Eurovision ROCKS!

More raffle tickets and lucky dips were sold in Armidale before leaving at 2pm and commencing our journey south and back to Sydney with a couple of stops to take pictures of roads... one day I’ll explain.

The rush was caused by our need to get home for the Eurovision Song Contest. Gotta love this weird-arse-freaky-deeki-f*cked up European tradition! Even though it seems it’s no longer purely European.

You get 30 odd European countries who write song especially for this, pick unknowns to sing them, put them in various way out costumes, trial choreography for monkeys, break the budget for big LCD displays and pyrotechnics. Put it all together you have a visual feast that has spawned drinking games galore around the world since 1956.

Skull a shot for every ‘La la la’ or ‘dah dah dah’’
Skull a shot for every song sung in ‘national costume’
Skull a shot every time a country votes 12 (top) points for their direct neighbour.
Skull a shot every time the UK gets points (it’s very rare, so don’t rely on this one for a good night).

If nothing else watch it for Terry Wogan’s commentary. He takes the p*ss all night and still gets invited back.

Congratulations Serbia for winning with 268 points!

UK came last with 17... There’s always next year!

Armidale – Wool Expo

After a quick hop from Sydney to Armidale (500kms) on Friday night then a committee meeting where we happily committed to spend $20,000 on a new trailer, a cal…ohh you don’t care! ;-) I don’t even care and I’m responsible for at least $8000 of that (raffle, cal…once again, you don’t care).

Saturday saw us rising at a stupid hour for a weekend morning and making our way to the Armidale show grounds for Wool Expo. Once there I manned the raffle ticket table all day and entertained the kids with lucky dips. Hubby took pictures of the show taking place at the other end of the marquee.

In the evening we left all the wool people, both of the alpaca and sheep kind to their barn dance and went to the movies. We saw Spiderman 3. both Edna and theotherandrew were right, it good for eye candy and it is 16 hours long.

Sorry Edna, but I like Tobey Macquire, but as we have established on many of our evenings of cider + over analysis…I like dorks!

But the highlight of the evening was getting back to our hotel and watching the qualifying round of Eurovision! Hosted by the traditional - she who wears a hot pink fish tail dress and he who dons a whiter than white suit. Edited highlights below…unlike SBS…

Viva La Eurovision!

Countdown in Finnish! (most certainly spelt wrong three, two, one in Finnish)…
Goalme
Gooxie
Uooksie

Bulgaria – Bondage chain mail outfits with kick arse drums and lots of red
Iceland – I know you’re Europe but when did this turn into the Imitate your favorite 80s hair rock band Contest?
Switzerland – When did Bonnie Tyler do vampire chic?
Albania – When did Andrew Lloyd Webber start writing songs for Eurovision?
Denmark – Ohh my god! Priscilla eat your heart out?
Serbia – Androgynous opera with big heavy glasses.
Czech Republic – ZZTop when they were 30
Portugal – Euro pops in really short ruffled white PVC
FYR Macedonia – The mirror trousers blinded me to the music…and they qualified!
Norway – The amazing ripable dress, just like Bucks Fizz circa 198something
Malta – ‘Loving you gives me vertigo’ with lyrics and shirtless violin player/gong banger was gob smacked!
Hungary – A bus top sign and suitcase helped the song how…and what’s with the Sandie Shaw ripoff by going barefoot?
Estonia – ‘we’re sitting in the rain and sipping cold champagne’ was the stunning opening line to a wind machine on overdrive, and they didn’t get through…shame!
Belgium – described a cross between Mika and Huggybear in gold lame and a back up playing piano/guitar wearing a turgoise wide collar with white tie, sh*t, but really excited.
Slovenia - Looks like Mortica Addams in a leather bodice and rag skirt. In her right hand she had a panel of LED’s that she used to light her face. Sounded like a nice song but I couldn’t understand it.
Turkey – ‘Shake it up, shake in, tell me what you’re thinking’ sung by PT Burham
Austria - The more interesting thing about this one was the back up dancers dressed in red feather boa and sequins and the fact the singer emerged out of a a giant boa and the pyrotechnics.
Latvia – the guys were wearing top hats and carrying white roses… It was the Six Latvian Tenors in Denim! Weirdly enough, it could be a winner.