Eurovision 2011 - Dusseldorf to Baku

What a night!

Eurovision is essentially my Christmas, and it really didn't disappoint. It's perhaps cliche, but I really do think that the quality of the songs improves year on year.

At my house party, the best reactions were for Denmark, Ireland & Sweden, with everyone singing along to Switzerland and Finland too. We loved Ukraine's sand artist and the mental Moldovan unicyclist trumpeter.

We felt that Blue's performance was okay, but that "it's a better song to sing along with than just listen to".

All party attenders were given a country or two support, and got to sport a fab Eurovision Minipop pin badge. We ate Black Forest cakes and hot dogs in honour of Germany's hosting, and drank more than 20 different spirits from around Europe in the voting drinking run. Newcomers this year were an Austrain Chocolate liqueur (lush) and a Lithuanian spirit (caustic). We were unfortnately unable to locate any Vana Tallin, our favourite Estonian petrol-like spirit.

So what about my analysis? Starting with the Semi-Final qualifiers, I was pretty sad that San Marino failed to qualify in their second outing, and I still rate Senit's "Stand By" as one of my favourite entries this year. I was also disappointed that Norway's "Haba Haba" didn't qualify, especially as questionable entries from Lithuania and Greece did. From the second Semi, my favourite song was Latvia, largely due to the lyric "Love me with luscious thighs", but along with Israel's Dana International, it failed to qualify in favour of dull Austria and bizarre Moldova.

In the Final itself, I chose to support Azerbaijan out of tradition, and whilst I really liked the song from the first listen, I didn't see it as a contender to win. The staging was simple and singing great. Once again, the winner of Eurovision was a simple song, with simple staging, proving that it's not always about the tricks and gimmicks.

Having said that, there were some great gimmicks: Sweden's glass-shattering and Bieber-licious dancing; Bosnia's triangle; Russia's glow-jackets; Lena's sperm-dancers and Ukraine's set-stealing sand-artist.

I was a bit disappointed with the low positions for Hungary and Estonia, I really liked their entries and thought they deserved better.
The UK song is great on CD, but felt a bit lacklustre live, I've read since that there were sound mixing issues which is a real shame but does probably explain why it lacked the anthemic sound Blue were aiming for. Nevertheless, we scored ten times the points of last year and an 11th place for a country with no friends or countries with shared music taste is pretty good!

So that's it for the year, I've just got to finish off the last of my smoked cheese and anaemic meats, play the CD to death and start researching Azerbaijan, ready for next year's party... here's a map to show you where Baku, the Azeri capital is.


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Eurovision 2011 Semi Final 2: predictions

Oh dear. My Semi-Final 1 predictions were a little off, but at least 3 of my favourites made it through. All in all, I guessed only 5 right, so let's see if I can do better tonight:

• Sweden
• Israel
• Bosnia-Hercegovina
• Denmark
• Latvia
• Ukraine
• Slovakia
• Estonia
• Romania
• Belarus

(Sorry Slovenia, I'm really warming to you but don't think it's your year)

Eurovision 2011 Semi-Final 1 Predictions

Okay so in just over 90 minutes BBC Three will start showing the first Semi Final. The UK get to vote in this one to decide which 10 acts progress to the final on Saturday.

I'm going to split my predication in two...

My 5 favourites are Turkey "Live It Up", San Marino "Stand By", Iceland "Coming Home", Hungary "What About My Dreams?" & Azerbaijan "Running Scared". I have some doubts about Hungary's ability to sing live and whether anyone will care about tiny San Marino, but I do hope for the best.

I actually don't like many of the other entries. Nevertheless, I suspect that the other 5 entries that will garner votes will be Armenia, Russia, Albania, Poland & Greece. Of these 5, Poland and Russia's are okay.

Now all there is to do is watch and wait!

The Quirky

Germany/Deutschland – "Taken by a stranger" – Lena

Lena won Eurovision 2010 and wanted to return to “defend her title”. Yeah whatever, I think she wanted to show off this amazing song that in no way will win, but will definitely be on my playlist for time to come. It’s a little Bjork-like, but not quite so weird, with a haunting melody and clever but sometimes-crazy lyrics.

Here's last year's winning entry by Lena:

Finland/Suomi – "Da Da Dam" – Paradise Oskar

This sweet guitar song is all about Peter, who wants to save the environment, though I’m not quite sure how singing “dad a dum” does that, but I know he’s not coming back until the planet is saved. It’s quite charming and bizarre at the same time

http://www.bbc.co.uk/eurovision/contestants/2010/finland.shtml

Estonia/Eesti – "Rockefellar Street" - Getter Jaani

This is cute in the most part, though the chorus is a bit weak, though the sense of disappointment is probably because the verses and stage presence are actually pretty good. Not a winner, but not a toilet break song either.

