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. 

Schlager, Leather Jackets and Plumbo

Norway Reviews

Owing to the strength of the Norwegian National Final we have built more solid reviews than thee ones that were there for the semi-final. We must stress that the grades given to the songs here may seem low but that is due to us employing a grading system that is really hard to do well in. It may seem tough but how can you separate some great songs otherwise? Their grades should improve in the Eurovision Reviews.

1.       Tooji – Tooji’s song Stay is definitely Eric Saade Mark II. From a distance he even looks the same as him (all he is missing is leather gloves).While I was critical of the strange sounds in the backing track I felt the entry worked well on stage. My guess is that NRK would like to see this at Eurovision. However its poor draw in the final will not help its chances. No doubt that Tooji can sing and perform this one. The song is doing well on my playlist as it is interesting. This could be a dark horse of the contest, but my guess is it has a 50/50 chance of making the superfinal. Grade: C+

2.       Reidun Saether – Without a doubt Reidun has delivered an excellent song written by the excellent Thomas G:sson. This is a difficult song to critise. While parallels between do exist between her song and Charlotte Pereilli’s entry in 2008 I think that Reidun is a more naturally good looking person unlike Charlotte who gave many Trannys hope. I like to think that this song could win but I think that there may be a slim chance of it. I also like to think that this type of song will win Eurovision somehow…one day. Grade: A+

3.       Lise Karlnese – I was pretty sure that this song would make it to the final through tele-voting in the semi-final and was surprised that it made it through. It is a good solid song and no doubt that Lise is able to perform. However after failing to make the cut with the tele-voters last weekend I think it has no chance of getting to the super-final. I do like this song though. Grade: B

4.       Plumbo – The newspapers in Norway are all saying that this has a very good chance of winning on Saturday and to be honest for a rockish/trad. song this is a rather well regarded by Eurovision  fans everywhere.  I love it because it is so anthemic and waving hands up in the air. The biggest threat that they face is running fourth in the draw and also the Norwegians may not back this if it seems that it is a dead cert. Grade: A

5.       Malin – Despite having a rather poor vocal performance in the semi-final Malin made it to the final most likely buoyed by votes from her own demographic which has an increasingly strong impact on National Finals and Eurovision. The song itself is annoyingly addictive but a little disjointed. However I think there could be a big enough vote out there for Malin that she could go to the super-final. It’s a longshot but I wouldn’t rule it out. Grade: A-

6.       Nora Foss Al-Jabri – Break out the Disney soundtrack and put this on it. This entry has Disney written all over it and this is both a drawback and positive for the song. It all is just a little to prefect for my likely. It is so perfect It feels like something is missing. After 1^st place in the semi-final this could qualify but I also think of the three semi-final winners this is the weakest. Grade: C-

7.       Carburetors – I don’t see how this qualified in the first semi-final but to summarise it’s leather jackets and sunglasses to the rescue. As a rock song I cannot see this doing very well. The overly gravelly voice of the lead singer may not fare well in comparison to other singers in this final especially when they are singing before Tommy Fredvang. Grade: D+

8.       Petter Oien & Bobby Bare – I really liked this song when I first heard it but when I saw it live I just fell in love with it. This works better than any other song in MGP this year. It is quite clear that there is a strong bond and relationship between the two men – if you notice when Bobby makes a mistake Petter makes one too but overall it does not take from the song. The country feel is impressive and the song is high quality and has direction. It is music as it was meant to be. This is a challenger for the victory, and I wish them the best of luck. Grade: A

9.       Yassen & Julie Maria – I do not get this song. Sometimes I don’t like a song for various reasons but after a couple of listens work out why it has done well. Generally it has a good professional sound that I understand why people like. I cannot understand why people voted for them in the semi-final. I do not expect this entry to do extremely well but sadly you never know. Grade: G

10   Tommy Fredvang – Make it better is a straight forward but rather unimaginative song that is carried by the recorded vocals and performance. I do think that it is a nice one to listen to on the MP3 player but I’m not sure if it would transfer well to the European stage like we would expect it to. Not one that I am exceptionally impressed by but because of the place in the draw it could make it to the super final. Grade: C-

      Overall I would love to see Reidun Saether represent Norway at Eurovision with her wonderful song, but I am very impressed with Plumbo and reckon that they most likely have the best chance of winning. 

You Wouldn't Want To Be Doing Anything On March 10th

• For those who are following National Final season (and if your not why are you reading this) will notice that we previously suggested that there may not be a Super Saturday this year as it looked previously, as many National Finals looked set to be held on a weekday. Now the inverse has occured. Every Saturday looks set to be Super Saturday. From now until the 10th March every Saturday looks set to deliver us 3-4 more songs each time. However the 10th March will bring at least 5 new songs. Sweden, Moldova, Portugal, Romania and Serbia will all either present or select their Eurovision Song. While this makes for exciting Saturday nights, as a lone blogger this will make life a little difficult trying to keep up with everything and I look forward to the challenge. 
• For anyone who has not noticed Lise Karlnese has been chosen as the wildcard in MGP. We are not overly surprised by this decision. We suspected it would be her or The Canoes. Anyway well done to her. We have already begun working on the Norwegian reviews for the final.
• Finally we would like to extend our sympathies to the family of Noel Kelehan who was the conductor of many Irish Eurovision entries, including five winners. He will be sadly missed by Eurovision fans worldwide. May he rest in peace.

