The Squeee

Let the celebrations commence ... even though the song is a bit meh and the legend that is Engelbert Humperdinck came second from last, only just beaten by the rest of Scandinavialand ... save for Norway, who came last with their Eric Saade (last year's Swedish entry) wannabe. I should make a Swedish Ways post about Eurovision, really. Eurovision is kind of a big thing back home. Still, congrats, Loreen! And being Swedish, I can't help but feel slightly triumphant, despite not caring much for the song, Euphoria .

Got the message through that the third series of Horrible Histories will be released toward the end of May but that it is now available to pre-order from Amazon UK. That's where my alert came from, but other retailers are available. Especially HMV, they could do with the custom. Third series of course includes songs about Dick Turpin, the Suffragettes, Richard III, William Wallace, Victorian children working, Incan priests and all the kings and queens since William the Conqueror. Indeed. Speaking of singing, Engelbert Humperdinck will be representing the UK in this year's Eurovision. Bloke's 75, but in today's day and age, even pensioners are required to work. Ah. Ha. Ha. Seriously though, will be interesting to see how he does, especially compared to Ireland, who are unleashing Jedward once again. We have some great singers here. Why don't we send Shirley Bassey and Tom Jones next year? That would be EPIC.

Just about to head off to bed after having seen the biggest international music spectacle this side of the Atlantic Ocean. Sweden came third and United Kingdom didn't come last. A good result overall, I feel. Might make a post about it more in detail at some other point. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan won. Do you agree with that result? Was it your favourite song? Wasn't mine. I can't even remember how it went now! After every Eurovision Song Contest, the question asked in Swedish newspapers is: "Did the right song win?" So, I'm asking you, dear Reader. Did the right song win?

What happens when Britain has a sprinkling of snow It's been cold and snowy in Britain recently (although today and during the weekend, we're going to have about +5°C, so nice and relatively warm), of course, being from Sweden, I've had a lot of "but of course, you're used to much worse!" comments. Which is true. -17°C certainly won't break any cold records even in the part where I'm from (which is around Gothenburg on the west coast, so definitely not "oop North"). However, Sweden has a neighbour in the east, where it does get very cold in winter. Because if you think even -20°C is cold, think again. The Finns are decidedly unfazed, because they're well hard, innit. No really, they are. Which made me think of a funny list I read ages ago, which I managed to track down and then translated: 15°C - It does not get hotter than this in Finland, so we begin here; the Spaniards put on caps, winter jackets and gloves. The Finns sunbat...

(I did start writing this on the eve of the actual final... not that I got around to finishing it then... *cough*) The annual spectacle that is the Eurovision Song Contest has concluded. This year, Norway was the host, and they seemed to do a good job. We didn't watch the whole show, as we decided to pop to Blockbusters just before it started, but we heard a little of the broadcast on the radio in the car. It sounded like Terry Wogan had got back to his old job, but then we decided it wasn't, and opted for Radio 2 presenter Ken Bruce - who sounds 98% like Terry Wogan! The songs were their usual Eurovisiony selves, the hosts spoke their normal English with heavy accents... Then there was the voting, and in those 15 minutes between the end of the singing and the end of the voting, aside from the normal medley of songs to remember which numbers to call, were a couple of guys and some attempt at a flashmob around Europe. Surprised to see Gothenburg there - would've thought...