Will it be 3rd time lucky for Chiara?

Eurovision Express favourite Chiara is in the list of the final 56 songs that have been selected by the Maltese broadcaster. From November the songs will be whittled down to 20 for a national final on 7 February.

Chiara, of course, came 3rd in the 1998 Contest with The One That I Love, and then went one better in 2005 with Angel. So fingers crossed that it could be third time lucky with her 2009 entry which is entitled What If We. The song is written by 2 Belgians - Gregory Bilsen and Marc Paelinck, the latter of whom wrote Belgium's Eurovision entries in 2002 and 2004 - Sister and 1 Life.

Other familiar names amongst the composers are Eurovision legends Ralph Siegel and John O'Flynn (aka Bernd Meinunger), who have no fewer than 3 songs in the running. We quite like the sound of Tonight at the Opera.

But ultimately for Eurovision Express it's all about Chiara. Valetta 2010? Yes please....

Webber's first Eurovision entry from the 1960s

Here at Eurovision Express, we knew that Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber had submitted an entry to the UK Song For Europe before, and we always thought it ended up in Jesus Christ Superstar. However, mistakenly, we thought it was I Don't Know How To Love Him.

In fact it turns out that it was a song called Try It and See. We're still unsure if this was entered in 1967 or 1969 (reports differ), but after it failed to make it to the UK national final, it became - with different lyrics - King Herod's Song from the afore-mentioned hit musical.

Here's a version of Try It and See by Rita Pavone:



Eurovision Express distinctly hopes Lord Webber will be entering something a little less oom-paa-paa, and has its fingers crossed for a big ballad!

Will the UK win with Webber?

So it looks like the rumours are true....musical theatre superstar, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber is to write the UK entry for 2009! According to various sources, the Lord will appear on TV tonight to encourage people to put themselves forward as singers to represent the UK in Moscow in 2009.

It looks like the BBC is really getting its act together, as we're also promised a 'major event show' fronted by Graham Norton called Your Country Needs You to select the act who the Lord will be writing for.

So, it looks promising for the UK. Maybe after years in the bottom half of the scoreboard they stand a real chance of a decent position.

Sounds Familiar...

The names of 28 of the 32 songs competing in Sweden's Melodifestivalen (MF) have been revealed, and the headline news is that composer Thomas G:Son - the king of Schlager is back. After having had no songs in the 2008 MF Thomas was forced to sell his wares elsewhere, with national final entries popping up in Spain and Belgium.

Other familiar names in the list of composers and lyricists announced today by SVT include Fredrik Kempe, Bobby Ljunggren and, a Eurovision Express favourite, Ingela 'Pling' Forsman.

The names of the artists have not yet been made public, but rumours suggest that Alcazar will be back, and ex Junior Eurovision hopeful, Molly Sanden will debut. Others tipped for a return include Mans Zelmerlow and Sarah Dawn Finer.

4 wilcard entries will be made known in due course.

Looks like MF09 will be another classic year!

Judge and Jury for Slovenia!

Oh cripes - Slovenia is bringing back the so-called expert jury to the EMA, the competition used to choose its Eurovision entry. In the past the jury has been responsible for ensuring that some fabulous songs haven't made it to Eurovision.

The most outrageous situation was in 2006 when poor Sasa Lendero and the fantastic Mandoline was clearly the Slovenian public's winner, but, 'thanks' to the jury, Anzej Dezan and Mr Nobody was sent to Greece. For Eurovision Express, there has only been one more disappointing national final choice - when Scooch somehow beat Cyndi in the 2007 UK final.

Let's just hope the jury don't scupper things in 2009, as we'd quite fancy a Eurovision Song Contest in Slovenia....!

Here's the song Slovenia should have sent in 2006. Sasa was robbed!

The Buzz of the Bash!

Eurovision Express has just arrived back after another fabulous OGAE(UK) "Eurobash" event in Birmingham. And what a day and night it was.

The sold-out event included a competition to choose the best ever song that sang in 2nd position, a Eurovision Quiz and meeting the legendary Bill Martin who wrote Congratulations and Puppet on a String...what a great character he is! Equally exciting was meeting the lovely (and pregnant) Gemma from Jemini, who has clearly recovered from the 2003 disaster and was happy to joke about her experience. Both guests were keen to mingle with fans.

But the best was yet to come....probably the best EVER Eurovision karaoke competition -"Stars in their Eurovision Eyes"- co-hosted by the Euro-tastic Nicki French. 10 acts not only sang their hearts out, but looked incredible as they emulated their Eurovision heroes. Acts included: Julie and Ludwig, Doris Dragovic, Ani Lorak, Wolves of the Sea and Mary Hopkin, but the crown was taken by an uncannily accurate Duo Datz singing the Isareli entry from 1991 - Kan. To refresh your memory here are the originals:



After this, it was onto a superb Eurovision Disco that didn't finish until nearly 3am! One attendee clocked up the equivalent of 7 miles on the dancefloor according to his pedometer! Quite a Eurovision workout! Phew!

A great day and night was had by all! There was certainly a Buzz in Birmingham yesterday. Keep your eyes peeled for details of the 2009 Eurobash on the OGAE(UK) website.