As last year's winner and this year's host, I've been asked to give you a few tips on how to write a good ALC entry. Of course what is good and what is not is up to every person's taste, and there is no such thing as a template to use to get a winning ALC entry, but a bit of advice on the way can not do any harm.

THE SONG:
Statistically, it is best to choose a song from the most recent Eurovision, as the last three winners of ALC have all been from that same year. Statistics necessarily don't always tell the truth though, and selecting an older song can also be a very positive thing as it stands out more and the risk of someone else having written lyrics for the same entry is much smaller. The most important thing when picking the song you want to base your lyrics on is that it should be a song people know of.

THE THEME:
It is important that you decide a theme for your song. It can either be related to the entry itself (the dress of the singer, the
promotional tour, the neighbour voting), related to ESC in general or something that has absolutely nothing to do with at all. If we look at past ALCs then the entries that are not related to ESC have usually been the most succesful, but these are also the hardest to write. A theme that for some reason has usually proved to be successful in this contest though, is food. It is also one of the most common themes in the lyrics, next to bashing the artists. However, the most important thing when picking a theme is that you can turn it into lyrics.

THE LYRICS:
The absolutely most important thing that makes a good alternative lyric is that the lyrics must fit with the melody. If you write great comedy lyrics that on their own are hilarious, but people won't be able to sing them to the original melody of the song, then it is not very likely to do well. Make sure each line has the same number of syllables as in the original line, and that the words are stressed more or less the same. Making sure the rhymes are ok is also very important. Whenever you wrote something, sing it out loud to test it. When it comes to the words in your lyrics, don't be afraid of using words outside of mainstream phrases. Be inventive! Use a dictionary to look up words and names of places when you need. But words that people don't know how to pronounce, or haven't got the faintest idea what they mean, might come across as a little confusing.

Last but not least. Start writing in time. Not all entries can be written in one hour. Great entries are sometimes written in no time at all, and sometimes it takes weeks. If you can't think of anything for the next verse in your lyric, leave it until tomorrow. Keep correcting your lyrics until they have reached perfection (or until the deadline for submitting them has come).

GOOD LUCK!