yes, on our single that is out now....

SE: Cool, were off to check it out...oh wait, more questions first..If you don't win eurovision, would you consider doing it again?
A: Yes for sure, this music festival is amazing, it´s like a dream come true, sorry, it´s a dream come true!

SE: Glad to see you are getting into the swing of things. If you could duet with any eurovision act from the past who would it be?
A: No idea, to be truthful, we in Andorra have only been following the festival since Marta Roure represented us for first time.

SE: Yes we remember Marta vividly...Not sure that is a good thing however...Have you seen or heard the UK song for eurovision. If yes, do you like it? How do you think the UK will do?
A: No, not yet. Im going to listen to it now :D

SE: Blasphemy..go and listen now!!! Would you consider representing any other country; maybe the UK perhaps?
A: We´d consider representing the UK, (Niki is from Guildford) that´s for sure but I don´t know if we´d be able to take England to the top, we don´t consider ourselves that good lol

SE: Finally, we will be cheering you on at eurovision from the UK, any words for your international fans?
A: Thanks, we love having fans and hearing from them, and we hope you all enjoy our songs we will do our best on the 10th and we hope you enjoy!!!

SR: Thanks for your time Anonymous...

Hola Mi Hombres!

2007-04-29T21:02:00.000+01:00

Evening all

Home tomorrow! Looking forward to getting back to things for a week before jetting off to Helsinki on the 8th...Lovely jubbly..No suntan to talk of as the weather has been pretty hit and miss but its always nice to sit by the sea drinking sangria in a sort of shirley valentine sort of way....

Esctoday.com has been tempting fate with weather reports from Helsinki, and it seems that straighteurovision will be greeted with showers on our first day. Lets hope for sun sun sun in Helsinki. Esctoday.com also talks about the various things to do in Helsinki during eurovision week. Its all pretty much of a muchness but we are taken by the "eurovision cake baking" part. Surely they havent dragged Nigella Lawson across to Finland for the week???

The stage design is still taking shape, and straighteurovision have got some good feelings about it. follow www.eurovisiondiary.com for the latest....

Finally, straighteurovision will bring you an interview with Anonymous sometime tomorrow once back in good ole blighty...until then, something sorta eurovision to keep you going until then by UK singer/songwriter Lily Allen...

Hello from Spain!

2007-04-27T15:07:00.000+01:00

Afternoon all!

I post to you from shitty Benidorm, where after having driven three hours up the spanish coast, we decided it would be a good idea to stop over for the night...wrong f**king decision....If ever you could say a place has more turds in it than a f**king toilet then this would be the place....not only that it is teeming it down with rain!!!!

Therefore having go the opportunity to post to you I thought I´d take the chance...

The stage for eurovision is looking rather good, and more like an MTV awards show every year. It seems like the background will be entirely LCD, which will (IMO) move the show a step further, which is always a good thing!!! I think since the introduction of LCD in 2003 it has really helped move the contest into the 21st century, which is probably why the whole of europe loves it...wake up UK!!!!

Lebanon have gone for Bulgaria to win eurovision...isnt it great that even the OGAE teams come up with some wild and wonderful results...More worrying though is that UK is 19th....these OGAE results all look very bad for the UK...lets hope its alright on the night as Dennis Nordan used to say!

Russia have gone for Greece, while the Dutch say Serbia. I do think this year it could be so so so open, with maybe a repeat of 2003?

Gunther and the sunshine girls...yes remember him??? are actively promoting a show they are doing in LA...but check this out...its may 12th....can´t see many people in the eurovision community travelling for this one!?!?!? If you are mad and want to follow the twitching lip, leather wearing one check out http://www.ticketweb.com

Finally, straighteurovision will back to normal come Monday so I look forward to posting properly from comfortable surroundings, and not a flee-bitten, rancid, internet cafe...

Love to you all!

Adios, Auf Wiedersehen, See You Soon!

2007-04-23T17:39:00.000+01:00

Afternoon all

Straighteurovision is off to Spain tonight, so we thought we would wish you all well. Its straighteurovisions usual pre-eurovision sunseeking holiday (not needed last year as athens was so hot), but we assume it wont be as warm in Helsinki, and our chance to get a bit tan-tastic before long evenings of serious food guzzling and binge-drinking!

We might get a chance to post before we return, but if we don't...we will return on Monday 30th May....for a huge post....

love to you all...until then!

Tschus!

Schlagerfest & Euroland's Most Fabaroooney DJ

2007-04-22T10:05:00.000+01:00

Morning all!

On Friday night (20th April) the Loom bar in London, held its first Schlagerparty as a preview to the eurovision week (just a mere two weeks away now!). The party was organised by Sara Fredriksson and the whole evening was a rousing success. Sadly straighteurovision has given up the jollys to london's retro bar on a thursday night as frankly, im f**king knackered for work the next day, so we missed this event also...bugger! However, we hear the atmosphere was utterly fab, and there were fans from all over europe waving Swedish through to United Kingdom flags.

It seems very friendly in there!

Everyone's having fun!

Id just like to say that I met both these two guys in Athens last year. Look forward to seeing you both again soon!!!!

Another two of my eurofriends enjoying the evening!

DJ Dave with a swedish lovely...

Oh a UK flag....At least someone is keeping the British end up?!?!?! Ooh err missus!

Eurofriend John with another lovely....but is she swedish???

In my opinion there were two main reasons why the night was a success:

1) Its a f**king fab way to get eurofans in the mood for eurovision week.
2) The DJ was David Simmons.

I wont worry about point 1, as it is fairly self-explanatory, but point 2 needs some elaboration....

Having seen Dave DJ at last years eurovision accrediation zone 'euroclub'. I have to plug this guy as his mixing is top-notch, and his choice of music is bang-on-the-money. He had the whole party going mad from start to finish, which included a friend of mine from Germany jumping up on stage with his germany colleagues and performing the dance routine to 'My Number One'. All this despite the lack of serious alcohol at the euroclub...

Dave will be DJ'ing at this years Semi-Final afterparty held at the euroclub, and I for one can't wait!!!! You would be a fool to miss it! I will endeavour to try to bring you photographs of as many events during the week as possible!!!!

Watch British, Support French!

2007-04-21T13:10:00.000+01:00

Photo courtest of http://www.myspace.com/officiallynickifrench

Todays post is all about the fab Miss French. She is currently appearing in a theatre production 'Menopause the Musical' in London's West End...Menopause; not a dinner time conversation but hey we hear she is very very good!!!!

Nicki is appearing on the Biography Channel today at 17.30. For thos of you who have SKY its channel 161, or for those of you who have VIRGIN TV its channel 242.

Its basically an interview with Nicki French which I am sure at some point will refer to eurovision and her participation in 2000.

Cant wait! Dont miss it!!!!

In case you cant wait, below is a video where Nicki is interviewed by SKY about Scooch and our chances in 2007.

In other news there is basically no f**king news...It is sooo frustrating when you have f**k all to talk about!

Check out schlagerboys blog on my links for a fab interview with danish eurovision representative DQ.

Ooooh hint of excitment, ive found a tribute to SCOOCH titled 'Scooch - the road to eurovision. Its basically all their hints on the way to MYMU 2007....check it out below...its fab!

'Volar La Bandera' or is it 'Fliegen der Markierungsfahne'

2007-04-20T18:45:00.000+01:00

Afternoon all.

You may hear this post's title words being spoken in Helsinki; or even being sung. Scooch have written five language versions of 'flying the flag (for you)'. So from now on straighteurovision are going to only refer to scooch's entry as 'battre le pavillon'...hmm batter the pavillion??!?!?! Only after a few drinks maybe! :-) BTW all translations courtesy of google's translation online, so if its a load of rubbish im not taking responsibility.

Karolina has clearly behaved like a diva for the second occasion and demanded that she sings her eurovision entry entirely in english. Following their original refusal MKT finally agreed but only for a half macedonian, half english version. Agreed. Only the EBU refused...Poor girl; never seems to get a break!

Hungarian entrant Magdi is in trouble with the eurovision bosses; she apparantly performed part of her song during her IDOLS audition in early 2006......I know what your thinking.....they still put her through!!!! Bless her heart...can't see the ebu DQing her. In fact very few songs seem to get DQed nowadays as im sure the big bosses cant really be arsed with it all...its supposed to be a song contest not a bureacracy contest anyway...

Dont forget to keep up-to-date with the stage design on www.eurovisiondiary.com. They have put up the rigging so far by the looks of it. The Hartwall arena looks very similar to last years in Athens...Ooooh sooo exciting!

Interview with Sofia Berntson 19/04/2007

2007-04-19T14:30:00.000+01:00

Photo courtesy of http://www.myspace.com/sofiaberntson

SE: Hej Sofia, so glad you could spare a few minutes for us

S: Hey, thank you for asking me, im honoured!

SE: Ok so first off, were you happy with your performance at melodifestivalen?

S: I’m happy with my performance, considering it was the first time for me to be on live tv. I feel I could have done better vocally though, but the pressure was overwhelming, and nerves took over. But overall, I think I did really well.

SE: To be honest you couldn't tell you were nervous, and your performance was fab. You can certainly cut it live (as Carrie Grant likes to say). So....Are you single?

S: Wouldn’t you like to know;)

SE: Hmmmm, yes but your not going to tell us are you? (moving quickly on)..What are your thoughts regarding the winning MF act, the ark? How do you think they will do at Eurovision?

S: I think The Ark will do really well in Helsinki, they have a good chance of winning. It’s a great song that people of all ages can relate to, and their performance is really proffessional. I know I will vote for them!

SE: Well you can't vote for the Ark, unless you nip over to Norway for the evening.. As you may know MF is global; it has fans in the UK, scandinavia, all over europe and in some parts of America and Asia. Are you happy to have been given the chance to perform your new single to the international audience?

