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…and such a good idea, we can’t believe nobody ever thought of it before, is the Eurovision 2006 Voting Simulator which we stumbled across online the other day. Part of the much larger Eurovision Record Book site which is stuffed full of facts, statistics and trivia, the simulator allows you to assess the chances of countries already in the final, then pick qualifiers from the semi-final and assess their chances too. Based on the information you’ve given, together with statistics of the voting from the past few years, it then sets up an interactive scoreboard, with each country’s votes appearing in the order you choose.

OK, so it doesn’t have the fun factor of actually hearing the votes being announced or seeing those jury representatives bleating on about ‘what a wonderful show it was’, but this is still curiously addictive stuff – and there are so many different permutations of both countries and chances that the scoring possibilities are almost endless. So far we’ve seen it give victories to Finland, Russia, Romania, Greece, Norway, Iceland, Germany and –yes! – the UK – and although some of the voting patterns become a tad predictable after a while (Malta always seems to give 12 to Switzerland, for example), there’s enough variety here to keep us enthralled for hours (and on the edge of our seats when the voting is a close-run thing). So give it a try. Just don’t blame us if you get no work done until after the contest is over.

SLOVENIA
Song: Mr Nobody
Artist: Anzej Dehan
We’ll be honest with you. To date, Slovenia have never really made that much impact on Team Eurovision’s radar – but then again that could be because, with the possible exception of Nusa Derenda’s barnstorming Energy in 2001, they’ve never actually made that much impact on the contest itself (we do have a soft spot for Sestre’s 2002 effort but that’s probably more to do with their mildly diverting drag act than the song itself). Last year they sailed perilously close to the final with Omar Naber’s Stop – a song we just couldn’t make our minds up about (and in fact, we still haven’t decided if we like it or not!). This year, however, we’ve had no such problems – because for the first time ever, Slovenia have fielded a song that we just can’t get enough of. Coming to us courtesy of the appealing 18-year-old Anzej Dehan – who for some reason reminds us of a teenage version of Kenny Everett – Mr Nobody is one of those deceptive little numbers that doesn’t turn out quite the way you expect it to. Remember Albania in 2004? Well, you’ll know what to expect here – it starts slowly enough, but just when you’ve become convinced you’re listening to just another run-of-the-mill ballad, things take a very different turn. A wildly over-the-top, kitsch, camp turn, to be precise. There’s shades of disco-era Abba here, with a chorus that seems to boast more than a passing nod to Phantom Of The Opera – and by rights, this really shouldn’t work. Yet amazingly it does. OK, so the lyrics are a tad dodgy and we’re still baffled by Anzej’s ever-changing hairstyles and his awkward, bizarre dance moves, but we’re liking this one so much that we really don’t care. This is a breath of fresh air after Bulgaria’s ineffectual melodramatics – and it’s one which, with the focus on other tunes from some of the larger nations, could end up taking everybody by surprise.
For It: It’s kitsch theatrical, and so damned catchy you won’t forget it in a hurry – and the fact it’s surrounded by ballads in the running order will help it stand out all the more. Another potential dark horse and a definite contender for the final.
Against It: Singing so early in the line-up is never an advantage – and a lot will depend on the performance. Also, let’s hope Anzej’s command of English is good enough to carry the song through – we’re still convinced that Belarus, who really should have made it to the final last year, lost out due to Angelica’s, er, dubious command of the language, and we’d hate to see the same thing happen to Slovenia this year.

ANDORRA
Song: Sense Tu
Artist: Jennifer
And so to Jennifer the singing waitress, who’s hoping to take the tiny principality to their first ever final. Andorra have yet to make much of an impression since arriving in the contest in 2004, although we rather liked their song last year, Marian van der Wal’s La Mirada Interior – and their entry this year isn’t half bad either. In fact, we reckon this is their best effort to date – we weren’t too keen at first, but it’s a real grower, and the fact that Jennifer has an impressive pair of pipes on her helps too. For all its plus points, however, we’re not convinced that this one’s going to make much of an impact on the Eurovision audience – with several strong ballads in contention, it could easily be lost among the pack, plus its status as a grower, and the fact it doesn’t make an immediate impact (or at least as far as we’re concerned) could leave it at a disadvantage with the millions of viewers who’ll be hearing the songs for the first time on the night. Jennifer can certainly sing, and we’ve no doubt she’ll do the song justice – but she’s still going to have to pull a strong performance out of the bag to stand any chance of progressing to the final.
For It: There’s always a place for strong,classy power ballads at Eurovision, and this is certainly one of those – and the fact it’s being sung by a talented performer is a distinct advantage.
Against It: Pretty much everything else really, from its place in the running order after Slovenia’s strong (and no doubt visually flashy) entry, to the fact that it takes several listens to really get under your skin. Shame – but at least they’ll get some points from Spain.

