Eurovision song contest: Eurovision Past and Present

Eurovision is almost upon us again. Living in the UK and having experienced the Eurovision Song Contest, since I was a child, I tend to forget that it is not a universal show. Having said that, it is shown around the world, and not just in those countries competing for the Eurovision Title.

Since Eurovision was created in 1956 the show has grown, annoyed, entertained, adapted and survived.

Love it or loathe it, Eurovision is an annual event that seems unstoppable.

In the past, the UK had a fairly mixed success in Eurovision. Somewhere along the line though, we just sort of lost the plot. I think it was way back in 1967, when Sandie Shaw became the first UK winner. Her song entry was Puppet on a String, and the UK thought it had the winning formula.

Each successive year saw the UK's entry being a bouncy, upbeat number, in much the same vein as Puppet on a String. For a while this worked but nothing lasts forever, does it?

With entries such as Lulu singing Boom Bang A Bang, the UK ultimately became the pits, as far as Eurovision was concerned.

Other countries treat the Eurovision contest more seriously and often entered famous performers with excellent songs.

I first realised how differently other nationalities viewed Eurovision, when I was on holiday on the Greek Island of Rhodes. Being invited to watch the contest with the Greek family who run a local taverna, was an eye opener. These lovely people took the competition so seriously and rallied behind their entry.

Over the years there has been strategic voting' which has dogged the contest. For example' Greece and Cyprus always award their top vote to each other, no matter what the entry is like. In more recent years countries such as Croatia and Serbia Herzogovina have entered the contest and always vote for each other. It may simply be that they appreciate the same type of music, but who really knows.

In an effort to at least score some points, the UK has tried various revamps. In 2009 our entry came 5th. For that year the BBC teamed up with Graham Norton and Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber in order to try and get a respectable result. It seemed to work.

This year we have tried something similar and only time will tell.

Eurovision 2010 is the 55th annual contest and it will be held in Oslo, on Saturday 29th May 2010. These days there are semi finals and not every country takes place each year. Oslo is the host for 2010, as Norway won the 2009 contest. It is a long time since the UK played host. In fact the last time was in 1998, as Katrina and The Waves had won in 1997 performing Let Love Shine A Light.

I wonder if we will be playing host in 2011?

Having heard this year's entry I doubt it.

There I go again though. We Brits are so negative about Eurovision perhaps we get the failures that we deserve.