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 3

DAY 3

Latvia - PeR - "Here We Go" (1st rehearsal) 
Same NF outfits. Don't really like them. Actually I don't think there is anything I like about this act. "It's cool to open the semi" ehm yeah, wait and see. Nothing to say about Latvia's rehearsal.

San Marino - Valentina Monetta - "Crisalide (Vola)" (1st rehearsal)
The performance looks static... During those 50 seconds we only see Valentina and two dancers on stage. All barefoot. I don't know, it's too static but with the right camera work this can be fixed.

FYROM - Esma & Lozano - "Pred Da Se Razdeni" (1st rehearsal)
Kick.Esma.Out. Please! She ruins everything. And I don't like the english version! The performance looks like the on from their NF. Esma needs to GO!

Azerbaijan - Farid Mammadov - "Hold Me" (1st rehearsal)
A lot of Greeks behind this entry. I like Farid's outfit. The performance looks interesting...

Finland - Krista Siegfrids - "Marry Me" (1st rehearsal)
Ok this is a song that is in my top 5 so I read some more information about this one compared to the others. Apparently Krista kissed her backing singer just as she did in Amsterdam. And she will probably do this again during the live broadcast since EBU hasn't made any comments on the subject yet. It would have been better if Krista was a lesbian but now it just looks like she's using Eurovision to protest about the gay rights. Eurovision is a song contest. But then again how many times have we seen such protests on the ESC stage? Too many. And this is only a kiss between two women. Political protest songs were sung on that stage quite a few times so to hell with it! "Debating" about this can take hours so I'll leave it here. The outfits... I was hoping there'd be a tiny chance that she might change the wedding dress but yeah. I hope the viewers will get that this is a fun song. It might look a bit kitsch but what else could she wear? :/

Malta - Gianluca - "Tomorrow" (1st rehearsal)
Exactly the staging I was expecting and I like it. Their outfits are simple but nice. I kinda start to like Malta!

Bulgaria - Elitsa Todorova & Stoyan Yankulov - "Samo Shampioni" (1st rehearsal)
Ok we didn't get to see a lot from the rehearsal. They're using all those drums again. Just like in 2007. They just added the dancer with the mask and 3 backing vocalists. I need to see a full rehearsal but I don't think I'll be a fan of this. I don't like the song so...

Iceland - Eythor Ingi - "Ég Á Líf" (1st rehearsal)
I don't like Eythor's jacket. I'd prefer a black one. Other than that it's a simple performance. Just him and his backing vocalists. Love the icelandic!

ESC 2013 - Reviewing the countries beginning with "B"

Belarus sends Alyona Lanskaya with the song "Solayo" written by Marc Paelinck and Martin King.
I listened to the song a few weeks ago and until a couple of hours ago I couldn't remember what it reminds me of. I hate it when this happens. But now I know! The chorus really reminds me of this! Anyway, I like the song but I'm not crazy about it. And I like Alyona too.
Belarus competes in the 1st semi-final with running order #11.

 5pts from me and good luck to Belarus!

Belgium sends Roberto Bellarosa with the song "Love Kills" written by Iain James and Jukka Immonen.
The final version is so much better! I tried to watch Belgium selection but it was too boring. The first time I listened to the song I said "no final for Belgium". Now they might have a chance... They also have a good draw.
Belgium competes in the 1st semi-final with running order #15.

5pts from me and good luck to Belgium!

Bulgaria sends Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan Yankulov with the song "Samo Shampioni" written by Elitsa Todorova and Christian Talev.
I'm sorry Bulgaria but this is nowhere near "Voda". I don't like it and I have a feeling it won't do good. Plus the fact that Bulgaria chose another song (sorry don't remember the title. they all kinda sounded the same to me) but Elitsa didn't like it so they changed to "Samo Shampioni". Of course the average viewer won't have a clue about this...
Bulgaria competes in the 2nd semi-final with running order #7.

3pts from me and good luck to Bulgaria!

ESC 2012 - Rehearsals Day 6

Day 6!

Russia - Buranovskiye Babushki - Party For Everybody (2nd rehearsal)
Ok seriously 12 points to the cute granny!!! :D And check the camera work at 2:10! Close up on the cute granny for a few seconds! Oh that's gonna get them lots of votes! Lol at the oven! Hahaha They're "baking" cookies or something for the party? Hahahahaha This is so fun to watch!!

