VENUE The Point, Dublin		ENTRIES 25
HOSTS Cynthia Ni Mhurchu Gerry Ryan		DEBUTS Estonia, Romania, Slovakia, Lithuania, Hungary, Russia, Poland

This contest saw a cataclysmic shift in emphasis as a phalanx of new entrants from Eastern Europe were allowed in at the expense of the countries finishing bottom. It's ironic from a year 2000 perspective that the countries that did least well of these were the Baltic ones, Estonia sending what sounded like a 1970s Finnish entry stuck in a time capsule and Lithuania a guy who looked like a refugee from a leather bar. On the other hand, Poland and Hungary finished in the top 4 but have not come close since.

Interest in Russia was so low that the selection took place on a low-key, late-night music show. The video clip was extremely amateurish too; watch it carefully and Youddiph's head momentarily disappears in mid verse behind a prop. Even so, I had a sneaking regard for the melody. I rang the poll for the OGAE UK magazine and was met with sniggering incredulity when I allotted my douze to Russia. Then the big night: the arrangement, the frock, the whole performance. Yes and don't forget this is the largest country in the whole world here, taking part in Eurovision!. Well, it finished 9th which was good enough for me, and I still love it to bits.

The presentation by RTE was a mixture of the sublime and the ridiculous: the former including a fabulous "city skyline" backdrop and of course the legendary "Riverdance" interval act that became a 90s cultural phenomenon; the latter epitomized by the truly awful Gerry Ryan who seemed hell-bent on out Toto-ing Toto. His command of the French language was bizarre to say the least: "doo pwang!"  

Voting

IN THE NEWS THIS WEEK:

Formula 1 drivers Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger die in separate incidents at the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola.

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