I wasn't planning on writing anything until Eurovision was over, but I had to make a few notes in the middle of the contest:
Thank goodness Sweden sorted out the backing vocals. I'm still not expecting the song to do very well, but I got my goosebumps back--they reminded me why I love the song.
Iceland's song has been connecting with me when performed live in a way I never expected based on the national final or the studio version. If there's a ballad I want to do well, it's this one, I'm starting to think.
The real reason I had to jot something down quickly: I've yet to mention my deep and abiding love for Germany's entry here. It's usually the non-Swedish or Norwegian song I play the most in studio and, if it's having a good day, can be just the song I play the most, period. I know, I know, I'm crazy, but I LOVE it.
I really like Turkey's entry, too. It is part of the whole post-Helena Paparizou trend, but it's a great example of it (and I don't always fall for this type of song--see Armenia's entry last year not properly connecting to me).
Speaking of semifinal one entries, I still like Romania and Finland's songs, which have yet to be performed tonight.
I'm expecting the UK entry to do way better than it deserves to do and I'll be hoping Bosnia doesn't win--I want to like the song, as by rights a revolutionary-sounding pop-rock song should be exactly the sort of thing I love, but it never becomes truly stirring.
Showing posts with label Eurovision. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eurovision. Show all posts
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Because I'm crazy bom
Today's Eurovision results aren't quite as pleasing as the first semifinal's, but they're still better than I'm used to. Ideally I'd have found room for Hungary and Ireland to qualify (I like Cyprus's song, but the singer? No thanks) and ditched Croatia and Lithuania, but neither Hungary--camp disco, though not as camp as the '00s benchmark of Deen--nor Ireland--'80's female-sung pop-rock meets bouncy early '00s teen pop-rock--was anything better than a second-tier song in my eyes. A few quick comments on the other qualifiers from the night:
Norway: have I properly written about Alexander Rybak and "Fairytale" on here yet? The first time I heard it, back before the Melodi Grand Prix, I found the incredible buzz among Eurofans about it incomprehensible: it was fine, sure, but no more--"and I thought I was supposed to be a sucker for strings in a pop song and a young male face!" was my confused reaction to its popularity. Before the MGP final came around, though, I was completely sold. It's a great song, one perfect for the contest--pop with basically "Western" or "Nordic" style and sense of melody but with that so-called "ethnic" flair--but one that I can imagine myself playing outside of that context, too. Alexander is a great performer, too, and, if the song should do as the oddsmakers predict and win the whole contest, I think it would easily be my favorite winner of this decade. Given the songs predicted to do well in the final, it's most likely the song I'll be cheering for on Saturday.
Ukraine: song + performance = kind of the definition of a hot mess, but the mental, schizophrenic "Be My Valentine! (Anti-Crisis Girl)" has quickly risen through my personal rankings in recent days (it's now become one of very few songs I play just whenever and not only when I'm in a Eurovision mood), and I expect my opinion of it to keep improving. The staging isn't the perfect slick delivery of last year's "Shady Lady," but Ukraine always knows how to put on a show; this time, that show includes giant spinning gears, half-naked men in Roman gladiatorial getup, and Svetlana strutting over to a drumset and vigorously playing it while her centaurions push it to the center of the stage. Maybe Sweden could take some notes--not go all the way, but get yanked a bit more in the direction of Ukraine, which generally does bold, eye-catching, stage-filling, memorable-in-a-good-way performances more reliably than most other countries.
Azerbaijan: Arash's music makes a natural fit for Eurovision and, as Len pointed out, "Always" could be by Antique (Helena Paparizou's original group): it's a catchy mid-to-up-tempo pop song with Mediterannean flourishes. I really, really like it, really want it to do well, and yet somehow find myself rarely inclinded to actually play it on my own.
