Eurovision Song Contest - Belgrade 2008

Potential ? It's blatant. The song is an irrelevance now.

You can't take the choice away from the public otherwise it would fail completely. The song choice is, almost always, the best of a bad bunch and you can't tell people to enter the contest as most credible groups or artists would not even contemplate entering the Eurovision, and who could blame them.

Nothing to do with the song, its all political. I mean, ok, you could say perhaps we should chuck more props and scenarios into our acts but would it make any difference? I doubt it. We've tried that with Daz and the schoolkids and Scooch and the airline setup last year.

No, it indeed isn't worth us western-European counties entering anymore! So, we should all also stop pumping any money in, or even broadcasting the event!

All the eastern-European countries should have to totally fund and stage an "Eastern Europe Song Contest" of their own, if they want to have such a contest.

There's is absolutely no incentive for western-European countries to bother anymore. Evidently, the artist won't even manage a post-Eurovision chart career in their home country. And, indeed, even their Eurovision song itself won't set the charts alight in their home country. So, there really is nothing in it for us western-European countries anymore.

Why weren't Ireland in it this year? Did they not bother having an entry or what? I think the UK should stop bothering too!

I'd heard something about a puppet turkey, or something?! Was that just a hoax and/or deliberately awful, so they wouldn't have to bother really entering?

Or did Ireland enter, but not make it past the semi-final? (But I thought all western-European countries got automatic entry, so don't need to do the semi-final?) Again, if they really did have an entry, and if it really was a puppet, and if they did indeed have to go through the semi-final, I'm convinced that they were deliberately aiming to have no chance of being in the final (?).

Yes, it's true. Why they did it, however, is debatable. It wasn't good enough to get to last night.

Tad-actual-da.

No, Western European countries don't automatically get through to the final, I think that would be a bit unfair, don't you!
Only the top 4 countries who donate the most money to the contest get through this way. I think these are the UK, France, Germany and Spain. Incidentally, the latter three entries probably had the worst entries of the night. I can't believe how out of tune Germany's was. Spain's was a pile of crap (chiki chiki) and France's was just horrible.

1956-2008 - R.I.P. EUROVISION!!!

Regrettable but last night, it did gasp its final breath

Funny, that. The ONLY country that gave jury votes based on music not on political allies, and we get some from them!

(San Marino's phone system is part of Italy's, so they could not televote.)

Ireland entered with Dustin The Turkey (a puppet) singing "Irelande douze pointe". That appeared in semi-final 1 on Tuesday 20 May, but failed to qualify. Personally I was glad it didn't qualify, it was so downright awful.

But has Ireland not wanted to win it in the past because it was so expensive for them to stage?

The rumors that it nearly bankrupt RTE in the 1900's was that true?

And the irony was that had San Marino not been there we would have gotten even 8 points. Only getting points from two countries is terrible.