Israel 2000, Russia 2003, Finland 2013 - Was Putin behind the 2003 incident?

It’s time for some “conspiracy” (probably not the right word here) theories. I'm not into politics. Like, at all but these thoughts came because I watched the first semi-final of 2013 again. More specifically because of the serbian entry. 

That thing with Russia (well Putin) going all anti-gay, really anti-gay, made me think about t.A.T.u. and 2003. Remember how EBU was threatening to stop the broadcast if the girls tried to kiss on stage? Why? We already had a gay kiss between two guys back in 2000. Israel’s entry (at 1:15). It was a very brief kiss and definitely not a close-up but it happened. 2013 and Krista Siegfrids kissed her female backing vocalist. EBU had no problem in both cases. But they did have a problem in 2003? With the russian entry? I mean couldn’t Putin be behind this do-not-kiss-on-stage-or-we-will-stop-the-broadcast thing? Unless of course we (well you) already knew about this. I never read anything about Putin giving such “orders” to EBU in order to prevent t.A.T.u. from kissing and to be honest I didn’t do any research on the subject. And all that info I know about the russian entry in 2003 is stuff that I read on various websites either in 2003 or a couple of years later. My memory is kinda blurry since it was my 2nd ESC and it also was 10 years ago.

I mean why on earth would EBU have a problem with it in the first place? The majority of the eurofans are gay! So couldn’t the actual problem coming from Russia and Putin themselves and not really from the EBU? Like “I don’t want my country to present anything gay-ish to a European contest”. Thoughts anyone?

PS Yeah I think it's time to start blogging again.

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 - Semi-final 2 results

Now this is a "I don't know where to start" moment! Just wow! Loved the opening act! And I wanted to comment that on the first semi's post but I forgot to do it. Love the graphics this year. And the "post cards". And for some reason I really like that sound right before the playback of each song begins. Also, the way they announce the results. No stupid buttons (2009), no stupid "are you excited? who's gonna be next?" and such stuff. Quick announcement without any unnecessary comments. Well done on that!

Now the results.

Hungary
Azerbaijan
Georgia
Romania
Norway
Iceland
Armenia
Finland
Malta
Greece

I predicted right 6/10 which is bad. Shocker of the night in a positive way, Hungary. Shockers of the night in a negative way, Armenia and Romania! What are these two doing in the final? Huge shock on non-qualification, Israel! I can't believe Israel is out! I got 7/10 from my wantlist and Israel and Switzerland were the 2 out of 4 that I really wanted in the final. Norway and Finland made it. But I have to admit I almost got a heart attack until Finlands announcement! 8th! But Krista made it! I'm also happy for Malta!

I was glad to see Lys Assia back and healthy! Petra was awesome as always! Lynda Woodruff too! What a character! Hahahaha That thing with Bonnie Tyler cracked me up! The interval act with Darin and Agnes was like watching Melodifestivalen. I only loved Agnes' "Release Me".

Finally, I wanna make a comment on the history that Krista wrote tonight! The kiss! She did it and not only we saw it, but it was also a close-up! I just couldn't believe it!

iltasanomat.fi

10 years ago EBU warned t.A.T.u. that they'll play the dress rehearsal video if they try to kiss during the live performance and today, Krista kissed her backing vocalist! Kudos to her for daring to do it. I've said before I'm not a big fan of the "use" of the kiss but I really don't mind seeing it. ;)


And I just saw that the running order for the final is revealed! Norway performs 24th! Between Italy and Georgia and Finland performs 4th between Moldova and Spain. So yay to both! Denmark's at 18 between Hungary and Iceland so it's good for them too. France will open the contest. huhu I won't comment the rest. I really need to go to bed!

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!