by marky » Mon May 18, 2009 8:03 pm
DawZi, until the last decade, we actually had a pretty good record in the Eurovision Song Contest. The introduction of the Balkan & Eastern European nations did create a farcical situation in terms of block voting but I think Saturday's contest with the new system of 50% vote, 50% Jury redressed the balance somewhat. No Eastern European or Balkan nation finished in the top 5 and only 3 in the top 10 (Azerbaijan & Turkey don't really count as Eastern European in my view). I have no doubt that we would probably win if we sent an artist/band with a true pedigree now. Indeed, the Irish, who have a wonderful Eurovision record (but have suffered just like us in recent years and don't have the 'luxury' of automatic qualification for the final), would almost certainly win if they sent Westlife or Boyzone.
As for our public transport... Get away from the oh so popularist derision and it's not so bad. Whilst the likes of Spain, France, Germany, etc have their high speed networks and intergrated light rail systems, somewhere the size of Morecambe, for example, would be lucky to get a couple of peak services each day .
Some are dead and some are living. In my life, I've loved them all.