This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours

Ray of Light

Catatonia's International Velvet may have been the main stay on my Walkman as I went about delivering papers in early 1998, but Madonna's Ray of Light album was equally important on my boombox (yes, I had a boombox). Frozen and the Ray of Light single were always on the radio too and remind me of driving around with my Mum to Snodland and Tunbridge Wells.


Frozen was there in the cold winter months of 1998, when depression was rising and my first crush was blooming. Ray of Light came along when the first crush was over and summer had arrived, playing on the radio during my work experience at Saga that year.



Two songs that practically defined my 1998 (and cemented my love for Madonna which was first born in the 1980s when I LOVED Holiday when I was Tiny Jae).

Plus the other songs on this album like Candy Perfume Girl, Nothing Really Matters and the Power of Goodbye are epically good.

Brimful of Asha

There was one song that you could not escape in 1998. Brimful of Asha.



This was my soundtrack for that summer. It was EVERYWHERE. Definitely mixed up with my emerging crushes on guys at school at the time, hearing it now gives me a sense of warmth and happiness. It also reminds me of solitude as my thoughts were very much turned inward at the time even as I was laying the foundations for friendships that'd soon come to dominate the next few years of my life.

Mulder and Scully

Catatonia would end up becoming one of my top ten music acts. I was a HUGE X-Files fan in the 90s so anything even remotely related was always going to find a warm place in y heart.

This song is very closely linked in my mind to my paper round, cold February mornings and my first crush. I used to play it, often unsuccessfully, on my Sony CD Walkman as I cycled/raced around my paper route. It's got a dark, melancholic feel to it that really tied up well with my depressive teenage angst motif.

This and Road Rage really were part of the soundtrack to 1998 and 1999 for me. I'm pretty sure my much missed Auntie Melly was the one to buy me International Velvet so, again, it's important to me in a big way.

Whenever I need a comfort blanket, something dark but warm, to see me through a terrible day... this is that comfort blanket. When I listen to this I can almost feel the weight of my paper bag on my shoulder and smell the damp gardens of Lynwood. It's like a sort of time travel.

Eurovision 2013: Austria

Natália Kelly is doing the honours for Austria this year with "Shine"



A good song, a great voice but seems to lack the sort of "hook" that I tend to like. I'm a man of very simple tastes. Doesn't feel like a winner to me.

Eurovision 2013: Finland

Krista Siegfrids is representing Finland with Marry Me. I'm not ashamed to say that I am absolutely loving this one. Upbeat, very early Noughties vibe (a bit Avril Lavigne meets Katy Perry) and it is the sort of song that I pretend I don't like normally.

Eurovision 2013: Lithuania

Andrius Pojavis' Something is Lithuania's entry into the Eurovision Song Contest 2013



It's not just me is it? He can't sing, right? Good, glad it wasn't just me...

Ben Ivory: The Righteous Ones From Germany's "Song For Malmo"

As I begin to pay more attention to Eurovision (just 4 months to go people!) I tend to pick up on a few good songs from the national selections. But this one is something special. Ben Ivory is in the running for Germany's nomination to go to Malmo in May and his entry "The Righteous Ones" is truly awesome. Very 80s.

Eurovision 2013: Ukraine

Zlata Ognevich's "Gravity" is the Ukrainian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2013.



The land of Ruslana, Verka and Svetlana has given us some absolutely fantastic Eurovision tunes in the past. This is absolutely not one of them. I hate this song. I was already politically against the Ukraine after their moves to copy St. Petersburg's anti-gay laws, but with this song I don't even need to vote politically. BORING.

Eurovision 2013: Belgium

Roberto Bellarosa's Love Kills is Belgium's Eurovision Song Contest 2013 entry.



Cute but I really don't like this one. It is just a bit nothingy. Poor show Belgium

Eurovision 2013: Belarus

Alyona Lanskaya's Rhythm Of Love is the Belarussian entry for Eurovision Song Contest 2013



Plus points: I love what the male dancers are wearing. A nice poppy tune.

Negative points: She has a terrible voice. Belarus is not free! Check our Liberal Youth's Bears for Belarus.

Eurovision 2013: Switzerland

Heilsarmee - You and Me is Switzerland's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2013



In the interest of being fair, and in the spirit of Eurovision, I shall put aside my reservations about the Salvation Army and give this due consideration.

