ESC 2013 - Final results

Photo: Sander Hesterman (EBU)

Yes it's one of "those" moments. Alright. I loved the opening! That artist-parade was awesome! Petra Mede is definitely the best ESC hostess ever! Lynda Woodruff! Love this character! The part with the ABBA-castle and their clothes was hilarious! Liked Loreen's interval and finally we got to listen to the original version of "Euphoria"! Then we had the "big" interval act. Totally loved it! Loved the way the Swedes joked about themselves. And apart from Krista's kiss on stage, we had another gay kiss. This time a male gay kiss. Way to go EBU! Oh and of course Carola!! Another hilarious moment! She was part of the interval act for a few seconds. And people kept saying that they let Loreen open the 1st semi and kept Carola for the final's interval act. But Loreen was in the final and Carola's "performance" was what? 5 seconds? Anyway...

Worst part of the night? Eric Saade. Why on earth did they use him in the green room? He was horrible. He looked at his manus many more times than Danny during all 6 nights of mello! And finally, we had Sarah Dawn Finer performing ABBA's "The Winner Takes It All". Amazing!

The voting part. There were a few problems there... Connection problems and not only. I really didn't like that they announced the winner before the voting was over. Yes it was obvious that Denmark won but we still had a few more countries to go. Seriously what was that? I hope they drop it next year!

So yeah, Denmark won! 3 things I correctly predicted this year. Azerbaijan finishing in the top 5, Greece finishing in the top 7 and Spain in bottom 5. My winner was Norway. Obviously. But I'm also fine with Denmark. Margaret did a great job and 4th place is great! Positively surprised by Malta and Hungary's places in the top 10! Kinda expected this result for Germany. But not that bad. And definitely I didn't see Finland finishing in the bottom 5. I didn't expect a top 10 but a top 15. Sweden's 14th place is ok I guess but I think they deserved a top 10. Also surprised by Ireland's last place! Really? UK 19th... oh well... Emmelie won! Congratulations Denmark!

It's Copenhagen 2014 and I'm going! Don't know how but I am! I experienced some of the ESC this year. Two days and I almost got depressed when I had to leave Malmö. Next year I'm going. Period.

ESC 2013 - Rehearsals Day 1

The best period of the year! Rehearsals week and ESC week! I got my siblings here until Thursday so hopefully I will be able to blog every day. I have to. I want to. Then on Saturday I'm going to Malmö and I'm coming back on Sunday so I won't be able to blog about Saturday's rehearsals on Saturday but I will blog about them! 

Ok so the first rehearsals are closed for the press so the only videos are from eurovision.tv which are only 1,5' long and they show mostly backstage and mini interviews. It's not a lot to work with...

DAY 1

Austria - Natália Kelly - "Shine" (1st rehearsal) 

I really like what I see and hear! The 5 backing vocalists are pretty good. That "shine" that we hear while Natália is singing sounds like her voice! It's like a playback which is positive! It looks like they're wearing their stage outfits and if that's the case I like them! Nothing "too much". Natália sounded really good (at least in those 30 seconds) as usual. I have a good feeling about this!

Estonia - Birgit - "Et Uus Saaks Alguse" (1st rehearsal)

Ehm, ok. Still so forgettable. The performance looks simple and I don't like the dress. It doesn't look good on her. 3 backing vocalists and that's all. They all sounded good though.

Slovenia - Hannah Mancini - "Straight Into Love" (1st rehearsal)

First things first. Hannah confirmed that this is her outfit and that they recommended them to wear their stage outfits for the first rehearsal which means that Natália and Birgit are also wearing their stage outfits (obviously the rest of the artists too). I was at the uni all day and I was reading comments on facebook but I hadn't seen anything until now. Everyone was telling me that Hannah's outfit is horrible. I'm fine with it! I find it far from being horrible! So it's a green light from me. Vocally Hannah sounded good to me but I had some trouble listening to the music. Probably because of the camera in the arena. 

Croatia - Klapa s Mora - "Mižerja" (1st rehearsal)

Dislike to the outfits. And I still don't like the song. Vocally they're great. But that's all.