Belarus/Беларусь – "I Love Belarus" – Anastasia Vinnikova

This is delightfully mental, from the title right through the tinging little Belarussian xylophone or whatever it is. You clearly will be singing along by the end, and that’s when you realise just how creepy that is, given that Belarus is the USSR’s last bastion and is a nation ruled autocratically by the power of fear. Perhaps it’s a subversive metaphor for the mind control that the KGB (which still exist in Belarus) wish to exert over their populace?

The Power Ballads

Albania/Shqipërisë – "Feel The Passion" – Aurela Gaçe

This starts off with some nice Balkan beats, but gets a bit shouty in the choruses, which is a shame as she really wants to “share this song with you”. She’s got a definite Eastern European look and I like the video, but am a bit apprehensive about seeing it live.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/eurovision/songs/2011/albania.shtml 

Cyprus/Κύπρος - San Aggelos S'Agapisa - Christos Mylordos

Standard male ballad from Cyprus full of Laika, wailing, crying and angst. I’m all for formulaic pop music but seriously, it’s boring now. (Still, can always bet on the 12 points from Greece eh?)

He's not even really a looker to be honest so I'm quite disappointed.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/eurovision/songs/2011/cyprus.shtml

Austria/Österreich – "The secret is love" - Nadine Beiler

No denying Nadine is a good singer, with lovely tone, but this ballad is so by the numbers you can predict the staging from about 10 seconds of the song – smoke machine, spotlight and backing singers doing “the grab”. Not bad at all, but not exactly standout.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/eurovision/songs/2011/austria.shtml

Slovenia/Slovenija – "No one" – Maja Keuc

Every year I want to like Slovenia’s entry so much it hurts, and as hard as I try, I can’t warm to this ballad, though I do like the incongruous dancing by the two out-of-time dancers. Maja was on "Slovenia's Got Talent" (perhaps quite an ambitious feat for a country of just 2 million) She does sound quite like Anastacia and it's not awful, but it doesn't really have the POW! it should.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/eurovision/songs/2011/slovenia.shtml

The rock

Turkey/Türkiye - "Live it up" - Yüksek Sadakat

This rock-inspired entry doesn’t make too much sense, but starts well, though it doesn’t really break the mould, and it’s never that comfortable watching middle-aged men try and rock out.
They're pretty big in Germany, Netherlands and Belgium though (I think they're a Turkish U2-a-like), so may well do well.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/eurovision/songs/2011/turkey.shtml 

Moldova – "So Lucky" – Zdob si Zdob

A rock entry built around a cheeky recurring clarinet riff that is standout from the other entries (in a good way). 

FYR Macedonia/Македонија – "Rusinka" – Vlatko Ilievski

This cheeky little fella goes round and round 4 sets in the really quite good one-shot video for this song about a “Russian Girl”. His voice isn’t exactly honey to the ears, but I actually quite like it, and am looking for an excuse to go to Skopje and Ohrid, so maybe I should back this as my wildcard. Oh, and I LOVE that he is apparently Macedonia's "Jon Bon Jovi"!

The retro

Belgium/België/Belgique – "With Love Baby" – Witloof Bay

There’s some ugly women fronting this band, which you think are quite distracting... until the beatboxing kicks in and THEN you realise it’s all over. In some ways this is brilliant, it’s a like a 50’s barbershop quartet with a fairly catchy song... but it just falls apart like an overcooked waffle.

Serbia/Србија/Srbija – "Čaroban"/"Magical" – Nina

This 60s inspired track shimmies up to you full of promise but it wimps out, and doesn’t go anywhere. Pleasant enough, sung well, but a bit dull, although she’s really cute at the end!

The folk

There's always a few entries which follow a more traditional music route, and frankly, they're often horrendous (O Julissi anyone?!). Decide for yourself which of this trio buck that trend

Iceland/Ísland – Coming Home – Sjonni’s Friends

There is a real poignancy behind this act, in that the original singer died suddenly during the Icelandic heats, and his friends decided to carry on in his memory. Has to be said though that the lyrics, that include prophetic lines such as “no-one knows when my time on earth comes to an end” don’t quite fit with the cheery melody, so it leaves you feeling a bit uneasy, though it is pretty catchy all the same.

