Today seems to be a bit dull and given that the songs that have been on stage in the first half this does not surprise me. However there is much to discuss.
Serbia - Rehearsal Video
Without a doubt Zeljko is more than able to perform on stage. The performance is awfully similar to the 2004 performance and based on the number of steady cams on stage there will be a lot of close ups of instruments. The background is very blue. Zeljko is going to walk out onto stage as the instrumental starts [reminds you of anything].
Macedonia - Rehearsal Video
Once again I was not sure what to expect here. I don't like the song particularly. Vocally this is spot on and people are very impressed with the vocals but that is not surprising. The background is blueish and fairly unremarkable. All in all this is getting positive feedback but really am unconvinced about this song in a very vocally strong.
Netherlands - Rehearsal Video
This is the highlight of the start of this semi-final for me. As I have previously mentioned I never really liked what she wears but I think overall this is working really well on stage. It hasn't really lifted itself immensely but it is a song that is really dividing people. While I cannot look at this without thinking that Lesley Gore is going to jump out and launch into a verse of Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows. The background is not to different from the national final. I can't call this at the moment.
Malta - Rehearsal Video
I'm not a massive fan to this song but at the same time the remix has done a lot for it. Vocally it is risky particularly that note at the end which might have to be dropped after a couple of nights at the Euroclub. The shadows of people dancing in the background is something that I'm surprised that they have not been used before. Vocally though risky the rehearsal was good. The backdrop is fairly unremarkable, being very similar to the one from the entry before.
Showing posts with label Kurt Calleja. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kurt Calleja. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Malta: The Forgotten Entry?
As national final season draws to a close I return to the reviews of songs for Eurovision. So for now I return to Malta to examine what they, all the way back at the start of February picked.
There was a limited amount of delight when Kurt Calleja was selected to represent the small island at Eurovision with his song "This Is The Night". It was chosen by a combination of jury and televoting of 75% and 25% respectively. Anyone who was still awake while the final was ongoing will remember that voting between this song and Claudia Faniello's song was pretty intense.
The song itself is one that is probably designed to appeal to Eurovision fans. The song is an extra light pop song which relies on Kurt's vocals to actually lift the song at all. The song is pretty repetitive whether this is a good or bad thing I'm not sure. The song really is pretty bland - there's nothing in it that many other entries don't already offer. Kurt does not exactly lift the performance hugely and in my view he won a fairly weak national final.
In terms of appearance on stage I expect to see a rather boring and unimaginative stage performance rather similar to the performance in the national final. It's in the first half of the second semi-final. While I was wondering would this appeal to juries the semi-final that it is in, like last year will see many song vying for jury votes so I cannot imagine it making an impact there.
Verdict: I think that this is perhaps a song that is a little out of date. While it may appeal somewhat to fans music tastes in the semi-final it will be under too much pressure to really score very well. I expect this to be knocked out in the semi-final. Crucially it appears that even before we near Eurovision, nobody has mentioned this song which is a very worrying sign of it.
Grade: D
Grade:
There was a limited amount of delight when Kurt Calleja was selected to represent the small island at Eurovision with his song "This Is The Night". It was chosen by a combination of jury and televoting of 75% and 25% respectively. Anyone who was still awake while the final was ongoing will remember that voting between this song and Claudia Faniello's song was pretty intense.
The song itself is one that is probably designed to appeal to Eurovision fans. The song is an extra light pop song which relies on Kurt's vocals to actually lift the song at all. The song is pretty repetitive whether this is a good or bad thing I'm not sure. The song really is pretty bland - there's nothing in it that many other entries don't already offer. Kurt does not exactly lift the performance hugely and in my view he won a fairly weak national final.
In terms of appearance on stage I expect to see a rather boring and unimaginative stage performance rather similar to the performance in the national final. It's in the first half of the second semi-final. While I was wondering would this appeal to juries the semi-final that it is in, like last year will see many song vying for jury votes so I cannot imagine it making an impact there.
Verdict: I think that this is perhaps a song that is a little out of date. While it may appeal somewhat to fans music tastes in the semi-final it will be under too much pressure to really score very well. I expect this to be knocked out in the semi-final. Crucially it appears that even before we near Eurovision, nobody has mentioned this song which is a very worrying sign of it.