Greece: I've praised the combination of Sakis Rouvas and Dimitris Kontopoulos who knows how many times on here, but I've also said that this isn't quite up to their usual standard. It's still decent, though, with a welcome harder electronic dance production style. Sakis has energy, but he often seems to not be able to channel it, resulting in moments where it seems like he's lost or out of sync. I'm hesistant to say that it would be better with another performer because swapping him out for someone else could easily be a setback, but if the selection was careful enough, there is some room for improvement on that front.
Albania: also a case of electronic production that is better than the song but a song that is still good and with a performer who has some noticeable flaws but who changing out might have resulted in someone with even more problems (in Kejsi's place, I didn't get the feeling of confidence from her movements that I would have preferred). I kind of prefer the original Albanian lyrics, I think, at least in the chorus, but I may completely change my mind on that in a day or two.
Moldova: the instruments and the performance gave me flashbacks to Ukraine's "Show Me Your Love." Danceable, shoutalong-friendly chorus, and more infectious than I originally thought it would be.
Denmark: yes, it's a Ronan Keating-written song, a style that's never popular among Eurofans, but as far as middle-of-the-road radio pop from Denmark goes, this is better than the country's entry last year. I like it. Don't love it, but it deserves its place in the final.
Estonia: I want to like this haunting ballad more than I do, but sadly, I'm not properly connecting to it yet. Once again, though, I song I wanted to see progress and a song I have some degree of appreciation for.
That's probably roughly my order of preference of the qualified tracks, too, give or take a few places for some of them.
Norway: have I properly written about Alexander Rybak and "Fairytale" on here yet? The first time I heard it, back before the Melodi Grand Prix, I found the incredible buzz among Eurofans about it incomprehensible: it was fine, sure, but no more--"and I thought I was supposed to be a sucker for strings in a pop song and a young male face!" was my confused reaction to its popularity. Before the MGP final came around, though, I was completely sold. It's a great song, one perfect for the contest--pop with basically "Western" or "Nordic" style and sense of melody but with that so-called "ethnic" flair--but one that I can imagine myself playing outside of that context, too. Alexander is a great performer, too, and, if the song should do as the oddsmakers predict and win the whole contest, I think it would easily be my favorite winner of this decade. Given the songs predicted to do well in the final, it's most likely the song I'll be cheering for on Saturday.Ukraine: song + performance = kind of the definition of a hot mess, but the mental, schizophrenic "Be My Valentine! (Anti-Crisis Girl)" has quickly risen through my personal rankings in recent days (it's now become one of very few songs I play just whenever and not only when I'm in a Eurovision mood), and I expect my opinion of it to keep improving. The staging isn't the perfect slick delivery of last year's "Shady Lady," but Ukraine always knows how to put on a show; this time, that show includes giant spinning gears, half-naked men in Roman gladiatorial getup, and Svetlana strutting over to a drumset and vigorously playing it while her centaurions push it to the center of the stage. Maybe Sweden could take some notes--not go all the way, but get yanked a bit more in the direction of Ukraine, which generally does bold, eye-catching, stage-filling, memorable-in-a-good-way performances more reliably than most other countries.Azerbaijan: Arash's music makes a natural fit for Eurovision and, as Len pointed out, "Always" could be by Antique (Helena Paparizou's original group): it's a catchy mid-to-up-tempo pop song with Mediterannean flourishes. I really, really like it, really want it to do well, and yet somehow find myself rarely inclinded to actually play it on my own.
Greece: I've praised the combination of Sakis Rouvas and Dimitris Kontopoulos who knows how many times on here, but I've also said that this isn't quite up to their usual standard. It's still decent, though, with a welcome harder electronic dance production style. Sakis has energy, but he often seems to not be able to channel it, resulting in moments where it seems like he's lost or out of sync. I'm hesistant to say that it would be better with another performer because swapping him out for someone else could easily be a setback, but if the selection was careful enough, there is some room for improvement on that front.
