Maid in Malta

Malta's mammoth selection process to choose its 2009 entry continues. The 3rd semi-final included Jo Zette, a dragqueen, with a nose worthy of the child catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Her song, I'm Me, is kitsch and sung as if Jo Zette were appearing on "Stars In Their Eyes" as Divine. Jo Zette starts the song dressed as a maid, but before long, she nips into Bucks Fizz mode, to whip that costume off, revealing a red dress beneath. Classy! Check it out below.



The best performance in the 3rd heat came from Gloriana Arpa Bell with Love was made of clay (below). Although it's not the kind of song Eurovision Express would normally go wild for, it's certainly going to make it to the final.

Georgia stings the competition!

Well they did it! Georgia's incredibly strange song won the Junior Eurovision! Well done to the wasps!

Georgia was one of the songs that we thought was in with a chance, although the song we picked to win from the Ukraine came 2nd - a position that country is getting very used to!

So congratulations to Georgia with Bzekebi and their song, Bzz! Enjoy the winner again below.

And the winner is....?

So the time has come for Eurovision Express to predict who will actually win tonight's Junior Eurovision.

Our money is behind the Ukrainian entry - Matrosy sung by Victoria Petryk. It's a catchy song, confidently performed, with great sailor-themed dance moves. If you want to judge for yourself, take a look at the video below, which we especially love for the shots of the choreographer!



If you want to follow the action tonight log onto www.junioreurovision.tv at 20.15 CET (7.15pm UK time).

Junior Jukebox Jury 2

Time for another look at those who we think may be in with a chance of winning this Saturday's Junior Contest.

Georgia has a very odd entry, which is pretty much a 'love it' or 'hate it' affair. It's called Bzz, perfomed by Bzikebi, and is an ode to wasps, or at least we think it is. It's totally unmelodic but has something about it that may make it stand out....Judge for yourselves:



Another song in contention is the Romanian entry, Salvaţi Planeta, sung by Mădălina and Andrada. It starts off slowly but then becomes a real Eurostomper. It's first on in the running order and will get the show off to a good start. Take a listen below:



Our next blog entry will reveal who will think will be this year's winner, so keep your eyes peeled.

Junior Tips Part 1

With only 3 days to go before this year's Junior Eurovision, we thought it high time that we took a look at which songs might be vying for the top spot.

Probably the most sophisticated song in the Contest (and actually probably the best song) comes from Belgium. Sung by Oliver, Shut Up (below) will certainly appeal to teenagers but may not have the 'cutesy' factor that seems necessary to win. And, although Belgium can probably count on 12 points from the Netherlands, they may struggle to gain high marks from the other (mainly Eastern European) countries taking part in Contest.



Having notched up their second Junior Eurovision last year, Belarus can never be ruled out as winners, and this year they have another strong entry - Sertse Belarus, sung by Dasha, Alina and Karina (video below). We think this will come close, but it probably won't be two in a row for Belarus.



More ones to watch over the next two days, and a prediction for the winner on the day itself!

Junior Stands For You and Me....JESC!

Regular readers of Eurovision Express will know that professional duty drew us to Copenhagen back in 2003 to witness the very first Junior Eurovision. We had high hopes that Tom Morley would carry off the crown with his fantastic entry, My Song For The World. It wasn't to be, but it's still one of the best Junior Eurovision songs ever.

The Junior Contest has changed a lot, with most Western countries giving it a wide berth. From primetime on ITV1, Eurovision Express is now forced to watch the show on the internet.

Last year we were delighted to see Belarus come out on top, especially as we won a few pennies at the bookies!

But who's going to win this year's Contest, which takes place this Saturday in Cyprus? It's difficult to say, as no one song stands out.

Later in the week we'll be announcing who we think will be in the final shake-up, but, for now, why not judge for yourself by clicking on the video below to hear small snippets from all 15 entries.

More from Malta

Last night saw the 2nd batch of Maltese songs presented, with no fewer than 3 entries being written by Eurovision veteran, Philip Vella.

Unfortunately the ears of Eurovision Express weren't especially turned on by Mr Vella's compositions. Our two favourites came from former Maltese entrant, Georgina, who sang for her country in 1991. Her 2008 song, To Be Myself, is an old-fashioned ballad, but we quite like those here at Eurovision Express headquarters.

However the best song of the night, and of all 14 so far revealed, is another ballad - Promises by Vittorio and Dorothy (below), which we're certain will make its way into the Maltese Final with no problem.

Birthday Quiz....The Result!

The answer to our Birthday Quiz was.....the Eurovision legend herself - Ms. Linda Martin.

Thank you to all those who entered, we had a huge response, and the lucky name out of the hat was..............

LIZ RUSSELL from IRELAND

Congratulations Liz, you have won:

- Corinna May (DE02)Press Pack and CD from 2002!
- Kenan Dogulu (TU07) DVD pack from 2007 incl "Shake it up" video!
- Max Mutzke (DE04) CD and Press Pack from 2003!
- Birgitta (IC03) CD and Press Pack from 2003!
- and various other Eurovision cd's!

Our plucky runners-up were the Schlagerboys who will receive a special prize from our collection of Eurovision CDs, most probably 'The Best Eurovision Ballads Ever', which Eurovision Express is sure they will treasure!

Time to pop the champagne now for our glitzy glam Birthday Party! No hangers-on please, invite only! Cheers!

Birthday Quiz - Final Clue

If you haven't guessed who our Eurovision participant is by now, here is one more clue to help you....