Hungary - Compact Disco - Sound Of Our Hearts (2nd rehearsal)
I start to believe that this is not enough to send them to the final. Personally I like the song but there's nothing special on stage so it will be really hard for Hungary this year...

Austria - Trackshittaz - Woki Mit Deim Popo (2nd rehearsal)
Ah can you imagine Sweden sending Danny? How many light effects would we have? Those guys are entertaining. I don't listen to the song at all but if I'm watching the performance at the same time it's ok. I don't see a place in the final for them though.

Moldova - Pasha Parfeny - Lăutar (2nd rehearsal)
Ridiculous! Just ridiculous choreo! And Pasha is wearing the same pants as in the first rehearsal... hm... I wonder why... Anyway, I don't see this in the final but who knows.

Ireland - Jedward - Waterline (2nd rehearsal)
I'll say it again! Same as last year! No changes! Their singing is still below average, they still jump around like crazy and that's all. Ah yes! We have the water! Too bad Eric Saade already used it two years ago! And it's obvious they will take a shower but that will happen in the dress rehearsal. I hope I won't see you in the final Jedward!

Serbia - Željko Joksimović - Nije Ljubav Stvar (2nd rehearsal)
Great rehearsal for Serbia! I don't have a lot to say here. Željko is an amazing artist! He'll do great! Totally in the final despite the running order.

FYROM - Kaliopi - Crno I Belo (1st rehearsal)
Annoying once again. Sorry I guess it's my taste. It was a solid performance but I can't stand it. 

The Netherlands - Joan Franka You And Me (2nd rehearsal) 
The wild west... Why didn't they light the fire today? Ok vocals but no final for the Netherlands. 

Malta - Kurt Calleja - This Is The Night (2nd rehearsal) 
Nice second reheasal for Malta! I like the backdrop, Kurt sounded nice but I still don't like the DJ/dancer back there. It's a tough one for Malta.

Belarus - Litesound - We Are The Heroes (2nd rehearsal) 
I like the gravity trick! We've seen it already but it doesn't matter. I like their clothes but in an interview they said they will wear the same outfits as in the belarussian NF. Please don't do it! You're singing the electro pop version and you'll wear those outfits? Stop ruining your chances Belarus! :(

Portugal - Filipa Sousa - Vida Minha (2nd rehearsal) 
Hm she's barefoot... Is this how she'll perform on Tuesday? Is this the dress? I don't think so and I hope it's not. I don't like it. I like the backdrop and Filipa's voice. But the song is not my cup of tea. The positive thing is that Portugal sends traditional music and I love that in ESC! :)

Ukraine - Gaitana - Be My Guest (2nd rehearsal) 
This looks like a circus at times. Dancers' clothes are horrible. And I don't like the live performance of Gaitana. She has a strong voice but I don't like what I hear. However this version of the song is a bit better...

Bulgaria - Sofi Marinova - Love Unlimited (2nd rehearsal) 
Why Sofi? Why are you alone on stage with a song like this? It's gonna cost you the final! My fourth favourite song of the contest won't make it to the final! :( Vocally she was great! But damn that one woman show!  


That's it for today! Tomorrow's the big day!!! It's Spain's first rehearsal!!!!! :D Yay! Finally!! Go Pastora!! 

ESC 2012 - Rehearsals Day 3

Day 3!

Serbia - Željko Joksimović - Nije Ljubav Stvar (1st rehearsal) 
Really solid and nice rehearsal for Serbia. The staging reminds me a lot of "Lane Moje" in 2004. Željko's vocals were great. I didn't expect anything less here to be honest. Serbia is in the final!

FYROM - Kaliopi - Crno I Belo (1st rehearsal)
Ok I've said it before, Kaliopi's voice annoys me like hell when she sings "crno i belo eseeeeee". But that was a good performance. A really good one. It won't make me like the song or start listening to it. God no! But I admit she has a good voice. FYROM is in the final!

The Netherlands - Joan Franka You And Me (1st rehearsal) 
Another annoying voice but this is bearable. There's a tent missing. We got the indian girl, we got the fire but where's the tent? Ah really Holland. You just couldn't send Miss Brandi Russell! Your fault. You're not in the final.

Malta - Kurt Calleja - This Is The Night (1st rehearsal) 
I like this guy! That was a good rehearsal but I find that guy with the red hair out of place in the last 30 seconds. His dancing is so random, running from one side to the other... I don't know... I don't see Malta in the final this year either even though I want them in the final. I like this song!

