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 Malta. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Malta. 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:
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Here We Go Again: The Odds Check
The good people over at Nicerodds have been good enough to try to tap into the Eurovision fan market by putting together the odds from many Irish, UK and Nordic bookmakers. Many of the countries that have not even detailed about their national final yet are given odds but we are not going to consider most of them yet as it just reflects a countries historic strength at Eurovision.
- Going first to Austria where unsurprisingly Conchita Wurst the favorite to win, with (surprisingly) 3 punkt 5 and Trackshittaz lagging behind. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a surprise winner in Austria but Conchita and Trackshittaz would be good in Baku.
- Moving North to Germany where we see Roman Lob is the Hot favourite to win, given that he seems to be winning the qualifiers so far this is not surprising. It will most likely be him in Baku, and I do actually need to see him as I have not seen him performing yet.
- Moving further north again to Sweden where Youngblood and Molly Sandén are favourites to progress from semi-final 3 but after yesterday it is clear we need to see the songs first. In terms of the winner of Melodifestivalen 2012
- So what about ESC? Sweden somewhat surprisingly are riding upfront possibly reflecting the strength of Melodifestivalen 2012. Serbia follows probably because of Zelio Zehomsomethingorother. We will have to hear his song first though. Otherwise the usual suspects are there, Azerbaijan, Armenia etc. Interestingly Ireland is quite high - 14/1 (reflecting Jedward being in our national final). Of the songs picked Norway is 14/1 to win with Denmark behind on 18/1 however one bookie is only offering 7/1 on Denmark making them the clear favorites at this early stage. Cyprus is 25/1. France, despite being well up on fan lists (not mine) is 50/1. The longest odds of a currently picked song is Malta on 130/1.
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.
Sweden, Norway, Hungary, Lithuania, Malta and Dublin vs. Kerry
[Skip this paragraph if your not interested in sport] So as we look forward to a great night of national finals we also notice that Dublin is playing Kerry tonight in Gaelic Football which is just a little bad timing but we will keep the Irish people watching Melodifestivalen updated with the score. A little Irish trivia: Dublin bet Kerry last year in the All-Ireland Football despite not being expected to do so. This is a league match which is not so important but being a rehash of last years All-Ireland people will have good expectations.
Moving on to more interesting matters primarily concerning Eurovision:
Moving on to more interesting matters primarily concerning Eurovision:
- Malta picks their Eurovision entry this evening. It is to be done on a 75% jury and 25% public basis. You can read our review of the final here. However to cut it short we are supporting DEBORAH C feat. LEILA JAMES for Malta with their song You Make Me Go Uh Uh.
- Sweden holds the first semi-final of Melodifestivalen tonight. Read our review here. We are looking forward to seeing Loreen and Marie Serneholt as well as Abalone Dots and Sean Banan. But we have to throw a big shout out to Afro-Dite also. We suspect due to the rather low quality of songs that this could go anyway and we expect a surprise or two.
- Norway holds it's final semi-final tonight in anticipation of their final next week. They will also be giving out a wildcard from the jury but we do not know when they will do this. Our reviews of Norway are here.
- Hungary and Lithuania are also holding semi-finals tonight but we are not covering them for the moment. Our Hungarian reviews can be found here.
And as always our twitter @besteuroblog will be in full swing tonight. Things should be kicking of around 19:00 GMT/20:00CET
We gladly welcome your comments on what you will be watching tonight.
Update: I forgot to do a look at the odds for this week: In Norway Tooij is favorite to qualify to the final. Followed by Lise Karlsnes and Petter Olson & Co. In Sweden Loreen is the favourite to go directly to Globen with either Sean Banan or Dead by April bringing up the rear is Thorsten Flick and The Moniker depending on which bookmaker you use. We cannot find any odds for Malta at the moment but if you know someone offering odds do let us know through the usual communication.
Update: I forgot to do a look at the odds for this week: In Norway Tooij is favorite to qualify to the final. Followed by Lise Karlsnes and Petter Olson & Co. In Sweden Loreen is the favourite to go directly to Globen with either Sean Banan or Dead by April bringing up the rear is Thorsten Flick and The Moniker depending on which bookmaker you use. We cannot find any odds for Malta at the moment but if you know someone offering odds do let us know through the usual communication.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Updated Adjusted Maltese Reviews
Now that Malta has gotten rid of a couple of songs we publish our reviews again and preview their national final.
