Joe & Jake in Stockholm

Joe and Jake – and indeed increasing numbers of OGAE UK members – are now safely in a warm and sunny Stockholm.

We’ve just been down to Globen to watch their second rehearsal and things are looking really good for the boys. Vocally they are sounding strong, they look good both in the arena and on screen, and the whole presentation just works. No gimmicks, just Joe & Jake, a couple of drummers and a couple of hidden backing singers. Pyros near the end of the song enhance the performance and – if we get a good draw – we could end up getting a very decent result.

From Globen it was over to the press centre for their press conference. OGAE UK President Alasdair asked them whether being selected via a national final, as opposed to internally, was important to them. They both agreed that it was, with Joe saying that it really means something, knowing they had the backing of the public.

It was also interesting to hear from Helen Riddell at the BBC that they were happy with the way the selection process had worked this year, expressing satisfaction with the winners! They reminded the assembled press and fans that a number of routes had been used to select the UK entry, namely the record labels, BASCA, and the fan club. There were encouraging signs that a national final may end up being repeated next year.

Joe & Jake also used the press conference to say how much of an eye-opener the preview parties had been in terms of realising how big the contest is in many parts of Europe.

And who are their favourites of their competitors? They both agreed that France and Sweden had top quality songs, and loved hanging out with Frans at the London Eurovision Party.