It’s that time of year again, when here at Team Eurovision we start casting our verdict on this year’s entries. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be offering our thoughts on all of this year’s 37 hopefuls, including the UK’s very own Daz Sampson – in the run-up to semi-finals night on May 18. So without further ado, let’s get underway with the contest debutants…

ARMENIA
Song: Without Your Love
Artist: Andre
Opening the song contest is never an easy task, but it must be all the more daunting when you’re making your debut on the Eurovision stage. The past few years have seen the likes of Bulgaria, Belarus, Serbia and Montenegro, Albania and Moldova join the contest – but none of them have ever had the task of kicking things off. Instead, that honour falls to this year’s newcomers Armenia, who have risen to the Eurovision challenge by sending one of their biggest stars. Andre has won numerous awards in his home country and has toured all over the world, playing shows everywhere from the US to Kazakhstan, Lebanon and Iran. But what’s he given us for Eurovision? Well, we’ve come to the conclusion that there seem to be two types of contest debutants these days – those that do pretty well their first time and those that, er, need a little longer to get the hang of things, shall we say – but as far as we’re concerned, Armenia fall squarely into the first category. Without Your Love is a lively, spirited, and very contemporary offering, combining Turkish and Arabic rhythms with a catchy, danceable pop tune that lodges itself in your brain after just a couple of listens and refuses to let go. While the whole Eurovision ethno-pop thing is beginning to wear just a tad thin (as further evidenced by the range of different musical styles creeping into this year’s contest), Armenia have struck the perfect balance here – yes, it falls squarely into the ethno-pop category but sounds fresh and modern with it, and is yet another prime example of a debutant country showing the others exactly how it should be done (are you listening, Bulgaria and Belarus?) OK, so we don’t think it’s quite strong enough to score them a victory on their very first try, but we certainly think they’ve got a bit of a dark horse on their hands here, one that could surprise a lot of people and do rather well on the night.
For It: It’s catchy and memorable, and Andre’s clearly an experienced performer. As long as he does puts on a good show, we reckon Armenia could be gracing the final at their very first attempt.
Against It: Being the first on stage is never easy, and might prove a disadvantage if voters have forgotten about them by the end. They’ll have to make sure the performance is really strong. Also – and it’s a small point – we’re a little scared by what can only be described as Andre’s monobrow. Someone get the man a pair of tweezers before the big night!

BULGARIA
Song: Let Me Cry
Artist: Mariana Popova
One of last year’s debutant countries, Bulgaria crashed and burned with their feeble ballad Lorrain in 2005, sparking rumours that they wouldn’t be fielding a song this year – but nonetheless they are back for another try. And much as we’d like to be impressed by their sophomore effort, we’re sad to say that we’re struggling to find much we actually like about it. Let Me Cry falls into the ever-popular Big Ballad category, complete with some dramatic, plaintive wailing and a stage show that bizarrely seems to include rhythmic gymnastics. To be fair, it’s an improvement upon last year – but that’s not really saying much. On the plus side, Ms Popova has a decent enough voice, and there is of course the added novelty of camp-as-tents Bulgarian singer Azis on backing vocals – but we’re all still finding it rather underwhelming. Sorry, Bulgaria, we love that you’re taking part in Eurovision and we’d love to see you do well, but we’re just not convinced you’re going to make it out of the semi-finals this year.
For It: Visually, it could be interesting, with all manner of things going on around Mariana (gymnasts etc.) while she gets on with the business of standing there and singing – while Azis is bound to spark some interest.
Against It: The song just isn’t very strong, and however good the performance it’s unlikely to make much impact – plus no song performed second in the line-up, either final or semi-final, has ever gone on to win Eurovision. With a strong opener from Armenia and the over-the-top theatrics of the Slovenian entry which follows, Bulgaria are almost certain to get lost in the crowd. Better luck next year, chaps.