Amber - Very unusual song, her voice is strong. However the song, though interesting, is a bit repetitive and the climax and final verse are by not strong enough given what they seem to be building towards in the first verses. Maybe this is intentional but I suspect not. - Grade: E-
Claudia Fanniello - A strong ballad . Returning artist Claudia gives a great number with the song Prue. This has all the hallmarks of a good song but Claudia lifts it well, however there has been problems with her vocal performance in the past at the final. So let us hope she can pull this one off. Grade : B+
Corazon – No review. Grade: D
Dancia Muscat - Grade: C-
Deborah C. feat L. James - Fab Alert: This is schlager, two bouncy (and good looking) girls jumping around singing a song that you just know they'll murder live. However massive live disaster performances are best avoided by a schlager style pair of heels. We shall see. If Deborah wears a leather catsuit on the night [she has done it before] I'll give this an A+ in the meantime. Grade: A
Dorothy Bezzina - Interesting, that’s all I'll say. Very possible contender but strangely seems a little cold. Grade: B-
Fabrizio Faniello - Those of you hoping for something the same as last year will not be disappointed. However it is difficult to know if Fabrizio is worth sending to Eurovision again. Those with a liking for beards that make you look like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also will not be disappointed. Grade: B-
Francesca Borg - Dire. How did this qualify. Grade: G
Gianni - Poor quality rock with few redeming features other than a good end. Grade: E
Janvil - Grade: C-
Kaya - This might not be schlager but it does raise the standard. This is the first song I have heard that lifts to the standard that we would expect at Eurovision. An early favourite? It is not my favorite but I do expect it to do well. Grade: B
Kilnsmann - Why start by sitting on the ground? The chorus of the song sounds a bit boybandish however it is pleasant. Pleasant never won Eurovision but anyhow. But is it meant mean to be pop/rock or a boyband? There are some performance flaws but a nice song. Grade: C
Kurt Calleja - Very good but he needs to be able to live on the night to get to Baku. But remember Maltese voters are arguably the madest hatters of all ESC western countries. This is a nice song but this still would need a real live performance to lift it. If Kurt can pull that off the song has a hope. However I can only grade on what I hear in the studio version. Grade: C
Lawerence Grey - Good voice, dullish song we lots of these in Malta. Song only gets duller. Why wear a suit? Grade: D-
Richard Edwards - Look at me now is a better song than the last couple that I listened to it before, however this is still not over interesting. Nevertheless I like the overall song somewhat. Grade: D
Wayne Micallef - Grade: F
Overall Malta have taken off more poor songs then they left in. We are reasonably happy with the outcome of the Semi-Final and hope that DEBORAH C FEAT. LEILA JAMES are representing Malta. While this may be unsure you can always be sure we will have an opinion on their Eurovision entry once they select it.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Continuing Maltese Reviews
1. Deborah C. feat L. James - Fab Alert: This is schlager, two bouncy (and good looking) girls jumping around singing a song that you just know they'll murder live. However massive live disastor performances are best avioded by a schlager style pair of heels. We shall see. If Deborah wears a leather catsuit on the night I'll give this an A+ in the meantime. Grade: A
2. Dorothy Bezzina - Interesting, that’s all I'll say. Grade: B-
3. Eleanor Cassar - Boring, poorly constructed pop song - good voice wasted on a poor song. Grade: E+
4. Fabrizio Faniello - Those of you hoping for something the same as last year will not be disappointed. However it is difficult to know if Fabrizio is worth sending to Eurovision again. Those with a liking for beards that make you look like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also will not be disappointed. Grade: B-
5. Francesca Borg - Dire. Grade: G
6. Gianni - Poor quality rock with few redeming features other than a good end. Grade: E
7. Isabelle - No faults. Beat is good and the music is arranged well. Not outstanding. It could build more and have a stronger ending. Grade: C+
8. Janice Mangion - Grade: D+
9. Janvil - Grade: C-
Conclusion of And the winner is series tomorrow. We will have the last part of this series Wednesday.
2. Dorothy Bezzina - Interesting, that’s all I'll say. Grade: B-
3. Eleanor Cassar - Boring, poorly constructed pop song - good voice wasted on a poor song. Grade: E+
4. Fabrizio Faniello - Those of you hoping for something the same as last year will not be disappointed. However it is difficult to know if Fabrizio is worth sending to Eurovision again. Those with a liking for beards that make you look like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also will not be disappointed. Grade: B-
5. Francesca Borg - Dire. Grade: G
6. Gianni - Poor quality rock with few redeming features other than a good end. Grade: E
7. Isabelle - No faults. Beat is good and the music is arranged well. Not outstanding. It could build more and have a stronger ending. Grade: C+
8. Janice Mangion - Grade: D+
9. Janvil - Grade: C-
Conclusion of And the winner is series tomorrow. We will have the last part of this series Wednesday.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
First Malta Reviews
So after much waiting here are the first of the reviews of the Maltese songs. All songs have been assigned a grade from an A+ to E- are passing grades (i.e. I would listen to it again) and failing grades would be either F, G or NG. F and G are songs I would not listen to agian because I feel they are just below standard for their genre. NG means non gradable and only applies where a song is so bad I couldn't listen to it for long enough to grade it or where I feel the song may be personally offensive. While all songs have received a grade they have not all been commented on. This is due to the number of songs in Eurosong and the fact that they sometimes seem a bit bland. Songs without a comment are usually neither great nor very poor. Anyway enough with the rules lets get cracking.
