Review: Latvia Semi Final 1

Latvia was one of the earliest to publish their songs. Latvia’s national final is also on tomorrow night so in advance we publish our reviews of the songs in the first semi-final.

Atis Levins - This song is like motorway driving you get on, get bored driving and are happy when you get off. It is adifficult song to put a genre on. Grade: F

Maia - This is an interesting little song and does draw you in a little. The interude is nice and very unexpected. Latvia is not known for having a good selection process, and this probably will stand out a little. However taking the macro view, this really is annoying song that doesn't go far but goes a little. Ending is sudden and doesn't suit the song. Grade: E

Samantha Tina & Davids Kalandija - At first I thought this was a simiple ballad but the chorus proved me wrong, the fact Davids does not come in until the secondd  verse does nothing for the song. However it is a little complex and the arrangement is good. The piano in the background is very effective. But I am still unsure if their voices actually work together. Grade:D-

Nikolajs Puzikovs - I thought at first this was going to be better than it actually was. Disappointing. The opening screamed so much potenical but this was quickly destoryed. However it has enough redeming features to pass. Grade: E-

Laura Bicane & Romans Sladzis - This song is more like what I was looking for. It is just a little more orginal. We havent heard too much of this at the contest. However it is far from perfect. I fear this only stands out because it has some good points, and would be lost compared to the quality that is already there. Grade: C

PeR - Finally an easy name to spell. This is an odd song. You sit there and wonder just what is going to develop into. The trouble is the song is so repetitive I can't see this actually standing out. Grade: E-

Angelina & Alisa May - Once again I thought this was actually going to good. Vocally good, however the almost childish lyrics are a little distracting. The key change is too late, though good, I'm just a little bored. Grade: E+

Paula Dukure - That’s better, much better. This is a little different and actually sounds like ESC material,  however it would still need a good vocal performance, but listening to Paula sing she should hold notes on the night. Grade: C+

Andris Abelite - Another song that came through the internet selection. The retro feel manages to stay on the right side of retro/dated. Though the song has a nice jazzy feel it does have real jazz strenght; think Raphael Gaulazzi. A little over repetitive. Grade: E+

Ruta Duduma - This stripped back and layed back song could do well if sandwiched between two fast songs. For the genre it is rather good. I am rreally liking the chorus. Grade: B-

Based on these reviews The Best Eurovision Blog supports RUTA DUDUMA for the final. However overall I am disappointed with the Latvian songs.

We will have the second part of these reviews; for semi 2 next week. 

The Best Eurovision Blog will have coverage of the Latvian semi final tomorrow night on Twitter follow us @besteuroblog from 19:15GMT/20:15CET/21:15EET.

Love Oh Love! I gotta come back to Eurovision. Cos I oh I can't go a minute without Eurovision.

Today Denmark annonuced the 10 finalists they selected. While most of them seem like the usual unheard of hopeful two interesting names popped up in the songwriters list: John Gordon and Julie Frost. In terms of performers there's an X Factor finalist; someone who is similar to Kelly Clarkson or Pink and someone who claims they spent a third of their life in a Caravan. No doubt the Schlagerboys will be disappointed that Thomas G:son is not a songwriter here but I have no doubt we will see at least one good schlager anthem here - we often do. What concerns me is that none of the contestants coming out of Denmark are well known. Myself and many others have Denmark ear marked to win. While the real test is the quality of songs; this is a bad step.

Nearby in Netherlands they too announced their finalists who, it seems are less known than the people in Denmark. Most interestingly four of the six contestants are in some way connected to The Voice of Netherlands.

Review: Albania

Albania

Please note that this review is based on the long version sung at Festival I Kenges 50, and the song will be shortened for ESC 2012.

Albania surprised me this year by picking a song which I was a fan of. Normally I would pass on the Albanian entry. They selected the song Suus sung by the remarkable Rona Nishliu. This is a song that relies heavily on a strong vocal performance. While I don’t doubt Rona’s ability it is not a safe bet. The song needs to be shortened. This may seem like quite a job but in my view it can be done. The song is currently about 4:10 long. The part before the higher (shouty) part is about 90 seconds long. 50 seconds could easily be knocked off this. 30 seconds could be taken off of the second verse.

One of the biggest threats to the song will be staging, particularly how to present Rona. In Fik she presented both with the peasant look (blue/grey dress) and the richer look (weird black leather jacket with dark dress). Neither suits a 25 year old well. Albania has to work out how to present the song and (as Chiara knows) this is essential. Backing singers would ruin a great song. As I have previously said it is difficult to figure out how it will do in ESC. However I believe that juries are prepared to back a vocally strong song to get it through to the final even if they don’t continue to support it in the Final (More on that in a later post). However as with Switzerland we just don’t know the trends at this stage. If there are a lot of ballads from the Balkan region (remember who Serbia is sending), then this song could struggle. We also don’t know the quality of songs this year. This could still give us an Olsen Brothers moment.

