Second Rehearsals!: Day 5

Nothing massive has occurred today so I'm just going to wrap this up quickly. Rehearsal Videos can be found anywhere on YouTube or here.

• Montenegro: No major changes to report here. This setting itself up to be one of the stangest entries that we've ever seen on the stage. Unless Bjorn Ranelid.
• Iceland: There are some reports that Iceland were a little off key today but I reckon they will be back on form by Monday. They are after all very strong and consistent performers.
• Greece: Reports would suggest that this has made some marginal improvements. However overall it is still looking like an unlikely qualifier but I cannot rule Greece out of the final
• Latvia: All is working really well on stage but the dress is dire. No seriously, worse than that. Looks like something that would seem out of fashion in the 1970's
• Albania: Truly great song and performance. I'm looking forward to this more and more. I think this should qualify on a strong jury vote. Simple really is the aim of the game here and after Latvia this just works so well. 
• Romania: Like Iceland and Albania this is one of the stand out songs in this semi-final. You cannot really fault this song on anything and it is really starting to grow on me. I just wish she'd bring back the outfit from the national final.
• Switzerland: It's working really well on stage, but still not a qualifier in my books but I can't fully rule it out. 
• Belgium: Say what you want about this entry, it really is vocally strong. I think this is a dark horse for qualification.
• Finland: It definately now looks we are going with the green dress which I don't like personally but then again my mother makes out I have no sense of fashion. This is finally working for me but at this point in time it looks like it could get lost in a sea of more memorable songs. This song always makes me smile though.
• Israel: A little more movement would be welcome but overall this is looking well but its still a borderline qualifier.
• San Marino: OMG where did she get the outfit. (Awful...just awful). The run through looks good. The question is now can a Raphel Sigel song make the final. Sadly, I think not.
• Cyprus: Vocally this is a bit of concern but even though it seemed a little flat I think overall this is starting to add up to a nice little package. I still don't see this qualifying though. 
• Denmark: Well Denmark is Denmark, I'm think that this could very well in this semi, but that may be me being biased towards my favourite song. But still this is well worth watching and should surprise people on the night.

Reaction To Rehearsals: Day 2: Part 1 Israel-Denmark

A very good morning to everyone! (Or Afternoon if your in Baku). It is time to start viewing the tapes again and go back to the rehearsals in Baku and see what is coming out of the Crystal Hall. This post will be updated as the day goes on.

Israel - Rehearsal Video
There has been a definite lift in support over the last month for Izabo, who have gone from being a marginal qualifier to a likely qualifier on some peoples lists. While the song might be good I think that the performance might just be lacking the killer blow to push this into the final. It remains a very strong song but there is something more that the performance needs. That said the staging is still good with lots of strange clocks in the background and the backing singers are very strangely positioned which might aid the entry.


San Marino - Rehearsal Video
No one is expecting San Marino to really improve their odds of qualifying drastically. The song is still pretty poor, but the general reaction to her first rehearsal is that it was rather strong, it still was not quite to the standard that we've seen from Iceland and Romania yesterday but overall I think that this vocally good. This song is 7/1 to qualify to the final - surely those odds will shorten just a little today. The problem I felt that was there today was I wondered would people really "get" the song if they are not told explicitly that it's about Facebook?

Cyprus - Rehearsal Video
Vocally I think that this has certainly proved us wrong. Vocals are still a bit lat but it is certainly not the car crash that was expected. The backdrop does have echos of their 2007 entry. I don't fully understand why people are so into this entry and I think that it is one of the weaker entries in this semi-final however there does seem to be a broad expectation that this will qualify. I'm unconvinced though. I haven't seen the camera angles and when there is so much choreography involved you really need to see how it looks on camera. I'm going to sit on the fence for a bit on this entry.

Denmark - Rehearsal Video
There is a very interesting choice of background here and it is a good improvement on the national final. Vocally I think that this is great. The whole package has come together really, really well and I suspect Denmark are most likely going to win this semi-final at this point in the rehearsals. Some have complained that there is too much going on onstage but I think that this is a spectacular performance. Anna Bergendahl comparisons might be on the rise but I think that they are totally out of place here. 