I'll admit I've always had a weakness for Swiss entries, and this one is pretty good (for a Eurovision song). However it seems to lack a hook and I can't quite help thinking it comes over a little flat. They might put on a good show in the semi-finals. You never know!

Eurovision And This Blog

As we continue the retrospective over the 10 years of this blog, it's time to take a look at that one topic that has come round time and again... Eurovision!

The first Eurovision post was a relatively small affair. By the next year it did become a little more coherent.

2004 and 2005 remain unrecorded, due to my year off and my May 2005 move from Folkestone to London interfering. By 2006 things had evolved to point where I was live blogging the show (and even the new-fangled Semi Final). 2007 was the year when things started to get a little out of hand with live blogs of the semi final and the final followed by... analysis!

2008. Eurovision only went and put in TWO semi-finals. So we had both live blog (here and here), plus the final, results analysis and the commentary (where I actually went and called for Terry Wogan to stand down)

2009 toned it down slightly with the semi finals (here and here), the final and some commentary.

2010... I was moving on Eurovision day and watched it later... so no live blog. What a Jae fail! This year I shall do better....

If you feel benevolent and particularly generous, this writer always appreciates things bought for him from his wishlist

The Hot Men Of Melodifestivalen

If you'd like to know my thoughts on Melodifestivalen and Your Country Needs You check my post here, or just keep up to date with Eurovision then check here. This post is dedicated to the hot guys of Sweden's Melodifestivalen 2010

Måns Zelmerlöw

Eric Saade

Dolph Lundgren

Ola Svensson

If you feel benevolent and particularly generous, this writer always appreciates things bought for him from his wishlist

Eurovision: The Retrospective

I hope you, Dear Constant Reader, enjoyed the show last night! Before we put Eurovision to bed for another year, and return to business as usual, it's time for us to look back and see exactly what we thought of the whole affair. Let's begin.

Graham Norton As Commentator

Last year I was pretty happy when Terry Wogan implied he was leaving. His commentary had gone from charming sending up of the contest to deeply cynical and unwarranted attacks upon it.

When Graham Norton was announced as his replacement, I was not totally happy. I imagined his commentary would be little different to the cynical Wogan's. I was wrong. His commentary was decent stuff, funny but not too jaded. Certainly a welcome return to treating the contest as something to smile about rather than cry about.

Well done Mr Norton.

Jade Ewan And Our Entry

So I very reluctantly gave my support to Jade to start off with. I've always said Jade could sing, but the song itself gave me moments for concern. Well, I was wrong. It did us proud yesterday. Jade took us into the top 5 for the first time in 7 years. She has proven that we can score big, as long as we choose the right singer.

Sadly many fans on Twitter last night and even the BBC news report afterwards were rather morose and downbeat about this turn of events. This is absolutely unacceptable. We cannot expect to always win! There's over 40 other Eurovision countries! All we should hope is that we do well and come in to the top tier. Which we did. Aiming to win is not a bad thing but being a poor loser is a very bad thing indeed. Especially when Jade did so well, it's quite unfair to her to dismiss what is in fact a victory as "a creditable performance".

The Winner Is... Norway

Norway are famous for their nil points, but last night their entry took the top spot in a massive landslide. The highest points total ever shows that my opinion was completely not in line with Europe as a whole!

What I thought was a bit of an annoying song, sung by someone I can think of better things to do with than watch on telly, turned out to be the winner of the competition. And who am I to argue with the whole of Europe? :D

The Eastern Question

Feeling somewhat like a lone voice in the wilderness I have been decrying the nonsensical attack upon our Eastern neighbours voting patterns for some time. Thankfully this contest proved (even before the new voting system) that any such concerns were unwarranted (see voting analysis ad nauseum for further evidence!).

The semi final knocked out only a few Western countries whilst those east of the Iron Curtain suffered a decimation. Even last night, with the new voting system, the top two entries were Western and 3 of the top five were. That's despite the fact Western countries are totally outnumbered by former Communist block states. So in your face Terry Wogan and the entire British media establishment.

