OBITUARY: Writer Bill Martin has died aged 81 Songwriter, musician and impresario Bill Martin has died aged 81. You may not immediately recognise the name, but with his writing partner Phil Coulter, has written several Eurovision songs that have since become classics. Born William Wylie MacPherson in Glasgow […]
BIRTHDAY: Jonida Maliqi from Albania is 37 today Did you enjoy the last Eurovision Song Contest. You must remember, it was in Tel Aviv. You were wearing your blue jumper. It hardly seems 10 months ago that we were by the sunny Mediterranean. Our friends in Albania, more […]
BIRTHDAY: Emma Marrone from Italy is 36 today Our friends in Italy have done fairly well since they can back from exile. Seven top 10 finishes in their last nine attempts, including two runner-up spots. Which other of the Big Five can boast that record? Of course, for […]
BIRTHDAY: Gaitana from Ukraine is 39 today Do you have parents from two completely different places? Is one parent from Ireland and the other from Israel, for example? It’s great when you can benefit from two different cultures. It shows that this world isn’t so big after all. […]
BIRTHDAY: Lado Leskovar of Yugoslavia is 78 today What’s your favourite type of song? Is it one that celebrates love? Or one that tells us about what we’re doing to the planet? Or something darker? They all have a place in our favourite TV show. And back in […]
BIRTHDAY: Tonina Torrielli from Italy is 86 today Even though we were looking forward to a riotous cavalcade of quality song in Rotterdam in May, looking at the present isn’t what we always do here. It’s good to look at the past. After all, there were contests in […]
IRELAND: Fifty years since Dana If you were around 50 years ago tonight, you may have witnessed Ireland’s first ever win the Eurovision Song Contest. A mere five years after we saw Ireland début in Naples, Dana took home the prize at the RAI Theatre in Amsterdam. Dana, […]
BIRTHDAY: Stig van Eijk from Norway is 39 today Are you getting over the Eurovision that never was yet? Look at this way, there will be no Post Eurovision Depression in late May. And the best way to assuage any depression you might be feeling now is to […]
BIRTHDAY: Ovidijus Vyšniauskus is 63 today Not so long ago, eyebrows were raised when our favourite TV show was extended to 25 countries. Can you imagine that? A one-night spectacular with 25 songs. That would be seen as piffling these days. Of course, where there are 25 songs, […]
BIRTHDAY: Jamie-Lee from Germany is 22 today Yeah, it’s a dark day in our world. But life goes on. Things will be back to normal next year, with no virus to spoil our fun. As we know, six countries per year make it straight through to the Grand […]