ESC 2013 - Semi-final 2 results

Now this is a "I don't know where to start" moment! Just wow! Loved the opening act! And I wanted to comment that on the first semi's post but I forgot to do it. Love the graphics this year. And the "post cards". And for some reason I really like that sound right before the playback of each song begins. Also, the way they announce the results. No stupid buttons (2009), no stupid "are you excited? who's gonna be next?" and such stuff. Quick announcement without any unnecessary comments. Well done on that!

Now the results.

Hungary
Azerbaijan
Georgia
Romania
Norway
Iceland
Armenia
Finland
Malta
Greece

I predicted right 6/10 which is bad. Shocker of the night in a positive way, Hungary. Shockers of the night in a negative way, Armenia and Romania! What are these two doing in the final? Huge shock on non-qualification, Israel! I can't believe Israel is out! I got 7/10 from my wantlist and Israel and Switzerland were the 2 out of 4 that I really wanted in the final. Norway and Finland made it. But I have to admit I almost got a heart attack until Finlands announcement! 8th! But Krista made it! I'm also happy for Malta!

I was glad to see Lys Assia back and healthy! Petra was awesome as always! Lynda Woodruff too! What a character! Hahahaha That thing with Bonnie Tyler cracked me up! The interval act with Darin and Agnes was like watching Melodifestivalen. I only loved Agnes' "Release Me".

Finally, I wanna make a comment on the history that Krista wrote tonight! The kiss! She did it and not only we saw it, but it was also a close-up! I just couldn't believe it!

iltasanomat.fi

10 years ago EBU warned t.A.T.u. that they'll play the dress rehearsal video if they try to kiss during the live performance and today, Krista kissed her backing vocalist! Kudos to her for daring to do it. I've said before I'm not a big fan of the "use" of the kiss but I really don't mind seeing it. ;)


And I just saw that the running order for the final is revealed! Norway performs 24th! Between Italy and Georgia and Finland performs 4th between Moldova and Spain. So yay to both! Denmark's at 18 between Hungary and Iceland so it's good for them too. France will open the contest. huhu I won't comment the rest. I really need to go to bed!

ESC 2013 - Semi-final 2

Quick post with my predictions and wishes.

Second Semi-Final

1. Latvia
2. San Marino
3. FYROM
4. Azerbaijan
5. Finland
6. Malta
7. Bulgaria
8. Iceland
9. Greece
10. Israel
11. Armenia
12. Hungary
13. Norway
14. Albania
15. Georgia
16. Switzerland
17. Romania

The 10 countries I think that will make it to the final are (random order):

Israel
Greece
Azerbaijan
Georgia
Norway
Finland
Switzerland
FYROM
San Marino
Malta

The 10 countries I want to see in the final are (random order):

Norway
Finland
Israel
Switzerland
Hungary
Malta
San Marino
Azerbaijan
Iceland
Greece

Yeah I only care about 4. These are Norway, Finland, Israel and Switzerland. I hope I have better luck with my favourites this time.

ESC 2013 - Rehearsals Day 6

Back from Malmö and Saturday's and yesterday's rehearsals are probably old news for you but I haven't watched anything yet. As I said I'm gonna comment on everything. So, Day 6, Day 7 and an extra blog post about my amazing weekend in Malmö!

DAY 6

Latvia - PeR - "Here We Go" (2nd rehearsal) 
Mmm ok... It's kind of a "mess". The same performance as in their NF but they walk down the catwalk, Ralfs does a fake stage dive and that's it. I see no final here.

San Marino - Valentina Monetta - "Crisalide (Vola)" (2nd rehearsal) 
Really good rehearsal! I like the staging and the outfit change isn't "too much". I think it's time for San Marino to make it to the final! But yeah, people will definitely go "no way she's the facebook song girl"! (social network song or whatever)

FYROM - Esma & Lozano - "Pred Da Se Razdeni" (2nd rehearsal)
Thank God they dropped the english version!!! But I will never like Esma. She ruins the song! The performance is simple just like their NF. Final? I don't know.

