ESC 2013 - Semi-final 1 Results

*Sigh...*

I didn't ask for much. I just wanted 4 countries in the final and I didn't really care about the rest. Only one made it. I got 8/10 (prediction) and 7/10 (wantlist). Those 3 that stayed out of the semi were my absolute favourites! Austria, sLOVEnia and Serbia. The 4th was Denmark. Well, in my overall top 10 Denmark is acutally higher than Serbia but whatever. Voted for Austria and sLOVEnia but... :/

Moldova
Lithuania
Ireland
Estonia
Belarus
Denmark
Russia
Belgium
Ukraine
The Netherlands

Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Estonia, Lithuania and Moldova please thank each other! And Belgium making it? Wow.

Pff... poor Natália and Hannah... I'm sad but since the 2011 thing with Dana these things don't affect me that much anymore...

Let's forget about the results for a while. The opening was good. I've seen it live in Melodifestivalen's final. Petra Mede was awesome! Even though I felt like she's trying too much to have a good english accent. I don't think she needs to do that. But she was awesome! The best hostess! Loved the video with the old entries! Lynda Woodruff! Simply amAYzyiiing! The interval act was boring. I wasn't really paying attention. And the australian video was also nice. I think that was all right?

Austria... :( sLOVEnia... :(

ESC 2013 - Semi-final 1

Less than one hour before the first semi (yay!) and it's time to guess the 10 finalists! So it's just a quick post.

First Semi-Final

1. Austria
2. Estonia
3. Slovenia
4. Croatia
5. Denmark
6. Russia
7. Ukraine
8. The Netherlands
9. Montenegro
10. Lithuania
11. Belarus
12. Moldova
13. Ireland
14. Cyprus
15. Belgium
16. Serbia

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

Austria
Denmark
Russia
Ukraine
Belarus
Moldova
Ireland
Serbia
Estonia
Lithuania

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

Austria
sLOVEnia
Denmark
Moldova
Serbia
Ireland
The Netherlands
Russia
Ukraine
Belarus

Please people vote for AUSTRIA and SLOVENIA!!!

ESC 2013 - Rehearsals Day 5

DAY 5

Austria - Natália Kelly - "Shine" (2nd rehearsal) 
The best way to open the ESC 2013 (the competing part, that is)! Love it! Everything about it! Simple but great! Natália's vocals are great. The backing vocals are great. The outfits are great. Yeah it stuck in my top 3 and there's absolutely no way that it will drop! Austria to win the semi and finish in final's top 3!

Estonia - Birgit - "Et Uus Saaks Alguse" (2nd rehearsal) 
And months later I kinda start to remember the melody but still, it's too forgettable. It just doesn't do anything to me. Another simple performance and this one is also good. The vocals are pretty good but I don't like the dress. At all.

Slovenia - Hannah Mancini - "Straight Into Love" (2nd rehearsal)
Aha. I liked what I saw. But I didn't really like what I heard. Hannah needs to improve her vocals when she's moving. And I don't like the sound in the arena. Of course it will be different on tv (thank God!) but now we can't really hear the playback. The bass. I have a problem with the dancers too. I want them to be more synchronized but that's easy to fix.

Croatia - Klapa s Mora - "Mižerja" (2nd rehearsal)
This feels like I've seen it so many times before. I don't like it. And I don't like their outfits. I know they said they're traditional outfits or whatever but I don't like them. The only good thing about this performance is their vocals.

Denmark - Emmelie de Forest - "Teardrops" (2nd rehearsal)
Identical to the DMGP performance. Even the backdrop. Nothing else to say. Go Denmark!

Russia - Dina Garipova - "What If" (2nd rehearsal)
The last 50 seconds are so cheesy! I don't like those big bulbs on stage but I like the "flying lanterns". They're cheesy too but I like them. Don't like Dina's outfit that much though.

Ukraine - Zlata Ognevich - "Gravity" (2nd rehearsal)
I'm sorry but that giant at the beginning will make everyone go "wtf?". What's the point really? And what's with the whole fairytale thing? I don't get it. Zlata's vocals were good. The outfit is ok I guess...

The Netherlands - Anouk - "Birds" (2nd rehearsal)
Love the outfit. I said it from the beginning. Simple and static performance. When we first heard the song many fans said that the Netherlands will make it to the final and finish in a good spot. I don't see this happening. Unfortunately. The song is too "bizarre" for the average viewer. Too dark and for some reason it feels like it lasts for too long. I kinda got bored in the first two minutes. And the whole performance doesn't really help the song...

