This singer has appeared regularly on LET ME BE THE ONE... A Eurovision mix of my favourite ESC and NF entries wouldn't feel right without Marie Myriam in it! As those who follow the radio show, blog and my socials will know, something major has happened personally in my life over the past week.  This meant that I was unable to prepare for my radio show as I normally did this week and that I knew for certain that I would not be broadcasting live.  What I was able to do was quickly put together a 'Eurovision mix' of my favourite Song Contest and National Final entries, have about ..read more

5MINNUST & Puuluup... “(nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi"... Best get used to saying it all, as they might win Eesti Laul! As the National Final season is almost upon us, the second show of 2024 needed to have some of that content within it, and didn't it just!  All six of the MGP SF1 entries plus ten of the Eesti Laul semi-finalists too - have a listen to remind yourself who was on the show: And the playlist... Margaret Berger - "Oblivion" Myra - "Heart On Fire" Ingrid Jasmin - "Eya" Gothminister - "We Come Alive" Frederik Halland - "Stranded" Mathilde SPZ f ..read more

Almost 65 years ago, Alice & Ellen Kessler took Germany to 8th place in Cannes... The 1950s decided my choices for 2023's ESC Top 250! New Year's Eve 2023 saw the regular end of year celebration with the ESC Top 250 run by songfestival.be.  Despite the split with ESC Radio, who were the broadcaster of the event up to this year, the true owners of the chart used a French radio station this time and provided us with the same enjoyable vote, plus the whole chart to look at.  This week's show was entirely about the ESC Top 250, including highlights plus my personal top 10: And ..read more

Another powerful vocal, another fashionista... Besa Kokëdhima is the Albanian choice for Sweden in May! Festivali i Këngës 62 was the highlight of the week before Christmas 2023, as it always is for lovers of Albanian music plus of course us Eurovision fans.  It seems that the 'powers that be' in Albania were happy with the outcome of last year's results (Jury picks the winners of Contest and awards, public choose the Eurovision entry) to give it another go and Besa was the chosen one for Malmö.  To be fair, she gave the public everything they wanted - a confident singer, a ..read more

A week earlier than planned but Xmas isn't far away! It is the LET ME BE THE ONE Christmas Show for 2023! A voice affected by a cold meant that I decided to bring the seasonal show forward a week - less talking and more music, as you can tell from listening to the show: And the playlist... Dami Im - "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" Carola - "Helga Natt" Sarah Dawn Finer & Samuel Ljungblahd - "Soul Of Christmas" Edurne - "Dime Navidad" Måns Zelmerlöw - "Christmas Christmas Everywhere" Valentina - "La magie de Noël" Nicki French - "Christmas At The Disco" (Festive edit) Alena Omargal ..read more

The first National Final of 2024 was on Monday... All seven entries played on LET ME BE THE ONE on Tuesday! The 'Grand Plan' continues - to play as many National Final songs on the show!  All seven entries in Czechia were available the morning of the show, so you were able to hear them as the studio versions, compared to the online live ones.  Listen in now before you watch the show... And the playlist shows that they all kicked off this week's show... Aiko - "Pedestal" (censored) Elly - "The Angel's Share" Gianna Lei - "Starlet" Lenny - "Good Enough" MYDY - "Red Flag Parad ..read more

A week is a short time at Eurovision sometimes... First wave of tickets have been and gone for Malmö... Did you get some? Announcement about tickets came last Thursday - all sold on Tuesday, a few hours before the show!  Myself and my partner Ellen were fortunate enough to get three pairs of live show tickets, with the help of a very helpful person called Bi from the Arena itself - I hope you got tickets if you were after them.  That hunt for tickets was part of the show itself this week: And the playlist... Zoé Clauzure - "Cœur" Carola - "Invincible" Amber, Glen Vella ..read more

The group of JESC 2023 (plus the last five French singers!)... Which of them won the LMBTO JESC 2023 Chart Rundown? Junior Eurovision is gradually becoming more and more important in my Eurovision experience, given that I never covered it at all when I had just the blog!  For the first time, it has its own fan chart, made up of the rankings of ELEVEN members of the LMBTO Eurovision Facebook Group: Mick Ward, Stelios Andreadis, Melanie Sue LoPresti, Tom/Jerome Jordan, Mark Dowd, Chris Ioannou, Danie Tregonning, Alexandros Rousos, Tuija Tervo, Joe Bleasdale and Me. Thank you all for v ..read more

Fourth 2024 artist but with the first song... Slimane will sing "Mon Amour" for France in Malmö! Big announcements for Eurovision seem to happen on the day of the show and I have a mad panic to include it that evening OR we find out on the Wednesday and I have to wait six days to mention it on the show.  France's entry for Sweden has already been revealed in its entirety, which arguably is the earliest an entry has been put forward in modern Eurovision history.  Not sure for the reason as yet but one thing is certain... France have sent a sure-fire big hitter for 2024 and th ..read more

We have a double Eurovision returnee for Eesti Laul 2024! Laura Põldvere is one of the 20 artists trying out for Estonia... As is traditional, the artists for the current season of Eesti Laul were announced over two days on the evening magazine show Ringvaade.  Laura of 2005 and 2017 is back, as is Ivo Etti who was part of Ruffus (Estonia's artists in 2003) and who is now part of Ewert And The Two Dragons.  We have OLLIE, INGA and Traffic back as well in the SF, along with Carlos Ukareda, Daniel Levi and Uudo Sepp directly through to the Final.  More information about ..read more