Guess the Eurovision vote competition!

The annual festival of Eurovision is nearly upon us - with the first semi-final tonight, the second semi-final on Thursday and le grand finale on Saturday.

So, to celebrate, dear reader, you have a chance to win a wonderful pair of Sennheiser Wireless Headphones.

All you have to do in this competition is pick a number: the number of points you think the winning song will receive. 

Feel free also, if you like, to predict which country will win, but the competition is just on the numbers. 

The person with the nearest amount wins the lovely prize, which is supplied to me by the nice people at VoucherCodes.co.uk 

For some help on your number crunching, the highest amount a song can get is 38 x 12 = 456 and the winning points from the last few years were: 

2009 - Norway - 387

2008 - Russia - 272

2007 - Serbia - 268

2006 - Finland - 292

2005 - Greece - 230

So come on, come all and have a guess. Leave a comment here or on facebook. Entries close by 7.30 PM (UK time) on Saturday.

Good luck! I'll let you know the winner on Monday next. And, for the record, I really don't know who'll win this year. My heart says Germany, my head says Azerbaijan, my bets say Romania and I have a sneaky suspicion Sweden will do well too.

But who knows? The mystery and suspense is what makes this year's show from Oslo so exciting.

Norway's National Day Parade at Southwark Park

Today is Norway's National Day - an occasion for the whole nation of Norway. People throng the streets and have parades with music, song and celebration.



London is no different, with its Norwegian community holding a parade in Southwark Park, close by to the Norwegian church at Rotherhithe where I watched Norway play football.



I went along today, expecting quite a small parade - I was pleasantly surprised to see a long parade snake its way around the park. Leading the charge were flag bearers, ladies and gents in traditional costume and some young people playing musical instruments.



Having circuited the park once, the parade settled in to a central area with a bandstand. While people ate hotdogs and ice-creams, and waved their Norwegian flags, a woman sang the national anthem. Sadly, I had to leave soon after, while some kids sung a series of jaunty tunes - and surely a Eurovision song couldn't have been far off.

Let's all speak Norwegian.

There are only two weeks to go to Eurovision. How exciting! I've decided to embrace all things Norwegian. So for the next few weeks, I'll be tweeting a lovely Norwegian word every day (stealing an idea from the wonderful World of Chig's Serbian countdown), and compiling them all here.

tausheten
meaning the silence
fjellet
meaning mountain 
jubileum
meaning anniversary
strømme
meaning flow
sønninger
meaning waves
strålende
meaning brilliant
lykkerus
meaning drunk with happiness
skog
meaning forest

kjekk
meaning handsome
solstreif
meaning sunlight
moteriktig
meaning fashionable

kjærlighet

meaning love

ballongen
meaning balloon

I don't know what I thought about Berlin

I spent a few days in Berlin several months ago, and ended up with mixed thoughts on the city.

It seemed to lack a centre, to have vast swathes of void landscape, but made up for it with energy, spirit and nightlife and an unending sense of history and place.

I have decided to show my photographs along with the words of others I have been reading to make sense of this fascinating city.



Berlin is all about volatility. Its identity is based not on stability, but on change. - Rory MacLean



I did not find Berlin a beautiful town, but an exciting one - Christabel Bielenberg



It's the usual human mess. Hard to disentangle the past, isn't it? The right intentions? The wrong result? In that sense, Berlin's a truer city than most, truer because it's a city without set pieces. Where are the great views? The great vistas? What hill can you climb and see it all? - David Hare



Nowhere does a grand bridge and a wide flow of water divide the city. Instead, it is bricked-up buildings and sections of breeze block that bisect the city - Len Deighton

Berlin got high on itself and ruined itself through megalomania, and... now had to make amends in a state of permanent hangover. - Tobias Ruther

Hand-drawn maps of Poland by Renata and Romania by Mario

I haven't asked people to draw maps for me for quite some time, but my project to re-draw a map of Europe is still definitely going.

I met Mario from Romania at a party a few weeks ago, and asked him to draw this map. I also told him that his country may win Eurovision this year. He was quite excited about this.



Several months ago, I asked my Austrian boyfriend to ask his Polish cousins to draw a map of Poland - so here's Renata's map of Poland.



I'm now more than half-way through my quest to collect a map for every country in Europe - but I still have great swathes of central and Eastern Europe to find.

Map stencils

When I was a lad, a time when maps didn't print off the internet, we used map stencils.



