I've been on the radio!

I was, somewhat unexpectedly, broadcasting to the nation earlier this evening, when I was invited onto the Mark Forrest programme on the BBC's national local radio network. I know that 'national local radio' seems a contradiction in terms, but it is a programme that rounds up "the best of the day's local radio" on all 39 BBC local radio stations at the same time, except those which are broadcasting sport (which unfortunately included my own local station, BBC WM). They have 1.6 million listeners, apparently. (Except for those who are listening to sport.)

The question was this: 'Do you still BELIEVE IN Eurovision?'

Do you see what they did there? I'll leave it a moment for the hilarious topicality of this to sink in.

Okay? Good.

Some silly man has started a petition (already rejected by our wise and never-erring government) to persuade the UK to pull out of Eurovision (or 'Eurovison', as he calls it on the petition).

The petition is here. It has one signatory. (The man who started it, I assume.) So, not exactly a mass movement, but enough 'controversy' on which to hang a radio debate between me and the man who started the petition.

Anyway, that's all you really need to know. You can just hear the 'debate', such as it is. Here it is.

The Eurovision bit starts at 1:13:00, but if you can't bear to hear some 'comedy' songs for Eurovision from local radio, and the angry xenophobes who seem to be dragging their knuckles around the streets of Bedfordshire (shudder), skip to the beginning of my bit at 1:22:20 (after the Jamie Cullum single). It's all over by 1:27:10, apart from listeners' reactions.  (And yes, the host really does use the phrase, "Chris camp".  Almost as if he knew.)

I had so much more to say, but this is the way that trivial radio debate goes. (Goodness knows, I listen to enough of them on 5 Live.) My slight dissatisfaction with hardly saying anything that I'd prepped, including not mentioning languages, exposure to cultural diversity and the family entertainment factor, is outweighed by the fact that petition man's 'argument' (if he really had one) crumbled. I always find that 'facts' can get in the way of 'unsubstantiated flimsy opinion' and so it proved. Armed with some actual facts from a couple of friends, I was able to give factual answers, to which my adversary didn't really seem to have any reply. I was gagging for a fight after this, I can tell you! Bring on the proper debate! Feed me facts and watch me roar! (Albeit in my sinusitis-affected nasal drone.)

Anyway, I believe the final score was:

Eurovision 1-0 Naysayers.

Result! I've saved Eurovision for you, the UK. Be grateful! Buy me a drink or something! (I couldn't resist tweeting BBC Eurovision to point out that I have effectively been doing their PR for them, but I am actually happy to do that and knock back the BBC-knockers.)

Some Eurovision fans on twitter seemed grateful. I can't really ask for anything more than that. But my ex-boyfriend (of sorts) from 1986 heard the interview going out live from his home in the States, which meant he was hearing my voice for the first time since, ooh, about 1986. THAT was weird. But brilliant. And my friends in Brussels were listening to it live as well, which was also brilliant.

If you keep on listening to 2:15:30, some very astute person called Jonathan from Bury St. Edmunds says that *I* am right, so there you go. Case closed.

What do you think? Please feel free to leave a comment.