Azerbaijan - Farid Mammadov - "Hold Me" (2nd rehearsal)
Wow. Fokas Evangelinos! You want a top 5 spot? Hire him! I'm not a big fan of the song but that performance is amazing! The shadow man (kudos to him!!) is amazing. The way they made the entire performance is amazing! Azerbaijan is so in the final!

Finland - Krista Siegfrids - "Marry Me" (2nd rehearsal)
What a show! I think the Vegas backdrop fits perfectly but in EUROvision? Oh well, soft spot coz I adore the song. However, I don't like the new version. I wish she sang the first one. Now about the kiss. Well Krista you dare to do it, at least keep it for a few more seconds. :P Question. How far will the camera be when they'll kiss? ;) Or even better (worse?), will we see it on tv?

Malta - Gianluca - "Tomorrow" (2nd rehearsal)
I love so much the ending. All going and sitting on the bench. That's what I like the most in the music video and now they're doing it on stage. Apart from that, Gianluca walks down the catwalk before he goes back and sit with the others. During the entire song he just sways on stage. Simple performance but good. It's a cute song sung by a cute guy.

Bulgaria - Elitsa Todorova & Stoyan Yankulov - "Samo Shampioni" (2nd rehearsal)
I don't like it. The song is similar to "Voda" and at the same time nowhere near it. This is bad. The performance is nothing new. Elitsa is barefoot, they're walkind down the catwalk and they finish there. Aah I don't like the song so I can't really comment on the performance. Nothing interesting about it.

Iceland - Eythor Ingi - "Ég Á Líf" (2nd rehearsal)
Too simple but I like it near the end when the backing vocalists are coming on stage. And thank God he changed his outfit. Much better now.

Greece - Koza Mostra feat Agathon Iakovidis - "Alcohol Is Free" (2nd rehearsal)
I don't know what's their problem with the rehearsals. I saw them live at the Eurovillage and they were so much better. I hope it will be fixed by Thursday. I totally hated it when we picked it and today I caught myself singing it. Seeing them live made me like the song. We're definitely in final's top 10. It's too uplifting and there aren't any other songs like it. If only Agathonas wasn't there...

Israel - Moran Mazor - "Rak Bishvilo" (2nd rehearsal)
That outfit... :( Why? WHY? And the hairdo... She looks so much better in the music video. Why couldn't they make her look like that in the ESC? That's my only problem coz the rest are perfect. Love the song and she's great live!

Armenia - Dorians - "Lonely Planet" (2nd rehearsal)
I got so bored watching this. I really dislike the song. The performance is nothing much. The entire group on stage and some flames. No final dear Armenia.

Hungary - ByeAlex - "Kedvesem (Zoohacker Remix)" (2nd rehearsal)
I will be positively surprised if Hungary makes it to the final. I don't see it happening though... :/ ByeAlex, a guitarist and a female backing vocalist on stage. Nothing wow, no gimmicks but I like it. I think having a female backing vocalist was a great idea. She adds so much to the chorus. It sounds great!

Norway - Margaret Berger - "I Feed You My Love" (2nd rehearsal) 
Great great great! The camera work seems to be identical to the MGP performance! Hopefully they won't show the backing vocalists. This is perfect! Oslo 2014! Or Bergen or whatever! Norway 2014!

Albania - Adrian Lulgjuraj & Bledar Sejko - "Identitet" (2nd rehearsal)
I only like the intro. But I think they'll make it to the final. It's a good performance. Quite powerful for such a song...

Georgia - Nodi Tatishvili & Sophie Gelovani - "Waterfall" (2nd rehearsal)
Ok now I think that this has chances for the final. I'm almost sure actually that they'll make it. I still find nothing special about the song but the performance is good!

Switzerland - Takasa - "You And Me" (2nd rehearsal)
I like that Sarah takes the lead in the second verse. In the studio version it's only Christoph who sings. Love their outfits but the performance is too static. I hope it won't cost them the final.

