Eurovision

On Saturday I watched the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time in yonks. I didn't watch the singing bit, just the voting bit. The Scandinavian countries tend to vote for each other. So do the Eastern bloc countries, some of which didn't exist the last time I watched. Greece and Cyprus always give each other top marks. As for the UK, well nobody votes for them. This time the UK finished last with just ten points. Germany, the winners, got several hundred.

As a kid I used to love it. The UK entry was chosen by the public who had to ring some 0898 number. Every year I'd ring in but the song I voted for never won. But the contest itself was great, especially the voting. Back then you couldn't see each country's spokesman - or woman - on screen; you just got someone speaking dodgy English or French on an equally dodgy telephone line with an echo and a delay. I remember one year the scores ended in a tie and nobody had a clue what to do. The presenters hung around for ages waiting for an official ruling from some old bloke whose name sounded like Mr Neff. Now it's all so much slicker and, frankly, more boring.

We had Terry Wogan commentating then. On Saturday Graham Norton did it. He was really good at it too, but I guess witty one-liners every five seconds aren't my thing.

Since I got back from the continent, I've had an interesting time with my gran. More about that in my next post.