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.

Sailors, Cowboy Hats and Too Much Wine. MGP: Semi 3

With news to be posted slowly mounting up, it's time to put the foot down and get moving.


Tooij - From some of the writers who brought you In The Club in Sweden comes a very similar song. I think that this is strong however the verse and chorus do not exactly add up together. The wrap that was put into the song doesn't make huge amount of sense. However it still is doing well on my playlist. I also don't like the chuncky key change in the song - that can be done much more easily. Overall I am looking forward to seeing this live. Grade: B+

Marthe Valle - The key question with this song is that if it is a little different, is different a good thing? I certainly think that it is. I think that the beat in the chorus of this song really changes it and lifts it from being a dull ballad to….a…..emmmm. Well I'm not exactly sure. This may not make the final but it could if it was presented in the right way on stage. The MGP stage this year allows for great diversity in the performances while holding a theme. Still one of my favourites. Grade: B-

Bobby Bare & Petter - Grab your cowboy hats people. Norway is goin' country. I really think that this is a little different. I like the style and this will be sung well and will definitely appeal to the Norweigian people. A different finalist. Grade: A-

Yaseen & Julie Maria - A sadly what starts sounding like it could be a nice ballad, but the rap starts and the song just sounds cheap. Grade: F

Havard Lothe Band - This is….different…that is for sure. I'm not sure if this is what I was looking for but it is ok. It bounces along the way I would like it to but it doesn't actually have enough to be quality material. Grade: D

Silya Nymoen - Not really what I was looking for, some people may think it is but I disagree. Grade: D

The Canoes - Well this song just about sums up every drunken night I've had. I really enjoy this one and laugh about it. However I think that the song quality is only so so and there is more potencial in it. I think that if this in an English speaking country it would do extremely well. But Norway is a grey area. While they do not offically speak English but has many people who will understand the song. Grade: B-

Lise Karlsnes - This could go either way. It could be very good (and I might mention I think that this is a really enjoyable song) however it could fall victim to the same problems the put Rikke Nordmann out of the contest, even if she was one of the stronger contestants. Grade: B+

Traditional Folk, Racism and Controversy...and that's just one song. Norway: Semi-Final 2 Reviews

Norway holds semi number 2 on Saturday night. So as usual we are here to the review songs.

Cocktail Slippers - If this was a normal country I would be writing about how strong this song is, and yet in MGP it seems a low quality song. There is a lack of orginality with this pop song. There is better in the compeitition and I think that this has a very slim chance. Grade: C-

Isabel Ødegård - Sadly this is another ballad that will not stand out at MGP. And that's before I realised that it was singing second in the semi-final. It still is pleasant but that is just not enough at this stage. Grade: C-

Tommy Fredvang: This is not a rock song it is more Disney Pop/Rock and is clearly on the pop song of this argument. The Lyrics are a little poor but that can't really be helped. It seems a little repetitive which is hardly a good thing either. Presentation will be everything, but I still think it is ok. Grade: C

Rikke Lie - So what does the other Rikke have to offer, well her song is more what I would expect from MGP. It builds all of a sudden and does not ever try to be overly balladish. I think it is nice but that's all. If it should not make the final, well, I'm not going to sit up all night cross about it. Grade: C

Malin - And the award for closest song to the Hello song goes to……. This song is contempemory that is for sure. However I think that it is good, but is not for multiple listenings. It may be a little over technihcal and manufactured. This is a shame because I think it actually has a lot of orginality to it. Grade: A-

Plumbo - Plumbo is quite a controversial band and nearly got thrown out of MGP for not watching their mouths. The song Ola Nordman is a very strong folk rock song. I am a huge fan of the folk rock that does appear in the Nordic selections and this is simiply excellent. It really sits there and just performs itself. In my view it is the second best song in MGP this year. Love the tin whisle by the way. Grade: A+

Minne-Oh - A highly innovative song. I'm not sure why there is the level of disco in it. Is she trying to cover up poor vocals? I still like it and while I think it could be a  little more dramatic it is still going to be easy to swallow on the night. Grade: B

Rikke Normann - In my view there is such a thing as to much mixing and beat in a song. This is a prime example of it. The song lacks a real character. Given Rikke's great performance with Aste last year I'm expecting good things from her this year and suspect she will deliver. Grade: C+

So we hope to see Plumbo going through to the final. We would also like to see Malin and Minne-Oh in the final.

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.

UPD: Returning to the odds!

Since my last post there have been some changes to the odds. Ireland has gone from 33/1 to 25/1 which is odd given that we have the same amount of information as before.

