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.

And Now We Know...(Day 1)

So as the sun sets over Paris [Only place I could think of where the sun might be setting right now]. But the day has come to an end and having looked at at least 100 photos of Eurovision Taxis as well as hours of rehearsal videos, we now know a lot more about Eurovision 2012. But in a nutshell what have we learned?

• Based on everyone's blog posts we now know it is not very easy to get to Baku, especially if you travel through Istanbul.
• Montenegro is as bad on stage as we first thought, however no one knew quite what to expect all the same.
• Iceland and Romania are the big winners from today, they are now much more favoured to win in the betting odds and reports from Baku about them are impressive.
• Greece has a very typical Eurovision entry. She is not able to sing it well enough live.
• Latvia continues to divide people between lovers who think it is a marginal qualifier and haters who think it is still a very bad song still and she is a good vocalist.
• Albania was as impressive as ever but I think it might be something that the ney sayers have to see live to believe. I really like this though.
• According to my friend the ESCInsider Switzerland far better looking in real life. As a hetrosexual I have no opinion but as they say - know your target market. Their diction as also improved.
• Iris from Belgium has a great pair of lungs. She really came up to the mark in rehearsals today.
• Finally Finland have dropped the dancer which is a great move on their part in my opinion.

Up until now I have avoided making predictions but I think at this stage that Iceland and Romania are the definite qualifiers and Albania is a very likely qualifier. My guess is that there will be one qualifier from either Switzerland, Belgium or Finland and since the rehearsal I am inclined towards Belgium, but that's very difficult to call. I think that Greece is the only other possible contender but if the vocals don't improve it could go the way of Turkey last year.

If you missed our earlier posts they are here:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

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.

Surprise!: More points to Sweden

While we have been giving some coverage and opinion to the results of the OGAE votes. However as the results seem to be pointing in one direction it seems aimless to continue giving coverage to Sweden winning each club. Full results are available over on www.escxtra.com.

It is very unsurprising to see that Iceland is coming second either, fans have been behind both of these entries since the start.

The most interesting trend is the fact that the Netherlands came second in the UK but didn't score so well in many other fan clubs. I suspected that this would be the case as it seems that the fans would love the entry are mainly British. That is not to say that other fans [including myself] do not really like it but I think it is mainly peaking in the UK.

From The Frozen North

Without a doubt Iceland's national final generated a lot of interest and to be honest it has proven that you don't have to be Melodifestivalen to generate fan interest. The result of the final was a foregone conclusion but there was some surprise and shock when Greta Salome and Jonsi didn't win the public vote.

Without a doubt Iceland has entered a big ballad in this years contest. It has a great "raw" Icelandic feel to it, and really reminds me of the sort of Frozen North. Unusually, for a duet, both Jonsi and Greta work extremely good and not only work well together but neither are weaker than the other, a problem that often occurs in duets. The song is exceptionally strong however it does lack a final punch that makes me want to stand up with fists in the air (which I do at the end of a surprising number of anthemic songs).

The problem that I have with the entry is that despite how well it is scoring with fans, it came second with the Icelandic public in the televote, that doesn't fill me with confidence. The other problem is the early running order.

Verdict: These are pretty much the only two problems facing the entry. But two problems with an entry is far less than a good number of songs I've reviewed so far. If this takes off with the public there's no telling how far it will go. I do love it as an entry too. But sometimes in order not to be biased for something we have to be cruel.

Grade: A

The Highs And Lows Of National Final Season 2012 Part 1

With another national final season over us and me being away from blogging and technology for a few nights, we turn our attention back to remember the highs and lows of the national final season that was. While it is almost over it will leave us with some great memories.

Lys Assia Fever

Being the first to hold it's national final (like the Iowa primary in America) the first national final of the year got a huge amount of attention from fans. This was helped by the return of Lys Assia to the contest. While she have gotten a lot publicity from it her song C'est Ma Vie received only came 8th in a show of 14 songs. I still think it would have been a great choice for Eurovision, considering this appears to be a year of oldies. Then there was also the accusations that she was unfairly treated by juries etc. (It was all great gossip).

DMGP
If national finals with semi-finals and heats are not your thing the best single one night national final probably is Denmark. Therefore they get some praise from ourselves. I loved a great number of songs in that final and am very pleased to see that the ultimately sent Soluna Samay to Eurovision.


Bobby Bare 
While any act can throw itself up in a national final Bobby Bare certainly was a surprise. I loved Things Change, even if it did have the huge irony of being a song about things changing but was from a place where things never change. But of all the people who came across as very nice Bobby came across as the true country gentleman. I also was impressed by how well he understood Eurovision and compared it to a guitar club. This is how Eurovision is meant to be.

