Books & news from Jacky Gray & Ro Green
Famous Hatches, Matches and Dispatches from this year
Births:
Emma Stone, Vanessa Hudgens, Rupert Grint, Rose McIver, Adele, Jessie J & Rhianna
Marriages:
Mike Tyson and Robin Givens, Mick Fleetwood and Sara Recor, Burt Reynolds and Loni Anderson, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Jonathan Frakes and Genie Francis, Michael J. Fox and Tracy Pollan, Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis
Deaths:
Roy Orbison (52), Andy Gibb (30), Kenneth Williams (62), Trevor Howard (75) & Roy Kinnear(54)
Famous Hatches, Matches and Dispatches from this year
Births:
Adam Sandler, Helena Bonham Carter, Halle Berry, John Cusack, Kiefer Sutherland, David Schwimmer, Rick Astley, Salma Hayek, Janet Jackson, Jon Favreau, Eric Cantona, Mike Tyson, & Gordon Ramsay
Marriages:
George Harrison and Patti Boyd, Sophia Loren and Carlo Ponti, Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow, Brigitte Bardot and Gunter Sachs, Dolly Parton and Carl Dean
Deaths:
Walt Disney(65), Montgomery Clift(46), Evelyn Waugh (63), Johnny Kidd(31) & Buster Keaton(71)
If you listen to radio/watch TV in the UK, you can’t be unaware that this Sunday marks the 40th anniversary of a rather special day back in 1985.
Where were you when Mr Geldorf was letting loose his potty mouth all over the BBC?
If you listen to Greatest Hits Radio (home of Ken Bruce and Simon Mayo), you’ll know they’re playing all the original recordings from 12 noon on the 13th. Enjoy.
Famous Hatches, Matches and Dispatches from this year:
Births:
Rowan Atkinson, Bruce Willis, Kevin Costner, Kelsey Grammer, Billy Bob Thornton, Bruno Tonioli, Olga Korbut, Simon Rattle and Yo-Yo Ma
Marriages:
Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, Gregory Peck and Veronique Passani, Rock Hudson and Phyllis Gates, Clark Gable and Kay Spreckles, Michael Caine and Patricia Haines
Deaths:
Albert Einstein (76), James Dean (24), Alexander Fleming (74), Charlie Parker (35)
While researching, I noticed some fun coincidences among people born that year, must have been something in the water.
Inventors: Bill Gates (Microsoft), Steve Jobs (Apple) & Tim Berners-Lee (World Wide Web)
Musicians: Eddie Van Halen (Van Halen), Angus Young (AC/DC), Billy Idol (Generation X)
Actresses in Sci-Fi series: Kate Mulgrew (Captain Katherine Janeway), Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi), Mira Furlan (Ambassador Delenn), Whoopi Goldberg (Guinan) – can you guess the odd one out?
Famous Hatches, Matches and Dispatches from this year:
Births
Liv Tyler, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Tom Hardy, Orlando Bloom, Michael Fassbender, Chris Martin, Richard Ayoade & Shakira
Marriages
David Cassidy and Kay Lenz, Brian May and Chrissie May, Marvin Gaye and Janis Hunter,
Bruce Boxleitner and Kathryn Holcomb, Chris De Burgh and Diane Davison,
Graham Nash and Susan Sennett, Donald Trump and Ivana Zelníčková
Deaths
Elvis Presley(42), Charlie Chaplin(88), Bing Crosby(74) & Marc Bolan (30)
I just happened to be up at the crack of dawn (or actually quite a while later) in time to watch the sun rise above the horizon, and the scene through my front window had that golden orb shining between the tall trees in the park opposite. Unfortunately I wasn’t sharp enough to grab my camera, but the closest I could find was this.
The sun reflecting off the white side door had a buttery creaminess to it, reminding me of how special the sunrise is at that time of year.