I'm not saying neighbouring countries don't vote for each other. Ireland and the UK are notorious for it. But that's because of cultural reasons, not political ones, and the only way around it is to do what we did this year: send our entry around Europe, get them on television, and ensure they know we are around. It has paid off handsomely. (If only the BBC had read this blog they'd know I'd been suggesting that for donkey's years! Sending Andy Abraham around UK television studios last year to promote his song was, to be blunt, serving only his future career not the interests of our Eurovision entry)

The Slavic Pride Controversy

I'd be interested to know if any other nations commentators made a mention of the heavy handed tactics of the Moscow police in breaking up a legitimate, if technically illegal, gay pride demonstration. For our part, Graham used a particularly topical comical interval act (just for those of us without adverts!) of singing policeman to mention the one dark mark against the Russian hosting of the contest. It was very little, and I would have preferred more, but at least he got it out there.

The British Response

Does anyone actually like Eurovision in this country anymore? Listening to the semi final commentary from Paddy, the emails he received and our response to Jade's awesome achievement suggest not. All have been lacking any decency, respect or even amusement. Dark and cynical is the best way to describe it. Paddy obviously HATES the competition and the people whose communications were read out seemed to hate it too (why they bothered to watch or write in I don't know!!). Does anyone in this country ever smile? Perhaps we deserve to be broken up, cut off from Europe and made an international pariah. We certainly seem to lack any sense of joy, hope or any positive emotions as a people.

Well I resolutely shall not succumb to this idiocy nor negativity. Jade did it! She might not have won but she brought Eurovision glory back into sight. And the quality of the other entries was at an all time high. 2009 was, possibly, the best Eurovision contest of the decade!

See you here, this time next year. But if you can't wait that long... Asiavision starts selecting in July followed by the first ever Asia-Pacific Song Contest in November! COME ON THAILAND!!!!

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist

The 54th Eurovision Song Contest Final In Moscow - Live Blog

Official Sites: Eurovision, BBC Eurovision. ESCToday

Other Live Blogs: The Guardian, Bill Cameron

Welcome to Eurovision 2009! Not without it's controversies such as the on again/off again Georgian entry and today's abuse of homosexual activists in Moscow. Whilst I suspect acknowledgment of the Russian invasion of Georgia last year is a little too much to ask for, a mention of today's events would be very welcome indeed.

There's a rather Western European theme tonight as our entries have done comparatively well considering we are vastly out numbered by countries from the East of the old Iron Curtain in the competition as a whole. Of course you won't hear that on the news, as everyone is soooo obsessed with Eastern domination.

Not only is there a change in voting (details plus all artists videos here) but also a rather huge change for us Brits. Terry Wogan has, thankfully, passed his commentating jacket on to a new generation (after last years contest I think it was the best decision for all involved). Graham Norton will be leading the proceedings tonight, and it will be interesting to see how he performs, although those who hope for him to actually like Eurovision might be asking too much.

Anyway... Good luck to Jade!!! Here we go...

20:01 Graham sounds rather reserved, in a good way. Your usual show opening, all costumes and dancing.

20:04 Very impressive Cirque Du Soleil

20:06 Dima looks as cute as ever!! But lip synching? TUT!

20:08 Wow, that was the worst returning performance I've ever seen on Eurovision!

20:10 Thank God. It's not the semi final presenters. Fingers crossed Dimitry still about though!

20:11 Graham, stop talking over the presenters!!!!

Lithuania

"Love" - Sasha Son

I wasn't a big fan of thise last night. He looks very smart, and sings well. But the song is a bit too "Blue" esqe (the band that is!). But a nifty performance nevertheless.

Israel

"There Must Be Another Way" - Noa and Mira Awad

As I said the other day, it's the first Israeli entry I'm not dismissing outright for political reasons. (Yeah, I encourage political voting!). The message is good. The song is good. But the singing is really average. Almost good kareoke rather than of the high standard I'd expect.

France

"Et s'il fallait le faire" - Patricia Kaas

It's the first of the Big 4. Very good. Amazing singing, good song. And it was in French. Always good. Liked it alot.

Sweden

"La voix" Malena Ernman

Viewing this afresh tonight, it is actually rather good isn't it? Liked it.

Croatia

"Lijepa Tena" - Igor Cukrov feat. Andrea

Yeah, it's alright. But I don't really like it myself.

Portugal

"Todas as ruas do amor" - Flor-de-Lis

Very good. Very summery and upbeat.

Iceland

"Is It True?" - Yohanna

Good song, good singer, should do well. IS IT TRUE??? But Iceland really don't want to win... how would they afford it?!

Greece

"This is our night" - Sakis Rouvas

There were nipples. There was dancing. There was Sakis, Mr Eurovision himself. Gotta be in the top ten for me.