1. Amber - Very unusual song, her voice is strong. However the song, though interesting, is a bit repetitive and the climax and final verse are by not strong enough given what they seem to be building towards in the first verses. Maybe this is intentional but I suspect not. - Grade: E-
2. Anna Azzopradi - Anna's light jazzy voice is pleasant and does grow in strenght in the chorus. Song is boring and the backing vocals which really should complement her voice actually seem the wrong. Grade: G
3. Annalise Ellul - It is a nice song that we see a lot of in the Meditreainain national finals however it is difficult to see them doing all that dancing in the final when vocals have to be live. Dance reminds me of Turkey 2003. Grade: D-
4. Claudia Fanniello - A strong ballad . Returning artist Claudia gives a great number with the song Prue. This has all the hallmarks of a good song but Claudia lifts it well, however there has been problems with her vocal performance in the past at the final. So let us hope she can pull this one off. Grade : B+
5. Corazon - Grade: D
6. Dancia Muscat - Grade: C-
More tomorrow.
1. Amber - Very unusual song, her voice is strong. However the song, though interesting, is a bit repetitive and the climax and final verse are by not strong enough given what they seem to be building towards in the first verses. Maybe this is intentional but I suspect not. - Grade: E-
2. Anna Azzopradi - Anna's light jazzy voice is pleasant and does grow in strenght in the chorus. Song is boring and the backing vocals which really should complement her voice actually seem the wrong. Grade: G
3. Annalise Ellul - It is a nice song that we see a lot of in the Meditreainain national finals however it is difficult to see them doing all that dancing in the final when vocals have to be live. Dance reminds me of Turkey 2003. Grade: D-
4. Claudia Fanniello - A strong ballad . Returning artist Claudia gives a great number with the song Prue. This has all the hallmarks of a good song but Claudia lifts it well, however there has been problems with her vocal performance in the past at the final. So let us hope she can pull this one off. Grade : B+
5. Corazon - Grade: D
6. Dancia Muscat - Grade: C-
More tomorrow.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
So many songs......So much time
Malta is one of the non-nordic countries whose national final I actually do follow. Today they released all the songs in the semi final for you to listen to so over the coming days I will put a few reviews. As with many countries national finals some of the songs are just a little......ah (bored grunt) so while I will put up a grade for each there may not always be a review to go with it sorry!
ESCInsight have an ebook launched written by website editor Ewan Spence, about the Junior Eurovision Song contest 2011. Which is a fair achievement in two weeks. I will have a review of it posted to the blog over the coming weeks (hopefully before New Year)
ESCInsight have an ebook launched written by website editor Ewan Spence, about the Junior Eurovision Song contest 2011. Which is a fair achievement in two weeks. I will have a review of it posted to the blog over the coming weeks (hopefully before New Year)
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Malta's In! (But no word from Albania)
Malta has declared that it intends to go to ESC 2012 and is to have their national final on the 28th January. I am looking forward to it. Malta as extended the rule for repeat appearances from three years to five. Which I think is very harsh. I've always have a soft spot for Malta though.
Albania is to hold Fesival I Kenges but so far have not stated if they are going to Eurovision.
Albania is to hold Fesival I Kenges but so far have not stated if they are going to Eurovision.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Small Bits Of Everything
I am always keen to see a Eurovision Song doing well in the charts. However this story is a little different. It seems Kelly Schembri has become an overnight sensation in Malta. Her rise to fame has been noted by some Big wigs in Britain who hope to make her a star and she has made a new video of her song "Love Me Like Your Money"
The Reference Group should have concluded their meeting during the week and any information that should come from that will be commented on.
Sweden have been first out of the trap and have called for songs for Melodifestivalen 2012 (Wow, first time I've had to write about NF season 2011). As always they have many ways of getting to Melodifestivalen but this year the Web Joker has been reduced down to one entrant. This is probably a good thing as the Web Joker for me has always been a rather dull song. It simply takes away a place that could go to Sanna Nielsen or Timoteij.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
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