Sandra Harris Writes

EUROVISION 2026: AND THE WINNER IS... BY SANDRA HARRIS. Well, it's all over now for another year. And what's another year, lol. This year's Eurovision, held in Vienna, Austria, was probably one of the most controversial ever, due to the continued presence of Israel in the singing contest, but it seems to all have passed off without incident, thank God. Ireland was one of five countries who boycotted the competition this year because of Israel's participation- the others were Spain, Iceland, Slovenia and the Netherlands. RTE, Ireland's state broadcaster, didn't even show the competition on television last Saturday night, so I had to get my yearly fix of Eurosong from the BBC. Graham Norton was the Beeb's presenter for the night. He's Irish himself, but, like, he's owned by England now, lol. I wasn't particularly disappointed that Ireland wasn't in it, as we haven't had good entries for a few years now, not like the g...

  DUBLIN CALLING… MUSINGS ON EUROVISION 2024. BY SANDRA HARRIS. © Jiminy Jellikers! This year’s Eurovision Song Contest was the most exciting in years, for a myriad of mad- and sad- reasons. My kids and I were completely wiped out with exhaustion by the end of Saturday night, after four of the most intense hours of television so far this year, and that’s not even taking into account all the shenanigans and news accounts and rumours we were all keeping track off in the run-up to the contest. Would the contest ban Israel from performing because of the war in Gaza? Would Israel pull out themselves, after all the bad vibes and hostility from protestors who made their presence known in Malmo in the days before the world’s biggest singing competition was due to take place? Would Israel’s act be booed on the night, or would pro-Palestinian activists rush the stage armed with red paint and smoke bombs? In the end, the Israeli act, the song HURRICANE , performed powerfully by a gor...