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.

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.

Eurovision 2013: Belgium

I have to admit in the economic climate in Europe right now, the way the Belgians have chosen their entrant is very cost effective.

Radio Télévision Belge Francophone, the French language broadcaster in Belgium, internally selected Roberto Bellarosa, the winner of the Walloon version of The Voice, a singing competition that has spread across the world.

RTBF selected three songs to be presented to the public on a radio program, and a combined jury and phone vote selected the song that Bellarosa would sing in Sweden.

The Winner

 

 

Roberto Bellarosa   "Love Kills"

 

 

I think it's a perfectly innocuous song  I can't understand the English lyrics--his accent is somewhat incomprehensible.  But I may have been hypnotized by the eyebrows or the the leather pants, both of which are pretty incredible.

 

As it stands right now, I don't think it has a chance of making it out of the semifinal it's placed in, but we have six months and I expect changes will be made.

 

 

Should Have Won

 

 

 

Roberto Bellarosa  "Love Kills"

 

It's not because I think it's a great song, which truthfully I don't.  The other two songs presented were worse, and out of the three I would have chosen it myself.

 

 

My Favorite

 

Truth be told, I don't really care for any of them so I can't say that any of them are my favorite.  So I'm posting up a Belgian Eurovision entry I really do like.

 

 



 

 Dream Express  "A Million In One, Two, Three"  1977