Eurovision fan Ben Robertson is calling on the UK to deliver a winner at next year’s song contest in Germany.

Ben at Manchester's Pre-Eurovision Event Boom Bang A Bang, in Manchester

Twenty-one-year-old Ben, from Camberley Drive, Bamford, near Rochdale, formed a Eurovision Society at Durham University after becoming a fan of the glamorous, sometimes kitsch competition featuring 39 countries.

In March he travelled to the BBC studios in London to watch 19-year-old Josh Dubovie chosen to represent the UK on the show Making Your Mind Up with the song That Sounds Good to Me penned by hit factory legend Pete Waterman.

The following month he travelled to Manchester for a Boom Bang-a-Bang pre-Eurovision party which showcases the songs by all 39 acts.

He was recently picked to discuss Eurovision on BBC Radio 5 and on radio stations in Durham.

On the night of the contest Ben and his fellow Eurovision fans held their own university party with guests of almost every nationality represented in the competition.

Ben, who was rewarded by Durham University for the greatest contribution to student life with the Eurovision Society, says he was disappointed but not surprised that the UK came last.

He is urging the music industry to recreate the winning formula enjoyed by the likes of Bucks Fizz and Katrina and the Waves and for pop fans to get behind the UK.

Ben, who is studying to become a physics teacher, said: “I feel that we deserved to come last this year – no disrespect to Pete Waterman or his team. I saw no reason why people should pick up the phone and vote for us but there were 20 other songs that had that appeal. For months the winner was on the top of the charts in Germany but we are not getting behind our entries. We have been last three times in eight years.”

Ben, a society and student development officer for Durham University’s student union, starting watching the Eurovision Song Contest in 2003 – the same year that Jemini came last in Latvia with ‘nul points’.

He added: “I was asked on the radio why we don’t take Eurovision as seriously as other nations. I think we don’t give the same time and effort to it. But every year is different. You could finish last and then come back with a good song.”

GLENYS Vargas was one of three American singers who was backing up Juliana Pasha of Albania at this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo

 And thankfully she picked up on the odd behaviour of a few of the musical divas, and none so more than the ridiculous singer for Denmark N’evergreen.

And I was happy to see her point out the chillingly cold behaviour by the Denmark male singer N’evergreen, who acted as if he was some sort of superstar. The MEN blog came across his behaviour at the City Hall opening party, where he stood stony faced with his female counterpart, but then when asked for a photograph by a member of the press, he stood for a millisecond, before rudely strutting across the room to watch a fading Alexander Rybak, singing an out of tune rendition of his Fairytale, without a by-your-leave to the astonished photographer. 

For more interesting inside observations from Eurovision 2010 check out Glenys’s  link of My Big Fat Eurovision by clicking here:

http://glenysromeandbeyond.wordpress.com/2010/06/04/my-big-fat-eurovision-experience/#comment-139

THE last place accorded to the UK’s Josh Dubovie at Saturday’s Eurovision Song Contest has had the cream of British journalism looking for scapegoats.

And to be perfectly fair these out of touch hacks didn’t disappoint, as they tried to use the same old smokescreen that the foreigners hate us far more than any other country in the known universe.

Take the Daily Mirror’s Jim Shelley column. Our Jimbo didn’t miss a trick in summing up why the Pete Waterman song That Sounds Good to Me finished bottom of the pile as he demeans virtually every other country before ending his Monday column with: “The message is clear everybody hates us.”

Well, that is one of the most astonishing and ill informed judgements a columnist of Shelley’s supposed pedigree ought to be making, but it does kind of sit alongside other quotes in his column which includes “After eight years of sitting between two men with bigger boobs than me. I’d had enough.” 

I would just like to point out to Mr Shelley that for his information it generally takes longer than 12 months for everybody to hate us. Because only 52 weeks or so ago Jade was on the stage in Moscow singing My Time, and guess who voted for her – well the people who Shelley supposedly reckons now ‘hate’ us.

Let me remind him how Jade scored in that final a mere year ago where Albania gave the UK 8 points, Andorra gave us 4 points, Armenia 7, Bosnia 4, Belarus 3, Croatia 4, Cyprus 7, Czech Republic 6, Denmark 3, France 4, Germany 8, Greece 12, Hungary 1, Ireland 10, Israel 4, Latvia 2, Lithuania 3, Macedonia 6, Malta 10, Moldova 1, Netherlands 3, Norway 2, Poland 4, Portugal 10, Russia 6, Serbia 8, Slovakia 7, Slovenia 3, Spain 10 and Ukraine 6. She finished in fifth place.

Maybe it was just the song that they hated, eh Jim!

HERA Bjork is preparing for the biggest night of her life this evening at the 55th Eurovision Song Contest.

Iceland's Hera with the MEN blog

Ahead of tonight’s concert at the Telenor Arena in Oslo she spoke exclusively with the MEN blog about her semi-final and what she was looking forward to this evening.

