After the Final Impressions

Because my friends will be watching the Eurovision Song Contest after the fact, I've been asked not to post the winner on my blog.

Because of that, I'm not going to say who won or lost, but I will say the winner isn't one I particularly have quibbles about.  It's one of the better shows in recent years, and for that Azerbaijan should be proud.  They spent enough money on it.

However I am going to post up my personal picks for the best and worst song of the contest.  

The thing that surprises me more than anything else is the fact that the song I would have voted for was not the one I expected I would want to vote for.

Kaliopi   "Crno i Belo:  Macedonia

In my mind, Kaliopi had a great song, performed in flawlessly, and had the crowd on her side.  I wasn't crazy about the song at the beginning, butby the time of the final, she won me over.

I wasn't surprised by the song that I rated the worst.

Jedward  "Waterline"  Ireland

Unlike "Lipstick" the song from the previous year, which played off of their "talent", this song wasn't really written specifically for them, and it showed.  Pretty much all they had was their costumes, which the lovely Janet S. has summed up nicely with her appalled declaration "They're tin men!" combined with a stupid fountain that they get soaked in at the end.  

I'm all for gimmicks (the Buranovskiye Babushki charmed me as much as the last person), but really this song was a train wreck. 

And since I'm analyzing, I'm still sad that this song wasn't in the finals. 

Izabo  "Time"  Israel

They didn't give the best performance, but I'm going to go buy their CDs.  Which is what I'm sure Izabo was hoping to get out of their participation.

Eurovision 2012 Entrants: Israel

I can't review the Israeli entrant without telling you a story about the first person in the US that I started telling about my interest in the Eurovision Song Contest.

My passion for the Eurovision Song Contest began in the late 1990s, when I lived in the Emerald Isle as an exchange student, but I kept my passion to myself until the 2007 contest, when I finally decided to share my passion with my friends, starting with my best friend here in the Last Frontier to the joys of Eurovision.

My friend, who for anonymity's sake, will be referred to Janet S., was unimpressed with tangoing Norwegians, crooning Germans, or Turks bribing women with candy.  But she was all in when I showed her this song

Teapacks  "Push The Button"  2007

Yep, this little ditty about global thermonuclear war made the mysterious Janet S. a Eurovision fan.  Or at least yelling "Push The Button" on a regular basis...

So I had to send the Israeli song to her and get her opinion.

Izabo  "Time"

And she likes it.  She is grateful that she's not scared of clowns, but other than that its good.  But then she said, "If I like it, it has no chance to do well."

And I can't disagree with her.  I personally love the song, and I've listened to it numerous times, which is rare for me, a Eurovision fan.  But I wonder if Europeans will like the indie/college rock vibe of Izabo.  I hope they do, because I'd like it to get to the final and do well.