LIVE: Slovenia and Netherlands Results

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I'm monitoring both the Slovenian and Dutch streams and will comment on the winners as soon as I get the info. I'm definitely curious about the Slovenian contest but can expect nothing more than a lower-half of the semifinal table placing for the Netherlands in 2009, no matter which song they choose.

Slovenia has decided on Quartissimo, a string quartet crossover number with some 'popera' vocals. I didn't cover this earlier as I reckoned it didn't really have enough vocals to work in Moscow and I thought making a mimed instrumental look exciting would be difficult. But, it's entertaining. The female singer spends most of the song hidden behind some white cloth in silhouette. She bursts through near the end with a climactic melody a bit like the theme from Dallas or Dynasty.

Dima Bilan says "I wanna wish you good luck and maybe winner, because you have here many friends." He now speaks in Russian while the host looks confused.

I think this is a good choice, actually, and was perhaps too hasty to disregard it earlier. This should certainly be memorable, and I think that's what Slovenia needs in ESC.

Back in the Netherlands, the winning song (by a long stretch in the televote) is Shine. Best of a bad bunch. Angel of the night came second, so I wasn't far off.

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