I’ve just been in a big room with a stage and a Dima Bilan and a Sibel Tuzun and a Tina Karol and a Mr. Lordi, and I have to say that there’s a damned good chance that one of them is going to win this year’s European Festival of Popular Song Nineteen Two Thousand And Six.
You’d think it could be Dima Bilan from Russia. He looks good apart from his hair, he sounds good, and he’s gonna do business in more than just the Russian sphere of influence.
On the other hand, it ought to be Sibel Tuzun really, as she belly dances and the backings frame her with a big star shape formed out of her arms, and the remix sounds as modern as anything you’ll hear this year, and hopefully they’ll opt for a blend with minimal or no English in the lyric because most of her English is clunky.
Tina Karol’s alright. She hits that note hard and the camera likes her, although I think she sounds a smidge sharp on most of the rest of the song … I think she throws too much at it, truthfully. It’s Poland 2005 all over again, and it’s going to finish 11th in the semifinal because it’s having its chips pissed all over from two directions.
The second direction is the direction of Finland. The UK has never finished below Finland in this contest; the only way that run is going to continue is if Daz “DJ Daz Sampson” Sampson wins it. The camp MAN’S FIREWORKS don’t really show up on screen except as a cloud of exciting smoke, but they make the crowd react in the right way and… well, it’s the first thing I’ve bet on since I arrived in Athens. Tenner each-way at 20/1 with Corals or 22/1 with Paddy Power, and get on it quick ‘cos it ain’t going to last long.