Reaction to Rehearsals: Day 3: Part 2

So this afternoon 4 more entries took to the stage. Belarus, Portugal, Ukraine and Bulgaria. There has been a lot of discussion around these so once again here we go:

Belarus - Rehearsal Video
I never got a chance to review Belarus's entry to Eurovision (It would have graded as a B-) but I was uncertain about which version of the song that they would sing. They've gone with the disco version which unlike many people online I think that this is a very good interpretation of the song. The yellow and black background really helps this song and this looks set to have some very dramatic staging. I still believe that the song is lacking something and I'm on the fence about this qualifying.

Portugal - Rehearsal Video
Say what you like about the Portuguese entry this year I think that they have hit the nail on the head with this one. This is working as well as it could at the moment on the stage. Vocally this was good. The background is really fantastic and the whole performance makes for a lovely break between Belarus and Ukraine. This may not qualify but I will look forward to this.

Ukraine - Rehearsal Video
Vocally this was a joy to watch and to listen to. The song might not be the best we've had from Ukraine and the performance might have looked better if you never heard of Shady Lady but overall it looks and sounds really good and should qualify with ease.

Bulgaria - Rehearsal Video
This rehearsal was fine bar her often missing her cue. Some people have mentioned that as a result of having nothing else on stage with her the visual on the screens is really dull as a result of a lack of variety on stage. Vocally it was good. I cannot see this as a qualifier though.

More tomorrow.

The Most Artistic Song This Year!

Portugal this year decided to send Filipa Sousa to Eurovision to represent them, which was interestingly one of the few times in Festival Da Cancao that the public agreed with the juries, known for their conservative nature. Filipa will sing the song Vida Minha in Baku.

Without a doubt I love this song despite it breezing over me completely during the national final season. However soon enough I came back to it and found that the relaxed style is really interesting to listen and I like the almost Balkan influences in a piece of music that is undeniably Portuguese. The backing singers and arrangement of the song really help to make it a memorable song and it builds from a simple Portuguese ballad to a rather complex one while remaining relatively easy to pull off on stage. Overall though this has to be the most artistic song in Eurovision 2012.

This will need to be well staged in Baku for this song to stand out and in moving to the Eurovision stage it means that Portugal will have to lose two backing singers or else the two dancers. I suspect that they will cut the latter two. While this might not jump out at you on TV with some clever staging work it cut. But this is not something that we have seen from Portugal before so I suspect that we may not see it again.

I can't really see this as a qualifer as it is running early in a semi-final full of ballads. Portugal is also lacking neighbours to get them through to the final.

Verdict: This is probably going to be the best Eurovision entry to get left behind in the semis but I really hope that it doesn't.

Grade: A

All Round Delight In Euroland After Super Saturday

So Eurovision fans breath a sigh of relief as Loreen won Melodifestivalen with 268 points winning five international juries and topping the public televote with 32.7% - a historical record. We will have a full Analysis of the Melodifestivalen final and semi-final voting patterns later tonight or else tomorrow.

Next came the presentation of the Serbian song by Zelijo Joksimovic. It's a lot like his 2004 entry but I really don't think that it is nearly as good. For me this could be the Harel Saart or Amurary Vassi of 2012. Anyhow the song is called Nile Ljuvbav Stvar (I could only find the English version - sorry).

Romania came next with a song that sounds like a cross between Lily Allen and Shakira. While the song may be annoying after two months, I am loving the Leather Catsuit. Mandinga is the singer and her song (sung mostly in Spanish) is called Zaleilah.

In Portugal after the usual remarkably long voting have decided to send Filipa Sousa to Eurovision. Fairly unamazing song at the moment.