A marathon weekend

As many of you know, last weekend I ran the London Marathon in support of Leukaemia Care. It was an amazing day - my final time was 03:29:27. It might have been even better if I hadn't gone out and got drunk at EuroFest on the Friday before... Still, I am happy with my time, despite the hot weather. Less than five weeks to go now until the Edinburgh Marathon!

Still smiling at mile 20 - before the cramp set in

With my cousin and aunt after the 2013 London Marathon  

It was a particularly poignant day though, as last year I was cheered on by my aunt who sadly passed away in September. She was a truly remarkable lady and was on my mind throughout the course. A huge thank you to each and every one of you for your sponsorship, encouragement and kind words. I really really appreciate it. I raised over £1700.

My lovely friend Jude Habib came up with the idea of raffling off some old Eurovision CDs and kindly donated a huge pile. Thank you to you all for entering the raffle by donating money on my JustGiving page. I am truly blessed to know some lovely people. I am delighted to announce that the winner of the raffle, selected at random, is....

Drum roll...

SYLVIA ROOK!

Congratulations Sylvia - I'll need to work out how to get these CDs to you now! 

After the marathon I went to the London Eurovision party which was superb as ever. It was great to see Nicki French and Paddy O'Connell strutting their stuff on stage along with so many acts on stage. A particular highlight for me was Ruth Lorenzo's stunning set - she's quite simply the best singer in the contest and I hope Spain are on the left hand side of the scoreboard this year! Molly did the UK proud, as she did in Amsterdam - so looking forward to seeing her again in Copenhagen, lovely girl! A huge congratulations to the organisers of this event, particularly Kabir. It really is such a special event and has a lovely, intimate feel to it. I hope you're all proud of your achievement, it was a night to remember!

When in Rome er... Amsterdam!

It's finally happened - I've lost my virginity! (It's been a long time since I said that!) A huge congratulations to the team behind Eurovision in Concert which I attended for the first time. The event took place in Amsterdam last weekend. 25 acts, thousands of party goers and so much fun! Amsterdam is a great city anyway but it was the perfect choice to host such a huge sell-out concert - a testament to how well-organised it is and how popular Eurovision continues to be despite the detractors.

 

It was a pleasure to meet some of the acts from 2014 before the concert at a special press event prior to the concert. The highlights for me included two special ladies - Molly from the UK and Ruth Lorenzo from Spain (via X Factor!) Not only were both absolutely gorgeous, they were so nice too. It can't be easy putting up with Eurovisionistas for so long (that's why I drink!) and yet these two were consummate professionals.

 

 

The concert itself was great fun - Denmark's winner Emmelie De Forest opened the show with "Only Teardrops" and some scantily clad boys (which unsurprisingly went down well in the hall!) 25 acts is a huge number but it flew by! One of the more serious moments occurred when Aram from Armenia performed to a chorus of booing. There were reports that he had made derogatory comments about Conchita from Austria and was alleged to be homophobic. It might have been taken out of context, who knows, despite his protests and apologies, the crowd were unforgiving.

 

Apart from that, the atmosphere was brilliant. It was a pleasure to meet Maribelle the night before, who sang my favourite ever Eurovision song, "Ik Hou Van Jou" from 1984. She didn't seem to believe me when I told her how much I loved the song, oh how we laughed! 

 

 

It is not easy to arrange such an event and a huge well done to the organisers! Fabulous time was had by all!

 

All eyes now turn to London and to the London Eurovision Party which has been going strong since 2008! London has a more intimate feel which makes it different to its Dutch sister. This year it's going to be held in a new venue, Cafe De Paris in Leicester Square. It's already sold out and there are over 20 acts performing!! That's not including the lovely Nicki French and her cheeky but adorable counterpart, Paddy O'Connell, who are both always so enthusiastic when it comes to Eurovision and it always shines through. Good luck to one and all!

 

It'll be there although I don't know how much dancing I'll be doing as I'm running the London Marathon earlier in the day. Hoping to beat my time of 3:38:24 from 2013!

 

On a serious note, many of you know that I'm running for Leukaemia Care, a small charity based in Worcester. My cousin previously ran for them and they do great work. It's going to be a very emotional run on Sunday as last year I was cheered on by my aunt who sadly passed away last year. I'm going to give it my all and will certainly raise a glass of prosecco or five to her after the race!

 

Now here's a special treat for you - my lovely friend Jude Habib has kindly donated all of her old Eurovision CDs for auction. All you have to do is go to my JustGiving page and donate a minimum of £5 and you'll be entered into a raffle and all the CDs can be yours! Please leave a note on the page though so that I know the donation is Eurovision-related!

 

 

 

A huge thanks to Jude and to you all for your generosity and support!

 

Thank you Amsterdam and hello London!!!!!!!