Songs Of The Weekend

This weekend I'm off to a far and distant land where internet doesn't really exist. Anyhow, next weekend will see the rehearsals for Eurovision beginning in earnest. But for now I leave you with my two favourite songs from last year, from Denmark and Italy. In a very poor year these shone through and I think that they are living proof that the contest produces great music.

These always get a good few plays on the MP3 player [That's right I don't use Apple].

Real posts on will be back on Monday.

Here We Go Again: The Odds Check

The good people over at Nicerodds have been good enough to try to tap into the Eurovision fan market by putting together the odds from many Irish, UK and Nordic bookmakers. Many of the countries that have not even detailed about their national final yet are given odds but we are not going to consider most of them yet as it just reflects a countries historic strength at Eurovision.

• Going first to Austria where unsurprisingly Conchita Wurst the favorite to win, with (surprisingly) 3 punkt 5 and Trackshittaz lagging behind. I wouldn't be  surprised if there was a surprise winner in Austria but Conchita and Trackshittaz would be good in Baku.
• Moving North to Germany where we see Roman Lob is the Hot favourite to win, given that he seems to be winning the qualifiers so far this is not surprising. It will most likely be him in Baku, and I do actually need to see him as I have not seen him performing yet.
• Moving further north again to Sweden where Youngblood and Molly Sandén are favourites to progress from semi-final 3 but after yesterday it is clear we need to see the songs first. In terms of the winner of Melodifestivalen 2012 
• So what about ESC? Sweden somewhat surprisingly are riding upfront possibly reflecting the strength of Melodifestivalen 2012. Serbia follows probably because of Zelio Zehomsomethingorother. We will have to hear his song first though. Otherwise the usual suspects are there, Azerbaijan, Armenia etc. Interestingly Ireland is quite high - 14/1 (reflecting Jedward being in our national final). Of the songs picked Norway is 14/1 to win with Denmark behind on 18/1 however one bookie is only offering 7/1 on Denmark making them the clear favorites at this early stage. Cyprus is 25/1. France, despite being well up on fan lists (not mine) is 50/1. The longest odds of a currently picked song is Malta on 130/1.

A Surprisingly Entertaining Song. Denmark: The Review

I think it was a little surprising for fans to see that Soluna Samay is to go to Eurovision for Denmark. In my opinion this was a little more surprising given that she was 6/1 before DMGP but odds are not everything. When I first heard this song my reaction was to skip onto the next one. It was very anonymous and didn’t really stand out. However I did note in my initial review that it would all come down to the live performance and it worked. The song came to life on stage, from the various backing singers and that girl playing the drums the whole song just seems to come together as a whole and be the best it can be. The staging of the song is an integral part of its wonderfulness. The staging must be continued to Baku but I don’t know if they will be allowed to keep the falling leaves.

Overall the song is high quality, and has huge potential for Eurovision. Every year since about 2008 the Danes have sent a song which is very radio friendly. This has led to very strong placing in the last two years. In my view this is probably going to continue.

Fan reaction to this song is that it is good but there have been many comparisons to Anna Bergendahl. This reaction is justified. The songs style is similar. However in response I would argue that it is more mainstream than Anna’s song and the staging is will make it more memorable. I think Soluna is less likely to be nervous on the night and her passion for the song which she discussed with escXtra will carry her into the final. Anna’s song was different from what we normally would expect from Sweden while this is normal for Denmark.

Verdict: On a personal level I loved this song after about a week of listening to it. It is not a good thing that it is a grower rather than instant but I tend to be slow to recognise songs that I really like. While I don’t like saying this at this early stage I reckon that this could come as high as second place.

Grade: A

News Flash (Again)

Our usual news flash which involves bullet points, condensing the news into bite-sized chunks. Here we go....

• Rambo Amadeus will sing "Euro Neuro" at ESC for Montenegro.....that should give something to laugh about.
• If your looking to laugh at something now, Georiga only recieved 13 songs for their selection. Last year they had 50 and sent Elderine....imagine what crap they will send this year.
• Ireland will announce their candidates for Eurosong shortly (I expect by Monday) and the songs will be revealed on the Mooney Show on RTÉ Radio 1 on Thursday 9th February - More information as it comes.
• According to nicerodds.co.uk Denmark are the early favourites to win ESC 2012. 

