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.

Alaska's Choice: 2012 Baku

Unlike most Eurovision fans, the 2012 Contest ended back on May 26th, when Sweden won for the fifth time with the following song:

Loreen  "Euphoria"

It is a worthy winner and although it's not my favorite, it is a worthy winner.  I still consider it a catchy (albeit somewhat generic) song, and the staging was masterfully done.  Instead of the traditional arena camerawork that typified the other songs, "Euphoria" was shot in closeup. 

With the focus on the closeups, the song felt like a throwback to earlier contests and at the same time seemed extremely fresh.  In other words it was distinct an memorable in a way that the other songs were not.

But like I've been doing with all the other years of the song contest, I decided to ask a group of Alaskans what they think.  It's an excuse for me to throw a party, get together with the people that are important in my life, and share one of my favorite things.  As the lovely Janet S. has said to me, Eurovision is my Super Bowl.

So while chowing down on homemade pizza and a Sacher torte, we decided our winner of this year's Eurovision Song Contest.

Instead of the lovely Loreen, the Alaskan group voted for this song:

Pasha Parfeny   "Lăutar"   Moldova

Moldovan entries always do well with my friends, and this year the combination of attractive singer, quirky song, and dancers in adorable outfits hit the sweet spot with most of the viewers at my party.  I don't blame them; I'm a fan of Moldovan songs as well.  But as you know, it didn't hit my sweet spot. 

I was more surprised by the song that came in second with the voting:

Kurt Calleja   "This Is The Night"  Malta

I think the this rated so well with the jury because of the group's dance moves, which I fully expect to see done by a couple of my friends in a burlesque show in the next couple of months. 

Italy, Sweden and Norway finished off our top five,--five choices that were very different than the rest of Europe.

Sadly, my favorite, Macedonia didn't fare well.  After the rest of the voting came through, Kaliopi came in seventh.    (I'm sad about that, but at least she would have gotten four points from our jury, which isn't something to sneeze at.)

The bottom included some surprises:  Spain, Albania, Denmark, Greece, and last and certainly least, Ireland.  (And I'm happy that the jury can recognize dreck when they see it.)

And now, time to look forward to 2013 and Sweden.

Or maybe December and Rotterdam. 

Eurovision Entrants 2012: Sweden

Probably the biggest qualifying show throughout Europe is Sweden's Melodifestivalen, a multi-week, multi-city competition that started in October and ended just a few minutes ago.

Out of this month-long competition, the following song won:

Loreen "Euphoria"

To me, this song feels like a cross between a Lady Gaga and a Katy Perry song, which,. depending on your opinion, could be a good thing or a bad thing. 

I really don't have much of an opinion on this one other than I think it's both interesting and a bit derivative, so I turned to my friend Annia,  a vivacious Swede (and a damn fine actor) living in the Last Frontier for her analysis of the song.

And here's her thoughts:

"This one was the best in the bunch and I'm VERY happy it isn't a boy band, nor any other kind of coordinated dance groups in the background. Also, she's barefooted as opposed to every other stiletto-wearing, sex-kitten, women-degrading entry. So... not all bad. But, my guess is Sweden will have to qualify next year - no clear top placement with this one..".

So what do you think of this song?  Do you agree with me or Annia?  Or do you have a different opinion?