And here are the ten songs who made it through to the final on Saturday
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Croatia
Czech Republic
Cyprus
Hungary
Malta
the Netherlands
Russia
Seven out of ten isn't particularly bad, and after watching the final,
I can't really say that I disagree. After watching the show, nine out of ten of these are ones that were obvious finalists.
The Biggest Surprise
Nina Kraljić "Lighthouse" Croatia
I had thought an early place in the running order combined with an over-the-top costume would prevent Croatia from qualifying. The Croatian broadcaster hasn't always been the best at staging songs, so I'm glad to see this overcame the visual deficiency.
The Biggest Disappointment
Samra "Miracle" Azerbaijan
In my opinion, "Miracle" was the song that didn't deserve to qualify in the top ten. The staging was tacky and the vocals were weak. And the gold plated American football uniform? Don't get me started.
The Song I Would Have Voted For
Highway "The Real Thing" Montenegro
Although the Czech Republic would have gotten my first vote, Montenegro came in a close second. While the somewhat experimental hard rock was something that would have never qualified, I really responded to the music and staging. In a semifinal of things that were polished to an inch of their life, "The Real Thing" was interesting because it was deliberately unpolished.
The Can't Miss Song
Serhat "I Didn't Know" San Marino
I could have gone with the Armenian or Russian entries here, but really you'll see them elsewhere. San Marino's utter weirdness deserves to be highlighted here. It's trying so hard to be kitschy camp and it fails. It's worth a watch.
Tomorrow is the first semifinal of Eurovision, and it's time for me to make my predictions on the countries that will qualify.
The Sure Qualifiers
Hungary
Armenia
Russia
Malta
The Songs Without A Chance
Finland
Moldova
San Marino
Montenegro
The Undefined Middle
Greece
Croatia
Netherlands
Czech Republic
Cyprus
Austria
Estonia
Azerbaijan
Iceland
Bosnia/Herzegovina
As opposed to previous years, I haven't been following the ins and outs of the contest as prior years, so these are more personal guesses that anything else.
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Bosnia/Herzegovina
Czech Republic
Cyprus
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Malta
Russia
And as I do every year, I'm putting in a request. If you are reading this and are in a country that votes in this semifinal, please consider voting for this song.
Gabriela Gunčíková "I Stand" Czech Republic
This is a bog standard ballad, but Gunčíková performs it perfectly. Besides, the Czech Republic have never qualified for the final and this is a good song.
Austria has chosen the musical version of a kitten calendar picture
I have to hand it to Austria, when watching their national final, Wer singt für Österreich?, I was not bored. The program, presented back on February 12th, didn't fall back on the usual Eurovision tropes.
I still don't know the musical genre this song belongs to
AzRaH "The One"
The music just calls out to be played over and over again. Is it jazz? Is it rock? I don't know. I just wish the singer's nerves hadn't gotten the best of her, because boy is it hard to listen to. Go search out the recorded version of the song.
I'm also amazed by the provocative nature of this song:
Bella Wagner "Weapons Down"
I really never expected a song like this to be presented in a national final, much less come in third. The song is about a standard Eurovision topic--peace--but the song style and presentation were meant to unsettle. That is something that is rarely seen at Eurovision and I have great respect for Wagner as an artist and the Austrian jury for ranking this so highly.
But when all the votes were tallied, this is the song that won
Zoe "Loin d'ici"
Yep. It's in French. And she is dressed up like a Disney princess. Zoë is nineteen years old, but the styling of the song makes her look much younger, and like Iceland's entry last year, it's something I I actively dislike The combination of the pretentiousness of the use of French and preciousness in the presentation of this song make me cringe. As is, I cannot see anybody wanting to vote for this unless they were young girls unlikely to be allowed to vote in the semifinals because it's past their bedtime.
I wish I could be kinder to Austria's choice, but when it cam from a contest that had such interesting music and this was the song chosen, I can't help but be a bit disappointed.
My husband, who is both a Europhile and a bit of a smart ass, has always said that the Netherlands is the "America of Europe". I've always taken that statement with a grain of salt, but with with each new Eurovision entry I see, I'm starting to believe him.
Douwe Bob "Slow Down"
Alt-country? Alt-country is a thing in the Netherlands? I thought The Common Linnets was a one off thing...
Seriously, this is the first song that I have heard this year that makes me think that it could win the contest. The song is upbeat, catchy, and unique. It made me immediately want to pick up the phone and vote for it. That is what I consider to be a successful song.
If the Dutch get the staging right and the song has a good placement in the final, this song has a good chance of doing extremely well.
No matter where they fall at Eurovision, Macedonia is always on top of national flags.
As I mentioned in my review of last year's Macedonian entry, Kaliopi is one of the best singers their country has, and it's unsurprising that they have turned to her to represent their country again this year.
"Crno i Belo" is one of my favorite Eurovision songs, so I had high hopes for the song she would bring to Stockholm.
Kaliopi "Dona"
Unfortunately, this song is not as strong as her previous entry, with no build and a repetitive chorus. While her ability to clearly interpret lyrics is as strong as ever, she has been let down by the song she has been given to perform.
"Dona" is a marginal qualifier at best and it saddens me to say that.
Ukraine is a country that takes Eurovision seriously. This year's national final, which took place on February 21st, showed that a one year absence from the contest hasn't changed the quality of the song and performer they send.
Unlike the rest of the national finals I've watched so far, this is the first one that I haven't found disappointing. Out of the six songs that were in the national final, only one song was not strong enough to represent the country in Stockholm.
