Delegations at the summit took several hours to hammer out a 10-page statement full of bland postulations of the EU's Eastern Partnership programme, but ahead of the meeting, Juncker was clearly in a more light-hearted mood.
Of course, the UK show made up for its lack of funds with quirky memorable, endearing characters and the US one is a bland bore.
Bland said the NAO and the Commons public accounts committee, where seven senior BBC figures appeared on Monday to account for the corporation's payoffs in what chair Margaret Hodge described as a "grossly unedifying" hearing, "do good work" and "what they put their finger on was important".
Bland, speaking at the Royal Television Society Cambridge convention on Thursday, said the NAO was too focused on "whether they get a headline" rather than identifying best practice.
Vivid magenta, sky blue and a deep aquamarine are hardly colours that bring to mind the classical galleries of the Royal Academy in London, but for this year's Summer Exhibition – now in its 247th year – the bland white walls have been scrapped for an altogether jazzier colour scheme.
Bland, who was chairman of the BBC's board of governors – the predecessor to the BBC Trust – between 1996 and 2001, backed Channel 4 chairman Lord Burns, who said the trust should be replaced by a unitary executive board – headed by a chairman working alongside the director general – and an outside regulator.
"The way the debate is being conducted is so bland and repetitive with three men in grey suits throwing insults at each other, it is turning people off," said Conor McGurran, campaigns and citizenship officer at the student union.
I've stuck with the classic saffron to flavour the rice, but feel free to experiment with other herbs and spices; Hartnett goes for chopped parsley and Carluccio adds a pinch of nutmeg, but chilli flakes might also work well with the bland mozzarella.
The rooms are comfortable, if a little bland, but the communal areas – the open-fronted dining room, cosy bar and sitting rooms – are all welcoming and delightfully furnished.
— In the sometimes bland Nascar garage, at least one driver has dared to criticize the powerful, call out the untouchable, slap down the unbearable and catch the seemingly uncatchable.
Another "conditioning" technique involved feeding a detainee "a bland, commercial liquid meal" instead of normal food.