What the Danes Don't Want You To Know?

While the people behind the Eurovision Media and DR might like accept the results of MGP and march on towards Eurovision no one has provided detailed notes on the results. So I'm going to put an end to that, so as that they are on record.

The results of the jury vote: Venter came last with all 5 juries from Azerbaijan, Denmark, Norway, Germany and  Russia and scored 40 points (8 X 5). Should've Known Better scored 54 points (3 ten's and 2 twelve's) and Take Our Hearts came first with juries scoring 56 points (3 twelve's and 2 ten's).

The public vote was combined with jury votes to quickly to allow people to notice that the results were:

1.Should've Known Better - 56 points
2. Venter - 48 points
3. Take Our Hearts - 46 points


In a three way battle this actually rather close. Assuming that they received these points on the basis of the percentage of votes in the televote, then roughly speaking, that means the televote results were:

1.Should've Known Better - 37.3%
2. Venter - 32%
3. Take Our Hearts - 30.7%

Super Songs, Sexy Women And Your Left With Mixed Feelings

After one of the biggest nights of Nordic Semi-Finals and Finals here is my reaction:

Iceland: It is quite clear that the semi-final in Iceland did not generate the same enthusiasm as the semi-final last month. My favourite Simbi og Hrútspungarnir made it through as did Regína Ósk (from Euroband). While we would have preferred Guðrún Árný Karlsdóttir 1/2 is not bad given that we did not see the live performance. Ws still think that the two qualifiers last week were a lot better.

Norway: Norway had the first semi-final of Melodi Grad Prix 2012. There was the usual mix of songs that we would expect of MGP. Nora Foss Al-Jabri came first with The Carburetorsin second and Reidun Saether came in third. I predicted two out of three, but I underestimated Nora’s ability to get votes. Instead I had thought that Lisa Stokke’s song was the most likely to go through. I thought her song was stronger. With the benefit of hindsight Nora had better staging and styling. The only one that surprised me was the super sexy performance from Irresisrible. It was a shame they didn’t cut the rap from the song.

Denmark: Last night saw the 3^rd song of this ESC 2012 being picked. Soluna Samay will sing for Denmark in Baku. I haven’t seen any performances other than the winning one. I was surprised by the winner (but not shocked). I was just briefly switching in and out of Twitter during the evening, and was very surprised by the winner. However after seeing the performance it is very clear why this won. The performance was a little different and the dress worn by Soluna was very original. Full review of the song will be up by next weekend. We predicted Chirstian Brons and Patrik Issakson. However based on the Twitter coverage I saw their song was vocally poor. Soluna won with both the support of the juries and public. Congratulations to her.

UPD: Iceland, Norway and Denmark what could go wrong?

Today we have no less than 2 nordic songs and 1 national final which means that Denmark will be choosing their Eurovision Song tonight. Sadly due to the fact I am away I won't have coverage tonight (might have some but won't be watching live). So were doing a large item for today looking at what exactly we are expecting and what we are hoping for.

Iceland: Really this week is not up to much we hope that Gudrún Árny Karlsdóttir will make it through to the final with Simbi Og Hrútspungarnir. But really the fact is that you have to see the Icelandic final to actually know which songs lift off the studio version and have a great live performance. I really can't call who might get through.

Update: We now know, thanks to our friends over on ESCNorge that there are 3 not 2 acts going through to the final of MGP in Norway. Another act will also be picked as a wildcard by an internal jury. The Norway section of this article has been updated to reflect that.

Norway: Well I hope I have made it quite clear that my favorite song is by REIDUN SAETHER but that does not garentee that she will get through. An interesting video appeared comparing to Sweden's (2008) Hero which you can see here. Of course we would also like to see Kim Andre Ryystad and Lisa Stokke  going to the final however we are not exactly sure how many are due to go through based on the new national final system. My guess is that 2 will get through as in previous years but I could be surprised. My guess is that The Carburentors and Reidun will get through but I could be proven wrong. Lisa Stokke and Nora Foss al-Jabri are also among the favorites. I going to call this one for Nora.