I have entered the ESC twice, and won it once! I also called in my country's televotes in 2007

So that was our final clue. You have until Friday 15th November at 23:00CET to enter the competition. Only emailed answers will be entered into the draw, please do not post your answer as a comment. We will publish the winner of our Eurovision treasure trove on Sunday!

email your answer here

Birthday Quiz - Clue no.2

Time for our second clue in our Birthday Quiz! Can you guess who the Eurovision star is? If so, email us and you might be in with a chance to win some Eurovision CD's and Press Packs!

Clue no.2:

Before Eurovision, I sang as part of a group in the 70's and early 80's but my Eurovision success was as a solo artist.

Any ideas yet? If not, don't worry, the last clue will be tomorrow. You then have until Friday 15th November at 23:00CET to email your answer. The winner will be announced on Sunday.

email your answer here

Birthday Quiz - First Clue

Want to win some Eurovision goodies? Then enter our 1st Birthday Quiz. We will give you three clues to the identity of a Eurovision star and if you think you know who it is, then email us the answer.

We will enter the correct answers into a draw on Saturday and the winner will be published on Sunday. So the first clue is:

I was born in 1947 and my natural hair colour is blonde, but it wasn't blonde at Eurovision.

email your answer here

Not sure yet? Clue no.2 tomorrow!

Happy Birthday to us! Happy Prizes to YOU!

Eurovision Express celebrates its first birthday this week and as well as sporting a new look blog, we're giving away a prize to one of our lucky readers!

Each day between Tuesday and Friday this week, we will give you a clue as to the identity of a Eurovision participant and you have to guess who it is. All correct answers will be entered into a draw on Saturday and we will reveal the winner here on the blog on Sunday!

What's the prize I hear you cry....well it's a Eurotastic goody bag of cd's and press packs we've accumulated over the last few years. Contents include:

- Corinna May (DE02)Press Pack and CD from 2002!
- Kenan Dogulu (TU07) DVD pack from 2007 incl "Shake it up" video!
- Max Mutzke (DE04) CD and Press Pack from 2003!
- Birgitta (IC03) CD and Press Pack from 2003
- and various other Eurovision cd's!

So, keep watching the blog for our Birthday Quiz, we would like to thank you all for supporting Eurovision Express over the last year and hope you visit us many times in the upcoming Eurovision season!

First clue tomorrow!!!

Mr. Siegel tries his luck in Malta!

Malta have kicked off their Eurovision selection with the first of their 8 semi-finals. The TV show Euro Showbox played host to the first batch of 7 songs.

Ludwig Galea (who along with Julie represented Malta in Istanbul in 2004) started the semi with a very disappointing song with a wailing woman in the backround! It didn't get any better until song 3 when the golden duo of Eurovision songwriting - Ralph Siegel and Bernd Meininger (under the pseudonym of John O'Flynn) had their song - Tonight at the Opera - sung by Classic Rebels. This was a good old fashioned Eurosong and was one of the better efforts in a rather lacklustre semi final. The only other decent song that we heard was from Rosman Pace who sang One Million Ways. Despite the cringeworthy lyrics, this was one of the better songs of the night.

Eurovision Express is a big fan of Malta at Eurovision, but our verdict on this first semi-final: Could do better!

It looks like the Maltese are keeping the best for the next semi finals - including the big hitters of Claudio Faniello and Chiara! You can see the full list of all of the 2009 Maltese semi-finalists here.

In the meantime, here is the Siegel/Meininger offering...

Spain wins ConSong 2008

It was a unforgettable evening in Warrington, UK, as Eurovision fans descended on the Cheshire town this weekend to select the best national final song of 2008 that never made it to Belgrade.

This was the 20th running of the "ConSong", previously known as Eurovision Network Convention Song Contest, where the best non-winning national final song from 24 countries was selected and voted on to give us the alternative Eurovision winner for 2008. As well as the main event, we were also treated to a rerun of Song For Europe 1983, a retrospective of Ireland at Eurovision, and a look back at the other 19 ConSong winners.

Hopes were high for Sanna Nielsen with Empty Room and also for Man Meadow with Viva La Musica to take the crown, but in the end it was La Casa Azul from Spain that won the contest.

But that wasn't all. The best EVER ConSong was then voted upon. It was a tough choice as so many marvellous songs were there over the last 20 years, but the old reliable drag queens from Norway - Queentastic - narrowly beat the others to take the crown with Absolutely Fabulous from the Norwegian MGP in 2006.

Eurovision Express was delighted to be part of the ConSong and a huge thank you to the organisors/hosts and presenters who can now get their lives back as they must have spent all their spare time on preparing this marvellous evening! So, it's Belfast 09 for ConSong 21, and we'll be there!

Let's hear the fabulous La revolucion sexual one more time.

Manchester Calling!

EUROVISION fans in Manchester are getting ready to dance the night away to all their Eurovision favourites at Boom Bang a Bang the Disco.

The event, on FRIDAY 28th NOVEMBER, is organised by Eurovision fan Paul Marks-Jones who has said the demand and response has been overwhelming and follows the "mega-success" of May’s pre-Eurovision party held in the city.

Paul who runs events organising company Eventuality said: "At previous events people have just wanted to dance dance dance and the feedback I received indicated that Manchester is ready for its first Eurovision disco."

"In many respects it underlines just how many Eurovision fans there are outside of London which already enjoys several events per month. On the night we are just going to have lots of fun and wave lots of flags, drink a few cocktails and dance to Eurovision tunes a plenty. But the beauty is you don’t need to be a Eurovision fan to come – the music is so far reaching and familiar you’d be surprised at how many of the entries you know!

Paul is holding the Manchester event at Bacchanalia, Chapel Walks (off Cross Street). Attendees can enjoy special offers on food and 2 for 1 cocktails all night.

Tickets are now available at £5 or £7.50 on the door and are available from eurovision@eventuality.com or by telephoning Eventuality on 0870 300 9510. But hurry – they are selling FAST!