Belarus - Litesound - We Are The Heroes (1st rehearsal)
Now I can't tell if this is the second version of the one from the video clip. I think it's that second electro pop... I don't like this version! The original is so much better! I still like the song but I prefer the first one! Vocally Dimitry was ok... It's hard to tell how he sounded from this video. And seriously what's with those weird mic stands Belarus? First with Anastasiya Vinnikova (2011) and now with Litesound... And unfortunately I don't see Belarus in the final. I want them so much in the final but...

Portugal - Filipa Sousa - Vida Minha (1st rehearsal) 
Solid rehearsal for Portugal! Filipa's vocals were really good. Simple performance. Kinda boring for my taste but I think they will get some points from the juries. Poor Portugal, I see no final this year either. And your song is miles better than last year's disaster. And thank you for keep sending songs in portugese!!

Ukraine - Gaitana - Be My Guest (1st rehearsal) 
What on earth are the dancers wearing? The positive thing for Ukraine is the draw. Right after Portugal's slow song they will make the audience jump around. Personally I'm not a fan of the song. It's just ok for me. Gaitana was good vocally. I see them in the final.

Bulgaria - Sofi Marinova - Love Unlimited (1st rehearsal) 
I have so many things to say here! Oh Sofi you don't wanna drop this horrible styling, do you? But you know what, she's so kitsch and that's what makes me love her! Goddess Sofi! <3 hahahaha Vocally she was ok. We've seen better live performances than this one. But she has time to work on that. And now the staging! What are you doing Bulgaria? Not even a single dancer?! It seems like you want to fail!! You have a dance song like this and you leave Sofi alone on stage? Wrong wrong wrong move! I knew from the beginning that Bulgaria had no chances of making it to the final and now I'm sure about it! I so hope I am wrong but... Shame, my 4th favourite song of this year's ESC! Good luck Sofi! 

ESC 2012 - My top 10

eurovision.tv

This is harder than I expected! I ranked all 42 songs from 12 to 0. It turns out that I like some songs that I gave for example 7 to, more than some songs that I gave 10 or 8 to! I am not gonna go back and edit the posts but my top 10 won't be based on the points I gave to each song individually. It might sound kinda silly and unfair but as I said to the previous post, my top 10 will be constantly changing so it doesn't really matter. I mean don't tell me that you don't change your top 10 all the time! It's just impossible!

And the other thing is that I don't know if I should rank the songs based on the original versions or the ESC versions. For example I adore the original version of Belarus. It's in my top 10. The second version is not! Yes, I said the second version coz apparently this is the latest version! They're going back to a more rock-ish one which I love!

Three countries are out of my top 10 just because they either changed the instrumentation of the song or they translated it to english. These are Iceland, Italy and Belarus. I still listen to the original versions of these three and they all were very close to the top 5! So I really don't know what to do...

*after about 15 minutes of just looking at the excel ranking*

Ok let's have it!

12pts - Spain
10pts - Sweden
8pts - Romania
7pts - Bulgaria
6pts - Israel
5pts - Italy
4pts - Belarus
3pts - Cyprus
2pts - Greece
1pt - Iceland

This is it! And I say it once again, it will be changing all the time!

ESC 2012 - Reviewing the countries beginning with "B"

Belarus sends Litesound with the song "We Are The Heroes" written by Dmitry Karyakin and Vladimir Karyakin.
What did you do Belarus?! :( The first version was fantastic and now you ruined it!!! :( You are supposed to make a song sound better not worse! I don't like the final version! On the plus side Dimitry sounds like a combination of Chad Kroeger (Nickelback) and Tyler Connolly (Theory of a Deadman) and he's quite handsome. But that's not the point! The song is what matters! And it doesn't sound good. Sorry Belarus! I will keep listening to the original version which for the record, I was planning to give 10pts to...
Belarus competes in the 2nd semi-final with running order #5.

5pts from me and good luck to Belarus!

 

 

Belgium sends Iris with the song "Would You" written by Jean Bosco Safari, Walter Mannaerts and Nina Sampermans.

Ballad...snoozefest! I didn't like it from the first listening so no way it's gonna grow on me. I like Iris' voice but I don't like the song. I find it boring. It can be a good jury bait but it doesn't work for me and I don't know what else to say about it.

