TIME FOR WOGAN TO STEP DOWN?

So, the longest face in the final since Celine Dion rolled up as a ringer for another country triumphs in Eurovision; and Britain does rubbish again - eighteen points is not attributable solely to the rest of Europe hating Britain; even if we'd actually bombed France and sent Kilroy-Silk to Germany with a megaphone, a half-decent song delivered well might have expected to pull thirty or so marks. Personally, we reckon that Switzerland was robbed, and robbed blind.

The real question, though, isn't why was Britain so bad (the answer is obvious: the qualification round was a circus sideshow, and sending the best of a bad lot just won't do anymore) but why was Wogan so bad? It's become an axiom that "you can't imagine Eurovision without Terry Wogan" but maybe it's time to try. Certainly during the voting round, he added little but the same churning few not-quite-gags: quiet for a while, mention Granny, quiet for a while, moan about the Baltic states voting for each other, quiet for a while, moan about the former Yugoslavian states voting for each other. Of course, it's true that neighbouring countries do support each other, but frankly, thinking about what was happening on the edge of the Adriatic a decade ago, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia and Macedonia sharing fraternal support for each other in a sing-a-long contest is a cause for some joy rather a call to grind axes. Paddy O'Connell did a pretty good job on the semi-final show: maybe he should be given a crack at the big one next year in Athens?

music eurovision terry wogan tv