Hero or traitor? ... France's Eurovision contender Sebastien Tellier. Photograph: Alain Jocard/AFP
The scandal France's Eurovision contender Sebastien Tellier caused in his home country by planning to perform his song Divine in English (before capitulating due to protests) is just the latest in a long line of weird and wonderful stories that have surrounded the annual kitsch-fest before a note has even been sung. The main event takes place in Belgrade on May 24, with several of the 43 participants fielding such deliberately daft entries in order to attract the attention of the voting public that Tellier's snubbing of his native tongue looks tame by comparison.
Estonia's extremely silly Leto Svet is performed by comedy troupe Kreisiraadio. Bosnia and Herzegovina's bizarre effort comes across like Eurovision as directed by Tim Burton - complete with quirky dancers and Willy Wonka-alike singer Elvir Lakovic Laka singing to a live chicken (apparently it won't be joining him on stage in Belgrade as he claims to have eaten it). And I'm not entirely sure what they'll make of the Latvians' pirate-themed disco stomper Wolves of the Sea. Others might enjoy Spain's Rodolfo Chikilicuatre, who strums a child's pink guitar during his song Baila el Chiki Chiki.
The Irish, of course, are sending poultry puppet Dustin the Turkey to Belgrade with the "joke" entry Irlande Douze Points - and despite giving former winner Dana apoplexy, they are among the favourites. It's a contrast to last year, when the former Eurovision kings slumped into a dismal last place in 2007, scoring even fewer points that the UK (quite an achievement in itself since we fielded Scooch).
With the possible exception of Bosnia, whose song has a kind of pleasing indie-pop oddness about it, the gimmicky tunes all seem too interested in being daft to be actually any good. Which naturally sets the stage for one of the "serious" entries to take top honours instead, with Russia's Dima Bilan (who finished second to Finland in 2006) and his Timbaland-produced ballad Believing, Ukraine's cracking Kylie soundalike Shady Lady, and Sweden's Charlotte Perrelli - a previous contest winner in 1999 - all in the frame.
There are also debut entries from Azerbaijan and San Marino, while organisers are attempting to stamp out so-called political voting with two semi-finals, in which countries that traditionally vote for each other have been divided up and won't be allowed to vote for anybody who's not in their semi. And whether the UK's Andy Abraham can claw back some credibility for us also remains to be seen, but at least we can be sure he won't dress up as an air steward and leave the nation cringing. At least we hope he won't.
