Thursday 29 March 2012

Der countdown läuft - 2012 !!!

1) Sweden
This is by far the most contemporary song of the year. Loreen sings emotionally and the mood is made more intense by the lighting and her captivating martial arts inspired choreography. The song will be a big hit wherever it places. Ironically this and the very different Spanish entry are co written by Thomas G:son.

2) Spain
This the best chance Spain has had of winning since Rosa back in 2002. Is not exactly the most Spanish sounding of songs (although this has mostly been their problem) but is a very dramatic ballad that makes best use of Pastora’s lungs. Sang this flawlessly during the national final and will go BIG in the hall.

3) Switzerland
This was the first song chosen all the way back in December and to be honest very little beats it. A good solid rock-pop song with a catchy chorus. Lots of repetition of the song title. It has a good tempo which switches between fast and slow and keeps you on your toes. Some apprehension on the singers pronunciation.

4) France
A really catchy number with lots of twists, turns, changes of language, tempo and chord. The song switches from French to English and back again seamlessly and work well in the structure of the song. Recent videos of her live versions have impressed me and I feel that with a good visual show this will go big in the hall.

5) Italy
At the last minute, Italy changed their song. Good job really. Like last year this is a jazzy entry but this one is more in the Caro Emerald/Paloma Faith field. The song, mostly in English but with parts in Italian, is terribly catchy and could easily be found on the playlists over Europe. Like last year will definitely get the jury vote.

6) Albania
OK, OK. There is no way this song will win or even get out of the semi final but if you want drama, passion and mad vocal skills, this has to top the lot. Rona has an interesting visual look as well as the biggest voice (and mouth) possibly ever seen at Eurovision. Possibly too technical and odd for the once a year viewer.

7) Ireland
Let’s be honest, this is no “Lipstick” however in the scheme of things, this will probably do better. The boys, of course, deliver their pop number with a lot of gusto and jumping around and actually don’t do a bad job in keeping to the tune. They are now well known in Eurovision circles which may get them the odd extra vote. 

8) Slovakia
This is possibly the best out and out rock song ever seen at Eurovision. Sounds very commercial and could do well all over the world never mind just in Europe. The mix of slow and fast beats keeps you on your toes and the chorus is a standout piece of work. No live performance as yet but this could be a dark horse. 

9) Norway
Tooji’s song is an up-tempo pop song with a mix of western and eastern stylistic influences. Cleverly choreographed as it looks like he is doing a lot of moving and dancing but is effectively doing it all on the spot. This will also help his vocals which need to be strong. Will get the young girl vote like Eric Saade last year. 

10) United Kingdom
Initially an odd choice for the UK but the combination of singer and song has shut up a lot of the critics. A very simple and moody chanson style number it shows off Englebert’s voice and style well. His voice, diction and passion are clear. Will be interested to see what the show looks like. Would like it better in French possibly.

11) Germany
Roman is a contemporary sounding singer who will get many a young girl vote. The song, co-written by Jamie Cullum, is a laid back number with a very repetitive chorus. The tune is very simple and easy to remember. I fear the performance will be bland compared to others in the contest and will possibly be forgotten.

12) San Marino
This year’s ultimate Marmite track composed by Ralph Siegel. It’s the song you really, really, REALLY want to hate but has an ear worm so infectious you end up singing it all day long. Initially disqualified due to its Facebook lyrics but all this did was gain the song more publicity. Valentina is unbelievably 37 years old. WOW.

13) Slovenia
One of the early favourites for this year’s contest. Eva has a good look and I hope she keeps the weirdly dressed backing singers too. The song, in Slovene, is strong although it does sound suspiciously like ‘Motliva’ from 4 years ago, however both are composed by the same person. Will get lots of neighbourly votes.

14) Austria
Trackshittaz should have won last year’s ESC ticket however this song is nowhere near as good as last year’s effort. Cannot wait to see what kind of show they put up in Baku. Sung in a dialect of German this will get a fair share of Alpine votes. The chorus is very catchy, even if you don’t quite know what you’re saying.

15) Denmark
Soluna sang this song during the Danish final  in a military style outfit and having her backing singers on a sofa. This is a mid tempo guitar based song which is lo laid back it is vertical. The chorus is extremely memorable but the verses let it down slightly. Keep on thinking it is going to turn into Seal’s “Crazy”

16) Finland
The only song in Swedish in this year’s contest. A subtle lilting ballad that has a lovely laid back jazzy feel and some interesting chords in the chorus. The tune is easy to pick up and hummable immediately, even if the language is not to your taste. The performance is also aided by the lovely dancer at the front.

17) Ukraine
Another of the dance songs in the contest. Reminisces of Ruslana in the background. Gaitana has a very distinctive voice although the recorded version does not do it justice. Will be interesting to see how this is performed. Encouraging to see an Eastern European country being represented by a black woman. 

18) Bulgaria
One of the very few dance songs this year and it could do well. The instrumental parts are used well. The chorus is cleverly written involving several different languages. Sofi’s top notes are little bit on the thin side and quite nasal sounding. The song could easily be a hit in the clubs of Europe but maybe not at Eurovision. 

