How could you dislike Eurovision when songs like this one win?

I'm looking forward to the harder rock that is Eurovision 2007. Well, not exactly hard rock. Kind of a little tougher than talcum perhaps. I've seen some of the entries.... BUT! Lordi won in 2006, so the general trend in '07 is towards a more rock 'n' roll sound, if not a metal approach. I've been humming Hard Rock Hallelujah all day.

The Irish entry this year is a regrettable one. As Mr Gump said: "That's all I want to say about that."

For our non-Euro visitors, the Eurovision song contest is held annually in Europe where original (and occasionally some suspiciously non-original) songs are performed by representatives of most of the countries of Europe and some of the near east. The original idea was to foster peace and harmony. The event is televised in the participating countries and viewers vote by telephone. Viewers cannot vote for their own country's entry.

Songs tend to be light pop or worthy folk in character. The competition is generally considered to be old-fashioned, staid, and unwatchable. Secretly it has one of the biggest television audiences of the year. Somehow we always seem to be "just flicking through channels" and hit on the programme. The song by Lordi, in the video, above, won in 2006, to the surprise of quite a few people. As the winners, Finland gets to host the programme in 2007.

The competition has become so big in recent years that not all countries eligible to perform are allowed to automatically qualify and effectively two contests exist, the first a few days before the final being a kind of semi-final for countries who scored lower in the ranks in the previous competition. Although politics are barred from the event, some songs seem to have some political messages this year. Also voting for neighbouring countries and political partners is rife and makes the task of smaller countries all the more difficult.

The 2007 event final takes place this Saturday night, 12th May.