Armenia

"Jan Jan" - Inga and Anush

I don't know. I thought I was in a very forgiving mood for the semi finals, but on second viewing I am even more ready to like these songs. Brilliant song, singing not so much but the outfits and the dancing almost made up for that deficiency.

Russia

"Mamo" - Anastasiya Prikhodko

After what happened in Moscow today, I think we should all do raspberries through this song. And it's not brilliant either.

Azerbaijan

"Always" - AySel and Arash

Again more forgiving. Liked this a lot tonight, very Eurovision. Maybe it's because most of my favourite are gone and I'm very these with less prejudice than before.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

"Bistra Voda" - Regina

Good singing, but the song is soooo boring.

We are not treated to Dimitry during the break, instead a "light hearted" look at singing policeman which allowed Graham to mention the pride incident! In your face Russia!

Moldova

"Hora din Moldova" - Nelly Ciobanu

Fun song, with Steve's favourite dancers, but difficult to sing along to. Not that I tried... ;)

Malta

"What If We" - Chiara

Oh here she is again... 3rd time lucky! I actually really love this song, and not just because Malta have always been generous with their votes to the UK. She can certainly sing, and this song shows that off.

Love you Malta!

Estonia

"Rändajad" - Urban Symphony

Another great song, another good performance. Not going to get my vote but I'll be listening to it again.

Denmark

"Believe Again" - Niels Brinck

Too much of Ronan Keating in this song. The sound, the lyrics, all too Ronan for me.

Germany

"Miss Kiss Kiss Bang" - Alex Swings Oscar Sings!

Love the song. Really very good. Shame about the glittery trousers...

Turkey

"Düm Tek Tek" - Hadise

My favourite all along. Sadly the singing here let it down... big time... :(

Albania

"Carry Me In Your Dreams" - Kejsi Tola

I do like this song. Very good... Graham and Twitterers seem really down on this... I don't know why.

Norway

"Fairytale" - Alexander Rybak

Hmm... it's a bit annoying this song. But then I just imagine Alexander and myself in an orchard frolicing naked and all is forgiven. Sorry for the images there Dear Constant Reader.

I wish someone had told him this was not a speaking contest.

Ukraine

"Be My Valentine! (Anti-Crisis Girl)" - Svetlana Loboda

It's crazy. It's the Ukraine! What does one expect? Men in silver Roman centurion outfits, crazy set, brilliant chorus. I like it in a "I wouldn't vote for it in a million years" sort of way.

Romania

"The Balkan Girls" - Elena

Hmm.. good song but the dodgy singing arrangements left me cold.

United Kingdom

"It's My Time" - Jade Ewan

It's my country. Not my choice of song, but Jade is, as always, amazing. Did the Lord need to be there? He looked a mess and made us look tacky! Might as well have had me up on the stage.

Finland

"Lose Control" - Waldo's People

Jesus, did I have some happy juice today? At the semi final I decried this as "eurorap" but loved it this evening!

Spain

"La noche es para mí" - Soraya Arnelas

Hmm... not as good as in the video. The singing let it down BUT vast improvement on last few Spanish entries.

Voting

I'll be voting for Malta who have snuck past Turkey to steal my affections. Esctoday have their top ten as:

1. Norway
2. Turkey
3. Greece
4. Azerbaijan
5. Iceland
6. Bosnia & Herzegovina
7. United Kingdom
8. Ukraine
9. France
10. Estonia

It'll be interesting to see how that pans out.

This year, as a seasoned Eurovision viewer, I have been totally shocked by the high quality of songs this year. Going to be difficult to call, especially with the new voting.

That was the most crazy interval act ever!! Swimming pools in the sky.

Here we go...

Spain gives us 10 points!!!!! We love you Spain!!!
No points for us from Belgium (BOOO)
Belarus gives us 3 points! WOOOO...
Malta gives us 10 points!!! WOOOOOO... best showing for ages!
Germany gives us 8 points! YAYYYY!
The Czech Republic gives us 6 points!!! Love to Prague!
Sweden. No more love for you!
Iceland... grr.. the Scandanavians.
France gives us 4 points.. :D
Israel gives us 4 points. Send them some weapons!!!
Russia gives us 6 points but they are not forgiven!!!
Latvia gives us 2. Who would have thought this could be though of as an insult???? We would have loved 2 points this time last year.
Montenegro shock everyone. Or not. No points.
Andorra gives us 4 points! YAY!
Finland. Nada.
Switzerland. Nada. Off the Christmas list.
Bulgaria. 7 points. We love Sofia.
Lithuania give us 3 points. :D
We give 12 points to Turkey woooo...
Macedonia give us 6 points. Wooo..

