Eurovision hits London

Eurovision Express enjoyed a fun night at the UK Eurovision Preview Party 2010, which took place in London on Sunday.  The Shadow Lounge was packed to the rafters with Eurofans, who were treated to a Eurovision disco and performances from four of this year's Eurovision entrants.

First up was Jon Lilygreen and The Islanders, representing Cyprus (pictured above). They kicked off their accoustic set with their Eurovision entry, Life Looks Better In Spring, and rounded off with the Glee classic, Don't Stop Believin'.

Next came Ovi and Paula from Romania.  They overcame technical difficulties with the microphones to give a rousing version of It's Raining Men, and, of course, Playing With Fire, which is one of this blog's personal favourites this year. 

The penultimate act was the UK's very own Josh, who sang Jason Donovan's Too Many Broken Hearts as well as the final version of That Sounds Good To Me.  Good luck to him!

Last but not least was the Eurovision legend that is Niamh Kananagh.  Joking with the crowd and demonstrating that she totally 'gets' what Eurovision is all about, Niamh had everyone in the palm of her hand. She gave an effortless performance of It's For You, this year's Irish entry, before moving on to her 1993 winner, In Your Eyes. 

She explained to the crowd that she didn't actually have a backing track to the song that took her to victory, and had to call up a friend to send her the the instrumental version, which was on the B side of the original single.  With tongue firmly in her cheek, Niamh asked everyone if they could remember the lovely front cover of the single which depicted her with a blue face!

Niamh also asked one British fan if she had had him in tears in 1993 depring the UK's Sonia of a win.  He said yes, and she said she was pleased! You go girl!

Organised by ESCToday's Barry Viniker, hosted by Paddy O'Connell and supported by John Kennedy O'Connor, author of The Official History of the Eurovision Song Contest, this was a night that was enjoyed by all.  It certainly whetted our appetite for Oslo!