Semi-Final Two: Part One

So after the first 17 songs that were more miss than hit in the first semi-final, we hopefully move onto a better set in Semi Final Two (broadcast 2000 CET 27/05/2010 onBBC3)

1 Lithuania
"East European Funk" - InCulto

This is a cool and sometimes corny ska-influenced number to start the show, and it's a crowd pleaser... well at least the crowds of people in Lithuanian supermarkets judging from the video. There's a few references to us "all being in the EU" etc which nicely topicalise what is actually a pretty good 3 minutes.

2 Armenia
"Apricot Stone" - Eve Rivas

I've listened to this a few times now and whilst I kind of like it, I still don't really understand what it's about... apricot stones from the motherland? But she sings it like it means everything, so perhaps something got lost in the translation. Then again, she does bang on about the winds affecting the harvest and her "cherished fruit" - is the apricot an Armenian equivalent of cherry I wonder...?

3 Israel
"Milim" - Harel Skaat ("Words")

I think I make this comment every year, but Hebrew is not a beautiful sounding language. Although Harel is sufficiently distracting to look at that perhaps it doesn't matter.

4 Denmark
"A moment like this" - Chanée and N'evergreen

This brilliantly-named duo are like the elder siblings of Same Difference, with more hairspray and guitars. There's nothing else sounding like this in the Contest this year, and it's pretty catchy, so who knows? But the song never gets away with the fact it is perfect for an X Factor winner. It's good, but it's not right.

5 Switzerland
"Il Pleut de L'Or" Michael von der Heide ("It's raining gold")

It's hard to not play the cheap shot and comment on the irony that a man with such prominent ears didn't listen to his own song. Oops. Seriously though, this is all a bit embarrassing, like watching your gay dad do karaoke - you have to watch but feel uncomfortable throughout.

6 Sweden
"This is my life" - Anna Bergendahl

You can usually rely on Sweden to provide a catchy pop tune with some kind of dance routine, so you spend the 3 minutes of this track waiting for sequinned dancers, or a back beat to emerge on this, but it never happens. Once you've got over that, it's an okay guitar ballad, akin to Delta Goodrem I suppose, but not really stand out. I guess I'm just used to better things from Sweden. Disappointing.

7 Azerbaijan
"Drip Drop" - Safura

And so onto the favourite. And it's easy to see why. Forget the snide "it's not even in Europe", we're going to Baku next year if Safura pulls this off. It's a great, contemporary bittersweet ballad, with minimal translation issues and relatively gimmick-free. Altogether now... "Drip drop drip drop, wa-oh wa-oh...". Lovely.