As most of you
know, every year the organising TV company makes available a series
of video clips promoting each song in the upcoming Eurovision Song
Contest. Many of these are professional music videos, others are
taken from the National final of the country concerned.
Sadly fewer
countries show these "previews" than in the past, despite
European Broadcasting Union advice that they should be shown to
promote the contest, and despite the use of Telephone Voting where
some prior viewing of the song might help viewers decide which to
vote for.
In Britain, the BBC
stopped showing the previews in 1993, and this year Irish TV, RTE,
stopped. Both make excuses about lack of time in the schedule, which
is total rubbish, and very pathetic as an excuse.
German TV doesn't
show them, but the Scandinavians do see them, along with Croatia,
Cyprus & Turkey, and I'm sure some others. The version here is
from Turkish TV, and is essentially the SVT feed - no presenters,
just the videos.
Anyway, as I have
had e-mails asking me for a video, and I can't make everyone one in
time, I have made 2 Real Media files.
Each is about
5.7Mb, and each takes about 40 minutes
to download on a 28.8 Modem.
That's me, Geoff Harrison (left), with a Dalek & Chris Highton from BBC Radio Leicester on April 30th, 2000. I'd just previewed the upcoming contest in a show from the home of a Doctor Who fan!
