Last night the Scala in King's Cross was taken over by enthusiastic Eurovision fans, attending the second annual Eurovision Preview Party hosted by ESC Today. With another big Eurovision preview party happening in Amsterdam this weekend the British organisers weren't able to book some of the biggest names of 2009 leaving many fans arriving with low expectations. They shouldn't have been though, at the end of the night nobody seemed disappointed,
The event was presented by BBC3 Eurovision commentator Paddy O'Connell and previous British entrant, Nicki French, and acts performing included 7 of this year's entries and a few British favourites such as Imanni and the brilliant Jessica Garlick. Our 2009 entrant, Jade Ewen, was notably absent, but it seemed no hard feelings were held as the crowd gave her song a great reception when it was played at the end of the night.
The mixture of nations whose contestants performed made for a varied show, ranging from the beautifully sung ballads of the Polish and Icelandic entries to the party anthems from Romania and the Ukraine. The strangest act was Bulgaria's Krassimir singing his entry 'Illusionman' with an almost worryingly high pitched voice!
However, it was undoubtedly Ukraine's Svetlana Lodoba who stole the show. Her hunky backing dancers were loved by the mostly gay male crowd, but it was the song 'Be my Valentine' which really won us over. Very popular with audiences (including the UK) over the last few years, if Svetlana puts in as much effort on Eurovision night as last night, the Ukraine could be ones to watch for the win.