Romania - Cezar - "It's My Life" (2nd rehearsal) 
So many candidates for the Barbara Dex award this year! I like the fireworks at 2:24 but generally I can't stand the song and Cezars voice. His voice actually. Anyway, no final (I hope!).

ESC 2013 - Rehearsals Day 4

DAY 4

Greece - Koza Mostra ft Agathonas Iakovidis - "Alcohol Is Free" (1st rehearsal) 
I don't like what I hear. The vocals are really bad and I hope Ilias drops that "savage" voice. It's annoying. The performance looks identical to the NF one but they added some lights to their musical instruments.

Israel - Moran Mazor - "Rak Bishvilo" (1st rehearsal)
Why oh why are you wearing the NF dress Moran? Don't they read the negative comments about the styling? What are they thinking? Really! I'll try to overlook that even though it's impossible. Her vocals were great as always. Fix the styling PLEASE!

Armenia - Dorians - "Lonely Planet" (1st rehearsal)
Yeah definitely in my bottom 5. Why is he jumping like that? The outfits (if these are the stage ones) are ok. Nothing else to say here. Really.

Hungary - ByeAlex - "Kedvesem (Zoohacker Remix)" (1st rehearsal)
I like that they're using the music video of the song as backdrop. The performance is really simple but they sound really good. I like it!

Norway - Margaret Berger - "I Feed You My Love" (1st rehearsal)
I love that she kept the dress from MGP. However there are some minor changes on it. I have to say I don't really like the cut below the knee. I wanted the "caterpillar" dress! Hahaha Anyway this is great. I also don't like the backing vocalists. Sure they need them but I hope they hide them somehow. The focus should be Margaret and only Margaret! And I don't like that the backing vocalists are doing the same gestures as Margaret... Her vocals were ok-ish... At least that's what I heard but I'm not worried about that. I'm sure she'll sound great during the live performance.

Albania - Adrian Lulgjuraj & Bledar Sejko - "Identitet" (1st rehearsal)
Another staging similar to the NF one. I don't like what I see and hear. Well probably because I don't like the song. Next!

Georgia - Nodi Tatishvili & Sophie Gelovani - "Waterfall" (1st rehearsal)
I don't like the song but I like the stage effects. And their outfits. But that's all...

Switzerland - Takasa - "You And Me" (1st rehearsal)
Simple outfits but for some reason I really like them! The staging is the one I was expecting. What else could they do? Yeah, I like it!

Romania - Cezar - "It's My Life" (1st rehearsal)
That was painful. Sorry but that's how it is. I don't like it. I will never like this one no matter how they present it. And Cezar's outfit is horrible.

ESC 2013 - Reviewing the countries beginning with "A"

It's April and it's time for the annual review.

Albania sends Adrian Lulgjuraj & Bledar Sejko with the song "Identitet" written by Bledar Sejko and Eda Sejko.
I like the intro and the music in general. But that's all. It's not a song that will make it to my playlist. Albania had the chance to enter my top 5 this year but they totally blew it. Kejsi would have got my 12 points! But not Adrian and Bledar...
Albania competes in the 2nd semi-final with running order #14.

3pts from me and good luck to Albania! 

Armenia sends Dorians with the song "Lonely Planet" written by  Tony Iommi and Vardan Zadoyan.
First impression when I listened to this, boring! Second time, "oh my God! he's singing in english?". I thought the only english words in the song were "lonely" and "planet". But the language won't save it. I don't like it. At all! Bad comeback for Armenia!
Armenia competes in the 2nd semi-final with running order #11.

0pts from me and good luck to Armenia!

Austria sends Natália Kelly with the song "Shine" written by Andreas Grass, Nikola Paryla, Alexander Kahr and Natália Kelly.
Austria... Weird thing happened with Austria this year. I followed their NF (well, not so difficult since they only had 5 songs). 4 of the songs were pretty bad. I liked only "Shine" so I was really happy when it won. On escunited.com's poll I gave it a 6 or a 7 right after it won. A few weeks later this 6 (or 7) became 8. I made my preliminary top 10 at some point and Austria was 7th. For the first time....EVER. A few weeks ago that 8 became 10. That 10 is now a 12 and Austria is currently in my top 3! Totally love it!
Austria competes in the 1st semi-final with running order #1.

