Favourite Song from Moldova - Day 22

Ah my days, I'm now Day 22 into my 34 Days of Eurovision which means we have less than two weeks to go and things are heating up and if you're not ready to explode with excitement then fuck off.

Anyone who knows me knows I adore the Moldavian entry each year. And whether I want them to win or not, taking Eurovision to Chisinau would be EVERYTHING AND I WOULD BE THERE FOR WEEKS.

Much love Moldova <3

How to choose my favourite is literally impossible after so many greats.

Their debut in 2005 allowed for Granny beating a drum.

Violins became a thing in 2007.

(excuse the violin-less pic)

Hora Din Moldova and agonising miss for the Barbara Dex Award in 2009.

THE FUCKING EPIC SAX GUY IN 2010. I have a remix of this as one of my highest played songs in iTunes and I'm not joking.

Zdob si Zdub returned in 2011 with PERFECTION.

Aliona Moon absolutely rocked our socks with the most awesome Eurovision dress ever in 2013

Hair was literally ripped out in 2014.

And we got a taste of Moldavian porn last year.

A HUGE GOOD LUCK TO LIDIA ISAC FOR MOLDOVA THIS YEAR <3

But you all know my favourite track from Moldova, easily one of the best of all time. Really today was just about celebrating why I love Moldova. 

LONG LIVE KING PASHA

(Pasha Parfeny came 11th in 2012 with Lautar. DUH. Enjoy below)

The 34 Days of Eurovision - Days 15 & 16

Hello, so yesterday I completely forgot to enter My 34 Days of Eurovision post - I was busy, I've only let myself down.

With 20 days to go, I was going to blog about the best debut entry ever. Well I should have wrote that as my favourite debut entry. Best debuts come in the form of Poland's glittering 2nd at the 1994 contest, and I would even quote Hungary's debut as 1994, meaning we can include their 4th that year as pretty magical too. Frederika Bayer's "Kinek mondjam el vetkeimet?" is actually one of my all time faves and I believe it should have finished higher than Poland that year.

But when it comes to debuts, do you get as good as this?

Apparently you do, and this won't be the last time you see the next track in my 34 days of eurovision, that's for sure...

Well Done Serbia on a solid win on your debut as an entirely independent nation!

SO with 19 days to go until semi-final number one, I will today be counting the songs which brought ultimate cheese to the contest.

And there are SOO many to choose from!

#3 2006 - Lithuania; LT United "We Are The Winners"

Kicking things off we have this extremely original, not at all catchy, god amazing entry from Lithuania.

#2 2004 - Switzerland; Piero & the Music Stars "Celebrate"

The worst song ever at Eurovision?

#1 2007 - United Kingdom; Scooch "Flying the Flag"

Who else?

THERE ARE SO MANY NOTABLE MENTIONS in the Eurovision songs bringing the ultimate cheese. The choice is so subjective and I think everyone's top 3 would be different. However these songs bring a smile to your face...even if that is a grimace! Enjoy!

Part III - Romania

The Good Part III: Romania

We've got another edition of the good, the bad and the ugly today, with Romania taking the spotlight as the next "good".

'Miracle' by Paula Seling & Ovi

Oooooft. Eurodance stomper 'Miracle' really has got it what it takes to do well for Romania at this year's Eurovision. From the very first line to the end, the song feels like it is taking you on the journey. Well that's how I see it anyway. The fast pace continually picks up and does what it is supposed to do! It doesn't stop, and you can picture the lights and the fireworks already. What is great about this song is that it also feels a lot quicker than 3 minutes. By this I refer to the fact that with a ballad, you often feel the length of a song, whereas this song seems to happen in a heartbeat. Coupling that with the staging, and this year's Romanian entry will definitely get the crowd on their feet, whether they like the song or not. Romania also provide much needed pain relief for that ballad headache as well, and so this one will stick out like a sore thumb.

