Rehearsals: Day 1: Part 1 Montenegro-Greece

Rehearsals today are running about an hour and a half late, and based on previous ESC's this is unlikely to change. As I am not actually in Baku I will be blogging here as videos and opinions come through. I will be updating this page as the day goes on. I don't embed videos onto the blog as I find it slows it down but if you click on the link you should get a video of the rehearsal. I'll try to use eurovision.tv videos but they take a while to appear so you may notice some videos from escXtra who look to be shaping up to have the best coverage so far this year.

Montenegro - Video of rehearsal
No one really knew what to expect from Montenegro as it was never on live TV. This is one of the few songs where vocals really don't matter. I would say though that the overall staging of the song looks very messy and this seems to be the general view.No expects this to qualify and that is my view also but there is a little voice in my head asking me if I'm right in saying that.

Iceland - Video of rehearsal
I had forgotten just how amazing the Icelandic entry was. The rehearsal was really strong and seems to have cleared up any doubts about the song. It is just a pleasure to listen to it live. The back drop is Icelandic mountains which really impressive and keeps in tune with the Icelandicness of it all. The backing singers really lift this and it all looks like the usually excellently produced Icelandic entry. Most people seem to be identifying  this as a definite qualifier.

Greece - Video of rehearsal
Well at least it's not in a shopping center. When I first saw the video of the rehearsal I have to say that I though it now fits so much into the standard Greek entry. Yes this does remind me a lot of other Greek entries. But it still lacks anything tangible that will push it on. In my opinion My Number One would not do very well in this day and age. Lead vocals are fairly poor. This was a problem which I had flagged earlier but the general consensus is that Greece needs more backing singers. But then again remember the shock we all got when we saw Greece won last years semi-final?

Latvia's rehearsal is running a bit later than expected and I have to pop out for a while. More reaction later this afternoon.

At Least I Like Her Heels, Greece: The Review

On our whistle stop tour of Europe leaving shredded songs behind us we arrive in Greece who this year just about managed to find the cash to get them to Azerbaijan. Anyhow, they saved money on the staging by having it in a shopping mall, well actually, it wasn't half as bad as it sounds. Frankie Boyle suggested to ensure that they did not win Eurovision, Greece should send "The Pedophiles". Well they did not exactly send that, but what they did send it a bit more risky.....

Anyhow, as what regularly happens in mediocre national finals the last song which was above average won. So Greece sent Eleftheria Eleftheriou to the contest with her song Aphrodisiac. So how to describe the song? Think of any Greek entry sung by a female from the last decade. I am confused between whether Greece sent this because it was a safe bet or do they think it is a potential winner. Eleftheria has definitely a song that could be compared to the songs from 2005 and 2008. While I think that this is true there is interesting things to be discussed.

Overall this is a very average entry from Greece and has the usual ethnic-pop styles. The song does not overly change much through out the song, a tangible key change or something that would draw you in a bit more. For me it feels very superficial. There are problems that do go against the song. First and foremost this has been a pretty bad draw for Greece. The third slot is not a good one. They also are sharing a semi-final with Cyprus, which does makes one set of 12 points a near certainty for Greece. However both songs are very similar, maybe Cyprus is not quite as ethnic but it does have a much better place it the running order. Both songs for me are borderline qualifiers, so this will be an interesting one to watch. The only other problem with the song is that Eleftheria has never performed this live. As she is largely an amateur in the singing world, I am not really  convinced that this will be one of the vocally perfect.

However as I alluded to in the title there is one fantastic point where she steps up the backing dances backs with her heels. But enough about any shoe fetishes which I may or not have.  

Verdict:  For me I think that it is a good song but there is limitations to that, I am not going to listen to a bad vocal performance and defend it. I think that this is a borderline qualifier. Overall I think Greece might finally find itself outside of the top 10.

Grade: C+

Two More Songs (National Finals Have Lost All Meaning)

Moldova and Greece but as there is nothing that is amazingly show stopping picked after Melodifestivalen I'm kind of sitting here thinking "Just give us the songs already!".

Moldova's three and three quarter hour show was at best marginally interesting but that went all the way down to unbearable during the 40 minute interval act. Anyhow they picked a guy in a 1940's golf suit. His name is Pasha Parfeny and his song is called Lautar. The problem is it is not epic sax guy.

Greece also picked their song - it's a bit shallow but it will do for now. But seriously Greece - pick it in a shopping centre? What were you thinking. Anyhow the artist picked is Eleftheria Eleftheiou. Her song is Aphrodisiac. I like it all the same but I think Greece are really testing their ability to come in the Top 10. However I love her heels and feel sorry for the poor guys who have to let her stand on their backs. (Ouch!)

More news tomorrow.