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 Serbia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Serbia. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Serbia: The Review
Before we begin today I know that the migration of Eurovision fans to the contest has begun, while this sadly I shall not be moving to as far (it's about 40 steps from my desk to the TV in the living room), I will be reporting from behind the lines from the home front. But for those who are travelling I wish all very safe journey's however you get to Baku.
Anyway in less pressing news, a couple of months back Serbia decided to send Zeljko Joksimovic to the Eurovison Song Contest on the basis that he is a very well known singer in the Balkans he also represented Serbia and Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 coming a very respectable second, an impressive start for a debuting country. There was much discussion about the sort of songthe Zeljko would bring to the contest. Would it be one which was a mirror image of the 2004 entry [which was really good back then].
There can be little doubt that Nije Ljubav Stvar is a great Balkan ballad. It builds slowly but rather well and finishes with a fairly large cresendo. The song no doubt is definitely going to get some extra coverage because it is Zeljko. The trouble is that this song is far to formulaic in comparison to the 2004 Lane Moje. There is a management concept that sometimes crops up that strikes me as I write this. Never do the same thing again. In 2004 Balkan ballads were a new pure and fresh addition to the contest. Zeljko's really stood out too. This year the same cannot quite be said again. Balkan ballads are now fairly normal in the contest, we would normally expect 2 or 3 of them per year. Zeljko has even brought the Luke Ming Flanagan look a like to the contest (as he did in 2004).
This year Zeljko is in with about 4 other songs from the Balkans in a ballad heavy year. Given the Serbian starting position (first in semi 2), this is far from ideal. I'm not convinced that Serbia are going to do well enough in semi 2 in order to gain the momentum to do well enough in the final. While I don't think that getting to the semi-final will be a problem for Zeljko (he'll most likely do it on the back of massive Balkan support). But really this is not going make a Top 3 appearances.
Verdict: I think this is a reasonable Balkan ballad. However I do think that Serbia is not the best Balkan ballad is that amazing this year. That honour would fall to Slovenia.
Grade: B-
Saturday, April 21, 2012
The Odds: Semi-Final 2
This year semi-final two has been definitely the less talked about this year. Despite this fact I think that the more likely winners of the whole contest are going to come from semi-final.
So how does semi 2 look. There are two broad appeal pop songs from Norway and Sweden. It is very likely that they will take two spots in the final. No surprises then that the three most likely songs to proceed to the final are Serbia, Sweden and Norway. Moving on then we have Bosnia, who may not have an amazing song put have a great spot in the running order. Then there's Turkey who will surely qualify to the final.
So then we move into shakier parts of this semi-final Estonia are next in the bookies odds and I think that that is a very mean price for Estonia. I am not trying to say that I don't like it I just don't think that Estonia are certain qualifiers.
Slovenia is in 8th position which I think is a generous price for Eva Boto as I think her song is very good as a Balkan ballad. Belarus is 9th position and I am not sure if this is a qualifier, I think that the disco version is very strong but it looks like a non-qualifier to me.
The two songs that I think is Portugal and Lithuania. I don't think that Lithuania is amazing but it is hard to imagine that a last slot song would not qualify. I think that Portugal has one of the strongest compositions this year. Even though this is a tough semi-final for ballads and Portugal has many things going against it, I think this could be the surprise qualifier.
So how does semi 2 look. There are two broad appeal pop songs from Norway and Sweden. It is very likely that they will take two spots in the final. No surprises then that the three most likely songs to proceed to the final are Serbia, Sweden and Norway. Moving on then we have Bosnia, who may not have an amazing song put have a great spot in the running order. Then there's Turkey who will surely qualify to the final.
So then we move into shakier parts of this semi-final Estonia are next in the bookies odds and I think that that is a very mean price for Estonia. I am not trying to say that I don't like it I just don't think that Estonia are certain qualifiers.
Slovenia is in 8th position which I think is a generous price for Eva Boto as I think her song is very good as a Balkan ballad. Belarus is 9th position and I am not sure if this is a qualifier, I think that the disco version is very strong but it looks like a non-qualifier to me.
The two songs that I think is Portugal and Lithuania. I don't think that Lithuania is amazing but it is hard to imagine that a last slot song would not qualify. I think that Portugal has one of the strongest compositions this year. Even though this is a tough semi-final for ballads and Portugal has many things going against it, I think this could be the surprise qualifier.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
All Round Delight In Euroland After Super Saturday
So Eurovision fans breath a sigh of relief as Loreen won Melodifestivalen with 268 points winning five international juries and topping the public televote with 32.7% - a historical record. We will have a full Analysis of the Melodifestivalen final and semi-final voting patterns later tonight or else tomorrow.
Next came the presentation of the Serbian song by Zelijo Joksimovic. It's a lot like his 2004 entry but I really don't think that it is nearly as good. For me this could be the Harel Saart or Amurary Vassi of 2012. Anyhow the song is called Nile Ljuvbav Stvar (I could only find the English version - sorry).
Romania came next with a song that sounds like a cross between Lily Allen and Shakira. While the song may be annoying after two months, I am loving the Leather Catsuit. Mandinga is the singer and her song (sung mostly in Spanish) is called Zaleilah.
In Portugal after the usual remarkably long voting have decided to send Filipa Sousa to Eurovision. Fairly unamazing song at the moment.
