Eurovision 2017: Moldova

I love it when Moldova sends a quirky song to the Eurovision Song Contest.   In a period where Eurovision is considered  is tending towards serious songs,, a goofy number from an obscure country is very nice.

Moldova has delivered this yet again with light, sax heavy Europop number.

SunStroke Project  "Hey, Mamma!"

I suspect that this will make the final because it is sug a silly upbeat number--you need to have a traditional "Eurovision" song.   This fits the bill.

Do I like this song?   Not really.   It's extrememly disposable and going to be great filler between other, better songs in the final

Semifinal One: The Aftermath

Hooray for the ten finalists!

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.

Eurovision 2015: Moldova

Epic Sax Guy rides again?

I always look forward to the Moldovan national final.  More than any country in Europe, Moldova brings a great mix of fun, quirk and raw talent to their Eurovision songs.   Moldovan entries are rarely safe and that makes watching the national final an entertaining watch.

O Melodie Pentru Europa's final took place on February 28th and the finals delivered some wacky entertainment.  Out of the sixteen songs in the final there were a lot of fun and interesting songs that would have gone over well in Vienna.

DoReDoS   "Maricica"

Mihaela Andrei   "About Love"

Sunstroke Project featuring Michael Ra   "Day After Day"

This is what I want to see from Moldova--songs that is fun, quirky, and something that will get my friends talking.   Any of them would have been a fun and worthy choice to send to Vienna.

Strangely, none of them did particularly well.  Instead Moldovans chose the lamest and most derivative song in the contest:

Eduard Romanyuta   "I Want Your Love"

Romanyuta has been trying to go to Eurovision for years, attempting to represent his native country of Ukraine three times.   However crossing the border to Moldova gave him the win and I don't understand why.  The song is drippy and outdated while the staging is horrible.  

I don't understand how this won, but I do know that it's not getting out of the semifinal.

This is the second year where Moldova hasn't chosen a good song to go to Eurovision.  I hope the Moldovan national broadcaster goes back to the drawing board.   I need more Eurovision songs like this:

Pasha Parfeny   "Lăutar"   Moldova   2012

Eurovision 2013: Moldova

I hate to say this, but Moldova has completely missed it this year.  Instead of going with something insanely upbeat and fun--the hallmark of Moldovan entries--Moldova has gone with a ballad.

Aliona Moon  "O Mie"

The wrong ballad

Cristina Scarlat  "I Pray"

I don't think I would have a problem with Ms. Moon's song if it weren't so derivative.  But when you take away the parts stolen from Sabina Babayeva's song from last year and Jade Ewan's song from back in 2009, all you'd have left is Ms. Moon singing in her knickers.   

I just can't see "O Mie" doing at all well, and it bores me to tears.

And there were so many more interesting songs that would have made me much happier if they had made it through.

Irina Kitoroagă  "L.O.V.E. Love"

Doiniţa Gherman   "Planeta e un rai"

And the saddest thing about this post is I can't put up the actual songs from the Moldovan national final in this post.  For whatever reason, they're not available online.  So if you want to see the actual performances, you should watch the national final here.  I highly recommend it, especially for the fashions.  The Moldovan costumes are pretty fabulous.

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. 

My Picks: Semifinal One

Well, tomorrow is the day when Eurovision begins in earnest, with semifinal one.

Sadly, I'm going to be stuck at my office, crunching numbers while Europe votes for their favorite songs.  So between projects I'll be furiously refreshing my web browser to find out the ten songs that will move on to the final.

And like most people who blog on the Eurovision Song Contest, I'm choosing my ten songs and we'll see how they do.

1.  Finland  "När jag blundar"  Pernilla Karlsson

This song in my favorite of all the songs in the contest this year; I would have never thought that a Swedish language song would be that way.  I hope that Ms. Karlsson will get enough jury votes to make it through to the final, because where it's placed, I don't think the viewing audience will vote for it.

2.  Austria  "Wiki mit dein Popo"  Trackshittaz

Although I can see why this song can offend people, I like it and hope it makes it to the final.  It has a crazy energy that no other song has this year, and that energy makes it one of my favorites.

3.  Israel  "Time"  Izabo

Out of all the songs in the contest, this is the song that has the seal of approval of the lovely Janet S., which means that it's going to delight the other people at my Eurovision viewing party.  Any Eurovision song that is accessible to my Gen X friends is A-OK in my book.

4.  Moldova "Lăutar"  Pasha Parfeny

Who doesn't love a little bit of Moldovan fun?


5.  Albania "Suus"  Rona Nishlu

I have to say this song has grown on me, but I doubt that this will  appeal to enough people who hear it for the first time to make it through.  It's just so dramatically different than anything else, having it in the finals will


6.  Russia  "Party for Everybody"  Buranovskiye Babushki

I love the idea of them more than I like the song, but they're sure to make it through to the final, but there's still


7.  Denmark  "Should've Known Better"  Soluna Somay

This is the song that I still think could potentially make it were it released by a known American artist like Kelly Clarkson.

8.  Greece  "Aphrodesiac"  Eleftheria Eleftheriou

It's Greece by the numbers, but it's still peppy and you can tap your feet to it.  That's good enough to catch the ears of most people.

9.  Iceland  "Never Forget"  Greta Salóme and Jónsi

 There is something to be said for a really decent pop song presented by two seasoned performers.   I just hope he's not wearing that stupid string tie.

10.  Romania  "Zaleilah"  Mandinga

This is the catchiest song in the semifinal and probably my guilty secret song, because it's not the type of song I go for.

The sad thing is that I'm certain one or more of the songs on my list are going to be dropped, and I'm suspecting the two weakest songs on my list are Finland and/or Albania.     One of them is going to get replaced by the "dynamic" duo from Ireland for certain, and a number of other songs could take out the other without any problem.

But we'll see tomorrow night.

Eurovision 2012 Entrants: Moldova

I have to say I always look forward to Moldova's entry to Eurovision.  The have always set the standard for upbeat, slightly manic songs that are insanely catchy and a big hit with my friends.  A walk through Moldova's resent history will bring a smile to most Alaska Eurovision watchers.

So naturally, Moldova is one of those countries that I look forward to, because fun will be brought.

Pasha Parfeny  "Lautar"

It's fun, but a more subdued fun than previous years.  Parfeny doesn't have a fairy princess on a unicycle and he's not dressed up as a warrior princess and there's no Epic Sax Guy. 

 

But compared to the earnestness that seems to be a theme in most of the other songs this year, the bouncy beat is a breath of fresh air, and I'm looking forward to it making the finals and making my friends very happy.

(And on a fashion note, I love his pants a lot.  Were I younger and hipper, I think I'd attempt the look.)