On Wednesday on was a panellist on Up Front, internet TV station 18 Doughty Street’s daily half-hour news discussion show. It was my first time on the programme – having previously been on other Doughty Street shows – and my first time on with Conservative presenter Donal Blaney.

You can watch it in the 18DS archive here.

Bit of stream of consciousness listy catchup.

• Enjoyed Eurovision. Went to a fun bash in Lewisham. Not too keen on the winning song but the outcomes were mostly fair despite the predictability (due to shared cultural backgrounds of different countries, natch) of some of the voting.
• Busy busy busy last week. Helped Andrew set up running blog here. Sponsor him online.
• Sprained my ankle. Grr.
• On Thursday, I was shooting video at a LibDem reception for IDAHO day. You can see some of Stephen Williams’ remarks on YouTube here.
• A day off on Friday – yay! Waited in for cable repair man. Had a slot somewhere between 8am and 1pm – he turned up after 2pm. Lucky I took the whole day off… Finally have cable again, but reckon the guy who came around a week earlier could have fixed it.
• Followed the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill debate on BBC Parliament (Freeview) while I waited. A shameful Bill pushed through mostly by Labour MPs (including many on the payroll vote), although introduced by a Tory. New online campaign against it at: ourcampaign.org.uk/foi
• With cable back, caught up on The Apprentice.
• Also with cable back, and therefore broadband restored, got slightly addicted to online Scrabble. My username is whouk if you fancy a game.
• Went to see Magicians and John Shuttleworth on Saturday, both of which I enjoyed although wasn’t bowled over by either. My brother texted to warn me not to see 28 Weeks Later.
• Have been spending too much on eBay.
• Followed a very nice birthday lunch on Sunday with more online scrabble, this week’s Doctor Who (fairly good) and gentle trip to Sam Smiths pub.
• Sad about Cutty Sark. Contribute to the restoration here.
• WordPress 2.2 is out. Will upgrade soon.

Gosh, last night was surprising. Switzerland out, Andorra out, Norway out, Israel out, and, er, all three acts I’ve featured this week – Norway, Estonia and Belgium – out.

Which big-hitters does that leave then? With a string of Eastern European countries qualifying from the semi-final, the chances to be leaning their way. The odds will be shortening on Serbia’s powerful ballad. Belarus’s catchy number – which actually came across better live than on the video – must stand a good chance. Qualifying puts both Latvia’s Il Divo knock-off and Georgia’s upbeat wailing in good positions, while early tips Russia and Germany still look strong. The BBC reports that Sweden – with their glam rock number – are third favourites, and that Ukraine are favourites to win. Sigh.

But that’s not until tomorrow. Today, it’s back to “Then and Now”, and the country currently fifth favourite at the bookies’: Greece.

Greece won with their 2005 entry, so last year’s competition was based in Athens, co-hosted by Sakis Rouvas. Two year’s earlier, Sakis was Greece’s entrant, finishing third with a dramatic bodice-ripping performance of Shake It!:

(Anyone else think Sakis has something of the Stephen Talls about him?)

This year’s contender from Greece is London ex-pat Sarbel, who already has a successful Hellenic pop career. His catchy, English language song, which should have an energetic live performance in the Sakis mould, is Yassou Maria:

Looks like I might not get to watch tonight’s semi-final as our cable still isn’t working and our Freeview reception is dodgy at best. Here’s a quick rundown, nevertheless, of my views of the runners and riders for this year’s competition.

It’s a year with a sudden glut of guitar music, following on from Lordi’s victory making it “OK”. There are old rockers, kid metal (if that’s a real genre), and young frontwomen, making for one of least camp sets of Eurovision entries so far.

