The Draw Has Been Made

At 1740 hours EST yesterday, a high-level EUROfiasco delegation went to the United Nations HQ in New York City, in order to undertake one of the year’s most significant draws in as secure, untampered and clean environment as possible - the draw for the EUROfiasco country allocation.

I’m pleased to say that Wanky Moon herself was able to sign-off the process as verified, and gave the event a blessing: “May the best wig win”.

So, without further ado, here they are. The introduction of the second semi-final last year continues to make things difficult, as we know the identities of only 5 countries through to Saturday’s final - the rest will only be known after Tuesday and Thursday when a further 10 each are confirmed. So, we’ve used a scientific FiascIndex™ to pair up countries, which we believe will ensure that most people have one for the big day...

If you have got two on this list - choose the one that works best for you - we’ll consider the two countries twinned and one can represent the other on the day if needs be. In most cases, the first-listed country is the most likely to go through... but it’s not guaranteed. Those pesky Euro-voters, as we know, cannot be relied upon.

Inevitably, there’ll be a few cases where both countries won’t make it through, but we’ll cross that bridge etc - and don’t let it put you off getting cracking on deciding on what to wear/bring to eat/bring to drink.

You can see exactly what your singer/songstress looks like, and what the song sounds like, at www.eurovision.tv - select the Participants link from the Moscow 2009 menu. Next week we’ll be unveiling our favourites...

The Draw
Montenegro* & Czech Republic* - Ben Thomas
Sweden^ - Owen
Israel* & Slovenia+ - Paul Bruton
Iceland* & Latvia+ - James Birkett
Finland* & Cyprus+ - Max & Ricardo
Portugal* & Belgium* - Chrissie
Malta^ - Dom
Bosnia* & Hungary+ - Claire Drayton
Ireland+ & Switzerland* - Ruth
Norway^ - Clare & Nick
Turkey* & Slovakia+ - A & Pete
Armenia* & Serbia+ - Monica
Denmark+ & The Netherlands+ - Sweeney
Greece+ & FYROM* - Lee
Moldova+ & Poland+ - Mark Robling
Ukraine+ & Croatia+ - Peter Kalton
Estonia+ & Andorra* - Steve(s)
Azerbaijan+ & Belarus* - Katie Snell
Spain§ - Fiaz & Chris
Germany§ - Katie & Ali
Russia§ - Scott & Gorka
France§ - Claudine
UK§ - Your esteemed hosts, as is traditional


*- Semi-Final 1
+- Semi-Final 2
^ - In Semi, but too significant a country/song not to be represented at Final
§ - Direct to Final