I clearly remember buying an Ireland and Europe stencil for 4th class geography lessons. Since then, I had forgotten about them until I discovered one for sale on eBay.



I promptly bought it and then went to Stanfords where I bought 5 more- Ireland, Australia, France, Europe and North America.



These tracer maps are made by Jakar who seem to be the masters of map stencils.



But now that my interest is piqued, and ever one for a challenge, I'd like to collect more countries. I'm not even sure these were made in other countries. If you have any ideas, please let me know.

Are there stencils for Greece, Finland, Germany, Japan, South Africa and, well, everywhere else?

Map pictograms: tomato sauce Britain

Lovely little map on a pasta sauce ad. Funny they include some islands (like the Scilly Isles) but don't bother with Northern Ireland...

Prompt and punctual Paloma Faith, Shepherds Bush Empire

I went to a concert by London chanteuse Paloma Faith last night, playing at the O2 Shepherds Bush Empire. Paloma was prompt and punctual emerging on stage at the appointed hour. Wonderful.




Starting the show shrouded in ostrich feathers, Paloma led us on a merry dance through a series of stunning sequined stylings.

Performing songs from her album Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful?, some courageous covers (Sexy Bitch by Akon) and classic ballads, Paloma kept the audience enthralled with singing full of character, emotion and charisma. She also proved to be a nifty, kooky dancer, partly slapstick, full of gusto and divinely delicious diva dance poses.

Having started wearing a yellow catsuit (not many women can do lemon like Paloma) topped off by a shower hat covered in sequinned Carmen Miranda fruit, she changed into a black fabulously flowing frock with a fan hat and finished in voluptuos red Jessica Rabbit gown with mother-of-the-bride netting fascinator.

Finishing the show with the torch song New York, she left the stage as a true diva, individual, unique and adored.

Vania Fernandes at Cafe Madeira, Vauxhall

I went tonight to see 2008 Portuguese Eurovision singer Vânia Fernandes singing at a cafe in Vauxhall.



Cafe Madeira is one of Lambeth's many Portuguese restaurants and cafes - some of which I've visited before - with Vania performing to help raise funds for her native Madeira following recent flooding.

A baby christening party was in full swing at the cafe, so spirits were high when Vania took to the mike.

She performed several fado songs in a typical fado style, looking very fetching all in black, and entertained the crowd who were singing, dancing and clapping along.

I'm happy to report that Vania also took the time to coo at the baby who was being christened.

Sadly, she didn't perform her Eurovision song, Senhora do Mar - despite a middle-aged lady shouting at her to do so.




Vania happily posed for photographs after her performance, and minutes later left the building, while we were being entertained by Alexys and his accordion and his fun dancing songs.

Click here to donate to flood relief in Madeira

The Stationery Club

I went yesterday to Stationery Club, a sort-of book club for those who like stationery. Yesterday's theme was notebooks, and it was all very interesting. I brought along my two lovely notebooks which have a map of Barcelona and a map of Milan on the covers.

It started off a bit English, no sign to say who they were, newcomers welcomed with bashfulness, and a sort of sense of being a bit silly.

But things soon heated up to a rather furious debate about Moleskins and votes on the best type of notebook - ruled, plain or squared paper, ring bound, stapled, glued binding?

I abstained from the voting - because I like all stationery - but it was heartening to see how animated people could be about stationery.

I also brought some notebooks which I have made from spare envelope paper and lovely map covers to do some 'market research' and see people's reaction to them. Happily, those that saw them were positive and enthusiastic, so it's off to etsy and folksy I go.

The People's Republic of Cork

Today is St Patrick's Day, the day I and millions of others celebrate being Irish.

But! Being from Cork is even more important than being Irish. Cork, or The People's Republic of Cork, is Ireland's independent capital, with the rebel spirit leading us on.

I took these photos in Cork several years ago for a photo-essay on the "People's Republic of Cork". People from Cork, and further afield, wearing People's Republic of Cork t-shirts, a trend embodying the city's unique spirit.

See the full set of photographs here.



Eoghan, from Cork


Tina, from Cork

Peter, from Cork

Pierre, from France

Luis, from Portugal

Elaine, from Offaly

Barbara, from Cork

Aerial photography

Whenever I fly, I always try to get a  window seat. I love seeing the earth from above, a whole different perspective on the world. I hope for clear skies, so I can take photographs, even with my modest camera.

I've taken more than 250 pictures over the past few years, and I'll be uploading the best of them to flickr for the next few weeks. There are about 150, so I'll just do one a day!