Denmark: OK so this is the most important country this weekend as it will pick its song. I think that the international juries will be an interesting new element in how the song is picked. AYA is my favorite and I think that she is the dark horse of the contest. I can see the international juries really rowing in behind it if Aya can prove that that she has a huge amount of Charisma. I think that if it was left up to the Danes they would pick Christian and Patrik. Why? Well there is just some strange room for a little on stage magic - an Olsen brothers moment. I also really like the song. It is such an obvious choice for the Danes that I think it has a very good chance. Jesper is also polling well but I just think it doesn't have the "X-Factor" that I was looking for. Nevertheless it could win tonight. Update: After sleeping on it I am far more impressed with Christian Brons & Patrik Issaksson. I am going to call it for them, but am sure I will be proved wrong.

So it is a fun night to look forward to. I hope you enjoy it. I will have reaction tonight/tomorrow on the Blog.

Danish National Final: Review

Denmark was earmarked by me and a number of fans to be a potential winner of ESC 2012. Having seen the singers and heard the songs I think that the world of Eurovision fandom is a little less certain of that now. However once again they have produced a national final that really stands out. So once again here we go:

Jesper Nohrstedt - This is a uniquely Danish song and a style that we tend to hear quite a bit in their national final. It is a song that builds very well. However the slow part in the song is just a bit tedious. However overall I really like this one. It could be a potential top 3. Grade: B+

Aya - Best Thing I Got starts rather in the style of Satellite. However it builds into something which is as orginal as Satellite was when it first appeared. I am a big fan of this song and I think that this song would deliver the best result to Denmark, which other entries here just wouldn't. The other major factor will be how charismatic Aya is on stage. The song has great potential to be sung by a charismatic singer. The Dark Horse of the competition. Grade: A

Kenneth Potempa - Reach for the sky does not start as well as it could but it builds into a song that actually is rather good, but does sound a little unusual and that is a good thing. I admire Kenneth for his great vocals but I think this is a song that may do ok and make the top 3 at the expense of Jesper's song but more than likely it will just not make it through. Grade: B-

Ditte Marie - I am more than aware that this is the lead singer from Le Freak last year (who I just loved). However I think that this sounds just a tad low and dull for Schlager. That's not to say that the song won't go on the MP3 player (that's right I don't have an i-Pod) the song is good but it does not have the edge that is required to win in Denmark. Grade: B+

Philip Halloun Og Emilia - This song takes so long to get going I had to write this sentence to try to delay myself a little. This is a standard (and a little predictable ballad) from Denmark that we have heard before. It really doesn't develop into a song that I think might capture the attenion of the audience. However when there are so many pop songs this could stand out, however in reality it is a rather average song. Grade: C-

Suriya - This is the favourite to come last and I couldn't agree more. It is a disjointed song that has few redeeming qualities and I really am not mad about it. There is too much going on in this song and it seems to stop and start in a new genre every 30 seconds. Grade: F

Karen Viuff - While I have nothing against the song I just think that this is below the quality that we are seeing in this year’s DMGP. I think the build in the song is just not building at the pace that it needs to for me to like it. Grade: C

Soluna Samay - One of the favourites this song is going to come down to how well it comes across to the audience. It is very difficult to say Hit from the studio version that this is going to work on the night. I like the studio version but it is a difficult call. Grade: B

Christian Brons Og Patrik Isakasson - This is a song that as appeared in DMGP many times however I think that the way this song progresses into the chorus will give it the edge. It should come across well on the night. The "Ay yeah Venter" in the chorus really adds to the song. A proper song for a national final and potential ESC song. Grade: A-

We will publish our predictions for National Finals tomorrow, Saturday.

Super Monday!

Keen watchers of the contest national final calender will notice that really there is no "Super" day. Traditionally this would be a day that 4 or 5 songs would be picked for ESC. This year that is less visible. This year we are seeing a huge spread of the days that countries are picking on. However while I am sure that we will see more dates come through and we will have a Super Saturday (or Friday) today is what matters.

Today is Super Monday as during the night many countries (Scandinavian) released their songs.
Iceland, Denmark and Norway have all released some songs and we have started reviewing already!

