Good Afternoon readers! Who is still hungover from the excitement of the first semi final last night?
To start with, wasn't last night just spectacular? Its good to have Eurovision back on our TV screens after another year. I personally thought the stage was brilliant; the diamond floor and squared backdrop came across really nicely on TV, and it was used well throughout. The opening sequence was a little cheesy if we're all honest, and I did want it to end much sooner than it did. The hosts looked like they were having fun though. Oh and then there was the interval act. I never find out what the interval acts are and how they're rehearsing as I like to keep some magic for the show. Although forgetful, I thought the interval act was very nice, and the diamonte tracksuit will be remembered for time to come.
But what about the entrants! Well I thought every country gave it their all on the night and should be thoroughly congratulated on an excellent performance. The only exception to that is Andras Kallay-Saunders, who I found personally gave a weak vocal performance. Not too much criticism though, he gave an energetic performance and was rewarded with qualification. I predict that he won last night's semi final.
And that moves me on to the qualifiers!
They were: Armenia, Sweden, Iceland, Russia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, San Marino, Netherlands, Montenegro, Hungary.
Once again I only got 8/10 correct, with San Marino and Iceland replacing Moldova and Estonia. Were there any shock qualifiers? Well in reality, there weren't. I ate my words as I watched Iceland's "Pollaponk" bring the house down! Well they definitely were one of the favourites in my house anyway. I suppose the biggest shock was San Marino qualifying, but I did have them 11th in my pre-semi final prediction so it wasn't much a shock for me. I am so pleased for Valentina Monetta, it's true what they say about being "third time lucky"!
Eurovision fans have been mourning the loss of Tanja and Estonia from the competition, but it definitely felt very much like Cascada and 'Glorious' from last year, so at the most they would have qualified and finished in the bottom 5/6. Tanja had a great choreography, but I think it was a bit too generic and a bit too early on to qualify. As for Moldova! Well I've always got a soft spot for them, and perhaps prediciting 'Wild Soul' in the final was a bit too optimistic. Still I though diaspora voting would carry them through, but perhaps countries like Ukraine and Portugal were a bit too preoccupied with other entrants to send douze points there way. And that brings me to Ukraine...and Russia....
I've never been a fan of 'Tick Tock' but it's definitely a good song when performed, and we know the Ukrainians would provide some of the best staging yet again. The Giant Hamster Wheel went down like a storm and although in reality rather simple, it visually works perfect for a TV audience. And plus, Mariya is a very pretty girl, always guaranteed votes for being mega hot. Did Ukraine give Russia 12 points is the question? Well, who gave Russia points? Russia would always benefit from a generous diaspora vote, and former Soviets are likely to give them points. Plus, no matter how much Eurovision fans don't like the song/boycott the Russian entry, 'Shine' has all the elements that an Eastern European jury will marvel in, and two attractive blonde twins will go down well with males across Europe. I don't think the Russians squeezed into the final, but I still don't predict they will take the roof off in the final. I could see Russia finishing 14th or something, just missing out on a left-hand side position. The booing that the twins experienced when they were announced as qualifiers was absolutely disgusting. Booing Aram MP3 for 'potentially' homophobic remarks at Eurovision In Concert is one thing, but booing an act for making the final is just awful. There are many ways to express your current discontent with Russia, and Eurovision is not one of them. I say Good Luck to the twins for the final!
On a more positive note, who do you think just missed out on qualification to the final? Jan Ola Sand has since tweeted that there were just 3 points separating 10th, 11th and 12th last night. This means that two countries were agonisingly close to qualifying! My money is on Estonia and Moldova, but I've heard a number of combinations from the 6 countries who were unfortunate not to make it.
Finally we come to the first half, second half draw for the final. I've heard many UK fans say that the draw was fate, and well if we're honest, having quite a few favourites draw to perform in the first half makes it look even more positive for the UK. The draw so far looks like this:
First Half
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Germany
Iceland
Montenegro
Sweden
Ukraine
(6 slots left)
Second Half
France
Hungary
Italy
Netherlands
Russia
San Marino
Spain
United Kingdom
23. Denmark (randomly drawn before the semi finals began)
(4 slots left)
Well as you all know, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Sweden and Ukraine all performing in the first half means that one of them will not make the top 10, if not more. Performing in the second half has always been more beneficial, but it's not the be all and end all. However, the producers do now have a bit of a headache, having to select to choose where each of them performs. But as I said, they wont all do well. Is this the first year Azerbaijan wont make the top 10? Will they even finish on the left-hand side?
The second half of the draw does look very pretty for Molly and the UK at the moment. The only big rival is Hungary, and I have a sneaky feeling they might steal it this year. 'Running' is very well polished, and I think it could chart all over Europe...and that reminds me! Charts! I'm sure you've all heard how the Common Linnets are charting everywhere! This is brilliant news! The odds for the Dutch to win are falling rapidly, and could we be heading to the land of the orange next year? I'll be the first to admit that I never saw this coming. But Congratulations to them! They have a second half performance too, is it all falling into place for the Netherlands at the right time? I gave their staging a maximum 20/20 in my pre-contest scoring prediction, and I can see the juries lapping it up...but it seems televoters are too. All will be revealed Saturday, it's just too exciting!
