Here we go. Azerbaijan’s stock has fallen a bit after the semi, and because it’s got the opening slot on the night. Adorable magic pixie German girl benefits!
1. Germany
2. Azerbaijan
3. Turkey
4. Belgium
5. Armenia
6. Israel
7. Denmark
8. Georgia
9. Ireland
10. Romania
Last place: United Kingdom
No nul points this year.
If I had a vote, I would vote for Serbia, because I am so cheeky.
Ok, here’s my top 10, plus last place. Given an erratic draw and new voting rules, I am not confident in this order.
1. Denmark
2. Germany
3. Azerbaijan
4. Israel
5. Ireland
6. Turkey
7. Armenia
8. Belgium
9. Greece
10. Iceland
…
25. United Kingdom
Break out the crackers, wine, and vodka, because the Eurovision Song Contest, Europe’s annual cheese-fest and search for the “best song in Europe,” is happening this week. This year, national representatives from 43 countries have descended on Oslo through a cloud of volcanic ash courtesy of Iceland. Alexander Rybak’s fiddling and puckish grin linger in the air as Europeans look to crown a new champion. Norway needn’t worry—their entry is competent but they won’t be hosting next year. The semi-finals are May 25 and May 27. The final will be held on May 29.
Who are the contenders?
In the days leading up to the contest, Azerbaijan has the momentum. Safura’s “Drip Drop” is a pop-ballad with RnB influences; it’s relevant, soulful, and catchy. It’s the buzz entry and the bookie’s choice.
Other entries poised to compete this year:
Which are this year’s guilty pleasures?
Let’s face it, this is why we watch. At the core of an unhealthy Eurovision obsession is a deep affection for kitsch, train wrecks, and pop culture gone horribly awry.
Is anyone at risk for a nul points humiliation?
The United Kingdom had a successful 5th place finish last year with an entry penned by Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber and Dianne Warren. UK organizers attempted to replicate the model this year by bringing in another songwriting heavyweight. Who they found was Pete Waterman, a songwriter who achieved success in the 80s by penning hits for Rick Astley, among others. After what was undoubtedly a lot of coaxing and ego grooming, organizers persuaded Ol’ Pete to go to his filing cabinet and dredge up “That Sounds Good to Me”. Unfortunately, the selection is ridiculously dated, a not-so-subtle echo of Kim Wilde’s “Kids in America”. It cannot be saved by amiable singer Josh Dubovie, nor by the UK’s attempts to develop a more contemporary arrangement. But, hey, our 2-year old likes it.
We’re getting caught up on all this year’s entries, and we’ll be doing a few reviews shortly, but in the meantime, we’ve updated three of our previous posts:
After last year’s Disaster Von Teese, Germany decided to revamp its selection process. They went with a Your Country Needs You-type format called Unser Star für Oslo 2010, and they brought back into the fold Stefan Raab of “Wadde Hadde Dudde Da” fame to be the main judge.
Over a series of shows, the number of possible representatives was whittled down to two, Jennifer Braun and Lena Meyer-Landrut. During the finale, each performed three times. Their first two performances were their respective versions of the songs “Bee” and “Satellite.” Then Jennifer sang a song called “I Care For You” and Lena sang “Love Me” (which she co-wrote with Raab).
“Bee” was a very twee little song that suited Lena’s quirky speak-sing style more than Jennifer’s full-throttle soulful rocker style. Jennifer looked uncomfortable singing both “Bee” and “Satellite”. She clearly preferred “I Care For You,” so she gave it her best performance on the night.
Interestingly, Lena seemed to have a little trouble with her energy performing the song she co-wrote, although that could be chalked up to nerves. Where she really shined was her interpretation of “Satellite.” Jennifer had performed it as a ballad, which Raab noted was the way it was intended to be performed. (You can also watch Jennifer’s version at the Unser Star für Oslo 2010 website, because the Germans seem to be diligent about keeping videos from the final off of YouTube.)
Lena decided to take it at quicker tempo, and this version ended up edging “Love Me” as the song selected to represent Germany at Eurovision. Watch it now before it gets taken down UPDATED: Here is the official video, which of course is unembeddable since record companies refuse to listen to the lessons OK GO are teaching:
So the question is, did the Unser Star für Oslo 2010 find a good Eurovision song or just a new star performer for Germany? There’s no doubt that Lena is a naturally talented and charismatic performer, and her interpretation on “Satellite” casts the lyrics in a whole new light. But, as with Josh Dubovie from the U.K., she is only going to have one shot at Europe because she goes straight to the Eurovision final and won’t have a chance to promote the song on other national finals before then. She’s a perfectly charming person, but will that come across in the three minutes she’ll have? It may come down to where she’s slated to perform, but even then, I’m not sure this is going to be a song that Europe will cast its vote for. But I’ll still enjoy it.
UPDATE: As it turns out, “Satellite” has been one of the oddsmakers’ choices to win this year, alongside “Drip Drop” from Azerbaijan.
Another marathon Eurovision day: Estonia, United Kingdom, Sweden and Serbia. To be fair, we started watching Estonia last night, and we only caught the tail end of the Serbia show since it overlapped with Sweden. Still, that is a big ol’ pile of Eurovision.
