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 2

DAY 2

Montenegro - Who See - "Igranka" (1st rehearsal) 
Astronaut suits? Really? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Ok this is the worst gimmick ever! The song itself was in my bottom 3 this year. Now with this performance it definitely stuck there!

Belgium - Roberto Bellarosa - "Love Kills" (1st rehearsal)
I watched the backstage footage and I thought ok really nice outfits. Then I saw the rehearsal and oh my God! Did the female dancers really have to wear those dresses? The dance routine looks ridiculous.

Belarus - Alyona Lanskaya - "Solayo" (1st rehearsal)
It looks like Alyona didn't wear her stage outfit. We didn't get to see much of the rehearsal so I can't say a lot. I love disco balls (ain't it obvious?) but this one? I don't know...

Moldova - Aliona Moon - "O Mie" (1st rehearsal)
So they took Sabina's gimmick and took it a step forward. Ok... It looks nice and as I said I like Moldova's song this year. The dancers are a bit "off"...

Ireland - Ryan Dolan - "Only Love Survives" (1st rehearsal)
Could the dancers be more gay? No, it's not a bad thing. I'm just pointing it out. I love Ryan's outfit and the song is growing on me. I still find it a bit repetitive and in this case, this repetitiveness is a bit annoying.

Cyprus - Despina Olympiou - "An Me Thimase" (1st rehearsal)
I'm not a fan of this kind of dress. Pastora Soler wore a similar dress during her tour and I really disliked it but ok, Despina's is much better. She's alone on stage (at least it looks like it) and correct me if I'm wrong but the last time a Cypriot was alone on stage was in 2004... ;) Naah, the song isn't as good as "Stronger Every Minute".

Lithuania - Andrius Pojavis - "Something" (1st rehearsal)
First thing I noticed, the camera is following him! Oh God! Why do we have to see those close-ups? His facial expressions=irritating!! His outfit looks identical to the one he wore in the NF which is nothing wow. Oh and yeah, I still find nothing likeable in the song.

Serbia - Moje 3 - "Ljubav Je Svuda" (1st rehearsal)
Oh my God!! Please bring back the NF outfits!!!! These are horrible!! I love the song but these outfits? H O R R I B L E ! ! ! I liked the vocals but I'm still in shock!! Change the outfits! Just change them!!!

ESC 2013 - Reviewing the countries beginning with "L", "M"

Latvia sends PeR with the song "Here We Go" written by  Ralfs Eilands and Arturas Burke.
Sorry Latvia but this is bad. Really really bad! I seriously can't listen to this more than once. Seriously I don't have anything else to say, other than I completely dislike it!
Latvia competes in the 2nd semi-final with running order #1.

0pts from me and good luck to Latvia!

Lithuania sends Andrius Pojavis with the song "Something" written by Andrius Pojavis.
Ok song but I hate that "yeeeeeeeah". And his facial expressions are so disturbing! I really can't look at Andrius while he sings. When I don't like a song I just don't know what else to comment so I stop here... 
Lithuania competes in the 1st semi-final with running order #10.

2pts from me and good luck to Lithuania!

Malta sends Gianluca with the song "Tomorrow" written by Boris Cezek and Dean Muscat.
Cute song. I don't see Malta in the final but this is nice... Quite cheesy lyrics but ok... I wanna see how they're gonna present this. I think it's gonna be something like their NF. Gianluca and a band...
Malta competes in the 2nd semi-final with running order #6.

5pts from me and good luck to Malta!

Moldova sends Aliona Moon with the song "O Mie" written by Pasha Parfeny and Yuliana Scutaru.
I like it! Really beautiful melody! And it's written by Pasha! I disliked his entry but this one is great! And I like Aliona's voice! I think this will do really well! Or at least I hope so!
Moldova competes in the 1st semi-final with running order #12.

7pts from me and good luck to Moldova!

Montenegro sends Who See with the song "Igranka" written by Dejan Dedovic (Dedduh), Mario Djordjevic (Noyz) and Djordje Miljenovic (Wikluh Sky).
I wanna copy-paste the comments on Montenegro that I made last year! This is horrible! I gave 0 points to last year's entry and I give 0 to this one too! But if I had to compare these two I'd give 0,5 to "Igranka" but still, it's horrible!!! Oh dear Montenegro! Please send a decent entry someday!
Montenegro competes in the 1st semi-final with running order #9.

0pts from me and good luck to Montenegro!
 

ESC 2012 - Rehearsals Day 5

Montenegro - Rambo Amadeus - Euro Neuro (2nd rehearsal)
No changes here! It's still horrible!

