One last post for the day

Something about Eurovision week apparently makes me all "postal."

Of course there are other things going on in the world:

• The US Airways-America West merger is going through according to an email I got from US Airways. What's interesting is that the merged company is going to be known as US Airways! Wouldn't it make sense to just have two subsidiaries of a streamlined parent.
• This whole Saddam Hussein in his underwear debacle is disturbing. Supposedly, the soldier who released the photos thought they would humiliate and deter the insurgents. Now we have protests at the US Embassy in London with people calls for "another September 11th." Real bright move there, Rupert Murdoch.
• A personal tidbit, it's now one week until my surgery and one week until I have to go absolutely cold turkey off of smoking for two weeks. (I'll fess up, I've been sneaking one cigarette every other day recently. Nicorette just doesn't quite do the business.)

But my mind is quite squarely focused on tomorrow's final, especially now that the serviceman from Time Warner has visited, twisted a few knobs, and restored TVE Internacional!

First off, I'm going to lay down which entries are coming into this final with my fangs of bitchiness aimed squarely at them:

• Malta: Hackneyed ballad. Well-performed with a good video, but hackneyed. It's the sort of song that people who have little thrills in life adore.
• Denmark: I still want to know who voted for this. After I get the names and addresses, I will send them the name of a therapist to deal with their voyeuristic tendencies.
• Sweden: Because Stenchmark is Christer's boytoy and ruined a perfect opportunity for Nanne to return to Eurovision. He also cannot say "Mandalay" and the song has got some of the most daftest lyrics ever heard in the 21st Century.
• Macedonia: Unless he becomes bulimic and agile within 24 hours, his luck has run out. I can't wait to find out how closely this edged over vastly superior efforts from other countries. Toshe, I understood. This I cannot get my head around.
• Latvia: Arrogant rentboy hippies. The same comments about Macedonia (just how closely did they get into the final) and Malta (the sort of song that people who have little thrills in life adore) apply here tenfold. According the bloggers, Walters has got a sore throat, which is a) justice and b) funny, especially since the rumour mill has it that one or both of them is gay. (Oh, the irony!) Gay or not, they're just annoying SNAGs (sensitive new-age guys) to me.

By the way, you can download or stream the Qualifier onto your computer for $4.99 ($7.99 for the Qualifier and Final) from the official website. The speed is relatively slow on my computer (22 kbps currently, with 3 hours and 17 minutes left), but it is there.

In closing, I have to share a quote from the BBC's Paddy O'Connell who provided the commentary for the Qualifying Round. This was said while the previews for the finalists were shown on Thursday night:

"You can't Ley without a Rimi Rimi"

Paddy, my bed gladly welcomes you.