Tonight is the night of nights for inter-European pop-culture. Yes, the contest that launched Abba 30 years ago, Eurovision, will launch a new act to superstardom or, more likely, 15 minutes of fame. For the first time Eurovision is to be held in Turkey. The venue is Abdi Ipekci Stadium on the European (doh!) side of Istanbul. Eurovision 2003 was huge in Turkey as Sertab Erener became the country’s first ever winner for the song “Everyway that I can”. This year’s Turkish participant is the country’s most popular ‘punk’ group, Athena.

According to BBC World Service radio this morning, TRT, the official broadcaster and Turkey’s national television company, was having some technical difficulties with the production. Let’s hope, for the sake of tackiness and bad pop songs, the broadcast will be clear and crisp. Actually, I’m not really concerned how it turns out. I’m not even sure if I’ll watch it.

Who do I think will win?

The singer/group with the highest number of votes. 🙂