19) Serbia
I can feel the evil glares from here. I’m really sorry but Zejlko has been hoist by his own petard. Compared to his other Eurovision efforts this just doesn’t cut the mustard. It is far too slow in getting going and the tune is not memorable enough. His only saving grace is that he didn’t choose to sing the English version.

20) Moldova
Well, well, well. This is a strange one. A fun track which just about stays away from the ‘we’re taking the piss’ camp. I love the plinky-plonky piano in the backing track which gives it a fun retro feel. The performance during the national final was weird to say the least and needs refining. Part of me hopes Sasha will keep the odd suit !

21) Hungary
This is a modern and contemporary pop ballad which has a Hurts kind of feel to it. The tune, which is a little low at points, must be sung perfectly or it will sound flat. The band could also do with a bit of a makeover. The chorus really stands out but the verses are very throwaway and this might be the song’s downfall. 

22) Belarus
The Belarusians need to work out if this is a rock song or a dance song and know which version they are going to perform! The song has quite a good chorus but the rest of the song lets it down a little. I also hope they have a change of outfit and leave the Tron-esque jumpsuits at home !

23) Malta
Possibly the most typical Eurovision song of this year- an up-tempo song with a repetitive chorus. Kurt sings the song well and even does a little bit of swivel dancing during the chorus. Needs a bit more performance to take it to the next level. The earworm of the ‘eh-eh-eh’ part of the chorus will be a Marmite moment.

24) Belgium
Iris is a pretty girl and has a strong voice although she goes a bit Diana Vickers every so often with the squeaking. The song is a slow ballad (no “Me and my guitar”) but has its own memorable moments. Not sure how well the song will stand out amongst the others in the semi and I fear that that is where it will stay.

25) Croatia
I was impressed when Nina revealed her entry a few weeks back however the newer ‘produced’ version lacks power and build. I am hoping her live performance is better than the one on the CD. It would be nice to see this entry do well as it is a good song although we are yet to hear or see Nina sing this song live.

26) Romania
I am still a little wary of this entry, hence its low placing. Mandinga have produced a great dance-party song mostly in Spanish with a plethora of strange instruments. I just feel it is style over substance (especially with the drumming choreography) and the nonsense title and simplistic chorus doesn’t sit right with me at all.

27) Lithuania
I feel quite harsh putting this entry this low down. Donny is a great singer and performer, he works a good gimmick and the song is not bad either. However for me it just doesn’t work. I guess it just feels a little bit dated and possibly a bit on the predictable side. It needs a lot more oomph and power to be more memorable 

28) Netherlands
Country music has never done well at Eurovision and this won’t buck the trend. Joan has an interesting tone and accent to her voice, sounding a bit ‘mockney’ at times. She will need to update and stylise her performance much more from when she won the Dutch ticket. Will she still be wearing the headdress?

29) Iceland
A dark and moody song with a kind of mystical, Medieval and Celtic feel to it. It is quite slow to get into its groove and one could dismiss it too early. The verses have a strange rhythm which is not conducive to singing along to straight away. Greta and Jonsi are good singers but the song sounded better in Icelandic.

30) Cyprus
This song is just annoying. I am sure there used to be a joke about Eurovision songs being full of la-la-las… The song is one of the few dance songs in the contest so will stick out a mile. Mind you, Ivi mimed all of her songs in the Cypriot final, so confidence of her being able to sing this live is a big fat ‘nil points’

31) Latvia
A Eurovision song that is *kind of* about Eurovision. Trying to work out if this is a joke entry or not. The tune is OK and the title of the song is very prominent so will be remembered. Everything about its presentation screams ‘we’re trying to be wacky’ but the song is indulgent. Plus Anmary has the strangest eyes ever.

32) Portugal
When will the Portuguese learn? Sending the same song year after year is the reason you haven’t won once in 48 years! The song is passionate but predictable and also needs a lot of work visually. Typical Portuguese Fado fayre sung by a(nother) pretty girl. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt, another no-win. 

33) Greece
It doesn’t really matter what I write about this song, it will qualify whatever happens (even if she sings every note out of tune or forgets the words completely). A very typical girlie pop song with Greek influences and a chorus made out of oh-oh-oh-ing to the nth degree. If they do win, Greece will go completely bankrupt.

34) Azerbaijan
Two things are is for sure – 1) this will get 12 points from Turkey and 2) we won’t be back in Baku again next year. Very forgettable in the scheme of things. The song is a nice enough jazzy ethnic ballad but Sabina puts on far too many vocal gymnastics into it and it takes away from the simplicity of the actual song. 

35) FYR Macedonia
This is one of the best entries from this country for quite a while, yet that only gets them this lowly placing. Kaliopi’s song certainly has some gusto about it, as well as a range of styles to show off her voice but most of the time it sounds like she’s in pain. I have a feeling many of her top notes may well be flat ones too.

