Here are my first impressions on this year's competitors in the Eurovision Song Contest. These songs will be the last eight to perform in the Second Semi Final on Thursday 27th May.
Romania 79/100
Another duet! Romania and Denmark will not both qualify from this Semi. Romania perhaps edges it with their Conjoined Piano gimmick. Why do we always have to have an ugly guy pretty woman combo?
Slovenia 64/100
Brace yourselves! If Finland also make it through to the Final we will have our first 'Accordion-off' for several years. Slovenia also make use of Tasselled-Shawl-ography, white jeans, unpronounceable words, bouffant mullets, folksy rhythms and soft rock to great effect. If this isn't what Eurovision is for, then somebody cancel the whole thing. Fabulously awful!
Ireland 21/100
Whether you think the years have been kind to the Niamh, you be the judge. Winner of the 1993 Song Contest, when Malta inexplicably gave 12 points to Ireland instead of Sonia and the UK, Niamh was a fresh faced bank clerk back in the days. This year she is essentially singing an identikit ballad to the one that won her the prize all those years ago. I seriously doubt that this will make it out of the Semi.
Bulgaria 94/100
I love this track almost as much as he loves himself. But then I loved the last high energy Bulgarian track and it didn't qualify for the Final. It might not help that the chorus sounds like the sort of incidental music you play in between Eurovision Songs. I still think odds of 200/1 are outrageously long for a song that will clearly work a lot better than many others in a 25,000 seater arena.
Cyprus 96/100
The last time soneone British represented Cyprus, they achieved their highest ever finish in 2004. Jon and co are a Welsh band and this is a catchy little ditty.
Croatia 100/100
If any act this year looks more like a Eurovision winner than this group then I am yet to see them. Their act in the Croatian National Final was polished enough to transfer directly to Oslo. This genre of Balkan Torch Song has done very well in recent years, and is similar to the 2007 Serbian winner. Head and shoulders the outstanding entry from the Balkans, it starts the Contest with 48 points in the bag from it's nearest neighbours. Feminnem themselves participated in the 2005 Contest and will not be overawed by the occasion and the song just builds and flows in a classic way. Bookies have slashed odds from 40/1 to 14/1. Oh, and the Croatian capital city has just opened a brand new 24,000 seater indoor arena... Just in time for Zagreb 2011!
Georgia 98/100
Beautiful woman, beautiful ballad. There is always something matching this description in the Top 5 of the Final. This is certainly the most sensible and coherent Caucusus entry of the year and gets better as it goes on. For only the second time this year, I think this could be a winner... Tbilisi 2011?
Turkey 88/100
Turkey has developed a great track record for edgy indie entries. Why does the UK not get the message? This builds well on the foundation laid by the 2004 and 2008 entries. Weaker perhaps than Mor ve Ötesi, this is still going to be very distinctive on the night and should be a shoe in for the Final and a Top 10 finish.
Wow, you sure were convinced about Croatia... as much as I was :P Oh, and Slovakia too.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately they didn't make it (Slovakia was the worst live appearance, hands down).
You never know what this year will happen, because Europe is as weird as Portugal's 2011 entry.
I was TOTALLY convinced by Croatia... Just goes to show that all those Kati Wolf lovers this year may have a surprise waiting for them!
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