Mad Show Boys
This does not need words

Juries Correcting mistakes in Iceland
Imagine if we had to watch Blar Opal on stage at Eurovision when a great song like Mundu Eftir Mer left at home. Well this would have been the case if the public had been allowed to vote on their own in Iceland. Thankfully Jonsi & Greta Sálome are going to Eurovision for Iceland.

Part 2 should be up around the same time tomorrow assuming that Blogger scheduler works.

At Least Iceland Got It Right

So after the big night of Nordic finals and some others it is time to take stock again in what seems to be my Saturday Night routine.

• Hungary have selected Compact Disco for Baku with the song The Sound Of Our Hearts. There is nothing to complain about barring the rather flat performance, review will follow in due course [think weeks not days though].
• Lithuania did something and our friends over at escXtra have a wonderfully concise report here. 
• Sweden - the problem with Sweden is that they have some excellent songs which they then don't pick. This annoys me. We were not remotely impressed with them sending Timoteij to Andra Chansen. Neither are we impressed by who they did send - Ulrik Munther [understandable] and David Lindgren [aimless] but continues the male theme of their final so far. I am starting to think they might send Loreen or if we are extremely lucky Love Generation <3. I am wondering if there might be a lot 
• Iceland provided us with some delight by sending Greta Sálome and Jonsi with their amazing ballad which I cannot spell. Anyway we think it is extremely good and are very happy that they avoided rather poorer songs. Full review in due course [like Hungary, think weeks not days though].
• Norway (sigh) - well let's just say I think they missed a massive opportunity to send a song that would be original and authentic. Instead they send Eric Saade Mark II. Tooji won the vote with 40%, with Nora Foss in second (21%), Bobby Bare and Petter Oien (20%) in third and Plumbo in fouth (15%). This is exact the opposite to how I wanted it to go. Better luck next year Norway. We would also like to briefly say a huge well done to Reidun Saether whose performance was amazing.

 So that concludes tonight but next week will be manic so we will be post regular updates. Azerbaijan will select the representative that has to do the least travelling to Eurovision tomorrow but we don't tend to pay to close attention to that.

A Look Ahead To Tonight

All times mentioned in this article are CET for GMT subtract one.

There is a huge amount on this evening with 3 song selections and 2 semi-finals there is little reason to be bored. 

• Norway kicks of in about an hour at 19:55 for their final pausing at 21:10 and restarting for the super final at 21:40. We are expecting a result from Norway around 22:45. We are hoping for a Reidun Saether/Plumbo victory.
• Sweden gets going at 20:00 with their semi-final until 21:30. I think I speak for many fans by saying vote for Timoteij Sweden.
• Iceland have a two hour show from 21:30-23:30 they will be the last country tonight to give us a song and we sincerely hope that it is by Greta & Jonsi.
• Hungary kick off at 20:15 with a result expected around 22:00.
• If your watching Lithuania their show is from 20:00-22:30.

So we have a long night in store. Time to get the dinner eaten and popcorn on and enjoy every minute of the  biggest Scandinavian weekend of the year. 

The Strongest Icelandic National Final In Years

Many Eurovision fans throughout the world have been surprised at the high quality of the Icelandic National selection compared with recent years. So as we are about to see their national final in action time to break out the reviews and cast the critical eye over Iceland:


Regína Ósk - An Icelandic R'n'b, which may or may not do well depending on how it is performed. It was performed well in the semi-final but I just think it lags a little in comparison to some of the other songs that are in the final. Grade: D+

Simbi og Hrútspungarnir - This reminds me of Father'n'sons in the first semi-final. But this has a much stronger Icelandic feel to it. It builds well and is pleasant to listen to. Grade: C+

Rósa Birgitta Ísfeld - Given the standard this just doesn't do it for me at all. It lacks a really tune, the singer does not covey anything that is required to make this stand out. Grade: E+

Blar Opal – As with many of the Icelandic song this one needs to be live to truly enjoy it. However I think it could be just a little unsophisticated for Eurovision. It is strong but in such a strong national final, will it stand out? Grade: B

Greta Salome & Jonsi - Starts deep and intense but then develops with what sounds like violins and thunder. Greta’s singing is very intense. This really proved itself when it was live. Given its position in the draw it has a strong chance of being the Icelandic entry. Personally I love this one. Grade: A

Heida & Gudron Árny -  This is one of my favourites from Iceland. We have seen from earlier that all the artists are able to deliver vocally and I think this may be even slightly better than their other songs. The loss of Greta Sálome here may not be a  good thing but she has decided to go with Jonsi on this one. There’s a vote of confidence in her song. But I would like to see the awkward moment when they get choosen for Eurovision and Gretá asks to rejoin them…..Grade: B+

Magni Ásgeirsson - A strange starting song that builds into something that you weren't quite expecting (not sure if that is a good thing). Parts of the song are really good but there are bits of music when he is not singing is not exactly keeping in line with the song and is a little surprising. Grade: D

And of course Jonsi & Greta Sálome are our favorites to win and we think they have a very good chance of it. 