Montenegro - Who See - "Igranka" (2nd rehearsal)
First of all, congrats for the Barbara Dex award! Secondly, I literally struggled to watch this until the end! Horrible! I seriously want to punch the screen when Nina sings the first lines. HORRIBLE!

Belgium - Roberto Bellarosa - "Love Kills" (2nd rehearsal)
What are you doing Belgium? Wrong outfits! Ridiculous choreo and in combination with those outfits it looks much much worse. And the worst part? The backing vocalists are also doing the dance routine! I think this ruins Belgium's chances. Such a shame because the song is much better than others in this semi. Poor Roberto.

Belarus - Alyona Lanskaya - "Solayo" (2nd rehearsal)
Alyona is too static. Yeah she does the choreo but she barely moves. A few steps to the left, then back at her original spot and that's it. Only the camera work can save it. Nothing special about the performance...

Moldova - Aliona Moon - "O Mie" (2nd rehearsal)
I couldn't stop thinking what the Azerbaijanis think about Aliona using the exact same gimmick as Sabina. Just one year later. Anyway, I really like the song but I think the performance is too much. Actually the length of the dress is too much. That's what bugs me. But generally, it's an ok performance. Really good vocals too.

Ireland - Ryan Dolan - "Only Love Survives" (2nd rehearsal)
I like it! Love Ryan's outfit (already said that) and I like the performance. It's good. Ireland is most likely in the final.

Cyprus - Despina Olympiou - "An Me Thimase" (2nd rehearsal)
Yeah now it's confirmed. Despina is alone on stage. Cyprus 2004 vibes anyone? Nah not a top 5 but why not make it to the final? Good draw, good vocals, ok song... You never know.

Lithuania - Andrius Pojavis - "Something" (2nd rehearsal)
He looks like he's bored to sing. And yes the performance and outfit are the same as in Lithuania's NF. No matter what, I don't like this.

Serbia - Moje 3 - "Ljubav Je Svuda" (2nd rehearsal)
Ok. I totally love the concept, the performance, call it however you want. I mean that Nevena is the ordinary girl, Mirna is the angel and Sara is the devil. Nevena is the confused girl and Mirna and Sara are trying to make her a good and a bad girl respectively. Love it! I still hate the outfits though! Bring back the NF ones! Yeah who am I kidding? Vocals were good, the draw is good. Final? Sure! Oh! Is it me or there was a lot of touching between Nevena and Mirna? Just saying... xD


Btw, I'm off to Malmö for the weekend (as I said in the first post) so no blogging tomorrow. I'll do it though sometime on Sunday when I get back. ALCAZAR and ESC tomorrow! :D

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!

ESC 2012 - Rehearsals Day 8

Back from Stockholm!! I'm late today! xD Ok!

Day 8!

Estonia - Ott Lepland - Kuula (2nd rehearsal) 
Same comments as the first rehearsal. I find it extremely boring!

Slovakia - Max Jason Mai - Don't Close Your Eyes (2nd rehearsal) 
Backdrop fits the song and I like Jason's clothes. But I don't like anything else. 

Norway - Tooji - Stay (2nd rehearsal) 
Nice second rehearsal for Tooji! And I have to say that I listened to the song a couple of times today. It grows extremely slowly on me...

Bosnia & Herzegovina - Maya Sar - Korake Ti Znam (2nd rehearsal)
Oh God I don't like the dress at all!!! Really bad choice! Love the performance in general though! Tough one for B&H. There are many ballads!

Lithuania - Donny Montell - Love Is Blind (2nd rehearsal) 
Damn this grows on me! But I find the presentation a bit silly... I like the backdrop. Great vocals by Donny! We might see this in the final!

United Kingdom - Engelbert Humperdinck - Love Will Set You Free (2nd rehearsal)
What was that in the end? :S Pff I am sooo bored! Bottom 5 for UK this year. He's first on stage, it's boring and after UK there will be 25 more songs. 80% of them will be amazing songs so everyone will forget about UK...

France - Anggun - Echo (You And I) (2nd rehearsal)
Vocally she was better than yesterday. But what's with the backdrop?! o.O Gymnastics? It looks really out of place! What does this have to do with the song?!

