Eurovision: UPDATE

It was the big day tonight. We hadn't been desperate to see it, but were a bit curious. We went out at about 10.30, heading off towards Anton Martín Metro station. There was supposed to be some live music happening at a bar near there, but it turned out to be not happening tonight. So we wandered around for a bit and finished up at an Irish bar, whose name is completely not Irish, but they had Eurovision on one of their tellies.

We'd missed the main show, and it was just entering the results phase. I wasn't too worried about missing the actual performances - I've seen most of them on YouTube, and it's the same old same old. It was interesting, though, to see the blatant block-voting favouritism. The Balkan states all voted for each other. Likewise the Scandiwegians (the people at the table in front of us all cheered whenever Norway got a vote). And the Iberians - Spain's Chikilecuatre got good marks from Portugal and Andorra.

I know Eurovision is not the same as the European Union, but it still stretches the imagination a bit that countries like Israel and Azerbaijan and Georgia are included. Anyhoo. Russia won. Spain came about 14th (out of about 24). Not bad considering it was a joke entry. And the UK came last! I knew their entry was terrible, but didn't expect it to do quite so badly - possibly to do with the fallout from the Crewe by-election and the staggering unpopularity of Wee Gordy Broon. Or maybe the shortage of land borders with other countries (I missed both the UK and Ireland votes).

>>End of update.

It's the big day tomorrow; the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Spain's main opponent (Dustin The Turkey from Ireland) was tragically and unfairly knocked out in the semi-final a few days ago. So this leaves a clear path to glory for Rodolfo Chikilecuatre with his excellent song 'Bailar Chiki Chiki', or at least it would do if any of the anonymous judges had a sense of humour. Ah well, the winner will probably be someone like FYR Fruit Salad Macedonia. Videos of these excellent songs are here.

We won't be watching the show at home, for the simple reason that we do not have a television. We decided not to ship our caravan-sized set from Dubai, and reckoned we'd get a new one when we got settled here. But the general tightness of money and endless spate of robberies meant that the project was delayed somewhat. Anyway, we haven't been robbed for a couple of months now (yayy!), so there's a bit of spare cash, and a shiny black TV designed by the bloke who did Darth Vader's helmet is winging it's way to us as I write.

I've also been trying to find a replacement for our combination microwave/grill/convection oven which we did ship from Dubai, but which stopped working just before Christmas. Puzzlingly, none of the shops in Madrid sell these. I even asked the assistant at one of them if they could source such a thing. I might as well have asked him for a grilled stoat bocadillo. They all have microwaves with grills, and some of them have table-top ovens, but none have the full combination. Most strange.

I have found an online shopping service, though. They will buy anything you like from a range of British stores, and ship it to Spain. I've asked them for a quote, and will not be surprised if the shipping costs more than the oven (damn heavy things, mirowaves: which is odd, considering how small the waves are). If any of my Spanish readers have any ideas about where I might find a combi oven in Madrid, please let me know.

¡Bailar Chiki-Chiki!