News Flash

We're very happy with how our "Why Ireland Needs Jedward" post was received. In the future we will try to publish a little more on Jedward (just wait until RTÉ gives the full list of who is participating)

Turkey have announced that Can Bonomo will represent them in Baku. I don't personally go for him but many people will think he is good. (It's Turkey afterall)

Tine Lynggaard has been disqualified from DMGP 2012 due to her song being published to early. (Must not own a calender).

Nina Badric will represent Croatia in ESC 2012. Seems like a good choice.

Melodifestivalen running order has been revealed. The best slot in the semi finals has gone to Danny (sigh) Timoteij are singing fifth in their semi-final (Another sigh).

Interesting reaction from Denmark

Tine Lynggaard has not been disqualified from DMGP despite allegations about the song being released before the EBU deadline. This is a surprise because I thought the Danes would disqualify it.

Love Oh Love! I gotta come back to Eurovision. Cos I oh I can't go a minute without Eurovision.

Today Denmark annonuced the 10 finalists they selected. While most of them seem like the usual unheard of hopeful two interesting names popped up in the songwriters list: John Gordon and Julie Frost. In terms of performers there's an X Factor finalist; someone who is similar to Kelly Clarkson or Pink and someone who claims they spent a third of their life in a Caravan. No doubt the Schlagerboys will be disappointed that Thomas G:son is not a songwriter here but I have no doubt we will see at least one good schlager anthem here - we often do. What concerns me is that none of the contestants coming out of Denmark are well known. Myself and many others have Denmark ear marked to win. While the real test is the quality of songs; this is a bad step.

Nearby in Netherlands they too announced their finalists who, it seems are less known than the people in Denmark. Most interestingly four of the six contestants are in some way connected to The Voice of Netherlands.

So What To Look Forward To.

Scléip boy, things are getting busy. 


I not going into what scléip means but it seems the right thing to say at this point in time. I had planned out the articles required over the next 10 days in the run up to National Final. However looking at the calender we need to get moving now. I had intended to write this piece over the next few days and publish it in due course. However it has crashed forward into this week. Due to the National Finals this week you may find that

What to expect this year:

• Ireland - I think Jedward is definately going to be there for Ireland again this year. I'm not looking forward to the National Final/Late Late Show. I expect very few quality songs. In fact I don't know how RTÉ will scrabble together five songs for The Late Late Show. We should expect them to be together with Linda Martin as their mentor. They are currently staring in the Olympia Pantomime together.  
• UK - I'm not exactly sure what the UK will do this year, everything will be down to who they get to sing this year.
• France - Not expecting them to beat their placing last year.
• Spain - Expecting a strong song that is tipped to win but will come about 8th (Not scoring as well as expected with juries)
• Norway - Not sure if their plan to change MGP (dropping Andra Chansen) will have much impact. Norway usually have one of the best National Finals and I expect that they will deliver a strong song this year
• Sweden - For the love of God: Pick Timoteij. Really you just don't know what Sweden will do next. There are some returning faces to Melodifestivalen but there are also some strong new ones. It's something to look forward to.
• Denmark - I think Denmark are the most likely to win this year, but that is just my intuition (or those random feelings you get in the middle of the night after a few drinks). However Denmark really seem to be going for the victory this year and seem to keep mentioning that they came so close in the last two year.
• Italy - I really am unsure what will arrive out of San Remo this year but I think Italy (if they put their minds to it) have a selection process that could be good for picking a song that will clean of jury votes for the final.

Overall I am expecting one of the strongest line ups of songs given that the Swiss and Albania songs are well above average so far.

The Best Eurovision Blog Awards 2011

The Best Eurovision Blog Awards

These awards are given to the songs which I thought were the best in either the National Finals or Eurovision. Please note the Swiss and Albania national finals for ESC 2012 have not been considered.

Award for Best Song at Eurovision 2011 – New Tomorrow – A Friend in London – Denmark.

Award for most entertaining Song – Lipstick – Jedward

Award for Best Song at a National Final: I’m In Love – Sanna Nielsen

Award for Outstanding National Quality – MPG Norway

Award for Best studio version of a Eurovision Song – Getter Jaani – Rockafeller Street.

Overall Award for best song of the year: Vardlokk- Helena Boksle (Norway).

