And so in 2009 the homunculus with the cheesy grin fiddled all out of his path, clearing the way for an easy and deserving victory. Expect lots more fiddling in Oslo 2010, where hordes of over juiced young national representatives of the acts, press (natch), and broadcasters descend on a over-priced Norway. NRK, the national broadcaster, aren't attempting to live up to the bombast of Moscow where I actually saw a kitchen sink being hurled from the wings. In what is a seriously questionable year for quality, the 2010 pre-secretions have been a "back to basics" affair, no doubt reflecting the macro economic situation the countries find themselves in.
So from the nations that have decided to poke around the back of their sofas for the spare change needed to send their acts on a budget airline, you can expect mournful ballards aplenty, much slow schlager, and the odd political undertone.

You can take a look at the full runners and riders on the Eurovision Song Contest - Oslo 2010 Preview Player.

39 nations will be getting a spotty oik to apply for 1059 visas in the coming months for a trip to the indoor Telenor Arena in Oslo, where the fur hatted Norwegians huddle in winter to watch football without the added issue of terrace avalanches. Lots of boos this year as 3 countries back out of taking part due to financial restrictions. Hungary, Andorra, and the Czech Republic have bowed out which is sad as they've all got a stinking history in the competition and chances are that if they stuck with it their luck would've surely changed. Our Eastern cousins are as excitable as ever with the likes of Armenia, Azerbaijan, or Georgia a bean counter's dream winner.
We have a two semi-final approach yet again, after it went down so well in Moscow (albeit whilst doing it's bit to bring about the global credit crisis). Also I'll point out the general success of last year's change to partial jury voting which is going again in 2010. From 1997 up until last year, total power was given to the great unwashed and they then consequently turned Tanel Padar into a winner, and annually voted the 4 national big boys into the bottom four places. Instead 2009 saw musical impressarios and Joe Nobodies sit in a darkened room and decide 50% of the national vote on our behalfs. And it largely worked, although their semi final choices were incomprehensible. We'll see what happens this year though before I give my final opinion on this development. (btw this time last year I wrote "so remember, before you vote, decide what would Stock, Aitken and Waterman think...and vote the other way"...if only I knew what the BBC were thinking...).
Information on the Eurovision Song Contest Singers and Songs for this year along with my ill-informed comments can be found by clicking on a flag as and when they are updated.