Haha! I'm not as excited as I was for Odessa but still....

I think the Kyiv venue will produce a show like Vienna. I think the ceiling height might be the main problem where "scale" is concerned.

Physically in the arena? Or metaphorically as a show?

At least they have eventually made a decision! Taken bloody long enough!

What time on Sunday is the deadline?

Dangle the carrot as long as possible, promo the hell out of the rival cities and then just pick Kiev after all. A job well done as far as Visit Ukraine is concerned.

It's a part Swedish hosting, a bunch of them are going over to help with the organisation of the contest.

Oh wow, so they've finally made a decision! It had to be Kiev really, it's the only city with the infrastructure to pull it off. Thankfully they've got some Swedes in to help produce it as it might have been a bit of a shambles otherwise

Well said.

I would've liked to have seen a different city host, but hey, I'm past caring. Just happy that they've finally made a decision instead of postponing it again, and again.

And alcazar on radio 2 now, after hearing Wiktoria in morrisons this morning it's like I'm in some parallel universe

Was it "Crying at the Discotheque"? Radio 2 play it often. Oh speaking of Swedes there was a toy ride at the local shopping centre that played Charlotte Perrelli's 1999 winner "Take me to your heaven" I could not belive my ears!

Yup, it certainly was...I still can't fathom out how Wiktoria got on the morrisons playlist though! Am hoping to hear Panetoz next week 🤓

Hello all! Thought I would pop in with the Kiev news. Right decision I feel, although I didn't realise they changed the dates so thank god I could cancel my hotel for ree. Although that means currently no Eurovision for me next year as hotel costs are a joke now. However have booked hotel for Melfest final so hopefully will be back to Stockholm next March!

Just saw a tweet on this and he means physically. Although Vienna had an even lower roof than Kiev.

I think the dates are still preliminary, but likely

I wanted to go for rehearsal week, looks like I have a mon-fri hotel booking now for the contest week itself

Let's say 6pm.

Anna Vissi - Became more of a strangled key change with Anna giving it everything in the foggy wind tunnel.

Verka Serduchka - Was there a key change? I don't care.

Pastora Soler - Such a dramatic contrast from the Verka craziness. Even my innate aversion to ballads appreciates the class and passion of Pastora.

Marija Serifovic - But sadly the appreciation doesn't stretch to the Balkan dirge of Molitva.

Marta & Vaclav - Hope certainly doesn't die thanks to Gabby. The shoe throwing just tops it all off.

Conchita Wurst - So over this now.

Mihai Traistariu - Mihai rocking the smart casual office party look. Say goodbye to any more Romanian party beats.

Knez - Balkan dad dirge.

Inga & Anush - The Nagorno-Karabakh ethno-laser disco makes me so happy.

Nusa Derenda - Classic Euro-pop. You just can't beat a good crucifix lift. Slovenia should've sent her again with Tip Top.

Maria Elena Kyriakou - Clearly uses very good tape with the power of that wind tunnel. So much angst and passion and then you hear the immortal words "farting tears."

Maja Blagdan - That's where Kaliopi got the inspiration from for the scream. The random interpretive dance interlude gets me every time. It's not bad.

Jalisse - Finally someone enters one of the very small handful of Italian entries I don't dislike.

Jade Ewan - That rare time we actually sent someone that could sing... it could've been Rita Oral instead. The classic key change right there! My favourite part is still when Jade nearly gets knocked out by the violinist. To think this came 5th in one of the strongest years!

Tina Karol - That time when Shakira went undercover. I admire anyone that takes on a note like that! I hope Ukraine brings the fun back in 2017.

Milk & Honey - Ye olde key change.

Lise Darly - Monaco channelling the rousing Disney anthem vibes.

Valentina Monetta - Not so much a key change as a whole song change once Queen Val is having a happy period in her Always advert.

Ira Losco - "I'm down on my knees, waiting for the man to put me under his spell." You won't have to wait long if you're already offering that... Very of its time, but still good and Ira hasn't aged a bit, so jealous!

Bojana Stamenov - Again a key change, song change, but boy was it needed in an almost poppers free year.

Ott Lepland - Fell asleep before the key change.

