ESC 2013 - Rehearsals Day 8

Day 8... It doesn't sound right. It's more like a Day 10 but on Monday and yesterday we had only dress rehearsals, the jury rehearsal and of course the semi. So I can't count them... Whatever. It doesn't really matter!

DAY 8

Spain - ESDM - "Contigo Hasta El Final" (2nd rehearsal) 
Raquel changed the dress and she's also barefoot. She walks down the catwalk near the end of the song, they play with those "flying lanterns" and then she goes back to finish the song. I like the song but the whole performance (along with the song) doesn't stand out. It's a bottom 5. Unfortunately.

France - Amandine Bourgeois - "L'Enfer Et Moi" (2nd rehearsal) 
I like the outfit but that's it. Ok and the music of the song. But the performance? No. Not at all! Amandine is overacting! I really don't like it!

Germany - Cascada - "Glorious" (2nd rehearsal)
What the hell are they doing?????? Where is the second half of the first verse????? Are you kidding me? You cut the best part of the song just to keep the instrumental part after the first chorus and istead of -AT LEAST- taking advantage of it, Natalie just stands there and claps her hands? PLEASE! For 2,5 minutes Natalie just stands there and they're only using the stairs for the "we are glo-glo-glo-glo-glo-glo" part! Wow right? Yeah I know it's the same as the NF performance but this is bad! Really bad! And with the first half draw, it's the right side of the scoreboard for Germany! :(

Sweden - Robin Stjernberg - "You" (2nd rehearsal)
That outfit... So bad... But I like the performance. They've done some changes but I think it looks really nice. Love the fireworks! Wish he could change that outfit though...

United Kingdom - Bonnie Tyler - "Believe In Me" (2nd rehearsal)
Amazing Bonnie Tyler! Love that performance. Not a big fan of the song coz it's not my cup of tea but I really like what I see! And I totally love the outfit! Hope it goes well for the UK.

Italy - Marco Mengoni - "L'Essenziale" (2nd rehearsal)
That's not his stage outfit right? He looks like he's dressed to go for a walk. The performance is too static. And he's also using the catwalk in the end. I would like to see him sitting at the piano. I think it'd have been much better...

ESC 2013 - Rehearsals Day 7

DAY 7

Spain - ESDM - "Contigo Hasta El Final" (1st rehearsal) 
Yellow dress... I'm sure after the results they'll put the blame on the dress. Last year Pastora said her outfit wouldn't be black or yellow. I don't know why she didn't wear a black one but the yellow is considered bad lack for the Spiniards. Don't remember the actual story behind this though. ESDM's performance looks similar to the NF one. Raquel is another artist who uses the catwalk. Really like the song but it's a bottom 5 for my Spain...

France - Amandine Bourgeois - "L'Enfer Et Moi" (1st rehearsal) 
Don't like it. At all. And I seriously don't like that she acts like lunatic when she sings... What was that in the soundcheck? :S

Germany - Cascada - "Glorious" (1st rehearsal)
Natalie!! So crazy! Love her! I'm so glad about the outfit she's wearing! That was my biggest concern! The performance is the same as the NF one but she's also using the catwalk and that's where she ends it. I need to hear the backing vocals though... I'm worried about them.

Sweden - Robin Stjernberg - "You" (1st rehearsal)
I must've been the only one who loved his mello outfit. Now everyone says that this outfit is worse. It is but you guys went crazy about him changing it. Sorry Robin but it's really bad. The performance has some minor changes. We already knew that. I really want to see the entire rehearsal though.

United Kingdom - Bonnie Tyler - "Believe In Me" (1st rehearsal)
Another use of the catwalk but this time it's one step forward. It lifts Bonnie in the last seconds of the song. I couldn't clearly hear her vocals though... Some musicians on stage so I guess it's an ordinary performance...

Italy - Marco Mengoni - "L'Essenziale" (1st rehearsal)
Much hotter with the beard. But that's not the point. :P Looks like he's just standing there. I wonder if there's anything else during his performance... Not a fan of the song though...

ESC 2013 - Reviewing the countries beginning with "I"

Iceland sends Eythor Ingi with the song "Ég Á Líf" written by Örlygur Smári and Pétur Örn Gudmundsson.
Once again, Iceland has the best preview video. A beautiful song but unfortunately it's not one of my favourites. It's somewhere in my top 20 I guess. Kudos though for keeping it in icelandic. This is a huge bonus! I just wish they were wise enough to send "Mundu Eftir Mér" in icelandic last year...
Iceland competes in the 2nd semi-final with running order #8.

5pts from me and good luck to Iceland!