I'm stopping this, as really Jade has already done us proud!!!!!! :D See you at the end of voting.

Norway won by a landslide, but that was a sure thing. We came 5th!!!! We are back Europe!! WOOOOO....

see you tomorrow for my thoughts on the winner, Graham and Jade!

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlistzz

Eurovision: One More Sleep

For all the videos and songs of the contest check out this page.

So I'm keeping this post positive, moaning can wait until after the contest is finished. Instead... here's a look forward to who I really like:

Greece

If there is a song other than the UK's that I want to win, then it's Sakis Rouva's "This Is Our Night". Fun, well sung, brilliant lively performance and a stunningly gorgeous Sakis. I mean, how can you get any better? Well you could have lots of half naked Roman gladiators like...

Ukraine

My pick of the weird ones is "Be My Valentine! (Anti-Crisis Girl)" - Svetlana Loboda. Hunky backing dancers and a good tune. Gotta love it.

Turkey

I haven't liked Turkey as much as since since Sertab graced our screens and won the contest. "Düm Tek Tek" - Hadise is really catchy.

Out of the non Semi Final countries my pick is:

Germany

Love the swing "Miss Kiss Kiss Bang" - Alex Swings Oscar Sings

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist

It's Eurovision Week!!!

Boris the Bearded Dragon is no more! He is now Gibbs the Bearded Dragon, a renaming decision taken whilst Jim and I took a walk in Greenwich Park yesterday morning. Gibbs is, of course, named after the main character in NCIS, a show dear to Jim’s heart. He is amazingly placid, taking food from Jim’s hand and really not getting to stressed out even when things are being moved around in his vivarium. Based on the short experience so far it has to be said Bearded Dragons make great pets!

In a worrying move, I rediscovered Second Life yesterday. I had deleted most Second Life stuff from blog reader but Massively remained in there for some reason and it reminded me yesterday of my former obsession with SL. I spent the whole day yesterday ignoring Jim and Sling. I will try to control this as much as possible… thankfully this week there is a distraction….

It’s Eurovision week!!! Tomorrow is the first semi-final and so, for my sins, I’ve spent the evening listening to all the Eurovision songs so you don't have to! Here's my picks:

Bulgaria is very eighties, both in the song and the video, I quite liked it.

The Czech Republic's song is awesome!!

Ireland!!! I love you, finally it's a song that is not even REALLY BORING or stupid. Yay!!

Montenegro's song is the sort of song I'd listen to over and over on my iPod.

Poland's entry is surprisingly good.


Switzerland is rather cool this year.

Turkey is one to watch. Crazy for you!

See you tomorrow, for the first Semi Final. All songs can be found on my Eurovision page

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist

Trust Me, You'll Be Seeing This A Lot More

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist

I'm Dreaming Of A Way Out Of The Rat Race... Still

Yeah. Working sucks doesn't it? Why can't I just be a pimp or the guy at Makro who checks your receipt before you leave? Those are the sort of cushy jobs designed for a lazy arsed bastard like me. Thanks to the person who surfed to Amazon through a link from this blog and purchased a Britney Spears CD... you just earnt yourself a Jae Kay Merit Badge...

I feel so gay. That's how I'd describe it... a sudden renewed interest in men, my liking for camp pop music returned and my interest in gay politics refreshed... all since Friday. Well renewed interest in men means less subtle perving. ;)

Thanks to Jim (and Patrickblog) I'm in love with the Veronicas and Lady Gaga (Boys Boys Boys is awesome and Paparazzi rocks my socks soooo much!). New Zealand's finest.



And the rejection of Proposition 8 in California has served as timely reminder why we need to continue the long fight for freedom against the oppressive. Jim showed me the video below yesterday and I just thought; that's your argument against gay marriage??? Wow. Stupid...



I feel sorry for folks who believe that Catholic charities removing their services is a bad thing!!! Catholics + Children = ? I'll let you be the judge of that one but personally I think adoption services by Catholics are probably a lot more dodgy than gay adoptions...