Happy Semifinal 1 Day!
Well, here we are again. It's Semifinal Day (Part 1), Jade Ewen is playing on Radio 2 and there's a tiny tear of excited anticipation creeping out of one of my eyes. I'm amazed that I have, for the first time, managed to post something on this blog during the actual week of the contest as opposed to abandoning ship, all spent by the end of national selections. Surely that's worth crying about? My own greatness and steely nerve in the face of my extreme pre-contest excitement?
It's myyyyy ttiiiiiiiimmmme naaaaaaaaooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwww
But, you know, I really think we have a vintage year on our hands. I can say that there isn't really a single song that I dislike strongly enough to begrudge it success, and even if the whole world has decided that Norway has already won the damn thing, I'm hopeful of a nice open contest for places 2-5 if not the top spot as well. I think it's a great year for East-West balance in terms of song quality, a particularly good year for the Big 4 and hence the best time to re-introduce the professional juries. The only thing I should really stop myself doing is hearing My Time and automatically imagining a reprise sequence with ticker tape and fireworks followed by the announcement of UK victory on the BBC headlines. Stop it! Stop! Must. Not. Get. Carried. Away.
Anyway, enough of B4 - back to the task in hand for today. My predictions for Semifinal 1. Being deemed by many to be the weaker of the 2 semis I think rather affords tonight's contest a greater opportunity to surprise and impress us.
The line-up:
1. Montenegro - Andrea Demirović - Just get out of my life
2. Czech Republic - Gipsy.cz - Aven romale
3. Belgium - Copycat - Copycat
4. Belarus - Petr Elfimov - Eyes that never lie
5. Sweden - Malena Ernman - La voix
6. Armenia - Inga & Anush - Nor par
7. Andorra - Susanne Georgi - La teva decisió (Get a life)
8. Switzerland - Lovebugs - The highest heights
9. Turkey - Hadise - Düm tek tek
10. Israel - Noa & Mira Awad - There must be another way
11. Bulgaria - Krassimir Avramov - Illusion
12. Iceland - Yohanna - Is it true?
13. FYR Macedonia - Next Time - Nešto što kje ostane
14. Romania - Elena Georghe - The Balkan girls
15. Finland - Waldo's People - Lose control
16. Portugal - Flor-de-Lis - Todas as ruas do amor
17. Malta - Chiara - What if we?
18. Bosnia & Herzegovina - Regina - Bistra voda
And my predicted qualifiers (9 from televote, 1 from professional jury)
1. Bosnia & Herzegovina
2. Armenia
3. Turkey
4. Malta
5. Iceland
6. Portugual
7. Sweden
8. Switzerland
9. Israel
10. Belarus
Bosnia is a sure-fire qualifier. A powerful, traditional-style ballad with dramatic 'Viva la Vida' costumery and staging. No doubt. Inga and Anush from Armenia haven't put a foot wrong since they began their build-up to Moscow, and of course come from a country with a huge diaspora. The Turkish pop sound has mass appeal, and again with a huge diaspora I think Hadise is a safe qualifier but perhaps won't figure as highly as we might have predicted in the final. Earlier on this blog I predicted that Chiara from Malta would win the whole contest, but I hadn't reckoned on such a strong line-up. Nonetheless, I think people have been too soon to disregard her and if she wins out as the best of the ballads we could see a top 5 finish on Saturday.
Now to the less certain qualifiers. From what I have read of the blogging from rehearsals in Moscow, Iceland and Portugal are both delivering solid performances. This is great news for me, as I think Iceland is certainly a classier and more contemporary ballad than Chiara's, and the Portuguese have produced a lovely, lilting folk song that seems to do everything right that Dervish previously turned into some sort of staggering Tudor peasants ghost ride.
Sweden is the worm that turned, erm, in a good way. I stamped all over this song in the lead-up to Melodifestivalen and now I love it. Actually, I love Malena Ernman. She's my hero and I've been following her on Twitter like a fool in love. Almost. Anyway, from what people are saying this song isn't quite doing it on stage in Moscow and is likely to be the jury's 'lucky loser' choice to qualify from tonight's semifinal. I think we shouldn't be too quick to put La Voix down, even though I am obsessed with her and think she is like some sort of Norse goddess. This song is unlike anything else in the contest and it does have an irrestible stomping campery. It will stick in people's minds, and whilst I don't think it will be popular east of say, Leipzig, boy will it go down a storm with everywhere west of there. This is what ordinary people think Eurovision is all about, and let's face it there are millions more of them who watch and vote than there are of us scaly-eyed die-hards who do things like lobby for the Portuguese singer to add an extra layer to her dress (thank you, AKOE. I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Loving your work though). So, expect to see big Malena again on Saturday.
The last three are a bit of a lucky dip and could be interchanged for any of Andorra, FYR Mac or, for reasons stated in the latter part of the last paragraph, Bulgaria (Oh big Krassy. Kisses!). I plumped for Belarus simply because it is apparently coming across very strongly in rehearsal and compares well with the songs that precede it. It's probably my least favourite song in the contest as I find it's just like - no, it actually is - being shouted at for 3 minutes, with little grace and no interest. Also, it's practically home turf for Peter Elfimov, which may make for a good arena reaction. Andorra is a great wee pop ditty, again apparently being well performed. Unfortunately they're losing out on the potential 12 from Spain as the Spanish want to screen only the 2nd semifinal and so moved their voting rights to Thursday. Silly Spain! However, Andorra could be a jury choice. Finally, Israel have given it a good go this year with two fantastic singers. They're bound to give a strong performance, and may stand out between all the bang-bang of Turkey and Bulgaria. I think there's always a decent interest in what Israel have to offer and while this isn't a patch on last year, it deserves a final place.
