Reaction To Rehearsals: Day 2: Part 1 Israel-Denmark

A very good morning to everyone! (Or Afternoon if your in Baku). It is time to start viewing the tapes again and go back to the rehearsals in Baku and see what is coming out of the Crystal Hall. This post will be updated as the day goes on.

Israel - Rehearsal Video
There has been a definite lift in support over the last month for Izabo, who have gone from being a marginal qualifier to a likely qualifier on some peoples lists. While the song might be good I think that the performance might just be lacking the killer blow to push this into the final. It remains a very strong song but there is something more that the performance needs. That said the staging is still good with lots of strange clocks in the background and the backing singers are very strangely positioned which might aid the entry.


San Marino - Rehearsal Video
No one is expecting San Marino to really improve their odds of qualifying drastically. The song is still pretty poor, but the general reaction to her first rehearsal is that it was rather strong, it still was not quite to the standard that we've seen from Iceland and Romania yesterday but overall I think that this vocally good. This song is 7/1 to qualify to the final - surely those odds will shorten just a little today. The problem I felt that was there today was I wondered would people really "get" the song if they are not told explicitly that it's about Facebook?

Cyprus - Rehearsal Video
Vocally I think that this has certainly proved us wrong. Vocals are still a bit lat but it is certainly not the car crash that was expected. The backdrop does have echos of their 2007 entry. I don't fully understand why people are so into this entry and I think that it is one of the weaker entries in this semi-final however there does seem to be a broad expectation that this will qualify. I'm unconvinced though. I haven't seen the camera angles and when there is so much choreography involved you really need to see how it looks on camera. I'm going to sit on the fence for a bit on this entry.

Denmark - Rehearsal Video
There is a very interesting choice of background here and it is a good improvement on the national final. Vocally I think that this is great. The whole package has come together really, really well and I suspect Denmark are most likely going to win this semi-final at this point in the rehearsals. Some have complained that there is too much going on onstage but I think that this is a spectacular performance. Anna Bergendahl comparisons might be on the rise but I think that they are totally out of place here. 

Do You Wanna Have CyberSex Again? Did I Ask For It In The First Place?

So San Marino have made what we call a booboo. What is that? Well its where you decide not to worry about Eurovision until two weeks before the deadline, bring in Raphal Sigel,  then hammer something that looks like an entry but with a few fatal mistakes. College students will be familiar with this approach.

The worst mistake you can make at Eurovision is believe that you need to be contemporary, and this exactly what San Marino have done.

Facebook The Social Network Song, is a total load of rubbish, sung by the wonderful Valentina Montetta who actually a great singer and this song sadly completely undermines her talent. It really is that Eurovision song that goes nowhere. Lyrically it is just dire.

And yet I have a certain affection for this song. It bounces along, it is a real guilty pleasure. But only at times, at times I really haven't the heart to listen to it.

In semi-final 1 there will be considerable competition for places in the final I really cannot see this going anywhere other than home.

Verdict: Far from my favourite but because it can be a guilty pleasure I'll give it a fair grade. Hasn't a hope.

Grade: C+

A Lyrics Change, Is That All?

So we finally have a full and complete song with mention of a certain social media site. As we have already have discussed this could be a problem in the future. Anyway here is Valentina's new song. We think this could make for a great game of spot the difference.

I only just found out that it would seem that Valentina is not actually as young as she seems. Believe it or not she is 37. That concludes my jaw dropping moment of the week.

As regards the song, it's a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. It probably won't go anywhere and I completely understand why you would hate it.

What Kind Of Contest Doesn't Allow Facebook?

Tonight we will (hopefully) have a new song from San Marino. As everyone should know by now Valentina Monetta's first song "Facebook" was rejected by the EBU because it contained a commercial messages. For discussion purposes let's take the standard of the song out of the equation. So while we have discussed the relationship between ICT and Eurovision I neglected to mention that there could be lyrics problem with words like "Facebook" or other websites. After all the word "google" is now a verb in the English language. This will be an on going problem for the EBU. After all words like "social media" are very broad and really are not specific enough to use in lyrics. Like words such as hoover and biro

This does bring to light the potential issue between commercial messages and song lyrics, which will continue to be an interesting area of discussion. However by setting the precedent with San Marino now, the EBU may stop this sort of thing [Careful now! :) ]  for the next while, but no doubt this issue will back at some point in the future.

Melodifestivalen Is Over. What Are We Waiting On?

Normally the end of Melodifestivalen usually occurs the Saturday before the HOD [Heads of Delegation] meeting. This year they decided to play with us fans a little and have it a week later. This means that there are a couple of songs missing still. So to round up what we're waiting on:

1. Montenegro - Song Presentation - Thursday 15th March 8:00pm CET.
2. Bosnia&Herzegovina -  Song Presentation - Thursday 15th March 8:00pm CET.
3. San Marino - There is a variety of rumours coming from San Marino about who will represent them. The latest one is that local singer Valentina Monetta and will be written by Raleph Sigel. [We're not saying that it is correct.] We suspect we will get a confirmation either today or tomorrow. 
4. Belgium - We patiently await the final national final of the year in Belgium. I'm not going to be watching it as it is St. Patrick's Day and I will be with my family but hopefully they will pick something good.
5. UK - The UK has caused many a fan to rip out a parts of their hair. But Engelbert Humperdinck's song will be revealed on the 19th March - the day of the deadline. That's cutting it fine.

In a somewhat surprising turn of events San Marino have pulled out of Jesc 2011 claiming they could not find a singer - I'll let you make your own mind up on that one.


A new eurovision website has lauched. EscXtra.com.....Spot the difference between that and the old escdaily.


Also I now am going back to do some reviews of songs in this years JESC 2011 in Yerevan. Where better to start than Armenia. This year Dalitia will represent the host nation.


The song in my opinion is pretty average and I would be slow to put it on the MP3 player. Dalitia's pronouncation is poor and the voice in the background is awful. I just think this is the average song that causes JESC to fall in peoples eyes.

San Marino.

Senit

Stand by

Stand by (German version)
Stand by (Russian version)
Stand by (Karaoke version)
Stand by (Videoclip)

Stand by (Live video at semi 1)
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