Eurovision - over for another year! Congrats to Ukraine!



It was very early Sunday morning when I flopped into bed, and learnt that Eurovision 2004 final was about to begin.

But after listening for a while, and watching the excellent video stream on the websiite, fell asleep, only to wake up in the morning to discover Israel had not made the final cut, and the eventual winner was Ukraine. You can locate the list of entries and listen to their songs here .

So congratulations to Ruslana and the Wild Dancers, and next year's contest should be very interesting to see how it incorporates the changes made to 2004's competition.

And if you interested in the history of Eurovision, its famous television commentator, Des Mangan, has written its definitive history in a book entitled, "This is Sweden Calling".. Here is what Australian Bookseller says about the book at its homepage:

"Everything you wanted to know about Eurovision but were laughing too hard to ask! Viewed by 600 million people in 35 countries, Eurovision is the world's biggest and most watched song festival. Just a decade after WWII, it brought the people of Europe together to celebrate their belief in love, hope and appalling pop songs. Much more than a song contest, it's become a cult event. Stars are born during the spectacular show and the event has produced some legendary names and icons of kitsch: Abba, Bucks Fizz, Gina G., Sandie Shaw, Celine Dion, Secret Garden and Lulu. This is Sweden Calling is your indispensable guide to almost five decades of Eurovision - the winners, shockers, hosts, politics, trivia - everything you've ever wanted to know about Eurovision."

Posted: Tue - May 18, 2004 at 12:29 AM         |

©