Brunettes Shoot Blondes "Every Monday"
Sorry Brunettes Shoot Blondes. You had no chance. But I love your band name.
Any of the other five songs would have been a strong entry, but only two songs really had a chance to win.
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Jamala "1944"
The Hardkiss "Helpless"
Both songs are musically interesting and well performed and after the votes of the juries and viewers at home were combined, they both received an equal number of points. However, "1944" received more televotes, superseding the judges preference, and Jamala will be heading to Stockholm.
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I was personally happy about the choice because Jamala is an artist whose career I've been following for a number of years, having discovered her after hearing her cover of the song "History Repeating".
Jamala "History Repeating"
I also loved her song from the last time she tried to represent her country in Eurovision.
Jamala "Smile" 2011 Ukraine National Final
So even if this song was weak, I would have hoped she would win the competition.
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Jamala's win has been controversial. "1944" is about the forced deportation of Crimean Tatars from Ukraine to Central Asia, based on the stories of the artist's great-grandmother's experience, and many consider it to be too political to be performed on the Eurovision stage.
The EBU has given the go-ahead for the song to be performed determining the song does not contain political speech. It is the right decision. There is no denying the song is political, but it is not a song that names a group in a way that would peg it as political speech. It is a category of songs like Russia's 2005 entry about American school shootings, Monaco's 1967 entry about the the fear of dying in a nuclear bombing, or Greece's 1976 entry about the Turkish occupation/invasion of Northern Cyprus.
Ukraine made a good choice when sending Jamala, and I'm looking forward to her performance in May.
Ireland hasdone something that they've needed to do for years--they've scrapped their national final and tried something different.
Instead of doing a national final with a bunch of unknowns, Ireland has internally selected an established performer.
Nicky Byrne became famous as part of the Irish boy band Westlife and parlayed that into a career as a presenter on Irish radio and television and has been a part of the last three Eurovisions as the Irish spokesperson, presenting the Irish votes.
So it was a natural choice that Byrne would represent the country.
Nicky Byrne "Sunlight"
I have to say that it's a step in the right direction, this is a piece of pop without any of the Celtic influences that have popped up in a lot of recent entries.
But I can't say that I see this as a song that will win the Eurovision Song Contest.
First of all, the song sounds dated. Instead of feeling modern, this song sounds like it's from the early 2000s, the heyday of Byrne's former band Westlife. It's not surprising that this would be the sound Byrne would have gone for--that sound has made him a decent living. I just wonder how this will hold up against songs that have a more modern musical feel.
I also have to say in the two live performances I've seen, Byrne has underwhelmed. Westlife was one of the most commercially successful Irish pop acts ever, but it was a manufactured group/ These live performances make me think that Byrne was a part of Westlife less for his musical ability than for his good looks. "Sunlight" is more spoken than sung and Byrne has battled with staying on pitch during those live performances. Still he does look good in those leather jackets.
This is no winner. But it is a step in the right direction for a country who has seemed to be stuck in the 1990s when it comes to Eurovision.
But I don't feel it deep inside for this year's final.
I have to say that watching the Eurovision national finals have been a slog. After the disappointment of Belgium, I was hoping for a more exciting final from Belarus.
It didn't happen.
Belarus's national final took place over a month ago, on January 22nd, where ten acts took competed to represent their country in Stockholm, and they selected this:
Ivan "Help You Fly"
There's nothing about this song or performer that is particularly memorable, and that's kind of the kiss of death for a country like Belarus. This type of music is somewhat popular in their part of the world, but in a semifinal without most of their neighbors, Belarus needed to send a song that would appeal to the rest of Europe.
A song cut from the sequel to Top Gun is not that song.
But this entry is just as good as any in the contest. There was nothing that stood out and really nothing worth mentioning, save the song I would have voted for:
NAVI "Heta ziamlia"
I'm a sucker for peppy songs and songs in national languages, so I would have voted for this. It would have had the same chance as "Help You Fly" will.
Finally, Eurovision season has started, and I get to take a look at the songs that are trying to win the 2016 contest.
Can Belgium match last year's success?
First up this year is Belgium, who have two broadcasters who share the duties of sending a song, and this year it's the Flemish broadcaster VRT's turn.
VRT's track record in recent years hasn't been particularly stellar, and they decided to change things up by featuring "five young musical talents" who were vetted by "music experts" associated with the broadcaster.
I admire the broadcaster for wanting to discover a new singer. Yet when watching the final, the contest felt more like it felt like talent night at an magnet school for the arts. It's evident that there was talent among the contestants, but nothing fully formed.
That showed in the staging of all of the songs.
There was blatant stealing from previous successful Eurovision contestants:
Adil Aarab "In Our Nature"
We know that Mans Zelmerlöw won last year, but doing the exact same things doesn't equal a winning formula. It just looks lazy.
And then some extremely confusing props
Amaryllis Uitterlinden "Kick The Habit"
I'm still trying to figure out what the spiderweb and bouncing lanterns actually has to do with the song.
Not even the winning entry felt fully formed.
Laura Tesoro "What's The Pressure"
I am a big fan of disco, but the weakest part of the song is Tesoro herself. The song is fun, but the girl was so awkward and low energy during the final, it made me wish that they would get rid of her and remix the song for her backing singers. It's not a good sign.
Luckily, they have a few months to rehearse, and hopefully the girl will get enough confidence to actually connect with the audience. For Belgium to make the finals, they have to bring a great song with a great performance. Laura Tesoro and "What's The Pressure" aren't great right now.