I only joined the throng at Stonehenge once and was most disappointed by the lack of respect of the lumpenproletariat as they swarmed all over the stones and left their detritus behind. And it was cloudy! This year’s figure mentions 25 thousand – my idea of hell. I much prefer the celebration at Avebury – much smaller and more spiritual, although plenty of entertainment with drummers and fire-poi dancers.
It’s been a while since I did the epic drive – these days the spirit is willing, but you know the rest. I keep promising myself to do Glastonbury Tor one year – we’ll see.
For years, I got quite worked up about the fact Mother’s Day is always on the shortest day of the year (not the Winter Solstice, but because the clocks move forward). And then Father’s Day is on the longest day of the year (but not when the clocks go back). For several years the Summer Solstice fell on the same weekend, so I had to run around doing stuff for my husband, his father and mine before I could drive down to Avebury to celebrate with like-minded people.
So this year, with it being on the 15th, nearly caught me out, and I looked into why it wasn’t on the 22nd as I would have expected. A few keystrokes later, I discovered it’s celebrated in the UK on the third Sunday in June. The one in June celebrated in the UK is a relatively modern tradition, adopted from the United States. where the first unofficial Father’s day was held on 19 June 1910. It was introduced by Sonora Smart Dodd from Arkansas, who wanted to honour her widowed father’s dedication to raising six children after his wife died in childbirth. In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation honouring fathers, designating the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day. From there, it was made a permanent national holiday by President Richard Nixon in 1972.The idea spread internationally, and by the 1970s, it became popular in the UK. Many people celebrate with cards, gifts and homemade school projects. The day often starts with children preparing breakfast in bed, followed later by a family meal. Dad is treated like royalty and not allowed to lift a finger – not even to make a cup of tea.
In Germany, Father’s Day – Vatertag – (also known as Männertag gentlemen’s day/boys’ day out) is celebrated on Ascension Day – the Thursday forty days after Easter. One tradition involves young and older males taking parts in hiking tours. They take small wagons filled with beer and Hausmannkost – simple, hearty dishes prepared at home. Alternatively, they ride beer-bikes, but the general idea is plenty of fun, beer and no responsibility.
In Paraguay, Father’s Day is celebrated with a traditional banquet of Paraguayan food like chipa (cheese-flavoured rolls), mbeju (starch cake) and sopa paraguaya (similar to corn bread).
First promoted In France by the manufacturer of cigarette lighters “Flaminaire” in Bretagne (1946 to 1969) known for inventing the first gas cigarette lighter, who had the brilliant idea to boost his sales by pushing the then little known holiday. At the time, smoking was a sign of masculinity and virility and a cigarette lighter was the perfect gift choice. Officially recognised in 1952 (on the third Sunday in June), dads and father figures got nominated for a national prize by the social services of each town hall or mayor’s office.
In Thailand, Father’s Day takes place on 5 December, (birthday of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej). Traditionally, Thais would celebrate by giving their father figures a canna flower, although this is not as popular anymore. They also wear yellow and light candles to show respect for the late king, who was seen as the “father of the nation”.
In Japan, traditional gifts for Father’s Day include sake (Japanese rice wine), shochu (Japanese liquor), gourmet food and various sweets.
Post-pandemic saw a new era, and 2022 saw me releasing three books in the Calamity Chicks series with my own cover designs (more about those later).
Then I heard Keith A Pearson, a phenomenal Time Travel author on Ken Bruce’s Popmaster, and it was a defining moment. After reading a stack of stories by Keith and Adam Eccles, I was inspired, and abandoned my retro chick-lit series.
I had the idea of a bunch of 30-something nerds – like a British version of Big Bang Theory. But I couldn’t just do a straight Time-Travel adventure – my fascination with Dungeons and Dragons, meant I did a genre mash-up – given the growing interest in series like Big Bang, Stranger things and even iZombie, I hoped I’d be onto a winner.
As ever, I’d left it far too late to ask anyone, so I had a go myself, based on the general lad-lit covers format of plain background (left).