Hot on the heels of the draw for this year’s running order come the first set of betting odds for Eurovision 2006 – and unsurprisingly, it’s Belgium’s Kate Ryan who leads the back. Ryan is 15/2 favourite to win on May 20 with her track Je T’Adore. Joint second favourites are Sweden’s Carola and Greece’s Anna Vissi on 8/1, while the UK’s Daz Sampson, and Romania’s Mihai Traistariu are both currently 9/1.

Further down the list, we quite fancy a bet on Finland’s Lordi, who are 40/1 to take home the title with their track Hard Rock Hallelujah, or Russia, whose odds have been slashed from 80/1 to 40/1. Among the rank outsiders, however, are Moldova, Portugal, Bulgaria, Andorra and – amazingly – Eurovision stalwarts France, who are currently all 100/1 to score a victory in Athens.

Following the UK’s second placing in last year’s Eurovision running order, this year we’re not due on stage until much later – 15th, to be precise. Both the draw to determine the running order for the semi-final and the final were made on Tuesday, and here’s how they look:

Running Order – Semi-Final, 18th May

Armenia
Bulgaria
Slovenia
Andorra
Belarus
Albania
Belgium
Ireland
Cyprus
Monaco
FYR Macedonia
Poland
Russia
Turkey
Ukraine
Finland
The Netherlands
Lithuania
Portugal
Sweden
Estonia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Iceland

Running Order – Final, 20th May
Switzerland
Moldova
Israel
Latvia
Norway
Spain
Malta
Germany
Denmark
Semi-final qualifier
Semi-final qualifier
Romania
Semi-final qualifier
Semi-final qualifier
United Kingdom
Greece
Semi-final qualifier
Semi-final qualifier
France
Croatia
Semi-final qualifier
Semi-final qualifier
Semi-final qualifier
Semi-final qualifier

The Team Eurovision Verdict: When we first caught a glimpse of the running order for the final we were left wondering what had become of the semi-final qualifiers, and whether they were simply going to be slotted in at a later date! Because the first nine songs in the final come from countries who have automatically qualified for the final, pushing the arrivals from the semi-final towards the second half of the show.

And this could spell good news for those qualifiers, given the theory that songs performed in the second half of the contest have a tendency to do better than those in the first half (not always, of course, but it can be an advantage if your performance is memorable, and we still maintain that Hungary would have done a lot better last year if they hadn’t had to kick things off in Kiev). The last four songs in the final, in particular, are an unknown quantity, particularly if one of the stronger contenders from the semi-final lands a slot here.

And what of the UK? Well, we’ve had a similar slot in the running order quite a few times in recent years, and it hasn’t exactly helped us – but this year could be different, given that Daz is bound to put on a memorable show. There are, however, a couple of obstacles – firstly, we’re on just before Greece, meaning we’re in danger of being overshadowed by the inevitable excitement over the host nation (although Anna Vissi’s song Everything is a ballad far removed from Daz’s rap shenanigans).

Secondly, the fact we’re on right after a semi-finalist means we have no idea what’s going to be on before us. If a run of the mill ballad or a less flashy song lands in the slot before the UK, then it’ll only help us stand out even more – on the other hand, if a country like Finland are on before us (and having had a sneaky peek at Lordi’s video we have no doubt they’re going to bring the house down in Athens), then our predecessors could prove a hard act to follow. Once again, the UK’s success or failure could be down to the luck of the draw…

Meanwhile, now that the running order has been announced, the time has come for Team Eurovision to put on its headphones and start casting its verdict on this year’s crop of entries. Starting with the semi-finalists, we’ll be letting you know our thoughts on the 37 hopefuls over the next few weeks.

And finally, let’s spare a thought for Armenia, who are not only making their debut in the 2006 contest, but actually have to start off the entire shebang, having been drawn to sing first in the semi-final. Let’s hope they can live up to expectations.

