| May. 22nd, 2005 @ 02:19 am What about that then? |
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So after over 30 years of trying, Greece finally manages to gain its
first Eurovision win. I'm no fan of the song, as I think the lyrics are
pretty dreadful, and the stage show was from a cruise ship floorshow,
but at least its not Moldova or Malta, which I hated a lot more. I have
the consolation of a 20 euro bet at 5/2 to console me. It will be
interesting to see if the song will be as big a hit as the last two
winners.
The results of the semi-final were leaked before we got into the venue,
which caused a bit of consternation. People were shocked to see Romania
had won, with Norway down in #6 and Switzerland as low as #8. It really
blew the whole competition open. My suspicion that Moldova was going to
do well was confirmed, when I found out that they finished 2nd in the
semi. Ireland finished 14th which was about what I expected, but the
Netherlands at #15 and Iceland down in #16 (one place ahead of
Portugal!) . Poland just missed by 4 points to Latvia while
Lithuania were last just behind Monaco. My two favourites
Finland finished 18th and Belarus were only 13th.
As for tonight's final, as I said on the day the draw was made
Greece had really a great draw and when you then see that the songs
that were top in the semi got early draws in the final it really helped
the Greeks. If you want to see how important a good draw is compare the
results of Latvia (10th in the semi and 5th in the final). The press
conference is going on across the road now, but I have leart my lesson
from last year, as these are pretty dull events at best. I can see it
on the screen here in the press centre. It's all pretty standard
stuff.
The really big story is the big 4 being in the bottom 4. (I actually
said last night that I thought they would take 4 of the last 5
places). Surely there must now be a review of the big 4 rule? It
is scandalous that the countries that sent the four worst entries this
year qualify automatically for the final, while Croatia who have just
missed out on being in the Top 10 once again, have to go the next
year's semi. Ukraine's result is one of the worst ever for a host and
Sweden are in the semi next year, which has pleased a lot of people
here, Russia likewise.
So it's off to Athens next year, and I'm sure after the wonderful job
their neighbours in Turkey did last year, that the Greeks will do a
marvellous show. They have loads of good venues, after last year's
Olympics and thee are even direct flights from Dublin (that hasn't
happened for a Eurovision host city since 2001). So congratulations to
Greece and I'm off to the after-show party. I'll update my site on
Sunday night!
A HUGE thank you to Peter and Andrew and I hope you enjoyed our always honest reports.
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