1976 called

We are quickly approaching the date of the Eurovision Song Contest, and so I'm anxious to hear the entries from the United Kingdom and Sweden. Sweden doesn't just have one show to pick their winning song to send on to the competition. Oh no. It's now a 4 part show to determine some of the finalists, plus a "second chance" show, then a final to choose the actual song which will compete. The final show is this Saturday. According to an informal poll on the Swedish Television website, the favorite to win is E.M.D. with Baby Goodbye. Oh I hope not. The song is OK, but the performance is just too cringe-inducing.

And what is with the song Snälla, Snälla by Caroline af Ugglas? With all those competitions, how in the world did this train wreck make it to the final round?? Didn't anyone think that the object was to send a song that actually might have some sort of appeal? If this one wins, I predict Sweden might get a few sympathy votes from Norway or Denmark, but that would be all.

Another puzzling finalist is Malena Ernman. What in the name of heaven is going on there? The entire thing is such a horrible mis-mash -- English lyrics, French (I think) lyrics, pseudo-operatic warbling, bizarre choreography -- the horror never ends.

Hey Agnes! 1976 called. They want their gold lamé bodysuit back . . .

My favorite performer of the bunch is Sarah Dawn Finer. She has the best voice, but unfortunately, the song is nothing to write home about. I like the poppy dance tunes by Alcazar and Måns Zelmerlöw, so that means they probably have no chance!

The British gossip site Popbitch is predicting Norway will win the Eurovision Song Contest this year. I don't know what they're smoking over there at Popbitch, but somebody needs an intervention.

In two bits of British celeb news, the Sun is reporting that Peaches Geldof is going to be the subject of a reality series produced by BBCAmerica. You have to wonder who at BBCA thought this would be a good idea. No one in the US knows (or, I would hazard a guess, cares) who she is, and she isn't exactly a ratings topper in the UK, either. On the other hand, the US media is bending over backwards to fawn over Russell Brand. His book was released in the US a few days ago, and he's making the publicity rounds. He gets several favorable mentions in this week's Entertainment Weekly magazine, plus he's going to be featured on NPR's Weekend Edition tomorrow.