EUROBEAT

Along with many audience members, I was not sure what to expect from this ‘spoof’ on Eurovision – what we got was a great, fun show.

The audience really bought into the ethos from the start – we had a ball.

Stuart Farrar and Michelle Wiltshire were the over the top hosts, for this bumper bundle of typical Eurovision-type songs.  Their presentation was very tongue-in-cheek with some clever references and pseudo-malapropisms which caused great guffaws of laughter.

Stuart looked very suave and sophisticated, whilst Michelle had very interesting headgear, and two lovely gowns, that suited the feel.  These two had a super love/hate relationship, and the barbed banter was very funny.

Jo Yirrell sang the song for Italy, looking charming in her red and black outfit.  The song started with an operatic feel, then into a typical popsy tune, with Dave Corbett rapping.

In all the songs there were interesting words, with lots of double entendres.

Jonny Mills performed the Polish entry, with Richard Cowling and Dave Corbett as his backing singers.  The campness from all three came over really well.

Charlotte Mitchell in a very OTT white dress, performed the entry from Iceland, very dramatic and quite repetitive – but Charlotte really put her all into it, a great contrast to the previous two songs.

Then we came to the really twee UK entry – performed so well by Emma and Jonny Mills.  Lots of heart-hands, loving glances, and the occasional off-key note from Emma, which was achieved very well, a good comedy moment.

We moved on to Russia – represented by the K.G. Boys – Dave Corbett, Jonny Mills, Richard Cowling and John O’Leary.  They created their own characters, enhanced with some very good vocals, particularly from Richard Cowling.  Well done guys, you presented the whole package – well sung, and good choreography!

I loved the vary national feel of the Hungarian entry – the costumes were good and the song performed well by Debbie Cavanagh, Barbara Storey and Emma Mills.  Very earnest and po-faced – making it great fun and a good contrast to the other songs.

John O’Leary was the entry from Ireland, accompanied by lots of smoke, and Kate Johnson performing a slightly bad Irish dance.  Good touches, but John actually sang very well.

The Greek entry was sung with great intensity by Lisa Abella, in her charming Grecian style dress – very serious, but again fun.

The German entry was a song with no words – performed by Stacey Peck, Amy Price and Charlotte Mitchell.  The costumes were very colourful, and it caused great hilarity.

The final entry was Sweden – the two men and two women in white, played by Jo Harris, Jo Yirrell, Jonny Mills and Richard Cowling – a really good take on Abba, with much humour.

The entertainment after the interval featured Stuart with a goat .... very funny, and Michelle appearing as a turnip – so kitsch, but typical of the perception of Eurovision.
 
Before the interval we all voted, and the results were given in true Eurovision style on screens either side of the stage – which throughout the performances had shown abstract colours and scenes, and created extra interest.

The setting in blacks, with a rostra outlined with lights all helped to create the glamorous feel, enhanced by some excellent lighting effects from Paul Horsler. Sound was good too – well done Joel Middleton.

So – a good fun evening, taking advantage of the glitz and glamour, plus downright craziness of Eurovision, but it was obvious that the cast had worked extremely hard to get that level of so bad it was very good.

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