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:

• 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.

So if you thought that tonight was going to be quiet or without a few surprises think again.

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. 

Tone Damli's New Song

Sometimes it is nice to step away from the busy world of the National Finals. Some may have noticed that Tone Damli Aaberge [From MGP 2009] has released a new song. We loved her back in 2009 and we still think she is just fantastic. And we are delighted to present her latest song.

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.

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

We Get To See Marie Serneholt In Catsuit!!!!

While in theory Melodifestivalen started on Monday, today we actually saw the results of it with SVT publishing one minute clips of each of the songs in the first semi-final. Normally we would wait until after the full songs are published but due to the nature of the contest we cannot and one minute clips give us a lot to work with.

Sean Banan - This has proven to be the most interesting entry so far in Melodifestivalen I find it quite nice to listen to. Of course the chorus being strong with a weak verse is not a good idea for a song that is going first in the competition. However it is a very integing song which I am surprised by. Sean has a good number of fans who will support him through the contest so I think he will surely be in Andra Chansen whether he goes direct to the final will be surprising, as I suspect the song will be quite repetitive in the long version.  I don't like the Blue and Yellow because it just reminds me of Dublin Bus or much else about the way it is staged. Grade: C+

Abalone Dots - A deep moody and raw Swedish ballad, which kinda reminds me of a stripped back Timoteij. I think that it could surprise us and come 5th but there is only a 50% chance of that happening I do accept. The song is one that I find really appealing which would not be what every fan would say.  The staging is done smartly focusing on instrutments and the epicness of it all. Even though I like it I'm not entirely convinced Sweden will go for it. Grade: C

The Moniker - Is spite of being one of the most antipated songs in the National Finals this song from The Moniker is a surprise. While we accept that he is into this style of music we weren't expecting him to put it into Melodifestivalen. The staging is simple and staightforward. However given the ruthless nature of Melodifestivalen it would not surprise me if this failed to qualify. Grade: D+

Afro-Dite - Afro-Dite surprised no one with the song that they choose for MF. It is similar to the disco songs that we heard from them in 2002/3. Their staging will be good on the night and this combined with having two rather balladish songs before it could help it go through to AC or directly to the final. However given that the song does sound like it could have come from 2000's and may be rejected by the Swedes because it sounds to old. Grade: C

Dead By April - Fans have said that this a possible qualifier however I think that the rather fickle nature of the Swedes means that they could reject this. It would actually be ok if there wasn't so much screaming. Grade: G

Marie Serneholt - You can say what you like about about Swing-Pop, this has AC written all over it. Most importantly (for us hetrosexual males anyway) is that according to SVT Marie will be wearing a catsuit. This could add quite a lot to my overall enjoyment of the song. Otherwise I am enjoying the song however the lyrics are a little childish but overall this could be a surprise finalist, considering Marie's popularity and her hosting of MF last year. Gossip: Did anyone notice that you could see right through Marie's blouse today? (I'm starting to sound like a real prevert now aren't I? So I shall shut up while I am ahead.) Grade: B+

Thorsten Flinck - What is a shame is that the song is actually rather nice but Thorsten actually destorys it with his voice. He sounds like the guy down the back of the pub who has had to much to drink. Personally I am not this songs biggest fan and reakon it will be stuck in the semi-final it came from. The staging is nice. Grade: E-

Loreen - When it was announced that Loreen was performing in MF many fans were delighted but not myself. I got what I expected. A rather cold and clinical song that is not overly appealing but Loreen has a rather remarkable voice. That is all. What is wrong? Well she makes no effort to perform the song live and does not make a connection with the target audience. Her hair also does not make the lack of charisma any easier to deal with. This will be great to listen to but won't be very interesting to watch except for the first time when I expect Sweden will love it so much it will go straight through to the Final. Grade: B

Clearly Loreen and Marie are the ones we would like to see go through to the final, with Sean Banan and Abalone Dots go through to the Andra Chansen. 

Sailors, Cowboy Hats and Too Much Wine. MGP: Semi 3

With news to be posted slowly mounting up, it's time to put the foot down and get moving.


Tooij - From some of the writers who brought you In The Club in Sweden comes a very similar song. I think that this is strong however the verse and chorus do not exactly add up together. The wrap that was put into the song doesn't make huge amount of sense. However it still is doing well on my playlist. I also don't like the chuncky key change in the song - that can be done much more easily. Overall I am looking forward to seeing this live. Grade: B+

Marthe Valle - The key question with this song is that if it is a little different, is different a good thing? I certainly think that it is. I think that the beat in the chorus of this song really changes it and lifts it from being a dull ballad to….a…..emmmm. Well I'm not exactly sure. This may not make the final but it could if it was presented in the right way on stage. The MGP stage this year allows for great diversity in the performances while holding a theme. Still one of my favourites. Grade: B-

Bobby Bare & Petter - Grab your cowboy hats people. Norway is goin' country. I really think that this is a little different. I like the style and this will be sung well and will definitely appeal to the Norweigian people. A different finalist. Grade: A-

Yaseen & Julie Maria - A sadly what starts sounding like it could be a nice ballad, but the rap starts and the song just sounds cheap. Grade: F

Havard Lothe Band - This is….different…that is for sure. I'm not sure if this is what I was looking for but it is ok. It bounces along the way I would like it to but it doesn't actually have enough to be quality material. Grade: D

Silya Nymoen - Not really what I was looking for, some people may think it is but I disagree. Grade: D

The Canoes - Well this song just about sums up every drunken night I've had. I really enjoy this one and laugh about it. However I think that the song quality is only so so and there is more potencial in it. I think that if this in an English speaking country it would do extremely well. But Norway is a grey area. While they do not offically speak English but has many people who will understand the song. Grade: B-

Lise Karlsnes - This could go either way. It could be very good (and I might mention I think that this is a really enjoyable song) however it could fall victim to the same problems the put Rikke Nordmann out of the contest, even if she was one of the stronger contestants. Grade: B+

Quick News on 1/2/12

Other than the interesting repetition of todays date there is much to talk about in the world of Eurovision so we are here to condense it into a few sentences:

• Ireland's Eurosong line up (we now can reveal) looks complete with Andrew Mann (If you heard of him let us know). He will be mentored by Greg French. Hat tip to Tony Scott from Southeast FM for the news.
• Wiwi Blogs have published a rather interesting number of ideas of things that should go into the Azerbaijan Eurovision Museum. With the help of a number of blogs (us included) it is now complete. You can see it here and it is well worth looking at.
• Greta Sálome will now not have two songs in the Icelandic national final unlike previously advertised. She has dropped from performing the second song which she wrote herself. Instead she will focus on her song with Jonsi. Icelandic national final is on 11th February
• We would like to draw your attention today to the fact that Colm Hayes has  penned a song for Jedward for Euro 2012. I would like to point out that this has nothing to do with Eurovision it is about the Euro 2012 soccer tournament taking place in June. (I suspect some ESC fans may never have heard of it.)

That is all for the moment I expect to have the review of the last MGP semi-finals tonight. Selected ESC songs that are not reviewed at the moment will come in due course.