The Gayest Pop Show on the Planet

The United Kingdom is represented by Scooch, a quartet that was popular in the 1990s and is now trying for a comeback with "Flying the Flag for You." Borrowing from Slovenian band Sestre's 2002 blend of Eurovision camp with flight attendants (see below), the members of Scooch (comprised of two men and two women) push trolleys and use the famed Eurovision chestnut of double entendres, such as one of the guys singing "Would you like something to suck on for landing, sir?"

Austria is represented by Erik Papilaya singing "Get a Life, Get Alive" which will be doing double duty as it's also the theme for this year's Life Ball in Vienna. In order to get the message home, Papilaya will be accompanied onstage by a human-sized red ribbon, from which will sprout several sparkling dancers all in red. Critics have said that it's a bit too over-the-top, but the same was said last year of Finnish monster band Lordi, and they went on to win the top spot.

Even though this year might not be as gay as recent years, the competition has a rich history of GLBT inclusion in its past. Dana International (her stage name comes from the 1970 winner from Ireland, who ironically is now a conservative politician) was the first GLBT winner in the contest, but far from the first GLBT participant. Here's a timeline of Eurovision's gayest hits.

Great Gay Moments in Eurovision History

• 1959: Out singer Bob Benny performs for Belgium. He would later try again in 1961.
• 1968: The Netherlands are represented by American-born Ronnie Tober, who would marry his partner 30 years later.
• 1974: Future gay icons ABBA win the contest for Sweden with the song "Waterloo." Another future gay icon, Olivia Newton-John, represents the U.K., coming in fourth with "Long Live Love."
• 1986: Norway's Ketil Stokkan is backed onstage by the Great Garlic Girls, a well-known Norwegian drag act which surprisingly is the first example of cross-gender (in respect to men dressing as women) performance at Eurovision.
• 1988: Out singer Gerald Joling represents the Netherlands, coming in ninth behind that year's winner, Celine Dion (representing Switzerland).
• 1992: Another out entrant, Austria's Tony Wegas — who bore a striking resemblance to Andrew Dice Clay — made his first of two attempts to capture the Eurovision crown for Austria. He would achieve notoriety a few years later for stealing money from two elderly women in Vienna in order to buy drugs. 1992 was quite a gay year with Portugal represented by lesbian folk singer Dina, and Sweden represented by the out Christer Björkman. Björkman is now part of the creative team behind one of this year's most popular Eurovision pre-selections, Sweden's previously mentioned "THe Worrying Kind" performed by The Ark.
• 1997: Iceland 's entrant was the openly gay Páll Óskar, whose performance was greatly enhanced by near crotch grabbing and the presence of five dancing women in PVC. Nonetheless, the U.K., represented by Katrina and the Waves (yes, the same ones who claimed to walk on sunshine) won that year with the wholesome "Love Shine a Light." Here's Óskar's performance: