April 24th 2004 and quite a momentous day for London in Eurovision terms. To celebrate EU Enlargement on May 1st and to welcome the ten new nations to the EU, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office held an Open Day, called "Meet The Neighbours" in central London. A free and open invitation to find out more about the ten new members, to sample their food and drink and to enjoy cultural and musical entertainment.

In Eurovision terms, this included performances from James Fox, Julie & Ludwig, Paul Giordimaina, Olivia Lewis, Ines, Skamp and Fabrizio Faniello!

Quite a gathering of Eurovision names on what was a gorgeous hot sunny day in London - just up the road from Downing Street, Big Ben and Trafalgar Square.

Eurovision entries "Hold on To Our Love", "On Again... Off Again" , "U Got Style" and "Another Summer Night" rang out across central London, as well as other material by the invited performers. Sadly, Ines did not give us a rendition of "Once In A Lifetime".

An excellent day in the sun, not to mention samples of Slovenian wine, Polish Vodka and Lithuanian beer...!

Below are some pictures of the event. Click on an image for a closer look.

WELCOME - Denis McShane (UK Minister for Europe), Julie & Ludwig, James Fox, Jazzpression (Hungarian Jazz Artist) and Kevin Hughes (Moderator and BBC Wales Presenter)

JAMES FOX - Sang 'Hold On To Our Love', some Travis tracks and some original material. Superb!

PAUL GIORDIMAINA (Eurovision 1991) & OLIVIA LEWIS PLUS SKAMP ("U Got Style"!)

INES - Beautiful, Professional but no rendition of 'Once In A Lifetime'

JULIE & LUDWIG - A mime for Europe?!

FABRIZIO FANIELLO - 'Another Summer Night' plus new and old material.

VENUE VIEWS - Stunning!

LONDON VIEWS - What a fantastic day!