Grade: D
Grade:
Saturday, February 4, 2012
100 Tweets Later And We Have Song Six
Tonight after a marathon National Final we have reached the end of the Maltese selection. To explain how bored people were: You may notice sometimes during the dull part of a national final we will post up a Why not visit the blog? tweet [Our marketing department say it is a good idea]. Normally this generates 2/3 extra visitors. When I did it during Eurosong I got 15.
Anyway we all woke up just after midnight to see what was a rather entertaining voting. The ultimate winner was KURT CALLEJA who will sing This Is The Night for Malta in Baku. Full review will be out in a week or two but suffice to say I think it is a little average.
Moving on to other matters at hand Hungary and Lithuania had their semi-finals tonight also and I gather that they passed off without anyone watching them.
However most interestingly Sweden held their first Melodifestivalen semi-final which was a entertaining and as interesting as ever. I think people have finally gotten their heads around the "poor" songs and are now accepting that the songs are not normally seen in MF. This meant that we had one of the most intriguing contests in a long time. I know our predictions were out (badly) but Swedes are very changeable in their nature when it comes to Melodifestivalen. Sean Banan and Throston Flinck went to Anfra Chansen with Dead By April and Loreen advancing to the Final. I thoroughly enjoyed Melodifestivalen this week and look forward to next week.
Norway too held their ultimate semi-final. This one turned out to have a couple of surprises (most of them were very pleasant). The biggest surprise was Yaseen & Julie Maria coming third with their song Sammen. I didn't think very much of it and my mind is still unchanged but I think their performance highlights why the number of people on stage needs to be restricted. Tooji also made it through. He was the Norwegian answer to Eric Saade and the number of similarities was actually freaky. It turned into a bit of a spot the difference competition [He didn't wear leather gloves]. He deserves credit for an excellent performance however coming second means that he will be first to sing in the final which may not work in his favor. The best and most pleasant surprise was how well Bobby Bare and Petter Oien's song came across on the stage. Everything about it worked and Bobby was such a country gentleman. I was really impressed by what appeared to be the bond between the two men. It was real music.
Norway is expected to announce their wildcard on Thursday. We suspect it will go to the Canoes but also consider Minne-Oh, Lisa Stokke and especially Lise Karlnese to be in with a chance.
That brings this evening to a close. The next big event will be on Monday with Germany holding heat 5. However we tend to ignore Germany for the moment. We will be busy over the coming week preparing for the weekend so please be patient with us if things are quiet during the week.
P.S. We don't have a marketing department.
Anyway we all woke up just after midnight to see what was a rather entertaining voting. The ultimate winner was KURT CALLEJA who will sing This Is The Night for Malta in Baku. Full review will be out in a week or two but suffice to say I think it is a little average.
Moving on to other matters at hand Hungary and Lithuania had their semi-finals tonight also and I gather that they passed off without anyone watching them.
However most interestingly Sweden held their first Melodifestivalen semi-final which was a entertaining and as interesting as ever. I think people have finally gotten their heads around the "poor" songs and are now accepting that the songs are not normally seen in MF. This meant that we had one of the most intriguing contests in a long time. I know our predictions were out (badly) but Swedes are very changeable in their nature when it comes to Melodifestivalen. Sean Banan and Throston Flinck went to Anfra Chansen with Dead By April and Loreen advancing to the Final. I thoroughly enjoyed Melodifestivalen this week and look forward to next week.
Norway too held their ultimate semi-final. This one turned out to have a couple of surprises (most of them were very pleasant). The biggest surprise was Yaseen & Julie Maria coming third with their song Sammen. I didn't think very much of it and my mind is still unchanged but I think their performance highlights why the number of people on stage needs to be restricted. Tooji also made it through. He was the Norwegian answer to Eric Saade and the number of similarities was actually freaky. It turned into a bit of a spot the difference competition [He didn't wear leather gloves]. He deserves credit for an excellent performance however coming second means that he will be first to sing in the final which may not work in his favor. The best and most pleasant surprise was how well Bobby Bare and Petter Oien's song came across on the stage. Everything about it worked and Bobby was such a country gentleman. I was really impressed by what appeared to be the bond between the two men. It was real music.
Norway is expected to announce their wildcard on Thursday. We suspect it will go to the Canoes but also consider Minne-Oh, Lisa Stokke and especially Lise Karlnese to be in with a chance.
That brings this evening to a close. The next big event will be on Monday with Germany holding heat 5. However we tend to ignore Germany for the moment. We will be busy over the coming week preparing for the weekend so please be patient with us if things are quiet during the week.
P.S. We don't have a marketing department.
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