Portugal – Luta é Alegria – Homens Da Luta

  

Oh dear. Portugal had been doing quite well in the past few years, sending lovely folk songs with innocent looking singers and was looking to break its record of the country with the longest Eurovision residency without a win. And now they are bizarrely changing tack and sending the Over 40’s Portugese Village People. They don’t sing in tune, the song is god awful and the stage presence is more uncomfortable than watching a Nativity play at a school for the incontinent.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/eurovision/songs/2011/portugal.shtml 

 

Bosnia & Hercegovina – "Love in rewind" - Dino Merlin 

Dino Merlin is one of the Balkan's biggest music stars; this guy wrote Bosnia’s national anthem when the country was born in 1995! This Eurovision entry isn't his first either. It’s a fairly charming affair, uplifting and with that crucial memorable chorus. And given his background, he's pretty unlikely to suffer from stage fright.

The “urban” (i.e. has a rap bit in it)

Ok so next up are the entries that are, or at least try be at the 'cooler' end of the Eurovision spectrum. Only some succeed, and thankfully, and perhaps unbelievably, the UK entry seems to be one of them!

United Kingdom – "I Can" – Blue

So this year, the BBC have taken the brave decision to send Blue to Europe. You know, like a “real” band. One of my ongoing gripes with those that diss the UK not winning Eurovision is that they don’t realise how other countries genuinely try and send their best where as we dredge up old X-factor losers. So in a sense, I’m pleased, though the trouble with Blue is that they were popular in the late 90s and I’m not certain we’re ready for a revival. The song is damn catchy though, and we know they can sing quite well, so a low score would begrudgingly convince me the voting really is ALL political.

Having seen the lads do a few live performances now, they seem slick and at ease, so we really do have a hope at winning this year. Come on, all together, #“I can, I will...”#

Latvia/Latvija – "Angel in disguise" – Musiqq

[from http://www.eurovision.tv/page/history/year/participant-profile/?song=26113]

Quite a good sounding guitar “buddy-ballad” until you pay attention to the lyrics – “love me with luscious thighs”, which make this a bit less innocent and earnest than I imagine it was planned to be. It’s catchy though and very listenable, though the rap in the middle is just naff.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/eurovision/songs/2011/latvia.shtml

Georgia/საქართველო – "One More Day" - Eldrine

This starts off with some electronica, has a rocky chorus, throws in a rap and a weird video that’s like a behind-the-scene mixed in with the actual filming. Like it though, and hope the megaphones make it to the stage.

Greece/Ελλάδα – "Watch My Dance" – Loucas Yiorkas feat. Stereo Mike

This rap heavy song is pretty brave given that few across Europe will understand the lyrics. The singing bits are okay, and the laika music that is mandatory for all Greek/Cypriot entries twiddles on in the background, but this song never feels like it gets going.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/eurovision/songs/2011/greece.shtml

The Gay

OMG. These four songs are the highlights of the year. They are my Eurovision lifeblood, camp disco schlager music that just make me smile and then dance inanely. Even when they're actually shit. Joyous times.

Sweden/Sverige – "Popular" – Eric Saade

This sounds like a lot of Swedeish schlager-pop and good on it. Eric belts out some crackingly bad lines; the early rhyming of “impossible” with erm, “possible” is a big humdinger of a bleurgh, but he makes up for it with a series of Bieber-licioius mini-dance breaks. In truth, this is utterly ridiculous, but pretend that you’re a thirteen-year old girl in your bedroom and you’ll love it (so obviously I do)

Hungary/Magyarország – "What About My Dreams?" – Kati Wolf

Think “Hungarian Sarah Jessica Parker” and Kati is it. This starts as a power ballad that you hope becomes a “traditional” Eurovision stomper... and it does, though it momentary blip in the middle with far too much warbling, though this is redeemed at the end when Kylie’s “Disco Needs You” choir climbs on board. If you’ve had enough to drink and/or are in a club, this is the kind of song that will have jumping around pretending you’re in a spotlight with rain pouring on your face.

Malta – One Life – Glen Vella

If Glen isn’t gay then my ‘dar is way off and someone needs to tell him to smile less, stop flailing around and wear less neon. The music and lyrics are pure diva anthem, this is “fabulous”, but it ain’t a grower. (In case I’m not clear, it’s awful. Like, really B.A.D.)

Israel/יִשְׂרָאֵל‎‎/إِسْرَائِيل– "Ding Dong" – Dana International

S/he’s back! Ex-winner Dana belts out this gay club-friendly choon with the campest title this year. She also manages to sing in Hebrew without it sounding like a respiratory disease ward in winter, no small achievement. Having said that, it does a sound a bit Eurovision of 10 years ago, but that doesn’t stop it being fabulous.