Eurovision Song Contes [Import]

Transvestites, glam rock, opera and vampires. It must be The Eurovision Song Contest again.

This year, a record breaking 42 countries will compete to win the Eurovision title and this CD contains all the entries. What's striking about this year's songs is that there is so much variety! There's really something for everyone and very obviously worth getting.

This year's hosts are Finland after Lordi's victorious win last year, and their entry "Leave Me Alone" leans more towards Evanescence than monsters - it's still rock-chick nonetheless! Unsurprisingly, there's plenty of guitars this year. Andorra have a Busted-esque entry, Czech Republic debut with a very old rock band performing a very dull rock song, Iceland have a big 80s rock ballad whilst the French entry has been described as a bit indie!

There's plenty of normal Eurovision fodder though. Dance music is the key in Cyprus' high NRG track, the Bulgarian entry sounds like 2 Unlimited on speed and the Turkish entry is highly funky with a touch of the Justin Timberlake about it. My personal tip though is Russia's dancey "Song #1" performed by girlband Serebro. It's arguably the most contemporary thing on offer and wouldn't sound out of place in the Sugababes' back catalogue.

Switzerland are the favourites with the bookies though with DJ Bobo's dance track "Vampires Are Alive". It's not a bad effort, and if monsters can conquer, why can't vampires...?

On the slower side of things, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia and Armenia have all sent typical moody and melodic Balkan ballads. Lithuania's entry is a very laidback affair with Spanish guitar and a spangly production making it beautifully chilled out. Ireland have chosen the traditional Irish band Dervish to represent them with a very Celtic song which starts slow but gets more jig like by the end!

And what about pop? Well the UK is positively the cheesiest thing on offer but may not be everybody's cup of tea. Spain's boyband have a slightly mediocre effort, the Greek song sounds like Ricky Martin, and the Dutch entry sounds like "One Day In Your Life" by Anastacia! And if you want to get transported back to the 1970s then don't worry - Belgium's "Love Power" borrows more than a hint of Earth, Wind & Fire, whilst Sweden's glam rockers The Ark could be a big hit with their boogaloo song.

Transvestite fans can rejoice in the fact that there are two this year! Denmark's DQ goes along the stereotypical route with his glamorous "Drama Queen" while the highly eccentric Verka Serduchka takes to the stage with "Dancing Lasha Tumbai" for Ukraine. It's a very ridiculous song but could be highly dangerous and is a serious tip for the top.

If you like your music more traditional well fear not! Latvia's bonoparti.lv can fill the void that G4 leave with their popera song, and Slovenia has a strong soprano banging out a solid dance track. Germany's Roger Cicero hopes to bring them victory with his brilliant swing-jazz effort, while the blues are aired in the highly emotional Hungarian entry!

I think I've covered the basics, but there's still plenty of other tracks to listen to on this album. Eurovision's such a rare opportunity to hear so many different sounds from all across Europe and I say buy this now, you will not regret it!

The annual Eurovision Song Contest was well hosted by Finland this year and as usual there was a great mixture on talent on display. The CD is a well documented collection of all the songs from the Semi Final and Final from this year's competition. But really there are only a few songs that deserve your musical attention, and there are more than a few that are distinctly below average, for which you will need to employ the skip button on your CD player !!

Finland, Norway, Moldova, Switzerland, Cyprus, Greece and maybe Estonia are definitely worth a listen and represent the pick of the bunch, while Denmark and Ukraine represent the 'fun' spirit of the Contest.

But this is only my humble opinion. Why not buy the CD and you can be 'making your mind up' about the tracks ! Bon chance ;o)

For years the Finns had said that hell would freeze over before Finland won the Eurovision Song Contest. Yet after 45 years of failure, and thanks to monster rockers Lordi's win the previous year, Helsinki was finally hosting the annual Europop marathon. A record 42 nations turned up to the party, joined by first timers Georgia, Czech Republic and the newly divorced Montenegro and Serbia.

Sweden sent one of its biggest bands, retro boogaloo glam rockers The Ark, Switzerland their pan-European chart regular DJ BoBo and his singing vampires, and Germany its jazz/swing crooner Roger Cicero. Other curiosities among the lucky dip of musical styles were a trad Irish folk combo, a Finnish goth rock chick, Catalan pop punk, Hungarian blues, top-hatted opera tenors from Latvia singing in Italian, French language synth pop from Cyprus and more operatic pop, this time form Slovenia. Oh, and a Danish drag queen and cross dressing Ukrainian comedy act.

Although highly entertaining the 2007 edition of the show saw the loudest howls of protest yet over perceived voting unfairness, graphically highlighted by not a single Western European nation managing to qualify from the semi for the final. Serbia's win, with a brooding, Sapphic Balkan ballad that subsquently failed to set the charts of Europe alight, only fuelled the perception that the show was heading inexorably East. Still, voting reservations aside, the class of 2007 was high quality, and anyone claiming not to find a few gems among them certainly isn't listening without prejudice.