10 December – Is this what you wanted?

Do you ever think some performers get a really bad deal? You can tell that they can definitely carry a song in a bucket. Then throw them into competition and they maybe get a song that doesn’t quite suit that pitch-perfect voice, or they are just up against too much credible opposition?

Today’s birthday boy Vincent Mendoza Bueno had to wait an age to get his chance on the Eurovision stage. Picked for 2020, then kept on for 2021 with a better song. It did suit his voice, and he gave it everything. But then there were the other songs, the eleven songs, that beat him. Some of them maybe worthy, others maybe not. But luckless Vincent wasn’t alone. Four other non-qualifiers from his semi-final had waited since 2020 only to fail to get through to Saturday night. That must make them a very exclusive club.

Vincent is 37 today.

Frohe Geburtstag, Vincent!