Posts Tagged ‘Finland’

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Eurovision 2008: Semi-Final 1

Monday, March 24th, 2008

Eurovision is doing things a little differently this year, because the number of countries participating is ever-increasing (especially since new countries keep popping up; Kosovo, we’re looking at you). The organizers have divided the semi-finals into two groups. The top nine vote-getters from the two semi-finals will make the finals, along with the host country and the Big Four. In addition, a special jury will select one wild card each from the two semi-final groups.

Here are the countries participating in the first semi-final, in order of appearance:

  1. Montenegro: Stefan Filipović – “Zauvijek volim te”
  2. Israel: Bo’az Ma’uda – “Ke’ilo Kan”
  3. ESTONIA!!!!!: Kreisiraadio – “Leto Svet”
  4. Moldova: Geta Burlacu – “A Century of Love”
  5. San Marino: Miodio – “Complice”
  6. Belgium: Ishtar – “O Julissi Na Jalini”
  7. Azerbaijan: Elnur Hüseynov & Samir Javadzadeh – “Day After Day”
  8. Slovenia: Rebeka Dremelj – “Vrag naj vzame”
  9. Norway: Maria Haukaas Storeng – “Hold On, Be Strong”
  10. Poland: Isis Gee – “For Life”
  11. Ireland: Dustin the Turkey – “Irelande Douze Pointe”
  12. Andorra: Gisela – “Casanova”
  13. Bosnia & Herzegovina: Elvir Lakovic Laka – “Pokusaj”
  14. Armenia: Sirusho – “Qele Qele”
  15. The Netherlands: Hind – “Your Heart Belongs to Me”
  16. Finland: Teräsbetoni – “Missä Miehet Ratsastaa”
  17. Romania: Vlad Miriţă & Nico – “Pe o margine de lume”
  18. Russia: Dima Bilan – “Believe”
  19. Greece: Kalomira – “Secret Combination”

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Finland’s Eurovision 2008 Entry

Sunday, March 2nd, 2008

I have a strange feeling that just as Sweden has still never really gotten over ABBA’s Eurovision win, Finland is never really going to get over Lordi’s win. Teräsbetoni’s “Missä Miehet Ratsastaa” is generic heavy metal at its Manowar-finest. It’s barely better than Kabát’s “Malá Dáma.”

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Jen’s running commentary (part 1 of 2)

Saturday, May 12th, 2007

Notes taken during the show but not posted…

1. Bosnia & Herzogovena

Natalie Portman isn’t known for her singing. Dressed like a chartreuse ballerina, and I don’t know why she has on her hand a giant postage stamp with a grasshopper in it. But, hey, at least all the dry ice means I don’t have to see how she’s dressed anymore. The backup singers are white figure pottery.

Started rough at first – but got bettter as the song went on. Boring song – closing credits to a Bond film.

———–

2. Spain

Well, now the competition begins, and Spain comes on with a high energy performance. All dressed in white, they look like 98 degrees. Probably could’ve won 5 years ago – except it’s not 5 years ago. Tight, though cheesy choreo. I HEART YOU MI VIDA E A O. Huh?

Plus, there’s a giant rotating triangle on the lights. Shameless plug to the gay contingent. But it sounded like it got a good reception.

———–

3. Belarus, again 3rd up.

Aw, he’s so dreamy. And the rock pose, feet planted 4 feet apart from them is so very well rehearsed. Seems to me he could take a lesson from Darren Romeo, at least is able to sing in tune and do his magic moves at the same time. Dunno about this one, I picked him to do well, but… it feels a little safe to me.

———–

4. Ireland

Oh, god, Ireland – this is gonna be death. Man, she is really flat… terrible. Kill me now.

She sits on every note. Like a fat woman crushing a big tuffet and her ass cheeks are hanging over. Like when a square is sat on and becomes a trapezoid.

Giving the mp3 isn’t going to help them get votes with as crappy a performance as this. And whipping out the bodhran isn’t going to help either. I stand by my haiku.