Pitiful, eh?
Then someone mentioned Getcovers, and they did a phenomenal job in just under a week (right).
Talk about a transformation!
I managed to squeeze books 1 and 2 in before the end of 2022 – which was a tough target, as I didn’t start Just in Time until November, but thanks to NaNoWriMo, I wrote it in a month. Two years later, I pubbed the sixth book, and here are the glorious covers. Didn’t they do well?
I cannot recommend this Ukrainian outfit enough.
Every dealing I’ve had with them has been an enjoyable experience thanks to the friendly, helpful project managers, and the designers have taken on board every note and quickly tweaked the cover to my satisfaction.
I was so impressed, I got them to redo the Calamity Chicks covers. The differences between my covers and theirs are subtle, but they have a huge impact.
So it took a while, but continuing our tradition, I watched the movie: Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga.
Although it’s only been a year since I last saw it, as ever, there were one or two wee scenes which caught me unawares. I hadn’t really clocked quite how many previous contestants bought into the idea.
There were a whole bunch of cameos from actual Eurovision winners including:
Salvador Sobral, the Portuguese singer who won the contest in 2017 with “Amar Pelos Dois,” who appears briefly as a street performer in Scotland.
John Lundvik, who kicks off the song-a-long, is a Swedish pop singer who placed fifth in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv with the song “Too Late for Love.”
Anna Odobescu represented Moldova in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest, where she performed “Stay.”
Bilal Hassani represented France in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest, with the song “Roi.” He made it to the finals, ultimately placing 16th.
Loreen is a Swedish pop singer who won the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan, with her song “Euphoria.”
Jessy Matador represented France in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 in Oslo with “Allez Ola Olé,” which placed 12th:
Also:
| Year | Country | Song | Performer |
| 1956 | Switzerland | “Refrain “ | Lys Assia |
| 1957 | Netherlands | “Net als toen” | Corry Brokken |
| 1958 | France | “Dors, mon amour” | André Claveau |
| 1959 | Netherlands | “Een beetje” | Teddy Scholten |
| 1960 | France | “Tom Pillibi” | Jacqueline Boyer |
| 1961 | Luxembourg | “Nous les amoureux” | Jean-Claude Pascal |
| 1962 | France | “Un premier amour” | Isabelle Aubret |
| 1963 | Denmark | “Dansevise” | Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann |
| 1964 | Italy | “Non ho l’età” | Gigliola Cinquetti |
| 1965 | Luxembourg | “Poupée de cire, poupée de son” | France Gall |
| 1966 | Austria | “Merci, Chérie” | Udo Jürgens |
| 1967 | United Kingdom | “Puppet on a String” | Sandie Shaw |
| 1968 | Spain | “La La La” | Massiel |
| 1969 | Spain | “Vivo cantando” | Salomé |
| United Kingdom | “Boom Bang-a-Bang” | Lulu | |
| Netherlands | “De troubadour” | Lenny Kuhr | |
| France | “Un jour, un enfant” | Frida Boccara | |
| 1970 | Ireland | “All Kinds of Everything”” | Dana |
| 1971 | Monaco | “Un banc, un arbre, | une rue”Séverine |
| 1972 | Luxembourg | “Après toi” | Vicky Leandros |
| 1973 | Luxembourg | “Tu te reconnaîtras” | Anne-Marie David |
| 1974 | Sweden | “Waterloo” | ABBA |
| 1975 | Netherlands | “Ding-a-dong” | Teach-In |
| 1976 | United Kingdom | “Save Your Kisses for Me” | Brotherhood of Man |
| 1977 | France | “L’Oiseau et l’Enfant” | Marie Myriam |
| 1978 | Israel | “A-Ba-Ni-Bi” | Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta |
| 1979 | Israel | “Hallelujah” | Milk and Honey |
| 1980 | Ireland | “What’s Another Year” | Johnny Logan |
| 1981 | United Kingdom | “Making Your Mind Up” | Bucks Fizz |
| 1982 | Germany | “Ein bißchen Frieden” | Nicole |
| 1983 | Luxembourg | “Si la vie est cadeau” | Corinne Hermès |
| 1984 | Sweden | “Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley | “Herreys |
| 1985 | Norway | “La det swinge” | Bobbysocks! |
| 1986 | Belgium | “J’aime la vie” | Sandra Kim |
| 1987 | Ireland | “Hold Me Now” | Johnny Logan |
| 1988 | Switzerland | “Ne partez pas sans moi” | Céline Dion |
| 1989 | Yugoslavia | “Rock Me” | Riva |
A few fun facts and figures:
The performer and the songwriter(s) of the winning song only receive a medal or a trophy, while its participating broadcaster is invited to host the following year’s contest. Since 2008, the performer has been awarded a handmade trophy of sandblasted glass in the shape of a 1950s microphone, while the songwriter(s) and the broadcaster receive smaller versions of the trophy.
