skidd (Level 43)

Good people of Screened,

Do you like wearing clothes? Do you also like Community? Well if you answered either of those questions with a 'yes', good news! For the next 2 days, www.teebusters.com are selling a Britta Perry shirt, designed by yours truly. If you fancy picking one up, feel free to let me know! Also, get a €1 discount if you enter the code BAG3LS at the checkout.

#sixseasonsandamovie

Hello again ScreenedPups,

Just wanted to thank everyone here who voted on my shirt design. It's been selected for printing and is now up for sale on the site! (www.teebusters.com)

Thanks again - I really appreciate your help!

ScreendPups, it's that time of year again. Whether you hate it, love it or watch it ironically, Eurovision is back on our screens for another round of musical mayhem. This year Azerbaijan are hosting following Eldar and Nigar's winning song from last year. Speaking of which, if you're looking for a quick refresher from 2011's edition, be sure to check out the discussion thread, as well as Cherry's retrospective blog.

The whole thing kicks off at 8 pm GMT, running until 11 pm. If you're in Europe, I'd imagine most national broadcasters are showing the contest, but if for some reason you can't quite make it to a TV for the evening, I believe eurovision.tv is streaming the event live. I'm not completely sure if that link will work for US users who wish to join in the fun, but an alternative avenue for viewing appeared on justin.tv last year, so I'm sure there'll be something available should you feel the urge to partake.

Below I've picked out a few potential contenders to the title. If there are any acts that you think are worth keeping an eye on, post in the comments section below!

The Favourites:

The bookies' favourite across the board this year is Sweden, whose entry, Euphoria by Loreen, looks set to sweep aside the competition. It's certainly a far cry from the more traditional bubblegum pop that saw Abba win back in the 1970s, but it definitely seems to be more mainstream than some of the other entries and probably wouldn't look entirely out of place in the charts. While it's catchy, I could see it not being everyone's cup of tea.

The Challengers:

Russia

Alright, so here's the thing. I'm all for novelty acts/ridiculous performers. Lordi were great fun to watch. Lithuania in 2006 were all enjoyable. And yet I find myself sighing and shaking my head at Russia's entry this year. 'Party for Everybody' features a group of elderly women, singing out of tune while miming the baking of bread. It should be at least somewhat enjoyable and yet I'm finding it painfully unfunny. Maybe I've missed the gag entirely (let me know what you think!)

Serbia

The odds are also suggesting that Serbia are in with a shout of winning, though are likely to have to settle for 3rd place behind Sweden and Russia. Serbia, of course, do have pedigree in the competition having emerged victorious in 2007 in their first ever contest. This year's entry is definitely the most conventional of the top 3 favourites - whether that will be prove to be a strength remains to be seen...

The Dark Horses:

UK

Depending on where you bet, the United Kingdom may have a decent shot of causing an upset this year. The UK hasn't fared to well in recent contests, with only one top 5 finish in the last 13 years. During that same period, they also finished bottom on 3 occasions. In a bid to improve their fortunes, they've turned to 76-year old Engelbert Humperdinck (no, seriously - that's his name). It's got a distinctly old-fashioned flavour, which I'm not convinced everyone's going to go for but I could be very wrong. UK ScreenedPups, what do you make of your entry this year?

Ireland

Uh, yeah. Maybe...I guess? I can't see it myself but it would be great if these kids won. They're not the best singers in the competition but who knows? Maybe Europe will appreciate their energy and get behind them. They were the final act called out to advance to the final from Semi Final 1 and got a lot of camera time as a result. Unlikely but not entirely impossible.

So what are your thoughts, guys? Do you have any particular favourites that you'd like to see win this year? Any acts that you particularly hated? If anyone's interested, it might be fun to get predictions contest going?

Edit: Here are links to the songs of all the other competing nations - Hungary, Albania, Lithuania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Cyprus, France, Italy, Estonia, Norway, Azerbaijan, Romania, Denmark, Greece, Turkey, Spain, Germany, Malta, Macedonia, Ukraine, Moldova.

Hello ScreenedPups!

I have a very quick favour to ask of you. Now and then, my friend and I come up with T-Shirt ideas and submit them to printing sites. At the moment, one of our designs is up for submission and could really do with your votes. You don't have to register or sign up for an account at all - just click this link here and hit that Vote button on the right hand side of the page. It'll only take 2 seconds and it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading!