Eurovision 2013: The Aftermath (part three)

Now that I've been through the "sacrificial lambs" I'm going to write about the "high hitters", songs that did much better that I thought they would.

Nineteenth place normally wouldn't be considered a high hitting place, but for this song it is definitely better than I thought it would.

 

Bonnie Tyler   "Believe In Me"   United Kingdom

I love Bonnie Tyler.  Seriously, who doesn't?  But the BBC shouldn't have sent her with this light country number.  I wanted the 21st Century "Total Eclipse of the Heart", but I got a K.T. Oslin number. 

However, Bonnie got more respect than her predecessor--Englebert Humperdinck, picking up points from a number of countries from around the continent from Belarus to Ireland.

It's a good result.  I just hope that the BBC can attract a younger performer to Eurovision next year.  As a former resident of the UK, I have an affection for the UK's entrant every year (no matter how good or bad they are).

And though I hate to say it, another "High Hitter" was the character I dubbed the Belgian chicken.

 

Roberto Bellarosa   "Love Kills"   Belgium

Before the contest, I would have never thought that this song would have come in twelfth, but each performance he became more and more assured.   So congratulations to him.  I still don't care for the performance--his inability to get the handle over English vowels is particularly grating to a native English speaker--but Western and Northern Europeans liked it.   Belgium has to be pleased by the fact they placed so well--the second highest in ten years..

But the real winner of the "High Hitter" award is the Hungarian entry:

 



 

ByeAlex   "Kedvesem"   Hungary

 

In the second semifinal, "Kedvesem" placed eighth, which usually means a placement in the bottom half of the final, but with love from countries all over Europe, Hungary came in tenth--gaining top marks from Germany in the process.   The pundits didn't expect the song to do so well but hit a chord and placed will above those expectation, which makes it the highest of the high hitters.

Eurovision 2013: The Aftermath (part two)

After taking care of the discussion of the winning song, I can move on to things that are much more interesting.

This section I'm going to call the "sacrificial lambs".  These are songs that deserved to do much better than they did, but due to placement in the running order they got lost in the shuffle.

The best example of this is the starting song in the contest.

Amandine Bourgeois   "L'enfer et moi"   France

SVT put Ms. Bourgeois in the starting position of the contest with her very French song.  Her pitch perfect performance was the best way for the contest to start out, and she killed it.  And gave a rather nice Tina Turner impersonation in her leather fringe dress.

Problem is was she was forgotten.  Bourgeois landed in 23rd place, gaining almost all of her paltry 14 points from the microstate of San Marino.

The same thing could be said for the song that SVT placed three songs after Ms. Bourgeois.

After watching the semifinal, I had pegged the Finnish entry as a possible dark horse to win the contest.

Krista Sigfrieds   "Marry Me"   Finland

But being placed as the first upbeat number in the contest meant that it was forgotten by the end, getting a few votes from around Europe and wound up 24th.   

(I know many people would think it's because of the "lesbian" kiss at the end, but had this been placed in the last six songs of the contest, that "controversy" would have have been a moot point.)

The last of my "sacrificial lambs" is one that I could see being argued with more, the song from Iceland.

Eyþór Ingi Gunnlaugsson   "Ég á líf"   Iceland

Mr. Gunnlaugsson ballad was placed after the winner and in my mind he performed the song better than the winning song.   But unfortunately, being after the "fan favorite" meant that he was was going to get the unfair comparisons or completely ignored by the people still swooning over Denmark.  

Iceland wound up in 17th place with points coming from all over "Western" Europe. with a song that is, in my opinion, much more appealing.

Ah, the sacrificial lambs.  I hope to goodness that the EBU goes back to the previous, random, drawing of song places.  What makes for a good show is really subjective and I prefer the idea of randomness giving the songs a chance to be placed in prime spots in the show, not the machinations of a few producers.

Eurovision 2013: The Aftermath (part one)

I've had to give myself a day before I posted this up, because I'm rather disappointed by the results of this contest.

I must admit that I've never been much of a fan of the winning number, but I can appreciate it's got catchy chorus and a hummable melody.

Emmelie de Forest  "Only Teardrops"   Denmark

It just seems rather generic.   As my friend Michael W. noted, it "sounded like he had heard it before" but in  a hundred different songs".  It's not a song that is particularly memorable or original.

But as Eurovision tends not to reward originality, this is an example of a perfect winner.   De Forest will become one of those artists that will not make a splash outside of her country again but be back at Eurovision year after year after year.

Could she become her generation's Lys Assia?  Only time will tell.

My Predictions: Final 2013

Like everybody who has a love of the Eurovision Song Contest, I've been sitting down and analyzing the running order for the final.

Here's the running order, as determined by the lovely people at SVT.

1. France

2. Lithuania

3. Moldova

4. Finland

5. Spain

6. Belgium

7. Estonia

8. Belarus

9. Malta

10. Russia

11. Germany

12. Armenia

13. Netherlands

14. Romania

15. UK

16. Sweden

17. Hungary

18. Denmark

19. Iceland

20. Azerbaijan

21. Greece

22. Ukraine

23. Italy

24. Norway

25. Georgia

26. Ireland

Of course, I'm going to be looking at my personal favorite, Anouk for the Netherlands.  Unluckily drawn into the first half, she's got a good position--the last song in the first half.   She's also between two really lousy songs--the Armenian ecoballad and the (forgive me for offending delicate sensibilities) salute to menstruation--Romania, which will hopefully make the song stand out.

Anouk   "Birds"   the Netherlands

I hope for a good result for the Dutch entry--maybe a top ten position.   I doubt Anouk can win--the song is kind of too classy for the room.  If it does, just expect me to be very, very, happy.

As for likely winners, if I were to put down some money, I'd actually go with Ukraine. 

Zlata Ognevich   "Gravity"   Ukraine

It's well placed and if performed the way it was in this clip, it's worthy of winning the Eurovision Song Contest.

And as a long shot, I'd put some money down on this song too:

Krista Sigfrieds   "Marry Me"   Finland

Hatred has turned to love on this one.  

But to be honest any number of countries songs would be worthy.   Norway, Georgia, Ireland, Italy, Greece,  France, Russia, Moldova, and Iceland are all songs that I would be happy to see win.  

Really there are only three songs that are likely winners that I don't particularly care for.

Cascada   "Glorious"  Germany

Emmilie de Forest   "Only Teardrops"   Denmark

Both of them seem way too generic to actually inspire love, but they are true fan favorites. 

Farid Mammadov   "Hold Me"   Azerbaijan

And on this one, the song is very much back burner to the fantastic gimmick.   It's like the sand lady from Ukraine a few years back.    That's not a particularly flattering comparison, but it's going to get votes.



But all of this analysis is really pointless.  I'm just looking forward to tomorrow morning--the final starts at 11 AM local time here in Alaska.   And then comes my favorite part of the Eurovision season.  The Eurovision parties to determine Alaska's Choice!

The Results: Second Semifinal 2013

Well, again I got seven out of the ten songs correct in my predictions.

Goodbye Albania, San Marino, and Israel.   Hello Iceland, Armenia, and Romania.

I must admit I found this semifinal much less exciting that the first semifinal.  You would have thought otherwise, since there were fewer obvious songs that were going to the final.  But I suppose since my favorite song wasn't in this semi, I didn't feel the personal connection.

But I did get a couple of surprises.  I wound up loving a song that I hated when I first heard it.

Krista Sigfrieds   "Marry Me"  Finland

Congratulations, Ms. Sigfrieds.  I get the song now.  I'm no longer offended; I'm completely on board.

I'm going to be perfectly honest.  I don't understand how Armenia made it through.  It wasn't a good performance and unlike the Belgian entry that I'm not particularly fond of it didn't even feel modern and fun.  In fact the lead singer went off key a bit at the end.

Dorians   "Lonely Planet"  Armenia

Block voting?  Probably.  Did it keep out better songs.  Hell yes.  But good for Armenia.  You're back in the final even with a lousy song and a lackluster performance.

Would I have preferred to see another song in?  Yes.  I loved Israel's ballad, Valentina Monetta's redemption song from San Marino, or this:

Adrian Lulgjuraj and Bledar Sejko   "Identitet"   Albania

It was so disappointing to see how poorly it looked on stage.  Had it been shot differently, the energy level would have been higher and it could have qualified.   Maybe.

But that's just the nature of Eurovision, songs you love don't make it through while songs that don't rate do.

Tomorrow, the fun begins!  The build up to Saturday's final!

My Predictions 2013: Second Semifinal

while I'm up Ship Creek without a paddle.

When looking at the second semifinal, I have to admit that the choice is a lot harder that the first semifinal.

Here are my picks for the ten songs to go to the final:

• Albania
• Azerbaijan
• Finland
• Georgia
• Greece
• Hungary
• Israel
• Malta
• Norway
• San Marino

This time there are only two real obvious choices to make it to the final--Azerbaijan and Georgia.  Both countries have "bought" their songs and they're both extremely strong.  Either of them could be contenders to win the final.

Following those two locks are three songs that are pretty much assured to make the final--Finland, Greece, and Norway.   Greece is another perennial qualifier, Finland's song is truly the only really fun pop number in the contest, and Norway's song has been another fan favorite.   I really cannot see any of them not qualifying, barring a major flub up either tonight or tomorrow.

That leaves the big group of songs that have a good shot of making it through.  I chose Albania, Hungary, Israel, Malta, and San Marino.  Any or all of them could be replaced by Armenia, Bulgaria, Iceland, Romania, or Switzerland.   All of them are of the same quality and the performances are really going to make it  or break it.  

Only two songs, the ones from Latvia and Macedonia, are the ones I can't see qualifying.  Latvia's song is not particularly good while Macedonia's...    I don't want to think about that one.  It just makes me sad that the country that provided my favorite song of last year's contest sent one of the worst songs this year.

 

The Results: First Semifinal

I'm giving up any impartiality I have this year!

I would love to be able to stay impartial, but I can't help it.  My favorite song made it to the final this year!

Anouk   "Birds"   The Netherlands

Absolute perfection as far as I'm concerned--the shots of her with the crowd waving along to the song with the stage behind her completely sold it.

Mind you I about had a heart attack watching the results.  The results are random.  Yeah, right.  They were specifically calibrated to give me a freaking heart attack.

But the real shock of the first semifinal was the absolute lock out of any countries from the former Yugoslavia.   None of the four countries from the former Yugoslavia made it through to Saturday night.  

It could be because of the new ranking of songs, where all are ranked instead of the top ten.  But when you look back at the songs from Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia, none of them were true contenders this year, because they were either poorly performed or inaccessible to Europe as a whole.

For example:

Who See   "Ingranka"  Montenegro

This is a pretty amazing performance, and perhaps the most "in your face" performance in the semifinal.  It feels fresh and modern, but outside the Balkans nobody would vote for it.

But the shock qualifier for me was another Benelux country:

Roberto Bellarosa   "Loff Keels"  Belgium

Bellarosa looked like a scared chicken when he was performing and his English pronunciation of phrases like "Love Kills" and "bitter pill" (excuse me "beater peel") make me wonder what was in the water to put Belgium's number over something like this.

Klapa s Moro   "Mižerja"   Croatia

When something like this happens, I have to remind myself it's not always about the quality of the performance, it's what sounds more popular.  So the amazing Klapa s Moro are going home while the Belgian chicken clucks another day.  (I'm not bitter.  Not one bit.)

But all in all, I'm pretty pleased with the results.  Out of the ten songs I though I would go through, seven made it.   So goodbye to Slovenia, Serbia, and Cyprus and hello to Belgium, Lithuania, and Moldova.

I am looking forward to Thursday and the second semifinal.  If the production is half as good as the production for this semifinal, it's going to be the best Eurovision Song Contest in years.

Any country who can put a fresh spin on last year's winning song

Loreen and Children of Malmö   "Euphoria"

and provide comedic relief that is actually funny gets my vote.

Lynda Woodruff  (Sarah Dawn Finer)

(Sadly they don't have her first part of her tour of Sweden isn't available online yet.  Enjoy this clip from this year's Melodifestivalen.)

If you have the time, you really should watch the entire contest--it's easily streamed from the official Eurovision website.

Now back to listening to the songs.  Maybe after another six or seven listens I can actually figure out what's going on with the Serbian entry...

Moje 3   "Ljubav Je Svuda"   Serbia

Oh.  It's about loving a douche bag.  It still doesn't explain those outfits.  And it proves that you really should have sent Marija Mihajlović.

My Predictions 2013: First Semifinal

Dreaming of Malmö

The bad thing about Eurovision for me, here in Alaska, is that it takes place so early in the day.

While Europeans are at home enjoying a night of light entertainment, I'm at the start of my work day here in Alaska.  It means I'm constantly refreshing the Internet, looking for updates while attempting to do my job.

For the most part I succeed.   But Eurovision is much more fun that making sure numbers balance on ledgers or keeping up with the latest news on health care reform.

-----

Enough about the joys of human resources in Alaska, you're hear to learn my choices to make the final from the first semifinal.

But after spending a few months listening and ranking these songs, it's time to give my choices on the songs I think will go to the semifinal.

• Belarus
• Cyprus
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Ireland 
• Russia
• Serbia
• Slovenia
• the Netherlands
• Ukraine

The amazing thing about this list is that there are only three that I am completely confident of making it through--Denmark, Russia, and Ukraine.  Denmark has been the favorite of many people in the Eurovision community (although not mine) and Russia and Ukraine are perennial qualifiers and the songs aren't completely horrible, so they're locks.

Ireland and Serbia are the second tier. They're likely to make it through.  Ireland has had a lot of good buzz which means people will likely vote for it.  Serbia's song is pretty terrible, but with a good placing and likely Balkan Bloc voting it will be make it through.

That pretty much leaves Belarus, Cyprus, Estonia, Slovenia, and the Netherlands as my final five choices.  I have no real reason to say about these five other my choices are a combination of personal favorites and what I think Europe will vote for on Tuesday night.

I can see any of those five being replaced by Austria, Croatia, or Moldova.   All eight of those songs have an  opportunity to take the final five places.

The only three that I can't see any chance of making it through are Belgium, Lithuania, and Montenegro.  The  first two just seem lame, while the third is so "out there" that people aren't likely to get it.  (Although I must admit I love the astronauts.)

So there's my two cents on the final.   Now here comes some begging.

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Please.  Please. Please.  If you live in Europe and vote in the first semifinal, kindly consider using one of your televotes for this song.

Anouk   "Birds"   The Netherlands

You'd make a Eurovision fan who can't put in his two cents very happy.

Eurovision 2013: Moldova

I hate to say this, but Moldova has completely missed it this year.  Instead of going with something insanely upbeat and fun--the hallmark of Moldovan entries--Moldova has gone with a ballad.

Aliona Moon  "O Mie"

The wrong ballad

Cristina Scarlat  "I Pray"

I don't think I would have a problem with Ms. Moon's song if it weren't so derivative.  But when you take away the parts stolen from Sabina Babayeva's song from last year and Jade Ewan's song from back in 2009, all you'd have left is Ms. Moon singing in her knickers.   

I just can't see "O Mie" doing at all well, and it bores me to tears.

And there were so many more interesting songs that would have made me much happier if they had made it through.

Irina Kitoroagă  "L.O.V.E. Love"

Doiniţa Gherman   "Planeta e un rai"

And the saddest thing about this post is I can't put up the actual songs from the Moldovan national final in this post.  For whatever reason, they're not available online.  So if you want to see the actual performances, you should watch the national final here.  I highly recommend it, especially for the fashions.  The Moldovan costumes are pretty fabulous.

Eurovision 2013: Sweden

Last but not least, the granddaddy of Eurovision finals, Sweden.

And yet again, Sweden has following musical trends in the United States.   Two years ago they sent the Swedish Justin Bieber and last year they won with a song that was very much influenced by Lady Gaga.   Now we have this.

Robin Stjernberg   "You"

Fun. featuring Janelle Monae   "We Are Young" 

I get why Stjernberg won the contest--that hooky chorus cribbed from Fun. is catchy even when it's been recycled.  It's going to score well.  Sweden may even contend for the win. 

I just don't want to listen to it again; I've heard versions of it enough.

But as always with Swedish entries, I defer to my favorite Swedish lady, Annia W.

