A night of European delight

May 17 2008 by Jamie McLoughlin, Liverpool Daily Post

Jamie McLoughlin is not ashamed to admit he is a huge Eurovision fan. Here he reveals how it all started with Michael Ball and gives his tips for this year’s contest

JOHN PEEL put it better than I ever could. The much-missed DJ once said: “You won't know my problem by looking at me. I have no obvious scars or distinguishing marks. But I’m a massive fan of the Eurovision Song Contest.”

So if Heswall’s finest export could be so loud and proud about his affection for the annual shebang of schlager, why don’t more people admit a liking for the excess of melody that hits our screens for three hours each May?

It’s not often I can put myself in Mr Peel’s shoes, but I can today. I love the Eurovision Song Contest too.

I have loved it ever since Michael Ball appeared on Top of the Pops in 1992 performing that year’s UK entry – One Step Out of Time.

“Well that’s not very modern,” the 15-year-old me thought, “but it’ll win Eurovision by a mile. I’m going to watch it this year and see how he does.” And watch it I did.

Mr Ball finished second due to some suspiciously partisan scoring for a Johnny Logan-scribed Irish winner. But that didn’t put me off.

I still wasn’t put off the following year – when our Sonia’s surging gold run was beaten back to silver by another Irish singer.

In fact, 16 years after I settled in front of the Contest for the first time, I doubt anything ever will put me off.

I was six rows from the front of the stage when Jemini delivered their pointless performance in Latvia and even that couldn’t dull my enthusiasm.

Thankfully, I am not alone.

You may not spot us easily in the streets, but we fans are out there, walking among you, leading seemingly normal lives.

We meet in secret in pubs throughout Liverpool – sometimes even Leeds or Manchester – speaking in hushed tones on topics of vital importance.

Who is going to qualify from this year’s two semi-finals? Did the right song win the Swedish heat? Is the BBC ever going to give us Brits a decent shortlist of potential UK entries?

And you’d be surprised who turns up at such meetings to profess their adoration for all things Eurovision-y.

Our number includes lecturers, civil servants, journalists and event organisers. Some of us – brace yourselves – even like football.

We fans will be a bit trickier to spot on the streets right now.

For those of us with a penchant for the chanson are more likely to be on the streets of Serbian capital Belgrade, the host city for this year’s event on May 24.

Forty-three nations will be locked in lyric and melody to win the hosting rights for 2009, but to make sure only 25 are left for the big night there are two elimination rounds beforehand.

Britain’s Andy Abraham may have the best UK entry for some time with the Studio 54-friendly Even If, but the poor man has bagged himself the jinxed second spot in the performance order.

That’s the Eurovision equivalent of England drawing Brazil, Germany and Argentina in the first round of the World Cup, but don’t give up on the binman. Not yet.

For the past fortnight, fans with dodgy excuses for Eurovision press passes (“I have a website about it”, “It’s for the school magazine”) have sat through hour upon hour of rehearsal at the 20,000 seater Belgrade Arena.

They’re detailing all the dropped notes, key changes, excessive choreography and vote-winning gimmicks for those who can’t make that sacred pilgrimage to the Contest itself. Like me.

Thanks to these tireless bloggers I know Ukraine’s Ani Lorak is doing something clever with mirror boxes.

I also know the blind singer from Georgia gets covered with a big sheet. More intriguingly, Dima Bilan from Russia climbs a ladder embedded in a tiny ice rink while someone plays a 400-year-old Stradivarius alongside him.

No other media outlet is breaking its neck to tell us all this – and that’s what I love most about being a Eurovision fan.

It’s the sense of knowing that, no matter how much the cool kids snigger about your appreciation of dodgy pop, you don’t really care – and neither do your fellow sufferers.

It’s the FA Cup for those picked last for football in school, it’s the MTV Music Awards for those who like Steps and it’s Formula 1 for those who were a bit rubbish at passing their driving test.

It’s Eurovision. And at least it’s one European tournament where our team always qualifies. I can’t wait.

Check out Jamie’s Eurovision blog at http://boombangablog.merseyblogs.co.uk