Iceland - Greta Salóme & Jónsi - Never Forget (2nd rehearsal)
Nice second rehearsal for Iceland but Jónsi didn't sound so good. Love the backdrop!

Greece - Eleftheria Eleftheriou - Aphrodisiac (2nd rehearsal)
Much better rehearsal than the first one. Check out the female dancers at 2:55! Now come on! xD I really wanna see Eleftheria's outfit now! Hahaha! Backdrop looks ok. Looking forward to the dress rehearsal!

Latvia - Anmary - Beautiful Song (2nd rehearsal)
Ok nice vocals by Anmary. I don't like their outfits and it seems like one of the backing vocalists didn't get her clothes in time! :P I know that's what she's supposed to wear (I guess at least) but it stands out! And I find those backing vocalists' "dance moves" ridiculous!

Albania - Rona Nishliu - Suus (2nd rehearsal)
Same comments as in her first rehearsal.

Romania - Mandinga - Zaleilah (2nd rehearsal)
Fantastic!! They are so freakin' entertaining! But I have a couple of comments... I don't like Elena's dress, I still miss the jumping and waving their hands and El Niño needs to put his RayBan on! Love him with these! Other than that, their rehearsal was great! Oh yes that small problem with El Niño's drum hehe. Finally let's wish happy happy birthday to Elena! She turns 24 today!

Switzerland - Sinplus - Unbreakable (2nd rehearsal)
To the final! To the finaaaaal!! It's time Switzerland made it to the final! Sinplus are great and "Unbreakable" is amazing! Both their rehearsals were great! Come on Europe! Vote for Switzerland!

Belgium - Iris - Would You? (2nd rehearsal)
Still boring... Her vocals are good but is it enough? Nah.

Finland - Pernilla Karlsson - När Jag Blundar (2nd rehearsal)
Ah Pernilla!! Same dress so I'm guessing this is the one! I really don't like it! And that black top? Not a match! I hope at least she gets rid of that top! Other than that, another great rehearsal and I love love love the song! Such a beautiful melody and lyrics! To the final please!

Israel - Izabo - Time (2nd rehearsal)
Nice second rehearsal for Israel! I like their outfits. They fit the song and I like the backdrop! Go Israel! Love it or hate it song! Let's see what Europe thinks!

San Marino - Valentina Monetta - The Social Network Song (2nd rehearsal)
And when I thought it can't get any worse here comes the second rehearsal with the stage outfits! Oh my God San Marino! You really wanna be last this year don't you?! Gee!

Cyprus - Ivi Adamou - La La Love (2nd rehearsal)
Great rehearsal for Cyprus! But I still think that the choreo in some parts is for the JESC! I like the outfits but I wanted something more colorful. Not a big fan of the backdrop and I guess the books are just books... Are they trying to conect this with the music video? I don't know. Cyprus should make it to the final!

Denmark - Soluna Samay - Should've Known Better (2nd rehearsal)
Was that couch there during the first rehearsal? Out of place. Like the backdrop, don't like Soluna's outfit! Vocally she was good again. She missed a note in the beginning but it's ok. Go Denmark!

ESC 2012 - Rehearsals Day 1

Well I spent the entire weekend in Stockholm but now I'm back. I wasn't planning to blog about today's rehearsals today but here I am! I couldn't resist! :P Let's do this! 

Montenegro - Rambo Amadeus - Euro Neuro (1st rehearsal)

It's quite obvious that there were a few problems but that's what the rehearsals are for. And that wooden donkey? More like the Torjan Horse really. Meh. I still hate the song. Montenegro is so not in the final!

Iceland - Greta Salóme & Jónsi - Never Forget (1st rehearsal)

Ok I have to say I got some serious goosebumps in the first chorus but that was all. I still prefer and believe that the icelandic version is miles better! About the staging, it's almost the same with the NF and I think that would be all. No surprises and stuff... Vocally they were good. Some sound problems maybe... From that first rehearsal I say Iceland is in the final.

Greece - Eleftheria Eleftheriou - Aphrodisiac (1st rehearsal)

I like what I saw. However the choreography doesn't seem complete. It feels like they're "hiding" something. Eleftheria was good vocally. To my ears at least... I'm kinda biased here but I say we are in the final.

Latvia - Anmary - Beautiful Song (1st rehearsal)

First of all I love the last 30 seconds. But until that moment everything is quite bland. The choreo is boring. They just walk around on stage. Anmary was ok vocally and she must have worked on her face expressions but there is a moment or two where she made those faces... Anyway, I don't see Latvia in the final...

