29 April – We’re confused, we hope

What do you think of the ‘Big 5’? Should they get passage straight to the Grand Final, or should they have to compete on a Tuesday or Thursday night with everyone else? Admittedly, some of them have had rocky patches recently, but they guarantee big audiences for our favourite TV show.

Our friends in France – one of said Big 5 – often take innovative approaches to song presentation, and they did so in 2012 in sunny Baku. Today’s birthday girl Anggun Cipta Sasmi had tumbling gymnasts on stage with her, and definitely definitely didn’t look like a giant dragonfly at all. It was a niteworthy performance, but of course it’s the singing bit of her three minutes that should score her points. well, that Grand Final must have been a tough old affair, as she finished 22nd. She wasn’t the last of the Big 5 though. Still, she scored points off six countries, only one of them Francophone, so there must have been appeal somewhere.

Anggun is 46 today.

Bonne anniversaire/Selamat ulang tahun, Anggun!