The second semifinal is harder to predict because the songs in this final are much better and there isn't a real voting bloc of countries (save the Nordics) that make choosing songs obvious.
I really doubt I have more than six right, but this semifinal has a lot of songs that are all worthy of qualification and I've selected a couple that a true long shots.
And here's where I make my pitch to any European reader:
If you are willing to spare one of your votes for an American blogger, please send one in for Slovenia.
Maraaya "Here For You"
I've been a fan of Maraaya when I first heard "Here For You" and my love is still unabated. I want Slovenia in the final and since I have no choice in the matter, all I can do is ask.
Well, I just shocked myself. I took a look at the list of songs I selected to make it through to the final, and I got nine out of ten correct.
Here are the ten finalists:
Armenia
Belgium
Greece
Estonia
Serbia
Hungary
Russia
Albania
Romania
Georgia
The only one I missed was Albania. I had the Netherlands in instead.
But for those of you who aren't interested in watching the whole thing, here's some of the highlights of the contest.
The Biggest Surprise:
Elhaida Dani "I'm Alive" Albania
I'm happy that Albania has made it into the final. But Dani got really lucky because her final performance was off key and rather stilted.
My guess is that she had a superb performance last night and she scored well with the juries. It's the only explanation for the qualification.
The Biggest Disappointment:
Trijntje Oosterhuis "Walk Along" the Netherlands
I'm certain that Oosterhuis and the Dutch team wanted to make the final, and the vocals were superb. But everything else chosen was chosen to make people not vote for it. The clothes, the camera shots, and the lighting all were weird for no good reason.
Had she performed the song as she had on The Voice Holland this would have been in the final.
The Song I Would Have Voted For:
Boggie "Wars For Nothing" Hungary
I enjoy watching the semifinals without knowing much about the final performances. That means a song that I didn't necessarily rate will get my vote. Like last year's San Marinese entry, I didn't rate Hungary's song highly. But when seeing this live, this was the song I would have voted for. A simple song performed perfectly will get my vote.
The Can't-Miss Song
Eduard Romanyuta "I Want Your Love" Moldova
It's a rare song that makes you feel like you could get a STD by watching it. Good job Mr. Romanyuta. You made me feel like taking a course of antibiotics. And now you need to watch it too.
As the rehearsals are going on in Vienna, I now get to the fun part of my blog--choosing my favorite songs.
Read on and enjoy
10th place:
Lisa Angell "N'oubliez pas" France
France is always a great country when it comes to Eurovision, and I'm a sucker for chanson. Naturally Angell's song was going to be high on my list.
9th Place:
Electro Velvet "Still In Love with You" United Kingdom
I love the out of left field choice of the UK. It's weird and most of all fun. Fun is something missing in this year's contest and I hope Electro Velvet are going to bring a little bit of joy.
8th Place:
Guy Sebastian "Tonight Again" Australia
Australia is sending a commercially successful song that is a catchy as hell.
7th Place:
Nina Sublatti "Warrior" Georgia
There are a lot of moody young women singing dark dramatic songs at Eurovision this year. This is the only one that hasn't been overworked to death.
6th Place:
Elina Born & Stig Rästa "Goodbye to Yesterday" Estonia
I cannot deny that this is one of the best songs in the contest. I can understand why it's one of the favorites.
5th Place:
Aminata "Love Injected" Latvia
Latvia has finally come to win, not place last in the semifinal. It's delightful to see.
4th Place:
Daniel Kajmakoski "Autumn Leaves" Macedonia
I must confess that Kajmakoski's work on reaching out to the Eurovision fan base has worked on me. If you haven't checked out his cover of Yugoslavia's 1983 entry, Džuli, you really should. It's made me go back and take a listen to his entry that I wrote off back at the beginning of my tour through the 2015 songs. It's popped up to the top of my replay list.
3rd Place:
Monika Kuszyńska "In The Name of Love" Poland
I'm surprised by the fact I keep playing the Polish entry over and over again. Simple songs sung well always hook me. I don't know if it will qualify, but for me it works.