Well the next semi final kicks off the same time at 20:00 CET and 21:00 BST on Thursday 8th May. We'll be joined by the final 10 qualifiers for the final on Saturday. It's a close one this year, no more close than the second semi final. Here are my predictions again:
Malta, Israel, Norway, Poland, Austria, Lithuania, Finland, Ireland, Greece and Romania. But I think it's impossible to predict. I could get just 5/10 or I could get the max 10/10 right.
And now back to revision I go, procrastination can survive no longer!
Showing posts with label Eurovision In Concert. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eurovision In Concert. Show all posts
Wednesday, 7 May 2014
Monday, 14 April 2014
Part IV - Armenia
Ah I cannot believe my last blog post was 11 days ago! Time has been going by mega quickly, and we are now only 22 days away from the first semi final. Eurovision Season goes much too quickly for my liking! I've been listening to loads of classics recently, as well as my new favourite song 'Rainmaker'. If you haven't heard, it's Emmelie de Forest's new song and it's amazing. I have planned a blog post dedicated to out hosts for closer to the first semi final, but tonight the attention is on Armenia!
The Good Part IV: Armenia
Armenia have a very good record at Eurovision! Up until 2010 the Armenians could be compared to how we see the Azeri now - not just a certainty for the final, but a top 10 finish as well. And they surely deserved that reputation! Many fans argue that Qele Qele should have taken home the crown in 2008, Apricot Stone deserved higher than 7th in 2010, and one of my favourite ever songs in the contest, Nor Par (Jan Jan) scraped 10th in the 2009 contest. Inga & Anush are two of my favourite Eurovision artists and I absolutely love them - and their performance was brilliant. Truly Eurovision. Since then things have gone a little downhill. Emmy and 'Boom Boom' embarrassingly didn't even make the final in 2011 (even though we're all still going 'chaka chaka'), and following a boycott of Baku 2012, they sent a fan dividing song in 2013, 'Lonely Planet', which still somehow managed to accumulate 41 points when many thought it wouldn't even make the final. BUT many, many fans argue that Armenia are back to their best this year! And rightfully so, the artist is Aram MP3 and the song is 'Not Alone' - scoring top 5 in many pre-charts and for a long time, being the red hot favourite by the bookmakers (check out ESC Webs 'here' for a bookies update). So what makes Aram MP3 and 'Not Alone' so great?
To begin with, 'Not Alone' is one of those defining era songs - by this, I don't mean it's a classic, but I mean that from the first listen, you know it's around a 2013/14 song without hearing the other songs entered. I think it's very good because the composition is simple, the lyrics are direct and it breaks away in the middle to become more upbeat. Usually this results in disaster; fans don't like two songs in one, but it works in 'Not Alone' because the upbeat section still fits in with the lyrics and the early melody. I almost feel the first half of the song has a Zelijko Joksimovic feel about it, and we all know how well Serbia (& Montenegro) have done under him. How the song does at Eurovision will be extremely interesting - fans like this song across Europe - it's not necessarily their favourite song, but it's in many people's top 10's. I argue that the result of this will be interesting because it could easily divide your less dedicated audience: people who have never heard of this before may be put off by the sudden change in direction, and an older audience may be put off when the beat drops. Additionally, many first-time listeners often decide whether they like a song within the first minute or two; if they enjoy the ballad section then good, but if not, then very bad because what would rescue those voters is a fantastic staging, and in my opinion, Aram MP3 won't provide the best choreographed performance. How this is staged will pose problems; it could be quite boring if it's just Aram MP3 on stage, but tacky dancers, I feel, would ruin any magic created in the lyrics when the beat drops.
And then there's what happened at 'Eurovision In Concert' - if you missed that, where have you been!? If you missed that, then here's a quick summary: some potentially homophobic puns were made by Aram MP3 to Conchita Wurst, the infamous bearded lady representing Austria this year. Wiwi blogs covered the basics in this article. In my opinion everything got taken out of context, but then again, Aram should not have made a possibly homophobic remark to a contest with an extremely large LGBT fanbase, especially in the year we go back to Denmark, the first country in the world to legalise gay marriage. Will any of this matter come May? It's hard to say because a lot of voters will not be aware of what happened, but to get booed at Eurovision In Concert (incidentally the same day as Aram's birthday!) speaks volumes in his current fan status - and this is only an estimate, but aren't a lot of semi-final voters mostly the mega fans? In the UK they are anyway, and so alongside being drawn 1st in the hotly contested first semi final could prove to be problematic. However, friends Ukraine and Russia also compete in semi 1, being drawn 1st in the semi final hasn't stopped popular songs from reaching the final before, and at the end of the day, it's still a very good song! People questioning whether this will qualify is crazy - of course it will! But where this finishes in the final is impossible to tell...