Ireland and Sweden have won seven times, more than any other country. Ireland also won the contest for three consecutive years (1992, 1993, and 1994), the only country to ever do so. Three countries have won twice in a row: Spain (1968 and 1969), Luxembourg (1972 and 1973) and Israel (1978 and 1979). Serbia is the only country to win with its debut entry (in 2007).[b] By contrast, Portugal holds the record for waiting the longest to achieve their first win, doing so in 2017; 53 years after their first appearance in the contest. Two people have won more than once as a performer: Ireland’s Johnny Logan, who performed “What’s Another Year” in 1980 and “Hold Me Now” in 1987, and Sweden’s Loreen, who performed “Euphoria” in 2012 and “Tattoo” in 2023.
The United Kingdom has finished second sixteen times at Eurovision (most recently in 2022), more than any other country. France has finished third and fourth eight times at Eurovision (most recently respectively in 1981 and in 2024), and Sweden has finished fifth nine times at Eurovision (most recently in 2019). The country with the most top three places that has never won the contest is Malta, having finished second in 2002 and 2005 and third in 1992 and 1998. Another island nation, Iceland, has also finished second twice, in 1999 and 2009.
With Portugal achieving its first win in 2017, Malta now also holds the record for longest wait for a first win, having first entered the contest in 1971 (although Cyprus has more winless appearances, with 36 since debuting in 1981, due to Malta taking a break from 1976 through 1990). Spain holds the current record for longest drought by a winning country, having last won in 1969. They are followed by France (1977) and Belgium (1986).
A week ago today saw our family’s first virtual Eurovision party, with Chris and Sophia in Horsham, Jo in Lancaster and Steph in Canada. It was fun sharing opinions over a WhatsApp group and we’d already decided the UK entry was one of the best for years. Good to see it get some jury votes, but as ever, the European public saw fit to punish us with nil points. Goodness knows what poor Iceland had done to offend them though – it defo deserved way more.
