Like a queen in all her glory

As Madam Arcati and I happen to be celebrating(!) our 22nd anniversary in the month of May [we don't have a set date; just sometime this month], let's have another timeslip moment, dear reader - back to that long-distant world of...

...1998! The year of Tony Blair, commemorations of the death of Princess Diana the previous autumn, Geri Halliwell leaving the Spice Girls, the Kosovo War, the Second Congo War, the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland, the dreadful Omagh bombing by dissidents opposed to that agreement, B*Witched, Charlotte Church, Titanic, the Human Rights Act, Hugo Chávez, Bittersweet Symphony, Welsh Secretary Ron Davies' notorious "error of judgment" with a man on Clapham Common and subsequent resignation, Robbie Williams, the "Free Deirdre" tabloid campaign, the singer from Chumbawamba throwing a bucket of ice over Deputy PM John Prescott, the BBC's Perfect Day, the President Clinton-Monica Lewinsky affair, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, All Saints, abolition of hereditary peers' right to sit in the House of Lords, Cher Believe, The Wedding Singer, the murder of Matthew Shepard, the devastating Yangtze river floods, Brimful of Asha, Blue Peter presenter Richard Bacon sacked for taking cocaine, the arrest of General Augusto Pinochet, Madonna's Frozen and Hurricane Mitch; the births of Shawn Mendes, the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge, the European Central Bank, the two pound coin and Google; and the year Roddy McDowall, Alice Faye, Patricia Hayes, Dermot Morgan (Father Ted), Jerome Robbins, Sonny Bono, Frank Muir, Enoch Powell, Catherine Cookson, Falco, Joan Hickson, Lew Grade, Shari Lewis, "Tiffany Mitchell" in Eastenders, Tammy Wynette, Linda McCartney, Maureen O'Sullivan, Florence Griffith Joyner and World in Action all died.

In the headlines in May twenty-two years ago this month? The death of crooner Frank Sinatra, two British nurses convicted in Saudi Arabia for the murder of Yvonne Gilford were pardoned, India and Pakistan tested nuclear missiles in an escalation of hostilities, gay footballer Justin Fashanu committed suicide after being arrested in the USA over an allegation of sexual misconduct with a 17-year-old, and Kevin Lloyd ("Tosh Lines" in The Bill) was found dead a week after having been sacked for alcoholism. In our cinemas: Sliding Doors, Deep Impact and The Big Lebowski. On telly: Open House with Gloria Hunniford, Don't Try This at Home and Invasion: Earth.

And what of our charts this week in May '98? Aqua was at #1 with Turn Back Time, and All Saints, Tamperer ft Maya, Wyclef Jean, Cleopatra, the Corrs, Simply Red, Queen Madge, Steps and the Mavericks were all present and correct.

But it is to the other (and most) important musical "happening" of May 1998 we turn for the "song of the moment". Hosted in Birmingham [after the UK triumph courtesy of Katrina & the Waves the previous year; the UK's last win], and against strong competition from our own Imaani, Malta's Chiara and the Netherlands' Edsilia (as well as bigotry from Orthodox Jews in her own country), it was the crowning moment for...

...the Eurovision Song contest's first trans competitor, Dana International!

Dana International - Diva (Israel)

She is all you’ll ever dream to find
On her stage she sings her story
Pain and hurt will steal her hearts alight
Like a queen in all her glory

And when she cries, Diva is an angel
When she laughs, she’s a devil
She is all beauty and love

Viva nari’a, viva Victoria, Aphrodita
Viva la Diva, viva Victoria, Cleopatra

Indeed.

Roll on tonight's (replacement for the cancelled contest) Eurovision merriment!