36) Israel
This probably wins the title of strangest retro track of the contest. Verses in English, choruses in Hebrew and the song’s structure belongs back in the 60s or 70s. Possibly the most ‘un-Eurovision’ song of this year. The choruses sound like the band are taking the piss too… which I don’t think they are.

37) Montenegro
Surprisingly high on the list considering this is as far away from the meaning of the word ‘song’ as you can probably get. A mish-mash of supposedly comedic rapping in an incomprehensible accent and random shouting, over a weirdly accented backing track. The repetition of the title does give it one memorable feature. 

38) Estonia
One of the many cases of the wrong song winning the national final (both 2nd and 3rd places were much better) A nice enough ballad in the local tongue but is instantly forgettable. Ott does absolutely nothing during the song (either he is shit scared or he is actually paralysed) Either way, it’s 3 minutes of your life wasted. 

39) Russia
If anybody needed proof that this year’s ESC has been taken over by the mad quarter – this is it. Only one of the grandmas seems to know what they are doing, where they are OR know the words. Can imagine at least one of them wandering round Baku looking for fairies instead of being on stage. Embarrassing.

40) Turkey
Do you know what? I don’t get this at all. Can’s dress sense and dance sense is a sight to behold. Bez has a Turkish love child ! The tune is just awful and the backing track sounds really cheap. However what is more annoying is that the chorus contains the line “Like me like I like you and say na nani nani nani na...” Man alive ! 

41) Georgia
Is this a song or a list of Anri’s mental health problems? He seemingly has more personalities than there have been Eurovisions. The song has been updated and improved (well it could not have been made any worse!) since the Georgian final but it is still dire and embarrassing. Cup of tea time, put it in your diary now.

42) Bosnia Herzegovina
Look - it's last year's plinky-plonky woman ! I am very disappointed by this song. By all means it is a beautiful song sung by a very beautiful and talented lady but having heard it at least seven times I still can’t remember any of the words or the melody. I would equate it to upper class muzak you might hear in a posh lift.

Friday 23 March 2012

THE DRAW

The draw took place in Baku on the 20th March.
Here the placing for both semi-finals was finalised as well as the placing of the 6 countries that have pre-qualified for the main final.

As ever, there were wildcards. This meant that 2 countries in each semi, and one in the final, would be able to choose their placing rather than be drawn a random one. As we know choose in a place can be beneficial.

In semi-final 1, Finland chose placing 9 and Ireland chose placing 18.

01) MONTENEGRO Rambo Amadeus - Euro Neuro
02) ICELAND Greta Salóme & Jónsi - Mundu eftir mér
03) GREECE Eleftheria Eleftheriou - Aphrodisiac
04) LATVIA Anmary - Beautiful song
05) ALBANIA Rona Nishliu – Suus
06) ROMANIA Mandinga - Zaleilah
07) SWITZERLAND Sinplus – Unbreakable
08) BELGIUM Iris – Would you
09) FINLAND Pernilla Karlsson - När jag blundar
10) ISRAEL Izabo - Time
11) SAN MARINO Valentina Monetta – The Social Network Song
12) CYPRUS Ivi Adamou - La la love
13) DENMARK Soluna Samay - Should've known better
14) RUSSIA Buranovskiye Babushki - Party for everybody
15) HUNGARY Compact Disco - Sound of our hearts
16) AUSTRIA Trackshittaz - Woki mit deim popo
17) MOLDOVA Pasha Parfeny - Lăutar
18) IRELAND Jedward - Waterline

In semi 2, Ukraine chose place 7 whilst Lithuania bagged place 18.

01) SERBIA Željko Joksimović - Nije ljubav stvar
02) FYR MACEDONIA Kaliopi - Crno i belo
03) NETHERLANDS Joan Franka - You and me
04) MALTA Kurt Calleja - This is the night
05) BELARUS Litesound - We are the heroes!
06) PORTUGAL Filipa Sousa - Vida minha
07) UKRAINE Gaitana - Be my guest
08) BULGARIA Sofi Marinova - Love unlimited
09) SLOVENIA Eva Boto - Verjamem
10)CROATIA Nina Badrić – Nebo
11) SWEDEN Loreen - Euphoria
12) GEORGIA Anri Jokhadze - I'm a joker
13) TURKEY Can Bonomo - Love me back
14) ESTONIA Ott Lepland - Kuula
15) SLOVAKIA Max Jason Mai - Don't close your eyes
16) NORWAY Tooji - Stay
17) BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA Maya Sar - Korake ti znam
18) LITHUANIA Donny Montell - Love is blind

The final has also brought up a few noticeable points. Spain was drawn first and asked to be placed 19 -  the placing Azerbaijan won from last year.

1) UNITED KINGDOM Engelbert Humperdinck – Love will set you free
9) FRANCE Anggun - Echo (You and I)
10) ITALY Nina Zilli - L'amore è femmina
13) AZERBAIJAN Səbinə Babayeva -
19) SPAIN Pastora Soler - Quédate conmigo
20) GERMANY Roman Lob - Standing still
The draw for the first Semi-Final:
Semi 1 has a very interesting mix. Montenegro going first will be an ‘interesting’ start and I fear the next few songs will sound very boring and too similar next to each other. The Albanian entry will then really stand out at place 5 amongst all the mid tempo nonsense. Switzerland has an OK draw but might be shafted around a bit depending on where or if advert breaks are put in. The end of semi one could bring up a surprise as Austria, Moldova and Ireland will ensure a very up-tempo and full throttle ending to the show.