S: I’m very happy for the opportunity, given I had never before appeared on television in front of such a big audience. And that people in countries outside Sweden were wathcing too is fantastic! This was a big step in my career.

SE: Will you be watching eurovision on 10th & 12th May?

S: Of course I will be watching, I wouldn’t miss it for anything!

SE: Aaah spoken like a true fan! Would you consider taking part in melodifestivalen next year?

S: I would definitely consider it, it was so much fun! The timing has to be right though, so we’ll see what happens.

SE: Do you have any words for those fans who voted for you in your semifinal?

S: I would just like to say thank you so, so much! Knowing that I have support from so many people made not going to the finals seem far less important. You are fantastic!

SE: Are there any truth to the rumours, the song was written for Elena Paparizou?

S: No, that was just a roumour that the tabloids made a big fuss about. But it meant publicity for me and the other songwriters, so we didn’t really mind.

SE: Cool, were glad you got the chance to perform it anyway, otherwise we could have seen pretend violins, zorba the greek dancing, you name it! Whats your fav eurovision entry of all time then?

S: My favourite entry and moment will have to be Carola, with “Fångad av en stormvind” in -91. A fantastic performance by a very talented artist, and of course she won the whole thing!

SE: Would you ever consider taking part in eurovision for any other country apart from Sweden?

S: Yes, I would love to sing for Greece, I hope the opportunity will arise in the future. However, I wouldn’t mind singing for the UK either, that would be fantastic!

SE: It would be fab for us also. Sofia its been a pleasure...hope to see you at the Globen next year!

Let The Stage Begin!

2007-04-18T07:15:00.000+01:00

Good Morning to you all.

My throut isnt much better today, and Im sounding more like Deidre Barlow with every second. It totally sucks!

Spectra's daily eurovisiondiary is back up. This is basically the rig-team who set up the eurovision stage. You can see all their antics as they prepare and put together one of the biggest secrets of 2007. visit www.eurovisiondiary.com

OGAE in Norway have published their fan votes and they have 'Greece' as winner. My second choice after the UK. Still even the Norwegens don't have the UK within their top 10....Im becoming very worried now, although im sure it will be alright on the night :-). Interestingly enough Denmark, Sweden and Iceland appear in their top 10. Neighbourly voting!?!?!?!

D'Nash are releasing an album just before eurovision; I suppose it will give us fans something to look for and buy during euroweek. It will probably a load of mision eurovision covers however, as I can't imagine they have had much time to put together a quality album since their victory; it may even be covers like 'I will survive', or 'total eclipse of the heart', after all 'I love you mi vida' was produced for a more feminine voice now wasnt it!

Love you all, gotta rush to work stopping at the chemist to purchase tons of lemsip and beechams...aah bless

Have You Finnished?

2007-04-17T07:27:00.000+01:00

Morning all.

Its gonna be another scorcher here in the south, and unfortunately ive got a cold...Bugger!!!! I always seem to get an illness when its hot outside, and it doesnt help the healing process..

I see YLE have invited all previous participants for Finland to attend the last dress rehearsal on Saturday 12th May. Wow that should be fun for them. Its YLE's way of saying thank you. Surely not for stuff like this; possibly the worst Finnish entry of all time:

Or this come to think about it....this really isnt good either...

40 years on and finally something just clicked...

Ok I did say im not going to cover the eurotrip's, and I am sticking to my guns on this one, but I am left in amazement as Alenka (favourite amongst some OGAE members) is touring Japan?!?!?! Yes, I know...what is she thinking? Somebody tell her she must have boarded the wrong airplane....

Talking of OGAE, it is still rather worrying that the UK have yet to register on any of their fan polls, pretty much anywhere...I am starting to wonder whether I am completely alone in thinking this will be the UK's year. I am more inclined to say top 10 now :-) However, I still hold a small (rather fading) candle for Scooch.

Any thoughts of a Jemini moment are well and truly premature at this juncture though!

Summer Scorcher

2007-04-16T17:40:00.000+01:00

Afternoon all...

Its been very hot here in the south of England; around mid-twenties! Too hot when you have to work, and frankly without air conditioning in my car, its been almost unbareable!!!

The OGAE network have been busy predicting the eurovision winner, with Slovenia currently in the lead with 2 votes to Switzerland's 1. It been frankly fabergasted if Slovenia come within an ass's roar of the top 5 to be honest. Its much the same as Slovenia last year; a fan favourite...enough said! Hmmm....

I notice there are a few more karaoke videos on the 'Be A winner' page of eurovision.tv. I wouldn't have called it that. I would have called it something much more appropriate like...hmm...i dont know...well i would replaced the word 'winner' win one similar, spelt with the letter W....Visit http://www.eurovision.tv/addons/beawinner/ and let the torture begin! Straighteurovision were quite struck with this guy below...maybe because he seems trapped in a little cage...

This guy has the moves!

Straighteurovision were going to go with this one below to win...However we are unsure now, as there seems to be just too much lip-syncing going on...

As much as we hate the song, these two really seem to be getting into the spirit of the whole thing...so weve changed our minds and gone for this!

Oh and its only 26 days until the eurovision final....yipeeee!

What A Fab Weekend!

2007-04-15T11:52:00.000+01:00

Morning All.

Hope everyone is well. What a lovely saturday we had in the UK. Mr & Mrs Straighteurovision got burned to f**k, after one too many babysham's sat with friends in Lyndhurst and then Lymington....Nothing beats relaxation in the sun, other than a sunday fry-up! Lovely!

F**k all going on except countless stories on eurovision participants doing the rounds in europe. Frankly, I find it totally and utterly boring, and I am putting my foot down not to cover it any further. It is not as if no-one else is covering it anyway....

Right down to business. This morning, I received a little surprise; no not one of those sunday morning under the covers surprises, although thinking about it, that does make two :-) I was checking the myspace account to see if we had received any lovely messages from our readers, and what do we find. Only the greatest diva of all time has requested to be straighteurovision's friend; that's right DAME SHIRLEY BASSEY. Oooooooh How Fab! It's like we have sent a letter by the queen....Thats our sunday fixed; james bond repeats of goldfinger, diamonds are forever and moonraker, just to rewind and fastforward to the opening and closing sequences.

Not only that, someone else requested to be friends; a one Julie Lund?!?!?! We had to think about this one, then we remembered 'Merhaba, Merhaba, Merhaba he said!' from the Danish semi's this year. Bless her little heart! Merhaba, btw means hellow. Merhaba Julie!

(Of course straighteurovision doesn't get star-struck.....MUCH!!!)

What bit of news there is this morning concerns the one, the only Katrina and the Waves, performing in Malta on May 1st to mark Worker's day. What I can't understand, is if it is worker's day, surely nobody will actually be working?!?!?! Toto Cotugno, winner in 1990 will also be there, so its really a treat for Malta...Ok im lying but at least it beats being locked in a room with no doors for 24 hours, while some total bastard pumps 'verka seduchka's tanzing' through non-stop on a loop....aaaah the swines!

Interview with Velvet 14/04/2007

2007-04-14T07:40:00.000+01:00

SE: Hej Velvet. Nice to finally meet you! Thanks ever so much for taking some time out with us!
V: Hello, nice to be here!

SE: All of us at straighteurovision loved 'mi amore' in 2006. We thought you looked beautiful and performed the song incredibly. How did you think you did?
V: I am very happy with my performance and i did my best. I didn´t make it to the final but i had a summer hit with Mi Amore wich i am very happy for.

SE: How do you think the ark will do at eurovision this year?
V: I think The Ark will do very well. Maybe even win.

SE: We were distraught to find you were not in melodifestivalen this year, especially after we had our globen tickets ready...will you be back in 2008?
V: If i get a good song i will definetly be back 2008.

SE: Who would you have picked as melodifestivalen winner 2007?
V: The Ark, definately.

SE: Same as us then. Straighteurovision just happened to be watching svt1 and we saw you on a music show sat in the same team as Mans. How did you rate his performance at melodifestivalen?
V: Måns is very talented and good looking. He had a good song and did a good show.

SE: Think he was quite popular with the Globen crowd to be honest. If you could duet with any act from the final of melodifestivalen who would it be (were guessing Mans again)?
V: Sebastian

SE: Ooh thats a turn-up for the books. Whats your favouite eurovision moment of all time?
V: When i was back up singing for Antique with Elena in Copenhagen. Fantastic moment with 35000 i the audience. Didn´t want to leave the stage.

SE: (Following re-runs of that night, we can now confirm that a young Velvet was on camera for like 1.5 seconds...and whos that with her, my oh my its a youn Shirley Clamp). What is your favourite eurovision song of all time?
V: Every way that I can by Sertab of Turkey

SE: Thought you might have said a swedish classic there, oh well. Which celebrity do you most fancy..come on give straighteurovision some gossip!
V: Justin Timberlake..I love him!

SE: Thats too obvious...Have you seen or heard the UK song for eurovision. If yes, do you like it? How do you think the UK will do?
V: No Comment

SE: Ooh get her! In the UK the standard of our eurovision songs are really poor, would you consider singing for the Uk and taking us up to the top?
V: I would love to sing for the Uk. It would be an honour.

SE: The honour would be ours; as long as we could be backing singers (in a scooch sorta way). Your new vid, Fix Me, is really hot. Its the raunchiest we have seen Velvet. Are all Swedish women as attractive as you?
V: First of all thank you, and of course they are...Almost :-)

SE: Hehe...What will be your next single?
V: I just released "Fix Me" so the next one wont be until june. Recording songs for my album now so i dont know yet wich one will be the single.

