Line-up Announced for WEST END EUROVISION

Following last year's huge success, TheatreMAD's WEST END EUROVISION is back in 2009.

On Thursday 30 April at 11:30pm, the Piccadilly Theatre will host WEST END EUROVISION 2009 in aid of The Make A Difference Trust. This late-night show will see West End shows including Carousel, La Cage Aux Folles, Mamma Mia! and Wicked pitted against each other singing past Eurovision songs, aiming to win the votes of both the audience and this year's celebrity judging
panel, which includes Katrina Leskanich, Graham Norton and Sally Ann Triplett.

"After spending a few months in La Cage Aux Folles, I am delighted to be joining TheatreMAD's judging panel for their West End Eurovision contest," says Norton. "TheatreMAD does such important work in raising money to help people affected by HIV and AIDS, and also to support those working in the theatre industry who are living with other long-term conditions. Because Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote the UK's 2009 Eurovision entry, it seems fitting that West End shows are joining in the Eurovision fun. I'm glad I can be a part of it during my last week in La Cage."

The show features a special guest appearance by Nicki French, who will perform her Eurovision 2000 entry Don't Play That Song Again.

The Eurovision Song Contest is one of the longest running television shows in the world. It was on the 24th May 1956 that Europe saw the first and now, after 53 shows, the contest is one of the most popular European traditions.

The United Kingdom first won Eurovision in 1967 with Sandie Shaw's Puppet On a String and then again two years later with Lulu's Boom Bang-a-bang. Other UK winners include Brotherhood of Man in 1976 and Bucks Fizz - complete with detachable skirts - with Making Your Mind Up in 1981. Katrina and the Waves were our last winners in 1997 with Love Shine A Light, so here's hoping Jade can take us back to the top of the pile in 2009!

David Pendlebury, Chairman of TheatreMAD, adds, "Eurovision is such a camp and fun event, so it's perfectly suited to a late-night West End show and we are grateful to all at the Piccadilly Theatre, and to all our talented performers and guests, for helping us to make it happen. It has the potential to raise such a lot of money for the projects we support and we are thrilled to present WEST END EUROVISION for the second time."

 

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