Perkele, the Finns are the stars of the show…

There could be no worse time to blog than on a Friday night. You’re guaranteed to miss all the office types who’ll revel in the non-computerised days of the weekend and by the time they may, if you’re lucky, get round to clicking on Monday, it will all be as stale and unfresh as a discarded baguette. (That bread just WILL NOT keep.) But tant pis. Because there’s no determining when a blogging window might present itself, and if Friday evening it is, then ainsi soit il.

What’s with all the French? Well, I suppose it’s got to be my mind getting eurotastic in time for tomorrow’s extravaganza. I haven’t done much window-blogging, as it were, yet, but I’ve already come across a couple of corking Eurovision posts. I’m gutted to realise I missed the semi-final yesterday – didn’t even know it was televised – but I shall go with a smattering of Euroqueens to watch the real thing in a suitably gay environment tomorrow. But I’ve hardly recovered from last year’s show and now there’s all the excitement again. Turkey’s song from last year is on a shortlist for when Sue Lawley eventually gets round to inviting me on. (Ooh, she’s just had Darcey Bussell in the back of her cab. She’s awfully nice. Heard her interviewed somewhere else once. Diamond geezer. Although Golden Brown and Love me Do in her choice? Warum?) And I won’t go into my near-obsession with Israel’s 2000 entry for fear of being sectioned, or having an ASBO put on me. (Do I still fall under UK jurisdiction for some things?)

So, another Eurovision. The Finns have already stolen all the headlines. All the songs can be watched/listened to here. Finland is a last-place kind of country when it comes to Eurovision, so they must be whooping for joy at having stormed into this year’s final. (Although some have asked for presidential intervention to stop such ugly people representing the nation at the highest level.) Admittedly, the song is execrable, but I, along with everyone else in Europe, shall vote strictly according to biased principles so will be voting for the Finns – the nicest people in Europe – regardless, as long as my Handy has reception at SchwuZ. But who will the Greeks vote for this year, what with Cyprus not having qualified for the final? And this their home show ‘n all. Annoyingly, the countries that didn’t qualify for the final still get to vote, so Cyprus can still vote for the Greeks, and I think the chances of them not getting the big douze are pretty slim seeing as Greece is this year being represented by a Cypriot. (They were represented by a Swede last year, and that did the trick.)

And the Germans might even manage not to come last as they’ve plumped for a country song sung by an Australian. It’s not even wrist-slashingly bad.

So hurrah for the Eurovision. Yeah. Hell, we can even say yahboo sucks to the North Americans. (Although, admittedly, a contest with the US, Canada and St. Pierre et Miquelon could be pretty gripping.)