SE: If you could change one part of your performance of Mi Amore, what would it be?
V: Nothing

SE: What do you think of our blog http://straighteurovision.blogspot.com? (you can lie and say its fab if you like....)
V: Its Fantastic! :-)

SE: My god we soooooo love Velvet even more now...What is Velvet's real name?
V: My name is Jenny.

SE: Ok Hi Jenny (feeling more informal now). So where were you born, where do you live (not in a stalkerish way btw :-)
V: I am from a town called Helsingborg wich is in the south of sweden. But i live in Stockholm now.

SE: Has Velvet been to the UK. If yes, which part?
V: I have been to London many times. Love the shopping.

SE: Well the South is where you wanna come next time. Im sure we would love to show you the ups and downs, and ins and outs....Finally, we were cheering you on in melodifestivalen 2006 and are massive fans of Velvet (as fans of the blog already know). What words do you have for your UK fans?
V: I hope that my song Fix me will be a huge hit in the Uk so i can meet my fans in person and thank them. A big thank you!!! xxxx

SE: Tack Jenny. Look forward to seeing you in Globen next year...
V: Thanks!

Velvet's new video below 'Fix Me'

Want Love, Whoooooooaaaaahhhhh, We All Need Love, Whooooooooaaah!

2007-04-13T17:43:00.000+01:00

Thats right, BWO, the campest danceband possibly in the world right now, especially that Alcazar are no more, are sitting pretty at no. 20 in the UK dance floor charts. Not only that they are in London next wednesday 18th April at PopJusticeLive. Don't miss them! Watch out for Alexander Baard (who featured in Alcazar's UK debut music video, Crying at the Discoteque). He is on keyboard. But most importantly look out for the long-haired, shaggy out of scooby-doo look-a-like lead singer with the high pitch voice. They really are a strange looking band, but seem really successful. Good luck to them!

Lets relive their fab performance from MF 2006 with Temple of Love. Watch out for the poor lead singer who almost gets blown up but a mass of stage pyrotechnics, which seem to get just a little bit too near for my liking. The swines!

More eurotrip adventures as Sarbel announces he is visiting virtually every country in europe in about 3 weeks, except the UK and Ireland. Once again we miss out...its just as well we have got Scooch to go and see at the London Astoria on Saturday 5th May before jetting out to Helsinki a few days later.

At straighteurovision HQ we are all getting our knickers in quite a knot at the moment, as most fancy dress outlets have run out of light blue pilot or red air-steward outfits. The cheek of it!!!! How on earth are we going to manage to sew a costume up in time????

Apparantly the UK is going to be in the mid-twenties tomorrow, so weve got our swimming costumes at the ready. Look out for a car full of nutters driving towards Bouremouth beach, playing euro-classics out of open windows, with normally a load of other cars starring in amazement! Sorry embarrasement!

Love ya!

1,000 Posts. Hurray Hurray Its A Holi-Holi-day!!!

2007-04-12T17:07:00.000+01:00

Hey All

What a marvelous day it is in the South of England today. It must be in the 20oC's...So as normal ive come home from work to a nice cool glass of bacardi limon and cola...Nice!

At what a nice surprise, I see that around 3pm today, Straighteurovision passed 1000 posts. In 5 weeks thats pretty fab, so thanks everyone. I hope you like what you see. Feel free to email me direct on sdjwild@hotmail.com or comment below on any improvements or to let us know what you think so far. We are always looking at ways to improve...

The only news worth discussing today is the absolutely fab Sister Mary McArthur version of 'Flying the flag'

The only thing is, ive never heard of her. She is suposed to be a UK comedian??? Anybody else baffled by this? Its not april fools day again is it?

So according to esctoday, DJ Bobo has responded to the criticism of his eurovision entry. Speaking from about as far away from Switzerland that he could get and talking in a slightly 'Duplecise-style' accent in South Africa (for thos who watch wild at heart on itv) he mentioned that he thought it was a shame that the whole of the world is laughing at switzerland. To be fair to DJ Bobo, the whole world was laughing at switzerland last year when they appointed Ralph Siegel to choose their song, but not as much as in 2004 with Piero and the asbo-stars singing 'celebrate' like they were auditioning for the tweenies! I wouldn't worry Bobo, your quite safe with your effort!!!

Thats about it for today....a few more bacardi's and cola and 'lets put more shrimp on the barbie'!!!

Eurowebby Awards 2007 but no Straighteurovision?

2007-04-11T20:10:00.000+01:00

Oh well I guess we have only been open for just 5 weeks now, so don't worry lads, we will get in next year! Seriously vote for our friends and neighbours the schlagerboys as the best blog. Visit http://www.eurowebbys.com/

More eurotravels as Romanian band Todomondo performed for three tv shows in Turkey. On one of the shows they even managed to do a Ruslana and break the stage. At least it was wood flooring as opposed to glass this time. Broken glass on the feet can be very painful!!!

Denmark have announced that one of the ex-band members of Aqua; the guy with the usually spikey bright blue hair will commentate for them. Wouldn't it have been nice if Aqua had actually gone to eurovision with Barbie Girl....Or Docta Jones, Jones, calling docta jones...docta jones, jones, wake up now...or hmmmm....that song out of sliding doors that nobody can ever remember the name of....Does anybody remember Aqua from 2001's fab interval and the fact that lead singer 'Lena' had by her performance, had seemingly got bored with the contest and spent most of it in the bar...well lets remenisc! Don't forget the blue spikey haired dude! Oh and the first few swear words heard in a eurovision song contest. The Swines!!!

Esctoday.com have two good interviews with the Greek singer Sarbel; which straighteurovision is tipping for a top 5, and the KMG's; straighteurovision is not tipping for a top 5. Visit http://www.esctoday.com/ for the interviews.

The most interesting news is about Russian girl group Serebro, or whatever. They say their song is about (according to esctoday) 'real, strong, beautiful girls who know what they want and always get the most out of life'. Hmmm especially when they blurt out the lyrics 'put a cherry on my cake, then taste my cherry pie'. Frankly im not sure who gets the most out of that the boys or the girls, but hey, if its on offer, beggers can't be choosers!!!

I must say the Russian song is a grower; not a winner in straighteurovision's opinion, but strong none-the-less. I'd imagine a top 8....

Talking of russia brings back memories of 1997 and one of the ultimate eurovision diva's of all time. The great Alla Pugacheva. In the imortal words of Terry Wogan 'If the late great Dick Emery wasn't dead, I'd have my suspicions'. Nice one Tex!

Oh by the way, check out the utterly fab Silvia Night's new music video. It starts off like a 1970's porn flick.....and it kinda continues right the way through. It's no 'Congratulations' but still she is as camp as ever!

Thanks to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alla_Pugacheva for the photograph

Lobbying For Votes!!! Pathetic!

2007-04-10T17:14:00.000+01:00

Deary deary me!!!

Stevan Faddy, the Montenegro representative of 2007 has come out (hmmm not sure I have worded that correctly) and said that he is part scottish! I wonder whether come semi-final night the scots might vote in his favour? Not a f**king chance!

The song is pretty rubbish to be honest, and is a guaranteed toilet break. Yes thats song no 7 everyone, 3 minutes between Georgia and Switzerland.....

You are probably wondering why I am so strongly against all this lobbying shite! It's because in my humble opinion eurovision is suposed to be about having fun, choosing a worthy winning song...and performance nowadays! Every participant bar the UK usually visit more countries in a fortnight than British Airways, in order to lobby the poor viewing public into believing their song is good enough to win eurovision, or to gain an extra few votes. The truth is that it really is a load of old shit, and frankly money would be better spent through lavish wild sex-orgy parties in the eurovision week to the people that really matter; you and me....the fans! Well if Tina Karol and Velvet are invited, just straighteurovision OK!!!!

Its the fans who pay the money to come and watch the event, get stupendously drunk in eurocafes and euroclubs, stalk their favourite singer, following them through every nook and crany of the eurovision city, and try to make friends with the nearest accredited person with the hope he/she will hide you in their bag and smuggle you past the burly 5ft wide bouncers.

The latest euro-participant to go on a eurotrip is Hayko, who's song grows and grows on me. He is one to watch in my opinion; not to win mind, maybe top 8. Hayko is going to three destinations; netherlands, belgium and germany....

Don't forget to our Londoner readers to go and see the never aging Evridiki on 22nd April at the Club Palace, Green Lanes. It costs a tenner, or alternatively, go and see her for free at the Wood Green Shopping City on the 23rd....a much better choice, and a good reason to get out of bed on the sunday following that sunday morning hangover!

Right, off out for dinner now, and in the words of bruce the shark in finding nemo 'I'm havin' fish tonight!'

Eurovision Previews?!?!?! But Why???

2007-04-09T10:02:00.000+01:00

Morning All!

Hope everyone enjoyed the easter weekend. Straighteurovision has piled on the pounds through eating masses and masses of thorntons, cadbury's and nestle chocolate bought by all the family...Frankly we were totally hungover yesterday, so eating chocolate did little to help ease the pain...It did however help to restore order through regular trips to the lavy!!!!

Right, again no real euronews to talk about, except tonight is Cyprus television preview shows. Ive always thought that a bit strange...Why advertise eurovision preview shows, when if you click www.eurovision.tv you can watch all the videos in almost perfect conditions at any time of any day....

Most broadcasters link all the songs to their own websites also, and if you really clever, and have a PC ready television, why not wire your comp up to your television and voila!!!!! You have preview videos on tv 365 days a year!!!!

Seriously, youtube is a perfect tool for any serious euroluvvver, so I do find it all a bit odd! Hey, im sure were the minority!!!

Poor old Karolina, second time she has represented Macedonia, and the second time she has been put back in her box! Aaah bless...The macedonian diva wanted to sing entirely in english, then backtracked and was happy to sing in part macedonian/english...Now Macedonian tv has told her she must sing entirely in macedonian...All too familiar for poor Karolina...When will she learn!

