Wootini

I have to admit that Sweden's entry has grown on my over time as I listen to the album. But the first time I heard it was was like - ACK! My favorites are Finland and Belgium, which usually means that they won't even make it out of the semis. ;) I wouldn't mind if Russia won. Although I also really like France's entry (even if I don't speak French so I don't really know what it's about) :D Worst this year is definitely San Marino with Greece coming a close second.

This show is making my blood pressure boil. It was obnoxious when people were acting stupid just to drive storyline, which I ALWAYS hate in soaps. But now I'm just hella pissed that Jay had his entire life screwed up by that stupid little girl. And there's nothing he can do about it. Now everyone's judging him, and it's making me so angry. I guess I should be grateful that I'm actually emotionally involved in an EE storyline for the first time in ages, but still... Poor Jay. At least people are still acting stupid. I feel like instead of the Pride of Walford, they should give awards for stupidest idiot. My nominees are Phil, Denise and Tina. (Mass dropped out of the running when he actually came to his senses.) Honorable mention to Johnny, who wouldn't have been so dismissive of Sonya's friend if he'd seen him in his gladiator costume at the race! ;)

Oh yeah! I guess Walford now does an annual half marathon? Up to the allotments and back? :D

Oh my God, I don't think anyone on the EE staff has ever run in their lives. I seem to recall they had a race last year that was a joke, but I don't remember how long it was. I feel like it was a marathon that Kush was supposed to run, but I don't really remember it except that it was ridiculous and they just ran around the square and through the park and that was basically it. But I have personally run a half marathon, and let me tell you, it was NOTHING like that. There were THOUSANDS of people. We ran half the length of Manhattan. And when it was over, I was not really in the mood to hang out in a pub drinking and noshing. :D They really should just stick to 5K fun runs or something if they're not going to make the effort to be realistic! :)

Yeah, I was spoiled on Kyle's true identity AGES ago, so it wasn't at all a surprise. Which is kind of a shame, because it would've been a great moment if it was actually a shock. :) I am glad we're moving on with the story finally. As Decider says, now we won't have any more of Martin yelling at Kyle to go away while Stacy cringes behind him. Although I feel like we now are counting down to the scene where Martin walks in on Kyle in the bathroom or something... :-/ The show has been so boring for so long that I was stunned when they finally pulled the trigger on the Claudette stuff. But then they wrapped it up in like, two episodes! I don't understand why they didn't have her lurk around the Square for longer and torment everyone. Hell, even Donna changed her opinion like, three times in one episode! I got whiplash! They need to tell stories at a proper pace. Don't rush them, and don't drag them out too long. Although since I am not privy to a lot of the UK gossip rags, I don't know if maybe there was behind the scenes stuff that prompted the Claudette storyline wrap-up. But at least I can avoid major spoilers (except for the Kyle one!).

I have to say I'm really happy EastEnders didn't go THERE with the Carter storyline. That cliffhanger with Linda and Ollie was terrifying, and I was convinced that because this is EE, we were going to be in for a depressing storyline that would have me crying for at least a week's worth of episodes if not more. So I'm really happy to see that they're not going there, and instead are opting for a story which will give them a lot more drama to play out over a longer period of time. I feel bad for Lee and Nancy, because it looks like Mick wants to murder both of them. O.o

Wow. EE had been in quite a lull (and there are still some stories I could care less about, like Carter family drama, Donna wanting a baby and Ronnie/Jack), but it's like the writers room woke up and realized that things actually needed to HAPPEN on the show to keep people watching! :D This week has been BANANAS! Denise's storyline kind of fizzled out, but at least something happened. But those scenes with Claudette were AMAZING. I never though much of Richard Blackwood beyond being a solid slab of beefcake, but he was REALLY good in those scenes. For the first time in a while I'm actually looking forward to what happens next!

Woof! Finally got caught up! I was sick for a bit, and didn't go into work. I usually watch EE on my commute, so I fell behind for a couple weeks. I think it's hilarious that Abi is trying to get pregnant by any guy who is willing to give her a tumble just to hold on to Ben. Girl, have some self-respect. Ben is GAAAAYYY. You can do better. Well, maybe not. But hey, it's worth a try, right? But just FYI, Lee is NOT an upgrade. He's got just as many issues. I have to say that when Ben started getting extra enthusiastic about the new baby, I thought he was trying to push Abi into confessing she was lying. But now I feel like he's genuinely just trying to stamp down his real feelings for Paul (and other random men) and commit to loser Abi. Ugh. I sort of wish Pam would just suck it up and take Les back. This constant "oh, I don't know, maybe, I still love you but I can't get over how good you looked in a dress" is getting a bit tiring. I did think the single beds was a nice, realistic touch. Of course, as soon as they ARE happy again together, Babe will pull out that half-burnt picture she rescued from the refuse pile to ruin Les' life. Babe is seriously psycho. I mean, she's a great character because she causes all kinds of drama for the other character with her meddling, but oh my God, I can't imagine that actress can walk down the street peacefully anymore! :D How much longer before Phil drinks himself to death? Because I literally can't even with that storyline anymore. He's such a bastard.

