If you just believe in the things that your eyes can see

And so, it is the day...

The Gay World Cup is here! Our flags are up, our costumes are at the ready - Tonight we crack open the "booze of all nations" for the Eurovision Song Contest.



Our hopes rest with Bonnie Tyler and Believe in Me, the UK entry for 2013. It is definitely a song that has grown on me, but will it win?



You say you don't believe in signs from up above
And you laugh at the thought of putting your faith in stuff like love
You never see the rainbow you just curse the rain
You say you wanna believe
But it's just not worth the pain today

That's all fine if that's how you want it to be
But if you're feeling alone and afraid and you can't breathe

Believe in me yeah
Believe in me yeah
Believe in
The way I look at you
And stand beside you
The way I speak the truth
I'd never lie to you
If you just believe in the things that your eyes can see
Believe in me

You come and you go when there's never no compromise that's why
The seconds and the minutes of the days of your life
Go crawling by

That's all fine it that's how you want it to be
But you're feeling along and afraid and you can't breathe

Believe in me yeah
Believe in
The way I look at you
And stand beside you
The way I speak the truth
I'd never lie to you
If you just believe in the things that your eyes can see
Believe in me

What'ya gonna do when your ship is sinking
And you're crying out for help
And just a seagull's listening
In the dark of the night in the middle of the fight
When you're reaching out for something and there's nothing

Believe in me yeah
Believe in me
The way I look at you
And stand beside you
The way I speak the truth
I'd never lie to you
If you just believe in the things that your eyes can see
Believe in me

We believe in you, Bonnie. Bonnie! Bonnie! Bonnie! Oy! Oy! Oy!

Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmo, Sweden

Glitterballs, cheap tarts, old queens and Eurovision

I haven't forgotten that this should be our regular celebration of the end of another week, despite the fact that I am on leave. Some traditions have to be maintained...

We also cannot let this week go by without marking the fact that it is the "Gay World Cup" tomorrow - the Eurovision Song Contest! Yay! We will of course be celebrating in our traditional raucous fashion, with a big dressing-up-and-voting-and-drinking party here at Dolores Delargo Towers.



Today is special for a third reason, too - it is our friend Baby Steve's 40th birthday! No longer a "baby"...

So, speaking of parties, glitterballs, cheap tarts, old queens and Eurovision - here's the long-forgotten 2004 entry from Bosnia-Herzegovia, the not-gay-at-all Deen and In The Disco:



Thank Disco It's Friday!

Happy Birthday, Steve!

Look inside, look inside your tiny mind

Today marks the 9th annual International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDaHo), and it is important to remember some salient facts.

• Across the world, 78 countries criminalise same-sex relationships. In nine countries, sanctions can go as high as the death sentence.
• An estimated six million LGBT students worldwide drop out of school because of harassment by peers and by staff; and the suicide rate amongst LGBT teenagers across the world is disproportionately high compared to perceived "straight" peers.
• There were 1,123 reported killings of transgender people in 57 countries between 2008 and 2012.

In Russia several authorities have adopted laws banning “homosexual propaganda”, and there is a very real threat this will become federal law. In Eastern Europe, many former Soviet states are increasingly adopting the same anti-gay rhetoric and legislation.

In the US, the recent coming-out of black baseballer Jason Collins opened the floodgates for a wave of nasty-minded (racist as well as) homophobic bigots to "exercise their democratic right to free speech".

Despite major progress towards equality in states such as Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, there is a dangerous wave of Catholic-sponsored bigotry pervading other Latin American countries such as Venezuela and Ecuador.

In Africa, post-colonial evangelical churches with homophobic views hold the balance of power in a vast majority of its nations; and across the Arab and Islamic world, the rise of homophobic fundamentalism shows no sign of abating.

Even here in so-called enlightened Europe, the recent attempts to get a law legalising gay marriage in France had a vicious struggle to face before being adopted by its parliament.

To mark this year's IDaHo, I went along to a throughly enlightening and absorbing lecture (hosted by those marvellous people at the Gay and Lesbian Humanists Association - GALHA), as Dr Matt Cook of Birkbeck College spoke on the subject of "Britain's Sexual Revolution". Taking the period commonly associated with sexual revolution in Britain - roughly between 1965 and 1970 - and its "astonishing pace of change", he put the momentous events of that era and beyond into context against the background of the puritanical post-1945 period that saw more persecution (and prosecutions) of LGBT people in Britain than had ever before been recorded.

And here is the entire talk, in full:









[Check about 8:10 into part four to see someone you might know asking a question!]

It will take some effort for those of you who did not attend to sit through the whole two hours - but it is well worth watching, to learn some surprising facts about modern LGBT history and our journey from post-war pariahs to the burgeoning sense of progress towards equality we (privileged citizens of a Western democracy) in the UK are experiencing today. I found it utterly fascinating...

Of course, there is a simpler message - as is traditional on this day every year at Dolores Delargo Towers - to address all homophobes wherever they lurk across the world:



If you haven't done anything to show your support for IDaHo yet, the official website has some "quick fix" ideas.

Taking a more camp approach to awareness-raising, there is also a "flashmob" planned for 5pm today in Trafalgar Square - hordes of people are expected to take part in a synchronised "big dance", to Beyoncé's Single Ladies! Shame I can't be there...

Previous blogs about IDaHo may be found here, here and here.

Thinking of becoming an author?

Expert advice on how to write a bestseller, courtesy of the ever-fabulous Fascinating Aida:



We adore these ladies! - and went to see them in their fantabulosa live show back in January 2012.

Fascinating Aida website

It's Scott Walker, bitch!

Ever wanted to hear what Scott Walker - that enigmatic doyenne of moody torch songs and avant-garde chanson, beloved of Marc Almond, the late Billy Mackenzie (Associates) and Neil Hannon (The Divine Comedy) among others - would sound like if he decided to do a cover of Will.i.am and Britney's godawful Scream and Shout?

Now you can! - courtesy of comedian Adam Buxton:



Excellent!

Immortal Eno

"A part of me has become immortal, out of my control."

One of the most influential musicians of our time, Mr Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno celebrates his 65th birthday today.

Acknowledged for his inspiration on myriad diverse artists including Bowie, Talking Heads, Devo, Public Image Ltd, U2, Aphex Twin, John Foxx, Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders, LCD Soundsystem, David Sylvian, MGMT, William Orbit and even Coldplay, his work has incorporated world music, ambient and electronic experimentation and embryonic forms of hip-hop.

In short, a genius. Here he is in a rare solo appearance not long after he left Roxy Music - Seven Deadly Finns:



Happy birthday, Mr Eno!

Paul Morley interviews Brian Eno

My previous blog about Mr Eno

Emeralds are a girl's best friend

Congratulations to the lovely Caro Emerald, Dutch diva of jolly jazzy cabaret numbers, whose second album The Shocking Miss Emerald has debuted at Number 1 in the UK album charts.

I adored her first album Deleted Scenes From The Cutting Room Floor, and I look forward to hearing the new one. She's a sassy lady - her persistence in getting her music noticed, long before getting a record deal (she was championed by both Jools Holland and Terry Wogan), is the stuff of legend, and she still retains full artistic control over her productions. Here are a few of her choons to cheer us up.

That Man:


Stuck:


And the new one, Tangled Up:


She's wonderful!

Caro Emerald official website

My previous blog featuring Miss Emerald