Italy - Nina Zilli - L'Amore È Femmina (2nd rehearsal)
Aah Nina! Big disappointment!! Really bad vocals! Shame... At least they fixed the backing vocalists.... lol

Azerbaijan - Sabina Babayeva - The Music Never Dies (2nd rehearsal)
Nice backdrop but the song is indifferent... And I don't like that male backing vocalist on the left... Sabina's vocals are good. Let's see if the hosting country will be in the top 10. Personally I don't see it happening.

Spain - Pastora Soler - Quédate Conmigo (2nd rehearsal)
Flawless!! Just flawless!! Love the backdrop! Love the "Carola-effect"! ;) And since yesterday, I've seen so many positive comments by people who didn't care about Spain! Vamos Pastora!

Germany - Roman Lob - Standing Still (2nd rehearsal)
Solid rehearsal for Germany. I don't have much to say here. I like the backdrop. Quite simple but ok...

ESC 2012 - Rehearsals Day 4

Day 4!

Slovenia - Eva Boto - Verjamem (1st rehearsal) 
Vocally it was a great rehearsal but Eva doesn't seem to enjoy it. I know there's no point saying that now but I wanted (and still want) "A Si Sanjal Me" for Slovenia. It fits more Eva and it would be in my top 10 (if not top 5!). Anyway back to the rehearsal. I don't like Eva's dress! I'm glad they got rid of those silly hats but I hope she changes her dress! Hope to see them in the final coz I like "Verjamen".

Croatia - Nina Badrić - Nebo (1st rehearsal)
Great vocal performance by Nina! Really nice! I liked what I saw. However I'm not a big fan of the dress but we don't know if that's the semi's dress. Croatia is right after Slovenia and I'm afraid one of these two countries won't make it to the final. I want to see them both there but I don't think I will...

Sweden - Loreen - Euphoria (1st rehearsal)
Ok what can we say here! I got serious goosebumps at 2:05. Of course I have some minor negative comments. What I don't like at all and I want her to fix is her utterance during the verses. She mumbles a lot and it doesn't sound good. She really needs to fix that! Plus, I find the backing vocals unnecessary. From what I hear she's using echo (or is it because we hear the sound in the arena?) so there's no need for backing vocals. The choreo is the same with Melodifestivalen minus the snow. I don't understand why they don't let her use the artificial snow. They let Eric Saade use the glass cage last year which was dangerous and they said no to some harmless plastic foam... Anyway, Loreen is the winner. Period.

Georgia - Anri Jokhadze - I'm A Joker (1st rehearsal)
Wanna bet this will end last in the semi? God that was painful to watch and hear. Horrible! Just horrible! No final for Georgia! I'll kill myself it makes it to the final!

Turkey - Can Bonomo - Love Me Back (1st rehearsal)
That was boring. Maybe because I really dislike the song. Can acts like crazy at some parts. Vocally he was ok. Nothing else to say here. I think they will make it to the final. Unfortunately...

Estonia - Ott Lepland - Kuula (1st rehearsal)
I must be the only one who finds this song extremely boring! It's a big snoozefest for me! Simple performance for Estonia. Well what could they do with a song like this. Everyone's so crazy about it and I don't know why. :S Well since everyone likes it I guess we'll see it in the final.

Slovakia - Max Jason Mai - Don't Close Your Eyes (1st rehearsal)
So so so not my cup of tea. I didn't like what I saw and what I heard! I'm sorry I just don't like it. And I don't see it in the final but who knows?

Norway - Tooji - Stay (1st rehearsal)
I liked what I saw! I am still not a fan of "Stay" but it kinda grows on me. I know I like Tooji! And God all those comments under the video about him being gay! You know what? I hope he is! I'm actually 99% sure that he is and that makes me like him even more! But back to the rehearsal! Same choreo as in MGP and vocally he was really good! Hope he makes it! He's entertaining!

Bosnia & Herzegovina - Maya Sar - Korake Ti Znam (1st rehearsal)
Solid rehearsal for Maya. Really simple but sometimes less is more. ;) Maya was good vocally but I wasn't so satisfied with what I heard. Maybe it was the sound in the arena I don't know. But I want Bosnia & Herzegovina in the final!

Lithuania - Donny Montell - Love Is Blind (1st rehearsal)
Great vocals! Really great! I still don't like that blindfold! And generally that staging/choreo. I like the song when we hit the first chorus. I find it boring at the beginning. Lithuania is lucky with this draw. They might have a chance for the final.