Semi 2 is a little more difficult as many of the more fancied numbers are placed near the middle of the running order as well as very similar entries being drawn together. Serbia stars off, which in this case I don’t think is a good thing and if followed by another Balkan entry from FYROM. Later on Ukraine is followed by Bulgaria and Slovenia is followed by  Croatia. On the plus side Sweden, a big favourite, is followed by Georgia by far the worst entry in the contest. Also the big rock number form Slovakia has a favourable draw and could be a bit of a dark horse.

In terms of the final, going first has not seen as very favourable in the recent past, however the last time the UK were drawn first, we won (1976 Brotherhood of Man). I think this start placing could show up the professionalism of Englebert and maybe show the flaws in our competitors. Spain and Germany have good draws but I think France’s draw is not so good especially with Italy straight after.

More will be read into the draw as the participants plug their entries around Europe and (hopefully) sing live !

Thursday 22 March 2012

22/03/12 SAN MARINO

It is a good job I didn’t do a review first time around – I just knew in my water that the first song just wasn’t going to cut the mustard!

On the 16th March  Valentina Monetta revealed the song she would be sending to Baku “Facebook uh oh oh” composed by Timothy Touchstone, Jose Juan Santana and Eurovision stalwart Ralph Siegel. However, the next day the song had been disqualified. The Reference Group of the Eurovision Song Contest evaluated the San Marino entry and concluded that the entry was in breach of rule 1.2.2.g of the contest.
"The lyrics and/or performance of the songs shall not bring the Shows, the ESC as such or the EBU into disrepute. No lyrics, speeches, gestures of a political or similar nature shall be permitted during the ESC. No swearing or other unacceptable language shall be allowed in the lyrics or in the performances of the songs. No commercial messages of any kind shall be allowed. A breach of this rule may result in disqualification." 1.2.2.g of the Rules of the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest.

You can see and hear the song for yourself...


 
The country was giving an extension to their change the lyrics of the song OR to find a completely new song.

On the 22nd of March San Marino TV revealed Valentina’s new entry. The song is now renamed “The social network song” and has very slightly changed lyrics from the original version.

The song is either downright awful or genius.
It has a very infections chorus and has some very predictable rhymes but this makes is strangely memorable. Some will see this as being quite cynical others will see it as being topical and relevant. The video is also very clever (as well as cheap) and does it’s job quite well. On a performance point of view this gives us little idea about if Valentina can perofm this live OR what it will look like on the stage.

All I can say about thus is that San Marino may well be the smallest country in Eurovision but bloody hell do they know how to create a publicity stunt. There is no was in hell that this was an accident. On first hearing I actually even wrote on esctoday.com  that they would have to change the lyrics. This said, I actually really like this song and I think with a light hearted performance it will go down in Eurovision history- although it already has !!!



SONG - The social network song
ARTIST - Valentina Monetta
COMPOSERS - Timothy Touchstone, Jose Juan Santana, Ralph Siegel
LANGUAGE - English

Wednesday 21 March 2012

19/03/12 UNITED KINGDOM

A few weeks ago the BBC announced that they had internally selected Englebert Humperdink to represent the UK in Baku. On March 19th his song was released via the BBC Eurovision website and he will be singing the song “Love will set you free”

The song is quite a typical Englebert song -  a romantic, slow, waltzing ballad with a big finish. It starts of very quiet and haunting. The voice and guitar work at the start really sets the atmosphere of the song. After 2 verses and choruses the song really starts to ratchet up and springs into a fifth gear when he goes for the key change at 2:20 and the big note at the end really makes the song very memorable. The song is very well constructed and will do well in the contest. It does finish a bit short though and he could string the final note out or make the backing for that part even bigger to get it to the full 3 minutes.

Englebert is very experienced and I think most people are confident that he will be able pull of a good performance on in a vocal way. Obviously the video does not show off or showcase this but I think he will do a good job. Cannot wait to see a live performance though! It really does have an old fashioned chanson feel to it and I almost feel like the song could have sounded even better in French. I terms of visual performance I think they could go two ways. They could have him on his own with a very central focussed individual performer or have musicians/dancers involved n the periphery. Either way I think Englbert will not be doing a costume change or bursting into a dance routine!

This is a very good, classy choice and I feel that it should do well – especially with the juries as well as the schlager community. This is a very tasteful choice and I think many countries in Europe will be seeing this as a very serious contender.


SONG – Love will set you free
ARTIST – Englebert Humperdink
COMPOSERS - Martin Terefe, Sacha Skarbek
LANGUAGE – English

Tuesday 20 March 2012

17/03/12 BELGIUM

This year is was the Flemish part of Belgium to choose the country's Eurovision entry. The Belgian Final was held on March 17th at Het Omroepcentrum in Brussels, hosted by Peter Van de Veire. Iris sang two songs in a special 5 minute show and the winner was chosen wholly by televoting. The winning song with 53% of the vote was “Would you?”

