23rd May: Eurovision Song Contest

The Eurovision song contest Final will be held in Vienna tonight. Here are 10 things you may not know about the Eurovision Song Contest.

1. The first contest was held in May 1956. It took place in Switzerland with seven countries taking part and each performing two songs. We don't know how anybody voted because no recording of the event exists, but we do know that Switzerland won. Eurovision means a contest which is broadcast on the Eurovision television network, which is why countries like Israel and Morocco can take part even though they are not technically in Europe. In 2015, Australia is taking part as a one off guest contestant.
2. The contest was originally intended to unite countries through song, although politics tends to creep in with traditional allies voting for each other. Some countries refuse to take part because Israel does, or because they have been told they cannot block out the Israeli song. In 1978, Jordanian television showed a bunch of Daffodils when the Israeli entry won, and claimed that Belgium, who came second, had won.
3. There are a number of rules. Songs can be no longer than 3 minutes and only six people are allowed on stage during the performance, including dancers. Until 1971, groups of more than three were not allowed - if that had not changed, neither ABBA or Buck's Fizz could have even entered. Instrumental pieces are not allowed, and animals are not allowed on stage. Countries are free to enter singers of any nationality. The songwriters are supposed to be natives but this isn't strictly enforced.
4. Ireland holds the record for the most wins (seven), with Luxembourg, France, Sweden and the United Kingdom hot on their heels with five wins each. Eurovision is a colourful spectacle, but the most winning colour to be worn by contestants is white. Seven of the winners wore white, more than any other colour. The language most likely to win is English - songs performed in English have won 26 times. In 1969 there was a tie between France, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom.
5. The least successful country is Norway, who have come last eleven times. They have won more recently than the UK have, though. Portugal, despite competing since 1964, have yet to enter a winning song. Other nations who have been competing for over 20 years and are still waiting for a win are Malta, Cyprus and Iceland. No country has yet won after performing second in the line-up.
6. The contest always begins with the fanfare Prelude To Te Deum by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, which has become known as the "Eurovision Anthem".
7. The youngest ever entrant was Sandra Kim from Belgium who won in 1986 at just 13. The oldest was Emil Ramsauer, 95, from Switzerland, not Englebert Humperdinck, 78.
8. In 1974, the UK did not score ABBA any points.
9. Some Eurovision firsts - the UK's first win was in 1967 (Sandie Shaw singing Puppet on a String. She confessed later that she hated the song from the moment she first heard it. She said it was "sexist drivel and a cuckoo-clock tune"). The first contest to be broadcast in colour was in 1968 from the Royal Albert Hall. The first black contestant was the Netherland's Millie Scott in 1966. The only black winner so far is Dave Benton (one half of Estonia's Tanel & Dave in 2001).
10. Some of the wackiest entries: Spain's La La La, which won in 1968, contained no fewer than 138 'las'. Norway's 1980 song was about the construction of a hydro-electric power station. France's 2014 song was about a man trying to grow a moustache and in 2013 Sweden's Petra Mede sang about Ikea, Abba, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, recycling and the fashion retailer H&M.

My Books:

Death and Faxes

Several women have been found murdered - it looks like the work of a ruthless serial killer. Psychic medium Maggie Flynn is one of the resources DI Jamie Swan has come to value in such cases - but Maggie is dead, leaving him with only the telephone number of the woman she saw as her successor, her granddaughter, Tabitha Drake.

Tabitha, grief-stricken by Maggie's death and suffering a crisis of confidence in her ability, wants nothing to do with solving murder cases. She wants to hold on to her job and find Mr Right (not necessarily in that order); so when DI Swan first contacts her, she refuses to get involved.

The ghosts of the victims have other ideas. They are anxious for the killer to be caught and for names to be cleared - and they won't leave Tabitha alone. It isn't long before Tabitha is drawn in so deeply that her own life is on the line.

Paperback - CreateSpace or Amazon 

Or get the E-book: Amazon Kindle (Where you can use the "Look Inside" function and read the first few pages for free!)

Glastonbury Swan

Every few weeks, there is a mysterious death in Glastonbury. They seem completely unrelated - an apparent suicide, a hit and run, a drug overdose, a magic act which goes horribly wrong - but is that what the killer wants people to think?

The police are certainly convinced - but one of the victims is communicating to medium Tabitha Drake that the deaths are linked.

Who is killing all these people and why? 

This is what Tabitha has to figure out - before it is too late to save someone very dear to her.

Paperback CreateSpace or Amazon

E-book Amazon Kindle