First up is an amazing shot of mountains in Russia, taken during a Tokyo to Paris flight 3 years ago.  I love the sense of wide open space in this.

Keep an eye on my From Above flickr group for upcoming photos

London, world city

I first started taking photographs of London venues named after foreign places in the summer of 2008, when a cafe called Madeira and a supermarket named Istanbul caught my eye.

In the interim, I've been to north, south, east and west - to Tooting, to Shepherds Bush, to Stratford and Cricklewood, taking photographs showing London's great cosmopolitanism. I've found more than a hundred venues, with the most popular names coming from the USA, Turkey, Portugal and Italy.

And now I've reached 100 images, I'm going to bring this project to a close. And to do that, here are four venues - Buenos Aires, Tokyo, New York and Paris - evoking great world cities, just as London is.

Eliza Doolittle | Girls Can't Catch | Mini Viva | Rodrigo Moratto | Tecnoctitlan | Red Blooded Women

I've been to some see some ace popstars recently - Eliza Doolittle, Girls Can't Catch, Mini Viva at a Next Big Thing pop concert and Rodrigo Moratto, Tecnoctitlan and Red Blooded Women at EQ


Eliza Doolittle sings jazz low-fi pop songs with a classy-but-street verve. I was really surprised by the strength of her voice.







Girls Can't Catch are an ace new girl band - bursting on stage all hair, teeth, glitter, sequins and "it's all about us" attitude. They drank their microphones, worked the mike stands, they worked the head-turns. If there was room on the stage, these girls would have been strutting. Great.

Somehow Mini Viva made it happen. It was one long strut-a-thon for them. Over and back they went, over and back- like popstar ping pong. 

While strutting, they sung 4 songs- best of which was I left my heart in Tokyo with its energetic poppy verve. Their next song Do You Wanna Candy (since re-named One Touch) sounds amazing - a rip-rollicking Girls Aloud punch-tune with ace refrain "Hips Lips Fashion Status! / Kiss Kiss, it's contagious!"

At EQ, Brazilian singer Rodrigo Moratto brought latin dance pop with a certain male diva-ish swagger. He and his two dancers made good use of the small stage to liven up the crowd.





Argentinians Tecnoctitlan performed some driving electro-rock with a definite 80s feel, beat and rhythm. I love the female vocal and masculine beats - think INXS meets Eurhytmics but in the future. 





And, last but not least, girl band Red Blooded Women who performed several songs with super-energy and fun-time attitude. These ladies look like they know to have a good time. Their performance was full of fun, and great singing. When the backing track to one of their songs failed, they performed the song acapella with great vocals. Their retort when it ended: "that's fucking showbiz!" Love it.

American-style, London-style

I first featured American-style venues from my 'foreign venues in London photos' on the day of the 2008 American presidential election.

More than a year on from Barack Obama's inauguration, it seems his profile could do with something of a makeover.

Maybe he could pop along to these venues - New York Nails, Las Vegas Nails and Hollywood Barbers and Hairdressers. Glam-o-rama.

Actually, her name's Marina & the Diamonds - live review

I went to see wonderful singing lady Marina & the Diamonds last week. Marina came second in the BBC's Sound of 2010 preview, so my expectations were high.

Her sound is described as theatrical pop, and she's certainly quirky and dramatic. She performs very much as a performer - sometimes aloof, sometimes with gusto, sometimes wry, sometimes heartfelt - and always engaging.



Her songs are lyrically rather wonderful, as she deftly mixes linguistic styles. For instance, she can be singing about lost love, gender identity, or something else wonderfully universal but then drops in a mention of something delightfully pop cultural. It's all wonderfully endearing.



My highlights of the show were:

• Marina's majestic hairflick in song Hollywood when she sings "Actually, my name's Marina" having been compared to Shakira and Catherine Zeta Jones
• A song that may or may not be about gender equality having a reference to Girls Aloud
• The song Shampain with lyrics: "Drinking sham-pain / Made by the angel / Who goes by the name / Of Glitter and Gabriel". It actually sounded like "... the name of Glittery Navel". Both are amazing.
• I'm sure another song had the lyric Home Sweet Gnome Sweet Home
• Marina has a winning way with a tambourine.

And so, the pop equation..

((Kate Bush + Tori Amos) - (piano + plaintive)) x (2010 + pop culture) x (an actress) = Marina & the Diamonds.