The song is a contemporary ballad with some interesting chord and flows.  The song fluctuates between being a slow piano based slow ballad or being slightly more bassier and guitar led. She does sometimes emphasis these parts and little bit too much which make the song a little schizophrenic at times. The ending however is quite good and engages the listener and I could imagine this being a good ending visually too. The song has a good story to it, which Iris sells quite well. It does sound a bit like a female “me and my guitar”

Iris has a reasonably good voice and the song does show off the strength of her voice as well as show her squeaky parts of her upper range - some people will like this, others will find it terribly annoying. Her physical performance is a little amateur and it times it feel like she has no awareness of her body. She needs to really choreograph what she is doing down to the tee. I feel she would do well with having some back up around her whether it be extra singers or dancers

I am pleased with this song and with time to perfect those extra performnce skills needed, she could pull this off. Should qualify.



SONG – Would you?
ARTIST – Iris
COMPOSERS - Jean Bosco Safari, Walter Mannaerts, Nina Sampermans
LANGUAGE – English

17/03/12 AZERBAIJAN

The Azeri Final was held at the Heydar Aliyev Palace in Baku back on February 12th, hosted by Leyla Aliyeva, Husniya Maharramova & Kamran Quliyev. Before the final there numerous heats and semi finals. During the final each of the finalists sang 3 songs & the eventual winner was chosen by an "expert" jury.  The singer selected was Sabina Babayeva. Then on the 17 March her entry was released via the internet. She will sing the song “When the music dies”

The song is a romantic ballad that grows steadily and shows off Sabina’s vocal range. During the song more ethic elements can be heard in the backing track. She does a lot of vocal gymnastics during the song and it does get a little bit shouty at times. Her voice is good although the faster bit do feel a bit garbled.

The song is written partly by the same team who wrote last year’s Azeri winning entry but this is nowhere near as memorable. It is not exactly the more interactive of songs and you can’t really join in or remember most if it after it has finished. As for the finish, it ends extremely abruptly and I can imagine an awkward silence at the end.

As there s no live version yet it is hard to judge how this will go on the night. Of course, as winners,  they directly qualify for the final and probably would need it. A very classy song but there is no kick, no hook, no pull. Will do well but certainly no winner.


           
SONG – When the music dies
ARTIST – Sabina Babayeva.
COMPOSERS - Anders Bagge, Stefan Örn, Johan Kronlund, Sandra Bjurman
LANGUAGE – English

Monday 19 March 2012

15/03/12 - BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA

Earlier this year Maya Sar was announced as the representative of the Balkan nation. During a special show on BHTV she presented her entry “Korake ti znam.” (I know your moves)

The performance is filmed in black and white which gives the song and old fashioned feel as well suiting the very classy exterior of the song. Maya is sat at the piano backed by a small band. She performs the song very simply and sings it very well. Unfortunately, the song is an extremely flat and boring ballad which does nothing until about 2:20 in when it finally moves up a gear. By this time I would guess most of the audience will have taken this as a cue to boil the kettle or go to the toilet.

There is very little movement or performance which is disappointing. Plus the song is in Bosnian and I think the majority of the people watching will fail to understand the feelings in the song or  understand what it stands for. In addition the song finishes very abruptly which no crescendo or climax and I feel that there could almost be an awkward silence and the song ends.

I don’t think this is a good entry for Bosnia-Herzegovina and they are usually a shoo in for a  place in the finals no matter what they put forward, however this year they may struggle.



SONG – Korake ti znam (I know your moves)
ARTIST – Maja Sarihodžić
COMPOSERS - Maja Sarihodžić
LANGUAGE – Bosnian

15/03/12 – MONTENEGRO

Earlier this year Rambo Amadeus was reavleed to be in Balkan country’s internal choice for Baku. In a special show broadcasted on 15th March, RTCG presented his song Euro-Neuro. The show was hosted by Sabrija Vulic.

The song is a very disjointed piece of work. The background music is in a very strange time frame that is almost impossible to count or take stock off. In addition Rambo’s voice is so accented, so thick at times you cannot even work out what he is saying. I say saying as the song is more of a spoken rap than a song. The only redeeming feature is the repetition of the name of the song in the chorus as it does stick in your head. From what I have read and heard of him, this is very typical of his style and music.

The video however is very witty and really does suit the song and its atmosphere. I am not quite sure how or if this can be replicated on stage. The performance will have to be just as madcap and strange to really stick in the viewers without getting too freaked out. Obviously as the song was released just in a video much will have to be made as to how (or if) this can be conveyed live.

