Monday morning, and we’re back from taking that midnight train to Georgia

Written by: admin

You must know by now how much we love the weird and wonderful acts that try to get into Eurovision every year around the continent. The sad thing is how few of them make it through to the actual finals, leaving a succession of mainly fine but fairly ordinary acts to compete. The jokers, trannies, oddballs and truly amazing often get left behind.

But not in Georgia. Their national final this weekend had plenty of relatively ordinary acts. And the winner – Anri Jokhadze.

If, like us, you’ve missed 1980s Top Of The Pops you are in for a treat. Retro drum machines, tinny production, a portly gentleman wearing loads of make-up, bow tie and white gloves, just dancing around a plain black stage, to what starts off sounding like it’s going to be Take That’s Do What You Like. And then the song – part spoken/part sung. The lyrics appear to be “I’m a joker, I’m a rocker, I’m a smoker, I’m a poker (?), I’m a stoker…”, with some Hithouse-meets-PWL dance noises thrown in. Then halfway through it all changes and there’s some choral singing… including the words “Shake your booty out and do the dance, honey”…

Watch. Remember, it only takes a minute, to fall in love..

*UPDATE*

This is Anri’s Eurovision entry in 2009 “Gay Stalin”. (Stalin was, of course, Georgian – and there is still a Stalin museum dedicated to the great dictator in his home town of Gori, just off Stalin Avenue see photos below)

It’s just a shame this Producers-meets-Buck’s Fizz number (see clothes change at around 1 min.. and again at 2’20) didn’t win as it deserved Europe-wide viewing: