#BIRTHDAY: Patrick Fiori from France is 55 today It’s always nice to hear a song that’s not English. But even more special when we hear a proper minority language. Our friends in France have gone down that road in the past with, among others, Breton and Antillean Creole. […]
#BIRTHDAY: Inga from Iceland is 52 today It’s notable that some countries always have bigger journeys to make than others, when getting to our favourite TV show. Australia aside, those countries on the edges of Europe always have to make an effort. Take our friends in Iceland for […]
#BIRTHDAY: William Mangion from Malta is 66 today There are some special contests where things change. 1971 was one instance (previews started). 2004 was another (semi-finals). But perhaps one of the most important was 1993. The EBU had started to embrace those further east places that wanted to […]
#BIRTHDAY: Annie Cotton from Switzerland is 49 today We always say anyone can win our favourite TV show. All it needs is a perfect storm of stuff, and even the country that normally stays in the semi-final can do well. I say this because of what our friends […]
#BIRTHDAY: Janika Sillamaa from Estonia is 49 today In these days of Eurovision semi-finals – and the bloodbaths they have become – it’s important to remember that they were tried twice in the 1990s. These two almost-forgotten events need celebrating, as there were gems of songs that never […]
#BIRTHDAY: Katy Garbi from Greece is 62 today Do you remember when our friends in Greece were struggling to get any success in our favourite TV show? Those times have changed, and Greece can mix it with the best of them now. In the 1990s, there was a […]
#BIRTHDAY: Silje Vige from Norway is 47 today Can you imagine how it feels if you’re closing a contest. And not just closing any old contest, but closing the biggest contest the world had ever seen at the time. And imaging doing all of this if you were […]
#BIRTHDAY: Tony Wegas from Austria is 59 today There’s an exclusive club. Well, yeah, there are lots of exclusive clubs. But today’s exclusive belongs to those people who did back-to-back appearances in our favourite TV show. We can name plenty – Lena, Jedward, Val Monetta – all illustrious […]
#BIRTHDAY: Jožo Raz from Slovakia is 69 today Did you know the first official Eurovision semi-finals in 2004 weren’t the inaugural international pre-selections for our favourite TV show? There was one in 1993 – yes, 30 years ago. It was a sedate seven-nation affair in sunny Ljubljana. Three […]
#BIRTHDAY: Enrico Ruggeri from Italy is 66 today It must be good to be in at the start of something. In years to come, you can tell your family you were there, and part of it. This particular ‘thing’ is the expansion of our favourite TV show. The […]