And the winner (with my luck) probably won't be...

I was thinking of raising the topic of audition shows - the almost acceptable face of reality TV - and trying to justify why I love watching them (only two have been aired on Swedish television so far). But that is too much like hard work. So I'll just settle for the easy option of posting a list of my favourite entries for the Eurovision Song Contest. Note that I've only heard the songs once, and they may sound completely different live, while some of the also-rans may pick up enormously (as happened last year with UK's "It's my time"). So here they are, in random order:

Moldavia: I originally gave this 3 out of 5 points, but what the heck, it's up-tempo and fun and the singers remind me slightly of the bad siblings in High School Musical. (Yep, I saw it - there's no limit to how silly your TV viewing can get when you're single and unrestrained.) Plus I like the hat. Bop to the top!

Albania: Another up-tempo number. The singer's boyfriend in the video looks like he's going to blow up a factory, but it doesn't really matter.

Iceland: This song sounds more like Ireland than Iceland, with the Valkyrie-like singer belting out a catchy pop tune (the only one of the songs I can still hum) very satisfactorily.

Armenia: I don't know what's happened to me. I normally like ballads a lot, but this year, both in the Swedish "Music Festival" competitions and now in Eurovision, I find the crop of ballads rather boring. This one I do like, though. Eurovision buffs usually appreciate "ethnic" numbers where the countries display "some of their national cultural heritage". Not me. I prefer this kind of number: smooth, professional, western-style pop.

Israel: Nice-looking boy with impressive voice sings soulful ballad in Hebrew. Yes, the concept is familiar. But no matter: it works. And as half of Asia is participating now, we can lay the old "yes but they're not really part of Europe, are they?" argument to rest.

Germany: No, I'm not so biased as you may think. I've barely liked one of Germany's entries to Eurovision so far. I'm not impressed by the Eurovision winner "Ein bisschen Frieden". (Admittedly, I've only heard about half the refrain of that song, but honestly: asking for "a little peace"? Isn't that as impossible as "a little war"?) But this time the singer is a pro, and charming with it, and the number is pleasing. The accented English is a little bewildering, but doesn't detract from the charm somehow.

Spain: Now here's where bias really comes in. The almost-completely-Swedish expert panel, with the exception of the excellent Finn, found this number "disturbing". And that's why it's a favourite for me. The sinister circus-master singer could be the evil genius in an "Avengers" episode - and he's got red curls too (well, all right, maybe it's a wig). If he had been made up as a clown, I agree it would have been too scary - as it is, from a villain-lover like myself, it has to be four out of five. Could be a complete disaster live, though.

Questions to ponder: am I the only one who thinks the singer for Switzerland is kinda cute (red hair again)? What do Romania's dancers (they may not make it to the live show) resemble most: C3PO or cybermen? And why, when they were doing so well with the Lloyd Webber song last year, have the UK back-slided again? When, apparently, none of their professional singers or pop groups deign to take part in Eurovision, it's no wonder the Brits aren't doing very well.