But I haven't mentioned the best bit... the return of Paula Seling & Ovi! Fans alike will remember their terrific 3rd back in the 2010 contest when 'Playing with Fire' finished strong, nearly going on to topple Turkey into 2nd place. That year was rightfully stolen by Lena and 'Satellite', but if the Germans hadn't turned up, would Romania have walked away with the grand prize? Quite potentially. But that's neither here nor there, the best thing is that the duo are back to try again. Since performing for Romania in 2010, Paula Seling has continued to grow as a national celebrity, with X Factor judging credentials and various work with films, including Cars 2 and Brave. Ovi has also been working hard, especially with Eurovision. He teamed up with the almighty Thomas G:Son in 2012 to have a crack at composing a winner, however this turned out not to be. But what can be seen is that by pairing up with Paula once again, Romania stand a cracking shot at success with name recognition alone.

What about the statistics? Well Romania have never failed to qualify for the final - they have 100% success rate in the semi-finals. In the finals, the last few years have seen varied success, but on the whole, they do fairly well, and I think with such a strong entry, predicting Romania to finish in the top 10 is a good estimate. I think what works well is that the whole package is there; they have a good song, they have respected and much-loved artists, Romania has many friends both neighbourly and culturally, and they have got luck on their side in that if they perform first or last they have something memorable.

So, could they win? I really don't see why not. I really don't know why they wouldn't win. If we're heavily critical, then the song isn't fantastic. The song also will need some choreography; I don't doubt that Romania will have good staging, but because of the nature of the song, there will need to be dancers or at least something happening in the chorus - if there's not, then the sheer power of Paula and Ovi's voices will ensure the juries mark highly, but will the televoters? See, without "something" I can't see televoters across Europe picking this over other favourites, even if Romania can rely on a few votes from the likes of Ukraine and Moldova - diaspora does not win Eurovision! Chances of winning? High, but perhaps not high enough...

Whatever the case, I like the song! It is performing okay in online fan polls and I'm yet to see anyone disregard Romania. The odds are pretty good for Romania, they're not down as a favourite, but I think if we were to predict this year's "dark horse" then Romania stand a pretty good shot at that.

Good Luck Romania! Good Luck Paula & Ovi! We look forward to seeing you in the final on the 10th May!

AAAAH! There are too many contenders...

I've been trying to predict the winner all day! Talking about it with people and hearing their thoughts, putting the songs in order of the final. It is soo difficult this year!

In 2011, the winner was so hard to predict, and in the hours leading up to the final, the odds were changing left right and centre. I think an hour before the final, Azerbaijan shot straight into a comfortable pole position in the odds...

Keep an eye out... http://www.oddschecker.com/tv/eurovision/winner

Just heard them in order and Georgia really stood out. Was I wrong about placing them so far low earlier? It is becoming very hard. Denmark probably still have it in the bag though... how boring!

POST SEMI FINAL 1 EXCITEMENT

SO wasn't last night just BRILLIANT!?

So glad to have Eurovision back on the screen! And wasn't it amazing? I don't know who commentates for your country, but you should really listen to Scott Mills and the girl from the Scissor Sisters who did the commentary for BBC (United Kingdom). They were hilarious. And of course we have Graham Norton for the final which is just excellent!!

First of all, wasn't Lynda Woodruff absolutely hilarious? Shame I can't say the same for Petra Mede - personally I found parts of her hosting just cringe-worthy nonsense. I thought Loreen was fantastic though. Those children were adorable and apart from when Loreen seemed to descend into a pit of over-excited Euro fanboys (although if I was in Malmo, I'm pretty sure I would have done exactly the same), I really enjoyed the opener to the show. The performances went without hiccough as far as I noticed, but I have to admit there were 2 absolute stand outs for me. They were (without bias) Moldova and Ireland! They worked perfectly going one after the other, but the best bit was that I wasn't expecting them to be so good. Wasn't Aliona Moon's dress just sheer brilliance!? Oh and of course, Pasha was on the piano. Splendid!