Although Rambo Amadeus is well known in the Balkans, unfortunately his semi final is fairly scarce of countries who will know of him and vote for him. Non qualifier unless everybody else just doesn’t turn up…



SONG – Euro-Neuro
ARTIST – Ramo Amadeus
COMPOSERS - Rambo Amadeus, Magnifico
LANGUAGE – English

13/03/ ITALY – UPDATE


After announcing that Nina Zilli would sing her San Remo song it was the announced that her song had been changed to “L'amore è femmina” (Love is female)

The song is in Italian but it though that the lyrics balance between English and Italian may change before May. The song is an up-tempo jazzy number, something skin to what Amy Winehouse or Paloma Faith could come out with. It definitely has a bit more swagger and attitude to her previous song. It’s not exactly singalong-able but had a definite rhythm and oomph about it which will stick in people’s minds.

The only down side to this critique is that I have no live performance to go on, but as she proved at San Remo is most definitely can song. The song obviously does not have to qualify for the final and I think that its style will really stick out on the night. It will do well with the juries and will appeal to the slightly older viewer who likes this more jazzy, sophisticated sound.



SONG – L'amore è femmina (Love is female)
ARTIST – Nina Zilli
COMPOSERS – Kristoffer Sjokvist, Charlie Mason, Frida Molander, Nina Zilli, Christian Rabb
LANGUAGE – Italian

Thursday 15 March 2012

11/03/12 GREECE

The Greek Final was held on March 12th at the River West Mall in Athens, hosted by Maria Kozakou & Giorgos Frantzeskakis. The winner, chosen by televoting (50%) and an "expert" jury (50 %)was former x-factor Greece contestant Eleftheria Eleftheriou with “Aphrodisiac”

The song is a modern up-tempo number which Greek influences, in a similar style to Kalomera a few years ago but this is nowhere near punchy enough. The song is quite formulaic and does get quite boring after a while. The chorus, it has to be said, is very poor as most of it is made up of a string of ‘oh-oh-oh’s and then has maniac rhyme with aphrodisiac (saying that there is not much choice!)

Eleftheria is flanked by 4 dancers whom she interacts with a lot and even walks on their backs in heels – OUCH !!!! The performance is a bit on the showy side and her walking abilities are really quite over dramatic and OTT. I think she may have to tone it down a bit for Baku. I say this as the performers mimed in the Greek final and was more of a ‘show’ than a song selection contest. In addition the stage was in the middle of a shopping centre (?) and waswas not very big at all and so the performance in terms of its size and movement has scope to improve.

Although the song does not deserve much praise it will almost certainly get enough votes to qualify – with ease – even if she sings flat from start too finish. Obviously if she can sing live and in tune she will increase her chances much more.


SONG – Aphrodisiac
ARTIST – Eleftheria Eleftheriou
COMPOSERS – Dimitri Stassos, Mikaela Stenström, Dajana Lööf
LANGUAGE – English

11/03/12 MOLDOVA

The Moldovan Final was held on March 11th at the TRM TV Studios in Chisinau. Previous to the final there was an online semi-final –where one song joined the already picked finals. The winner was chosen by televoting (50%) and an "expert" jury (50%) and this was announced to be Pasha Parfeny with “Lautar” meaning fiddler or musician.

The song is quite cabaret in its feel which a slight jokiness to it. It almost reminds me of something out of a silent movie, especially with the plinky-plonky piano. All in all the song is  not that bad in its construction although the words to not always seem to make sense – especially when he goes “this trumpet makes you my girl”

The one thing I can say about this is that is does have a very memorable performance. Firstly, Pasha is wearing the most appalling suit ever seen and is flanked by some even more strangely dressed dancer/singers. They do some quite complex choreography  including lots of kind of silent comedy-esque pointing and posing and injects some humour into the show. This suits the style of the music

In a strange kind of way I like the song and feel that although it is a jokey kind of entry it is played out well. That said, I don’t think this will go down well with either the general public or the juries and will more than likely stay in the semi final. On the plus side it will forever be used in “isn’t Eurovision hilarious” clip montages forever and ever.


SONG – Lăutar (musician)
ARTIST – Pasha Parfeny
COMPOSERS – Pavel Parfeny, Alex Brașoveanu
LANGUAGE – English (but Romanian title)

Tuesday 13 March 2012

10/03/12 PORTUGAL

The Portuguese Final was held on March 10th at the RTP TV Studios in Lisbon, hosted by Pedro Granger & Sílvia Alberto. The winner, chosen by 20 regional juries and televoting was “Vida Mihna” sung by Filipa Soaza.

The entry is unfortunately typical Portuguese ballad/fado fare, much like any ballad they have sent to Eurovision for the past 40 years. Co-composed by Andrej Babic, the write of many ex-Yugoslavian entries as well as “Senhora do mar” and this sounds exactly like that. The chorus does save it somewhat but the whole thing takes a little bit too long to get going. The tune is very dark but the performance is too generic and needs some working on. The song has a very slow Tango-esque feel and in fact I feel the song might benefit for something dramatic like that on the stage.

Filipa, who is a lovely red dress, is flanked by 5 backing singers all in black. As the song progresses the role of the backing singers becomes secondary and by the end I got the feeling that having 5 was unnecessary - especially as they don’t really do that much singing and nobody moves about at all. A lot of work will have to go into the performance of this as what they have right now is not really good enough.

