(picture the scene \u2013 I\u2019m was writing this in Heathrow terminal 5, waiting to get my connection back to Manchester\u2026 and then Euro-flu took hold when I got home so I\u2019m posting the final update for the year uncharacteristically late. Sadly, no pics \u2013 \u00a0camera lead is still missing!)<\/p>\n
Another year, another Eurovision Song Contest. Another great winner!<\/p>\n
Whilst Azerbaijan had never led the betting at any stage, their odds had shortened during the week. A decent song with great staging and a place in the running order that would have given them a bounce all played out to their advantage in the end.<\/p>\n
I would never have imagined that they would win \u2013 but I\u2019m really pleased that they did. I was getting a bit grumpy with Greece and Ukraine challenging for the lead. I like the Ukraine song, but I didn\u2019t want it to win because of the sand art. Again, it was visually very effective, but felt a like a distraction form the song than an enhancement.<\/p>\n
Didn\u2019t Ell and Nikki look genuinely shocked by their victory \u2013 which made it even nicer to watch.<\/p>\n
And how fabulous<\/strong> was the stage for the scoring \u2013 OMG!\u00a0 That was something that was kept secret from everyone \u2013 no one in the press centre knew that the green room was going to be revealed from the start (we knew the green room was behind the stage). It was also a pleasant surprise to see a GIANT scoreboard on the LED backdrop. Last year in Oslo I could barely see the screen, so it was refreshing to not have to strain to follow the action.<\/p>\n The top 10 reflects a more diverse list than any of us ESC scholars could have predicted \u2013 but the field was wide open. I think my \u2018Napkin of Death\u2019 gave me 5\/10 \u2013 the early promise of my predications seem to fall away (kiss of death, I tell you!). The final scores were bunched together \u2013 and how nice with four juries still to vote to see both Sweden and Azerbaijan still challenging each other for the win.\u00a0 Jedward did a great job, and great to hear their commentator tell them that Ireland were proud of them. As a consequence of them not winning it meant that Karen did not have to stay for the winner\u2019s press conference \u2013 although she will be filing her article for The Irish Times today. Reports suggest that they have been mobbed at the airport back home \u2013 great to hear. Even though their Eurovision Song Contest has been a genuine success for them, they really are Marmite, aren\u2019t they\u2026 you either love them or hate them!<\/p>\n Blue did OK. The early signs looked good as we topped the leader board \u2013 but eventually we fell away to finish a slightly disappointing 11th<\/sup> place. Not quite the result they were hoping for to re-launch their collective careers.<\/p>\n As my friends and students know, I am a HUGE fan of the Swedish Melodifestivalen \u2013 which selects their entry for the ESC. I have been an advocate of Eric Saade\u2019s \u201cPopular\u201d since the early rounds of the contest back in February. The thing is that I\u2019ve been listening to it since then and by the time I arrived in Dusseldorf and saw Eric perform I was expecting more. I was slightly underwhelmed by his vocal performance throughout the ESC.\u00a0 If you listen to the recorded version of the song he does a cracking end note in the higher register of his voice \u2013 he didn\u2019t go anywhere near it during the ESC, which was a disappointment for me. Whilst I might have been a bit grumpy about that the rest of Europe (perhaps not hearing it for the 200th<\/sup> time!) seemed to love it. Last year – when Sweden failed to make it to the ESC final – it was a huge national embarrassment to them, and so with this best placing at the ESC since 1999 it looks like schlager is back, b-a-c-k, BACK!<\/p>\n Last year when I got back I was a bit grumpy about everything \u2013 but this year I leave Dusseldorf with some good memories of the city and of the Contest. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Karen for all that she has done for me this week, and over all the years to add the extra ingredients to my experience. The \u2018New Europe\u2019 panel on \u201cFeeling European\u201d – which incorporated my paper \u2013 paid for my travel and accommodation, and I am grateful for that. I am also thankful to Karen for using her influence with the EBU to get me my accreditation this year. It has been much harder for people to get into the press centre this year \u2013 and I had initially been declined by the BBC.\u00a0 I am happy to have represented the ERN at the Eurovision this week, and Karen did a great job during a very busy week to pull the two events together.<\/p>\n I know at the end of the blog last year I stated that things would be different if I went to ESC2011. Well, they were different for sure!\u00a0 Travelling 90 mins each way to and from Cologne was a bit draining \u2013 but all in all the experience of being at the centre of the ESC means that for a little short term pain there was a long term gain\u2026 I mean \u2013 did you see the programme last night \u2013 I was there, and it was awesome.<\/p>\n So, the Contest is off to Baku next year \u2013 and I\u2019m sure Azerbaijan will do a great job. Will I be there?\u00a0 Let\u2019s not think about that just yet.\u00a0 Instead, let\u2019s congratulate Azerbaijan one last time \u2013 and let me thank you for reading along over the last 10 days.<\/p>\n That\u2019ll be Dusseldorf then\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (picture the scene \u2013 I\u2019m was writing this in Heathrow terminal 5, waiting to get my connection back to Manchester\u2026 and then Euro-flu took hold when I got home so I\u2019m posting the final update for the year uncharacteristically late. Sadly, no pics \u2013 \u00a0camera lead is still missing!) Another year, another Eurovision Song Contest. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":367,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n