The Good
Six of the best betters – in no particular order:

• Greece – My favourite of this year’s entries, and immune from my “failing to qualify” kiss of death by already being in the final. Catchy, poppy, with more than a hint Ricky Martin (so only a few years out of date).
• Netherlands – Slow-starting power ballad turns into a big Anastasia number. Very mainstream – could do well, and even seems to have a Eurovision key change.
• Denmark – Here we go. Drag Act A, ready to out-Scooch Scooch for campery. By far the most traditionally Eurovision so far. I can imagine the audience getting very excited.
• Finland – Naturally following Lordi with more rock, this time of the Evanescence variety.
• Belgium – 1970s disco has arrived.
• Belarus – The opening strings are very Bond theme, before it reveals itself as more rock. Very stereotypical continental male rock entry – sounds like I’ve heard it many times before. Still, catchy.

Honourable mentions to Sweden (closest thing to 70s glam without Justin Hawkins), Russia (a three-member Girls Aloud), Malta (their most interesting entry for some time), France (and theirs – and with some lyrics in English!), Germany (the only swing entry and surprisingly pleasant), and Andorra (because with a guitar comes McFly/Sum 41/Blink 182/Busted, and this is the only such band in the competition). Switzerland’s entry – DJ Bobo’s Vampires Are Alive has had everything thrown at it (except any sense to the song). Not my cup of tea, but is making a strong play for the Eurodance bloc.

The Bad
Amazingly, there’s nothing screamingly awful this year. Such a disappointment. Still…

• Ukraine – Drag Act B (Verka Serduchka, aka Christopher Biggins) was a controversial choice in Ukraine. It’s very beepy, like the Tetris theme gone wrong. Rather than raising it to a higher plane, the silly costumes and cross-dressing just make it noticeable as the not very good track it is.
• Israel – I was in two minds about Push the Button. It’s an anti-bomb track, which is fair enough, and has lots of energy, but the chorus is awful and it’s full of cynical language-switching. Worst of all is this lyric “I wanna see the flowers bloom, don’t wanna go kaput-kaboom”. The intro reminded me (not necessarily for any good reason) of For Real, Turkey’s entry from 2004. Does the idiosyncratic sincerity actually make this good? Either way, the Sugababes song of the same name is so much better.
• Romania – Not dreadful, but look out for the most cynical country-name-checking entry of all time.
• Ireland – Once again, the twee horror of Ireland’s entry makes me want to hack my ears off. “The curtain has been raised and Europe’s all one stage.” Sickly sweet. Seems like a nice lady, but this song is so optimistic it goes off the scale, back round infinity, and then comes back and eats your soul.

The Rest
Poland have a curious entry, like a cross between the Beastie Boys and a Polish Britney (and there are surprisingly few Britney clones this year). There are some interesting tempo and style changes, but it feels disjointed between the good bits and the, er, less good bits. Stands out from the crowd though.

I liked Iceland’s disastrous entry from last year. This is much more traditional, with more Lordi-inspired old rockers. It’s OK in a boring rock way, and may be the best of the old rocker sub-genre. That’s not saying much though.

Norway and Portugal are fighting it out with basically the same song. As it’s Latin, Portugal probably has more claim on it, but Norway’s has the edge for me.

Georgia have gone for “soaring”. Some fusing of styles going on – one of the more adventurous entries, particularly given that it’s Georgia’s first entry ever.

Serbia, also appearing for the first time in their own right (sans Montenegro), have a big ballad that’s tipped to do well.

Spain have opted for the content’s only boy band (well, man band) this year. They’ll almost certainly do better than last year’s 21st-placed entry from Las Ketchup.

Cyprus have opted for Lordi-inspired gothic, despite which there is a still a fairly trancey middle eight. Their best effort for some time.

Bulgaria have lots of drums, in a year where drumming seems less in fashion.

Latvia have a six-member G4 (so G6 then), the only attempt at opera this year. Nice enough but a bit plodding. One for the mums.

Don’t take my word for it though – as always, Mike has written lots about Eurovision. In particular, he’s much more positive (and more intellectual) about Israel’s entry. You can also decide for yourself by watching the entries online on the Eurovision website media player, or see and vote on the BBC’s pick of ten, which amazingly do coincide with some of mine.

So, the semi-final is tonight and we’ll see how many of those I’ve praised get knocked out (as usual). The main event is on Saturday evening. (Doctor Who fans take noteL thanks to Eurovision, there is no Who this week. Sorry.)