12pts from me and good luck to Austria!

Azerbaijan sends Farid Mammadov with the song "Hold Me" written by Dimitrios Kontopoulos, John Ballard and Ralph Charlie Al Fahel.
A Greek composer there but yeah. I'm not a fan of the song. I only like the chorus. Not his accent though. It won't be a bad moment in the semi but yeah, it won't make it to any of my playlists.
Azerbaijan competes in the 2nd semi-final with running order #4.

4pts from me and good luck to Azerbaijan!

ESC 2012 - "We want Armenia to participate in this contest"

Azerbaijani Minister of Youth and Sports Azad Rahimov: "We want Armenia to participate in this contest. But if they strickly decide not to come here- it is their right." Mr. Rahimov also mentioned that armenian sportmen and politics came here several times and our country guaranted their safety at the highest level.

esctodayforum.com

That sounds great! It would be a shame if Armenia couldn't be able to enter Eurovision. But we still need to see their reply. We know that their relations aren't good. Fingers crossed to see Armenia next year!

ESC 2011 - Rehearsals Day 5

Day 5 and the first 13 countries of the 1st semi-final had their second rehearsal. These were Poland, Norway, Albania, Armenia, Turkey, Serbia, Russia, Switzerland, Georgia, Finland, Malta, San Marino and Croatia.

Poland's 2nd rehearsal: Well not so crazy about the clothes but ok. Another nice rehearsal for Poland. And I love the choreo. I just wanted Magda to sing the chorus in the end and not just some phrases and stuff. 

Norway's 2nd rehearsal: So Stella is keeping the same clothes she had in the norwegian NF but in different color. Well I like this! I like watching this performance coz it's a feel-good song. Not better than Spain's but I like it. And I like Stella too. The rehearsal was solid. No problem seeing them in the final!

Albania's 2nd rehearsal: Aurela is vocally great! All the times! No doubt she can sing. I like her dress but I was expecting something different. Oh and I so love the last chorus! When she switches to albanian! Great! Reminds me of Nilsson's (now Perrelli) reprise in 1999!

Armenia's 2nd rehearsal: Why is she skipping a part of the chorus? The first time she did it I thought ok she lost her breath but she did it 2 more times! Strange... I have a bad feeling that she will make it... Aaah "boom boom chaka chaka your kiss is like a like a"!!! Annoying, I'm making fun of it and as I said many times, I end up liking what I'm making fun of! :O And the clothes are fine after removing the boxing robes!

Turkey's 2nd rehearsal: I still don't get what the girl in the cage does on stage... And if these are the clothes they're gonna wear in the semi, well they are too simple I think. Vocally it was a really good performance.

Serbia's 2nd rehearsal: Love it! Love it! Love it!!! Nina is amazing! Her vocals are great! I got a bit dizzy with that backdrop but I hope it will look better with the camera work.

Russia's 2nd rehearsal: Vocally he was fine. I still think he has too many gimmicks. And I hate how he made fun of the serbian entry and Nina!! How professional! Well done Alexej! A homophobe and an ass!

Switzerland's 2nd rehearsal: Solid performance once again. I like it! 

Georgia's 2nd rehearsal: The vocals were much better than the first rehearsal! Something still bugs me in the chorus but I love the music and the verses.

Finland's 2nd rehearsal: I like the idea of his recycled shirt and now I understand why he's using that old guitar but come on. This is so Tom Dice! Everyone will say this! Vocally he is great. Well so was Tom!

Malta's 2nd rehearsal: The song grew on me a lot! But I don't like Glen... However he was good in the second rehearsal and the performance is nice.