As well as the draws for the semi-final and final running order, another draw was made in Athens on Tuesday – to decide the order in which Eurovision participants will cast their votes. Normally countries vote in the order in which they performed – semi-finalists first, followed by finalists – but this year it’s all change, to allow satellite links to be ordered and established before each country is called. The running order for the voting is as follows:

Slovenia
Andorra
Romania
Denmark
Latvia
Portugal
Sweden
Finland
Belgium
Croatia
Serbia and Montenegro
Norway
Estonia
Ireland
Malta
Lithuania
Cyprus
The Netherlands
Ukraine
Russia
Poland
United Kingdom
Armenia
France
Belarus
Germany
Spain
Moldova
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Iceland
Monaco
Israel
Albania
Greece
Bulgaria
FYR Macedonia
Turkey

As previously mentioned, a change in the voting system will mean that the lower marks from each country will appear on the scoreboard as they are being called up to vote. The spokesperson from each country will then announce the 8, 10 and 12 point recipients. However, the final three countries will announce their complete results from 1 to 12 points – meaning that if it’s a close contest, the fate of the winners could rest with the Turk.

We haven’t even had this year’s contest, yet plans have already been drawn up for the format of Eurovision 2007. There’s been quite a bit of speculation over the past few weeks as to the future of the semi-final and the Big Four, but the European Broadcasting Union has now announced that both of these will remain in place next year.

However, only 10 countries will automatically qualify for next year’s final – the winner of this year’s contest, the next five placed countries, and the UK, Spain, France and Germany – who automatically bypass the semi-final on account of their large financial contribution to the contest. (Team Eurovision assumes, however, that if one or more of the Big Four were to finish in the top six, the next placed countries would also nab a spot in the final).

This also means that next year’s semi-final is likely to be bigger than ever, with 30 countries allowed to take part and 14 slots in the final at stake. The EBU has said that so-called ‘neighbour voting’ was one of the main reasons behind the change. Although research has indicated that no country could win purely on the strength of such voting, there is evidence that it can influence who qualify from the final – however, the EBU is hoping that increasing the number of semi-final qualifiers will lessen the impact of this.

One significant change in this year’s contest, meanwhile, is the way in which the votes will be announced. Not only is there set to be a draw for the order in which the countries announce their votes (as opposed to the usual way, in which they vote according to their place in the running order), but the lower marks – from 1 to 7 – will appear automatically on the scoreboard as each country is being called. The announcer from each country will then reveal who will receive their 8, 10 and 12 points. However, the last three countries to vote will announce their results in full.

The decision was taken due to the ever-increasing length of the contest and the fact that viewers have apparently been switching off during the voting – but naturally Eurovision fans have been swift to protest the move, with many suggesting that the spirit of the contest – and much of the suspense – will be lost. Team Eurovision’s verdict? Well, to be honest, we’re sitting on the fence with this once, since we can see both sides of the argument.

Obviously we love the voting, and we’re disappointed that the EBU has decided to make this move – we know as well as any other Eurovision fan that a small number of points can make all the difference in the latter stages of the contest – but on the other hand, this new system might not be as bad as we’ve all been fearing. The fact that the final three countries still get to announce their results in full will allow the suspense to be maintained if the contest is a close one – and if there’s a runaway winner then not announcing the lower scores isn’t going to make a huge amount of difference, in the long run. We’ll reserve judgment until we’ve seen the new system in action, but at the very least we’ll give it a chance.

After a week’s worth of to-ing and fro-ing, Serbia and Montenegro have officially confirmed they will not be taking part in this year’s Eurovision. Despite speculation they would re-stage their national final this week, the Montenegrin jury has rejected the idea of a new contest, saying voting in the first final (which saw Montenegrin boy band No Name winning) had been fair. With both sides unable to reach agreement, the only solution has been for the country to withdraw. Aleksandr Tijanic, the head of Serbian broadcaster RTS said in a statement it would “be better for all of us not to have a representative at the contest in Athens".