England may have competition for 0 points this year.

———–

5. Finland

She’s stolen Slovenia’s outfit.

Feed issues – but I don’t really feel I’ve missed much.

———–

6. FYR Macedonia

She’s in better voice tonight. Impressively, at one point she’s lifted up by a dancer and doesn’t miss a note. She looks comfortable up there.

Doesn’t change the fact the song isn’t good. But if performances were the only thing that got them into the top 10, she’s in.

———–

7. Slovenia

This song is like an Olympic theme, I can see the torch being lit… no, wait, that’s just her hand.

The crowd loves her, especially when she goes into opera voice. Some pitchy with some pretty simple intervals, but overall pretty strong performance. Big voice, and it works well in a big arena.

———–

8. Hungary

It’s rough to follow Slovenia with a gritty blues song. Most singers would feel a temptation to oversing at the outset to overcome a big operatic number right before, could be trouble. I’m worried that song order could ultimately hurt her. It’s tough, you spend 1 minute of your 3 minutes winning the crowd over.

I get chills on “why did you leave me,” and it leaves the crowd cheering.

I think she won them over, but I don’t think she’ll win.

———–

9. Lithuania

Yawn. Too many women in a row, and, honey, you do not compare.

Pixie haircut, the rest of the band only gets to be a big shadows on a scrim. She looks nervous.

Again, I have problems with the name and the image. A group with a name “4Fun” should not dress all in black, have shadows, and in general, present a visual image only of black. Drab.

———–

10. Greece

Wow, Greece has the same staging as Turkey. But it is nice to see him being backed up by the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, and then turned into a maypole.

The song, however, ain’t no Turkey tune. “No lies, she’s the bomb” Do people use that slang anymore?

The choreo ain’t nothin to write home about either. I haven’t seen choreo this bad since DJ Bobo.

———–

11. Georgia

Sopho save us!

But, sadly, she’s totally running on adrenaline, and seems to be having less fun than she did in the Semis. She’s trying too hard to project, and it’s too much. Pulling back just a little would’ve helped. I’m hoping, but not sure that top 10 finish I want is possible.

I still don’t care, I love the song.

———–

12. Sweden

Ah, good timing for some fluff. However, the lead singer has the same problem as Blake Lewis – dead eyes. Also he’s playing too much to the camera. Again, a lot of black staging this time. Although having him sit and spin on the spiral is a nice touch. Funny, “sit and spin” is about where my thoughts were at.

This performance reminds me of the Scissor Sisters. A LOT.

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Chris’ Finals Recap, Pt. 1

Saturday, May 12th, 2007

Jen & I decided not to liveblog the final, since writing and viewing is a pain. We’re each going to do our own write-ups.

We had problems with the feed from Octoshape going out on us, to the point where we actually missed all of Russia’s number. We’ll fill in our thoughts on that one after we watch the replay.

One disappointment was that Lordi didn’t perform live. The show kicked off with a video for “Hard Rock Hallelujah”, but I don’t know if Lordi was even there. Too bad.

1. Bosnia

What is she wearing? It looks like a Christmas tree right before you take it down. It’s kind of a dull start to the show. She’s singing fine, but the song just doesn’t do it for me. She should benefit from bloc voting, but I don’t know if anyone else is going to remember this in the end.

2. Spain

Wait, is this 2007 or 1997? A boy band? Seriously? There’s not much harmonizing going on, and the dancing is pedestrian at best. They are in synch… er… so to speak. Technically, they’re fine, but this is a huge whatever.

3. Belarus

Koldun looks like Hugh Jackman. Apparently, this song is about alcohol. It has grown on me, I must say, but I don’t think he’s singing it well. He doesn’t think so either, I bet, since he decides not to go for the high note at the end. Good choice.

4. Ireland

The problem with trying to predict winners based on the songs is that the live performance has the potential to be utterly disastrous (case in point: Jemini). Had I known that Dervish were going to be so pathetically awful live, I would not have predicted the U.K. would get the nil vote. The singer sounds like the folk singer in the Lemmiwinks episode of South Park. Abysmal.