2nd Place:
Ann Sophie "Black Smoke" Germany
If Eurovision songs won on sheer memorability, "Black Smoke" would be my winner hands down. This song has been stuck in my head since I first heard the darn thing, and it's a great one to have on the car stereo with the volume cranked up. It also doesn't hurt that it's in my vocal range. Hello new karaoke song.
1st Place:
Maraaya "Here For You" Slovenia
Hands down my favorite song in the contest, and they're going to be the group I'll definaletly follow in the future, joining a small list like Anouk and Patricia Kaas. Have you heard their other versions--the remix with the students of their music school? Or the remix with the a capella choir? This song has legs and Maraaya has the musical chops.
Right now, rehearsals are happening in Vienna,so it's high time I finished up the tour of the national finals with Latvia.
Latvia has has one of the worst track records at Eurovision in the past few years, not qualifying for the final since 2008. And because of those duff results, it was rumored that Latvia would withdraw this year.
Instead of withdrawing, Latvia has completely rethought their selection process, and unlike some other countries (Ireland), the rethink worked.
Instead of the weird tweeness that has haunted the national finals of prior years, Latvia's final had four interesting and rather modern songs to choose among.
ElektroFolk "Sundance"
Markus Riva "Lights On"
MNTHA "Nefelibata"
(Well, maybe not Markus Riva. His song is really kind of lame.)
But the jury and televoters selected the best of the songs to represent them.
Aminata "Love Injected"
She's got a powerful voice, the visual is striking, and all in all, it think this is the best song Latvia has ever sent. If they can't qualify for the Eurovision final then there is no justice.
I'm getting to the end of my national final reviews, and now I'm getting to the host country. Austria is hosting Eurovision this year after the win of Conchita Wurst (as if you didn't already know that).
Conchita Wurst "Rise Like A Phoenix" 2014
And now ÖRF, the Austrian broadcaster, has to do the delicate dance of selecting a song to represent them on home soil.
It's generally assumed that the host country doesn't want to host Eurovision two years in a row. Although every country taking part in the contest gives money to the EBU for the right to participate and broadcast the contest, it costs millions of euros to put on the show. It's currently estimated that Austria has spent 35 million euros on this year's Eurovision Song Contest.
In response to this, the host country selects a middle of the road song that is going to be respected but not going to light the light on fire.
And this year, Austria has chosen the perfect song to do just that.
The Makemakes "I Am Yours"
The Makemakes have been somewhat successful in their home country, with a couple of Top 40 singles and a forthcoming album. They're competent musicians, and their performance is spot on.
Besides, it's the perfect example of a safe home crowd song--it's three minute aural blanket. Nobody is going to say bad things about it, but it's also not going to get anywhere near the top of the scoreboard.
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That said, I kind of with that the Austrian public had gone completely left field with their choice and selected the song that came in fifth:
Johann Sebastian Bass "Absolutio"
The well performed insanity of Johann Sebastian Bass, a "electrorococo" band, would have put on a great show and would have been a memorable part of the sixtieth Eurovision Song Contest--going down with acts like Telex and Gypsy.cz
Yeah, it means they would have likely come in last. But in a year of utterly safe songs, a bit of color would make things fun.
The first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest starts in less than a week, so it's time to finish taking a look at the last songs in the contest.
Albania chose their winner through Festivali i Këngës, an Albanian broadcast that is now in its fifty-third year. This contest takes place over a three day period on Christmas weekend. The winning artist and song are sent to represent Albania at Eurovision and this year, Albania selected this song.
Elhaida Dani "Diell"
The winning song is a power ballad that features Dani's vocal prowess and utilizes the live orchestra that is a fixture of Festivali i Këngës. Dani gives a performance that is worthy of going to Vienna.
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However, "Diell" isn't the song that Dani will be singing on stage in Vienna.
Festivali i Këngës doesn't have many of the restrictions that Eurovision has, so songs are typically shortened and rearranged before they take the stage, and this year due to an "unchangable personal reason" the author of "Diell" decided to withdraw his song after FiK. This means a new song was chosen internally for Dani to perform.
