Eurovision alive and kicking

By Paul Majendie

LONDON (Reuters) - La La La. Boom Bang-A-Bang. Ding-A-Dong. It's that time again.

The Eurovision song contest is a shameless celebration of pure kitsch with its tacky songs, camp singers and outrageous outfits that will culminate with a glitzy finale in the Serbian capital of Belgrade this year on May 24.

But however trite the lyrics get and however shamelessly East Europeans keep voting for each other, the annual mishmash of power ballads and bubblegum pop shows no sign of flagging.

"The more people knock and criticise it, the bigger Eurovision gets," says John Kennedy O'Connor, author of an official history of the contest.

"It is the biggest one ever this year with 43 countries compared to just seven in the first one in 1956. It is growing and growing," he told Reuters before flying out to Belgrade for Eurovision 2008.

Winning can even do wonders for a state's morale.

Marija Serifovic's victory at the 2007 contest caused an outpouring of national pride in Serbia, a country more used to rebuffs from Europe over its wartime past than to accolades.

Serbs took to the streets with flags, tooting horns and chanting winning entry "Molitva" (Prayer) until the early hours.