Q So how did it feel being forced to wait until the very end of Tuesday’s semi-final to see if you had qualified

A Throughout the announcements I was saying to my group calm down. I had this fantastic feeling and I said to the singers then that if we were to be one of the ten chosen we would be called out last of all. And on the night they were looking at me like a mother. And at the end it was a case of ‘oh my god’!

What helped an awful lot on the night was the audience they were absolutely amazing. It brings tears to my eyes thinking about it.

Q The same thing happened last year in the semi-final with Yohanna, when they chose you last(and Hera was a backing singer)

A Yes, it was a case of been there done that!(laughs) No but it was great and it was good TV. All the commentators said I was bound to be number one called out but this was to add to the tension.

Q Going from being behind the singer to becoming the singer this year how is it different

A Just standing on the stage either behind the singer or even being the singer up front, the feeling is amazing. Of course, there’s a little more pressure when you are standing up front but I just feel so well prepared. I have a bunch of fantastic people with me both on and off stage and the fact that I did this before, I can’t put a price on those experiences and that is helping me so much this year. It’s more the feeling of the audience which is so amazing and I can remember last year with Yohanna we got really great applause from the audience when we came in. And I got the same feeling. It doesn’t matter if you are in the back or in the front, it’s just when everyone is applauding for you and your country. Everything we do, we do as a group and I could never have done this alone and without their help.

Q It was noticeable that the audience were with you from about 30 seconds into the song

A Yes, I had a little problem in my ear and it was a lesson learned. Because when you come to the stage, and you get this fantastic response from the audience, you lose a little edge from the in-ear piece. I didn’t hear the playback so well. So I was thinking oh oh, I have to concentrate because I don’t have the beat going from the beginning. So I was really focussing on listening and take care not to be ahead or behind of the beat. But when the beat kicked in 30 seconds into the song, I was just thinking, hellllooo here I am! From then on it was pure enjoyment.

Q Did the backing singers work well with you

A Yes, everything was right but when I had the difficulty they sensed something was not right because they feel me and they felt, I was a split of a second coming into one phrase and they think maybe she has trouble hearing. So I will have more volume on my in-ear piece for the final.

Q On a scale of one to ten how would describe last year’s appearance in comparison to this one

A Last year’s appearance by Yohanna was fantastic. Of course we had a bigger stage. In my opinion she had the most fantastic scenery and the best act as a whole because it was so calm. And when you think about that humongous scene in Moscow and she was called on to sing that slow beautiful act was brilliant. We didn’t know this year what we would get and we had ideas of our own which we planned to take from Yohanna’s. If you remember Yohanna’s song ended with the sun coming up. And we actually decided to pick it up from there with the sunrise, But then we heard that the Norwegians were taking it down a bit, like less it more, back to the good old days, We just put it in their hands. We trust them, they know what they have and I am really, really happy with how they have worked it this year. And these are two very different songs and singers and it hard to compare them. Let’s say Yohanna’s was fantastic, so lets give that one a ten. I am really, really happy with mine as well and with what we have got this year and I am giving it a ten as well because we have me in a gown slowing it down and I didn’t want the camera to go all over the place because we have a dance song. And I really feel we have got that.

Q Would this be up there as the highlight of your career

A Yes, definitely. I have other personal highlights including Christmas concerts in Iceland. Every year we kind of top it and it’s getting better and better and more and more people want to come. I also had a fantastic concert in Iceland the week before we got here singing Icelandic songs. And my mother was there and she’s a singer as well and for her this was ‘oh my little girl has grown up’ and I was singing her music. At the semi-final and getting that response from the audience it is amazing. And on any scale that was my biggest highlight.

Q What would you want to say to the MEN blog readers about this evening

A Just listen to their hearts and if they like me I would appreciate their support but if not I just want them to enjoy. This is for them, this is for the viewers and we are just there entertaining and putting a little competition in makes it a little more real to the viewers. We are telling you, you can play along with us, it’s not just a concert. Just go pick your favourite.

Q And will you be coming to England

A Yes, of course, if you pick me as your favourite, I will be coming next week!(laughs)

 AHEAD of tonight’s Eurovision Song Contest Final here in Oslo manGa representing Turkey have been speaking exclusively to the MEN Blog

Turkey's manGa relaxing ahead of tonight's final

The group which will perform the song We Could Be The Same which is a critique of an age of consumerism. At Thursday evening’s second semi-final their song which was performed in a Lordi – esque type setting was a massive hit in the Telenor Arean and could be the one to look out for this evening,

maNga’s story began when Yağmur Sarıgül “Yamyam” (Guitar) decided to combine rock music and electronic music bringing hard guitar riffs and rap vocals together. The band includedmaNga Özgür Can Öney (Drums), Efe Yılmaz (Turntable),Ferman Akgül (Vocals) and Cem Bahtiyar (Bass Guitar) joined the new band.