Straighteurovision can't help but think the Serbian singer looks a cross between Sue Perkins (from Mel and Sue) and Harry Potter. Bless....Where's voldermont when you need him? Oh forgot, song no. 8 in the semi :-)

Talking about looklylikies, we can't also help but think Olivia Lewis looks a tiny bit like the dutch singer Linda in 2000 with No Goodbyes. For anyone who can't remember dark-haired temptress Linda, was the dutch girl who had two naked male dancers jump out from under her circus dress. And they say blond's have more fun?!?!?!

Right tonight is party 3 in 4 days for straigheurovision, and with the prospect of work tomorrow, its a frightening thought, we may have to go it sober....aaaaaaaah shock horror!!!!

A Very Happy Easter To You All

2007-04-07T18:27:00.001+01:00

Morning All!

Everyone who reads straighteurovision regularly and now that weve passed 750 posts (thats a fair few of you) will know of our love of Velvet. Velvet took part in MF 2006 and we have been closely monitoring her progress since; not so close in a supergluing our face to her bathroom window close!!!

Anyways, as we reported last week, she is soon to take the UK by storm, and we can reveal the song she is set to do it with...See below. How fab does she look? We are loving the location of the shoot. We are dissapointed we were not invited however!

Or below we have found a live performance at swedish tv show KLICK. But she seems to have forgotton the hairextensions..bad girl!! (BTW its quite flashy, so dont view if you suffer any form of epilepsy)

She looks as if she has wrapped a towel around her and tied it all up with a nice brown belt.

OK so its no Mi Amore, but it is still fab. Lets relive that absolutely fab performance which really should have made it to Globen...

Lovely, that has set me up for a fab easter sunday। Happy easter to you all!!!!

Photograph courtesy of http://www.myspace.com/velvetofficial

Fun Fun & More Fun

2007-04-07T09:03:00.000+01:00

Morning All

Once again not a lot on this morning so I will keep this short but very sweet. First off, thanks to Cyndi for spending some time to answer a few of our questions. Straighteurovision believes she has what it takes to make it in music, and we hope to at least see her in the music charts over the next few years. All the best Cyndi! x

Right, onto the fun. One of the best eurovision related online games has emerged. Visit http://escnation.com and play the scoreboard simulator. It firstly randomly picks the 10 finalists from the semi and adds them to the final list, in their chosen order, then randomly picks points 1-12 from each participating country. Its exactly as if you were there watching on May 12th....Absolutely Fab! A big thumbs up to the creators...Straighteurovision are half way through our attempt and at present, Cyprus lead with Bulgaria and Czech Rep behind....Hmmm....I did say it was random!!!! :-)

The DJ Bobo story still runs and runs...The Switz conservatives have finally lodged their petition to get 'Vampires are alive' removed from eurovision। The same thing happened last year to Lordi, and only helped him receive even more PR ahead of their storming victory. I don't for a second, think DJ Bobo would be DQed, and frankly it seems the idiots who put this petition together have far too much time on their hands॥I know lets all get together and buy them a copy of the new eurovision game so thatthey won't be so bored! The swines!

By the time of finishing this post, my scoreboard results are in....Shock horror!!!!

1. Estonia
2. Czech Rep
3. Serbia
4. Sweden
5. Bulgaria
6. Switzerland
7. Lithuania
8. Greece
9. Cyprus
10. Bosnia & Herzegovina
11. Israel
12. Poland
13. Denmark
14. Belgium
15. France
16. Armenia
17. UK
18. Spain
19. Finland
20. Russia
21. Ukraine
22. Romania
23. Germany
24. Ireland

Thank f**k its only a simulator!!!

Love to you all x

Eurovision Legends Part 2: Magnus Carlsson

2007-04-06T14:56:00.000+01:00

Magnus Carlsson has never been to Eurovision, but can certainly be classed as a eurovision legend. His many attempts to represent his country Sweden has resulted in a growing collection of international fans and admirers of his work.

Magnus grew up in Fristad, outside Boras. He attended comprehensive upper secondary school for 2 years with a focus on musical training, and four further years on the music univerity in Gothenburg where he studied to be a music and song/voise teacher .

Carlsson has been a singer with a two swedish bands; Barbados, a member of International pop-disco band Alcazar and a solo singer.

In 2000 Carlsson debuted in Melodifestivalen together with Barbados with the song Se Mig (show me). Carlsson and his bandmates almost went to Stockholm, but were pipped at the post by the outrageous native swede Roger Pontare with 'When spirits are calling my name'. Se Mig available below:

The next year Barbados tried again with 'Allt Som Jag Ser' (the power of love). They once again finished in second place while Friends (with lead singers Nina Och Kim) got the vote to Copenhagen. Allt som jag ser available below:

Finally in March 2002, Magnus and Barbados decided to have one final go at Melodifestivalen. The song Varlden Utanfor (The World Outside) was highly thought of and a favourite with bookmakers, but failed with a dissapointing 4th position. It, however remains one of the best songs of any national final of 2002. Sweden decided to send Afrodite with 'Never Let It Go'. Varlden Utanfor is available below:

In Winter 2002, Carlsson decided to leave Barbados, and December 13, 2002, Carlsson was announced as an official member of the group Alcazar. This brought the trio to a quartet. Alcazar were already receiving strong success abroad. On January 24, 2003 he performed his last concert with Barbados. Barbados did continue, and in March 2003, reached the Melodifestivalen Final with the song 'Bye Bye'. The song finished last place and has to this date been the last we have seen of Barbados at MF.

Alcazar twice took part in MF following the arrival of the high profile Carlsson. In 2003, Alcazar performed 'Not A Sinner Nor A Saint' finishing 3rd. The song became an instant hit, and won the fan-based National Finals Song Contest with some ease. The song itself went gold in Sweden and was Alcazar's first swedish no.1

In 2005, Alcazar tried one final time, after first refusing the proposed entry 'Alcastar'. The song again was a huge success, and Alcazar recieved their second no.1. The song itself finished 3rd at MF behind Nanne and Martin Stenmark.

Following 2005, Magnus decided enough was enough of band-life, and decided to go solo. This resulted in the deforming of Alcazar.

In February 2006, Magnus was a contestant in the MF final, after automatically qualifying with the song Lev Livet! (love life). Unfortunately the song did not win, and Carola marched onto Athens to record a Swedish 5th place.

This year Magnus performed in the third heat of Melodifestivalen 2007 with Live Forever, an eighties inspired electropop dance song. However, it came in 5th place and was knocked out of the contest, not even qualifying for the MF final. The song was released as a single and currently Magnus stands at position 7 in the Swedish music charts, falling one place on last week. A chart which represents the MF final of 2007.

Will Magnus return to MF in 2008? Or has he now decided to call time on MF and concentrate on his solo career. One thing can certainly be said; he has given us some euro-classics!

Thanks for the memories Magnus....

Tack!

Information courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnus_Carlsson & http://www.magnusonline.se/

Interview with Cyndi - 06/04/07

2007-04-06T09:00:00.000+01:00

SE: Hello Cyndi. Very nice to finally meet you!

C: Hello Straighteurovision, nice to meet you too!

SE: At making your mind up, were you happy with your performance?

C: No!I was not completely, but like I said on TV when they asked me about it what matters is that we had a fantastic audience, that seems to enjoy it,so as long as the audience is happy I am happy. I can always say to myself I ll do better next time.

SE: Next time ay...Does that mean we will see Cyndi at making your mind up next year then?

C: You never know. Although right now I am really focusing on my album; you can never predict the future!

SE: True, except that Scooch is going to win eurovision this year. So, what did you think of Scooch? How do you think they will do at Eurovision?

C: I thought it was very entertaining and that there performance was very clean. They were very professional , rehearsing all the time in the studio. Because they are hard worker, I believe they will be as professional at the eurovision then at the making your mind up show. Now to tell you what the vote for them we ll be ,I would have first to see the others contestants.

SE: Ok. Straighteurovision recommends Greece, Sweden, Malta, Switzerland and Turkey. But they are not really competition for Scooch. :-) Seriously though, are you happy to have been given the chance to perform your new single to the UK audience live?

C: Yes I am really happy that i had the opportunity to sing, at last, in front of the UK ,live. And I hope that is not gonna be for the last time though because I really enjoyed it.

SE: We hope to see more of Cyndi in the future. Will you be watching eurovision on 10th May? Will you be routing for the UK?

C: Of course that i will be watching the show, and you know i will just be supporting, as usual , my favorite song of the night; this is really a song contest for me.

SE: (Straighteurovision are starting to think Cyndi isnt that impressed with Scooch and will be routing for something more like Hayko)...Cyndi, the UK fans were very unhappy with Mr Wogan and the BBC's conduct at making your mind up. When you realised Scooch had won, how did you feel?

C: I don t want to sounds like the eurovision contest didn t mean anything to me on the contray,but it is true that i was so happy to be finalist , so fulfilled already by the positive reaction of the audience, that i was not so disappointed .

SE: Thats good to hear. The whole thing was a complete farse. Finally, any words for those fans who voted for you at making your mind up?

C: I would like to thank you all for voting for me that night, but not only for that, I would like to thank you also, for the joy that you gave me that night, because of you i had no reasons to be disappointed.

SE: Thank you Cyndi. From all of us at straighteurovision, we wish you all the best for the future. See you next year!

NB: Photo courtesy of http://www.myspace.com/cyndimusic

Helsinki here we come!

2007-04-04T19:38:00.000+01:00

Straighteurovision is getting carried away with the excitement that eurovision is a mere few weeks away now...It does seems Helsinki are going all out to turn the whole city into a euro-fest!!! Lovely jubbly! Can't wait....