"His pants are ugly. He's pitchy. It's Euro-techno-pop and I'm 100% sure Sweden won't win again - which I'm sure they don't want, it's a costly affair. They're lucky they automatically qualify to participate, lol. The dancers are SUPER-cool!"

And to be perfectly honest to Annia, there wasn't much to choose from in this Melodifestivalen finals.   There were a bunch of pop songs sung by young men that all kind of blended together.



 David Lindgren   "Shout it Out"

Yohio  "Heartbreak Hotel"

And then there were the gimmick songs:



Ravillacz   "En riktig jävla schlager"

Sean Banan   "Copacabanana"

Pretty much the Melodifestivalen final was about as compelling as cottage cheese this year.   But at least Caroline af Ugglas came back and tried again.

Caroline af Ugglas   "Hon Har Inte"



She didn't make it out of the "Second Chance" round.  But at least I got to hear a singer I actually like a lot. 



Eurovision 2013: Malta

It's a race against time to get my reviews of the national finals in before the first semi on Tuesday morning, and it wasn't a smart thing for me to put off the Maltese national final.

Malta's final, broadcast back on February 2nd, is the largest final in this Eurovision season, with sixteen songs competing for a chance to be sent to Malmö.

An underdog won the contest.

This song was expected to win:

 

Kevin Borg   "Needing You"

 

 

Borg made a name for himself in Sweden, where be became the winner of Swedish Idol, and establishing himself as a musical presence in that company.  So it was kind of expected that he would win Malta's Eurovision Song.

 

However, Borg was pipped to the post by the singer of this song.

 

 

Gianluca Bezzina   "Tomorrow"

 

Gianluca is a doctor who sings in a band for fun, and his performance of the pop story song "Tomorrow" scored incredibly well with the both the jury and the public.  It gave him the win.

 

I can see how Bezzinna topped Borg, and it's due to the performance styles.  Bezzina's freshness and enthusiactic charisma is so much more compelling that Borg's smooth professionalism.  It makes Bezzina stand out and is my choice between the two songs.

 

But had I been a Maltese juror, I wouldn't have given either of them my top score.  I would have chosen this song as my favorite.

 



 

Davinia Pace   "Betrayal"

 

I enjoy the faux-Bond "Betrayal", and Pace's voice is quite entrancing.  I must admit her stage presence leaves a bit to be desired, but that could be corrected.  What shocked me is the fact that I got sucked in by a Thomas G:son song.  

 

G:son is currently the darling of the Eurovision world, having composed last year's winning number, and has had songs performed in finals all over Europe.  I feel kind of ashamed by being sucked in by one of his songs; I feel I should be cooler.  (It's just taught me to be more accepting of what's popular.  Popular doesn't always equal bad.)

 

As finals go, however, I have to say that the Maltese final as a whole was really quite good.  Who would have thought in a country of less than half a million people would have such good singers and be able to put on such a good show.  I recommend you go and watch the entire show.  PBS did quite a good job and all of them would have been worthy choices to go to Eurovision. 

 

Well, almost...

 

 

Dominique   "Too Little Too Late"

 

Sorry Dominique, you have a clear voice, but the song was a little above your skill level.

Eurovision 2013: Romania

Romania is a country that has had a very successful track record at Eurovision in the past few years, so the results of their national final--Selecția Națională--usually produces a song that could potentially contend in the Eurovision final.

I have to say that the Romanian public chose the most interesting song to be sent to Eurovision this year.

 

Cezar   "It's My Life"

 

Interesting, right?   Cezar is a classically trained countertenor and this song an audition piece, featuring his vocal range.  It brings to mind a song from a couple of years ago:

 

 

Malena Ernman   "La Voix"   Sweden   2009 

 

I have to admit that "It's My Life" is definitely stands out this year--as many other commentators have noted, this is a serious ballad laden contest.  Cezar's performance is the antithesis to that, and it's one of the few songs that have a whiff of camp to it--something that has been missing from the contest in the past few years.

 

As for Cezar's chances to make it to the final, I have to say it's questionable at best.   Although Ernman did rather well--coming in fourth in her semi-final--a man singing at the level of a mezzo-soprano is much less acceptable than a comely blonde.