It’s good news for Croatia, who now look set to be awarded the place in the final vacated by Serbia and Montenegro (since Croatia just missed out on a place in the top ten last year, they would have had to take part in the semi-final otherwise). However, S&M’s future in the contest now looks uncertain, since RTS faces a fine of up to 35,000 Swiss francs as well as a possible ban from the contest for three years, as a result of the dispute - meaning their promising Eurovision career could be brought to a halt before it’s even had a chance to get going.

Following reports earlier in the week that Serbia and Montenegro were considering withdrawing from this year’s Eurovision, word comes that they’re planning a second attempt at choosing a song for this year’s contest.

The original national final caused controversy after the Serbian audience accused the Montenegrin judges of tactical voting, following the victory of boy band No Name (who represented the country in Kiev last year). The story made headlines all over the world, and back on home turf it even overshadowed news of the death of former Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic.

However, a replay of the national final is set to take place on Sunday night, with the winner to be decided by televoting – and for Serbia and Montenegro, it’s in the nick of time, since the deadline to submit songs to the EBU for inclusion in the contest is this week.

It’s looking likely that Serbia and Montenegro will pull out of this year’s Eurovision, following controversy over their national final a few days ago. The contest, which took place in Belgrade, was won by Montenegrin boy band No Name (who represented the country in Kiev last year and finished in seventh place) – however, the mainly Serbian audience at the event were none too pleased about the result, accusing the Montenegrin judges of tactical voting, and refusing to let the band even reprise their song.

News of a possible withdrawal from the contest came after the country’s two broadcast companies, Serbia’s RTS and Montenegro’s RTCG, called a meeting to try and find a solution to the problem and failed to reach an agreement. The two companies explored several options, including holding a new national final and also simply sending No Name to Athens, but both of these were rejected.

However, with just days to go before the deadline to submit songs to the European Broadcasting Union (final song selections are due to be made this weekend), the country may still have to pay participation fees if they withdraw – and possibly even face a fine from the Union.

However, if they do pull out it could be good news for Croatia, who are currently set to take part in this year’s semi-final. Since Serbia and Montenegro are set to proceed directly to the final thanks to securing a top ten placing in last year’s contest, any withdrawal from them could open up a vacancy in the final – which we reckon would go to Croatia, since they finished eleventh in Kiev. We’ll keep you posted.

Is it just us, or is this year’s Eurovision shaping up to be one of the most eccentric in years? Fair enough, the contest has had its fair share of offbeat participants in recent times, from Dana International through to Slovenian transvestite trio Sestre, Austrian comedian Alf Poier and of course the frilly-shirted Eurovision legend that is Guildo Horn. But 2006 could be a memorable year too, if some of the entrants are anything to go by.

For starters, we’re thinking of Iceland, who are pinning their hopes this year on Silvia Nott’s track Til Hamingju Island. Which all sounds fairly straightforward, except that Silvia Nott isn’t actually a real person at all, but a character created by Icelandic actress Agusta Eva Erlendsdottir – and a fairly colourful one at that, if the neon-coloured tutu and spangly eye make-up she wore in the national final is anything to go by. What’s more, the lyrics of the song have raised a few eyebrows – we especially like the couplet which reads, “I know I’m gonna win the f_ing final, all the other songs have lost”. Whether or not this will actually be translated into English for the big night is, er, unclear.

A similar tactic seems to have been adopted by the Lithuanian entrants, LT United. The track, We Are The Winners, won the chance to represent the former Soviet state earlier this week– although early word suggests that even though it’s tongue-in-cheek, it’s not nearly as good as Silvia Nott’s novelty effort. Team Eurovision, on the other hand, is chuckling at the irony of the song title since Lithuania, relative newcomers to the contest, are still struggling to make much of an impact, and had the indignity of finishing last in the semi-final in 2005. Whether their 2006 entry will prove prophetic remains to be seen.

However, the Eurovision hopefuls that we’re most excited about are the Finnish rock troupe Lordi, who’ll be competing for the chance to represent their home country at Finland’s national final on Friday. Of course Norway dabbled in rock last year with Wig Wam, but Lordi are a different proposition altogether – for one thing they look a lot scarier than their Scandinavian glam rock counterparts (check out their website) for further evidence), for another we’re just loving the lyrics of their would-be entry Hard Rock Hallelujah – in particular the reference to the ‘day of rockoning’. Given that Finland have been trying valiantly to win Eurovision for decades now, and have never finished any higher than 6th place, we reckon they have nothing to lose by livening things up with a little metal mayhem. We’re keeping everything crossed for Lordi.

