Back from Mockba!

Hi all!

I am just about recovered from my hectic weekend in Moscow, sorry for lack of updates!

So Eurovision 2009 is over! It was a truly fantastic year for Eurovision. The show, the spectacle, the songs, the high profile it has received has really boosted Eurovision and with 'Fairytale' breaking chart records for Eurovision winners it is looking very positive!

As readers of this blog will know I have been a big follower of 'Et Cetera' and I thought they performed really well on Semi 2. Vocals were great, they caught the camera angles and looked relaxed and confident on stage. It was a pity they didn't make it but 11th place is commendable and they are now number 6 in the Irish charts.

After we arrived in Domodedovo airport in Moscow we boarded our lavish limousine (dodgy lada!!) which took us to the Aerostar hotel. Although it was listed as an offical hotel for delegations it turned out there were none there bar a few French cameramen!

On Saturday we got to the arena to collect our accreditation and check out the Olympisky. We ended up on Portuguese television and chatted to some friends and felt the exciting build up to the great night ahead.

Wwaving our Swedish and Irish flags we arrived nice and early on show night to soak up the atmosphere. Although there was an alcohol ban within the Arena and its environs people were in good spirits!

Our seats were outstanding 11 rows back from the stage amidst all the OGAE fans. We were next to a big bunch of Swedes so we fitted in well!

The arena looked magnificent, the stage was definately breathtaking!

Listening to the opening music for a Eurovision final is possibly one of the highlights of the year and the show was opened by a very impressive show by Dima Bilan.

Our final presenters were a lot more competent that the two nuts we had for the semi final!

25 songs flew by with some amazing performances.

Patricia Kaas gave me goose bumps and the emotion that came across was inspiring.

Chiara brought a tear to my eye having watched her over the years and to finally see her right in front of me was every euroboys dream!

It was great to see support for every song (maybe Croatia were the exception! Jury vote why why?!)

The biggest reaction on the night was obviously for Russia along with Turkey, Greece,

Azerbajjan, Norway and UK.

The interval act was stunning. There was so much going on around us it was hard to keep up!

It was beautiful and enthralling and it was all very unique.

Mr. Rybak won by a landslide but I was so happy to see Iceland and the U.K. score so highly. Surprised that Sakis didn't feature as I thought his performance was vet impressive. Disappointed for Malta and Sweden.

We then made our way to Euroclub to party and spotted Russian 'Flyer' Sergey Lazarev!

The following day I met Jade at the airport!!!

I am happy Norway won. He is a charming performer and it is a great song. In the run up to the contest I didn't think he would be such a runaway winner but Oslo 2010 suits me 100%

As much as I enjoyed this year I felt Moscow was quite oppressive. The city itself was not very welcoming and the staring my God! The heavy military presence and strict nature was funny at times but tiring! Maybe the size of the city didn't help and this is where I think Oslo will flourish.

Now we have to fill our time before the build up to 2010 begins!