Republic of Angola (Xyami): New Articles on The Daily Dust today

Sunday, January 11, 2009

New Articles on The Daily Dust today

Damien First Casualty In UK Eurovision National Final

Posted: 10 Jan 2009 04:12 PM CST

Voters call time on pub singer’s Moscow chance
The quest for a UK representative in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest continued on Saturday night on BBC One with the second episode of “Your Country Needs You” - and for the first time the general public were able to have their say on the proceedings. And, despite a rousing performance of Michael Bolton’s “How Am I Supposed To Live Without You” it was Damien Flood, the 36-year old London pub singer, who fell at the first hurdle.

In each of the programmes (except the final one on January 31) the two acts with the lowest votes from the public are placed in the “danger zone” - Lord Andrew Lloyd-Webber then has the final say in who stays and who goes. Joining Damien there this week was Charlotte Finlay-Tribe, who struggled at times to sing her chosen song (Kelly Clarkson’s “Because Of You”) but who was saved by the noble lord as he felt “she would learn more in the journey”.

His feelings about Damien “he’s trying to be cool, when he doesn’t need to be…” and his worries about whether or not he had the charisma to swing the European voting public may also have swung his decision in who to keep. Arlene Phillips, who was also on the panel seemed to agree with him, although fellow judge Lulu admitted his voice “gave her goosebumps”.

The hopefuls were rather put through their paces on the live show - as well as their solo acts, they all combined to sing the 1974 winning song “Waterloo” at the beginning, and then took part in two more group numbers while the voting lines were open - Boyzone’s “No Matter What” for the male contenders, and “One Rock And Roll Too Many” from Starlight Express for the females. Viewers were also treated to the sight of the hopefuls singing in an empty O2 arena in a bid to show them exactly what performing in a huge stadium such as the Moscow Olympic Arena would be like should they get that far.

“Your Country Needs You” continues on BBC One at 6.35pm on Saturday, January 17, and you can keep up to date with developments at the BBC Eurovision site and here at the Daily Dust!