Denmark - Emmelie de Forest - "Teardrops" (1st rehearsal)

Almost identical to their DMGP performance. Even Emmelie's outfit looks the same. I know it isn't. Not much to say here. But I didn't really like the backing vocals... Maybe it's the sound in the arena...

Russia - Dina Garipova - "What If" (1st rehearsal)

The backing vocals are a bit disturbing. Like a hubbub. Dina's vocals are good. Not a fan of her outfit though. And those "bulbs" on stage... Hm...

Ukraine - Zlata Ognevich - "Gravity" (1st rehearsal)

How to (possibly) destroy your performance? Add a couple of Ukranian giants to your act. I really don't like that... But from the 30 seconds we see, it looks nice. I'm just worried about the giants... Zlata's vocals are good. And I like her dress.

The Netherlands - Anouk - "Birds" (1st rehearsal)

Hm... I'm afraid the performance is too simple for such a song. Just Anouk standing there... The song itself isn't enough. It's too dark for the ESC and even though it's in my top 20 (it took some time for it to enter my top 20) it might not make it to the final... Her vocals are great and I love the outfit! Anything black! Well ok, not anything but I love hers.

That's all for Day 1. Such a shame we don't have footage of the entire rehearsal... :/

ESC 2012 - Reviewing the countries beginning with "C", "D", "E"

Croatia sends Klapa s Mora with the song "Mižerja" written by Goran Topolovac.
I think the best word to describe the song is its title! Misery! But ok, it has a nice melody. I can say that. It's really not my cup of tea though. I like their voices as well but as a whole, the song doesn't do anything to me.
Croatia competes in the 1st semi-final with running order #4.

4pts from me and good luck to Croatia!

Cyprus sends Despina Olympiou with the song "An Me Thimase" written by Andreas Giorgallis and Zenon Zintillis.

I'm afraid there won't be a place in final for Cyprus this year. Not a bad song (there are much worse this year) but it's kinda indifferent. With a good staging they might get some extra points but I don't see it going too far. Even though they have a good draw. Regarding the music video, I like it but seriously how ridiculous is the scene where she runs in the forest?

Cyprus competes in the 1st semi-final with running order #14.

3pts from me and good luck to Cyprus!

Denmark sends Emmelie de Forest with the song "Only Teardrops" written by Lise Cabble, Julia Fabrin Jakobsen and Thomas Stengaard.

Love it, love it, love it! It was my 3rd favourite this year but now dropped to #4 and its place is taken by Austria but I still love it! I watched the video again and it all came back! I hope they keep their performance the way it was in DMGP. For many people this is the winner. No problem if it wins but I'm not sure about anything. Especially this year.

Denmark competes in the 1st semi-final with running order #5.

12pts from me and good luck to Denmark!

Estonia sends Birgit Õigemeel with the song "Et Uus Saaks Alguse" written by Mihkel Mattisen and Silvia Soro.
I think this is the most forgettable song of this year's edition. No matter how many times I listen to this I can't remember the melody or a single word! And I have it on repeat for quite a while! Sorry Estonia. It seems you're not "my" country in ESC.
Estonia competes in the 1st semi-final with running order #2.

1pt from me and good luck to Estonia!

DMGP 2013 - With Emmelie de Forest to Malmö

Photo: Wouter van Vliet (EBU)

So Denmark decided and I welcome them in my top 10 this year! Even though there are a lot of countries who haven't picked their entry yet. The winner, Emmelie de Forest with "Only Teardrops"! My second favourite tonight, right after Frederikke and right before Simone who made it to the top 3 along with Mohamed.

Really nice choice Denmark! Thank you!

DMGP 2013 - The full songs

The full songs are out! Listen to them HERE. 

1. Frederikke Vedel - Jeg har hele tiden vidst det (Pernille Georgi, Thomas Reil, Jeppe Reil)
Love it! Adore it! Pure schlager in danish!!

2. Brinck - Human (Niels Brinck)
Yeah I stick to the opinion I had a few days ago when I reviewed the teasers. I don't like this. Sorry Brinck!