Next came the presentation of the Serbian song by Zelijo Joksimovic. It's a lot like his 2004 entry but I really don't think that it is nearly as good. For me this could be the Harel Saart or Amurary Vassi of 2012. Anyhow the song is called Nile Ljuvbav Stvar (I could only find the English version - sorry).
Romania came next with a song that sounds like a cross between Lily Allen and Shakira. While the song may be annoying after two months, I am loving the Leather Catsuit. Mandinga is the singer and her song (sung mostly in Spanish) is called Zaleilah.
In Portugal after the usual remarkably long voting have decided to send Filipa Sousa to Eurovision. Fairly unamazing song at the moment.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
The Balkan Problem
I meant to publish this last night but was so tired I could not judge my writing. The idea here is purely hypothetical but has been on my mind since the semi-final draw.
Since the running order draw many fans have pointed out that the toughest semi-final by far this year is semi-final 2. This is largely caused by the presence of FYR Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia all being together in the one semi-final. This has lead fans to believe that anything up to all five of these countries could make it through to the final.
But is that a true assumption? Let's just think about it and cast the critical eye over the Balkans so far in 2012. Serbia has successfully managed to convince Zeljko Joksimovic to go to Eurovision for them. Looking at the block of countries this will be one to beat, it's sure to be strong and will take a good chunk of the Balkan 12 points. So let's say that they take 46 of 48 points [i.e. 3 12's; 1 10]. This leaves them with in easy reach of the 62 points which is about what is needed to get you into the final. It is also very likely that Serbia will soak up a huge amount of Jury votes for Balkan songs.
But what about the next four songs. Well to start we have not heard B+H's song yet but I would bet we are dealing with a fairly normal Balkan ballad again sung by a female [Maya Saar]. The issue here is that far to many of these songs are being sung by females. The three picked so far are all sung by females. All of the are roughly of the same style and standard. This is where we hit the problems. This semi-final looks set to have a vast number of Balkan songs which is largely unprecedented in terms of the less than 20 songs semi-finals.
So within the Balkan block you will have some disagreement about which country to vote for. Serbia will soak up a huge amount of televotes. This in turn leaves very few to play with. There may not be very many people willing to back a balkan ballad. Which could lead to a disarray in the semi-final. So the result may not be very predictable. Combine this with jury votes which may further and scatter Balkan block votes [at least it cannot strengthen this] which could see countries not getting neighbourly votes.
So what if Balkan's don't win in the Balkan's? Well for the four other songs this is very likely. Assuming that Serbia soak up the amount described earlier and say one song picking up most of the higher places then we have another Balkan on 40 [a 12, two 10's and an 8] this leaves only about 62 points swirling around for the remaining three. On a Europe wide basis it is difficult though not impossible for to believe that with few points they could make it in. The trouble once again is that they will only have some jury and public voters who will vote for Balkan music. These votes will be split that it will be difficult for these rather difficult songs to make it through to ESC final. If the public and jury do not agree then the problems faced do not get smaller. The jury has considerable power to reduce the impact of neighbourly voting. So with two components it is likely that the number of points may fall. And if less points stay within the Balkans then we could be about to see a very interesting semi-final.
Since the running order draw many fans have pointed out that the toughest semi-final by far this year is semi-final 2. This is largely caused by the presence of FYR Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia all being together in the one semi-final. This has lead fans to believe that anything up to all five of these countries could make it through to the final.
But is that a true assumption? Let's just think about it and cast the critical eye over the Balkans so far in 2012. Serbia has successfully managed to convince Zeljko Joksimovic to go to Eurovision for them. Looking at the block of countries this will be one to beat, it's sure to be strong and will take a good chunk of the Balkan 12 points. So let's say that they take 46 of 48 points [i.e. 3 12's; 1 10]. This leaves them with in easy reach of the 62 points which is about what is needed to get you into the final. It is also very likely that Serbia will soak up a huge amount of Jury votes for Balkan songs.
But what about the next four songs. Well to start we have not heard B+H's song yet but I would bet we are dealing with a fairly normal Balkan ballad again sung by a female [Maya Saar]. The issue here is that far to many of these songs are being sung by females. The three picked so far are all sung by females. All of the are roughly of the same style and standard. This is where we hit the problems. This semi-final looks set to have a vast number of Balkan songs which is largely unprecedented in terms of the less than 20 songs semi-finals.
So within the Balkan block you will have some disagreement about which country to vote for. Serbia will soak up a huge amount of televotes. This in turn leaves very few to play with. There may not be very many people willing to back a balkan ballad. Which could lead to a disarray in the semi-final. So the result may not be very predictable. Combine this with jury votes which may further and scatter Balkan block votes [at least it cannot strengthen this] which could see countries not getting neighbourly votes.
So what if Balkan's don't win in the Balkan's? Well for the four other songs this is very likely. Assuming that Serbia soak up the amount described earlier and say one song picking up most of the higher places then we have another Balkan on 40 [a 12, two 10's and an 8] this leaves only about 62 points swirling around for the remaining three. On a Europe wide basis it is difficult though not impossible for to believe that with few points they could make it in. The trouble once again is that they will only have some jury and public voters who will vote for Balkan music. These votes will be split that it will be difficult for these rather difficult songs to make it through to ESC final. If the public and jury do not agree then the problems faced do not get smaller. The jury has considerable power to reduce the impact of neighbourly voting. So with two components it is likely that the number of points may fall. And if less points stay within the Balkans then we could be about to see a very interesting semi-final.
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