Eurovision 2014: Chris's Grand Final Party

Conchita, Queen of Eurovision!

Held last night, Chris's 3rd Annual Eurovision Party was certainly the best ever! The twelve attendees cheered, squealed, grooved, joked, and sang our hearts out during the three-and-a-half hour extravaganza. Chris's decorations were second to none, with brightly coloured bunting, #TeamMolly posters and #JoinUs diamonds adorning the ceiling, walls and floor. When Austria's Conchita Wurst was announced as the victor, we were all delighted, especially Chris, who supported her from the start. We were also pleased with the UK's score, a respectable 40 points, which put us in 17th place. Here are the final standings in our group competition:

1. Chris - Austria - 1st place
2. Chelsea - Sweden - 3rd place
3. Jess - Armenia - 4th place
4. Wendy - Ukraine - 6th place
5. Steph - Denmark - 9th place
6. Jade - Finland -11th place
7. Emily - Romania - 12th place
8. Georgina - Switzerland - 13th place
9. Megan - United Kingdom - 17th place
10. Daisy - Azerbaijan - 22nd place
11. me - Malta - 23rd place
12. Rosie - Slovenia - 25th place

Yes, my beloved Firelight ended up four places above the bottom of the leaderboard, but I wasn't at all dispirited. Their performance was delightful, and I somehow managed to vote for them 50 times during the short interval. Amazingly, they were awarded 10 points by the UK, so the binge voting was well worth it! In total, they were given 32 points, which meant my pledge to eat one Malteser for each point they received was significant, yet easily doable.

32 maltesers

Daisy's tactical choice of Azerbaijan sadly failed to pay off; their 22nd place finish is the first time they've ever placed outside the top 8. After her win last year, Rosie was relegated to last place this time around. Chelsea and Chris both improved by 13 places on last year, and my first choice actually qualified this time around! The UK didn't do too badly, and the rest of the attendees' countries finished on the left hand side of the leaderboard. After the excitement of the contest, today I've felt rather melancholy, but I will look forward to Austria 2015!

Some of Chris's decoration

The artists we supported

Eurovision 2014: Country choices

Chris has continued his yearly tradition of getting each of us to choose a country to support, and this year, after much contemplation and soul-searching, I've gone for Malta! The song is called "Coming Home", and it's performed by the group Firelight, most of whom are siblings. I really like it's folky vibe and it reminds me of "Let Me Go" by Gary Barlow, a song I heard live at Gary's concert on the day we chose our countries. In truth, I can't see it winning, but I'm passionate about supporting it, which is ultimately the reason why I chose it, rather than one of the favourites like Armenia or Norway. I do think it deserves a spot in the final, and I shall definitely vote for it in the second semifinal on Thursday 8th May. However, as with last year, my choice will open the semifinal, which did not fare well for Austria's 2013 campaign, as the country did not qualify. Nonetheless, I believe Firelight has what it takes to earn a place in the 2014 final. I hope I'm correct!

Everyone else's choices are as follows:
Chris: Austria
Emily: Ireland
Georgina: Switzerland
Rosie: Slovenia
Chelsea: Sweden
Steph: Denmark
Wendy: Ukraine
Jade: Finland
Jess: Armenia
Megan: United Kingdom

May the best song win!

Prüfung und Pesto

Almost two weeks ago I sat my German A2 speaking exam. During the night I dreamt that I completely messed up, as documented in this tweet, but as morning rolled around, I became unusually calm. We were able to meet our examiner at the start of the day, and it was reassuring to find that she was just as jolly as we'd been told. After this brief introduction, Chris, Nilloy, Daisy and I left, while Rosie began her fifteen minutes of preparation. The remaining four of us returned to the Study Area, where we nervously carried out last minute revision and I correctly guessed that the word for sadness is "Traurigkeit". Over the course of the next two hours, Rosie returned, and Daisy, latecomer Lily and Chris all completed their exams. Finally, it was my turn. When I arrived, I was somewhat thankful to find that Chris was still in the examination room. Upon leaving he seemed content, which was encouraging. Before I could begin my exam, the examiner had a quick break, but she soon returned, and allowed me to choose my card. After this, the invigilator ushered me into the planning room. The time went by rather quickly, but I did manage to plan all three questions, so it was already going better than the dream. Thankfully, the topic was interesting and I had a lot to say about it. I recalled my Exposé faultlessly, then I only needed clarification on one of the questions during the discussion. Afterwards I couldn't stop smiling, and psychology breezed by in the afternoon. Later on Daisy drove Chris, Emily, Georgina and I to meet Rosie for a celebratory meal. Earlier, the examiner recommended that I have a big meal to commemorate the effort I put into the exam, so at the restaurant I chose the Rigatoni al Pesto, which almost put me off pesto for life, then later I shared a lemon meringue dessert with Chris. Coming home we realised just how great a driver Daisy is; her concentration never faltered despite the noise coming from her passengers, Chris in particular. It seems really odd that I'll never do another German speaking exam, but it's also a relief. Now I just have the three hour written exam to complete, as well as six exams from my other subjects... not too much!