The keen-eyed among you will wonder where part 1 is – it was actually posted a couple of years ago – you can check it out here. But because I use these posts to search for stuff, I’m gonna do the most recent ones first from 1990-2025 and the next post will do 1956-1989. So here they are:
| Year | Country | Song | Performer |
| 1990 | Italy | “Insieme: 1992” | Toto Cutugno |
| 1991 | Sweden | “Fångad av en stormvind” | Carola |
| 1992 | Ireland | “Why Me?” | Linda Martin |
| 1993 | Ireland | “In Your Eyes” | Niamh Kavanagh |
| 1994 | Ireland | “Rock ‘n’ Roll Kids” | Paul Harrington & Charlie McGettigan |
| 1995 | Norway | “Nocturne” | Secret Garden |
| 1996 | Ireland | “The Voice” | Eimear Quinn |
| 1997 | United Kingdom | “Love Shine a Light” | Katrina and the Waves |
| 1998 | Israel | “Diva” | Dana International |
| 1999 | Sweden | “Take Me to Your Heaven” | Charlotte Nilsson |
| 2000 | Denmark | “Fly on the Wings of Love” | Olsen Brothers |
| 2001 | Estonia | “Everybody” | Tanel Padar, Dave Benton and 2XL |
| 2002 | Latvia | “I Wanna” | Marie N |
| 2003 | Turkey | “Everyway That I Can” | Sertab Erener |
| 2004 | Ukraine | “Wild Dances” | Ruslana |
| 2005 | Greece | “My Number One” | Helena Paparizou |
| 2006 | Finland | “Hard Rock Hallelujah” | Lordi |
| 2007 | Serbia | “Molitva” | Marija Šerifović |
| 2008 | Russia | “Believe” | Dima Bilan |
| 2009 | Norway | “Fairytale” | Alexander Rybak |
| 2010 | Germany | “Satellite” | Lena |
| 2011 | Azerbaijan | “Running Scared” | Ell and Nikki |
| 2012 | Sweden | “Euphoria” | Loreen |
| 2013 | Denmark | “Only Teardrops” | Emmelie de Forest |
| 2014 | Austria | “Rise Like a Phoenix” | Conchita Wurst |
| 2015 | Sweden | “Heroes” | Måns Zelmerlöw |
| 2016 | Ukraine | “1944” | Jamala |
| 2017 | Portugal | “Amar pelos dois” | Salvador Sobral |
| 2018 | Israel | “Toy” | Netta |
| 2019 | Netherlands | “Arcade” | Duncan Laurence |
| 2020 | Contest cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | ||
| 2021 | Italy | “Zitti e buoni” | Måneskin |
| 2022 | Ukraine | “Stefania” | Kalush Orchestra |
| 2023 | Sweden | “Tattoo” | Loreen |
| 2024 | Switzerland | “The Code” | Nemo |
| 2025 | Austria | “Wasted Love” | JJ |
A few fun facts and figures:
Relatively few winners of the Eurovision Song Contest have gone on to achieve major success in the music industry. The most notable winners who have gone on to become international stars are ABBA, who won the contest for Sweden in 1974 with their song “Waterloo”, and Céline Dion, who won for Switzerland in 1988 with the song “Ne partez pas sans moi”. More recently, Duncan Laurence, who won for the Netherlands in 2019 with “Arcade”, experienced worldwide streaming success with the song as a sleeper hit throughout 2020 and 2021, with the song becoming the most streamed Eurovision song on Spotify. While Måneskin, winners for Italy in 2021 with “Zitti e buoni”, subsequently achieved worldwide popularity in the months following their victory.
Changes to the voting system, including a steady growth in the number of countries participating and voting, means that the points earned are not comparable across the decades. “Amar pelos dois” by Salvador Sobral holds the record of the highest number of points in the contest’s history, earning 758 points in 2017. “Fairytale” by Alexander Rybak holds the largest margin of victory in absolute points, a 169-point cushion over second place in 2009. “Non ho l’età” by Gigliola Cinquetti holds the record for largest victory by percentage, scoring almost three times as many as second place (49 points compared with 17 by the runner-up) in the 1964 contest. The lowest winning score is the 18 points (of the 160 total votes cast by 16 countries) scored by each of the four winning countries in 1969.
Under the voting system used from 1975 until 2015, in which each country gives maximum points to its first place choice, “Euphoria” by Loreen won the 2012 contest with the most ever first place votes earned, receiving first place votes from 18 of 41 countries (excluding themselves). The 1976 winner, “Save Your Kisses for Me” by Brotherhood of Man, holds the record of the highest average score per participating country, with an average of 9.65 points received per country. The 2011 winner, “Running Scared” by Ell and Nikki, holds the lowest average score for a winning song under that system, receiving 5.14 points per country.
JRo Author 