Eurovision 2003

Riga, Latvia

THE YEAR THE HOSTS WERE OH SO DAZZLING

Renārs Kaupers and Marija Naumova…aren’t they gorgeous?

THE OFFICIAL TOP THREE:
Turkey
Belgium
Russia

MY TOP THREE:
Russia
Israel
Croatia

RUSSIA
t.A.T.u.  NE VER’, NE BOISIA
White t-shirts & jeans make a change from glamour.  There’s an urgency, a steely neo-pop sound and meaningless running. I like it.

ISRAEL
LIOR NARKIS. WORDS FOR LOVE
More females dressed as school girls. Big band sound. Fun.

CROATIA
CLAUDIA BENI. VIŠE NISAM TVOJA
Energetic well choreographed pop. She’s gorgeous – strong, confident, at ease. Well done, Claudia.

Special mention to:
POLAND

 

ICH TROJE. KEINE GRENZEN – ŻADNYCH GRANIC
What a voice. What hair. What a song. Not a romantic ballad (boo) but a plea for understanding (yay). Fabulous coats. Hers is lush cream brocade. His, vampirish black. Personally I would have kept it on.

UKRAINE
OLEXANDR. HASTA LA VISTA
Ukraine’s first ever Eurovision appearance. A white safari suit, a rotating contortionist and a rocket flying through space that bizarrely echoes the Latvian theme this year. If you are making your debut, this is the way to do it. This could be really bad or really good. Someone help me.

LATVIA
F.L.Y. HELLO FROM MARS
Very high cheesy factor. But, you know, life is a my-ste-ry like a perfect har-mo-ny. What a gen-u-ine-ly FUN song. Wonderful.

NORWAY
JOSTEIN HASSELGÅRD. I’M NOT AFRAID TO MOVE ON
The Scandi Gilbert O’Sullivan. Sweet.

Award for the Most Key Changes
BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA: At last count there were three.