Now the reviews are over and the rehearsals are *just* around the corner, it was time to do a very final Mr Gerbear sorter (please note that the sorter involves 35 of the 37 participating countries).  You can also do yours at  https://esc.gerbear.com/sorter2024.htm However before we start here's a short recap of all of this year's Eurovision entries Click on the picture to get an expanded view ..read more

It's that time again!!! We review all the songs (well, all but one) and give them a score from Parasite to Meteorite! Then the winner of each podcast goes through to the 'Champions of Champions' to see what our favourite of the year is AND if we really think it has any chance of winning! EPISODE ONE: Just A Mallett Albania, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Greece, Finland and Italy! Being a youtuber is REALLY up to date Dan Laptop stole the show Obviously her Gladiator name Very North German I'LL GIVE YOU PLAITS!!!!!!! "because everyone else had one eye" You can download or listen to it here ht ..read more

Some might say it is 'bandwagon jumping' but I call it 'a good way to spend a couple of hours doing something constructive instead of worrying/panicking/worrying again about the London Eurovision Party event tomorrow' Yes, 50 years ago today the UK jury gave *checks notes* NO POINTS to Waterloo and to commemorate this massive show of taste and decency, rarely equalled by any UK jury since, I am going to review the whole of the 1974 contest. INTRO We begin with some rather unflattering hand drawn pictures of "Brighton through the ages" as if drawn by a Lowry faker. These then are replaced ..read more

As we have already seen, the draws for the halves of each semi-final have taken place. We know vaguely where in the running order they are but the producers of the show will ultimately make the final decision... But if I was in charge, what would I do....? I think that the producers are going to have a hard time creating a fair and balanced programme as the semis themselves are not balanced in terms of act type and genre. The other main concern, that we are not yet privy to, is the consideration of certain acts' staging. Larger and more intricate props may need more time to get off and on ..read more

The Azerbaijani song was revealed on March 15th - the music video premiere was made on the official youtube channel. A week earlier, ITV (the Azerbaijani broadcaster) announced details about their act and that the song would be released to the public in due course. Their act for Malmö is Fahree featuring Ilkin Dovlatov with the song "Özünlə Apar" (Take Me with You) Fakhri Ismayilov (aka Fahree) was born in 1995 in Baku. He came from an artistic family; his father being a jazz drummer and his grandfather being an actor. However, he followed a more academic path and gained a Bac ..read more

The Armenian song was revealed on March 13th - the music video premiere was made on the official youtube channel. A few days earlier, Armenian broadcaster AMPTV announced their act and that the song would be revealed soon after. Going to Malmö is Ladaniva with the song "Jako". Ladaniva (named after a type of vehicle) is a duo that was formed in Lille in 2019. Singer, Jaklin Baghdasaryan, was born in Armenia, grew up Belarus and emigrated to France in 2014 enrolling at the Conservatoire de Lille. French instrumentalist Louis Thomas makes up the other half of the duo. He is from Lille and ..read more

The Portuguese act and song was chosen on March 9th through their established selection process "Festival da Canção". Before the final there were two semi-finals. Each semi consisted of two rounds of voting: in round one 5 songs qualified through a mixture of public voting (50%) and jury voting (50%)  then an extra finalist was voted for solely by public televoting. In the final the winner was selecting by a 50/50 mix of jury and public votes. The winning act was Iolanda singing "Grito" (Shout) Iolanda Costa showed a great passion for music as a young child and as a result her parents se ..read more

The Australian song and act was revealed on March 6th (Australia time) - with the première of the song on the Eurovision Song Contest youtube channel. Little information was known, or leaked, about the song or representative until the official presentation. The Australian song for Malmö is "One Milkali (One Blood)" by Electric Fields. The duo Electric Fields is made up of Zaachariaha Fielding and Michael Ross. Their music style is mainly electronic with soul qualities, integrating many aspects of Aboriginal culture and sing in a mixture of  Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara and English. T ..read more

The Icelandic act and song was chosen on March 2nd through their long running selection process "Söngvakeppnin". There were two semi-finals of 5 songs each and all songs in this part of the competition had to be performed in Icelandic. Two entries from each semi - plus a wildcard - got a place in the final where songs could be performed in any language. There were two rounds of voting in the final; first a combination of jury (50%) and televoting (50%) selected a top two. The televoting reopened and votes from both rounds were added together - the act with the most combined votes being the win ..read more

The Austrian song was revealed on March 1st - with the audio available on youtube. An official video was scheduled to be premiered alongside but this was delayed until the 4th. In January broadcaster ORF announced their act; the song title was released the following month. The Austrian song for Malmö is "We will rave" by Kaleen Kaleen (real name Marie-Sophie Kreissl) grew up around dance and at just the age of seven she won her first Austrian ballet championship. She did however study a wide range of dance and chorography genres and in 2015 took part - with her dance partner - in the German ..read more