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 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 4

DAY 4

Greece - Koza Mostra ft Agathonas Iakovidis - "Alcohol Is Free" (1st rehearsal) 
I don't like what I hear. The vocals are really bad and I hope Ilias drops that "savage" voice. It's annoying. The performance looks identical to the NF one but they added some lights to their musical instruments.

Israel - Moran Mazor - "Rak Bishvilo" (1st rehearsal)
Why oh why are you wearing the NF dress Moran? Don't they read the negative comments about the styling? What are they thinking? Really! I'll try to overlook that even though it's impossible. Her vocals were great as always. Fix the styling PLEASE!

Armenia - Dorians - "Lonely Planet" (1st rehearsal)
Yeah definitely in my bottom 5. Why is he jumping like that? The outfits (if these are the stage ones) are ok. Nothing else to say here. Really.

Hungary - ByeAlex - "Kedvesem (Zoohacker Remix)" (1st rehearsal)
I like that they're using the music video of the song as backdrop. The performance is really simple but they sound really good. I like it!

Norway - Margaret Berger - "I Feed You My Love" (1st rehearsal)
I love that she kept the dress from MGP. However there are some minor changes on it. I have to say I don't really like the cut below the knee. I wanted the "caterpillar" dress! Hahaha Anyway this is great. I also don't like the backing vocalists. Sure they need them but I hope they hide them somehow. The focus should be Margaret and only Margaret! And I don't like that the backing vocalists are doing the same gestures as Margaret... Her vocals were ok-ish... At least that's what I heard but I'm not worried about that. I'm sure she'll sound great during the live performance.

Albania - Adrian Lulgjuraj & Bledar Sejko - "Identitet" (1st rehearsal)
Another staging similar to the NF one. I don't like what I see and hear. Well probably because I don't like the song. Next!

Georgia - Nodi Tatishvili & Sophie Gelovani - "Waterfall" (1st rehearsal)
I don't like the song but I like the stage effects. And their outfits. But that's all...

Switzerland - Takasa - "You And Me" (1st rehearsal)
Simple outfits but for some reason I really like them! The staging is the one I was expecting. What else could they do? Yeah, I like it!

Romania - Cezar - "It's My Life" (1st rehearsal)
That was painful. Sorry but that's how it is. I don't like it. I will never like this one no matter how they present it. And Cezar's outfit is horrible.

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 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 - 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 2013 - Reviewing the countries beginning with "U"

Ukraine sends Zlata Ognevich with the song "Gravity" written by Mikhail Nekrasov and Karen Kavaleryan.
I kinda overlooked this. It's better than I thought. I'm not crazy about it but ok, I like it. I really like the music and Zlata's voice. However it feels like it never ends. 3 minutes and yet it sounds like it's much more...
Ukraine competes in the 1st semi-final with running order #7.

5pts from me and good luck to Ukraine!

United Kingdom sends Bonnie Tyler with the song "Believe In Me" written by  Desmond Child, Lauren Christy and Christopher Braide.
Last but not least, the UK! The biggest name of the year! Who would have thought that Bonnie Tyler would enter Eurovision! The song is not really my cup of tea but I'm ranking it much higher than many others! Maybe because it's Bonnie? I don't know... I'm really interested in seeing how the UK will do this year!
United Kingdom competes in the final. Running order TBA.

6pts from me and good luck to United Kingdom! 



And this is it! I'm done for the year. Next thing is my top 10 and I have to say that I changed my top 10 way too many times this year! Especially the ranking! It has never happened before!

ESC 2013 - Reviewing the countries beginning with "S"

San Marino sends Valentina Monetta with the song "Crisalide" written by Ralph Siegel and Mauro Balestri.
Once again, Valentina. Once again, Ralph Siegel. But this time with a great song! Such a huge change! I bet most of the viewers won't be able to tell that Valentina is the same artist as last year! Big chance that San Marino makes it to the final this time!
San Marino competes in the 2nd semi-final with running order #2.

7pts from me and good luck to San Marino!

Serbia sends Moje 3 with the song "Ljubav Je Svuda" written by  Saša Milošević Mare and Marina Tucaković.

Love it! :D They really need to work on a new choreo (I think they do). I don't really like the way it ends. It's too abrupt. Ah, tiny detail! They're so in the final!!!

Serbia competes in the 1st semi-final with running order #16.

10pts from me and good luck to Serbia!

Slovenia sends Hannah with the song "Straight Into Love" written by  Hannah Mancini, Gregor Zemljic, Erik Margan, Matija Rodic and Marko Primuzak.

When I listened to the song for the first time I wanted the first 15 seconds out! Now I don't mind them. So we had the first version then we got the final one and originally I liked the final more. But now I changed my mind. I prefer the first version! There are some new lyrics added in the final version but I miss some parts of the original. But ok, I love it no matter what! That's my sLOVEnia!

Slovenia competes in the 1st semi-final with running order #3.

10pts from me and good luck to Slovenia!

Spain sends El Sueño de Morfeo with the song "Contigo Hasta El Final" written by  Raquel del Rosario, David Feito and Juan Suárez.

One thing was for sure this year. No matter what Spain sent, it would never top last year's entry. Unless it was Pastora with a better song (kinda difficult to do this though). I said from the beginning that I wasn't a fan of ESDM. I also said that despite this they might make it to my top 10. They did. For a while at least coz Finland kicked them out. Now I want to put this back to my top 10 but there's no place... And yes, I like the song but I predict a bottom 5 placing. It just screams last place... :/

Spain competes in the final. Running order TBA.

8pts from me and good luck to Spain!

Sweden sends Robin Stjernberg with the song "You" written by Robin Stjernberg, Joy Deb, Linnea Deb and Joakim Harestad Haukaas.

I think this is the grower of the year for me. It started by being really annoying, not so annoying, bearable, ok, great! It turned out to be the best choice for Sweden! A great entry for the hosts. Decent and really nice! A top 10 isn't impossible.

Sweden competes in the final. Running order TBA.

10pts from me and good luck to Sweden!

Switzerland sends Takasa with the song "You And Me" written by Georg Schlunegger, Roman Camenzind and Fred Herrmann.

Another one that I really really like!! Especially the chorus! That "aaaaah aaah ah"! I really hope they make it to the final! They deserved it last year and they stayed out. I don't want the history to be repeated!

Switzerland competes in the 2nd semi-final with running order #16.

10pts from me and good luck to Switzerland!