Of course, this is no winner and if I had my way, if would stay firmly in the back of the semi-final.

Here is her reprise of the song at the end of the programme...


SONG – Vida Minha (My Life)
ARTIST – Filipa Sousa
COMPOSERS – Andrej Babić, Carlos Coelho
LANGUAGE – Portuguese

Monday 12 March 2012

10/03/12 ROMANIA

The Romanian Final was held on March 10th at the TVR TV Studios in Bucharest, hosted by Gianina Corondan, Iulia Pârlea, Constantin Trofin,Valentin Paraschiv, Bogdan Iacob & David Zory. The winner, chosen by a 50-50 split of televoting and jury was the band Mandinga with their song “Zaleilah”

The band works really well together and the whole show is very much a cohesive unit. The lead singer has a very powerful voice and sings very well. Her Spanish is very good too ! The lead singer comes on in very high heels and almost immediately does a costume change, which was a little on the unnecessary side.

The song is quite an interesting one. It has a lot of international elements to it  - the drumming, the accordion, the bagpipes the use of Spanish – and in a strange way it really works. It’s not exactly sing-alongable at first hearing but does make you tap along and get involved. OK they have a nonsense chorus and almost as nonsensical dance routine to go along with it but to be honest it just sounds nice. It sounds like they want to be there and enjoy what they do.

I don’t think this is a bad entry from the Romanians and should qualify.




SONG – Zaleilah
ARTIST – Mandinga
COMPOSERS – Secada Dihigo Omar, Ionescu Elena, Costi Ioniţă
LANGUAGE – Spanish/English

10/03/12 SERBIA

Earlier in the year it was announced that former entrant and host of Eurovision, Željko Joksimović, would be representing Serbia with an internal selection an on the 10th February they unveiled the song. However, it was presented twice, once in Serbian and once in English. It is thought a final decision on the language presented for Eurovision will be made soon.

There was much anticipation for this entry because of his pedigree as a performer and writer for the contest. Not surprising then that I feel disappointed by the entry. Like many of his songs there is a long intro. This one doesn’t seem to give off enough atmosphere to set up for the singing. The song dawdles along but only starts winding up the power until about 2 minutes in - which is about a minute too late. The tune is not memorable although it has a very Željko chord sequence in the middle.

The performance was a little strange. Željko was backed by an orchestra which seemed to help. He had a man on piano, another man with a long flute and 3 ladies on backing vocals. I feel being dressed in quite plain modern clothes did not fit with the song and this will need addressing. He looked a bit odd on stage, especially when moving about. I feel that a lot needs to be done about the production of the song and its staging.

As for language, I feel that the English version is interesting but it loses a certain something that the Serbian version has. I don’t know what but it just sounds less powerful in English.
This will get obvious from the Balkan countries and will qualify, but this is no winner

Below are both perfomances in Serbian and English





SONG – Nije Ljubav Stvar (Love isn’t a thing)/ Synonym
ARTIST – Željko Joksimović
COMPOSERS – Željko Joksimović, Marina Tucaković, Miloš Roganović
LANGUAGE – English or Serbian

10/03/12 SWEDEN

The Swedish Final was held on March 10th at the Globe Theatre in Stockholm, hosted by Sarah Dawn Finer, Helena Bergström & Gina Dirawi. Before the final there were 5 preliminary rounds. After a voting via 11 international juries and a national televote the winner was announced as “Euphoria” by Loreen

The song is very much a typical Swedish production and in many ways does reflect the recent musical offerings of contemporary Swedish artists and producers. The song is very memorable as it does create an atmosphere in its music and lyrics. The chorus is really big and have an almost passable earworm to it on the “u-u-u-u-up” parts.

Loreen is a very engaging performer. She has a good voice and I have no doubt she will be able to sing this live in Baku, although many have commented that they don’t know what she is saying, which I personally think is a little unfair. I also really enjoy the ‘dancing’ she does. It’s very tai-chi like and reflects the lyrics in part. She is alone on stage for almost all of the song except for the end where she is joined by a male dancer. She dressed quite modestly but I quite like this. I think that this shows that you don’t been bright lights, costume changes and a full blown dance routine to be big at Eurovision.

This is by far the best and most polished song/performance piece we have seen this year and should go top 5 with ease.




SONG – Euphoria
ARTIST – Loreen
COMPOSERS – Peter Boström, Thomas G:son
LANGUAGE – English

Saturday 10 March 2012

07/03/12 RUSSIA

The Russian Final was held on March 7th at the Akademicheskiy Concert Hall in Moscow, hosted by Olga Shelest & Vladimir Zelenskiy. The winner, after a 50-50 combination of televoting and jury vote, was Buranovskiye Babushki with “Party for Everybody”

“The grannies” are not exactly the most energetic of performers – ‘old school’ doesn’t even describe it at they’ve probably been alive so long they remember a time there was no such thing as school.
Enough of the bitching and onto the facts. The group itself is its own gimmick, its own advertisement its own publicity machine and no matter what the ladies do they will get the press. People will find the group intriguing and will get a lot of ‘sympathy votes’ although I’m not quite sure why they should get any sympathy.