 

But Romania is the last song in the semifinal it's placed in and Romania has qualified every year that a semi-final has been in place--so it's likely to qualify and sink to the bottom on Saturday night, much like "La Voix" did.

 

I can respect the choice of the Romanian public.  I don't understand the choice.   I would have gone with the song that won the jury vote:

 



 

Electric Fence   "Emilia"

 

It its own way, "Emilia" is as odd as "It's My Life", but it's weirdness is very much of many of the Moldovan entries of previous years.  Those Moldovan entries have become personal favorites, and I would have loved seeing Electric Fence bouncing around the stage in Malmö.

 

Would it have been a better choice?  I honestly don't know.  But it would have been fun to watch.





Eurovision 2013: Azerbaijan

Well, now that Azerbaijan has won and hosted the Eurovision Song Contest, the big question was what would they do next?

And the answer to that was--karaoke night!

After years of well polished, well turned out performances in the contest,  I actually decided to sit down and watch the final of Milli Seçim Turu, Azerbaijan's national selection process. 

This was absolute torture to sit and listen to.  Absolute torture.  I cannot believe that the Azerbaijani national broadcaster would put on a show where it seems like everybody was off key and the sound design was done by a rank amateur.  

For example take a listen to poor Nigar Huseynova's performance:

 

Nigar Huseynova  "I Still Believe"

 

She's a soprano.  The audio people were so unprepared for her high note it causes feedback.  And you can hear the wind machine at the end.

 

The songs and the music weren't that much better.  Take a listen to my vote for worst song in a Eurovision final this year.

 

 

Aysel Babayeva  "Sleazy Mo"

 

I'm going to paraphrase a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States here.  I may not know how to define atrocious, but I know atrocious when I hear it.

 

Really none of the songs come out particularly well.  Even the winning song sounds particularly terrible in the final.

 



 

  Farid Mammadov   "Hold Me"

 

I must admit I would have voted for him because he actually sounded great during the chorus of his song, something that nobody else was able to do with the bad sound engineering.  (Although I do dock him points for mumbling his way through the first verse.)   And I like the ombre shirt. 

 

I have no real opinion on Mammadov, he seems capable enough and the song seems likely enough to make it through to the final.  I fully suspect that the Azerbaijani music machine will train him and clean him up enough to allow the song to make a good showing.

 

Watching the entire thing leaves me with one question.  Are Azerbaijani national finals always this bad?   San Marino had a better presentation, and they're a country with less than 40,000 people.

 





Eurovision 2013: Italy

Have you ever disliked a song because of the look of the singer?

For me it happened with the Italian entry this year.

 

Marco Mengoni   "L'essenziale"

 

 

"L'essenziale" and Mengoni were selected by a committee attached to the San Remo Song Festival, the song contest that inspired Eurovision.

 

What's different this year is "L'essenziale" is the winning song, picking up 36% of the votes in the final round.   It's a rare event where the Italians will actually send the winning song at San Remo to Eurovision.

 

With that pedigree, I expect the song, a sly comment on the current economic crisis in Italy buried in a romantic ballad, to do pretty well.   And since Mengoni is a seasoned performer, I suspect he's going to take command of the stage.

 

My problem is with Mengoni himself.   I don't have much tolerance for metrosexual males, and Mengoni seems to be primped, preened and tailored within an inch of his life.    It's a gut reaction and one that I will try to get over once I listen to the song without the visuals.   But that's part of what Eurovision is; even if the song is the best song in this year's contest, I wouldn't vote for it, just off of his appearance.

Eurovision 2013: Estonia

Wow!  Estonia had a really good show!   Lots of good songs.   Lots of talented singers.

And the Estonian chose the dullest of the songs to represent them in Malmö.

Birgit Õigemeel   "Et uus saaks alguse"  

Õigemeel was a winner of Estonian Idol--Eesto otsib superstaari--just like last year's winning singer Ott Lepland, so she had a built in fan base across the country.

The song is a straightforwardly bland ballad.  Bland, bland, bland.   It's musical white noise.  A rejected Taylor Swift song.  Although it's got a horrible placement in the semifinal, it could do well if it makes it out of the semifinal and SVT decides to place it late in the final, because bland songs can do quite well if placed properly.  All in all, it feels like a redux of last year's song, and "Kuula", albeit successful, also felt bland to me.