UPDATED: After I wrote this, we ended up watching the Germany final too. AH, WAHNSINN!!
Serbia selected Goran Bregović as the composer of their Eurovision entry this year. He wrote three songs, and all three songs were done in a traditional folk style. Three acts (Emina Jahović, Milan Stanković, and Oliver Katić & Jelena Marković) were assigned each one of the songs.
Milan was rocking the Let Us Play With Your Look look:
Despite the fact that Will Ferrell didn’t have a cameo during his song, Milan won the night with his rendition of “Ovo je Balkan”:
Pretty solid, though it sounds like Milan got a little pitchy in the middle. What was fun about the act was the costume change two-thirds of the way through the song, in which the folk dancers changed into b-girls. It’s doubtful that this will win Eurovision, but it’s a lock to make it out of the semis, and probably finish strong in the final. How could it not pick up neighborly voting when it’s called “This Is the Balkans”, right?
Let’s compare what I predicted and what actually happened:
Me:
Last: France |
Europe:
Last: Finland |
I put the predictions I got correct in bold, and I italicized correct calls in the top 10.
Obviously, I overvalued Finland and undervalued France. As it turns out, Finland was the jury pick in the first semi, leapfrogging over FYR Macedonia and Montenegro to get to the final.
Asides: As unbelievable as it sounds to me, Croatia actually was the jury pick in the second semi, knocking out Serbia and jumping over Ireland and Poland. Also, the Czech Republic finished with nil point. Ouch. Even Belgium got une point. Tragically, Latvia got seven points in its semi. Oof.
Anyway, as it turns out, Patricia Kaas has a pretty big following, which carried France to eighth place. Had I done research…
I don’t think I was the only one who was shocked that Greece did not finish second. I’d say that performing eighth might have hurt Sakis’ chances, except that Jóhanna went seventh, and Iceland finished second. I also neglected to put Bosnia and Herzegovina in the top 10, which was a foolish mistake on my part.
I don’t know if it’s a smart strategy for Germany to send “Mambo #5″ to Moscow. Oh wait, esctoday.com says this is “Miss Kiss Kiss Bang” by Oscar Swings Alex Sings (a.k.a. Oscar Loya and Alex Christensen). It’s catchy and all, but honestly, Roger Cicero did this sort of thing better in 2007, and he only placed 16th.
The track posted here sounds like a studio outtake, which makes sense because I don’t think the song has officially debuted in Germany yet.
Jen: his voice quality, and indeed the arrangement, is reminiscent of Michael Buble. Two years ago, Germany entered a song in a similar space with Roger Cicero, but, while both have a big band vibe, this track is definitely closer to pop. The English lyrics help too. I like it, but, then again, I liked Roger Cicero. I predict a better showing than 2007, but Germany doesn’t have the neighbors to make it a contender.
UPDATE: Here are Oscar and Alex performing “Miss Kiss Kiss Bang”:
It’s Eurovision time again, and why not kick off the show in Belgrade with last year’s winner, Marija Šerifović? She does “Molitva,” which for tonight’s show has a more Euro-dance feel to it, not to mention gender-bending back-up dancers. She also does a second song that features the lyric, “They will find one day/Love DNA.”
After a little introductory spiel from hosts Jovana Janković and Željko Joksimović, we get underway.
1. Romania
Bad first note from Nico. In fact, she’s pretty awful tonight. It’s like Vlad is the Steve Lawrence of Romania and Nico is the Eydie Gorme.
2. United Kingdom
It really sucks Andy Abraham is going second. I do love this song, and he does a great job. Slick, polished fun.
3. Albania
Olta Boka just cannot carry that chorus. Her voice lacks the richness to sing it over the orchestration by herself. I kinda like the song, but her performance doesn’t do it for me.
4. Germany
Die alle Heiligen! No, wait, No Angels are nowhere near as good as All Saints. The chorus is actively annoying, and the blonde singer is so far out of tune that she might as well be singing “I’m a Little Teapot.” Horrible.
5. Armenia
Love the song, but Sirusho was a bit flat throughout. Better than her performance in the semis, but still not as good as it could be.
6. Bosnia & Herzegovina
The staging of “Pokušaj” strikes me as a window into how Bosnians interpret French comedies. Regardless, it brings a tear to my eye. I love this song so much. (Sir Terry Wogan appeared to have liked it too, until it got more votes than the U.K.)
7. Israel
Man, I really can’t stand Boaz’ upper register. I wish Dana International did this song, seeing as she wrote it and all.
8. Finland
Bathroom break.
9. Croatia
If it weren’t for 75 Cent yelling at me, I’d completely forget about this number.
10. Poland
Sayeth Sir Terry: “The brightest teeth outside of the Osmond family.” The fake tan brings out the whiteness.
11. Iceland
The orchestration is terrific, the performance is fantastic. A Euro-dance classic.
12. Turkey
The more I hear Mor ve Ötesi’s live performance of this song, the more I like it. I wasn’t sure about Turkey deviating from the Mediterranean pop, but this is a really good song.
13. Portugal
Vânia Fernandes is far and away the best singer at Eurovision. Terrific performance. Maybe a little block voting from Andorra, Spain, and France will help. Romance languages gots ta stick together.
14. Latvia
God, this is so dumb.