And The Winner Of Eurovision 2012 Is.....?: Part 15

Denmark

Of all the countries in this piece Denmark looks the most likely to win next year. They hold one of the strongest national finals in terms of the music quality and have been in the top 5 twice in the last 2 years – the only country to do so. They choose a song that usually would not sound out of place in their charts or European charts and can be quite popular in general. [New Tomorrow was not only a favourite of my brother and my mother, but my grandmother also]. But their poor performance in the televote this year was a surprise, but they had a poor draw. Their National Final DMGP is improving each year and this year was just about as good as it gets in terms of a National Final, nearly all of them could be good enough to go Top 10 at Eurovision. They have a great voting base and don’t rely heavily on Scandinavian block votes [but they help]. Recent trends also show direct support from Ireland and UK for the Scandinavian block They have done well in recent years with support from across Europe. They are clearly a country to be taken seriously.

Copenhagen 2013? Seems the most likely to win next year, but it would be down to the song. However each year their national final has improved as has their Eurovision entry. 

And One More Thing

In continuing to recap on the news around Eurovision I shall endure to continue:


The Cypriot song this year will be sung in English. This is not surprising as the singer will most likely bring a very contempory sound from Cyprus, but still they have entered 2 songs in their own language in the last 4 years.


DMGP has won an award for their excellent programme that attracts many viewers each year, and had a 70% share of viewers this year. The album of the songs in DMGP charted well in Denmark. It is one of the best National Finals on the go, both in terms of quality of the music and general staging. Unfortunately due to the high intensity of the National finals I overlooked DMGP in favour of Melodifestivalen. When I came back to it I realised just how good it was and I am delighted to see it receive an award. I'm also delighted to hear DMGP is to occur in late January when there is a less intense national final season.


The big story that I forgot to report on over the last week was that eurovision.tv is reporting that the Spice Girls are considering to try to go to Baku. Normally I would dismiss this as speculation, however Eurovision.tv is quite a reliable source. While I have nothing against the Spice Girls I would warn the BBC and UK against allowing them directly through to Eurovision without any form of National Final. I believe this was key in Blues somewhat failure to break the Top 5 at Eurovision. At least the national final puts artists under an amount of pressure.


Ukraine has announced their plans for 2012, which involves a talent show style National Final. However you never really know with Ukraine. Ani Lorak and Filipp Kirkorov are thought to be involved.


So that brings the news articles to an end. Tomorrow I will continue with the And The Winner Of Eurovision 2012 is........ series. 


In other news, Saturday night saw the return of X Factor on TV. (Being in Ireland I can see it.) I was very impressed with an Irish girl - Janet Devlin. You can see her performance here.

Some more titbits of news

To continue with the news from my last post:


I am delighted to hear that A Friend In London is to bring out their new album on Monday. They were my favorite act in this years contest so I am really looking forward to it. Verka Seduchka also has release a new album. In other album news t.a.T.u. have split and one of them have released a solo album. I am far from their biggest fan and don't really.


In Switzerland the Italian broadcaster has lauched a plan to find two acts to put into the national final and have asked the Swiss public for songs.


Finally, Gün.Az reports that 42 countries are ready to confirm for Azerbaijan 2012. This is largly speculation but we shall see if they are proved right. The list claims Czech Republic is to return, which is no surprise.

Back to Blogger

So I'm finally back from my holidays. They have been great fun. Anyway so much as happened in the land of Eurovision. Azerbaijan now looks like it has EBU approval but we cannot say anything for sure yet. They have produced a plan B anyway. The saga goes on......

To recap other news, the main headlines while I was away:
David Hasselhoff was rumoured to be entering the Dutch national final. This was since rejected as just rumour. He claimed it would be unfair on young budding contestants. That is over blowing your trumpet.

Hari Mata Hari are rumoured to be making a return to Eurovision. I personally hope they return I loved their 2006 entry.

Denmark set their national final date for 21st January. This earlier than normal and  I really like the music in the Danish MGP so I hope I will be able to blog from it live (I hope to have a twitter account set up by then). Perviously it has always been clashing with Melodifestivalen or MGP in Norway.

More news tomorrow but please note that I am in a very stressful and busy period at the moment. So I will do my best to blog.