Russia - 2012

I thought they were the Spice Girls.

Ha ha, the Spice Girls were around 15 years ago now, could be them...

No, all jokes aside, this is a group of ladies in a group called "Buranovskiye Babushki". They will perform the song "Party For Everybody" in Baku. I sure as hell want to be partying with them! Aren't they just fantastic!? The oldest member of the group is 76 years old, which coincidentally is the age that Engelbert Humperdinck turned recently too! Known as "the Grannies", they fought off competition from Dima Bilan and a member of t.A.T.u to book their place in ESC 2012. As you can imagine, there is significant hype around them!

The group usually perform in the Udmurt language, and have kept to this for Eurovision as they sing in Udmurt. However, after the start (which will grab everyone's attention as it's hilarious!) they break into singing about getting ready for a party (I think) before going into a chorus which should get everyone off their feet, belting about a Party For Everybody. To be honest though, I'm not even that fussed about what they are singing about, the whole thing is just brilliant. I think the fact that the majority of the song is in Udmurt is absolutely brilliant! It keeps them sticking to their cultural and traditional backgrounds, showing off the artists they want to be. Can we take them seriously? Not really. But do we LOVE IT? YES WE DO!

In Azerbaijan, these Grannies will put on a brilliant show! Their performance will show off just who they are and what they can do at their age, and their staging will be good too. They perform in the second half of the first semi final, and so I can't see them having a problem qualifying. In fact, it doesn't really matter where they perform in the contest, because all audiences will of course remember those amazing Grannies! I'm hoping they perform 2nd if they reach the final, because it really will be battle of the oldies between the Hump and the Grannies! Ha ha, that will be brilliant!

Now I'm going to start being a bit more realistic...I just get so carried away with them! ...the song really isn't a big number1 hit and I can't think of anyone having this on as a track they listen to. It truly is a novelty act which I know we all want to do well. And so don't take my song rating seriously because even though the song isn't that good, the Grannies are such fun! You may also think my liklihood to win rating is low, but there are a lot of pretty good songs this year which may mean a novelty act won't steal the win. Something rare has to happen for them to win, as I'm unsure if they can repeat Lordi's dramatic 2006 win for Finland.

Song Rating: 5/10
Liklihood to win: 6/10

Current odds: 8-1                       (oddschecker.com) (on average)

United Kingdom - 2012

Being English, the first country I had to start reviewing was the United Kingdom!

So the UK entry this year? Old crooner Engelbert Humperdinck with love ballad "Love Will Set You Free"

And what to make of the Hump? Well there is no doubt about it, this entry is smooth, classy and packed with emotion. After hearing him belt out those notes, especially towards the end, it is fair to say the Hump definitely still "has it". In my opinion, this song has really got something great about it, but there's something quite not there. Difficult to put you're finger on, but the song is missing something. As well as that, is this song not a little bit too serious? It feels as if the UK is trying too hard with this song, which certainly is a change from say 5 years ago when the UK entered Scooch. Add that to draw of songs for the final, and with the UK performing first, a win for the UK seems unlikey. Nevertheless, you can't take away the fact that this song is a good, strong song. And on the night, there is nothing to say that the Hump will not do better than Blue last year.

Song rating: 8/10
Liklihood to win: 4/10

Current odds: 10-1    (oddschecker.co.uk)