It doesn’t matter what kind of competition it is. When you are standing high atop the winner’s dais, with those you have vanquished standing nearby or possibly seated right in front of you, it is hard not to come over all Leonard di Caprio in Titanic and feel like Continue Reading
Music
Road to Eurovision: semi finals 1 predictions
It’s only hours, mere hours my friends, till the first semi-final takes places in Malmö, Sweden, and 16 countries battle it out in song – of course this being The Eurovision Song Contest, all the battling will be done in the most loving, life-affirming way possible with an angst-ridden Continue Reading
Road to Eurovision: Big 6 reviewed – UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Sweden
WHAT IS THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST? Started way back in 1956 as a way to draw a fractured Europe back together with the healing power of music, the Eurovision Song Contest, or Concours Eurovision de la Chanson – the contest is telecast in both English and French – is Continue Reading
Eurovision news roundup: what’s happening in Malmo
We’re so close to this year’s Eurovision Song Contest – the first semi-final takes place on Tuesday 14 May – that you can almost taste the herrings, smell the brännvin, and your chances of being blinded by glittery costumes in close proximity, especially Latvia’s luminously sparkly outfits, grows ever Continue Reading
Road to Eurovision: week 5 – Bulgaria, Iceland, Greece, Israel, Armenia, Hungary
WHAT IS THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST? Started way back in 1956 as a way to draw a fractured Europe back together with the healing power of music, the Eurovision Song Contest, or Concours Eurovision de la Chanson – the contest is telecast in both English and French – is open to Continue Reading
Now this is music #6: my 5 favourite songs of the week – Blondfire, Sia, Taped Rai, Mr.Little Jeans, London Grammar
Once more to the iPhone, dear friends, once more! Or close up our ears with the sonic dead. OK there’s an extremely good chance Shakespeare didn’t write this exactly and certainly didn’t own an iPhone, but the sentiment remains. It’s time to plug in your playing device of choice, Continue Reading
Ring! Ring! First ad for the ABBA Museum
Now I don’t usually act as the promotional mouthpiece for museums, art galleries, and small stalls selling toy cats made out of used felt and aluminium (delightful though they may be). But in the case of the ABBA Museum, which is being opened in honour of a musical supergroup Continue Reading
Road to Eurovision: week 4 – Latvia, San Marino, F. Y. R. Macedonia, Azerbaijan, Finland, Malta
WHAT IS THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST? Started way back in 1956 as a way to draw a fractured Europe back together with the healing power of music, the Eurovision Song Contest, or Concours Eurovision de la Chanson – the contest is telecast in both English and French – is open Continue Reading
Road to Eurovision: week 3 – Moldova, Ireland, Cyprus, Belgium, Serbia
WHAT IS THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST? Started way back in 1956 as a way to draw a fractured Europe back together with the healing power of music, the Eurovision Song Contest, or Concours Eurovision de la Chanson – the contest is telecast in both English and French – is open Continue Reading
What’s a country to do when there’s no money for Eurovision?
The Eurovision Song Contest has always occupied a very special place in the entertainment universe. Started in 1956 as a way to bring the nations of Europe into one big happy wind-machine blown, pyrotechnic backlit family, it’s always felt set apart from the normal day to day concerns of Continue Reading