The band began playing “nu metal” and “hard rock” songs. As a result the band was named maNga after the traditional Japanese cartoon art, bringing five different characters, five different music styles and five different world views together.

From 2001 onwards, the band released several highly successful albums which all became top sellers in their native country of Turkey.

maNga won the Best European Act award at the MTV Europe Music Awards in November 2009. That was not the only award the band won in 2009 though, maNga has taken numerous other awards as well, including for the best video, the best band, the best song, the best album and the best performance.

Ahead of the final the MEN blog spoke to them:

Q What type of band is maNga

A Cem – We are basically a rock band and we have ethnic stuff, pop stuff, electronic stuff. We like to combine all sorts of music into one basket.

Q Ethnic, in what sense

A We are from Turkey, we were all born there and grew up there, and it’s in our blood, and when we are creating it comes naturally from inside.

Q The music you create could it be associated with rebellion.

A We are not directly challenging anybody but we have underlying messages in the lyrics. We don’t like to say things directly, or communicate with the audience directly. We hope our audience will figure out the messages.

We see our music in a different light than others. We have the culture of the traditional sound, so we are a little bit different than the others

Q When you say different than others, how is that difference marked out

A Being in the middle of Asia and the middle of Europe, we have both cultures, and it’s a different mixture. That’s show us and affects us so much. And that’s what makes us different.

Q Do you produce all of your own music

A Yes, we all create our own songs. Usually it starts with Yamyam and Ferman – a little melody or idea and then we create the song from there

Q As far as being in Eurovision, what does this mean for you? Had you heard of Eurovision before

A This is a different thing for us (at Eurovision) as so many people are watching. It’s a nice stage for us and a chance to express ourselves. We see it a different way – we’re not in a competition actually, this is a huge stage and a huge festival because we want to express ourselves and we enjoy it.

Q For Turkish youngsters – can they through their music challenge elders or the way the culture runs.

A We don’t know, but they probably would challenge their elders as a part of growing up.

Q So do you see this as a stepped process?

A Yes, we will go one step at a time. And of course our music will develop at the same time. It develops every day. We were looking at the videos we shot – when we were young and naïve. We are still growing – music is a progression.

Q And do you have musical influences?

A Yes, of course we have, but it differs from person to person, and it changes all the time. But there are common groups that we like, like Limp Biscuit, Cyprus Hill and the Arctic Monkeys, who are very British (laughter)

Q What do you pick up from Western bands that you can use in the Eastern music

A More particularly, we pick up on Western groups because they have very powerful sounds in relation to guitar and base drum.

And their attitude also they are so good on the stage. And they have a feeling, they feel what they sing

Q How important is it for you music to challenge society

A Ferman – As we are all human being we are part of society and we think in selfish way. In our own lives, if we don’t love one another and have problems we can’t change them. And if we can’t change them, then in turn, society has a problem. It’s important that everybody looks in the mirror and tries to figure themselves out.

Q Why is it important to change things within Turkish society

A Look what this is about is consumerism. Yes. We accept we are all consumers. But the world is always saying: ‘consume, consume, consume’ And while I don’t think it is bad, it has to be done in a controlled way.

Q What are the evils of consumerism

A It creates one type of person all over the world who uses the same cell phone, listens to the same pop idol and eats the same food or drinks.

The same is true about music, they buy an album, listen to if for four or five minutes and then forget about it, and then go out an buy another, and so on.

If you are a band, no sooner have you released your first album, that within a month they begin asking ‘where’s the second album?’. We want people to take more time to stop and to listen.

THE day has arrived for a group of penniless Welsh musicians who tonight take on the cream of European music in Oslo

And win or lose the Jon Lilygreen and the Islanders will be hoping that the UK fans will give them 12 points. The rules mean that the UK fans cannot vote for themselves but we can vote for the Cypriot act and the catchy song Life Looks Better in Spring.

Tonight’s 25 country final includes Turkish band Manga which won the MTV Best Band of the Year, and a host of other award winners, but if the fans of Facebook, want to register a vote for Jon Lilygreen who knows what might happen.

It’s all up to you guys, lets put a smile on those Welsh faces!

THERE is a growing amount of disillusionment in some quarters to the idea that money can buy countries almost anything including the Eurovision Song Contest.

Rumblings of disquiet have surfaced over the blatant promotion by countries such as Azerbaijan and even Georgia, who are being helped to raise their international profile through Eurovision, and by music bosses from the Ukraine.

But could the voice of protest against these rich oligarchs getting their own way be about to surface tomorrow evening ? Take for instance the Thursday evening second semi-final here in Oslo, where Cyprus, a country which threw out the British military in the late 1950s, has opened its arms wide to welcome a group of penniless Welsh musicians Jon Lilygreen and the Islanders, after they qualified for Saturday’s final.

