VENUE Parken, Copenhagen		ENTRIES 23
HOSTS Natasja Crone Soren Pilmark		DEBUTS None

The Danish presentation was certainly different. The venue was enormous with people able to wander around freely during the songs, and many thousands relying on the giant screens for their view and a standing area that looked suspiciously empty most times the camera panned over it (how annoying given the paucity of tickets for non-locals). The dumb idea award for 2001 went to whoever  decided that the presenters had to speak in rhyming couplets. The novelty wore off after about two minutes. However the stage was fantastic and the production very efficient.

The trend towards 100 percent English language continued with only three songs containing no trace of English, Spain, Israel and Portugal, two of which were relegated. France broke an old taboo by concluding their song in English, one of no less than six countries to mix English with their native tongue. After their dire results in the previous three years, it was good to see both France (4th) and Spain (6th) submitting excellent songs and reaping the rewards. However, I guess we will never know if France, or 3rd place Greece for that matter, would have done even better if their entire song had been in English.

What to make of the result? Well again a crowd-pleasing song won, the "happy happy" song of the night, whilst Norway's "sad sad"  came equal last. One worrying development for the viewer is that the commentators now appear to know the final results before we do. The scores are faxed in a few goes prior to being announced in order to combat fraud. It was clear at least in the UK that Terry Wogan knew the final result a few juries before the end when to all appearances the outcome was still in the balance. This is a worrying development - remember the tension of 1998 and FYR Macedonia's 12 points - that excitement will have gone if the presenters reveal all beforehand. Still, there was some good news this year,  at long last a black singer has won Eurovision, long overdue, Turkey and Greece are swapping votes, and the Scandi-mafia theory was blown away even if the Baltic mafia theory wasn't. However Estonia was a worthy winner and a cool venue for 2002. 

Voting

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British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott assaults a demonstrator during the general election campaign.

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