Belgium competes in the 1st semi-final with running order #8.

1pt from me and good luck to Belgium!

 

 

 

 

Bosnia & Herzegovina sends Maya Sar with the song "Korake Ti Znam" written by Maja Sarihodžić.

I listened to this for the first time and I sang along in the end "Korake ti znam"! Hahaha Quite obvious! I kinda like it. It belongs to a strange category for me. It's a ballad I like but a ballad that I'm not crazy about and that means that I will enjoy it in the semi (and in the final too if they make it) but it won't be in my ESC playlist. And because of that it's hard for me to give my points...

Bosnia & Herzegovina competes in the 2nd semi-final with running order #17.

5pts from me and good luck to Bosnia & Herzegovina!

 

 

Bulgaria sends Sofi Marinova with the song "Love Unlimited" written by Krum Georgiev, Yasen Kozev and Doni Vasileva.

Bulgaria did it again! 3rd time in a row that they're in my top 5! Even though last year I think they dropped to my no6 but it doesn't matter! Love love love the song! When I first listened to the song I laughed a bit with Sofi's high notes in the chorus but now it's totally fine. She will definitely need a good stylist! They need to find one or they can be screwed by this! Details are important in ESC! 

Bulgaria competes in the 2nd semi-final with running order #8.

10pts from me and good luck to Bulgaria!

 

 

ESC 2011 - Rehearsals Day 7

Day 7 and the countries that rehearsed are Sweden, Cyprus, Bulgaria, FYROM and Israel. 

Also the Big 5: France, Italy, United Kingdom, Germany and Spain.

Sweden’s 2nd rehearsal: Hm same clothes as in Mello? Well who cares right now? Second rehearsal was better than the first but still Eric sounds horrible! He's getting tired of all the dancing and by the end of the song he can barely sing... That's not good Sweden!

Cyprus’ 2nd rehearsal: Are these the clothes they're gonna wear in the semi? Hmm Well another great rehearsal for Cyprus. I liked it again! :O

Bulgaria’s 2nd rehearsal: Apparently she's keeping that dress. I'm sorry I don't like it... But the rest of the performance is just fantastic! Bulgaria is all the way to the final and for me, in the top 10!

FYROM’s 2nd rehearsal: Wow Vlatko's clothes are in such an harmony with the dancers' clothes! Of course I'm kidding! I'm not crazy. Yet. That was a mess once again. Vocally he's good but the rest of it is really bad. And I don't like the song.

Israel’s 2nd rehearsal: Now that's the Dana I wanted to see! OK she doesn't have a big show so she has to please us with what she got. And I am pleased! Vocally was much much better than the first rehearsal and finally! Someone who knows how to use that catwalk! All the entries that have used it so far, went a few steps and then back to the stage. Dana finished her song in the second part of the stage which is great! Imagine her walking among the eurofans with the flags waving and screaming! That's gonna look great on tv! Not so crazy about the dress but she said she has 8! But they're not letting her try them all. Let's hope she finds one she likes. All I know is that this dress is really Dana. And as a good friend says, Dana knows what she's doing! ;) hahahahaha

France’s 1st rehearsal: First of all he needs a haircut! OK he can sing. He's got a great voice but how can people like a song like this? Alright, I'm fine with liking it coz it's all about taste but putting it as a winner? Oh please! No way! Liked his clothes... :P

Italy’s 1st rehearsal: That's so Italy! Jazz is not my style. Sorry! Give me something like Fiumi Di Parole! Come on Italy you left us with this fantastic song and you return with a really bad one! Vocally Raphael was fine but I didn't like the backdrop...

United Kingdom’s 1st rehearsal: What on earth did they do to the song? I don't really like this version. Vocally they were pretty bad. Especially Lee! Didn't like the clothes so much. I would love to see them with something like this. Well not exactly like this but Duncan should definitely keep this style...

Germany’s 1st rehearsal: Love the choreography and the atmosphere! Fits this dark song! But I didn't like Lena. Her vocals weren't good. But they weren't in last year's final either and she won so... 

Spain’s 1st rehearsal: My Spain!! The feel-good song! I just love it! And the performance is great! Fits the song and in ESC we need performances and songs like this one! Eurovision is all about having fun! Lucia was really nice vocally! I really liked what I saw! ¡Viva España!

