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).

Who will win the 58th Eurovision Song Contest?

So it all starts tonight then!

In this blog post, I outline my predictions as to who will qualify, who will win and blah blah blah.

This year, I took information from various online polls, credible guesses at winners, the odds (as of an hour ago), my own favourite songs, the draw, rehearsals, and just extra points for anything special an artist might have!

The results are fairly interesting.

Qualifiers from Semi-Final 1

Estonia, Belarus, Netherlands, Ukraine, Moldova, Denmark, Austria, Serbia, Russia, Ireland


Qualifiers from Semi-Final 2

Iceland, Greece, Azerbaijan, Hungary, Switzerland, Israel, Norway, Georgia, San Marino, Finland


Final Results: (score out of 54)

RANK	COUNTRY	TOTAL!
			Total
1st	Denmark		47.5
2nd	Germany		44.0
3rd	Ukraine		43.5
4th	Sweden		42.0
5th	Norway		41.5
6th	Netherlands		38.5
7th	Russia		38.5
8th	Italy		37.5
9th	San Marino		36.5
10th	Azerbaijan		36.5
11th	Greece		33.5
12th	Ireland		33.5
13th	United Kingdom		33.0
14th	Finland		33.0
15th	Georgia		31.0
16th	Moldova		29.0
17th	Austria		27.0
18th	Hungary		26.5
19th	Switzlerand		26.5
20th	Belarus		26.5
21st	Estonia		26.0
22nd	Serbia		24.0
23rd	Israel		23.5
24th	Iceland		23.0
25th	France		23.0
26th	Spain		21.5

SO! Will DENMARK and Emmelie's forest (or teardrops or something) win on Saturday? Interestingly I have her on top, but she is closely followed by Germany, who are closely followed by Ukraine and so on and so on. What I notice about this is that they are all female singers!? Now I have my doubts over an all female top 3. Give me a minute though feminists. Just look at the top 3 in recent times. Going all the way back to the year 2005 when one gender dominated the top 3, but even then Romania who finished 3rd had male drummers as apart of her act. It doesn't seem likely therefore that Denmark, Germany and Ukraine will finish as 1, 2, and 3. This is where the door opens for Sweden, Italy and Azerbaijan - and so I think one of these will end up being top contender when the points start coming in.

I've heard many commentators, bloggers, fans, trolls, whoever, mention that Only Teardrops has nothing on Eurphoria. Yes we can all agree the song has credentials and it has a unique aspect in the use of a tin whistle (yes I finally found out what that instrument was). BUT this does not translate to winning. I mean, come on, if Verka Serduchka can't pull a win out the bag with something as unique as Dancing Lasha Tumbai then I feel Emmelie wont be able to pull it off either. Sorry Denmark. I think we all partied a bit too earlier on your entrant. Norway have always been in and around the mix...and Margaret Berger (even if I am now at the point of detesting I Feed You My Love garbage) is causing a bit of a storm in Malmo, and she does bring a very strong performance to the stage. Could Norway snatch victory from their neighbours hands?

How silly of me. Ralph Siegel is back and ready to strike again. But could San Marino actually win the biggest singing competition in the world? I hope you've done your geography. I asked many of my housemates if they knew where San Marino was. Some didn't even know it was a country.

And then there is Bonnie. Oh Bonnie Bonnie Bonnie. Believe In Me is...well you'll see how much I like this later, but she is ridiculously FAMOUS. I Need A...Bonnie!! It's been 16 years now. That's a long time for the UK. A long, long, long time. I don't care if Andrew Lloyd Weber and his puppet bored us into 5th back in 2009 (that's very harsh, I do actually very much enjoy It's My Time), I want douze points!

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.

AVOID AT ALL COSTS

Now let's be honest, everyone every year has those songs that you recommend missing. Whether it's from fear of falling asleep (aaaah it's Iris from 2012) or damn right fear of the performance (yes, I'm referring to the trojan horse - at least I think it was. Sadly Barack Obama didn't jump out and join in with the rapping. I think it was rapping. Who even remembers this!?!?!?).