Let downs? Denmark. I knew that I would get extremely bored of the song by now, but still her performance wasn't just disappointing, it was embarrassing. No emotion at all, and her voice just came across generic without anything special. If it wasn't for the strength in the song and the tin whistle then I would even go as far as ruling Denmark out of contention. Don't get me wrong, I still reckon Emmelie will be top 5 at least, but will she win? Definitely needs to up her game.

Surprises? Belgium. Undoubtedly, Roberto Bellarosa has come a long way since being chosen to represent the Belgians this year. The re-mastering of the song never really changed much for me, but some how it really came across on the stage and the sounds and everything were just fantastic. AND HE CAN SING! After hearing that he won "The Voice" I was very sceptical of the amount of talent, but it turns out that Roberto can sing, so Congrats to him!

But let's be honest - the biggest shock was LITHUANIA QUALIFYING FOR THE FINAL. HOW!? I think Andrius Pojavis has tons of charisma, and naturally, his eyebrows can make for an interesting performance. But please, the song!? He sings about shoes for goodness sake! In all fairness, I was very critical of Donny Montell last year and he ended up doing very well for himself. There is always one shock, but I was maybe thinking Slovenia or Montenegro would provide the shock...not Lithuania and some dodgy lyrcis.

Interestingly, all the ex-Soviets made it through, but none of the ex-Yugoslavs made it through. If you've been reading all the blogs around they probably have reported how much of a shock it is blah blah blah. But is it that much of a shock!? Let's take a look at the facts. Slovenia was first up and Straight Into Love has never been popular, let's face it. Hannah and the dancers may have been great, but the song just wasn't good enough. It was the first real up beat song, but there were plenty of better upbeat songs coming later. Slovenia would have been forgotten...

Then we have Croatia. Now I found this interesting - it's not been a big favourite with fans but the vocals are very strong and the composition of the song works really well. The message comes across and I thought the juries would support that. Plus, its sung in national language. I think perhaps Croatia may have just missed out because they didn't receive enough televotes. And they were 4th after all...and they did proceed big favourite Denmark.

Coming up next is Montenegro. Igranka did provided a huge contrast to Birds before it and Something after it. But to vote for this, you have to appreciate it's absolute bonkers-ness and the song does require an acquired taste. I believe the juries didn't like this and it was the televoting that may have made this just miss out. Montenegro have never qualified independently though so they are always punching above their weight.

Finally we had Serbia. Not only do they have a strong qualifying record in Eurovision, they also performed last which usually makes you fresh for both juries and televoters. Yes there was some dodgy acting of the song, and the dresses looked like an explosion in the sweet factory but they had something going on. There was something to watch on screen, but perhaps everyone just saw this as a bit of mess following the slickness of Love Kills (let's be honest, that performance was rehearsed to the core - it was slick!). It'll be interesting to see if Serbia did finish 11th.

Every year there is diaspora voting (and it has been going for year's people!) so you'd of thought that one of the ex-Yugoslav countries would have benefitted from this. Evidently not (even if I did happen to vote for Ireland several times myself last night - but I did vote for Moldova just as many times, and I might have snuck one or two votes in for the Netherlands as well). If there was strong diaspora voting from the ex-Soviets that would explain why Lithuania made it but still, it just goes to show that we don't just vote for our neighbours anymore! And plus, there were 4 of the top favourites in last night's semi - Denmark, Russia, Ukraine and the Netherlands.

That brings me to my favourite part of last night - the Netherlands qualified for the final! Birds was such a contrast to Gravity and Igranka that Anouk really stood out. The song was very deep and emotional, and so unique that I think it may have put televoters off. But rest assure, I believe the juries rate this. I don't care how the Dutch do in the final, I'm just thrilled they shook off that horrible curse of not making it through!