And while this blog has encouraged readers and members of Facebook to vote for the Welshmen, is there maybe, a more fundamental protest going on here from people who want to see wealth inequalities corrected, and are using any means possible to match Eurovision prince with pauper.

The evidence is all about, and if one takes the Azerbaijan efforts this time round in that,  it has pumped millions of petroleum dollars into raising its profile through the Eurovision media. To the point this time where it even offered journalists free air fares and tickets as prizes to this years contest if they would write something glowing ahead of the contest about its entrant Safura. Now while that might be the way things are done in Baku, they are not generally something which ought to be encouraged to continue at Eurovision. And the EBU should  be discouraging any repeat.

That is not to say that Safura is not a fantastic singer but her song Drip Drop was produced in Scandinavia and promoted heavily across the internet. Add to that lavish promotional bags handed out to the media and you get the idea.

It would seem that schmooze and booze is more the case this year for Georgia, which stayed at home last year after its spat with Russia over its invasion of neigbouring South Ossetia, which came to a head over its song entry poking fun at Vladimir Putin, which was disqualified by the European Broadcasting Union. This year it has returned with a vengeance with a sumptuous reception held at the stunning Oslo Opera House, at which the American ambassador to Oslo, was one of the guests. This was matched by goodie bags to all those attending which including memory stick, pen, cd, fleece and assorted trinkets.

Maybe this is why there is a growing disquiet even among Eastern countries, that while they might benefit from bloc voting to get them through to the final, they they too are then often squeezed out by their bigger, wealthier neighbours.

Since I have been in Oslo I have spoken to a number of the smaller countries who have voiced concerns about a general lack of back up and help.  Marcin the singer representing Poland complained he felt he had been left on his own to do almost everything himself from musical arrangements to costumes, while some of his compatriots from other countries were just there to sing and the rest was taken care of.  He said he felt it important that he tackle some of the issues head on, so that future acts representing his country might benefit

There are other instances where delegates expressed concerns that their countys broadcaster had not provided the necessary support and back up to its acts.

And with Russia spending a reputed 100 million euros last year, the fear is that smaller countries could miss out on its chances at Eurovision.

According to Dr Toni Sant, a member of the new Eurovision Network and an academic at Hull University in Scarborough, limiting the amount of money each country spent was unlikely to make little or no difference.

He explains: “I seriously doubt Norway put in as much as Russia did last year, here in Oslo. So I dont think there should be a limit.

“If we look back over the past ten years, we have had countries who have not put a lot in and still won the competition including both Finland and Norway.”

THE second semi-final at tonight’s Eurovision Song Contest threw up a series of seismic shocks

The biggest of which was the elimination of Sweden from the contest, a surprise which reverberated around the Telenor Arena here in Oslo. To date Sweden had always made it through the semi-final stage since they were first introduced in 2004.

The second surprise, however, was the entry of Cyprus into the final for the first since 2005.

John Lilygreen and the Islanders gave a faultless performance to snath one of the ten places up for grabs.

This win was in no part due to the MEN blog, which has campaigned this week on Face book to get people across Europe to vote for the the Welsh musicians through to this year’s final. Thanks guys, it actually worked!

Here are tonight’s results in no particular order:

Armenia

Azerbaijan

Romania

Cyprus

Ireland

Georgia

Ukraine

Denmark

Israel

Turkey

Tonight is semi final 2 of the Eurovision song contest and just like Tuesday, 10 of the 17 entrants will go through to Saturday night’s final.

 This is felt to be the stronger of the 2 semis with the qualifiers a little harder to predict.  So it seems easier to start with those countries who we don’t think will make it.  Slovenia has a folk/rock fusion which is a little too ‘local’ for the rest of Europe to appreciate, so we won’t be seeing this on Saturday.  And similarly the message of the Ukraine song will be a bit too harsh for the voters.  Switzerland and Bulgaria will also struggle, not because the songs are bad, but they are just not good enough in comparision to the rest of the field.

 This leaves 13, so we believe the following will make it:

 Turkey – the band maNga have a unique rock sound, so this will see them through along with the modern sounding Drip Drop from Azerbaijan.  Armenia should make it with their ‘Apricot Stone’ all about the motherland.  Two guitar based songs from Sweden and Cyprus will also make the cut along with the more traditional Euro-sound from Denmark.  Then the ethnic sounds of Croatia and Israel are sure to pull in the votes.  This leaves 2 spots for 5 songs!  Lithuania should take one of these with their amusing ‘pant ripping’ number whcih opens the show and then Romania will make up the ten with a catchy pop number.  This means Ireland, Georgia and Netherlands will miss out – their songs being good, but maybe a little dated.

 But like Tuesday proved – there will be a shock or two in store…..