I suppose I'm against this so much because Estonia could have sent a song that could have been a contender for winning.

 

Winny Puhh   "Meiecundimees üks Korsakov läks eile Lätti"

 

This is a bit of absolutely brilliant punk performance and an acid antidote to the pablum of Õigemeel, who performed two songs previously. 

 

The in your face insanity probably put off some people; Winny Puhh came in third.  But I would have placed this alongside Anouk's "Birds" as my favorite national song of 2013. 

 

Really, a number of songs in the Estonian final would have been a much better choice than "Et uus saaks alguse".  Take a listen to these and you'll agree with me on this one.

 

 

Liisi Koikson & Söörömöö   "Üle vee"

 

A modern Estonian take on jazz singers like Astrud Gilberto!

 

 



 

Kõrsikud   "Suuda öelda ei"

 

Indie pop that could be part of the soundtrack of my life! 

 

 



 

Põhja-Tallinn   "Meil on aega veel"

 

A rap song that actually works.  Shocking!

 

Any of these could have been better songs to send to Malmö, but we're stuck with the one song sung by a young woman under a spotlight that I actually don't like.

 

Next year...   Next year...

 

 

 





Eurovision 2013: Bulgaria

Bulgaria is an anomaly in Eurovision.  While surrounded by Eurovision powerhouse nations of Greece, Turkey, and Ukraine, Bulgaria has only qualified once for the finals of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Their only success in Eurovision came back in 2007 with this song.

 

Elitsa and Stoyan   "Voda"  2007

 

The percussionists did quite well, coming in fifth in Helsinki.

 



So after a number of years without any success, it makes perfect sense that the Bulgarian national broadcaster went back to the same well and asked Elitsa and Stoyan to represent their country.

 

In the Bulgarian national final, Elitsa and Stoyan performed three different songs and a split jury/public vote selected the winner.

 

Two songs tied for first, and since public vote trumps the jury vote, this song was selected to go to Malmö.

 

 

 

Elitsa and Stoyan   "Kismet"

 

 

However, due to a copyright issue on "Kismet". the song was withdrawn and replaced with the song that came in first with the jury.

 

 

 

Elitsa and Stoyan   "Samo Shampioni"

 

 

I hate to be cynical here, but I feel like the copyright reasons wasn't the true reason for the song to be withdrawn.   "Kismet" is a pretty song, but it is not close to duplicating the song the did so well in 2007.  "Kismet" focuses more on the harmonies of Elitsa and her backup singers not the percussion.  "Samo Shampioni" does.  In fact, "Samo Shampioni feels very much like a retread of "Voda".  

 

But even with the rather unforeseen change in songs, the Bulgaria has a good chance to qualify this year.  They're placed at the end of the first half of semifinal two, and their sound is very different than anything else being sent this year.  They're also in a semifinal that doesn't have as many obvious qualifying songs.  I would say only Finland, Greece, and Georgia are sure qualifiers from the second semifinal.  That means Bulgaria may be able to sneak in.

 

I personally can't wait to see where they land come result time.

 





Eurovision 2013: Macedonia

If you've been a reader of my blog, you know that my favorite song in Eurovision last year.

 

Kaliopi  "Crno i belo"

 

So I was looking forward to hearing the selection of the Macedonian entry this year.

 

And I have to say that I was highly disappointed when I heard this song.

 

 

 

Esma and Lozano  "Pred da se razdeni"

 

He's a good singer.  She's a good singer.  But it feels like they're performing two different songs in two different places, and as my rule on duets, it fails completely, and I fully suspect it's not going to make it out of the semifinal--especially since it is third in the running order.

 

What is interesting is that "Pred da se razdemi" wasn't the original song choice for Macedonia.  At the original presentation on February 27th was this song.

 

 



 

Esma and Lozano  "Imperija"

 

"Imperija" was changed because the Macedonian public didn't like the song.  

 

I can't see what's so bad with it; in fact, the singers seem more cohesive in "Imperija".  If I knew how to speak Macedonian I might feel differently, but as an English speaker I don't see any point in the change.

 

All in all, I'm disappointed by Macedonia this year.  Maybe next year...