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

Croatia sends Nina Badrić with the song "Nebo" written by Nina Badrić.
Beautiful ballad from Croatia and Nina! I really like the instrumentation! There's a part around 2:09-2:14 that reminds me of this. I'm not talking about plagiarism or anything like that just to be clear. Anyway with a good presentation this can do well. Good job Croatia!
Croatia competes in the 2nd semi-final with running order #10.

7pts from me and good luck to Croatia!

Cyprus sends Ivi Adamou with the song "La La Love" written by Alex Papaconstantinou, Björn Djupström, Alexandra Zakka and Viktor Svensson.

Probably the best cypriot entry! I have to admit it though. I don't like Ivi. At all. But I love the song! It's so catchy! They need to find a good choreographer for Ivi and please don't let her improvise when it comes to dancing! I think it's gonna be a good year for Cyprus but then again, they were a favourite to win the whole contest in 2007...

Cyprus competes in the 1st semi-final with running order #12.

10pts from me and good luck to Cyprus!

Denmark sends Soluna Samay with the song "Should've Known Better" written by Isam Bachiri, Remee and Chief 1.

Love Denmark's song this year! More than their last year's entry! It wasn't my favourite in DMGP but it has grown on me a lot since then! Soluna is a good live singer but I really hope she gets rid of those "captain" clothes or whatever...

Denmark competes in the 1st semi-final with running order #13.

10pts from me and good luck to Denmark!

Estonia sends Ott Lepland with the song "Kuula" written by Ott Lepland and Aapo Ilves.
This is way too boring! I don't like it! Can't find a positive thing about this song. And I can't say I like Ott's voice. Sorry Estonia. Better luck next year! I think the last time I liked an estonian entry was in 2006!
Estonia competes in the 2nd semi-final with running order #14.

0pts from me and good luck to Estonia!

ESC 2011 - Rehearsals Day 8

The 2nd rehearsal of Slovenia, Romania, Estonia, Belarus, Latvia, Denmark and Ireland.
Also the 2nd rehearsal for the Big 5: France, Italy, United Kingdom, Germany and Spain.

Slovenia’s 2nd rehearsal: Serisously what can I say about Maja? She's fantastic! One of the best voices this year and she knows how to sing live. And she said she would wear the dress from the 1st rehearsal in the semi... I don't really like it. I would prefer something like the one she wore in the NF. It would fit the song better.

Romania’s 2nd rehearsal: Really nice rehearsal for Romania. I still don't like the girls with the trumpets but I like the song. And I like their clothes.

Estonia’s 2nd rehearsal: Nah that wasn't a good rehearsal. Getter and the backing vocalists sounded bad... The choreo is kinda messy and the song is nothing special. I love the rhythm of the chorus but that's all.

Belarus’ 2nd rehearsal: Good rehearsal but I don't really like the song. I liked their clothes though.

Latvia’s 2nd rehearsal: OK one more listening and it enters my top 10 kicking out Sweden or UK! This grew on me a lot! And I really like their performance. It's not something special but I like it!

Denmark’s 2nd rehearsal: I like the song, I like the performance I hate the shirt! Come on! This is really bad! Vocally was great.

Ireland’s 2nd rehearsal: They are annoying! So annoying! But damn I like watching their performance! Guilty pleasure! Hahaha And the song stucks on your mind... I am almost sure we will see them in the final. Well ok I can (almost) live with that but they ain't gonna win!

France’s 2nd rehearsal: He's got a great voice but as I said I don't like the song. Why such a hype? Why? And please someone cut his hair! And I noticed that he's sweating a lot... That won't look good on tv...

Italy’s 2nd rehearsal: I dislike Raphael. This will sound so crazy but I dislike him because he reminds me of a classmate I had in school and he was a jerk! Anyway, his rehearsal was fine but I don't like the song. And the music hurts my ears... Sorry Italy!

United Kingdom’s 2nd rehearsal: Much better rehearsal for Blue! And couldn't they wear these clothes in the final? At least this style? It's better. The 4 screens behind them are really distracting and I still don't like this version of the song. There aren't many differences but I prefer the first one.

Germany’s 2nd rehearsal: Better than yesterday but I still thing she can't sing live. She's not bad but she doesn't sound good to my ears. And I like that outfit too.

 

Spain’s 2nd rehearsal: Oh I so love this!!! Go Lucía! Great rehearsal! And I like her dress. But I'd like the dancers wearing only the shirts... Anyway Spain has to finish in top 10 this year!