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 2012 - Reviewing the countries beginning with "F"

Finland sends Krista Siegfrids with the song "Marry Me" written by Krista Siegfrids, Erik Nyholm, Kristoffer Karlsson and Jessica Lundström.
The dark horse of the year if you ask me! It has grown on me a lot, it kicked Spain out of my top 10 and I think it just entered my top 5!! Extremely catchy tune and the "oh oh, oh oh oh ding dong" sticks on your mind from the first listening! I'm a bit worried though. I really hope Krista won't sing the new version! It feels so "empty"... Like something is missing. It also sounds kinda "agressive" (maybe poor choice of words but I was never good at describing songs) and I totally miss the way she sings the "oh oh, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh ding dong" after the second chorus in the original version. So, please Krista, sing the original version!! I'm also a bit concerned about the performance. The clothes actually. I assume she'll wear the wedding dress. It's part of the song after all. I have no problem with it since I do get it's a funny song but some eurofans find it kitsch...
Finland competes in the 2nd semi-final with running order #5.

12pts from me and good luck to Finland!

France sends Amandine Bourgeois with the song "L'Enfer Et Moi" written by David Salkin and Boris Bergman.
Meh... Ok. Not my cup of tea. For the gazillionth time, I don't like french! So it's hard to actually like a french entry. But I do like the music of the song! And Amandine has a nice voice but no. I don't like the song. And I'm pretty sure I won't... Good bye French readers... xD
France competes in the final. Running order TBA.

3pts from me and good luck to France! 

FYROM sends Esma & Lozano with the song "Pred Da Se Razdeni" written by Darko Dimitrov, Lazar Cvetkovski, Simeon Atanasov and Magdalena Cvetkovska.
Did they really need Esma? With a different chorus sung only by Lozano that would be really good. That "le le le le" is really annoying! But ok generally it's not bad.
FYROM competes in the 2nd semi-final with running order #3.

4pt from me and good luck to FYROM!

ESC 2012 - Pastora Soler in the final

Photo: Thomas Hanses (EBU)

Ok, when I wrote the blog entry about the final I said I'd write a new blog post just for Pastora. Well here it is.

First of all, I'd like to say that for the first (and probably the last!) time I was right about one thing regarding the ESC. Well two things. The first one was Loreen. I've been saying that she's the one who can win the whole thing since we found out she'd be in Mello 2012. The second one was of course Pastora Soler! And I know I said this a few times but I'm vindicated and it feels so great! Remember September's post? Well I wrote she's the only one who can bring the contest to Madrid. I still believe that. She didn't win but she did bring Spain the best result since 2004! A place in the top 10! She didn't deserve that! She should have been at least in the top 5! Top 3 if you ask me! She should have been the runner up!!

She gave one of the best performances that night. Amazing performance! What went wrong? Probably the running order... Željko performed 24th. Then we had FYROM as well (yes I hate it but apparently Europe likes it). Then I blame Europe for not voting for Spain. Spain doesn't have friends. Plus the fact that several commentators in many countries tried (and probably succeeded) to "manipulate" the viewers by telling them NOT to vote for Spain coz they don't want to win. Because they won't be able to host the contest. I wonder if the EBU will do something about this. I know the results can't change but this is unacceptable! The commentators are supposed to be impartial. They're supposed to be neutral. Just giving the information about the song and the performer. They're not supposed to try to affect people's choices!

You might think I'm trying to find excuses, put the blame on someone about Spain's result. Well no. I'm just trying to figure out why a performance and a song like this ended up only 10th while other songs which were in the top 10 shouldn't even be in the final! Of course that's my personal opinion. You might agree, you might disagree, but at the end of the day everything is subjective!

About Pastora's appearance... I liked it and I didn't like it. I wasn't a big fan of the dress. I still wish she had worn the one from the spanish NF. But I also wanted to see the second one. I've seen so many videos on YouTube so I know she could have looked better (or worse! xD) with different make-up and hairstyle. The entire look made her look like a Greek goddess. It was ok I guess but I don't think it fitted the song...

Well nothing can change now but you know I'm trying to stay away from the PESD/PEB which will soon kick in no matter what. But I still have things to say about this year's ESC so the PESD/PEB can wait a bit longer... ;)

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 - Reviewing the countries beginning with "F"

Finland sends Pernilla Karlsson with the song "När Jag Blundar" written by Jonas Karlsson.
This has grown so freakin' much on me! Such a beautiful song! And finally we'll hear some swedish in the ESC! Even if it comes from Finland and even if Pernilla has a finnish accent (that's a tiny minus for me...). I love the lyrics! I love the melody! I don't know if they will make it to the final but I will definitely enjoy it during the semi! Really really beautiful song!
Finland competes in the 1st semi-final with running order #9.

8pts from me and good luck to Finland!

France sends Anggun with the song "Echo (You And I)" written by William Rousseau, Jean-Pierre Pilot and Anggun.
I really don't get the video of the song... :S Anyway. I'm a bit in the middle here. I don't like french so I always have a negative opinion about their entries evene before I listen to them. I'm not a big fan of "Echo (You And I)" but it's not bad. Anggun has a really nice and powerful voice. I also like the music of the song but it's not something I wanna hear on repeat for example.
France competes in the final with running order #9.

5pts from me and good luck to France! 

FYROM sends Kaliopi with the song "Crno I Belo" written by Romeo Grill and Kaliopi.
This one begins nicely but then we hit the chorus and I want to punch the screen! It's so annoying! So annoying! Well not the chorus itself. Kaliopi's voice when she sings the chorus! I really can't stand it. I would have liked the song without the chorus but now, no.
FYROM competes in the 2nd semi-final with running order #2.

1pt from me and good luck to FYROM! 

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 - Reviewing the countries beginning with "F"

Finland sends Paradise Oskar with the song "Da Da Dam" written by Axel Ehnström.

The secong "save the planet" song. I don't really like this... I like the "da da dam" part in the chorus but I think that's all. Last year Finland was in my top 3. This year I don't even know if it's in my final. I think it is but really really low... A nice message but childish lyrics.
Finland competes in the 1st semi-final with running order #10.

3pts from me and good luck to Finland!

France sends Amaury Vassili with the song "Sognu" written by Jean-Pierre Marcellesi, Daniel Moyne and Quentin Bachelet.

Honestly I don't get why everyone likes this! And they even put it in the top 3 - if not no1! This is awful! Opera! Slovenia’s entry in 2007 and Sweden’s entry in 2009 are much better than this, imo! I don't like anything about this! Oh and I've read so many comments saying that Amaury is hot. Ehm seriously?
France competes in the final with running order #11.

0pts from me and good luck to France!

FYROM sends Vlatko Ilievski with the song "Rusinka" written by Marko Marinkovik - Slatkar, Grigor Koprov and Vladimir Dojcinovski.

Another song I don't like! I like the intro but after that...no. No surprise why FYROM stays out of the final every year. And I think they won't make it to the final this year either. (Well you got a guess after all!) Good luck next year!
FYROM competes in the 2nd semi-final with running order #11.

1pt from me and good luck to FYROM!