Remarkably, wrinkly Engelbert (aka Arnold Dorsey) can still hold a note at 75. Mr Humperdinck will be singing for his pension at the 57th Eurovision Song Contest with a sweet little ditty called Love Will Set You Free. It’s actually not a bad ballad in a Lionel Bart musical kind of way. Come Eurovision night in May, the streets of Soho will be empty, the middle aged ladies of the Carpathians will be chucking their knickers at the screen and Caucasian grannies will be swooning in the aisles in Baku. But, can Engelbert win and bring glory back to Blighty after 15 luckless years? Not while the Baltic league and Balkan cartel are in the driving seat, methinks. What do you think?
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Perking the Pansies 
Dear Jack: Engelbert was always a great singer. So many countries (outside of the US, of course) have a deep respect for the elderly. It is with deep regret that I say the USA does not often show respect for our elderly which they deserve. Our arrogance seems to focus on the rappers and talentless females who have little talent but a great deal of makeup!
Penelope Van Buskirk
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He’s really not bad for his age is he? I rather like the idea that the UK will be represented by someone older than me for a change! The song is certainly no worse than others that have gone before.
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That’s true. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.
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I can imagine how this all came about. A group of E.S.C groupies banged their heads together and said, we’ve tried the gimmick, with Scooch’s “Flying the Flag (for You)” hoping upon hope to rekindle the magic of Bucks Fizz (my personal all time E.S.C. favourite by the way), but let’s face it, Scooch were a joke too far. Then there was the idea that that bloke Andy Abraham from X-factor might do it, but as nice as he was he really didn’t cut the mustard and the song was too weak. The board room at E.S.C must have exploded with delight when the pop group Blue said they would sing for the U.K. but the boys from blue thought they could just turn up on the night and sing and get away with the fact that they hadn’t put a full 100% into rehearsals; the result was a very dismal performance which saw then come in at 11th place. So the E.S.C groupies might just have a winner with old Engelbert. He’s professional, he’s got a good set of lungs on him, and the song fits in with what the E.S.C is all about. So Come on Engelbert, make us proud and bring the prize back home.
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Old Arnie might just do the deal. Let’s hope so. I suspect, though, we could put up a singing parrot and it wouldn’t make much difference to the final result. We watch it for pure entertainment value and the fun of the scoring these days!
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Sadly, you might be right Jack. I do like it for it’s camp appeal. I still have memories of going to a Eurovison party, and a big guy, dressed in leather (he was going out clubbing after) sat next to e and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll be Katey (Boyle). what he ddin’t know about E.S.C didn’t need bringing up.
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. . is that embalming fluid a la ‘Dad’s Army’ I see shining?
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Are you being ageist, old man?
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I think the ‘Russian Grannies ‘will win.
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🙂
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Engelbert was my Mum’s favourite, and I also do a tribute show to Engelbert as part of my act. He has been a very popular entertainer for many decades, with a fabulous voice, and his popularity across Europe generally might just help him cut through the current ‘politics’ of the ESC voting system. I for one will be hoping with all my heart that he shines through and wins for us – bringing back the glory years of Bucks Fizz and Brotherhood of Man etc.
Andrew
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The show sounds fab. Perhaps we’ll get a chance to see it before we head back to Blighty.
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Jack..This is just a test post, as I’m trying a different way to get my comments on to WP blogs. Hope you don’t mind…no need to respond 🙂
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