The song is basically structured around the chorus which is in English. The rest of the song is their regional tongue of Udmurt. The fact that they stand there going “boom boom boom boom” quite hilarious. Because of the sound of the song it will get a lot of Eastern European votes as well as that of Scandinavia. They will also get votes from the mad quarter too.

The song and performance are incredibly indulgent almost to the point of a saccharine overdose. Yes they are rather cute and old and cuddly and make you go “awwwww”. Yes they are dressed in a very old fashioned ethnic way (nothing like it has been seen since Mattis Hætta in 1980) and are singing a song you wouldn’t expect. But behind the rose tinted façade I’m not quite sure what is left of any substance. It is quite a catchy song however I find myself laughing at it more that wanting to join in.

Only the ‘granny’ on the left seems to conscious of what she is doing and one of them seems totally bemused at to what she is doing. I am also concerned to see what looks like a smouldering piece of Chernobyl rotating and smoking away behind them. It is almost a shame there are 6 of them as a couple of Cossack dancers either side would have polished the look off to a tee.

So, will it qualify? Yes.    Will it do well ? Yes.    Will it win? Probably.    Do I like it? NO

This year’s Eric Saade.


SONG – Party for everybody
ARTIST – Buranovskiye Babushki
COMPOSERS – Vikton Drobych, Olga Tuktaryova
LANGUAGE – Udmurt & English


07/03/12 SLOVAKIA

On 7th March, Slovakia TV announced that their entry for Eurovision this year would be “Don’t close your eyes” sung by Max Jason Mai. It has been known since Slovakia confirmed its participation in December that their song and entry would be decided internally.

On the plus side this song is very different to anything else that has been put forward this year. It is a song that does catch your ear and the chorus is not too bad. The song is very much hard rock and I expect a performance to match it. The song has lots of rhythm changes and goes from quick to slow very quickly. This on the positive side keeps you on your toes but on the negative side means it is very difficult to get in your head or sing along to.

Of course as this news was released generally, there was no live performance to go on. From what has been written about him, he is an energetic performer so it will be interesting to see what kind of show he comes to Baku with. Also, the song is very OTT and although he seems to reach everything on the recorded version one wonders if he can work the magic live.

Hard rock generally does not do well at Eurovision, although I guess acts such as Lordi and Wig Wam may disagree, that said it is not a genre that is often sent. I don’t think the song will qualify but I don’t think it is a bad song. The style is too narrow and will not appeal to the general ordinary viewers or voter, nay the juries. Will get Eastern Europe and Scandinavian votes though.



SONG – Don’t close your eyes
ARTIST – Max Jason Mai
COMPOSER – Max Jason Mai
LANGUAGE – English

Friday 9 March 2012

Gimmicks

The podcast is back !!!

As you will learn from listening  -podcasts will now be recorded on a Friday night rather than the normal Thursday. It's a busy old ime at the mo so things are all higgldy-piggldy!!!

Recorded from my bed !!! (that's bound to gain more listeners!!!)

You can download or listen to it here http://www.archive.org/details/Gimmicks


Click here to listen to this podcast in your usual music player (M3U Playlist)

Sunday 4 March 2012

03/03/12 LITHUANIA

The Lithuanian Final was held on March 3rd, hosted by Liepa Rimkeviciene & Darius Uzkuraitis. Before the final there were 4 semi-finals where the long list of 36 was reduced to a final of 14. The winner was chosen in two rounds of voting. In the first round the top 3 was chosen by televoting (50%) & an "expert" jury (50%), whilst in the second round the winner was chosen by an "expert" jury.  After an epic show that seemed to last hours the winner was announced as Donny Montell with the song “Love is Blind”

One would say that this is a song of 2 halves. During the first half of the song, Donny is wearing a black blindfold, mirroring the title of the song whilst singing quite a slow melodic melody with a very minimal soulful backing track. During this time he is still emoting using his hands and does move a little. He then starts the chorus which then builds in the backing track with a more noticeable beat. Halfway through he then removes the blindfold, does a one handed somersault and then starts disco dancing and interacting with the audience.

Donny is alone on stage and the song (as it is) does not require backing singers. I feel that Donny is able to command the stage by himself and I actually feel that more bodies on the stage would detract from the fact that Donny is a very strong singer and performer. The song is OK. I would say that the first half is much stronger then the second visually and melodically. There is also a strange part about two minutes in when her repeats the ‘love is blind’ part like a stuck record which sounds very odd and could go wrong very easily.

I would say that this is quite an interesting choice by the Lithuanians. As I have already stated Donny is a strong performer and singer. Not the strongest of songs, not even the more Eurovision of songs, but it is pleasant enough. Maybe a bit too pleasant…

A video of his winning performance can be found on LRT's youtube site below.


SONG – Love is blind
ARTIST – Donny Montell (Donatas Montvydas)
COMPOSERS –
LANGUAGE – English