20 Years ago in Dublin.....

On April 30th 1988, this canadian songstress took to the Eurovision stage for Switzerland at the RDS in Dublin. The rest, as they say, is history!

Who will "Baila El Chiki Chiki" with Rodolfo?

Calling all budding backing dancers who would like to join Spanish ESC entrant Rodolfo Chikilicuatre on stage in Serbia.

TVE will air a programme called "Dansin Chiki Chiki" tomorrow night to decide who will join existing backing dancers, Disco and Grafica, for Baila El Chiki Chiki.

Special guest star will be the extremely mobile shady lady herself - Ani Lorak - who's clocking up her frequent flyer miles after her successful appearance at the UK Preview Party last week.

Outside Spain, you can watch the programme on TVE Internacional (TVEi - channel 795 in the U.K. on SKY). Who will be the lucky three chosen dancers?? Tune in at 21.50 CET to find out.

Take me to your airport!

This year's Swedish ESC entrant Charlotte Perrelli will embark on a whistle-stop tour of Europe this week to promote her song Hero...and she's even hired a charter plane to get around!

Here's her gruelling schedule

29th april Latvia
30th april Belarus
2nd may Denmark
4th may Netherlands
5th may Belgium
8th may Norway
9-10th may Bosnia/H
13th may Serbia
14th may Albania
15th may Montenegro
16th may Serbia

Let's hope there's no jet-lag come the 22nd of May!

Still LIVE....Eurovision Preview Party!!

We're still LIVE here at the UK Eurovision Preview Party at Scala in London...just about! And look who's just popped up..
Dustin the turkey made it ....a little bit worse for the drink!



Eurovision 1997 legend Paul Oscar showed he still has what it takes! Minus the sofa and the leather-clad ladies though!





And another blast from the past..the fan favourite Nanne Gronvall who clearly enjoyed herself! Perhaps she'll be back at Eurovision for Sweden in 2009? The crowd were certainly pleased to see Nanne!




Another 2008 entrant was up next - Laka from Bosnia-Herzegovina, without the chicken!



But the night belonged to this little "Shady Lady" from Ukraine...she had the audience in the palm of her hand. Definitely one to watch in May!

Good Luck Ani!




And still the music goes on. More performers still to come on stage, but we're signing off now. It's been a great night here in London, book your place for next year!

Good night/morning!

LIVE....UK Eurovision Preview Party

We're coming to you live from the Eurovision Preview Party in Scala London! And what a party! A great opener to the Eurovision month ahead! The stars from this year and previous year's were all ready to perform....

First up, we had one of this year's faves - the marvellous Maria from Norway with Hold On Be Strong!



She was closely followed by the Belarus entrant - Ruslan Alehno with Hasta La Vista




Next up was one of the songs that we think could go all the way in Belgrade! Romania's Nico and Vlad looked fabulous as they sang their beautiful opera-ballad.



Next up was one of the fan favourites from Iceland - Euroband - who not only treated us to their song but also a rendition of "Ooh Aah Just a Little Bit" and "A Ba-ni-Bi". This went down very well with the crowd.




And the night is young.....Time to get back to it! Looking forward to meeting Bucks Fizz and Dustin later!

The best news is that this party is going to be an annual event! Hurrah!

More updates later ...(or maybe tomorrow!!!)

Wir geb'n 'ne Party!

Eurovision Express is gearing itself up for a night of Eurovision fun and frolics tomorrow at the UK Eurovision preview party.

It's going to be like a mini-Contest with the likes of Eurovision Express favouritres Iceland, Norway and Romania showing off their entries. Bucks Fizz will be dropping in too, as apparently will be Dustin The Turkey.

We're hoping for some great Eurovision toons on the dance floor, including Bem Bom and Det'Lige'Det. It promises to be a great night!

Calling all fans ... to Malta

Eurovision fans are invited to take part in three special editions of tv show - Eurovision Fever - to be aired this May on Maltese ONE TV.

