ESC 2011 - Reviewing the countries beginning with "A"

It's time! Just as last year (yeah you won't find 2010's reviews here since I lost my old blog...) I will review the ESC songs. Of course it's all about personal taste and I will comment based on the studio versions. Many things will change when we reach to the first week of May since that's when the rehearsals will kick off. But I won't re-review the songs based on the rehearsals. I will be blogging about the rehearsals but not intensively coz it's gonna be a really busy week (I have exams on May 10th hehe). And of course I will not predict who will make it to the final and who won't coz based on last year's guesses, I really suck at this! :P
So, here we go!

Albania sends Aurela Gaçe with the song "Feel The Passion" written by Sokol Marsi and Shpëtim Saraçi.

Well... At first I gave 3 points to the albanian version but it grew on me a bit. The chorus reminds me of Georgia’s entry in 2008. The rhythm is the same. I am not talking about plagiarism or anything. I'm just saying that in Albania's song, the part "let me share my song with you" sounds like the georgian part "say it out loud peace will come". Overall is an ok song. A bit screamy in some parts but ok.
Albania competes in the 1st semi-final with running order #3.

5pts from me and good luck to Albania!

Armenia sends Emmy with the song "Boom Boom" written by Sosi Hanikyan, Murzo and Apricota.

Seriously? Is this some kind of a remixed version of Shakira's "Waka Waka" and "Loca"? Hahaha Oh well... I find it kinda silly. I'm fine with it but it would better without the "Boom boom, chucka chucka, your kiss is like a, like a". I don't know! I just laugh everytime she sings the chorus! For some, the chorus might be catchy but not for me. Sorry!
Armenia competes in the 1st semi-final with running order #4.

3pts from me and good luck to Armenia!

Austria sends Nadine Beiler with the song "The Secret Is Love" written by Thomas Rabitsch and Nadine Beiler. 

I've been listening to this on repeat for over 20 minutes and I still can't remember the melody. Exactly! That's not good! Another not good thing for me: it's a ballad! I don't like ballads! There are just a few ballads that I can listen to on repeat! Of course there are quite a few ballads that I think are brilliant songs but still, I rarely listen to them. And to get back to the austrian entry, I just don't like it.
Austria competes in the 2nd semi-final with running order #2.

2pts from me and good luck to Austria!

Azerbaijan sends Ell and Nikki with the song "Running Scared" written by Stefan Örn, Sandra Bjurman and Iain Farquharson.
There's such a big fuss about this and I don't understand why! I am not impressed at all! Both of them have nice voices but after a while they're getting annoying in the chorus. Nice song but not really my cup of tea...
Azerbaijan competes in the 1st semi-final with running order #18.
6pts from me and good luck to Azerbaijan!