BIRTHDAY: Laila Kinnunen from Finland would have been 80 today That first entry. Always daunting for a broadcaster. What will Europe think of us? How will we do? Will we have the money to take part every year? Back in the 1960s, participation was easier. Eurovision was a […]
BIRTHDAY: Anri Jokhadze from Georgia is 39 today It could be time to have another contender for Mr Eurovision. Each country will have one – as well as a Mrs/Miss/Ms Eurovision. But we’ll leave the ladies for another time. Georgia has had 12 songs make it to the […]
BIRTHDAY: Geir Rönning is 57 today False flag time again. It’s a close thing, with the Nordics. They’re very close culturally, so someone moving between them isn’t that noteworthy. So perhaps there’s no false flag after all. Finland is an interesting case. Nordic, but not quite that Nordic. […]
BIRTHDAY: Gianni Mascolo from Switzerland is 79 today In those days before the free language, did you wish that your country could sing in any language it chose? Or do you think Eurovision should ditch the rule? If you were Swiss, you had the choice of four languages […]
BIRTHDAY: Pearl Carr from the UK is 96 today It’s good to go right back at time. For those that don’t know, there was once a contest with only ten songs. Can you imagine that now? Well, compared to that, 1959 was a bumper edition. In that year, […]
BIRTHDAY: Tijana Bogićević from Serbia is 38 today Balkan, Balkan, Balkan. And so on. That’s where we are today, and things have a definite Cyrillic flavour. We’re with a country that burst onto the Eurovision scene in 2007. That’s Serbia. Yes, the place who’s capital is Belgrade had […]
BIRTHDAY: Séverine Ferrer representing Monaco is 42 today It’s always sad when a country decides to sit out Eurovision. For a year is understandable, but there are a few we’ve not seen for many years now. Are they still paying attention to our favourite TV show? Or do […]
HALLOWE’EN: Eurovision goes bump in the night Hallowe’en and Eurovision. Does it scare you? Do you tremble on 31 October when you get a sinister knock at your door? Are you relieved when you find out it’s only the local kids going trick-or-treating? Or do you leave the […]
BIRTHDAY: Fausto Leali from Italy is 75 today As you will know, every performer in our favourite TV show is a professional. They all want to do their best. Nevertheless, it must still be daunting singing in front of millions. It must be even more daunting if you’re […]
BIRTHDAY: Charlie from Hungary is 72 today What was it that drew you into Eurovision? The costumes? The glorious melodies? For us, it was the languages. Where else could you have heard someone using Hebrew, Portuguese or Finnish to get a message across? Of course, many use English […]