There's something fishy going on in Helsinki with the Eurovision stage. There's a catwalk, but no performers will be using it. Apologies to the 42 people that signed the "They Must Strut!" petition. I might get around to presenting it to YLE this week.
![Helsinki Stage](http://www.acediscovery.net/img/stage.jpg)
But, even more fishy is the stage design, inspired by the mouth of a pike. The jawbone of the pike was used in ancient times to make a musical instrument, the kantele. This inspired the designers, and the stage is wonderful. It's sleek, has natural curves and shapes and, overall, looks very reserved, classy and Finnish. I like it a lot.
![Lady in the windmachine](http://www.acediscovery.net/img/wind.jpg)
And, even, better, as this picture from eurovisiondiary shows, it's got a windmachine! I'm hoping Hanna Pakarinen, Olivia Lewis and Alenka Gotar are all planing windmachine moments, not to mention the divine DQ!
(By the way, I've started previewing this year's songs on Londonist: go here to read.)