Albania: also a case of electronic production that is better than the song but a song that is still good and with a performer who has some noticeable flaws but who changing out might have resulted in someone with even more problems (in Kejsi's place, I didn't get the feeling of confidence from her movements that I would have preferred). I kind of prefer the original Albanian lyrics, I think, at least in the chorus, but I may completely change my mind on that in a day or two.
Moldova: the instruments and the performance gave me flashbacks to Ukraine's "Show Me Your Love." Danceable, shoutalong-friendly chorus, and more infectious than I originally thought it would be.
Denmark: yes, it's a Ronan Keating-written song, a style that's never popular among Eurofans, but as far as middle-of-the-road radio pop from Denmark goes, this is better than the country's entry last year. I like it. Don't love it, but it deserves its place in the final.
Estonia: I want to like this haunting ballad more than I do, but sadly, I'm not properly connecting to it yet. Once again, though, I song I wanted to see progress and a song I have some degree of appreciation for.
That's probably roughly my order of preference of the qualified tracks, too, give or take a few places for some of them.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
You're lifting me high, then you're taking me low
Frivolous Eurovision thoughts (real ones tomorrow):
- My Internet connection was pretty messed up near the beginning/middle.
- Why on Earth would anyone vote for Armenia? It was so dull!
- I was very worried for a while about the UK getting nul points; Ireland prevented that, but then Malta took that up another level by giving Scooch 12 points. I completely attribute that to all the love the Schlagerboys showed Malta.
- Spain were great--much improved from the national final.
- I was surprised at how much I liked Germany's entry--more on that tomorrow.
- I've never really found Zac Efron attractive--blame seeing reruns of Summerland, in which he's really young, if you will. However, if he was good-looking (not that Zac is bad) and if he was older, I think he wouldn't look that different than the male Finnish host. Cute.
- ...however, even he and his female co-host were hard-pressed to make up for the annoyance that was the green room interviewer, that woman in the pink dress.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Why should I fall into despair?
My first ever Eurovision! All right, my thoughts about yesterday's semifinal--these were written down as I watched and not retrospectively edited.
1.) Bulgaria--I like the dancey backing tracks...and drums are a good thing. I just don't think my Eurovision tastes have matured enough for me to appreciate "ethnic wailing" yet. Especially when it seems aimless.
2.) Israel--when did it change from oom-pah to half-hearted mock rock song? Well, right at the chorus clearly, but why? It seems too jokey for me to take seriously and the chorus isn't catchy enough for me to appreciate it as fun lightweight fluff. And now they're rapping.
3.) Cyprus--one of my favorites. Plus, her fiance (the guitar player and the song's composer) sort of reminds me of the Jared Leto it's OK to like (who styled him tonight, though? Bad choice). I wish she was doing more. Still, dance song masquerading as electro-rock--I approve! Very catchy and I love the strobelight effect in the breakdown, but there should be more movement to take advantage of it--maybe slow motion flailing or at least walking around. I'd really like it to make it to the finals, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up.
4.) Belarus--I've been thinking lately that I like this more because I think I should than because I do. No, I think I do like it--I want it to make it to the finals, but not win. Ooo, choreographed group dancing--the first case of the night! Extra points for that. I guess I could stand to see it win. Not my first choice, though. Umm...why is the backing vocalist so loud and shouty near the end?
5.) Iceland--I ignored this song for a while, then listened to it once and thought it was much better than I thought it was going to be. Sort of a rock power ballad, I guess, sung by a long-haired older man who's only about half a forehead prosethic away from being a Klingon. That chorus is actually decently catchy. The "rock n roll can heal your soul" line stands out more than it should, though. This song doesn't deserve as much praise as it got on that Nordic commentary show (he was one of the commenters), but it's not bad.
6.) Georgia--I think I remember reading Bjork comparisons for this, though I've never really listened to Bjork and so can't say. I'm so glad the choreography and costume has changed--we actually have dancers and a reasonable red dress instead of that giant thing (and the dancers are in some sort of samurai-influenced get-ups). Sword play! Those strings are quite lovely. I like this more than I thought I would.