Of course, many countries are still playing it totally straight this year – but with several songs still to be chosen, who knows what else might make it into the line-up? At the moment we’re still reeling from the fact that Norway chose the folk-tinged effort Alvedanse over the drag act Queentastic – but perhaps this year’s contest already has more than enough eccentrics to be going on with. However well all of the above may fare, one thing’s for certain – they make Daz Sampson and his dancing schoolgirls look positively normal by comparison…

After a nail-biting results show, Daz Sampson has won this year’s Making Your Mind Up with the song Teenage Life. The rap track will represent the UK at this year’s contest in Athens on May 20. The final results of the contest were as follows:

1 Teenage Life – Daz Sampson (121 points)
2 Beautiful Thing – Antony Costa (96 points)
3 All About You – City Chix (55 points)
4 Whisper To Me – Kym Marsh (53 points)
5 Hand On My Heart – Four Story (17 points)
6 Play Your Game – Goran Kay (14 points)

Here at Team Eurovision, we can’t say we’re entirely surprised by the result OK, so the song veers dangerously close to a novelty record, but it was certainly a lot more fun to watch than any of the other contenders on tonight’s show, and as we’ve been saying for the past few weeks, offers countless opportunities for some visual fun on the big night (in this case, it appears to involve backing singers dressed as schoolgirls sitting at classroom desks).

It’s true that the UK is taking a gamble with this one. It’s the kind of entry that could either win or score us another resounding nul points. But given our recent track record, we really have nothing to lose from taking a bit of a risk with our song. After all, we can’t do any worse than we did in 2003 (unless they introduce a rule which involves giving out minus points this year), and at least a track like Teenage Life has a greater chance of standing out that an identikit ballad or throwaway Motown soundalike.

To us this also seems like a very small gesture of defiance towards all the Eurovision naysayers who think the UK will never do well ever again – if we don’t stand a chance of a good result, then it makes much more sense to send something a bit more offbeat instead of trying to take it too seriously and falling flat on our faces once more. And who knows, it might even work in our favour. After all, other countries have tried it – let us not forget Moldova’s granny last year, Austria’s Alf Poier in 2003 and Germany’s Guildo Horn in 1998 – so why not the UK?

So let’s all get behind Daz and cheer him on in Athens, knowing that even if this particular risk does backfire on us, it will at least be fun to watch. At the very least we can rest easy knowing that he won’t sing out of tune on the night…

The show’s over, and the UK’s 2006 Eurovision representative is due to be revealed very soon – but while we’re waiting for the result, here’s Team Eurovision’s verdict on the show:

Goran Kay – Play Your Game
OK, so we haven’t rated this one up to now, but it wasn’t a bad start to the show, to be honest, even if Goran did display that slightly terrified ‘rabbit caught in headlights’ look for much of the performance. Still don’t think the song is strong enough to see him through to Athens – but it worked a lot better on stage than off it, thanks to a few nifty visuals.

Kym Marsh – Whisper To Me
Despite all our protestations that we should send a ballad to Athens, we haven’t exactly been championing this one – but there’s no denying Kym gave a classy performance, one which could be enough for her to see off the competition and grab that all-important spot for le Royaume-Uni. Trouble is, we’re still not convinced by the song – if other countries were to enter better ballads, it could just get lost among the pack no matter how well she sings on the night. And a word of advice, Kym – if you do decide to wear a full-length evening gown, cover your tattoos up first love.

Daz Sampson – Teenage Life
Oh gosh, where to start? We had expected something a little bit different from DJ Daz, being one of the more offbeat contenders – and we certainly got it, in the shape of backing singers dressed in school uniform sat behind desks. Strictly speaking, this song is a load of old rubbish (the fact that Daz appears to be about 45 years old doesn’t really help matters either) – but we have to admit this performance stuck in our minds more than any of the others tonight. It would be a very bold move, but on the strength of what we’ve seen we can’t help thinking that this could see off the competition.