Preview clips of this year's ESC songs will be shown during the show and fans will be asked to voice their opinion about each entry. There are prizes to be won by the studio audience including cds and dvds from the 2008 entries!!

Local singers and personalities will be invited to participate in the special preview shows.

If you're planning to visit Malta in May and would like to take part in the shows, contact OGAE Malta at team@ogaemalta.com

Don't you miss seeing Air Malta in the Maltese preview each year?!! Ah, memories!

"Noswaith dda" from Cardiff?

Welsh TV station S4C may possibly be the United Kingdom's broadcaster for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in Limassol in 2008. S4C broadcasts in the Welsh language and is available to most of the UK via satelite TV.

The last time the UK took part in JESC was when national broadcaster ITV participated in 2005. After Sweden announced they were pulling out of JESC, the Welsh interest may be welcome news for the EBU.

Perhaps Jessica Garlick's (UK 2002) little sister will sing for her homeland?

Eurovision Celebrations Down Under

Australian broadcaster SBS is getting into the Eurovision mood by launching a print advertising campaign ahead of its weeklong celebration of the 2008 Contest beginning May 9 that will aim to let Australians know all about the Eurovision song contest.

The campaign features a series of adverts including funny facts about the contest, how to organise a great Eurovision party, games to play, and of course, cocktails to drink.

The Australian public have always been great fans of the contest and will be able to watch both semi finals and final on SBS (an EBU member). Who knows, maybe one day , Australia will enter the contest.... Sydney 2010 anyone?

"Dustin" available in Ireland....and Spain??

Today sees the Irish release of Dustin The Turkey's Irish ESC entry - Irelande Douze Points. A UK release is also on the cards for Monday 21st April. And in Spain, we've found this.

Which "Dustin" will you be buying?

A fan's gone to Iceland

Eurovision Express is loving the Icelandic video, a tongue-in-cheek tribute to all those people who upload lip-synching snippets onto youtube. Watch the video below.



Good luck Iceland - this track has really grown on us, and we're hoping for a good position in Belgrade.

Sebastien caves into Le Pressure!

With all the criticism in France about this year's French entry being sung in English, Sebastien Tellier has bowed to pressure and agreed to add more "mots francais" to his song Divine.

Language purists and even the government are upset that Sebastien's ESC entry will be sung primarily in English.

Sebastien said today on RTL radio that he could make an effort and add French words. But he says he doesn't really agree with critics who suggest that English lyrics slight France. For him, singing in English doesn't mean that "the baguette won't taste as good."

You tell 'em Sebastien! Have your baguette YOUR way!

Jelena wants stuffed turkey in May!

Jelena Tomasevic, the Serbian entrant for Belgrade 08, is not one bit happy that Ireland are entering a turkey puppet for this year's contest.

She is quoted as saying...'What I dislike most is the direction in which some countries are going.I'm thinking first and foremost about Ireland.I think it is totally bizarre and the banalisation of a once respected musical event. I simply can't compete against a turkey.Isn't it the whole point that the singer performing a song can be seen? Perhaps he is backstage and it is playback!'

I wonder why some countries are treating the ESC as a banal event these days...hmmm...any ideas Jelena?

Dustin was not available for comment!

Even If.....I can't sing!

UK Eurovision entrant Andy Abraham has apparently lost his voice. According to a Sunday newspaper, Andy has been confined to bed for the last two weeks with flu and a very bad throat infection.

Andy was quoted as saying, "It's really worrying. This is my big chance but I just can't hit the notes. I saw a specialist, who told me I must rest and not speak. If I wake up on the day of the contest to find I can't sing I'll be gutted."

Get Well soon Andy!

The Orchestra is back in Eurovision!

The Dutch orchestra Metropole Orkest will be one of the interval acts at this year's Eurovision Song Contest this year. Together with Slobodan Trkulja and his group Balkanopolis they will perform a six minute-overture.

They have already performed together at the Council of Europe meeting in Belgrade, and were subsequently invited by EBU and RTS to open the final. The Metropole Orchestra is the world's largest professional pop and jazz orchestra.

