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:: NEWS before Athens ::For more updates, check the news section.
The eejit is dead. Long live the King!Terry Wogan's commentary is back. Following the successful campaign by EDU and many like-minded fans, Australia is fortunate enough to get Tezza's often bacchanalian-induced wisdom back on SBS in 2005 for the Grand Final. In 2003 SBS let an eejit talk over ESC and had to show Terry the next weekend following a public backlash. 2004 saw a total absence of Terry Wogan as the eejit returned proclaiming a fait accompli.
EDU predictions for Top Ten QualifiersBy combining suspicious voting patterns (aka neighbourhood watch) and bookies' odds, we have calculated likely scores for the Qualifying finalists.
- Switzerland (Correct)
- Iceland
- Norway (Correct)
- Hungary (Correct)
- Belarus
- Israel (Correct)
- Denmark (Correct)
- Finland
- Estonia
- Lithuania
With the dark-horse potentially being Macedonia (Correct). Total of six correct out of 11 guesses - so overall it appears to have been a pretty clean vote at the Qualifying level - not too much Neighbourhood Watching required.
Suspicious voting patterns can be obvious like Greece and Cyprus swapping 12 points every year, or more contestant-based in nature (we included a big vote to France from Israel this year due to Ortel for example, ditto to Andorra from the Netherlands).Oh, and the booby prize will go to either Portugal or Bulgaria.
Stay tuned - our predictions for the winner are coming soon.
EDU Predicts: GREECE is our Number One.Our predictive method gives Greece victory by one point over Switzerland! Norway and Iceland are close behind.
Wooden spoon between Albania and Ukraine. NOTE: Our predictive measure ignores the song's quality completely. So the clear wooden spoon is Spain and the clear winner will be Norway.
- Greece
- Switzerland
- Norway
- Denmark
- Hungary
- Malta
- Bosnia & Herzegovina
- Latvia
- Sweden
- Cyprus
- Croatia
- Israel
- France
- FYROM
- Moldova
- Romania
- Russia
- Serbia & Montenegro
- Turkey
- United Kingdom
- Germany
- Spain
- Albania
- Ukraine
The Lebanon!Télé Liban (Lebanon TV) announced Lebanon has withdrawn from the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest on March 19th. Télé Liban could not broadcast Israel's singer under national laws and so could not take part as per EBU regulations. The Semi-Finals will now consist of 25 entrants, the entire contest of 39 participants.
Running Order for Semi-Final:
01 Austria - Global Kryner
02 Lithuania - Laura and the Lovers
03 Portugal - 2B
04 Moldova - Zdob si Zdub
05 Latvia - Walters & Kazha
06 Monaco - Lise Darly
07 Israel - Shiri Maymon
08 Belarus - Angelica Agurbash
09 The Netherlands - Glennis Grace
10 Iceland - Selma Björnsdóttir
11 Belgium - Nuno Resende
12 Estonia - Suntribe
13 Norway - Wig Wam
14 Romania - Luminita Anghel & Sistem
15 Hungary - Nox
16 Finland - Geir Rönning
17 FYR Macedonia - Martin Vucic
18 Andorra - Marian van de Wal
19 Switzerland - Vanilla Ninja
20 Croatia - Boris Novkovic
21 Bulgaria - Kaffe
22 Ireland - Donna and Joseph McCaul
23 Slovenia - Omar Naber
24 Denmark - Jacob Sveistrup
25 Poland - Ivan & DelfinRunning order of the final to be held on 21st May:
01. Semifinal spot
02. United Kingdom
03. Malta
04. Semifinal spot
05. Semifinal spot
06. Turkey
07. Semifinal spot
08. Albania
09. Cyprus
10. Spain
11. Semifinal spot
12. Serbia & Montenegro
13. Semifinal spot
14. Sweden
15. Semifinal spot
16. Ukraine
17. Germany
18. Semifinal spot
19. Greece
20. Russia
21. Bosnia & Herzegovina
22. Semifinal spot
23. Semifinal spot
24. France
Double DippingSeveral nations will have more than one of their nationals competing at Eurovision. Estonia, Portugal, the Netherlands and Belarus all have expatriates competing for other nations. Cool Vibes (Switzerland) are Estonian, Nuno Resende (Belgium) is from Portugal, Marian van de Wal (Andorra) is Dutch and Natalie Podorskya (Russia) tried out for her native Belarus last year.
The flip-side of course is that there are no native Swiss, Belgian, Andorran or Russian competitors this year.
Awakening - Theme for 2005With just a hint of political overtone, the theme for Kyiv Eurovision hosting will be 'Awakening' - green is the black and orange is so hot right now. The stage will resemble the Garden of Eden - imagine a ‘leafy clearing by a river bank in the morning’ the official release says.
Greens will feature prominently as its Ukraine's flag colours (blue and yellow) merged. But orange will also feature - a reminder of the recent Orange Revolution and the new dawn for Ukraine and the Song Contest.