Were even more excited to hear that in Esplanadi Park from May 8 - 12, all participating countries will have stalls in what will be deemed a european market; that means music, food and fun fun fun! Food ay? Is there still time to enter China, Japan, India & Mexico? F**k if only they were in Europe! Still were all looking forward to tasting Finnish delicasies, not to mention Georgian, Macedonia, Albanian & Moldovan...Oh and don't forget Russian; lets hear it for FREE VODKA!!!! Hurrah Hurrah!!!!!

The "Europpatori" is open from May 8th at 3pm onwards, and on May 9th, the Fins are holding 'Europe Day'. It seems there will be loads of music, with bands, soloists and most likely lots of 'Tango Tango'. The finnish can't get enough of tango...Someone get Petra Nielson an invite quick!!!!

Sounds like fun doesn't it. Last year in Athens, it was more sunbath and sightsee than anything else, so it will be good to have something to do during the day other than drink and pass out. This could be a fantastic year!

On Friday 11th May, there will be a street party in Senate Square, outside Euroclub (Euroclub is the place where the accredies go after dark). Euroclub is usually only available to those accredited, and often drinks are free. The only thing is, you need to collect as many tokens you can in order to get seriously drunk. That means anything goes....if you know what im sayin! :-)

Don't forget for all accredies train journeys are free all week if you show them your accreditation card. I told you that card is special!

For those who still want to do a bit of sightseeing dont forget to visit these three attractions:

1) The museum of contemporary art http://www.kiasma.fi/

2) Suomenlinna Castle http://www.suomenlinna.fi/index.php?lang=eng

3) Open air museum http://www.nba.fi/en/seurasaari_openairmuseum

4) The rock church http://www.hel.fi/tourism/html/english/artikkelit/artikkelit/temppeliaukio.html

For all others see you in a nearby bar!

(Thanks to trekearth.com for the Helsinki snap!)

Its all in the dance routine!

2007-04-03T19:49:00.000+01:00

Morning all!

This morning its all about the routine! Spain have appointed some bloke who has choreographed some of Spain's junior eurovision stars, to choreograph D'Nash. It almost smacks of desperation, and I am prepared to stick my neck out and say Spain is heading for a bottom 5 this year. The have chosen the right song, but its primarily designed for a more feminine voice, and D'Nash don't really do it justice..

Talking of choreography, Austria have cashed in on this theory also. Eric Papilaya will wear 16,000 Swarovski crystals, 700 feathers and a stage costume designed by Vivien Westwood....All this for a second rate rock song...Surely the costume would be more appropriate for Denmark? I guess if Austria fail to make the final, they may be able to hand it over to Verka!

Olivia Lewis is doing the rounds for Malta. Olivia is visiting Belarus, Belgium, Netherlands and Romania....Wow what a busy girl. Will it be money well spent come early May by the Maltese delegation? I guess only time will tell!

Straighteurovision have been listening to Macedonia's english version, and to be honest, were not too impressed. Karolina does look lovely though! But were a little dissapointed to see she must have left the body armour back in Tallin! http://www.ogaemacedonia.org.mk/

Don''t forget if you haven't already booked your tickets to Helsinki, there are a few semi final tickets still available. The only problem is you have f**k all chance of getting a place to stay....unless you don't intend on sleeping on your own! http://www.ticketservicefinland.fi/ ....Straighteurovision thoroughly recommends the evening rehearsals followed by several pints of vodka (or is that before?!?)

Finally, I have to say following my extensive review of the eurovision songs, that the Final is by far the strongest line up this year. Last year, the semifinal was the best. So, its good to know that by song 8 in the final, there may still be viewers left in the UK. Watch out for Greece and Russia again this year, I am starting to get a sneeky suspicion. I could handle a week of sun in Athens again! Greece, quite unsurprisingly also has a dance routine!

Auf wiedersehen!

(Thanks to Sarbel's myspace page for his photo)

What was he thinking!!!!!

2007-04-02T21:12:00.000+01:00

Morning All

Spare a thought for LiorC who has entered his song onto the http://www.eurovision.tv/ 'Be A Winner' Karaoke competition. He seems very confident sat there swaying to the beat before he opens his mouth...then it just goes sooooo sooooo wrong. What was he thinking? Straighteurovision would like to give him 10/10 for effort though! Bless!

Leave a comment below, and tell me what you think. As I mentioned earlier this week Straighteurovision has recorded a clip, but were highly embarassed and have yet resisted the urge to post it! On this showing we feel a tiny bit better!

By the way, eurovision.tv are still only showing three posted videos...what is going on?????

In other euronews, Esctoday.com writes that UK tabloid wannabe 'The Mirror' have withdrawn their comments that the Beeb's Making Your Mind Up breached EBU rules by not ensuring Scooch had all their backing singers in view of the audience. Like all good tabloids, admitting they were wrong is like admitting Vanessa Feltz is your bit on the side!

Esctoday.com also writes that the same team who designed, staged choreographed Zeljko Joksimovic's performance will do the same for Serbia this year. Straighteurovision think thgat frankly, they have got their work cut out!

Still no word from Pandora; as predicted the whole story has dissapeared just as quickly as it came। Its a shame we couldn't get word from the former 90's dance hall artist, but we all know we wouldn't now didn't we!

Finally, all of us at Straighteurovision are very excited at the prospect that a Helsinki fancy dress specialist will be designing lots of fab frocks for us fans. They needn't worry about Straighteurovision, as were already working on airsteward costumes for Helsinki. You can contact 'Limbo' at mailto:info@limbo.fi.

Peace!

Finally something for the non-accredited!

2007-04-02T18:11:00.000+01:00

A beautiful afternoon to you all!

Im please to see Eurovision has finally got its act together. The past two years have been a farce when it comes to being able to actually enjoy the Eurovision week, if you are, like many are, a non-accredited fan. In fact, it was quite embarrasing watching some accredited fans and media representatives, waving their accreditation cards around like they had been invited to tea with the Queen. I say 'the' queen not 'a' queen! :-) It looks like the EBU have seen sense and are going to ensure EVERYONE can enjoy the week...

As I say, for those who will not be receiving official invites to Euroclub and various exclusive parties, will be able to go to the Fan Centre next to the Eurovillage. They will offer PC's, a bar(they don't mention alcohol though!), TV's with live performances, oh and wireless internet connection. Don't forget your Laptops!!! It seems there will even be evening entertainment for those who don't manage to jump the barriers into Euroclub including world class DJ's, etc.. Great news then. You can view further info at http://www.viisukuppila.fi/. The Fan Centre opens at the end of April for anyone arriving very early indeed..Look forward to seeing you all there...

As I mentioned a while back, Verka, the Ukrainian act for 2007, is considered in my opinion as a load of nonsense and frankly doen't bring anything to eurovision, except ridicule! The Ukrainians are also unhappy by their choice of act, which is surprising seeing as so many of them chose it! They have held several protests to try and get the song banned from eurovision. I soooo hope they succeed. It would probably mean Ukraine would have to pull out of eurovision this year though, plus recieve a nice fine in the process, which wouldn't be so good! Thanks to doteurovision for the Verka picture....She's a beauty isnt she!

Esctoday's bigpoll has started and has Malta to win, with Macedonia in 2nd. Cyprus, Belarus & Turkey make up the top 5. But where is the UK I hear you ask???? Hmmm not anywhere near the top 10 i'm afraid! Oh well when did fans ever predict the winner anyway? :-) Visit

http://www.esctoday.com/vote/bigpoll.php and vote UK!

As expected April Fools stories were published, which included the production of former UK participant stamps within the UK, Dragonfly, the Croatia act for this year singing in French, and most disturbingly Scooch changing the title of their song to 'flying the fag!'. What ever do they mean????? The swines!

Until tomorrow!

Interview with Marie Lindberg 01/04/2007

2007-04-01T11:56:00.000+01:00

SE: Hi Marie. Tack for joining Straighteurovision. We have been looking forward to interviewing you.

ML: Nice to meet you. Thank you for inviting me!

SE: First off then, all of us at straighteurovision loved 'trying to recall'. We thought you looked beautiful and performed the song incredibly. How did you think you did?

ML: I think my performance vocally could have been much better, but as it was my first time performing om stage I am still pleased. It seemed as people liked the song, though. (Which makes me so proud and happy)

SE: You weren't terribly popular with the Jury, however us fans loved it. We have to ask, where did the song originate?

ML: I wrote this song 1998, when I studied to become a teacher. I sat and played my guitar and came up with this quite sad tune. People close to me had problems in their relationship, and I borrowed that feeling to write the lyrics.

SE: How do you think the ark will do at eurovision this year? Can you see Sweden winning eurovision this year?

ML: They are professional performers. They sing well, their show on stage is brilliant and the song is very good. So, I think (and hope) that they will be among the top 5.

SE: We think it could be top 5 also. Obviously UK is going to win though...Will you be back at Melodifestivalen in 2008?

ML: Ha, ha, ha... I don't know. :)

SE: Who would you have picked as melodifestivalen winner this year?

ML: The Ark.

SE: Snap! We were dissapointed not to see Date at melodifestivalen again this year, will your husband and his band be back soon?

ML: I think they hope so! It's quite diffucult to enter, though. Over 3 300 songs were sent in this year, and only 32 got to compete.

SE: True...If you could duet with any act from the final of melodifestivalen who would it be?

ML: Difficult one... They're all lovely. Probably Sebastian, Ola Salo, Sarah Dawn Finer or Sonja Aldén.

SE: Good choice. Straighteurovision would have to say Sonja Berntsson though, or Velvet from 2006. We love them both!!!! So, have you seen or heard the UK song for eurovision this year. If yes, do you like it? How do you think the UK will do?

ML: Unfortunately I haven't heard it this year.