Ireland sends Ryan Dolan with the song "Only Love Survives" written by Wez Devine and Ryan Dolan.
I don't know when was the last time Ireland sent such a good entry. It's not amazing. I'm just comparing it with their previous entries so yeah. This is great! Too much "love" though...
Ireland competes in the 1st semi-final with running order #13.

5pts from me and good luck to Ireland!

Israel sends Moran Mazor with the song "Rak Bishvilo" written by Han Harari and Gal Sarig.

Love it! Classic israeli ballad. They're the masters on such songs! Yeah Moran wasn't my winner. Kathleen was but she withdrew. However I don't see this going as expected. Moran's styling is horrible! They seriously need to get rid of her stylists! She's only 22 and they make her look like 40+! And not only in KDAM! We all know that the styling and performance have an impact on the song's final placing!

Israel competes in the 2nd semi-final with running order #10.

10pts from me and good luck to Israel! 

Italy sends Marco Mengoni with the song "L'Essenziale" written by Francesco De Benedittis, Roberto Casalino and Marco Mengoni.
My first impression was good. After that it started growing out of me and now I just find it ok. I've listened to better songs by Marco...
Italy competes in the final. Running order TBA.

5pts from me and good luck to Italy! 

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 7

Day 7!!! Today's Spain's rehearsal!!! I watched it! It was the first rehearsal I watched! And I have so much to say!!! But let's take them one by one!

Slovenia - Eva Boto - Verjamem (2nd rehearsal)
Solid second rehearsal for Slovenia! But I said it last time as well, I don't like Eva's dress. At all! I find it too "heavy"... There's no need for those flowers to be there...

Croatia - Nina Badrić - Nebo (2nd rehearsal) 
Vocally Nina was great once again. I like her dress but I don't like the dancers' outfits. Especially the male dancers'. Backdrop looks nice... And I don't get that white sheet...

Sweden - Loreen - Euphoria (2nd rehearsal)
First comment! There's the snow! When I commented the first rehearsal I said that there wouldn't be any snow. I was wrong and it makes sense. Why deny some harmless plastic foam? ;) Loreen's vocals! Perfect once again! Last night we saw Loreen's outfit. Seeing her performing with it feels kinda weird. Well not weird. It seems "heavy" but it works. What seems weird are the backing vocalists' outfits. Those hats? Hm I hope the camera work will focus on Loreen! Stockholm 2013.

Georgia - Anri Jokhadze - I'm A Joker (2nd rehearsal)
That was once again painful! And it comes right after Loreen! Zero chances! Hahaha! And what are those backing vocalists' outfits! :S Sorry Georgia!

Turkey - Can Bonomo - Love Me Back (2nd rehearsal)
First thing I don't like: the backdrop. And of course I don't like the song, Can, the staging. Sorry I just don't like this! But for some reason I think Turkey will make it.

Germany - Roman Lob - Standing Still (1st rehearsal)
Solid first rehearsal for Germany. Really simple staging though. Roman just stands there. Well he's standing still. :P Vocally he was good.

France - Anggun - Echo (You And I) (1st rehearsal)
Not pleased at all by Anggun's vocals!!! That wasn't good girl! I like the staging however and the choreo. I wanna see her outfit too. But no1 priority for her is to improve her vocals.

Italy - Nina Zilli - L'Amore È Femmina (1st rehearsal)
Disappointment! Vocally she was bad. But I kinda knew that. I watched quite a few of her live performances of "L'Amore È Femmina" and in all of them she wasn't that good. The song is still one of my favourite (though the italian version) but what I saw was not good. And those backing vocalists! They put the shorter in the middle and it looks really bad! The two female vocalists need to swap spots!

Azerbaijan - Sabina Babayeva - The Music Never Dies (1st rehearsal)
Did I just watch Mika Newton? Oh that was Sabina! Sorry the dress confused me. Ok good rehearsal. I don't really like the dress though. When I commented the songs I gave it a 5. Now it's lower...

Spain - Pastora Soler - Quédate Conmigo (1st rehearsal)
A flawless performance!!! But I was sure of that! One of my two fears is gone. I was worried about two things. The staging and the dress. The staging is simple and that's what we needed! Now I'm worried about the dress! I just wish she wore the one from the spanish NF! It's amazing! Pastora said it won't be yellow and it won't be black. I just hope it's elegant and classy. Backing vocals were also really good! Oh Spain! Top 3!! Vamos Pastora!!!! Oh and I love that face in the end of the video! hahahaha xD

United Kingdom - Engelbert Humperdinck - Love Will Set You Free (1st rehearsal)
Ok Engelbert! Keep that mic close to your mouth please! That was a bit boring. And vocally he wasn't so good. Or was it the mic? Ah I'm sorry but after Pastora's performance that was totally indifferent. And he will be first on stage. I seriously doubt if anyone will remember this. I say bottom 5 for UK!

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 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!