THIS Saturday’s Eurovision Song Contest is set to be a party to end all parties as it struts its stuff from the banks of the Danube River in Vienna.
The 60th celebration, which will include Australia as special guests, has all the makings of one of the biggest TV events with more than 200 million TV viewers and thousands of fans watching in the Wiener Stadthalle.
Sadly, the 27 country final will not include Ireland after it was eliminated at Thursday’s semi-final, but viewers this side of the Irish Sea can sit back and watch this year’s UK entry, an up to date 1920’s swing style presentation with a bit of twist by Electro Velvet. The song is written by David Mindel and Adrian Bax Electro Velvet pair Alex Larke and Bianca Nicholas will take to the stage to perform Still in Love with You, in outfits fitted with LED lighting to give the performance an additional boost.
On the eve of the concert Mr Mindel told the Guardian: “Electro Velvet are going to do brilliantly although where they come we don’t know. They are getting better and they are doing brilliantly. They are great artistes and we are hugely proud of them. Mr Mindel, who has been a professional songwriter for many years said he hoped the UK song would do better than many people at home expected, partly because of negative attitudes to the contest and partly because of a perception that foreigners always vote for one other.
“The best song will always come out on top in the end. And as much as you want to win for the success of it, you want to win, to turn round to the moaners and the doubters and say you were wrong, we did it, and that would be the best thing for me.”
Efforts by the Guardian to speak with Spain’s entry Edurne, who is the girlfriend of Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea, has been met with refusal to comment. The latest rebuttal was to be told by the head of press this week: “You people are from Manchester, you only want to talk about football”.
Other countries to look out for this year include Sweden, Latvia, Slovenia, Russia, Italy, Cyprus, Russia, Spain, Montenegro and Estonia The Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final will be broadcast in the UK on BBC One and BBC Radio 2 from 8pm (GMT+1) tomorrow.
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