Albania - Rona Nishliu - Suus (1st rehearsal)

I don't know what the camera work will be but they need to be careful a bit. Rona seems scary in those close-ups. Vocals! Those vocals! Personally I don't like the song and I find her really screamy but vocally she was great. She pulled it off in the best possible way! Now this is tricky. I don't know if we will see it in the final. If it was up to me I'd leave Albania in the semi...

Romania - Mandinga - Zaleilah (1st rehearsal)

Ok... I guess we will never hear Elena singing Zaleilah like in the studio version. It's quite obvious they "did something" in the studio. Anyway, vocally she was good. Not in the same tone as in the studio version but she was good. I like the choreography even though it's not so crazy... I miss that jumping while waving their hands at the same time! It needs more energy! I see them in the final. Or at least I want them in the final!

Switzerland - Sinplus - Unbreakable (1st rehearsal) 

I still have a thing with his english. It sounds ok and kinda unique in the studio version but kinda bad live. It doesn't matter though. I love the song! And I want them so much in the final!! From what I saw I think they can make it!

Belgium - Iris - Would You? (1st rehearsal) 

Come on this is boring. Everything is boring! Just everything. Belgium is not in the final!

Finland - Pernilla Karlsson - När Jag Blundar (1st rehearsal)

Solid performance. What's with the dress though? I hope they're just testing (I'm almost sure about it since it's the first rehearsal) it!! Unfortunately I don't see Finland in the final either but I do want them in the final!!

ESC 2012 - Reviewing the countries beginning with "L", "M"

Latvia sends Anmary with the song "Beautiful Song" written by Ivars Makstnieks and Rolans Ūdris.
Beautiful song... But the thing is that I'm not a big fan. Sometimes I like it, sometimes I don't wanna hear it. It depends on my mood. Anmary needs to be a bit careful with her facial expressions. She needs to control them. She looks quite scary at times and maybe you don't see it in the music video but if you watch her live performance you'll know what I'm talking about.
Latvia competes in the 1st semi-final with running order #4.

3pts from me and good luck to Latvia!

Lithuania sends Donny Montell with the song "Love Is Blind" written by Brandon Stone.
This was akward to watch... He was blindfolded for about 1,5 minutes, until that time the song was a ballad and suddenly it turned into an uptempo song, he made a flip in the air and kept singing, then we had a small pause and then back to the uptempo. Wow. I don't really like the song. The chorus for some reasons sounds like a Cher-song. I don't know if it reminds me of a specific Cher-song or if it's just a Cher-feeling... I just don't like it. Sorry.
Lithuania competes in the 2nd semi-final with running order #18.

1pt from me and good luck to Lithuania!

Malta sends Kurt Calleja with the song "This Is The Night" written by Johan Jämtberg, Kurt Calleja and Mikael Gunnerås.
I like it! When was the last time I liked a maltese entry? Nah ok I kinda liked their entry last year too. But this one's better! I like Kurt! Hope they make it to the final for once! xD
Malta competes in the 2nd semi-final with running order #4.

6pts from me and good luck to Malta!

Moldova sends Pasha Parfeny with the song "Lăutar" written by Pavel Parfeni and Alex Brașoveanu.
I'm not a fan of balkan reggae... This is not bad but it's not my cup of tea either. And I don't like the performance of the NF. It makes the song look like a joke entry! Anyway...

Moldova competes in the 1st semi-final with running order #17.

2pts from me and good luck to Moldova!

Montenegro sends Rambo Amadeus with the song "Euro Neuro" written by Magnifico and Rambo Amadeus.
This is just horrible! And I hate his accent even though I know he sings like that on purpose! At least I hope so coz if that's his english accent then oh my God! Horrible!
Montenegro competes in the 1st semi-final with running order #1.

0pts from me and good luck to Montenegro!
 

ESC 2011 - Martina Majerle does a comeback for Slovenia

 

Martina Majerle represented Slovenia in 2009 with the song "Love Symphony" accompanied by Quartissimo. This year she returns as a backing vocalist for Maja Keuc from Slovenia! But this isn't the second time she participates in ESC. Martina, who is from Croatia, participated in Eurovision 2003 as a backing vocalist for the croatian entry "Više Nisam Tvoja" performed by Claudia Beni. She was also a backing vocalist for Alenka Gotar when she performed "Cvet Z Juga" for Slovenia in 2007 and for Stefan Filipović when he performed "Zauvijek Volim Te" for Montenegro in 2008.

I just love it when this happens! Backing vocalists who become the main vocalists and then again backing vocalists! So great!