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May. 30th, 2010 02:33 pmMet Ann at the Alverstoke village chippy around 7pm to get the evening's nosh in ahead of the Eurovision. We walked over to mine, comparing notes about work, then discussed holidays past, present and planned over the excellent fish supper, opened the first of two bottle of Italian red I'd bought in the afternoon and settled down for the Contest.
I'd mentioned in the chippy how Azerbaijan was being tipped as the big favourite. When the Azeri girl opened the proceedings Ann said she didn't think it stood a chance of winning, a view reinforced by the singer going a bit off key towards the end of the song. We wondered what was going on with the bloke in the fez invading the stage during the Spanish entry; it was no surprise when the presenter announced he'd been an unsanctioned intruder and that Spain would get to sing again. We agreed the Moldovan entry was proper Eurovision pop, and gave them brownie points for the outrageous wigs.
Ann wasn't sure if she approved of a Welsh group performing for Cyprus, despite my pointing out it gave us Brits an extra entry to support, but she ended up liking the song. We both liked Tom and his guitar from Belgium, and loved Niamh - "Yes, a proper Irish Eurovision ballad!" Ann enthused.
As the Greeks came on, Ann said she was surprised they were entering - "they don't dare win, they can't afford to stage it!" We both felt Josh Dubovie's performance and presentation were decidedly weak and we echoed Sue's view that the song was a relic of Stock and Waterman's heyday. When Graham Norton said "Hope, wish him luck, pray," Ann observed "That isn't going to help him, Graham!"
Sexy Juliana from Albania got a big thumbs up from us both. Ann loved the Ukrainian song, which I thought was a dirge, but she added that she liked it as a pop song but didn't think it was a Eurovision number. At the conclusion of the French song, Graham Norton's "Admit it, you enjoyed that" drew from Ann "Yes, I did. It was a French Whigfield moment!"
I mentioned to Ann that I really liked the Russian entry (wonder why he didn't burn the photo of his girlfriend this time, like he did in the semi, but just threw it behind him to the side of the drums?) She found it a bit Roger Whittaker. We both liked Lena from Germany with her energetic funky performance. Ann being a fan of traditional Eurovision style pop, Denmark got her approval, being "Abba-esque".
My 12 went to Ireland and my 10 to Portugal; Ann gave Albania 12 and Belgium 10. Ann noted that, unusually for us, we thought alike to quite a degree this year, seven songs reaching both our top 10s (and she said the three I'd voted for that missed her top ten hadn't been far behind).
As I refilled our glasses with the voting about to start, Ann said "This is when we really need the wine." In the event, as it soon became clear that Lena was going to win we were quite happy with that. Every point to Albania got a cheer and applause from Ann, though there weren't enough of those for her liking. There wasn't enough neighbourly voting to aggravate her, but one thing that did was jury spokespeople wittering away about "what a great show it's been" - "Just get on with the votes!" Ann said. She loved how hostess Nadia simply stood there and didn't respond to their chatter. Those spokespeople who remembered to say "Hello Oslo, this is [their city] calling" got a round of applause from us, while Ann told off the ones who messed it up by saying "This is [their name] calling from [their country]" - "IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU!" She hadn't been at all impressed with the Turkish song, so voiced her disapproval whenever Turkey got a big mark, and she met every Greek high score with an amused "Don't vote for the Greeks! They can't afford to stage it!"
When an Israeli six points for Niamh sent Josh into the bottom two, and then, close to the end, Georgia's 12 for Belarus left him rock bottom, Ann was philosophical - "We got what we deserved for sending rubbish." Couldn't agree more. As Graham Norton bemoaned the UK's fate - "Stock and Waterman have written and produced 21 number one hits..." - Ann pointed out "That was 200 years ago."
I'd mentioned in the chippy how Azerbaijan was being tipped as the big favourite. When the Azeri girl opened the proceedings Ann said she didn't think it stood a chance of winning, a view reinforced by the singer going a bit off key towards the end of the song. We wondered what was going on with the bloke in the fez invading the stage during the Spanish entry; it was no surprise when the presenter announced he'd been an unsanctioned intruder and that Spain would get to sing again. We agreed the Moldovan entry was proper Eurovision pop, and gave them brownie points for the outrageous wigs.
Ann wasn't sure if she approved of a Welsh group performing for Cyprus, despite my pointing out it gave us Brits an extra entry to support, but she ended up liking the song. We both liked Tom and his guitar from Belgium, and loved Niamh - "Yes, a proper Irish Eurovision ballad!" Ann enthused.
As the Greeks came on, Ann said she was surprised they were entering - "they don't dare win, they can't afford to stage it!" We both felt Josh Dubovie's performance and presentation were decidedly weak and we echoed Sue's view that the song was a relic of Stock and Waterman's heyday. When Graham Norton said "Hope, wish him luck, pray," Ann observed "That isn't going to help him, Graham!"
Sexy Juliana from Albania got a big thumbs up from us both. Ann loved the Ukrainian song, which I thought was a dirge, but she added that she liked it as a pop song but didn't think it was a Eurovision number. At the conclusion of the French song, Graham Norton's "Admit it, you enjoyed that" drew from Ann "Yes, I did. It was a French Whigfield moment!"
I mentioned to Ann that I really liked the Russian entry (wonder why he didn't burn the photo of his girlfriend this time, like he did in the semi, but just threw it behind him to the side of the drums?) She found it a bit Roger Whittaker. We both liked Lena from Germany with her energetic funky performance. Ann being a fan of traditional Eurovision style pop, Denmark got her approval, being "Abba-esque".
My 12 went to Ireland and my 10 to Portugal; Ann gave Albania 12 and Belgium 10. Ann noted that, unusually for us, we thought alike to quite a degree this year, seven songs reaching both our top 10s (and she said the three I'd voted for that missed her top ten hadn't been far behind).
As I refilled our glasses with the voting about to start, Ann said "This is when we really need the wine." In the event, as it soon became clear that Lena was going to win we were quite happy with that. Every point to Albania got a cheer and applause from Ann, though there weren't enough of those for her liking. There wasn't enough neighbourly voting to aggravate her, but one thing that did was jury spokespeople wittering away about "what a great show it's been" - "Just get on with the votes!" Ann said. She loved how hostess Nadia simply stood there and didn't respond to their chatter. Those spokespeople who remembered to say "Hello Oslo, this is [their city] calling" got a round of applause from us, while Ann told off the ones who messed it up by saying "This is [their name] calling from [their country]" - "IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU!" She hadn't been at all impressed with the Turkish song, so voiced her disapproval whenever Turkey got a big mark, and she met every Greek high score with an amused "Don't vote for the Greeks! They can't afford to stage it!"
When an Israeli six points for Niamh sent Josh into the bottom two, and then, close to the end, Georgia's 12 for Belarus left him rock bottom, Ann was philosophical - "We got what we deserved for sending rubbish." Couldn't agree more. As Graham Norton bemoaned the UK's fate - "Stock and Waterman have written and produced 21 number one hits..." - Ann pointed out "That was 200 years ago."
