Reaction To Rehearsals: Day 2: Part 2 Russia - Ireland

So unfortunately due to other commitments I missed most of the last ten hours meaning that I have missed a lot of rehearsal time. Anyhow here is a quick look at the last five rehearsals which I managed to miss.

Russia - Rehearsal Video
This has been flagged as one of the most interesting performances to watch in this years contest. Personally I never had put Russia down as a potential winner but after today's performance this has come roaring into the competition [albeit on a Zimmer frame]. This was vocally spot on and the performance is effective but still fairly simple relatively speaking.

Hungary - Rehearsal Video
Hungary today have produced a credible vocal performance which was a huge concern in the national final. The general staging is petty good but at the same time I think that this might be a bit dull to qualify.

Austria - Rehearsal Video
This was very much as expected. For me this is one of the strongest songs in the contest this year but many people are somewhat disappointed with the general the rehearsals today. They feel that the staging is too messy for the song. I really do not agree with them but I am disappointed with the lack of a tractor onstage. I think that one of Trackshittaz strengths is that they are not you common or garden rap duo and I think they should play that up a bit.

Moldova - Rehearsal Video
Moldova had been in doubt in up until today's rehearsal as being unfortunately sandwiched between Austria and Ireland in what would have to be the maddest end to a semi-final yet. But today Moldova really is standing up vocally and in general the song is looking like a very strong one in this semi-final.

Ireland - Rehearsal Video 
Ireland, well their is less to talk about than I had hoped but all the same this is still working really well onstage but I am going to join many other bloggers in saying that this needs something extra onstage to really lift it. Jedward are about as good as they can be vocally, however there appear to have been some mixing problems with the backing vocals. All the same though Ireland look like near certain qualifiers at this point in time.

Tractors, Noodle Soup and Woki Mit Deim Popo!

Without a doubt one of the most interesting national finals this year was Austria. The big battle between Conchita Wurst and Trackshittaz was well flagged and also well watched. Ultimately the Trackshittaz were victorious. Personally I would have accepted either, and I think they both would have been great songs.

Before I launch into praising this song I'd like to say that I completely understand those of you who do not like this. More for this song than any other. But despite my general disliking of rap I really like Trackshittaz. Perhaps it may be because of the tractors or maybe it is the fact unlike most rappers they don't aim to "keep it real". The song is really good. It is aggressive enough that rap fans should like it and it should also appeal to the wider Eurovision audience, maybe not the fan network but certainly the people who watch Eurovision but are not one of the diehard fans. Trackshittaz have a great likability factor and this, combined with a strong stage show will really stand out in Baku.

Moving away from the song and Austria are still really well positioned this year. Third last in their semi-final they stand to do really well, particularly as they appear after Hungary. In a ballad heavy year it is likely that this will stand out in the final. I think could do really well. Maybe not so much with the juries though.

Verdict: This is a favorite of mine but I love a good number of semi-final 1 songs but overall this is great ad could do better than expected in Baku on the Saturday.

Grade: A-

The Highs And Lows Of National Final Season 2012 Part 2

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. Part 2 continues our series.

Ireland holding a national final
That was a joke wasn't it. Since around October people were pretty sure that Ireland would be sending Jedward to the contest. It actually was slightly surprising to hear that there still would be a Late Late Show special. Anyhow to no ones surprise they won.

And the award for longest interval act goes to....Moldova.
After an huge national final of 22 (roughly, I can't remember) you'd think that they'd wrap it up quickly and get it over with. Oh no, instead Moldova went on the rampage with a 40 minute interval act. I'm not going to put a video of here. It seems pointless. Go and learn how to make an origami swan instead it would seem more useful.

Trackshittaz vs. Conchita Wurst
What a showdown that was in Austria between two guys (with a great song) shouting at people to shake their bottoms and well, Conchita. It really was the most unorthodox showdown of the year and Trackshittaz won by 51% which is really really close.


Loreen's Melodifestivalen Final Performance
Anyone who likes Loreen will understand just how good this amazing performance was. For me it was Melodifestivalen moment of the year.

Cringe performance in Romania.
We wouldn't have spotted this only for Eurovision Apolcalypse. (One of the best Eurovision blogs around). Anyhow I just loved Bianca Purcarea's studio version. However the vocals in her live performance could have been drowned out my rubbing nails on a chalkboard.

 We'll continue the series shortly.

A Night Where Two Show Songs Were Picked

For those who think that Eurovision has more to do with the song than the entertainment factor.

In Austria Trackshittaz won and I was delighted. It is a great song and was more entertaining than the bearded lady.

In Ireland JEWARD WON. As I'm sure your aware we are huge fans of Jedward for two reasons: 1. I suspect they could win Eurovision 2. Jedward fans give us a lot of hits. If another artists fans did this we'd also  support them, if I liked the song enough - we're fickle like that. Sadly RTÉ now

This really was excellent performance and I really liked the mixing. The big surprise was Donna's rather poor performance and Andrew Mann's very good performance which sort of changed peoples expectations of the outcome.

On other points my brother was watching the Late Late Show with me and he took some interest in the songs that other countries have picked. He normally is good to pick up on songs that do well in ESC. He thought that Denmark had picked a rather good song. He drew parallels between Soluna's song and Adele. He also was rather critical of the backing track behind Tooji's song but that may have been the poor sound on our TV. We will be hearing more from him at a later stage - once he owes  me enough.

The National Final With The Rappers And......The Bearded Woman?

Even though most of the Austrian songs have been online for quite some time we decided to wait before we reviewed them. Now that they are all online here we go:

James Cottriall - Stand up is quiet a catchy but dated song. The datedness may compromise the song at national final level. I still like it for its old style. Grade: C+

!Deladap - Simple, old-style, this is actually quite nice piece of swing-ish music. I like this. Grade: C+

Mary Broadcast Band - The simple and gentle start is good but it doesn't develop enough to stand out. The vocals are nice but I just cannot imagine this at ESC. It is to gentle for Eurovision. However a little push in the song would help it greatly while maintaining the overall spirit of the song. Grade: D

Papermoon - The song works much more than Mary Broadcast Band. It is gentle but at the same time grows into something that you can enjoy. It shouldn't be too difficult to get the vocals right. Really like this other than the too many languages. A possible contender? Grade: C-

Norbert Schinder - A little old style once again. Getting bored of these. Grade: E+

Trackshittaz - This is a song I was looking forward to. Trackshittaz were worthy of Eurovision last year. This, like last year is all about staging in the right way. The energy that Trackshittaz will be able to bring on stage should make this a contender. Grade: B-

Valerie - At the start sound could be a remix of Cyprus 2007. However there is something in this song I just don't like. The constant stopping is annoying. Don't like this. Grade: F

Conchita Wurst - The Schlagerboys are going to love this. It just needs to be strengthened a little and this may happen by being performed live. This was the first song that I stopped to replay once it had stopped. Really like this. Notice that I got around this song without mentioning the beard! Grade: B+

Krautschadl - I think that this is very average. It just does not have the kind of edge that I was looking for. Grade: D-

3Punkt5- Frankly I can't see what I was waiting for. This lacks any real interesting features that other songs in this National Final are going to deliver. Grade: F