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: Hungary

My ongoing tour through the national finals continues with the Hungarian national final "A Dal".

To be honest, it was a rather lackluster affair with eight artists competing to with this song winning the entire thing:

 

ByeAlex   "Kedvasem"

 

It's not particularly surprising, considering the selection for the entire portion of the contest. 

 

To make it into the final, there was a 50/50 split between the group of judges--five people who have a direct connection to the Eurovision Song Contest--and televoting.  Half the songs were selected by the jury, while the other half were selected by the public. 

 

In the final, this was changed, with the five judges ranking the songs.  Then the top four were placed to the public vote.

 

Three of the four songs were jury choices from the very beginning, and they favored this number:

 

 

András Kállay-Saunders  "My Baby"

 

However, those three were outvoted by ByeAlex, who was ranked fourth at the end of the jury process, but was the only one the general public actually liked.

 

There isn't particularly anything substantial to "Kedvasem".  It's perfectly nice and would be great as a background song in an iPod or a Levis commercial.  But as a winning song it's got no real chance.  It's got a good chance to make it into the final--with a nice placing at twelfth--but I can't see it storming the charts anywhere, much less storming to the top of at the finals.

Honestly, I couldn't see any of their songs storm anywhere.  It's sad, because "A Dal" was a well put together, enteretaining little show.  It makes me wonder what sort of show the Hungarian national broadcaster would put on if they won the contest.