Elhaida Dani "I'm Alive"
It's really a smart move. Instead of cutting down the original song, which is more than a minute too long, this new song is withing the time limit. It's also in English and structured to highlight Dani's singing range.
For the first time in years, Albania is going to make the finals!
Israel has had a terrible Eurovision track record over the past few years. Having been a powerhouse nation in prior decades, the 2010s have seen Israel miss the final for the past four years.
IBA, the Israeli broadcaster, is hoping to change that by sending the winner of the reality singing competition HaKokhav HaBa to Vienna.
Nadav Gued "Golden Boy"
In a year of drowsy ballads, this dance number with a feel of the souk about it is doing to stand out. There's nothing else that sounds remotely like this in the contest--a Justin Timberlake song--and that's in Israel's favor.
However, for Nadav to qualify for the contest, it's going to depend on the performance. Right now, "Golden Boy" isn't special enough to overcome the lack of friendly neighbor countries on the song alone.
But if Gued can loosen up and let out his inner Timberlake and the Israeli team can come up with a visually appealing stage show for the viewers, this can make it to the finals.
And now I'm finishing up the last of the Scandinavian entries this year--the Danish entry.
DR, the Danish broadcaster set a high bar this year, wanting to "have the ten strongest songs ever in the history of Dansk Melodi Grand Prix". That's a pretty strong statement, especially from a country that won the Eurovision Song Contest just two years ago.
So here's the winning song.
Anti Social Media "The Way You Are"
Instead of having a crazy, anarchic energy you would expect from a band called Anti Social Media, there is a flatness to the performance that is highly disappointing.
They're paying homage to the British Invasion bands with their song and sound, but they're doing so without the energy that made The Beatles or even The Monkees fun and popular.
The Monkees "Daydream Believer"
"They Way You Are" feels very much like it should be the b-side to "Daydream Believer", doesn't it?
It's not a strong entry, and unless they pull out the stops, I can't see this being an easy qualifier.
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Yet for all of my apathy for the song, after going back through Dansk Melodi Grand Prix, I would have voted for it. Out of the ten songs presented, it was the best song.
All the other songs presented went into one of two camps, illustrated by the entries by Sara Sukurani and World Of Girls
Sara Sukurani "Love Me Love Me"
World of Girls "Summer Without You"
"Love Me Love Me" is a song that was successful in the contest ten years previously, while "Summer Without You" was deliberately strange to the point of alienation.
If the songs that were presented in this year's Danish final were the strongest ever, I would have to worry about the quality of prior years.
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In other words, you made the best choice you could, but better luck next year.
It's really difficult for me to sit and write about the Azerbaijani entry because of my own personal bias against the country. The naked ambition the Azerbaijani broadcaster İctimai Television has shown since their debut in 2008 is offputting.
Expect a fire motif from Azerbaijan
Because of their tactical choices (and being from a former Soviet state with a common musical tradition as a number of other Eurovision participating countries) Azerbaijan has been the most successful country at Eurovision, having never failed to make the final since their debut.
Azerbaijan isn't going to fail this year either:
Elnur Hüseynov "Hour of the Wolf"
In a year of ballads (and there are a lot of them), this is one of the strongest entries. Like most years, the Azerbaijani song has been written by a truckload of Swedes (who are know for penning many successful Eurovision songs.) The song is dramatic and generic, which means it's going to do well.
It also doesn't hurt that Hüseynov has done Eurovision before, back in 2008
Elnur and Samir "Day After Day" 2008
Insane and kind of fun, right?
As for my opinion on the "Hour of the Wolf", I'm lukewarm. Although the song is well written and the performance is solid, there's nothing extraordinary about the song that makes me love it. There are no risks taken in "Hour of the Wolf" and it shows.
That said, if Azerbaijan gets the staging right (and trust they will) and Hüseynov doesn't oversing the song (which is more than likely), expect another top 10 result for Azerbaijan.