Luminita Anghel - And now I've woken up for the show stopper, which is essentially Luminita demonstrating why have one key change when you can have a whole 3 minute exhibition of key changes.

Bumping this up cos its like 5 pages back

So this happened. Aminata audition for The Voice Russia and is on Team Lady Gagarina.

I hope this doesn't distract from her writing of the Latvian song next year

She's been at the Eurovision song writing camp so she probably has something up her sleeve

Looks like there will be another round of who will host as Ukraine will have a competition to decide the presenter and one for just about every decision needed to be made

Anna Vissi: This is how you do a Eurovision power ballad, ham it up to the max and screw what anyone else thinks Hearing 15 thousand people singing along to this is one of my most iconic Eurovision memories. I've never known a home crowd get behind their entry this much before or since.

Verka Serduchka: If you can listen to this without foot tapping along then you're clinically dead Only rivalled by the Babushkis for the title of best joke entry ever and the most infectious thing since smallpox.

Pastora Soler: I don't really get why this always makes the top 5 Eurovision songs of all time in that poll escradio do. I do like it but it wasn't even the best ballad that year imo.

Marija Šerifović: I tend not to like Balkan ballads but this song is a spectacular exception. As much as the voting that year was a diaspora dominated shambles it absolutely produced the right winner.

Marta Jandová & Václav Noid Bárta: Andrew Lloyd Webber reject from 1985. The show throwing was the only interesting thing about this tbh.

Conchita Wurst: Again, this is just a pound shop Skyfall really. Wouldn't have won without the beard.

Mihai Traistariu: God I haven't listened to this in ages, what a choon! He may be an arsehole but surely one of the best vocalists we've ever had at the contest.

Knez: Next.

Inga & Anush: I wonder what Azerbaijan thought of Mans' rendition of this at the contest this year Please Armenia, stop taking yourselves so seriously and go back to this kind of thing next year!

Nuša Derenda: This is more 2001 than Britney and Justin in denim on denim matching outfits. And she could flick pages with that nose (I'm allowed to say that as I also have a nose like an anteater).

Maria Elena Kyriakou: Sorry I didn't make it to the key change as I fell asleep about 60 seconds in.

Maja Blagdan: All I can say is...why? To think this screamfest beat Gina G.

Jalisse: One of Italy's best entries for sure. Bit of a forgotten gem.

Jade Ewen: As happy as I was that we did so well it really was only down to LALW being there wasn't it? As a song it's not really any better than Hope Never Dies.

Tina Karol: Dancing cossacks with tambourines? I'm sold instantly I just love everything about this.

Milk & Honey: One of my favourite old-school entries, with not one, not two, but three key changes. Just gorgeous.

Lise Darly: This would have sounded dated in 1975 never mind 2005. I'm not surprised Monaco's comeback only lasted 3 years as they just didn't get modern Eurovision at all sadly.

Valentina Monetta: If I'm in the mood for this I listen to the studio version as the performance is just a bit odd. 11th in the semi was probably about right but it's still an enjoyable 3 minutes.

Ira Losco: Are we sure this is the same person or was that just an imposter this year? This is actually a really pretty song, it's easy to see why it almost won.

Bojana Stamenov: This was one of those songs that I never really got until I saw it live. Our Ginger Minj lookalike sang the everlasting shit out of this and it was one of the moments of last year's contest for me

Ott Lepland: His voice just gets me every time. I don't think it's an exaggeration to call this one of the greatest performances in Eurovision history.

Luminita Anghel & Sistem: What a way to finish the playlist, another of my favourite entries of all time. This and MaNga are proof that you can never go wrong with an angle grinder.

My favourite playlist in a long time, good work everyone

Poor Aminata to be coached by someone who only placed 4 places above you.

I agree with this; it's still so frustrating. It's not a brilliant song but we did show Europe we were taking it seriously that year and if we'd continued we'd be well out of the rut we're in by now.... instead all that good work was undone the next year and it showed Europe that even if we do make a gesture one year they can't trust us to keep it up.

Only 11 entries so far. More please!

I will vote tomorrow geeky, I'm just having a shit week