Quick News on 1/2/12

Other than the interesting repetition of todays date there is much to talk about in the world of Eurovision so we are here to condense it into a few sentences:

• Ireland's Eurosong line up (we now can reveal) looks complete with Andrew Mann (If you heard of him let us know). He will be mentored by Greg French. Hat tip to Tony Scott from Southeast FM for the news.
• Wiwi Blogs have published a rather interesting number of ideas of things that should go into the Azerbaijan Eurovision Museum. With the help of a number of blogs (us included) it is now complete. You can see it here and it is well worth looking at.
• Greta Sálome will now not have two songs in the Icelandic national final unlike previously advertised. She has dropped from performing the second song which she wrote herself. Instead she will focus on her song with Jonsi. Icelandic national final is on 11th February
• We would like to draw your attention today to the fact that Colm Hayes has  penned a song for Jedward for Euro 2012. I would like to point out that this has nothing to do with Eurovision it is about the Euro 2012 soccer tournament taking place in June. (I suspect some ESC fans may never have heard of it.)

That is all for the moment I expect to have the review of the last MGP semi-finals tonight. Selected ESC songs that are not reviewed at the moment will come in due course.

Girly, Pink and Folk Rock

This was another busy weekend in National Final season. So lets start the bulletpoints:

• Norway held their second semi-final and surprised us by sending Malin through to the final with Tommy Fredvang and Plumbo. Her song is very girly and camp; it was not very good vocally but I think that this is just fabulous. This was badly predicted by us. Plumbo we saw coming and still think that we are expecting to see them in Baku. Tommy we didn't expect but the staging was simply wonderful even if he looks like he comes from Take That. Though Rikke Nordmann didn't make it through we suspect she could be in the running for the jury wildcard.
• Iceland held the last semi-final which saw Greta Sálome & Co. go through to the final with Magni Ásgeirsson. While I am not  a fan of Magni's song, I really liked Greta & Co. In addition the jury wildcard annnounced was as Rósa Birgitta Ísfeld who I was never overly impressed by. I had hoped they would give the wildcard to Íris Hólm.
• I'm not paying any attenion to what is happening in Hungary so I will let The EscInsider fill you in. (She's the most objective of Eurovision Bloggers out there.) Our review of the songs is here.
• France revealed their song today and you can watch by looking at the post below this one. 

The Exciting Weekend Ahead - And I'm Not Around

So from the top this weekend:

Finland hold their first show of UMK - can't pronounce what it stands for. I never was big into talent shows of this nature when it comes to Eurovision, so I'm not put out that I'm missing it.

Norway - Semi Final 2 tomorrow evening. While I may not be watching I will be supporting PLUMBO who I think are simply excellent. Minne-Oh and Malin are also favourites of mine. I think there is a good chance that they will all get through but I would be prepared to bet that Rikke Nordmann may get in over Malin. You can read our review of Semi 2 here.

Iceland - Iceland's third and final semi-final is on Saturday, we are hoping to see GRETA SALOME go through to the final with a second song. I can't call the second finalist but we are sure the later will make it  through. Our review of the show is here.

Hungary holds Semi 1 tomorrow also. We are unimpressed with their songs so far and don't particularly look forward to it. Our review of their songs is here.

Finally France will present their song on Sunday (16:00) from the bit that we heard of the song we are largely unimpressed with it.

While I may not be at home I hope to be on Twitter a little bit over the weekend and will try my best to see the results and have a full piece of reaction by Sunday evening.

Iceland Semi Final 3: Review

Today we bring our reviews of the Icelandic Semi-Finals to a close with a review of the third semi final.