7.) Montenegro--I've never heard this before. Rock. Blonde singer who's used a hair straightener. I'd probably never listen to it on its own, but I think I like it here for some reason, despite it not having a strong melody as I'd like.
[Partway through Montenegro's performance, I lost my Internet connection and had to call the Internet company to get our connection restored; I came back for the end of Edsilia's performance for the Netherlands, meaning I missed Switzerland and Moldova entirely. Thank goodness for YouTube, I suppose.]
11.) Albania--older guy singing a ballad with I guess some operatic influences. Not in English. I often have trouble judging English ballads, as they don't have catchiness to get them over the language hurdle and the lyrics are usually particularly important. Sudden switch to Englsh--not awful, but I'm nowhere near enthusiastic. Really, for some reason I just don't feel like I should say anything mean about it or him, but I won't remember the song tomorrow.
12.) Denmark--another one I liked ahead of time. In a just world, this should do much better than Verka, the contest's other drag queen. I guess it's sort of Las Vegas, right down to that headdress, but maybe schlager or schlager-influenced. Catchy upbeat pop accompanied by lots of pink.
13.) Croatia--I didn't listen to this song ahead of time. Given the opening, I'm not optimistic--loungey jazz-influenced stuff. It gets rockier as we go into the chorus. I do sometimes wonder if I'd be more lenient on songs if they were in English. And now it is in English, partly, but I'm not excited. From the tiny bit I know about Croatian music, I'm not surprised they sent something like this.
14.) Poland--urban-influenced guy-girl song. It's like a bunch of songs mashed together--the guy and the girl each need their own song and why did it go all jazzy there? If we split this apart, I might like some of the component songs...and they'd definitely be better than this?
15.) Serbia--a fan favorite that I've sort of held a grudge against, I think for the horrible reasons that it's a ballad and I fear it beating out some songs I really like. Seeing it performed, that's lessening--the singer looks sweet and earnest--but if it comes down to this versus Serebro, those feelings are going to start building up again. Watch me decide two weeks after the contest that I love it.
16.) Czech Republic--more guitars. All the more reason to hope Serebro win so we can have a bunch of knockoffs of that sort of song in 2008. Or D'Nash. Bring on the boy bands! This singer's voice is too growly for me--I just can't get past the fact that it scares me. I'm just waiting for flames to start shooting up and the lead singer to bite the head off a bat.
17.) Portugal--Latin-sounding danceable music sung by a woman who is accompanied by dancers with giant fans. The chorus doesn't pop enough--I didn't even notice we were entering it the first time. It still wouldn't be the greatest song, but this song might be a lot better with a different singer, one whose voice sounds stronger or louder.
18.) Macedonia--I didn't think I'd listened to this before, but those "Ni-na-ni-na"'s sound familiar. No--now that we're at the chorus, I think I have heard it before, but when and why? Female singer, decently catchy mid-tempo song with a rising sort of chorus--very pretty. She switches to English and is then singing about the uniting power of music.
19.) Norway--another female-sung Latin-influenced pop song and instantly I like it more than Portugal, which forgot to have any part that popped--this song doesn't have that problem. Costume change! And another! I pretty much ignored this entry before the contest, but I like it.
20.) Malta--another fan favorite in some parts. Opening shot: two shirtless guys, one playing violin and the other hitting a gong. This was another song I was thinking I liked more because I felt I should, but the show is allaying those fears. Wind machine, too! Swooshy and dramatic, sung by a woman. I hope she makes the finals. Aww!
21.) Andorra--before the contest, I thought this was a bad punk-pop song, then sort of liked it, then felt ambivalent and didn't think about it. It's all about "how we treat the world right now" and the title translates to "Let's Save The World." I like this! Especially the chorus. It would be better if Busted were singing it, though. I may be jumping around my room to this later.
22.) Hungary--I didn't listen to this ahead of time. I am not a blues fan generally, though--no, let's avoid tangents. A woman singing. 22 songs in, you need something more than a shouting ballad performance that wouldn't look out of place on American Idol to stand out to me.