3. Kate Hall - I'm not alone (Lars Halvor Jensen, Martin Larsson, Michelle Bell, Oscar Holter, Jakke Erixson, Simon Hermansen)
Like like like! Another schlager track! I get a mello vibe from this! Oh well! Scandinavia! ;)

4. Louise Dubiel - Rejs dig op (Casper Lindstad, Rune Braager, Louise Dubiel)
Listening to the full song didn't change my first impression. Don't.like.it.

5. Daze - We own the universe (Thomas G:son, Peter Boström)
It's still a no. I get a mello vibe from this one as well but not a good one...

6. Simone Egeriis - Stay awake (Lars Halvor Jensen, Carsten Lindberg)
Damn! This was my favourite teaser. Now that I've heard the full version it's not anymore. I still like it. Especially the chorus but I'm a bit disappointed by the verses...

7. Jack Rowan ft. Sam Gray - Invincible (Achmad Darwich, Jack Rowan, Sam Gray)
I just listened to the entire song but nothing changed. It's still really meh.

8. Emmelie de Forest - Only teardrops (Lise Cabble, Julia Fabrin Jakobsen, Thomas Stengaard)
Ok now that's good. And I like Emmelie's voice! In the previous post I said the chorus is too repetitive. Well it wasn't the entire chorus on that teaser they made public last week! So this gets a green light from me!

9. Albin - Beautiful to me (Brian Risberg Clausen, Mads Haugaard)
Cheese! But I like the chorus! The melody...

10. Mohamed Ali - Unbreakable (Morten Friis, Michael Parsberg, Peter Bjørnskov, Lene Dissing)
Another mello vibe! Good vibe! Like!


Ok we have some really nice songs! For my taste, they are great. For Europe's taste, I don't know...
Well my winner is Frederikke! She got those extra points by singing in danish and made it to the top! Schlagertastic song! Kate, Simone, Emmelie and Mohamed complete my top 5.

Just keep the song in danish please! If it's the winner!

DMPG 2013 - The songs and artists

Well to be honest I wasn't planning to write about DMPG's line-up but we have teasers of the songs so I wanna comment them. The thing is that I don't have much free time so I can't blog about everything and especially about countries that are not my favourite in the contest and therefore I don't know any of their artists. Blogging about the rest of the countries would be just to inform you about them and nothing more since I can't make any comments. And you know there are hundreds of eurosites out there which are closely follow everything so you can find any info you want there. :)

Back to DMPG now. Listen to the songs HERE.

1. Frederikke Vedel - Jeg har hele tiden vidst det (Pernille Georgi, Thomas Reil, Jeppe Reil)
Like! Schlager! Good start Denmark! An extra point for the danish.

2. Brinck - Human (Niels Brinck)
Brinck is back! But I'm not that impressed... I totally prefer his 2009 attempt in ESC.

3. Kate Hall - I'm not alone (Lars Halvor Jensen, Martin Larsson, Michelle Bell, Oscar Holter, Jakke Erixson, Simon Hermansen)
Another up-tempo! Nice! I can't tell a lot just from those 30 seconds though... It's not bad...

4. Louise Dubiel - Rejs dig op (Casper Lindstad, Rune Braager, Louise Dubiel)
Nah. I don't like this one...

5. Daze - We own the universe (Thomas G:son, Peter Boström)
The winning writing team of the ESC 2012... However I can't say I like this... Maybe if I listen to the entire song but from what I hear it's a no...

6. Simone Egeriis - Stay awake (Lars Halvor Jensen, Carsten Lindberg)
Right. I like this a lot! So far it's my favourite!

7. Jack Rowan ft. Sam Gray - Invincible (Achmad Darwich, Jack Rowan, Sam Gray)
Uhm yeah. I prefer this one...

8. Emmelie de Forest - Only teardrops (Lise Cabble, Julia Fabrin Jakobsen, Thomas Stengaard)
I need to hear the verses... Chorus is too repetitive...

9. Albin - Beautiful to me (Brian Risberg Clausen, Mads Haugaard)
A bit cheesy... And it's just the chorus so...

10. Mohamed Ali - Unbreakable (Morten Friis, Michael Parsberg, Peter Bjørnskov, Lene Dissing)
 I like this. It has a nice beat but that's all I can say now.

Overall it's a good final with many up-tempo songs and I like that. Unfortunately I don't see any winning material here. Not for my taste at least.