Greta Salome, Heida & Gudron Árny - Greta Salome II, Return of Greta; Heida II, etc.: Who saw it coming? This is one of my favourites from Iceland and should qualify for the final unless the powers that be try to stop it to prevent one artist from reaching the final with two songs. We have seen from earlier that all the artists are able to deliver vocally and I think this may be even slightly better than their other songs. Grade: A-

Herbert Gudmundsson - A nice pop song with a great chorus. Difficult to say how this is going to do. Really like this. Grade: B

Íris Lind Verudóttir - While there is no shortage of female sung ballads this year I think that this has a very distinctive sound that sets it apart. I don't know if this will make the final. Grade: C

Magni Ásgeirsson - A strange starting song that builds into something that you weren't quite expecting (not sure if that is a good thing). Parts of the song are really good but there are bits of music when he is not singing is not exactly keeping in line with the song and is a little surprising. Grade: D-

Svenni Thor - A mysterious song that’s draws you in and then builds well. Not every part is perfect but it has a nice chorus. Very listenable. Grade: D+

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.

Iceland Semi Final 2: Review

As I said previously Super Monday appears to be today. Because it is hard to get our hands on the Norwegian and Danish songs in full we are publishing a review of the songs in Iceland's semi-final. 

Ellert Jóhannsson - This is a very bouncy song. However it does have an old fashioned sound to it. I don't think that this is going to get out of the semi-final but I still like it. Grade: C

Simbi og Hrútspungarnir - This reminds me of Father'n'sons in the first semi-final. But this has a much stronger Icelandic feel to it. It builds well and is pleasant to listen to. Grade: C+

Rósa Birgitta Ísfeld - Given the standard this just doesn't do it for me at all. It lacks a really tune, the singer does not covey anything that is required to make this stand out. Grade: E+

Regína Ósk - An Icelandic R'n'b which may or may not do well depending on how it is performed. Grade: D+

Guðrún Árný Karlsdóttir - While I know that I give out about the number of boring female ballads, I think this one is done very well. The delicate nature of the song is dealt with well by the singer. I really think this is the kind of female ballad that we were looking for. Grade: B

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!

Reaction to tonight's semi finals.

Latvia: We have had reasonable success in dumping a lot of the crap songs in the semi finals. We are happy to see Mad Show Boys made it to the final as did Robert Petersons (our second favorite).

Bulgaria: Our three favorites made it through the marathon show. Ceco Elvisa & Daniela, Desislava and New 5 (in that order). As with Latvia many boring ballads were dumped - Thankfully.

Iceland: Sadly Íris Hólm didn't make it but we were very impressed with Greta Salome & Jonsi.

Iceland will hold their next semi-final on 21 January with a Final on February 11th

Latvia will hold their final on February 18th. Bulgaria will hold theirs on the 29th February

Iceland Semi Final 1: Review

With the first semi-final in Iceland just days away we take a look at the songs.

Íris Hólm - Much more rockish song than "The One". It doesn't sound modern enough but I still like this. Grade: B-

Greta Salome & Jonsi - Starts deep and intense but then develops with what sounds like violins. Female singing is very intense. However the chorus just is not sharp enough for my liking. Grade: C-

Fatherz'n'sonz - Strange song but reminds me of Nordman until…….crash…….suddenly it all sounds like Christmas. No - then continues to be a bit more like Nordman. What is this song????? This would sound totally out place in May. Grade: E

Heiða Ólafsdóttir - This is a gentle sounding ballad which does really go anywhere. If it was anywhere else I'd say that it may do well for being so relaxed. But this is Iceland. It just does work in such a short show. Grade: E

Blar Opal - Modern sounding…I'll give it that. For the first time I'm not sure if the song is best suited to Icelandic. We've seen these types of songs all the time in National Selections. Might be good  - might not. Grade: D-.

And The Winner Of Eurovision 2012 Is.....?: Part 13

Continuing our series this part is dedicated to Greece and Iceland:

Greece

Greece is difficult to beat. Even when they put in as poor a song as Watch My Dance they still get 120 points and 7^th place for their troubles. However they clearly lack the drive and resources to win the contest. Even if they did win serious questions about would need to be asked about their finances and the contest maybe moved to another country. If they realise that the IMF don’t pay for Eurovision when you’re not quite doing as they say, then Greece will surely lose their drive to win. As they did this year.

Athens 2013? Very unlikely. If they do it may do be in Greece

Iceland

Iceland is one of the best countries at semi-finals but then does poorly at the final. Even though their national final can be poor, they have not many international stars and hosting a contest would be very difficult given their finances you have to admire plucky Iceland. They don’t really stand a chance of winning any time soon but they do deserve credit for how well they do each year. Their songs also lack that killer blow and instinct but given this year’s winner anything it is possible.

There has been an upsurge in the visitors to my blog and I would like to thank you for visiting.