This year I have selected 3 songs for which all have something in common...yes there are bland ballads, but I believe there are 3 performances which are much worse than having to be rudely awoken because someone has finished singing (as I am sure will happen with Despina's 'An Me Thymassi' from Cyprus - let's rest assure Cyprus won't go bankrupt for hosting the 2014 contest).

1. Montenegro

Sorry Montenegro. I have nothing against Montenegro, I reassure you. I wasn't expecting anything special after the disaster that was Euro Neuro, but I wasn't expecting it to get worse! How do you get worse from worse!?!?!?!?! I would start talking about composition and lyrics but I'm afraid there are none. This is a worse mix of things going on than the Social Network Song. Ok that is probably very harsh. Montenegro are represented by Igranka and the song "Who See". I think that is the right way round. The song could be called Igranka for all I'm aware. I haven't really looked too much into this in fear that I'll lose the definition of music. Don't get me wrong, I'm a pretty big fan of house music. And I like my dubstep. But this is just a complete failure of an attempt at getting some skanking going on. Someone tell what is going on?

See for yourself. If this qualifies, I'll eat my shoes.

2. Belgium

The Belgians are this year represented by Roberto Bellarosa and the song Love Kills. Well something is being killed, I'm unsure if it's love but I'm fairly confident a cat might be. Okay Roberto doesn't sound like a cat being strangled, but has he ever had singing lessons? Even a little vocal coaching would surely help? Admittedly he has been getting better but his singing is just atrocious. How on earth can he represent his country in the biggest singing competition in the world!? And where are Belgium finding these kids? Some pressing questions I would like answered by a Belgian please! Yes, choosing a kid has worked. Tom Dice had that stunning song in 2010 "Me and My Guitar", but after the nightmare that was Iris and her empty house from last year, you'd of thought the Belgians would have tried harder in selecting a representative. This is on the international stage after all. Like with Montenegro though, I feel it fitting to mention that I definitely have nothing against Belgium, just some poor selection choices.

3. Romania

Probably the scariest thing I've ever seen in Eurovision. Well the scariest thing I've ever heard in Eurovision. Romania have a 100% qualifying record in the ESC. You can kiss that goodbye - I recommend ear plugs if you want to listen to this. I joked about cats being strangled when talking about Roberto, I joke no more. Those poor cats. What did Romania do to them? This is Cezar and "It's My Life".

WELL GOOD LUCK to my toilet breaks from this year's contest. I'm sure you'll do "just fine".

Sideburns Alert! Watch out for Italy!

Rounding off then are this year's definite dark horses... Italy!

Who wants to go to Rome? Or Milan? Or anywhere else in this beautifully hot country?

I do, I do, I do.

Without sounding like Krista, I'll tell you about Italy's entrant for this year. It's Farid's closest competition (for hottest singer anyway - there are some truly excellent backing dancers to rival that. OH and Pasha. Yeah he's back in a very different way!). Italy are represented by Marco Mengoni and L'essenziale.

RIGHT let's get something sorted - personally Marco doesn't really do it for myself, but I see why he's gaining so much attention. And I also have to confess that I'm not the biggest fan of the song. To be fair, I was getting way too excited about other songs when this came out. I hadn't even properly listened to the song until at least half way through April. BUT it's okay. And the performance? So laid back it's beautiful. No crazy gimmicks and no sillyness, just an open performance that I have to admit, Marco really pulls it off.

It's a ballad by an attractive man. Not a power ballad by a super hot man, but nonetheless, the ingredients are all there to see this do well. Azerbaijan have a very strong track record, but since Italy's return, they are also doing pretty well. Madness In Love just missed out to Running Scared in 2011, and then Nina Zilli overcame some early hype and a poor draw to secure another top 10 position for the Italians. Marco certainly has nothing to fear about.

I want to go to Italy, but I don't want this song to win. There are better songs. However, if Italy did win, let's just say I won't be too miffed. And let's be honest, this is definitely a dark horse.