gt gadabout: Good evening Europe! The votes are in for the Eurovision Song Contest!

Source here

Ah, the year rolls by and before you know it, you have a strange craving for bad pop songs, over the top pyrotechnics and weird and wonderful outfits that can never be worn again in mainstream society. Yes- its Eurovision time again. I use it as a marker for the year, I know when it comes, the year is almost at the half way mark and Winter is approaching, so I look forward to snuggling in for 3 glorious long nights of predictable, unexpected showcasing fun while brushing up on my geography come voting time. What better way to learn who ones neighbour is than when they dish out 12 points to them?
This year, nothing quite got me too excited by the freak show that this can be- thinking back to the glory days of Lordi or Wig Wam, though when Romania's Cezar appeared in a Dracula collared sequined gown, I stood to attention- my mouth remained ajar for the remainder of the performance as he went from singing like a man- to the high pitched squeal of an excited woman at sale time! Very disappointed that he did not progress further, but that's Eurovision for you. One year they surprise you- the next they award another winner wearing no shoes, sitting down with long hair and a poppy tune. Even Greece dishing out free alcohol couldn't compete with that. A few flashbacks did occur with certain countries re-hashing similar tunes to the previous Sweden winner- I'm looking at you Germany, and drums made their comeback as did use of giant props on stage such as perspex boxes, mega disco balls and mega giants carrying teeny tiny women on stage for all but 30 seconds and then disappearing. Oh Igor- how under utilised you were. Hand gestures were big this year- so too was cleavage and a hideous trend of dresses with the fronts cut off way too short that can only look like a disaster in the cutting room upon realising there is a fabric shortage! The gracious and ever popular Swedish host this year, Petra Mede had her fair share of costume changes throughout the evening, supplied by fashions outrageous showman Jean Paul Gaultier. Only the personality of Petra and the high over the top volume that the Eurovision show delivers can bring justice to such designs- the white dress was so large the box it arrived in couldn't even fit through the auditorium doors. I gather it probably needed its own dressing room too! To keep audiences entertained while block votes were being counted, Petra put on a show that highlighted all the offerings of Sweden, most notably, wearing the Ikea colours of Blue and Yellow! I had gone to Ikea earlier that day and was assembling Ikea Kassett boxes during the duration of the show- my poor thumb nimble after tightening all those screws. Bless. I was indeed having a Swedish affair! So, we are off to Denmark next- not far for the crew to pack up and head over to. The countdown clock is already ticking over on the Eurovision site with 361 days left till we gather round for our drinking games and tweeting commentary once more. In Australia we have been watching Eurovision for 30 years now on our TV station SBS, and I haven't missed one yet. It has been a family tradition, and back then, were no commercial breaks so the struggle to decide when to get up and leave to go to the toilet or make that cup of tea was only determined by the poor old slow balled. Now, it's time to reflect, spend the next few weeks with particular songs going on and on in your head- never the ones you want either by the way and then heading on over to itunes to select the ones you wish to hear again. Oh Eurovision- how you fill my year with such colour and joy. I shall miss you. Till 2014!