sorry we missed Termitefest2007 in Helsinki, here's stuff about the 2nd act from the bottom

Ireland's Eurovision entry, Dervish, didn't do too good in Helsinki. Fortunately some Albanians were watching the show and phoned in five votes.

Agence-Vleeptron Presse profoundly apologizes for failing to provide in-depth coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest as we do every year. While the contest was erupting like a volcano, we were temporarily distracted by Paris Hilton.

After Lordi, the faux Viking metalGoths from Finland/Suomi, won last year without ever mentioning Love even once (maybe they sang that they love to hack off the limbs of their enemies), this year's contest was held in Helsinki.

Anyway, here's stuff not about the winner who brought the honor of next year's Finals home to Serbia, but here's some embarrassing gossipy stuff about the near-losers.

I Love You. You Love Me. We Love Us. They Love Them. Let's walk down the beach hand-in-hand under the moonlight for 11.331 kilometers. I'm so happy. You're so happy. You make me happy. I make you happy. We make us happy.

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The Stage (UK)
The Website for the Entertainment Industry
(so I guess it's the UK's version of the USA's Variety)
Tuesday 15 May 2007

Irish plan
Eurovision review
after Helsinki flop

by Anthony Garvey

The Irish national broadcaster, RTE, is planning a review of its selection process for the Eurovision song contest after the country’s worst ever showing at the Helsinki final.
Dervish were Ireland's 2007 entry into the Eurovision Song Contest.

The Irish, who have won the contest a record seven times, including a hat trick of victories in the mid-1990s, finished last of the 24 countries competing at the weekend. Only five votes from Albania saved the Irish entry, "They Can’t Stop the Spring," sung by the traditional folk group, Dervish, from ending the contest with the dreaded nil points.

The head of RTE’s Eurovision delegation, Julian Vignoles, said he was very disappointed by the outcome and promised a thorough review of the selection process.

“We will be looking at everything and taking stock of opinions before making any decisions about our future approach to Eurovision,” he said.

Journalist John Waters, who co-wrote the song with colleague Tommy Moran, admitted that all involved with the Irish entry were upset. “We were crushed,” he said. “In football manager speak, I am gutted. We tried something completely different, something that represented the ethnic music of Ireland, but it wasn’t what the voters wanted."

The weekend result fuelled controversy about eastern European dominance of the contest and of “bloc voting” by Balkan countries. The UK, France, Germany and Spain - the ‘big four’ of Eurovision, so called because they pay much larger fees for participation - all finished bottom of the scoring chart. The UK entry, "Flying the Flag," ended in second last place, winning points only from Ireland and Malta.

In contrast, Serbia, the ultimate winner, was well supported by its neighbours, all of them awarding its entry the maximum 12 points. But Serbia also received high votes from other European countries, such as Switzerland, Hungary, Sweden and the host country, Finland, while the Irish gave 12 points to Lithuania, 10 to Latvia and eight to Ukraine.

Songwriter Waters dismissed claims of voting pacts. “There is clearly a cultural affinity at work,” he said. “But while western Europe has experienced 50 years of pop music, that experience is only growing now in the east, and being embraced enthusiastically.”

Meanwhile, as the Irish lick their wounds, bookmakers are offering odds of 5-1 that three-times Eurovision winner Johnny Logan will be recalled to represent the country in next year’s contest.

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