Glitter in the Air! Eurovision 2011 is Coming!

The grand camp spectacle known as Eurovision (or as i like to refer to it, "my reason for being") will begin on May 10th in Dusseldorf, Germany, with over 40 countries represented.

In case you've somehow escaped it, here's an explanation of this most important cultural institution:

The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition. Each country participates via one of their national EBU-member television stations, whose task it is to select a singer and a song to represent their country in the international competition.

The contest has been broadcast every year since its inauguration in 1956 and is one of the longest-running television programs in the world. It is also one of the most-watched non-sporting events in the world, with audience figures having been quoted in recent years as anything between 100 million and 600 million internationally.

Yeah, yeah, but mostly it's a way to hear sometimes awful, sometimes moving, but mostly wonderfully cheesy pop songs.

The draw for the three-day event was announced today, with Poland performing first on day one, and Spain performing last on day three.

You can check out the entries from each country, but let's take a look at a few to watch for during the competition.

This year, the UK entry is from the boy band Blue, which features bisexual singer Duncan James. They debuted the song "I Can" over the weekend, live on The Graham Norton Show. There were some ... technical glitches, but the song is a typical boy band anthem about perseverance. "I Can" will be the third song performed on day three.

Ireland's entry has caused a bit of fuss, but not from me. To me, Jedward represents everything I love about Eurovision. True, they may not be all that musically gifted, but what they lack in actual ... skill, they make up for in sheer exuberance. They're having a great time, and their entry "Lipstick" is trashy, dumb, and irresistible. "Lipstick" will be the last song performed on day two.