Road to Eurovision 2022: Week 2 – Greece, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Netherlands (semi-final 1, part 2)

What is the Eurovision Song Contest?Started way back in 1956 as a way of drawing a fractured Europe back together with the healing power of music, the Eurovision Song Contest, or Concours Eurovision de la Chanson – the contest is telecast in both English and French – is open to Continue Reading

Songs, songs and more songs #63: Jordan Stephens, Florence + The Machine, Dayglow, Mabel + SIGALA +++ Eurovision 2022 update!

I have just recovered from COVID. After being so careful about where I’d go and who I’d go there with, catching the disease was a massive downer, not least because it laid waste to my life, even with all those wonderful vaccinations – get vaxxed people! – but because suddenly Continue Reading

Road to Eurovision 2022: Week 1 – Albania, Armenia, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark (semi-final 1, part 1)

What is the Eurovision Song Contest?Started way back in 1956 as a way of drawing a fractured Europe back together with the healing power of music, the Eurovision Song Contest, or Concours Eurovision de la Chanson – the contest is telecast in both English and French – is open to Continue Reading

Eurovision update: Russia out, new artists selected and Australia Decides

It has not been the world’s finest week … and that’s putting it mildly. Even as the COVID pandemic continues to stalk the world, Russia invaded Ukraine after weeks of military posturing at the border, plunging the emerging Western liberal democracy into a hellhole not even remotely of its making. Continue Reading

Songs, songs and more songs #61: Genesis Owusu, Dune Rats, Moonchild Sanelly & Sad Night Dynamite, Alewya, Holly Humberstone + Eurovision 2022 update

Music moves you. Maybe it’s the beat or what’s being said or a gloriously good combo of the two but whatever it is that presses your buttons in a good way, it’s true that music makes life a whole lot richer, more thoughtful and way more danceable and alive. These Continue Reading

Songs, songs and more songs #56: Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Ben Zaidi, Holly Humberstone, Ty Segall, Sipper + September #Eurovision update

Life, huh? It’s good, it’s bad, it’s joyous, it is most certainly not and yet one thing we can all agree on is that it is complex and just waiting for insightful, creative souls to capture in all its contradictory glory. These five artists or groups have done and then Continue Reading