SE: You have a treat in store then; its fab! However, generally in the UK, the standard of our eurovision songs are really poor, would you consider singing for the UK?

ML: Oh, dear. :) I'm flattered...

SE: We'll take it as a No then! Will you ever come and launch a career in the UK though?

ML: I would love to. I adore the UK! (haven't been to Scotland yet though).

SE: Well to be honest, Straighteurovision has only seen Stockholm in Sweden so we know what you mean....Finally, any words for your international fans?

ML: I really hope that the record will be released outside of Sweden so that YOU too will be able to share the songs with me. There are many beautiful ones, apart from "Trying to recall"...

SE: Marie, its been a true pleasure. Sweden loves eurovision, and UK fans love sweden! We hope to see Marie Lindberg at the Globen again in 2008.

Editor Note - Below is Marie's Globen performance of 'Trying To Recall'...

Happy April Fools!

2007-04-01T08:58:00.000+01:00

Morning All!

First off, don't forget to watch out for the many eurovision-based websites who will come up with a load of old bollocks for most of today. In fact judging by the past three years, you may as well forget reading the main headlines...

In euronews, Karolina has released images of her new (english version) video. Looks pretty good to me. esctoday.com think it looks a bit sharon stone in basic instinct combined with a smidgin of flashdance. Personally I don't know about Flashdance, it always reminds me of that totally overrated song 'what a feeling', whereas I'd much prefer to remember Basic Instinct and a young looking Sharon Stone and Michael Douglas. Sharon Stone hasnt seemed to age since that film was made....I wonder how she keeps her youthful looks?!?!?

Helena Paparizou has won the Singer of the Year Award in Greece. Since 2005, Helena hasn't been seen in the UK, and the amount of Eurovision entries or even winners who havent made it in the UK is still quite shocking. When the UK chose Scooch to represent us recently, a friend of mine from Germany stated 'the UK is the only country not to take Eurovision seriously'; he's absolutely right you know! But having said that, maybe if we had more eurovision songs, or singers in the UK music scene we might start to actually understand and accept it more. Yeh, like thats ever going to happen!

You can send in your Karaoke efforts to eurovision.tv. They will put your video up on their website for all to see. Oh the shame! The shame!!! Straighteurovision has done one, and was considering putting it on here for all of our readers, but frankly, its far too embarrasing. If I get enough requests in our comments box, I may, I say may, consider it! At present eurovision.tv only seems to have 3 videos; I was wondering whether thats because only 3 people have big enough balls, or whether eurovision.tv have already lost interest?!?!?

http://www.eurovision.tv/addons/beawinner/

Talking above of eurovision/national final artists in the UK music scene, I had a brief look at the current Swedish charts; as you do!?!? Here is the the first 10 or so positions regarding MF/eurovision entries as of 30/03/2007:

1. The Ark - The Worrying Kind
2. Cara Mia - Mans Zamerlow
3. Amanda - Jimmy Jansen - ?!?!?!?!?!! Yeh, I know
5. A Little Bit Of Love - Andreas Johnson
6. Live Forever - Magnus Carlsson
7. Trying To Recall - Marie Lindberg
8. For Alt Du Finns - Sonja Alden
9. When The Night Comes Calling - Sebastien
10. Vasta Schlagern - Marcoolio & Linda Bengtzing - Some of you will know this was entered to MF but never made it...
11. I remember love - Sarah Dawn Finer
12. Tror Pa Dig - Caroline Af Ugglas

The list goes on...Ridiculous isnt it. Why can't the UK do that...

In the UK, Scooch are re-releasing their 'hit' album 'For Sure'. You can pre-order it on HMV.co.uk, and its very reasonably priced at £4.99. They also confirm 'Flying the flag' will be released on 30/04/2007, just a week or so before Eurovision. Ideally, it should been two/three weeks before, and this will do nothing to promote the run up to the contest...

According to http://www.escnation.com/poll/, the top 5 for eurovision this year will be:

1. Serbia
2. Cyprus
3. Greece
4. Belarus
5. Turkey

Hmmmm....Ive clearly missed something about Serbia. Well, most of their top 5 really. I'll have to go add my own madness to the mix...

Escnation.com have cleverly put together a who's who of all the eurovision entries, with information about singer, song and country for your viewing pleasure. There is some interesting stuff in there too. http://www.escnation.com/index.html?section=7

Arsenal got whooped yesterday by Liverpool, so I expect a nice message from Nicki again.

Right, the sun is out, ive got leftover indian takeaway to polish off this morning. I might have an interview for you later...

Interview with the 'People's Champion' Daz Sampson - 30/03/2007

2007-03-30T15:04:00.000+01:00

SE: Hi Daz! Thanks for joining Straighteurovision.
D: Hi Straighteurovision. No problem!

SE: How do you reflect on your own performance at eurovision?
D: Loved every minute of it...for me it was like a footballer must feel playing at wembley.

SE: Where do you feel you should have truly finished (position-wise)?
D: I'd say between 4 and 6. Anyone in the arena that night would tell you the noise was very loud for us....backstage everyone had us down for a top 5 finish

SE: Which one of your backing dancers/singers was the fittest?
D: Well cant really say, but I was more than friends with a couple of them!

SE: Really? No way!
D: LOL
SE: Think we better move on, and quickly this is a family blog!

SE: We all heard you entered Goodbye into Making Your Mind Up this year. Is this true? Did you record a duet with the lead singer Carol Decker from T'Pau?
D: Yes i did get Carol Decker onboard with goodbye...and we did talk to the BBC ..but it was felt to soon for me to return..

SE: Typical BBC then, OK so when will we see Daz back in the charts then?
D: Who knows...at the min i am back working under the Uniting nations name, and doing some other bits....i also have done a football record for my team stockport county...www.thecountysong.co.uk

Editor Note: The country song is fab. check out www.thecountysong.co.uk now!!!!

SE: Would you ever consider doing making your mind up or eurovision again?
D: I defo want to return again..i got asked to go for another country this year but turned it down as i thought the bbc would let me try again ..hopefuly they will next year.

SE: What country ask you to represent them then, go on you can tell us?
D: I cant answer that as its not fair on the country but it wasnt a russian one!

SE: Must have been to take part in the Melodifestivalen in Sweden then!
D: No

SE: Ok then...Would you ever enter United Nations to making your mind up?
D: No

SE: You were quoted as saying you would had more chance of winning eurovision than scooch, and you are not even going! What is your true opinion of the UK's song this year?
D: I have nothing aginst scooch personally infact i admire the way they have reformed just for eurovison and got the uk vote that is good...but i just can not see that song winning sorry..

SE: Which of the 6 songs did you vote for at making your mind up?
D: None...although hawkins & brown was my fav.

SE: Have you heard any eurovision songs, and if so, which won is your favourite for 2007?
D: Not yet....i still havent got over the dissapoinment of the bbc declining me.

SE: You really must listen to them, especially Georgia and Malta. Will you be in helsinki?
D: I may well be, as i have been offered one or two media posts...but i am not sure yet if to accept as i feel a jemini moment is gunna happen this year.

SE: Keep the faith Daz....Whats your favourite eurovision act of all time?
D: Love city groove..and The Fizz..

SE: Classic UK there...Whats your favourite eurovision moment of all time?
D: Its the end of my performance ..when the crowd went wild and i shouted (onto deaf ears) VOTE FOR THE MUSIC

SE: Yeh that was a good one. So, Terry Wogan, following his mistake at MYMU....Should he continue with eurovision or be replaced?
D: Yes course he should

SE: ?!?!? Not sure what to say to that! Ok then, Fearne Cotton.....Fit or Minger?
D: Fit ...I sort of know her from last year...she fancies me its so blatant!

SE: We all agree...Who was the nicest person/act at eurovision last year?
D: Lordi....very nice people

SE: How was Carola and Anna Vissi?
D: Man, they are two MILF's

SE: Daz control yourself...Who was the fittest performer at eurovision?
D: The young girl from moldova was pretty nice!

SE: So, what was it like beating Kym out of Hearsay and an ex boyband member Costa at the 2006 making your mind up?
D: It was cool..kym is from up my neck of woods so we got on...but as that other fella..well least said!

SE: So, any sordid stuff go on behind the cameras that Straighteurovision needs to know about?
D: Im not telling!

SE: Oh come on Daz...tell us!
D: No, but I'll whisper it to you!

Editor Note: It was frankly too graphic to publish, but Straighteurovision will not watch eurovision 2006 tapes in the same way from now on!

SE: Were you happy with Lordi's win last year?
D: Yeh Lordi where great and probably deserevd to win....as it was a catchy song with a great top harmony and the outfits where really good....i also liked the romania song!

SE: Torrrrneeeeroooooo! Sorry got carried away there...Finally, we all supported you last year, and were gutted when you didnt win or even make the top 5. If you could do it again, what would you change, or improve if anything?
D: No not really..i said from day one that i did it NOT to go on big brother or other tv shows i did it for the competion , and since then i have refused a lot of reality tv that has been offered to me.....i have to say what could i change me and the girls did everyting we could..all that was wrong was the votes.....

Maybe if i go for it next year i will think about what type of song will work ..as the uk have now chosen novelty pop 2 years running ..and maybe its time for a key changing big ballad done in an urban way..

SE: We didnt think your song was novelty. Well thanks for the frankly brillian interview. We hope to catch up with Daz before eurovision. Dont forget to visit www.thecountysong.co.uk. Also, we all hope to see Daz wearing the union flag in 2008. Good luck to Daz in his future projects!

Eurotrip

2007-03-30T09:15:00.000+01:00

Morning all....

Yesterday was a bit of a mad rush with one thing or another. We finally got words from one of the scoochers, but Pandora has yet been reluctant to make contact. Frankly, im not that surprised.