No NameTélé Liban (Lebanon TV) was given 24 hours to change their website or be disqualified from ESC 2005 after it was noticed that (like all other Lebanese publications) no mention was made of Israel on the site: www.lebanon.com/eurovision. Only 39 entrants were listed. Télé Liban decided to remove the other 39 entrants' names from its website to remain within Lebanon's laws and not breach the EBU codes.
ESC: AllstarsThe 50th ESC has become a magnet for previous entrants both unlucky and untalented who want another shot at stardom. Croatia's DORA features no less than four previous ESC entrants (inc Corr lookalike Vesna, 2002), Chiara (2nd in 1998) is back for Malta, Elena Paparizou from Antique (3rd in 2001) is back for Greece, as is Selma (2nd in 1999) for Iceland.
In truth satirising parody, Gina G is actually going to compete in the UK's 'Making Your Mind Up' for the chance to be ignored by 'New Europe.' Throw in Constantinos Christoforou for Cyprus and its a who's who of past failures. The ESC to end all ESCs in the offing.
Global Politics and Eurovision IIWith the Ukrainian Presidential elections safely re-run and Yuschenko inaugarated - its on with Eurovision 2005 in Kyiv.
Yuschenko, Ruslana, Svante Stockselius (EBU co-ordinator) all met with the Head of Parliament, Vladimir Litvin. Yuschenko announced government funding of € 4.3 million for staging the show. Quote; "Ukraine will surprise everyone and will show its originality. Eurovision 2005 will offer the possibility for many people to see and fell in love with our country."
Global Politics and EurovisionThe deepening crisis over the fradulent presidential election in Ukraine is threatening Eurovision 2005. The EBU is waiting to see if the situation settles down before making any public moves to look for alternative venues.
Rumours have been circling that Athens could be an alternate host (apparently they have a lot of halls in the dark all of a sudden). Should the conflict between Euro-loving West Ukraine (including Kiyv) and pro-Russian East Ukraine go hot, expect a change of venue announcement in quick time.
Showing their understanding of elections is matched by their understanding of Latin prefixes, Ukraine will be having 15 SEMI-finals to decide upon the defender of the title.
The Gina G SpotDespite no intention of fielding a competitor, Australia's continued fascination with Eurovision keeps the rumours we will send a contestant flying. The EBU's Svante Stockselius has reiterated to Eurovision-Spain that Australia is not eligible to field a contestant. We belong to a special category all by ourselves - associated member. Clearly you can have someone from Vladivostok or a Touareg caravan driver perform in a European contest, but having some Irish gal from Brisbane enter would just be ridiculous (yes, tongue is firmly in cheek).
Bouncing CzechsThe Czechs have announced they will not perform at Eurovision's 50th anniversary concert. A low entry fee was not enough to keep them interested, although it does solve a problem for the EBU. They had 41 nations interested and only 40 places. Now the hard decision has been avoided. There are now 26 countries competing in the qualifier - the top ten finishers on May 19th will go through to the Final on May 21st.
The Sun Never Sets on EurovisionThe EBU has confirmed that all active participants are eligible to perform at Eurovision 2006, which includes Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia! Following Lebanon's inclusion in the 2005 show we may see the gauntlet thrown down to the other Arab EBU members - especially Morocco (a former participant) and Algeria (with its French-chart topping rai sound). The ceiling of 40 places in the contest may be the only barrier here, but ESC is nothing if not evolving.
Rock n Roll KidsThree countries will perform for the first time in Eurovision including the first Arab participant: Lebanon. Eastern Europe's love affair with Eurovision continues with Bulgaria joining up for its first shot at glory along with teensy little Moldova, a former Romanian enclave that was part of Ukraine and the Soviet Union for most of the 20th Century and is now a small land-locked nation in its own right.
Hungary will make a much welcomed return to the fold also. There are 40 places available under the current system.
Making Your Mind UpThe calendar for the national finals:
November 2004 09th Switzerland Internal selection December 2004 18th Albania National final 18th Andorra Eurocasting - National final - Singer to be selected January 2005 22nd Andorra Eurocasting - National final - Song to be selected February 2005 01st Belarus BTC to announce winner internal contest 05th Estonia Eurolaul 2005 - Final 12th Denmark Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2005 - Final 13th Slovenia EMA 2005 - Final 13th The Netherlands Nationaal Songfestival 2005 - Final 14th Moldova National final 14th Turkey Eurovision Sarki Yarismasi Seçmeleri 18th Malta Song for Europe Festival 2005 19th Iceland Songvakeppnin 2005 - Final 19th FYR Macedonia Final 19th Finland Eurovision laulukilpailu, Suomen karsinta 2005 - Final 19th Malta Song for Europe Festival 2005 - Final 25th Austria song.null.fünf - national final 26th Latvia Eirodziesma 2005 - Final 27th Ukraine Final March 2005 05th Norway Melodi Grand Prix 2005 - Final 12th Germany Germany 12 Points! - Final 12th Sweden Melodifestivalen 2005 - Final