I recommend a dress like what she wore at the national final on the night except use a more normal looking leather jacket. Leave just Rona on stage with a piano and violin player (sitting and distant from Rona) combined with grey/blue lighting. The other problem is in the National Final she did not open her eyes very much during the performance, when she did, she looked at the floor. This leads to a lack of an emotional connection with the audience and voters and needs fixing.

Personally I have supported the song through the National Final and intend to support it at Eurovision. I get different feelings and emotions from music and this song gives me feelings that I normally don’t get from just a normal Eurovision song; even if I really like it. Having said that I don’t know what it will look like on stage in Baku or even with Albania you just don’t know how it will sound.

Verdict: A strong song which could take Albania out of the Semi Finals but not into the Top 10 with the support of Juries. I know it is not everyone's cup of tea but I think it is possible to believe that this could come first with the juries in the semi-final. I really like this song and think it has a lot of depth. However we still have not heard the final version.

Grade: B+

Another Eurosong Finalist Annonuced

The second confirmed entrant to Eurosong 2012 in Ireland is Donna McCaul of Donna and Joe who sung for Ireland in 2005.

While I respect her as a former entrant for Ireland, personally I think that she will come with a moody ballad that won't stand out on the night. But this remains to be seen.

There is rumour going around that other finalists may emerge today or tomorrow and we will try to have reaction as fast as possible when these announcements happen.

So What To Look Forward To.

Scléip boy, things are getting busy. 


I not going into what scléip means but it seems the right thing to say at this point in time. I had planned out the articles required over the next 10 days in the run up to National Final. However looking at the calender we need to get moving now. I had intended to write this piece over the next few days and publish it in due course. However it has crashed forward into this week. Due to the National Finals this week you may find that

What to expect this year:

• Ireland - I think Jedward is definately going to be there for Ireland again this year. I'm not looking forward to the National Final/Late Late Show. I expect very few quality songs. In fact I don't know how RTÉ will scrabble together five songs for The Late Late Show. We should expect them to be together with Linda Martin as their mentor. They are currently staring in the Olympia Pantomime together.  
• UK - I'm not exactly sure what the UK will do this year, everything will be down to who they get to sing this year.
• France - Not expecting them to beat their placing last year.
• Spain - Expecting a strong song that is tipped to win but will come about 8th (Not scoring as well as expected with juries)
• Norway - Not sure if their plan to change MGP (dropping Andra Chansen) will have much impact. Norway usually have one of the best National Finals and I expect that they will deliver a strong song this year
• Sweden - For the love of God: Pick Timoteij. Really you just don't know what Sweden will do next. There are some returning faces to Melodifestivalen but there are also some strong new ones. It's something to look forward to.
• Denmark - I think Denmark are the most likely to win this year, but that is just my intuition (or those random feelings you get in the middle of the night after a few drinks). However Denmark really seem to be going for the victory this year and seem to keep mentioning that they came so close in the last two year.
• Italy - I really am unsure what will arrive out of San Remo this year but I think Italy (if they put their minds to it) have a selection process that could be good for picking a song that will clean of jury votes for the final.

Overall I am expecting one of the strongest line ups of songs given that the Swiss and Albania songs are well above average so far.

The Best Eurovision Blog Awards 2011

The Best Eurovision Blog Awards

These awards are given to the songs which I thought were the best in either the National Finals or Eurovision. Please note the Swiss and Albania national finals for ESC 2012 have not been considered.

Award for Best Song at Eurovision 2011 – New Tomorrow – A Friend in London – Denmark.

Award for most entertaining Song – Lipstick – Jedward

Award for Best Song at a National Final: I’m In Love – Sanna Nielsen

Award for Outstanding National Quality – MPG Norway

Award for Best studio version of a Eurovision Song – Getter Jaani – Rockafeller Street.

Overall Award for best song of the year: Vardlokk- Helena Boksle (Norway).

A little thought

Sometimes we forget the difference between a blog and a website. Sometimes I worry this diary of Eurovision opinion is to news driven. Sometimes I try to change this. Like Now.

This evening I was watching a programme on RTÉ celebrating 50 years of broadcasting. One of the parts featured discussed peoples memory of ESC. People spoke of being let stay up late with their family to watch Eurovision. Sometimes we lose sight of this. We forget happy memories of being together, celebrating this wonderful event. Before I was what you might call a full time fan, I remember being together as a family for ESC. This documentary brought back some of these forgotten memories.