And the draw for the final? WELL, this year we don't have one. You draw whether you perform in the first or the second half of the final. Maybe not as exciting in the press conference, but there were many countries who drew the first half. Denmark managed to sneak a second half performance though, so it'll be interesting to see where SVT places them. Ireland got second half - yes! Moldova sadly drew first half though :(
NO! I won't speculate...Russia and Albania proved top 5 can still happen from poor positions (although what would have happened if you had swapped Sweden and Azerbaijan in 2011? I'm still convinced Eric Saade would have snatched that victory and Sweden would have done the double).

Now I promise I won't speculate until I've seen the full draw, but I've just found out that Bonnie Tyler will perform for the UK in the second half of the final. Yes Yes Yes! This news does delight me. If Bonnie performs in the last 3 or 4, I reckon we stand a good chance of contending for the grand prize. She has that lift after all! (it's not a giant - but Bonnie Tyler brought on stage by a Giant? Only Ukraine could pull that off - which incidentally they very much did!).

SO then I look forward to tomorrow's semi final! Will FYR Macedonia be the only ex-Yugoslav country? Will Latvia join their friends in the final? Will we have ALL Scandinavian countries in the final? Will San Marino finally qualify?

My bets on the BIG shock (cos you know there will be one)...Malta (hopefully).

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I'll love you tomorrow...it's only a day away...

Nope Nope, that's not the lyrics from Maltese entry, Gianluca Bezzina's 'Tomorrow' (which I recommend definitely checking out - the song is just as adorable as Robin Stjernberg's 'You' but I'm afraid Gianluca comes off a bit older than Robin and so the cute factor doesn't appear to be there, even in that amazing Christmas jumper I need to get my hands on!)... it's the lyrics from the musical Annie.

The first Semi Final of the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest is tomorrow at 20:00 CET.

Who's excited?

ME!

Why does Eurovision have to be in May? July would be a much better month. After all the exams. I have an exam in a week's time and revision might as well have been literally chucked out the window. Screw you Eurovision!

Anyway, does anyone else remember my strange addiction to Pasha Parfeny? He represented Moldova last year with the song "Lautar". And my god, he has gotten so much fitter.

He is something to do with Aliona Moon's entry this year. He either wrote the song or composed it. You do get to see him play the piano in the Moldovan national final. And he is in Malmo as far as I'm aware.

And then when this photo popped up, you can imagine my delight. Thankyou to www.escnation.com - so very kind people for sharing.

Check out their blog - and this page in particular. 

Tomorrow, I shall definitely be sharing the performances that you should not be missing this year. They'll probably be some exciting build up to the first semi final as well. But after months of preparation, we are only a day away! Thankyou to all my readers this year and I hope that you continue reading this week for my COMPLETELY NON-BAISED reporting of the competition.

Right then, revision.

Moldova - 2012

The Moldovans have given some great novelty acts over the year, and I can say they are a guilty pleasure of mine! This year? Pasha Parfeny with upbeat number Lautar.

Yet again, the Moldovans don't disappoint. Lautar is just brilliant! The lyrics are simple and basic, but the song doesn't need deep or interesting lyrics. The jazzy tunes does all of that. In case you were wondering, Pasha is singing about a trumpet. It's all just crazy and fun, and takes me back to 2009 when a man called Alexander Rybak stormed the ESC with Fairytale. That song was simple with a fun tune, and it was so effective. Lautar isn't quite as good as Fairytale, don't get me wrong, but it does have something quite brilliant about it. As for Moldova in Eurovision... well they don't do that bad. since their debut in 2005, they have only failed to make the final once, and despite not achieveing a top 5 placing, they don't fair too badly. Pasha Parfeny is pretty unknown in terms of Eurovision, and will not have any name recognition in neighbouring countries, but we can probably rely on Romania (or Ukraine) to give them 10 or 12 points. However, in my opinion, Pasha won't need it as Lautar will score just fine on it's own. Not a winner, not by a long way, but the song is fun and catchy and will definitely feature in the final after getting a good semi-final draw (17th in the first SF). I predict Moldova will finish in the middle of the board... anything higher would be reasonable though!

Song rating: 7/10
Liklihood to win: 4/10

Current odds: 66-1              (oddschecker.com)