5. Finland

Our feed went out here, but watching the replay showed that I didn’t miss much. Again, it’s Evanescence-lite. It’s gothy and it rocks and whatnot, but it’s just mediocre. I doubt Helsinki will get to host Eurovision again next year.

There’s a little host segment where our hosts Jaana and Mikko meet a girl named Krisse, who says she’s the world’s biggest Eurovision fan and dreams of hosting. She ends up doing backstage bits for the rest of the evening. This is ridiculously staged, since Krisse is a famous Finnish comedienne apparently. She actually turns out to be kind of amusing (especially during the voting when she consoled Scooch when they weren’t doing well).

6. Macedonia

The fog machine is working on overload! Karolina’s singing better here than she did on Thursday, but this is such a dull number. She may do well, but I’m so not into the song.

7. Slovena

Alenka is so happy to be there! It’s kinda sweet, actually. Sadly, the more I hear this song, the more it grates on my nerves. Too low-budget Lloyd Webber. She still loves the lights-on-the-hand bit.

8. Hungary

This is really early, so I hope her distinctive style and the uniqueness of the song (compared to your standard Eurovision fare) helps her get votes later. She’s singing better tonight than during the semis, save for an invisible high note. Excellent performance.

9. Lithuania

Not just 4Fun, The 4Fun. The staging is very simple: lead singer with guitar up front, rest of the band behind a screen in silhouette. The song is bad, though, which the lack of over-the-top staging just points up. Not terrible, but not good either.

10. Greece

Play up that Zorba the Greek stereotype, Sarbel! The words are pathetic: “All eyes on Maria/No lie, she’s the bomb.” Wow. Horrible lyrics, annoying melody. The little Walk Like an Egyptian dance moves don’t help, obviously. They do some dancing with ribbons that’s cute, and the dancers end with the ribbons shaped in the form of the Eurovision heart logo. That’s about all that’s good about this, though.

11. Georgia

Sopho’s oversinging it a bit, but I don’t care. I would love for her to win, although I know it’s not going to happen. This is my favorite song of the competition, and generally she’s given Georgia a good showing tonight.

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The Semifinal Results

Thursday, May 10th, 2007

While the votes were being tabulated, there was some modernized Finnish traditional dance and music. It was pretty bad, yet still better than Poland.

There were quite a few empty seats in Helsinki Arena, by the way. But this is just the semi-finals, and a school night to boot.

UPDATED: I take it back. Some of the clips during the recaps were taken from rehearsal. I figured this out when I saw Magda wearing a different tank-top during her clip.

UPDATED AGAIN: I was right the first time, according to the BBC (who include a picture of Sopho in its article).

Anyway, I had to go to class before the results were announced. I’m home now and getting caught up. Here is the running order for Saturday’s final. Tonight’s semifinal winners are highlighted; the rest are the countries with the bye to the final.