Could this be the beginning of the return of the orchestra at ESC? Probably not!

The Point Theatre gets behind Dustin!

Work is underway to transform the Point Theatre in Dublin which was the venue for the 94, 95 and 97 Eurovision Song Contests. As well as a new 14,000 seater auditorium, there will be a shopping centre, a hotel and apartments in the new "Point Village" in the docklands area of Dublin.

Whilst construction is going on, the developers have not forgotten the Eurovision connection with the Point Theatre, and have erected a huge billboard supporting the Irish entrant Dustin the Turkey.

Perhaps Dustin will bring the contest back to the Point in 2009! Better get a move on with the building then! Read all about the plans for the Point Village here

Eurovision Football!

England football captain Rio Ferdinand has revealed that the Manchester United dressing room is like the Eurovision Song Contest with all of the different nationalities fighting over music.

Apparently, the footballers battle to get their tunes on the dressing room stereo!

Can you imagine the arguments between the fans of Charlotte and Rodolfo Chikilicuatre? It must be child's play on the pitch compared to the battle in the dressing room!

40 Years of Massiel!

40 years ago (6th April 1968 to be precise) a demure little Spanish señorita beat one of the most famous songs ever (Congratulations by Cliff Richard) at the Eurovision Song Contest in London. Massiel (real name María de los Ángeles Santamaría Espinosa) with La La La romped to victory and she has been singing it ever since!

La La La may be her most famous Eurovision moment but our particular favourite was when she popped up at last year's Spanish selection to sing Busco Un Hombre (I'm looking for a man). The flinging of the feather boa along with a very good impression of a seal swimming made this performance a classic! If only she had represented Spain last year, we could be in beautiful Barcelona this year!

Maybe next year eh Massiel?

Prediction Time: Semi-Final 2

And so, we move onto the 2nd semi-final prediction. A much harder semi-final to predict but we guess, at this stage, that the following countries will qualify to the final...

Sweden

Turkey

Ukraine

Switzerland

Latvia

Croatia

Bulgaria

Georgia

Malta

FYR Macedonia

and the unlucky countries on Thursday 22nd May could be...

Iceland
Lithuania
Albania
Czech Republic
Belarus
Denmark
Hungary
Cyprus
Portugal


Of course, these predicitions for both of the semi-finals could when Eurovision Express attends the rehearsals in Belgrade and gets to see all live performances.

Prediction Time: Semi-Final 1

Over this weekend, Eurovision Express will be predicting which songs we think will qualify from both of the semi-finals in this year's contest (not necessarily the songs we want to qualify).

We start with Semi-Final 1 which will take place on Tuesday 20th May.


Estonia

Belgium

Azerbaijan

Norway

Ireland

Bosnia/Herzegovina

Armenia

Romania

Russia

Greece



and those that we think won't make it......

Montenegro
Israel
Moldova
San Marino
Slovenia
Poland
Andorra
Netherlands
Finland

UK Eurovision Preview Party

London is the place to be on Friday 25th April 2008 as Ani Lorak from Ukraine, Euroband and Paul Oscar from Iceland join BBC commentator Paddy O'Connell for a UK Preview Party!

As well as live performances from Euroband and Ani, there will be a Eurovision Disco! It all takes place at the Scala nightclub near King's Cross.

Full details here

Katrina takes to the Waves!!!

At a loss how to celebrate this year's Eurovision? Then join UK winner Katrina, an ABBA tribute band and someone who impersonated Lulu on TV, for a cruise to Bilbao!

The special three-night trip sets sail from Portsmouth on May 22, and will feature live coverage of the Eurovision final on May 24, plus entertainment from Katrina et al. And who knows, maybe you'll arrive in Spain in time to be greeted by Rodolfo Chikilicuatre after he carries off the Eurovision crown!

Interested? Book here

Let's hope the cruise doesn't run into any of those pesky Latvian pirates of the sea!