 

ESC 2011 - Rehearsals Day 4

Quite in the mood to blog today coz I found out that my files will be saved. Still feeling bad for all the money I'm gonna spend but whatever. My files are "alive"! :P

Ok back to the rehearsals. Today rehearsed the last 10 countries of semi-final 2 and these were: Bulgaria, FYROM, Israel, Slovenia, Romania, Estonia, Belarus, Latvia, Denmark and Ireland.

Bulgaria's rehearsal: Ok Bulgaria! Vocals were great, stage show was ok but! I really really hope she gets rid of these clothes! This song needs ripped off jeans, t-shirt and army boots. Or at least something like the outfit she had in the NF's performance. She had trouble with the dress she put on for the rehearsal. She had a hard time taking it off and I was worried all the time because it looked like she's gonna step on that and fall! Get rid of it please! For me Poli is easily in the final's top 10.

FYROM's rehearsal: Oh my God the choreography is a mess!! What is this?? And I don't like the song. Vlatko's performance was fine but overall I don't like it...

Israel's rehearsal: Why did you do this to me Dana? Why the new version? Why did you "kill" that beautiful intro? :( Aaah. So the performance is pretty much the same with KDAM's (the audio is from the studio version). And I read that she will be using the catwalk as well... Vocally she was good. I like Dana but let's face it, she doesn't have THE voice so what I heard was ok. Still think that the new version is a bad choice but I'll have to live with it. Nothing I can do.

Slovenia's rehearsal: Great, great, great Maja!! The performance was really nice. Simple choreography but it was ok. Quite dark backdrop that fits the song. Top 10 for Slovenia! They totally deserve it!

Romania's rehearsal: I liked it!! That was a nice performance and vocally really good. I just found the girls with the trumpets a bit ridiculous.

Estonia's rehearsal: OK one of the favourites this year (not mine). I liked the choreography and the whole idea. I didn't like the backing vocalists and their clothes. Getter sounded quite bad. And finally we have another magic trick. What happened this year? Which country is the next one to use magic on stage? Well all of them are late. Soraya used a magic trick back in 2009 and it was much more impressive. I was like "wtf?"! Well about Estonia... "San Fransisco" (Norway 1997), "Las Vegas" (Sweden 2005), "No No Never" (Germany 2006) anyone? ;)

Belarus' rehearsal: The patriotic performance! hahaha That was fun to watch actually. A lot of flames and fireworks. But vocally Anastasiya was pretty bad. At least to my ears. The chorus is quite contagious and given the fact that it is Belarus ( ;) ) I can see them in the final.

Latvia's rehearsal: This is dangerously going up in my ranking and I'm afraid it will kick out of my top 10 Sweden! I loved it! Vocally Emīls was great but I would like it if Marats joined him as backing vocalist in the chorus. Latvia has a great draw and the song is good so to the final!

Denmark's rehearsal: Can someone please make him take off this awful shirt? Oh God! Well... the performance was fine. They sounded good and I like the song. And of course a simple stage performance since they're a band.

Ireland's rehearsal: Those guys are so annoying! Don't like them at all! The performance on the other hand is fun to watch even though they're acting like crazy sometimes. Vocally were exhausted at some point. Well that's normal since they're running like chickens on stage. Backing vocals were quite bad and one of Jedward (don't ask me who!) forgot the dance routine several times. What I had to say about this entry was negative. However for some reason I think I will have to watch this thing twice. -.-

So Day 4 is over and tomorrow is the 2nd rehearsal of the first 13 countries competing in the 1st semi-final! Shit I will have a lot of work to do! :P Hope I get my laptop back!

ESC 2011 - My top 10

Alright! Today is the first day of the rehearsals but I will blog about them when they're over. Right now I will give you my top 10 - a very difficult task this year! My top 3 if not top 5 will be changing all the time. I know that. 1st country will go 2nd, 3rd will go 4th etc etc. But here it is!

Oh wait! Before I rank them I need to show you my 12pts, 10pts, and 8pts because we have some changes there. So originally we had this:

Hungary - 12pts
Israel - 12pts
Poland - 12pts
Serbia - 12pts
Slovenia - 12pts
Spain - 12pts

Bulgaria - 10pts

Croatia - 8pts
Sweden - 8pts
United Kingdom - 8pts

The changes:

Hungary - 12pts
Israel - 12pts
Poland - 12pts
Serbia - 12pts
Slovenia - 10pts because I'm not really into ballads... :/
Spain - 12pts

Bulgaria - 10pts

Croatia - 12pts because despite the weak chorus I can't resist to that "clapping" and that disco feeling!
Sweden - 8pts
United Kingdom - 8pts
  

So here is my top 10!

