BEFORE we have a referendum on staying in or leaving the EU there is one vote we should have closer to home.

Let's have a referendum to pull out of the out-dated Eurovision Song Contest.

This competition is now in its 60th year and continues to become an event that is like musical Marmite.

The clue comes in the title Euro…Vision… Song Contest, the music element being the least important factor.

For years as a TV critic I dreaded previewing and reviewing this television tack-athon.

I recall only a few memorable occasions: Brotherhood of Man serenading a dog with Save All Your Kisses for Me and Bucks Fizz with their sexy tribute to Velcro with Making Your Mind Up.

Merseyside duo Gemini in 2003 didn't get a single vote.

Only Abba remain truly a world-shattering discovery.

For years Terry Wogan's commentary saved it from banality. Now Graham Norton is as camp as the show itself with his bitchy off-the-cuff comments.

But do we really need it?

France once refused to enter in 1982, calling it a "Monument to Drivel."

How about a Brit Vision Song Contest instead where songwriters/performers from cities across the UK compete for the title?

After all, we had one in 1956 called the British Festival of Song.

Imagine Liverpool up against Coventry, Wirral against Wolverhampton?

A live TV election night without the heartbreak of exit polls.

I am sure Ukip would back such a patriotic scheme.

Happily these days I don’t have to sit for hours waiting for EU countries I've never heard of to vote tactically or otherwise against each year.

The novelty wore off decades ago.

I won't be watching the finals in Austria.

It's Goodnight Vienna from me.

**

AT last someone must be listening to me.

I have always said that the most ridiculous awards ceremony on television is the British Soap Awards.

Tomorrow night ITV will present a two-hour back-slapathon.

Why, when soaps are already well catered for at BAFTA and the National TV Awards?

How can you take seriously categories such as “Sexiest Male and Sexiest Female (actors or characters?) These thankfully have now been scrapped.

Instead comes a new category about storylines that have had a social impact, and that’s where the recognition should go, to those unsung heroes of any drama — the writers.

**

NEXT Monday we’ll see three ships come sailing in (and it’s not even Christmas) when the Cunard Queens arrive in the Mersey, a once-in-a lifetime spectacle that should appeal to all ages.

And, if this sight is not enough, there's an exciting programme of visual entertainment, including a series of images projected on to the Pier Head entitled Amazing Graces, with a sea of faces depicting the Spirit of Liverpool.

The true Spirit of the Mersey — let's remember Wirral's maritime heritage began before Liverpool as a port even existed — is best conveyed in the dedication and sheer bravery of Merseysiders "that go down to the sea in ships".

Poignantly, May 25 also marks the loss of 12 crew — six Merchant Navy and six Royal Navy aboard the Cunard-owned Atlantic Conveyor, hit by two Exocets during the Falklands War.

The Merchant Navy victims, including the Master, Captain Ian North, all volunteered to go with the container ship when she was requisitioned by the MoD and used as an aircraft carrier.

Deemed a "not high-value unit", the ship was not fitted with any defence system.

On hearing news of the loss, a Cunard spokesman paid tribute to the crew, and in particular her Master, stating: "It was a very happy ship and they would have gone with him anywhere."

So, on Monday, while we're celebrating the arrival of the majestic liners, let's also be mindful of the bravery of those volunteers.

Surely the true Spirit of the Mersey.

Peter Grant