The Status

On 24th November, Chris Green posted "listening to christmas songs ♥" as his facebook status. Nobody at the time would have predicted that, within 2 months, there would be over 10,000 comments on it, detailing the everday thoughts, feelings and activities of a group of teenagers. Included in its seemingly endless realms were gems such as "Chris Blue", word association games, and ringing in the new year. Unfortunately, Chris deleted it today. 

I miss you, status! Thanks for some good times! 

I know there is more to life than a facebook status, but it was good while it lasted.

Broken Dawn

Today, Em, Daisy, Georgina, Elisha, and the new couple, Chris and Chelsea, went to the cinema to see Breaking Dawn Part 1. We had a good time, eating loads of popcorn and pringles while Bella and Edward married, honeymooned and more on the 60 ft screen. After the film we said our goodbyes and departed, but Em and I will see Georgina, Elisha and the lovebirds again later as we're going to a film night at Chris's house!

First day back!

Today I started year 11. I could go on for ages about how I don't feel old enough to be sitting my GCSEs next May and how it only feels like yesterday that I was a nervous year 7 on my first day, but instead I'll outline the main events of today:

1. 6:45 am - get up my dad's clock is fast so we were up before 7, but at least it meant we weren't late to...
2. 8:07 am - meet Georgina a couple of minutes earlier than usual (only because it's the first day). Thanks to this, I subsequently miss seeing 8:09 on my watch, but the songs I listened to on the walk to school make up for it.
3. 8:31 am - at school Em, Daisy, Georgina and I are now at school, commenting on how small the new year 7s are and talking about TV shows. This area of conversation is lifted when Chelsea arrives; she will later attempt to work out how many hours of TV she watches in a week (it's a lot).
4. 8:45 am - tutor time we get our new planners (I predicted the cover would be dark and stripy), fill in our timetables, do a fire drill and Rosie's ruler makes my head bleed. Break follows, before our first proper lesson of the day:
5. 11:10 am - science work out our current grades in each module in science, and shake up our seating plan. We now sit (clockwise from the sink): Rachel, Chelsea, me, Chris Donati, Tom, Chris Green, Rosie.
6. 12:10 pm - RS same teacher, seating plan and module as before.
7. 1:10 pm - lunch hall closed so we eventually settle around the morning bench. I hold Em's mirror for her to put her brace bands in.
8. 1:55 pm - PE with no kit, there's nothing to do in PE except listen to sir talk for the best part of an hour. Luckily next lesson we can listen to music while walking. Good times.

I could go on, but assembly isn't particularly interesting and my right arm aches from the tetanus injection I had at the doctors earlier. See ya!

Recent good times

So, topless Bono month on my U2 calendar is officially over (has been for days), and I'm still yet to compile a blog post in the merry month of July. What can I say, I've been not at all busy! Here's a few excerpts from the more interesting events of late:

Tuesday 28th - Brace date
I got braces a week ago today! They ached a bit at first but I'm getting used to them now.

Thursday 30th - Bad Teacher
I went to see the film Bad Teacher with Chelsea and Chris. It was fun, especially watching Chris on the dance game in Bowlplex.

Saturday 2nd - Georgina's party
I had so much fun around Georgina's house with her brother James, Em, Chris, Daisy, Chelsea and Elisha, especially trying to catch food in your mouth (I'm surprisingly good with small pieces of dorito!)

Here's to a fun-filled July!

Happy Breathe Day!

16th of June, 9:05, doorbell rings, man at the door says if I wanna stay alive a bit longer, there's a few things I need you to know... three!

Funderworld!

Em, Georgina and I went on a trip to Funderworld, the travelling themepark, yesterday, which was great! I loved the ride "Freak Out!"; the feeling on it was incredible, as though we were soaring high above the park, and although it was over in a few minutes, we felt euphoric for some time afterwards. Other highlights included Magic Mouse, which we bought a less-than-flattering photo of ourselves on, and another ride which I've forgotten the name of, but I remember one of the people painted on it looked a tad like Bono... ;)

On the subject of Bono, last night I dreamt that I met him and Bradley Walsh! I can't remember it very well, but I think I took Bono to school (why?), and woke up soon afterwards.

Why my leg hurts...

This morning I was surprised to receive a text from Tom, asking about science table meeting up later on. Eventually it was decided to go to Pomphrey Hill (again) and Em and Georgina were invited to make up the numbers, since Chelsea was busy and Chris Donati is on holiday. In the end only Rosie could come in addition to Tom, his sister Katie, Em, Georgina and I, but it was still good.



Apart from the awkward silences.

We played a lot of games including frisbee, rounders and football; I got 2 rounders as well as scoring a goal against Tom! Played manhunt after that (basically hide'n'seek) and got a few cuts and scratches from the trees, which were far spikier than they appeared (this is why my leg still hurts, about 8 hours later!). Rosie's friend Izzy came soon after that, but Georgina had leave, so Em and I went with her and wandered home in the afternoon sun. And it was 3:33.