My brother emailed from Canada last week with ‘Really Important Things’ as the subject line. He wanted to know what my plans were for the Eurovision Song Contest. I replied that as usual plans involved a bottle of wine and a Eurovision Bingo card featuring wind machine, pyrotechnics, shedding clothing, mid-song key change etc. and when was Canada going to enter?
"Read More" about Diane's "Song Contest" exploits - Click below.
Contd:
I would normally also dress up in something sparkly to get in the mood but after a year spent mostly in pyjamas or similar, that felt a step too far. As it happens, Rotterdam did such a spectacular job and Eurovision was such a joyous return to fun and ‘normality’ that I regretted not making the effort and getting out the sequins.
I was sorry to see the Australian entry fail at the first semi-final, not least because it ticked lots of boxes on my bingo card, plus I would love to see Sydney hosting the competition. The UK of course is only in the final because it is one of the five big financial contributors not because anyone votes for our entry, as evidenced by the ‘nil points’ from both juries and televoters. Not even one for Global Britain from our pals in the Commonwealth! The finalists were all very strong this year and much of the staging was brilliant so it was hard to score. The Italian entry, although incredibly popular, wasn’t my top pick; my ‘douze points’ went to Iceland, which is how the Australian televoters voted, so high five guys!
As if being Billy No Mates wasn’t embarrassing enough, the UK jury votes were announced by Amanda Holden (no relation, honestly), who declared she couldn’t tell the difference between French and Dutch. As Shakespeare wrote in Julius Caesar, “It’s all Greek to her!”
Still, there is nothing more uplifting than Eurovision… unless it’s a story about a swan’s nest put on a raft to prevent the eggs being washed away
by a rising river.
by a rising river. In this delightful news item Rob Adamson had been watching a swan on the Great Ouse for 10 years and each year her eggs met with disaster from foxes or floods. This year, late one night as floodwater threatened to wash away the nest and eight eggs, Mr Adamson built a raft in the dark and moved the nest onto it so that all eight eggs were saved and hatched safely.
This swan might think she owes allegiance to her benefactor but since the 12th century the Crown has held the right to all unmarked mute swans swimming in open water. I’m sure the Queen is very grateful to Mr Adamson and his quick thinking and I will think of her swans when we toast her at our Rotary meeting. It appears Mr Adamson is a serial swan saver. You can read the full story here:
Diane Holden