We take a look at what people around the Internet are saying about everyone's favourite song contest in this first installment of a regular series. Be prepared for rumor, innuendo, wild speculation and an interesting premise or two. After all this is blogging meets Eurovision. Last week saw the Eurovision Song Contest put on trial, speculation over in the metal and rock blogs, some predictions, and a homework question inspired by the ballet. It was a tame week all-in-all.

THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST ON TRIAL
The Art Of Noise, a collaborative music blog, introduced a new feature recently. Every week they put something music related on trial. The first week it was the The Beatles. The second week saw The Eurovision Song Contest's turn 'In the Dock'.

First, the prosecutor drmigs wrote passionately against the contest, and although he claims to have seen it only once – he trots out all the familiar old clichés. His accusations include: only novelty acts win, the voting is political, and “Eurovision is a vehicle for self-promotion when you've failed to get notoriety through less desperate means.”

Then he accuses, “It's a media circus for wannabes. Step forward wannabe musicians, step forward wannabe agents, step forward wannabe presenters.” Ouch. He makes a point that might hit a little too close to home for all of us Internet journalists scrambling for press passes.

Mike rises for the defense having blogged eloquently about the contest many times in his own Troubled Diva blog. And, on what does Mike hang his defense? Believe it or not, Mike's defense rests on Eurovision's "indie cred”!

“One of the great joys of Eurovision is its lack of slick, corporatised homogeneity,” he asserts. “As far as the major labels are concerned, it's low priority. As few major international stars have been created by the contest, why should they care? And so they stay away, leaving the selection of the songs and artists, and the staging of the show, to the national television companies of the participating nations.”

And, he continues,"There is room here for daft lyrics, wobbly voices, creaking dance routines; and a certain sense of raw amateurishness, which makes for a refreshing contrast with the seamless, focus-grouped, identikit blandness which prevails right across the rest of music television."

Mike even answers that “political” voting is something, "only a fool (and Terry Wogan) could ever get seriously huffy about, which has never created a winner."

Read the full debate here. The verdict (here) has already been rendered, so it's too late to join the jury and cast a vote. But don't worry, the song contest won by a landslide.