I love that the episode after I posted about everyone acting like idiots, everyone mostly came clean! I couldn't believe Alfie actually told Kat about his tumor, especially with everything else she's got to deal with right now. Although that will probably work in his favor. "Kat, you know how your dad just died on this couch we're sitting on right now? Well, I could also die on this couch right now. But hopefully not. Sorry about not telling you sooner!" :D And I will give Phil a little credit for telling Sharon he was driving. Of course, he's still determined to drink himself to death in the gutter somewhere. Gotta say I'm kind of on Sharon's side in this whole thing. Let him do what he wants! (Although I really think Louise should've just taken the money and run! Left Phil laying on the floor!) But Martin was working my last good nerve. Stacey is clearly in need of SERIOUS help and could put herself or the baby in danger at any moment. This is NOT when you hide your head in the sand, even if that's pretty much Martin's MO for everything. I will give him partial credit as well for being about to tell Sonya the truth when Stacey came outside in the freezing cold rambling on about god and gifts and whatnot. Thank GOD it's out. Now hopefully Martin doesn't go out of his way to convince Sonya to keep quiet so he can handle it on his own. Because I fear that's his next step... :-/ I was excited to see Peggy again (although it was really weirdly shot so it was almost like the actors weren't even on the same set at the same time...), but devastated to learn they're doing to her what they did to Charlie. Let's keep Dot off camera for a while longer, yes? ;-) Oh, and now that Kat has decided to go to Charlie's funeral, I would assume that they'll explain the absence of the other Slater sisters by saying that none of them were going to show up because Kat was there? Ugh.

Yeah, basically, I'm torn between who is driving me more insane right now: You've got Phil, not treating his cirrhosis while simultaneously letting Ian take the fall for Dennis' injuries. Ugh. You've got Alfie, who still can't bring himself to tell Kat he's got a seriously dangerous brain tumor that could probably kill him at any moment. Sigh. And now you've got Martin, who keeps insisting to everyone that Stacey is fine, when he should really just grab Arthur and run while the men in the white coats drag Stacey off to get better. I mean, seriously.

Part of me almost hopes that Charlie's funeral is off-screen. I watch it on the train going to and from work, and I was crying when he died. If I have to watch a funeral, I'll have to make sure I watch at home. :) Especially if they drag the other Slater Sisters back for a cameo. I did think it was a bit rude of them to bring Charlie back just to kill him off, but at least he got the lovely sad end credits music. They gave him THAT at least. ;) (Of course, then he was still laying on the couch in the next episode, so... yeah... not so much with the respect, I guess)

That's an interesting spoiler. I have to say that watching Stacey lose her marbles like this is surprisingly entertaining. When she started acting squirrelly, I initially thought I would have NO patience for it. But it's actually not bad. Unless, of course, they drag this out too long and it starts getting annoying. That's entirely possible, with this show. :D

Yeah, I thought they might actually kill off Dean, but then I realized there's more drama in letting him go to jail. They can prolong the agony for everyone. I don't mind, though, because this way we get to actually watch him punished for his crimes. If he'd just drowned, that would've been too easy. (Gotta say, though, that lake didn't look like it would've been that deep!) :D I was annoyed when Phil was ignoring the doctor about his liver, and then Alfie had to come back and remind me how awful THAT whole "I'm going to ignore my brain tumor" storyline was. And now we've got Stacy acting like a loon? Gah. I just want to slap the crap out of all three of them. BTW, what was up with Stacy insisting to Kush that he's not the babydaddy? Do we think she was lying? Or could she have slept with someone else? (Though I can't imagine who it could be...) They always seem to drag out the more annoying storylines, don't they... :P

I remember when Linda was all squirrelly, Mick said something about Johnny, but I can't remember exactly what. Like he couldn't get a flight, and she shouldn't call off the wedding because of that... I'm only halfway through the Monday episode, so I've been hoping that Johnny is Tina's "surprise" she keeps teasing Mick about at his Stag do. :)

Yeah. Vincent should have been told that nobody threatens Dot. Honestly, nobody would ever hurt Dot because you would basically have the entire Square gunning for you. :D I can't believe that's how poor Fat Boy got written out. How lame. Although since we didn't actually see anything, I'd like to think that didn't really happen. Maybe they left it open in case they wanted to bring him back at some point? I can't believe Vincent is taking it all upon himself, though. I mean, Ronnie is just as much to blame, if not more, since she set the whole thing up. She needs to know what she did so SHE can be wracked with guilt. I mean, for as long as Ronnie feels guilt, which isn't particularly long most of the time. Roxy ALMOST redeemed herself by walking out on Dean, but lost any sympathy she garnered by changing her mind at the end. She now deserves whatever she gets. (Although I'm hoping we can get rid of Dean when he likely throws a scene at Mick and Linda's New Year's nuptials!) Ian is a moron. Taking the blame for the car accident? Gah. I mean, I guess it's nice we can look forward to the eventual episode where the truth comes out and Sharon tears Phil a new one, but that could be a ways off. :P Oh, and don't send Bobby to boarding school! That's just handing him a slew of new victims on a silver platter! ;)