My prediction is top 10. As a UK fan that may be optimistic - for Armenia are definitely big rivals for the top crown, and so it will probably challenge 1st. BUT... will I get in trouble for saying that if the Azeri's do bribe voters and jurors like some argue, then will Armenia even do top 10? Azerbaijan and Armenia aren't friends. Or is that a ludicrous thing to say? Please do share your opinions on the matter!
Good Luck Armenia! I'm glad to see your back to entering good records and back on track to taking the contest to Yerevan! Good Luck Aram MP3!
The Good Part IV: Armenia
Armenia have a very good record at Eurovision! Up until 2010 the Armenians could be compared to how we see the Azeri now - not just a certainty for the final, but a top 10 finish as well. And they surely deserved that reputation! Many fans argue that Qele Qele should have taken home the crown in 2008, Apricot Stone deserved higher than 7th in 2010, and one of my favourite ever songs in the contest, Nor Par (Jan Jan) scraped 10th in the 2009 contest. Inga & Anush are two of my favourite Eurovision artists and I absolutely love them - and their performance was brilliant. Truly Eurovision. Since then things have gone a little downhill. Emmy and 'Boom Boom' embarrassingly didn't even make the final in 2011 (even though we're all still going 'chaka chaka'), and following a boycott of Baku 2012, they sent a fan dividing song in 2013, 'Lonely Planet', which still somehow managed to accumulate 41 points when many thought it wouldn't even make the final. BUT many, many fans argue that Armenia are back to their best this year! And rightfully so, the artist is Aram MP3 and the song is 'Not Alone' - scoring top 5 in many pre-charts and for a long time, being the red hot favourite by the bookmakers (check out ESC Webs 'here' for a bookies update). So what makes Aram MP3 and 'Not Alone' so great?
To begin with, 'Not Alone' is one of those defining era songs - by this, I don't mean it's a classic, but I mean that from the first listen, you know it's around a 2013/14 song without hearing the other songs entered. I think it's very good because the composition is simple, the lyrics are direct and it breaks away in the middle to become more upbeat. Usually this results in disaster; fans don't like two songs in one, but it works in 'Not Alone' because the upbeat section still fits in with the lyrics and the early melody. I almost feel the first half of the song has a Zelijko Joksimovic feel about it, and we all know how well Serbia (& Montenegro) have done under him. How the song does at Eurovision will be extremely interesting - fans like this song across Europe - it's not necessarily their favourite song, but it's in many people's top 10's. I argue that the result of this will be interesting because it could easily divide your less dedicated audience: people who have never heard of this before may be put off by the sudden change in direction, and an older audience may be put off when the beat drops. Additionally, many first-time listeners often decide whether they like a song within the first minute or two; if they enjoy the ballad section then good, but if not, then very bad because what would rescue those voters is a fantastic staging, and in my opinion, Aram MP3 won't provide the best choreographed performance. How this is staged will pose problems; it could be quite boring if it's just Aram MP3 on stage, but tacky dancers, I feel, would ruin any magic created in the lyrics when the beat drops.
And then there's what happened at 'Eurovision In Concert' - if you missed that, where have you been!? If you missed that, then here's a quick summary: some potentially homophobic puns were made by Aram MP3 to Conchita Wurst, the infamous bearded lady representing Austria this year. Wiwi blogs covered the basics in this article. In my opinion everything got taken out of context, but then again, Aram should not have made a possibly homophobic remark to a contest with an extremely large LGBT fanbase, especially in the year we go back to Denmark, the first country in the world to legalise gay marriage. Will any of this matter come May? It's hard to say because a lot of voters will not be aware of what happened, but to get booed at Eurovision In Concert (incidentally the same day as Aram's birthday!) speaks volumes in his current fan status - and this is only an estimate, but aren't a lot of semi-final voters mostly the mega fans? In the UK they are anyway, and so alongside being drawn 1st in the hotly contested first semi final could prove to be problematic. However, friends Ukraine and Russia also compete in semi 1, being drawn 1st in the semi final hasn't stopped popular songs from reaching the final before, and at the end of the day, it's still a very good song! People questioning whether this will qualify is crazy - of course it will! But where this finishes in the final is impossible to tell...
My prediction is top 10. As a UK fan that may be optimistic - for Armenia are definitely big rivals for the top crown, and so it will probably challenge 1st. BUT... will I get in trouble for saying that if the Azeri's do bribe voters and jurors like some argue, then will Armenia even do top 10? Azerbaijan and Armenia aren't friends. Or is that a ludicrous thing to say? Please do share your opinions on the matter!
Good Luck Armenia! I'm glad to see your back to entering good records and back on track to taking the contest to Yerevan! Good Luck Aram MP3!
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