San Marino's 2nd rehearsal: OK vocally she wasn't as good as she was in the first rehearsal but she explained why. The backing vocals were too loud I think and I don't like her dress. Are we looking to the Barbara Dex award here? Anyway, I like Senit! She's funny! :P

Croatia's 2nd rehearsal: No, no, no! Why Croatia? That was not good! Average performance as a whole. I still don't like the clothes trick even though the last change has become better. They all throw some glitter in the air and not only that DJ/magician. I really hope they can make it to the final because I adore the song... Fingers crossed!

ESC 2011 - Rehearsals Day 1

May 1st! Eurovision's rehearsals kicked off today. I am not able to follow them all day long so I will be blogging at the end of the day. I will try to blog every day but I can't promise anything.

10 countries rehearsed today and these were Poland, Norway, Albania, Armenia, Turkey, Serbia, Russia, Switzerland, Georgia and Finland.

I'll be using the videos from eurovision.tv youtube channel. 

Poland’s rehearsal: That was a solid performance. Magdalena's vocals are quite powerful and she sounded nice. I had a problem with the backing vocalists. They sounded a bit like they were bored. Especially the guy... Love the choreography too! So Poland's team have all the time they need to make their performance perfect until the big night!

Norway’s rehearsal: Well Stella sounded ok I guess and I like Norway's choreography too. It's a fun song but I don't understand how they put it as a winner... Backing vocals weren't so good... And can someone tell me if Stella will be wearing similar clothes as the ones she had in Norway's NF? Because she was wearing exactly the same in the rehearsal - just the color was different. Anyway...

Albania’s rehearsal: Really powerful vocals for Albania! Aurela sounded great! There's nothing much going on stage. Just a few flames for "wow-factor". I think Albania will make it to the final again. As I said I'm not into so screamy songs but Aurela can sing. I think they deserve a spot in the final.

Armenia’s rehearsal: I'm sorry but I laughed... The choreography is a bit ridiculous! And the choreographer is Emmy Zarian. She was responsible for Greece's choreo last year (I was surprised when I saw our dancers there at first but now I know!). And that boxing ring? Oh God! Hahaha but ok Emmy can sing. I would like the song if the chorus wasn't there. All I can do now is just laugh at the chorus which isn't a good thing since whatever I laugh at I end up liking it! :O :O :P

Turkey’s rehearsal: That was ok. I said I only like the chorus. Now I start liking the music as well. And what was that woman in that cage-ball. Like last year's robot? Nah she was out of place. Really no idea what she's doing there. The vocals were good though.

Serbia’s rehearsal: Loved it even more! That was great great great!!! Go Serbia!! I still wish they could have a live band and the 3 girls in the backing vocals but that would be above the limit (maximum 6 people on stage). But it's a playful choreo! And I think it fits the song. I also liked Nina's vocals so, so far so good!

Russia’s rehearsal: Jesus Christ! And then people keep nagging about Eric Saade's gimmick! This guy couldn't have more gimmicks than all these! Led walls, neon shoes, flashing jackets and the backflip a la Sakis Rouvas (Greece 2004). Oh please! Average song for me and he obviously had a problem with the sound. It was awful. Is this going to be a Russia-Sweden battle? ;)

Switzerland’s rehearsal: Pleasant performance. Time for Switzerland to make it to the final? There's nothing much going on stage. Anna and two musicians but I liked it. Her vocals were great. Nice... I don't think I have anything else to say. 

Georgia’s rehearsal: I love the music and the first verse but when we reach to the chorus it sounds so wrong. I wish they had a different chorus. Quite weak vocals and strange clothes... I don't know. Overall I'm in the middle... I don't like but I don't dislike it either...

Finland’s rehearsal: This is so Tom Dice... Bad sound for this one too... This is not one of my favourites but it's ok. For some reason I think he will qualify. Let's keep this just between us ok? I think it will be too unfair if a song like this qualifies! I really can't compare this to last year's "Työlki Ellää"!

So that was it for today! We're on people! :D

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!