23.) Estonia--I think the singer is the sister of a guy who was one-half of Estonia's last winning entry. Dramatic, I sort of like it--I'm surprised there wasn't more written about this ahead of time! I hadn't felt compelled to listen to it before the contest. Guy in suspenders with Patrick Swayze-esque hair dancing with her now. It's no "Runaway" with Sahlene, but not much is. If we need another James Bond theme after Koldun's, we could use this.
24.) Belgium--we're back in the '70's. Super-cheesy, but I can't help smiling. I may even love it, even if it's not going to rival any disco classics anytime soon. It's performed by a group, though there's a lead singer, and they're all wearing giant popstar sunglasses. Aww, they're so cute! Yup, I think I love them. They're just so happy!
25.) Slovenia--operatic chorus. I'm still thinking about Belgium's KMG's, who were just so fun and (I thought) charismatic, even if just because it seemed like they were having such fun. Interesting lighting, especially the light in or on her hand. I wish we could cut the operatic influences, though.
26.) Turkey--I feel like I've expressed my thoughts on this entry before. Who styled him?! He's wearing something like a cowboy shirt (including a little bow on the collar) and a long red jacket--trust me, it does not look good. I've held sort of a grudge against this song for a bad reason, too, in this case because more people seem to like this than Greece, and the two are always compared. Still, outside of that comparative context, it's not bad. The chorus could still be a lot better, but I think I like this. I'll probably really like it soon. Choreographed group dancing, too. Ooo--fire!
27.) Austria--I've not listened to this before, but I thought I might like it based on what I knew, and I do. Halfway blowout chorus that should be catchier but isn't bad. Forget the red ribbon behind him--I'm more distracted by the dancers' strange birdlike costumes. Probably not going anywhere, but I really like it and the performance was good. The song could have been better, though. Pyrotechnics!
28.) Latvia--I haven't listened to this yet as I've heard it's opera or popera and not very good. Top hats? Why?! The balance between voices and music doesn't sound right in the chorus, in regards to my preferences--like their mikes were off and they were trying to shout to be heard, with little concern for how their voices mix--not that that's happened, but that's what it reminded me of. I'm not sure why it's so hated, though; at least it has a tune. Of course, if it's starts to win, I'll probably end up practically hating it, too.
After all that, the list I made of my "real" favorites was as followed (in no particular order):
Cyprus
Denmark
Belarus
Switzerland (yes, I missed it, but the review clips made me think I would have really liked the performance, even if it's silly that the woman isn't credited)
Belgium
Malta
Andorra
My "half favorites" were:
Iceland
Georgia
Serbia
Turkey
Austria
Norway
Netherlands
Estonia
In retrospect, that list should probably include Macedonia and, based on the review clip, Moldova and the Netherlands, though I still need to see those and Switzerland.
The countries that made it to the finals were:
Belarus
Macedonia
Slovenia
Hungary
Georgia
Latvia
Serbia
Bulgaria
Turkey
Moldova
I think that means I'm supporting the following songs in some form for the finals, though this could all change once I see the performances and hear some of the songs I haven't heard yet:
Belarus
Macedonia
Georgia
Serbia (but I could flip on that at a moment's notice...or start liking it more)
Turkey
Spain
Greece
Sweden
maybe France
Russia
UK
maybe Moldova--I've got to look up the performance
The two songs I know I'll be cheering for most are Russia's and Spain's; I know I should probably like Russia's song more, but I know me, and I'll probably ultimately be holding out the most hope for Spain, futile as that might be (I'm expecting it to do horribly). Greece is probably next in my rankings, followed by Sweden and the UK on the next tier of support. I'd really love to see my top three do well and I'd like my tied-for-fourth's to do great, as well, but I am not optimistic at all. Well, maybe Russia can do well if they can sing--I've been avoiding reading about rehearsals. Hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised!