My opinions are likely to change having seen the live performances, but that's yer lot for now. Now I just have to concentrate on getting on with my day, and getting over my nightmare of last night that the UK won in 2009 (the good bit) but then got Al Murray and Jimmy Carr to host in 2010.
It's myyyyy ttiiiiiiiimmmme naaaaaaaaooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwww
But, you know, I really think we have a vintage year on our hands. I can say that there isn't really a single song that I dislike strongly enough to begrudge it success, and even if the whole world has decided that Norway has already won the damn thing, I'm hopeful of a nice open contest for places 2-5 if not the top spot as well. I think it's a great year for East-West balance in terms of song quality, a particularly good year for the Big 4 and hence the best time to re-introduce the professional juries. The only thing I should really stop myself doing is hearing My Time and automatically imagining a reprise sequence with ticker tape and fireworks followed by the announcement of UK victory on the BBC headlines. Stop it! Stop! Must. Not. Get. Carried. Away.
Anyway, enough of B4 - back to the task in hand for today. My predictions for Semifinal 1. Being deemed by many to be the weaker of the 2 semis I think rather affords tonight's contest a greater opportunity to surprise and impress us.
The line-up:
1. Montenegro - Andrea Demirović - Just get out of my life
2. Czech Republic - Gipsy.cz - Aven romale
3. Belgium - Copycat - Copycat
4. Belarus - Petr Elfimov - Eyes that never lie
5. Sweden - Malena Ernman - La voix
6. Armenia - Inga & Anush - Nor par
7. Andorra - Susanne Georgi - La teva decisió (Get a life)
8. Switzerland - Lovebugs - The highest heights
9. Turkey - Hadise - Düm tek tek
10. Israel - Noa & Mira Awad - There must be another way
11. Bulgaria - Krassimir Avramov - Illusion
12. Iceland - Yohanna - Is it true?
13. FYR Macedonia - Next Time - Nešto što kje ostane
14. Romania - Elena Georghe - The Balkan girls
15. Finland - Waldo's People - Lose control
16. Portugal - Flor-de-Lis - Todas as ruas do amor
17. Malta - Chiara - What if we?
18. Bosnia & Herzegovina - Regina - Bistra voda
And my predicted qualifiers (9 from televote, 1 from professional jury)
1. Bosnia & Herzegovina
2. Armenia
3. Turkey
4. Malta
5. Iceland
6. Portugual
7. Sweden
8. Switzerland
9. Israel
10. Belarus
Bosnia is a sure-fire qualifier. A powerful, traditional-style ballad with dramatic 'Viva la Vida' costumery and staging. No doubt. Inga and Anush from Armenia haven't put a foot wrong since they began their build-up to Moscow, and of course come from a country with a huge diaspora. The Turkish pop sound has mass appeal, and again with a huge diaspora I think Hadise is a safe qualifier but perhaps won't figure as highly as we might have predicted in the final. Earlier on this blog I predicted that Chiara from Malta would win the whole contest, but I hadn't reckoned on such a strong line-up. Nonetheless, I think people have been too soon to disregard her and if she wins out as the best of the ballads we could see a top 5 finish on Saturday.
Now to the less certain qualifiers. From what I have read of the blogging from rehearsals in Moscow, Iceland and Portugal are both delivering solid performances. This is great news for me, as I think Iceland is certainly a classier and more contemporary ballad than Chiara's, and the Portuguese have produced a lovely, lilting folk song that seems to do everything right that Dervish previously turned into some sort of staggering Tudor peasants ghost ride.
Sweden is the worm that turned, erm, in a good way. I stamped all over this song in the lead-up to Melodifestivalen and now I love it. Actually, I love Malena Ernman. She's my hero and I've been following her on Twitter like a fool in love. Almost. Anyway, from what people are saying this song isn't quite doing it on stage in Moscow and is likely to be the jury's 'lucky loser' choice to qualify from tonight's semifinal. I think we shouldn't be too quick to put La Voix down, even though I am obsessed with her and think she is like some sort of Norse goddess. This song is unlike anything else in the contest and it does have an irrestible stomping campery. It will stick in people's minds, and whilst I don't think it will be popular east of say, Leipzig, boy will it go down a storm with everywhere west of there. This is what ordinary people think Eurovision is all about, and let's face it there are millions more of them who watch and vote than there are of us scaly-eyed die-hards who do things like lobby for the Portuguese singer to add an extra layer to her dress (thank you, AKOE. I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Loving your work though). So, expect to see big Malena again on Saturday.
The last three are a bit of a lucky dip and could be interchanged for any of Andorra, FYR Mac or, for reasons stated in the latter part of the last paragraph, Bulgaria (Oh big Krassy. Kisses!). I plumped for Belarus simply because it is apparently coming across very strongly in rehearsal and compares well with the songs that precede it. It's probably my least favourite song in the contest as I find it's just like - no, it actually is - being shouted at for 3 minutes, with little grace and no interest. Also, it's practically home turf for Peter Elfimov, which may make for a good arena reaction. Andorra is a great wee pop ditty, again apparently being well performed. Unfortunately they're losing out on the potential 12 from Spain as the Spanish want to screen only the 2nd semifinal and so moved their voting rights to Thursday. Silly Spain! However, Andorra could be a jury choice. Finally, Israel have given it a good go this year with two fantastic singers. They're bound to give a strong performance, and may stand out between all the bang-bang of Turkey and Bulgaria. I think there's always a decent interest in what Israel have to offer and while this isn't a patch on last year, it deserves a final place.
My opinions are likely to change having seen the live performances, but that's yer lot for now. Now I just have to concentrate on getting on with my day, and getting over my nightmare of last night that the UK won in 2009 (the good bit) but then got Al Murray and Jimmy Carr to host in 2010.
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