City Chix – All About You
Daz was always going to be a hard act to follow, but given this was our pre-show favourite we were hoping the Chix would be able to pull it off – and sadly we were a tad disappointed. The song is solid enough, but given how small and lost the pair looked on the BBC stage, we shudder to think how they might look in front of a huge auditorium full of people in Athens – and not sure, singing-wise, they’d be strong enough to stand out. Possibly not as much of a contender as we first thought, although the Scottish vote is guaranteed.

Four Story – Hand On My Heart
‘Unimpressive’ is probably a polite way of summing this one up. We don’t doubt that the quartet can sing, we’re just a little sceptical of their ability to sing when placed next to each other on a stage. Add to that their rather dull suits, which made them look more like a bunch of bank clerks on loan from their day job, than a proper boy band, and you’re looking at the dullest effort of the night. We would be very surprised if this one took top honours.

Antony Costa – It’s A Beautiful Thing
This has been the hot favourite all week. And we like it. Really, we do. Yet we can’t help thinking it was a tad ruined by Antony’s performance. Not only are we unconvinced by his singing abilities, but there was something so not right about his shiny grey suit and white shoes. They might have looked nice on a member of Duran Duran in 1984 but seemed curiously out of place in a 2006 Eurovision song contest bid – and if he was making an attempt to camp things up a bit, it didn’t work. We still think he might sneak a victory simply because he’s a known name and the song isn’t half bad, but if he does take the title he’s going to have to do a bit better than that in Athens.

In short? Hard to predict a winner on this one although taken purely on what we saw tonight, a battle between Daz and Kym wouldn’t be out of the question. And we’re not ruling out Antony’s chances either. Whatever happens, we’ll know very soon.

Oh, and memo to the member of Team Eurovision who tried to vote for Helena Paparizou following her performance at the show: you can’t….

For the past week, we’ve been hearing rumours about Spain’s Eurovision representative – and now those rumours have been confirmed. Yes, it appears that Las Ketchup will be making a bid for Eurovision glory in Athens come May 20 with the song Bloody Mary.

In case you’re still wondering, Las Ketchup are singing siblings Lola, Pilar and Lucia who shot to fame in 2002 with the insanely catchy/annoying (delete as applicable) Asereje (Ketchup Song). The track topped the charts in over 20 countries include France, Portugal, Spain, Germany and the UK, and even picked up a Latin Grammy nomination along the way.

Now they’re back – and they’re offering us an extra portion of ketchup for Eurovision, as a fourth sister, Rocio, will be joining the Andalucian divas on stage. And although we haven’t yet heard Bloody Mary, the website Oikotimes reports that it’s about trying to charm a man during a night out on the town. Er, we can’t wait….

They’re only two years into their Eurovision career, and already relative newcomers Moldova have hit a stumbling block. Their national final, which took place at the weekend, ended in deadlock after the three songs competing for the chance to represent them in Athens all scored the same number of points.

Hopefuls Berlacu Geta, Serj Kuzencoff and Moldstar now face an uncertain Eurovision future while an internal jury decides what to do next. Speculation has of course been mounting as to what will happen – while it’s still possible that one of the three finalists will find their way to the Eurovision stage, speculation is also mounting that the jury will choose a completely different song and artist to represent Moldova – who made an impressive debut with last year’s Bunica Bate Toba.

However, here at Team Eurovision we’ve decided we want to help. And so – just for fun you understand – we present our own solutions to the problem of choosing a song for Moldova:

1. Send all three songs and see if anybody notices. Let’s face it, the contest is long enough as it is.

2. Get all three finalists to draw straws. Longest straw wins. End of story.

3. Scrap this year’s entrants and bringback Granny from last year. She was of course one of the highlights of 2005 and we’re still convinced Moldova wouldn’t have done nearly so well without her (much as we championed their song from the off)

4. Combine bits of all three of the songs and turn it into one big glorious Moldovan anthem. Cue much enthusiasm in Athens and another inevitable top ten result.

5. If all else fails, get all finalists to write an essay about why they should have the chance to go to Athens. Best one wins. The end.

Team Eurovision would like to make it clear that if Moldova were to actually follow any of our helpful tips, nobody would be more surprised than us.