(Keep in mind that I still haven't seen Moldova, so that could end up as a favorite, too.)
Next up: possibly more Eurovision talk or the solo work of the writer of one of my favorite songs from this year.
1.) Bulgaria--I like the dancey backing tracks...and drums are a good thing. I just don't think my Eurovision tastes have matured enough for me to appreciate "ethnic wailing" yet. Especially when it seems aimless.
2.) Israel--when did it change from oom-pah to half-hearted mock rock song? Well, right at the chorus clearly, but why? It seems too jokey for me to take seriously and the chorus isn't catchy enough for me to appreciate it as fun lightweight fluff. And now they're rapping.
3.) Cyprus--one of my favorites. Plus, her fiance (the guitar player and the song's composer) sort of reminds me of the Jared Leto it's OK to like (who styled him tonight, though? Bad choice). I wish she was doing more. Still, dance song masquerading as electro-rock--I approve! Very catchy and I love the strobelight effect in the breakdown, but there should be more movement to take advantage of it--maybe slow motion flailing or at least walking around. I'd really like it to make it to the finals, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up.
4.) Belarus--I've been thinking lately that I like this more because I think I should than because I do. No, I think I do like it--I want it to make it to the finals, but not win. Ooo, choreographed group dancing--the first case of the night! Extra points for that. I guess I could stand to see it win. Not my first choice, though. Umm...why is the backing vocalist so loud and shouty near the end?
5.) Iceland--I ignored this song for a while, then listened to it once and thought it was much better than I thought it was going to be. Sort of a rock power ballad, I guess, sung by a long-haired older man who's only about half a forehead prosethic away from being a Klingon. That chorus is actually decently catchy. The "rock n roll can heal your soul" line stands out more than it should, though. This song doesn't deserve as much praise as it got on that Nordic commentary show (he was one of the commenters), but it's not bad.
6.) Georgia--I think I remember reading Bjork comparisons for this, though I've never really listened to Bjork and so can't say. I'm so glad the choreography and costume has changed--we actually have dancers and a reasonable red dress instead of that giant thing (and the dancers are in some sort of samurai-influenced get-ups). Sword play! Those strings are quite lovely. I like this more than I thought I would.
7.) Montenegro--I've never heard this before. Rock. Blonde singer who's used a hair straightener. I'd probably never listen to it on its own, but I think I like it here for some reason, despite it not having a strong melody as I'd like.
[Partway through Montenegro's performance, I lost my Internet connection and had to call the Internet company to get our connection restored; I came back for the end of Edsilia's performance for the Netherlands, meaning I missed Switzerland and Moldova entirely. Thank goodness for YouTube, I suppose.]
11.) Albania--older guy singing a ballad with I guess some operatic influences. Not in English. I often have trouble judging English ballads, as they don't have catchiness to get them over the language hurdle and the lyrics are usually particularly important. Sudden switch to Englsh--not awful, but I'm nowhere near enthusiastic. Really, for some reason I just don't feel like I should say anything mean about it or him, but I won't remember the song tomorrow.
12.) Denmark--another one I liked ahead of time. In a just world, this should do much better than Verka, the contest's other drag queen. I guess it's sort of Las Vegas, right down to that headdress, but maybe schlager or schlager-influenced. Catchy upbeat pop accompanied by lots of pink.
13.) Croatia--I didn't listen to this song ahead of time. Given the opening, I'm not optimistic--loungey jazz-influenced stuff. It gets rockier as we go into the chorus. I do sometimes wonder if I'd be more lenient on songs if they were in English. And now it is in English, partly, but I'm not excited. From the tiny bit I know about Croatian music, I'm not surprised they sent something like this.
14.) Poland--urban-influenced guy-girl song. It's like a bunch of songs mashed together--the guy and the girl each need their own song and why did it go all jazzy there? If we split this apart, I might like some of the component songs...and they'd definitely be better than this?