1. Hungary - Kati Wolf - What About My Dreams?
2. Israel - Dana International - Ding Dong
3. Spain - Lucía Pérez - Que Me Quiten Lo Bailao
4. Poland - Magdalena Tul - Jestem
5. Serbia - Nina - Čaroban
6. Croatia - Daria - Celebrate
7. Slovenia - Maja Keuc - No One
8. Bulgaria - Poli Genova - Na Inat
9. Sweden - Eric Saade - Popular
10. United Kingdom - Blue - I Can

OK that's it! I still feel that some countries should be higher than others but I really LOVE my top 6 so I can't decide! If any of these countries win then I'm totally satisfied! Also fine if Slovenia or Bulgaria wins.

Ready to hit the "publish post" button! No going back now! :P 

EDIT: And I just noticed that my top 5 hasn't a single song entirely in english! ;) Another proof that I prefer the songs in the native language of the country...

ESC 2011 - Reviewing the countries beginning with "B"

Belarus sends Anastasiya Vinnikova with the song "I Love Belarus" written by Evgeniy Oleynikov and Svetlana Geras'kova.

I like the rhythm in the chorus and generally I think it's a good song. But it won't grow on me. On the contrary, I think I will lose that little excitement I have for it. I don't see something "wow". Smart title though. If people like the song but they don't remember which country was all they have to do is look at the title. :P Haha aah alright.
Belarus competes in the 2nd semi-final with running order #16.

6pts from me and good luck to Belarus!

Belgium sends Witloof Bay with the song "With Love Baby" written by RoxorLoops and Benoît Giaux.

Ehm did Cosmos make a comeback or what? Horrible!! I remember disliking the latvian entry back in 2006 but this is much worse! Do they seriously expect to do well? Well good luck with that! Oh my God!! Just horrible!
Belgium competes in the 2nd semi-final with running order #4.

0pts from me and good luck to Belgium!

Bosnia & Herzegovina sends Dino Merlin with the song "Love In Rewind" written by Dino Merlin.

Pretty decend song but really not my thing. Not a song that I will listen again and again. It will be a nice moment during the semi and the final - if he makes it - but that's all. But for some reason I think he will actually do well. But I said I won't make any guesses... hehe
Bosnia & Herzegovina compete in the 2nd semi final with running order #1.

4pts from me and good luck to Bosnia & Herzegovina!

Bulgaria sends Poli Genova with the song "Na Inat" written by Poli Genova, Sebastian Arman, Boris Milanov and David Bronner.

I am dying!! I love this! Finally a great song! Bulgaria did it again! For second year in a row they send a song that I totally like! And this year they keep it entirely in bulgarian! Thank God! They deserve a top 10 this year! If not top 5! The only thing that I slightly dislike is Poli's high vocals on the chorus ("Kolko možem da dostignem") but that's all. The music is freaking fantastic!
Bulgaria competes in the 2nd semi-final with running order #10.

10pts from me and good luck to Bulgaria!

ESC 2011 - The bulgarian entry will be performed in bulgarian in Dusseldorf

Poli Genova, the singer representing Bulgaria in the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest has release a new version of her Eurovision Song Contest entry Na Inat. As well as the new Eurovision version of the song, English and Spanish recordings will be released soon in the hope of gaining airplay on international radio stations prior to the contest. It has bee confirmed that Na Inat will be performed in Bulgarian at this year's contest in Germany. 

Source esctoday.com

I'm really glad about this! In case you didn't notice I am eurofan that loves to see the songs being performed in native languages. I am totally fine with english (which I think is the best language on this planet) but when you choose a song in your language send it in your language! People, even if they are the only ones who understand the lyrics, loved it in bulgarian and voted for it. If you translate a song that they loved it in its original form, then you destroy it and you deceive them. The fact that you're translating the song in another language doesn't make the song as good as it used to be and definitely not better! Well maybe in extremely rare cases but some songs were written to be sung in the original language! 

So thank you Bulgaria and good luck! I just wish you kept Miro's song in bulgarian as well... :/