Not a lot of interesting news this morning, just the usual 'we will swop you olivia lewis for your todomondo' rubbish. Sometimes the whole eurovision preparation part reminds me of a game of cards. As per usual the only european tour UK will be doing is the gay club scene in London, Birmingham and Manchester, followed by a weeks tour in Helsinki in early May.....I hope it wont harm our chances!

In other news, the Americans seem to have really taken to Lordi. If you ever get to see the film 'Jeepers Creepers', Lordi makes a fantastic acting debut. He is really convincing! Lordi is touring for a whole month from July to August, and with bands like 'Kiss' 'Marilyn Mason', its fair to say he could make it big in the States.

In preparation for Mr Straighteurovision's birthday in July, top of the list is a 'eurovision boardgame'. Donations to be made through paypal please :-) Sounds like the perfect preparation for the eurovision week, and all of us at straighteurovision promote any game that promotes getting pissed, having fun with your friends, getting naked, spinning a wheel to find out what colours your hands and feet should be stretched to, only for you to collapse on the fittest girl underneath you...oh wait....thats twister! If you fancy a game of eurovision you can buy it online at www.eurovision.tv

Talking of games, us at straighteurovision were addicted to the song-0-mat. It predicts what your favourite eurovision 2007 entry. Of course its f**king rigged. Straighteurovision went for a possible winner, camp as christmas, a band, uptempo, from a western country. The computer chose us either the KMG's or the Ark. Edsilia Rombley, DJ Bobo, or Scooch were the next few. Now when the f**k did Edsilia become a band? After Scooch was Sarbel. Again I ask the same question?!?!

Seems like a load of old rubbish, but of course its only a bit of fun...I know lets have some fun here;have a go at the link below and leave a comment as to who the computer picked for you. When we have enough comments (if any :-)) I will confirm who is going to win eurovision 2007.
http://www.yle.fi/eurovision/songomat.php

In reference to yesterday, it was nice to see Doteurovision not compile a story regarding Pandora. She doesnt need any further publicity and one hopes the story dissapears now. Visit www.doteurovision.com for up-to-date news.

German entry singer Roger Cicero has won the german equivalent of the American Grammy's, while it was somewhat devalued when Ralph Siegel (of Lou, corrina may and six4one fame) was given a lifetime achievement award. (www.eurovision.tv)

Finally, all the eurovision preview videos are available at www.eurovision.tv and hats of to them as the streams are really strong this year.....Im liking the Georgian and Maltese video the most at present; no idea why! Ive posted them below for all to enjoy

Tack!

PS dont forget to comment which song the song-o-mat chose for you!

UK Eurovision Legends Part 1: Clodagh Rogers

2007-03-29T12:27:00.000+01:00

First we stop with a UK legend from 1971 Clodagh Rogers. Clodagh was born March 5, 1947, in Ballymena, Ulster, Northern Ireland, and made her professional debut at age 13 as an opening act for much loved British singer Michael Holliday.

Inspired by her 'pushy dad', who himself was a dancehall tour promoter, she signed to Decca in 1962 and achieved a very minor U.K. hit with her debut song "Believe Me, I'm No Fool," under the name "Cloda Rogers." The record's success meant that Rodgers won an appearance in the 1963 film Just for Fun, and that same year she entered the European Song Cup with her second single, "Powder Your Face With Sunshine."

1964's It's All Over Town, preceded a move to the Columbia music label, and she where she released "Wanting You" ; it was Rodgers' last recording for four years, but when she resurfaced in 1969 on RCA, she immediately landed in the British Top Five with her comeback single "Come Back and Shake Me." A self-titled LP soon followed, and with the subsequent Midnight Clodagh, Rodgers scored two more hits, "Goodnight Midnight" and "Biljo." 1971's Rodgers and Heart yielded another pair of well-received singles, "Wolf" and "Everybody Go Home."

Her most memorable recording, "Jack in the Box," was entered that year in the Eurovision Song Contest -- it failed to win, but was a major hit nevertheless. The song is also a running joke in the "Cycling Tour" episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus. But after the lightweight "Lady Love Bug" failed to earn much commercial interest, Rodgers adopted a more mature, sophisticated pop sound with 1972's aptly-titled It's Different Now.

The follow-up, 1973's You Are My Music, revealed a pronounced country influence, but failed to garner an audience, so she left RCA and spent the next several years touring the cabaret circuit, taking time out for a six-month run at the London Palladium in a production of Cinderella.

Rodgers signed to Polydor to issue 1977's Save Me, returning to radio courtesy of the title cut; the single "Love Is Deep Inside of Me" was released the next year, but apart from a pair of 1980 singles for Precision -- "I Can't Afford That Feeling Anymore" and "Person to Person" -- her recording career then ground to a halt. Rodgers primarily pursued stage work in the years to come, starring in West End productions of Pump Boys and Dinettes and Blood Brothers. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide

In 2001 Clodagh was last seen as Mrs Bridget Riley in ITV 1's The Bill for one episode titled 'Criminal Practice'.

After 2001 Clodagh was not to be seen anywhere.....

So where is Clodagh now?

If you are out there Clodagh please email straighteurovision at sdjwild@hotmail.com. Let us know your alright!

Thanks to www.answers.com and en.wikipedia.org for the above information.

Scooch VS Pandora - Interview With David From Scooch 29/03/207

2007-03-29T11:49:00.000+01:00

SE: Hi David. Thanks for joining us. We need to clear this Pandora mess up!

D: Hi Straighteurovision.

SE: have you heard of pandora?

D: I PERSONALLY HAD NOT HEARD OF PANDORA UNTIL THIS SITUATION OCCURRED.

SE: have you heard the song in question 'no regrets'?

D: YES, I HAVE HEARD THE SONG IN LIGHT ON THE SITUATION.

SE: what are your opinions of its similarities to the fab 'flying the flag'?

D: IF YOU LISTEN TO THE SONG IN IT'S ENTIRITY IT SOUNDS NOTHING LIKE FLYING THE FLAG. THERE ARE SIMILAR CHORD PATTERNS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CHORUS; AFTER THAT, THERE ARE NO COMPARISONS.

SE: according to esctoday.com; pandora want scooch disqualified, we are all shocked at this. do you have any comments on this?

D: I'M NOT WORRIED AT ALL, THE TWO SONGS DIFFER SO MUCH.

SE: any news on further singles after eurovision?

D: FOR NOW WE ARE CONCENTRATING ON HELSINKI, AFTER THAT WHO KNOWS?

SE: onto eurovision, how do you expect to do for the UK at eurovision?

D: EVERYONE IS AWARE THAT SOMETIMES VOTING CAN BE POLITICAL, HOWEVER WE HAVE MADE EVRY EFFORT TO TICK ALL THE BOXES AND ENTERTAIN THE LIVE AND HOME AUDIENCES, WE REALLY AIM TO MAKE THE MOST OF OUR 3 MINUTES. I TRULY BEILIEVE WE COULD WIN.

SE: will there be a key change? (pls say yes!!!!)

D: HA, HA..THAT WOULD BE A DECISION MADE BY THE SONG WRITERS.

SE: will you be bringing any further props?

D: WE WOULD LIKE TO MAKE THE HELSINKI PERFORMANCE BIGGER AND BETTER THAN THE 'MYMU'. WE HAVE A HOST OF IDEAS AND NEED TO DISCUSS THEM WITH THE CHOREOGRAPHER AND PRODUCTION TEAM. IT'LL BE GREAT FUN AND HIGH CAMP THOUGH!

SE: any surprises in store for your performance?

D: AS I SAY..WAIT AND SEE!

SE: whats your favourite UK eurovision entry of all time?

D: I LIKED 'BOOM BANG-A-BANG' AND 'PUPPET ON A STRING'.

SE: whats your fav eurovision winner of all time?

D: I THINK BUCK FIZZ PROVIDED A MEMORABLE MOMENT THAT EVERYONE REMEMBERS.

SE: finally, any message for pandora?

D: NO, NOT REALLY.

SE: Thanks for chatting David. Good luck in Helsinki, dont forget to wave for the straighteurovision boys!

Pathetic!

2007-03-29T08:44:00.000+01:00

I knew this day would come. I rise up out of bed, turn the computer on, and after so many weeks without any of this nonsense, what do I find??? Pandora (ex-melodifestivalen Semi-finalist) decides her song sounds like the fab 'flying the flag for you'. Ive gotta say that I think she is living on another planet to think it sounds anything like it...

Esctoday.com reports she has even put on her own website a link to listen to both songs. You have to listen to them, if not just for the sheer fun of it. I would imagine the whole thing is to drive publicity her way, and even by acknowledging this, thats exactly what she is getting. Hmmmmm....

Links below. Please comment and let me know what your think. Im having trouble with the comments section...think there may be bugs....if you cant get through email me at sdjwild@hotmail.com

To visit Pandora's website and listen to the two tracks visit www.pandora.se/index.asp

Pandora says 'I want Scooch disqualified'. It sure as hell wont be!

The Beeb, give them their due have fought back. 'The Scooch song is an original song written by Russ Spencer, Morten Schjolin, Andrew Hill and Paul Tarry. Those writers were never aware of Pandora’s songs so she can be assured there has been no duplication of her work'.

One of the writers Morten Schjolin (sounds scandinavian enough) told esconnet.dk 'I had never heard her song before. I believe it’s not released in England. Some easily can say it seems alike, but I’m not afraid for this case'.

Straighteurovision is on the case, and hope to shed some light on developments in due course.......

In other incredibly important news, anyone who reads this blog (and I am assured by the powers that be that we are up to 2 now :-)) will know that we love the swedish popstar VELVET of melodifestivalen 2006 fame. I can confirm Velvet is set to launch a UK pop career very shortly. Thats fab news. She really has that something Simon Cowell would call 'x-factor'.