1. Bosnia & Herzegovina – Maria Šestić: “Rijeka Bez Imena”
2. Spain – D’Nash: “I Love You Mi Vida”
3. Belarus – Koldun: “Work Your Magic” (An inevitability, really. I’ve got this stuck in my head right now. It hurts us.)
4. Ireland – Dervish: “They Can’t Stop The Spring”
5. Finland – Hanna Pakarinen: “Leave Me Alone”
6. Macedonia – Karolina: “Mojot Svet” (That’s a surprise, although I don’t mind this one going through at all.)
7. Slovenia – Alenka Gotar: “Cvet Z Juga” (I was right to be nervous.)
8. Hungary – Magdi Rúzsa: “Unsubstantial Blues” (I am so happy about this. Magda could win this, I tell you.)
9. Lithuania – 4Fun: “Love Or Leave”
10. Greece – Sarbel: “Yassou Maria”
11. Georgia – Sopho: “Visionary Dream” (YAAAAAAAY!!!)
12. Sweden – The Ark: “The Worrying Kind”
13. France – Les Fatals Picards: “L’amour À La Française”
14. Latvia – Bonaparti.lv: “Questa Notte” (You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.)
15. Russia – Serebro: “Song #1″
16. Germany – Roger Cicero: “Frauen Regier’n Die Welt”
17. Serbia – Marija Šerifović: “Molitva” (She really was a lock to make the final.)
18. Ukraine – Verka Serduchka: “Dancing Lasha Tumbai”
19. United Kingdom – Scooch: “Flying The Flag (For You)”
20. Romania – Todomondo: “Liubi, Liubi, I Love You”
21. Bulgaria – Elitsa Todorova & Stoyan Yankoulov: “Water” (I’m surprised. I thought going first was going to do them in.)
22. Turkey – Kenan Doğulu – “Shake It Up Shekerim” (Good for him. Kenan had better bring it better on Saturday than he did tonight.)
23. Armenia – Hayko: “Anytime You Need”
24. Moldova – Natalia Barbu: “Fight” (This made it and Switzerland didn’t? Unfair.)

About the only thing I can say is that I underestimated how beloved opera still is in Europe. Other than that, and Moldova going through, I don’t have a huge problem with these results.

Incidentally, I just remembered that they don’t do the elaborate voting procedure during the semis that they use in the finals. They just announce who is moving on. I will pretend Poland got a nil vote, anyway.

UPDATED: As it turns out, Poland ended up with 75 points, which disturbs me. The Czech Republic only got 1 point, from Estonia. That’s still one more than Jemini got.

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The voting window.

Thursday, May 10th, 2007

And there are our 28 semi-finalists. There is a 15-minute voting window. The hosts get the entire crowd to countdown 3, 2, 1 in Finnish to start the voting.

I’m standing by my predictions, by the way.

To kill some time, there’s a recap of tonight’s performances, followed by some footage of the “Euro Club” in Helsinki, followed by the recap of tonight’s performances again. It’s better filler than your average American Idol results show, actually.

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Host introductions

Thursday, May 10th, 2007

Our hosts Jaana and Mikko come out come out and introduce the show in Finnish, French and English. They note that this is the first time the show’s been held in Finland. After some explanation of the voting process (in English and French), the performances begin.

Well, first, a brief Finland travelogue segment, which will separate all the songs tonight.

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Eurovision 2007 Semis: Opening Number

Thursday, May 10th, 2007

Ladies and gentlemen, we’re live.

“True fantasy” is the slogan for this year’s contest. Reality will rear its ugly head during Austria’s number, but whatever.

We open with a little Finnish girl holding a snow globe while fake snow falls over her. A princess with an accordion rises out of the stage and starts to play. Dancers come out, and I’m really waiting for Lordi to come out and kick all their asses. I’m assuming they’re saving that for the finals, though. Ooo, Finnish beat-boxing!

I’m watching this from one of the libraries at the University of Maryland, by the way.

The backdrop of the stage is covered with flowers. That ruins my image of Finland somehow.

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Finland (Eurovision 2007 Preview)

Tuesday, May 8th, 2007

Hanna: “Leave Me Alone”

After last year’s performance, it was going to be hard for Finland to field a candidate for this year’s competition. Still, the Finns should feel lucky they have the free pass to the final. “Leave Me Alone” is Evanescence lite, and tedious to boot. I don’t suspect a repeat winner, unless Hanna uses a ton of fireworks during her performance.

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Finland (Eurovision 2007 Preview)

Friday, May 4th, 2007

Hanna: “Leave Me Alone”

On the opening riff you think the song is going to be cool. Then it isn’t.

You think it’s going to be some sort of metal thing with a guy channeling the voice of L Ron Hubbard. But it’s a chick singing with a generic rock voice. And the rock loses its edge once the power of the riff abates. Then it drags on. Then it closes with about 2 measures of the riff, a sad reminder of unfulfilled promise.

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