Call Me Stan

So, it looks like the best way to advance to the Eurovision finals is to be from a country with "stan" in the name. Or at least Eastern European. But definitely not from a country with a French heritage or language.

At least, that's what the guys on Swiss TV figured. The other media agreed.

Switzerland didn't make it. Belgium didn't make it. Andorra didn't make it. Under other circumstances, I would have said that perhaps the reason that they didn't qualify in a phone-in vote music contest was because maybe their songs sucked.

Well, they did, but that's hardly a determining factor here. I mean, out of 40 or so entries, I can count on one hand the number of tunes I'd actually want to listen to again.

Things I noticed this year - there is a refreshing absence of ska (just a hint from Israel, which is clearly part of Europe), Evenescence seems to have had a hand in more than half of the entries. It continues to move from the Eurovision Song Contest to the Eurovision Dance Contest, but I'm okay with that. As long as DJ Bobo isn't there, I'll be happy to watch...

See you Saturday for the finals!