Now that we have heard all the songs from Norway (stats based on four bookmakers):
Nora Foss Al-Jabri is the favorite to win the first semi with 3 bookies putting her on favorite. However there is huge differences in what is to come second. The Carburtores and Lise Stokke are favorites to take the second slot with Kim and Reidun coming in after as dark horses.

There is huge spread in the final. Plumbo are the hot favorites to win with Reidun, Rikke Normann and The Canoes lagging behind.

Today we got the odds from Lativa, they confirm what I expected from the start: Mad Show Boys are the favorites (the hot favorites at that) and PeR are just behind, followed by Paula Dukure (all are under 3/1). After that there is a gap starting with Anmary (5/1) to Ruta Dudama (19/1).

Over in Denmark the song Venter (Christian and Patrik) is leading the odds with Jesper Nohrstedt is in second. Sonuna and Aya are in joint third (roughly). Forever I B Young is in last place.

Norway: Part 1

In the run up to MGP 2012 we publish the reviews of Semi-Final 1

Irresistible - While I do like this song, I think that this kind of generic type of song that does not pack a real punch will not actually manage to qualify for the final. The song might look good on stage but will struggle at this level of competition. Grade: C-

Kim Andre Rysstad - I really like the vocals behind this song. It builds wonderfully but once again his voice makes the song. If this was not perfect on the night this would seriously hinder the song. The final verses of the song are pitched really well. Grade: B

Reidun Saether - I never have nor ever will critise this song. As I have previously noted I think that if any song that I have heard so far deserves to go to Eurovision it is this song. Think about it Norway! I just love the slow start and strong vocals and the chorus always brings a smile to my face - and I have listened to it to many times. This could do well sandwiched between two ballads. Grade: A+

Rudi Myntevik - This does seem just a little plain and dated given the standard that is in this semi-final. Depending on the performance this will either be well received or forgotten after the very different song from Reidun.  I would like this in a poor quality national final. Grade: D

Lisa Stokke - It was quiet surprising to see that this was one of the favourites given the style of song (a little old fashioned) however I do like it and if Lisa is a charismatic singer than this will not be an easy song beat. Grade: B-

United - Boring and crap. This just doesn't work on so many levels. Grade: G

Nora Foss al-Jabri - This is the favourite to win according to Betsson. It is a very good ballad but a little Disney. Really with female ballads this will all come down to the voice of the singer on the night. This has everything that I would hope for in a ballad but I still don't understand why it is the favourite. Grade: B-

The Carburetors - Before I start to complain about this song I would like to point out to that I respect this song for its quality and genre. Every year we see this style of song in MGP and it never wins. This is just too accessible to be good rock. And it is not pop/rock - well it is but the first 30 seconds try not to be. Would you keep your hand out of the fire after hearing this? Grade: C-

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!

Stop The Press!!!!!

We were just sitting here in the office reviewing some of the Hungarian songs when suddenly this sample was brought to our attention.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006VL5BEC/ref=tsm_1_fb_lk

If you have not heard it yet you need to listen to it. If you have you need to listen to it again.

What is it? Well, this is the song to be sung by Reidun (We never heard of her either) in MGP 2012. It is written by the great Thomas G:son, Tommy Berre and Ovidou Jacobsen. It is in the first semi-final of MGP.

The End Of A Schlager Era

Today we heard that Alcazar have decided to "take a break" - in the sense ABBA took a break. Even though Alcazar were better before Mangus Carlsson left they still are the best Schlager group on the go at the moment. They participated in Melodifestivalen no less than four times. They were one of the most popular groups to fans not to make it to Eurovision. They won OGAE second chance contest twice in 2003 and 2005. They came second in 2009 to Hera Bjork with "Stay The Night". But you never really know maybe Christer Bjorkman may convince them to get back together for Melodifestivalen certainly I expect to see at least one of them individually in MF (I hope it's Tess). However it is the end of a schlager era. At this point it seems right to leave you with this video.

Norway have called for songs for MGP 2012. So if your thinking about entering they welcome compositions for Non-Norweigens.


Even though I strongly disagree with a lot of the stances taken by the Oikotimes. Today they published an excellent piece on Azerbaijan hostinng ESC 2012. You can look at it here. What they are saying is that Azerbaijan has not yet come up with a proper venue, but we have heard about some airy-fairy stadium in the Caspian Sea. They have not come up with a real budget other than the headline €100million but this seems like it may not happen. The Azeri have yet to give commitments to do with Visas and allowing people and delegations into the country safely. Also they will have to allow people who have a Armenian stamp on their passport to enter the country has some of the Eurovision team will also be at the JESC 2011 in Armenia.
The Oikotimes ends with a note that some blogs (not this one) are reporting that RAI are on standby in case....... Personally if an emergency Eurovision was required Sweden would be the best to turn to. They could put on a emergency ESC by putting their Melodifestivalen plans into action once again.


I'm going away for the weekend (again!) in the morning but I may have internet where I going but I may not I'm not sure. If not I'll be back on Sunday. Please consider this your Friday post