15.) Serbia--a fan favorite that I've sort of held a grudge against, I think for the horrible reasons that it's a ballad and I fear it beating out some songs I really like. Seeing it performed, that's lessening--the singer looks sweet and earnest--but if it comes down to this versus Serebro, those feelings are going to start building up again. Watch me decide two weeks after the contest that I love it.
16.) Czech Republic--more guitars. All the more reason to hope Serebro win so we can have a bunch of knockoffs of that sort of song in 2008. Or D'Nash. Bring on the boy bands! This singer's voice is too growly for me--I just can't get past the fact that it scares me. I'm just waiting for flames to start shooting up and the lead singer to bite the head off a bat.
17.) Portugal--Latin-sounding danceable music sung by a woman who is accompanied by dancers with giant fans. The chorus doesn't pop enough--I didn't even notice we were entering it the first time. It still wouldn't be the greatest song, but this song might be a lot better with a different singer, one whose voice sounds stronger or louder.
18.) Macedonia--I didn't think I'd listened to this before, but those "Ni-na-ni-na"'s sound familiar. No--now that we're at the chorus, I think I have heard it before, but when and why? Female singer, decently catchy mid-tempo song with a rising sort of chorus--very pretty. She switches to English and is then singing about the uniting power of music.
19.) Norway--another female-sung Latin-influenced pop song and instantly I like it more than Portugal, which forgot to have any part that popped--this song doesn't have that problem. Costume change! And another! I pretty much ignored this entry before the contest, but I like it.
20.) Malta--another fan favorite in some parts. Opening shot: two shirtless guys, one playing violin and the other hitting a gong. This was another song I was thinking I liked more because I felt I should, but the show is allaying those fears. Wind machine, too! Swooshy and dramatic, sung by a woman. I hope she makes the finals. Aww!
21.) Andorra--before the contest, I thought this was a bad punk-pop song, then sort of liked it, then felt ambivalent and didn't think about it. It's all about "how we treat the world right now" and the title translates to "Let's Save The World." I like this! Especially the chorus. It would be better if Busted were singing it, though. I may be jumping around my room to this later.
22.) Hungary--I didn't listen to this ahead of time. I am not a blues fan generally, though--no, let's avoid tangents. A woman singing. 22 songs in, you need something more than a shouting ballad performance that wouldn't look out of place on American Idol to stand out to me.
23.) Estonia--I think the singer is the sister of a guy who was one-half of Estonia's last winning entry. Dramatic, I sort of like it--I'm surprised there wasn't more written about this ahead of time! I hadn't felt compelled to listen to it before the contest. Guy in suspenders with Patrick Swayze-esque hair dancing with her now. It's no "Runaway" with Sahlene, but not much is. If we need another James Bond theme after Koldun's, we could use this.
24.) Belgium--we're back in the '70's. Super-cheesy, but I can't help smiling. I may even love it, even if it's not going to rival any disco classics anytime soon. It's performed by a group, though there's a lead singer, and they're all wearing giant popstar sunglasses. Aww, they're so cute! Yup, I think I love them. They're just so happy!
25.) Slovenia--operatic chorus. I'm still thinking about Belgium's KMG's, who were just so fun and (I thought) charismatic, even if just because it seemed like they were having such fun. Interesting lighting, especially the light in or on her hand. I wish we could cut the operatic influences, though.
26.) Turkey--I feel like I've expressed my thoughts on this entry before. Who styled him?! He's wearing something like a cowboy shirt (including a little bow on the collar) and a long red jacket--trust me, it does not look good. I've held sort of a grudge against this song for a bad reason, too, in this case because more people seem to like this than Greece, and the two are always compared. Still, outside of that comparative context, it's not bad. The chorus could still be a lot better, but I think I like this. I'll probably really like it soon. Choreographed group dancing, too. Ooo--fire!