If your not visiting Helsinki in May, then eurovision.tv are providing everything for a eurovision party except the silly hats, booze and one night stands. Oh and they arn't providing the next morning headaches or paracetamol either! If you want to know how to prepare the ultimate eurovision party, then you clearly are not coming to helsinki this year, and should therefore be ashamed of yourself!!!! Visit www.eurovision.tv anyways.

Looks as though former eurovision winners Sertab and Dana International are trying to tie in nicely with eurovision 2007 by promoting their new cd's around the same time...clever!!! Sertab is titled 'the best of'...surely that title is plagerism of another title ive read somewhere :-)

Until tomorrow people

Tack!

What A Fabulous Day A Day Off Is!

2007-03-28T08:16:00.000+01:00

Morning All!

Well actually ive been off all week. Today is the first day I actually feel like im on holiday. The sun is shining at 8am, and its going to be 17 degrees C. Lovely!!!

There are a couple of funny stories available in euroland today:

Switzerland is a funny country isnt it. They have one of their best chances of winning eurovision since the whole bloody thing started, and 50,000 nutters try to get their song banned. Thats gotta be the most stupid thing ive heard regarding a eurovision entry. Normally this time of year, you get loads of idiots trying to get good songs banned, due to them sounding 'remotely but not very similar' to other former chart hits. The SEA (Switz Evangelical Alliance) want the song banned and not performed as it promotes satanism and the occult. ...........HEHE............They obviously havent heard the Ukraine entry. Frankly, that song would make anybody to jump off a cliff.

Andorra is slowly climbing up my personal charts (of songs which I actually like listening to). Bet you didnt know 'Niki' is from Guildford! Not far from me then. Right, get them Andorran flags out Mrs Straighteurovision!!!! I never knew I lived so near to a eurovision winner....:-) hehe

Don't forget to visit the Retro club in London soon for the eurovision previews. Its like a f**king sardine can in there. Well the smell of fish issss rife! Hehe...Seriously its fab! Dont forget to say hellow to Singaporesteve and Juha. Not to mention some of my other buddies. They will be the ones pretending they dont know who the f**k your talking about........:-(

Preview video night has been announced for our friends in Manchester. April 26th at the Spirit Bar on Canal St. No idea where Canal St is, but Im going to guess its part of the Gay scene. Sounds a blast though! Get your tickets now, contact paul@e-ventuality.com or call 0870 300 9510).

Right thats all from me today. Gotta go and put another shrimp on the barbe! Till tomorrow people.

Interview with Beverlei Brown from Making Your Mind Up Fame 27/03/2007

2007-03-27T18:10:00.000+01:00

Hello Beverlei. Thank you for taking time out for this interview. Ive only got a couple of questions for you.

SW: Were you happy with your performance at Making your mind up?
BB: I felt that I could have done a few things better(dont ask I'm not saying what) but overall I felt I did ok.

SW: What are your thoughts regarding the winning act, Scooch? How do you think they will do at Eurovision?
BB: I'm happy for them and all is fare in love and war. They might do well if they change their trolleys and serve coke instead of pepsi

SW: Are you happy to have been given the chance to perform your new single to the UK audience live?
BB: Yeah maan 6.7million people saw me perform, so It was a great oportunity

SW: Will you be watching eurovision on 10th May? Will you be routing for the UK?
BB: NO!!!!

SW: Would you consider taking part in Making your mind up in the future?
BB: No been there done that, Next

SW: Many eurovision fans feel if you had sung as a solo artist you would have been in the final 2, perhaps even win making your mind up; would you consider singing as a solo artist at a future making your mind up?
BB: personal I feel that if I had entered on my own, I would'nt have got so far in the competition, if it was'nt for justin I dont feel that they would have even considered me at all to represent the UK baring in mind that all the contestant were well known artist in their own right apart from myself

SW: Finally, any words for those fans who voted for you at making your mind up?
BB: I thank you all sooooooo much for the support that you have given me if it wasnt for you guys I wouldnt have come in 3rd place

SW: Thanks for taking the time out to take part in this interview. Good luck in the future.

Editor Note: I got this strange feeling she didnt really enjoy her Making Your Mind Up experience. Hmmmmm.....Cant say I blame her.

I also think its fare to say Beverlei doesnt really like eurovision. I have to say she did give a perfect performance, and her voice is fantastic. From all at straighteurovision, we wish you the very best for the future Beverlei. Something tells me she could have a big future in music!

Quiet Morning

2007-03-27T14:12:00.000+01:00

Very quiet on the eurovision front.

My myspace blog is almost finished and im having friend invites all over the show. Maybe people are finally starting to read this. Or maybe I am truly going mad. I may even create a promotion t-shirt for helsinki, so just look for the complete wanker wearing a 'straighteurovision.blogspot.com' t-shirt. Try not to call me a prick until I leave the vacinity, as Im like a rabit dog chasing a rabbit when I get going :-) Either way, email me or add me on myspace.com. Just look under stuart wilders.

Anyways, once again sidetracked. Ive got 2 interviews for all at straighteurovision. The first I shall post this weekend. Its with the very lovely Maris Lindberg. Aaaaaahhh She is so cute, bless. We spoke a bit about her melodifestivalen entry, and her other material, which I will shamelessly plug for her. Its all about the plug baby!

Euro News Just In!!!

Verka of Ukraine is considering cancelling her eurovision participation. OK with me, bring back Tina Karol and her Pirates of the Caribbean Treasure Chest any day. Frankly, Im unsure of the whole business of Verka. Its all too odd for me, and song is so incredibly shite, it makes me cringe more than the thought of getting down and dirty with Vanessa Feltz.

The song would only be useful at a playground somewhere with a bunch of 6 year olds. It is completely what the eurovision song contest doesnt need. DQ I love, Verka is shite. Its that simple!

Im loving the Irish song this year. Its so happy its unreal. The writer obviously had just had about 15 pints of guiness and topped it all with some shorts of some kind, followed by a quick spliff to wash it all down!. The song is soooo high, its like a f**king flying kite. Having said that, I doubt it will better Irelands 2006 entry, which was pure class. Hmmm

One thats still getting mad raves is France. I have to say its really growing on me, and is clearly the workings of a madman. You gotta love the French. The write must have thought 'write down as many things that resemble france as possible, and we can see if we can create a tune for them'. And voila, the french entry for 2007 is born.

Im not getting Russia this year; sure the song is modern and nice, yet it lacks something for it to stand out. Could it be it needs a piano with a whole? We'll see on the 10th May.

Maybe more later people. Love ya as always....x

One Blasphemous Church

2007-03-26T11:50:00.000+01:00

I imagine many of you have already heard Miss Church's outburst regarding Scooch. Apparantly 'it made every pore in her body cringe with embarrassement'. Making your mind up didnt escape her vile tongue either, it is according to Miss Church 'absolute shite'. Hmmm Has she got a point? Maybe...but talk about pot calling the kettle black. I only recall one decent hit she has had ay misses?

Scooch retaliated saying 'what a shame the voice of an angel has acquired a mouth of a sewer'.

Absolute class! Miss Church can really be quite vile and some of her comments, not just eurovision based, smacks of a young miss-guided girl who is probably being ill-advised. To be honest her last hit 'i love it when you call my name' was pure pop, and its the eurovision-styley fan who will buy her music more than any other type...

That I think makes it 1-0 to Scooch. Im sure you havent heard the last of this. However, it can be assumed Charlotte Church won't be participating for the UK in the near future....

A Nice Little Present

2007-03-26T11:45:00.000+01:00

Hi All

Woke up this morning to find a nice little present; Sofia Berntson requested me to add her to my list of friends. Im sure this happens all the time, but it got me a little excited; so much in fact, ive played hipnotized about 50 times this morning. What a track! It should be Sofia to Helsinki!

x

First Straighteurovision interview - Randy from Big Brovas

2007-03-25T22:27:00.000+01:00

Hi all

Its Sunday 25th March 2007, and below is a brief but interesting interview with Randy from the Big Brovas, following their dissapointing result at Making Your Mind Up last weekend. Although I supported Justin Hawkins before the show started, it was Big Brovas that got my txt message vote...hehe...fat good that did. Anyways, I requested a quick interview with the Big Brovas, and they had a few words for us at straighteurovision....

Straighteurovision: 'Were you happy with your performance at Making your mind up?'

Randy: 'We think it was a great performance.We believe that performance should have won.... '

Straighteurovision: 'What are your thoughts regarding the winning act, Scooch? How do you think they will do at Eurovision? '

Randy: 'I think scooch represent eurovision of the past...maybe it was time to bring the competition up to date?...anyway i wish scooch all the best.'

Straighteurovision: 'Are you happy to have been given the chance to perform your new single to the UK audience live?'

Randy: 'It was a brilliant show for us....we let the UK know that we're still here, and we're still strong.'

Straighteurovision: 'Will you be watching eurovision on 10th May? Will you be routing for the UK?'

Randy: 'I really hope that this year a credible act wins so that people will take it more seriously in future....I will defo be watching..'

Straighteurovision: 'Would you consider taking part in Making your mind up in the future?'

Randy: 'NO!'

Straighteurovision: 'Finally, any words for those fans who voted for you (including myself) at making your mind up?'

Randy: 'Thanks for all your support, it means the world to us...Big bro thing is available now on i-tunes.(lol)'

I get the distinct idea there is a bit of resentment for scooch and perhaps Making Your Mind Up. Its a shame Big Brovas wont be entertaining us UK fans next year, but frankly thats the fans and the beeb's fault now isnt it! Anyway, thanks to Randy from the BB's. Dont forget to buy their new single 'Big Bro Thang!'; its in the shops, or on itune. It really does represent UK music of today....

Hopefully, I will have further interviews for you in the comming days....xxx