27.) Austria--I've not listened to this before, but I thought I might like it based on what I knew, and I do. Halfway blowout chorus that should be catchier but isn't bad. Forget the red ribbon behind him--I'm more distracted by the dancers' strange birdlike costumes. Probably not going anywhere, but I really like it and the performance was good. The song could have been better, though. Pyrotechnics!
28.) Latvia--I haven't listened to this yet as I've heard it's opera or popera and not very good. Top hats? Why?! The balance between voices and music doesn't sound right in the chorus, in regards to my preferences--like their mikes were off and they were trying to shout to be heard, with little concern for how their voices mix--not that that's happened, but that's what it reminded me of. I'm not sure why it's so hated, though; at least it has a tune. Of course, if it's starts to win, I'll probably end up practically hating it, too.
After all that, the list I made of my "real" favorites was as followed (in no particular order):
Cyprus
Denmark
Belarus
Switzerland (yes, I missed it, but the review clips made me think I would have really liked the performance, even if it's silly that the woman isn't credited)
Belgium
Malta
Andorra
My "half favorites" were:
Iceland
Georgia
Serbia
Turkey
Austria
Norway
Netherlands
Estonia
In retrospect, that list should probably include Macedonia and, based on the review clip, Moldova and the Netherlands, though I still need to see those and Switzerland.
The countries that made it to the finals were:
Belarus
Macedonia
Slovenia
Hungary
Georgia
Latvia
Serbia
Bulgaria
Turkey
Moldova
I think that means I'm supporting the following songs in some form for the finals, though this could all change once I see the performances and hear some of the songs I haven't heard yet:
Belarus
Macedonia
Georgia
Serbia (but I could flip on that at a moment's notice...or start liking it more)
Turkey
Spain
Greece
Sweden
maybe France
Russia
UK
maybe Moldova--I've got to look up the performance
The two songs I know I'll be cheering for most are Russia's and Spain's; I know I should probably like Russia's song more, but I know me, and I'll probably ultimately be holding out the most hope for Spain, futile as that might be (I'm expecting it to do horribly). Greece is probably next in my rankings, followed by Sweden and the UK on the next tier of support. I'd really love to see my top three do well and I'd like my tied-for-fourth's to do great, as well, but I am not optimistic at all. Well, maybe Russia can do well if they can sing--I've been avoiding reading about rehearsals. Hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised!
(Keep in mind that I still haven't seen Moldova, so that could end up as a favorite, too.)
Next up: possibly more Eurovision talk or the solo work of the writer of one of my favorite songs from this year.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Today is another bad day
Oh my gosh...
Europe hates me.
Or at least my music taste.
Tomorrow will be the full run-down, with a typed-up version of my effectively "live blogged" scribbled notes. You all can see how I fell in love and had my heart broken in the space of three hours.
For now, though, let's leave it at this:
After watching the performances, I had about 7 "real" favorites and 8 "half" favorites. 15 out of the 28 in the semifinal.
1 of those real favorites made it through. 3 of the half favorites did.
That means about 27% of my sort-of-favorites made it through.
28% of the songs in the semifinal (10 of them) made it to the final.
If I'd chosen songs at random, odds are they would have done better than my favorites.
That's like scoring below 25% on a multiple choice test when you only have four choices for each question.
Sigh. Expect everything I like to fail miserably on Saturday, then.
Europe hates me.
Or at least my music taste.
Tomorrow will be the full run-down, with a typed-up version of my effectively "live blogged" scribbled notes. You all can see how I fell in love and had my heart broken in the space of three hours.
For now, though, let's leave it at this:
After watching the performances, I had about 7 "real" favorites and 8 "half" favorites. 15 out of the 28 in the semifinal.
1 of those real favorites made it through. 3 of the half favorites did.
That means about 27% of my sort-of-favorites made it through.
28% of the songs in the semifinal (10 of them) made it to the final.
If I'd chosen songs at random, odds are they would have done better than my favorites.
That's like scoring below 25% on a multiple choice test when you only have four choices for each question.
Sigh. Expect everything I like to fail miserably on Saturday, then.
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