greece?

Helena Paparizou (pictured below) won Eurovision for Greece with "My Number One, " the song reminds me too much of the entry for Turkey that won in 2003 for me to give it any merit. It definitely did not deserve to win. Then again, Latvia shouldn't have made it to the grand final, and Malta should have been in the bottom half in terms of ranking, not bloody second.

I agree Germany nearly broke my eardrums. France was bland and mild. UK I thought would do better simply because it was the kind of Beyonce thing that people seem to love. Spain should have gotten a better ranking. Cyprus should have been at the bottom with Croatia, and Hungary. Whilst Turkey should have been much higher in the rankings and Greece shouldn't have won by such a large distance at the very least.

Funny how the most prominent countries in Europe ended up at the bottom of the pile, Spain, UK, France, and Germany (granted the last one was exceptionally bad and deserved only 4 points). I'd be more accepting of Romania's 3rd place if her pronunciation wasn't so bad, actually if she hadn't sung in English at all.

I'm predicting that in the future UK and Ireland will never do well except by some miracle and the largest countries will never win Eurovision unless they divide into their states and provinces and start voting for eachother, the way that the baltic countries always vote for eachother.

REMEMBER TO GO TO THE EUROVISION WEBSITE AND VOTE FOR YOUR FAVOURITE SONGS, DO IT FOR ME... AND PLEASE VOTE FOR "VOLARE" BY DOMENICO MODUGNO.

Bosnia Herzegovina's Feminnem really were a tribute to everything Eurovision is famous for with their song "Call Me." Reminiscent of the pop numbers from such performers like ABBA. Very appropriate for a 50th anniversary.

Greenjolly with "Razom nas bahato."
Ukraine's entry was a political song with matching haircut. They weren't going for subtlety, though their dull performance may have mislead you to think they were.

I like the fact that they had to match the mic stand to the lyrics, "neon lights."

Found some pictures of Sweden's actual performance. There were better ones but the dancers were revealing too much for my blogspot.

Sweden's Martin Stenmarck singing "Las Vegas." I have to apologize here, I just couldn't find a picture of the actual performance. I liked this entry, the fact that he was cute didn't hurt either. But I have to say referencing America in a song for Eurovision is a big no no.

I believe the circular dancing Kimmie was a traditional influence of theirs.

Eurovision is the last place these days you can see the rare species that is the boy band. Serbia and Montenegro's No Name with "Zauvijek Moja."

Spain wasn't as good as I thought it would be. Honestly, they should have shot the men, especially the one that opened his mouth during the song. It should have gotten a better ranking though, much better than a position in the bottom 5.

Albania's fake violinists (pictured below) just annoyed the hell out of me. It was a crap entry.

ANOTHER crap entry was "Ela, ela," the song representing Cyprus. What on Earth was going through their minds when they chose that song? The whole performance was just so amazingly bad and tacky.

You see! Grandmamma had her rocking chair on stage.

Turkey with Gulseren singing "Rimi rimi ley." I really liked this entry and thought it was absolutely RIDICULOUS that it did not do better. I wasn't expecting it to win, but its final position was absolutely insulting. It was the perfect song for Eurovision, more in the cultural sense and extravaganza than pop sense. You probably have no idea what I'm talking about.

The crowd. I'd love to have (or atleast go to) a Eurovision party one day and just get drunk with friends whilst watching this show.

This is a better picture of Hungary's little army of dancers. I believe they are the sole reason Hungary even passed the preliminary finals.

Ukraine's Ruslana, last year's winner and her dancers.

the grand final is over

I went into too much detail in my last entry. I'm not even going to try to comment on every single country. I'll include lots of pictures.

First things first, there will be a special 50th anniversary event later in October this year, and they want people to vote for their favourite Eurovision songs, 2 songs from each decade since 1956 (the first Eurovision ever held), from a list that includes winners and other songs that did well.

All I can say is that you should vote, and for the first decade (1956-1965) you have to vote for:
1958's Nel blu, di pinto di blu ("Volare") by Domenico Modugno representing Italy ofcourse (you might know the popularized Dean Martin version)
Anyway, it is my most favourite song from the entire history of Eurovision and they HAVE to include it in the 50th anniversary special, so please please vote.

www.eurovision.tv/english/index.htm#
Click on the link on this website

Found out about this whilst looking for photos to put in my blog. Apparently, during Ireland's turn for interviews with the press, their dancers were doing a demonstration of their dancing skills on the table and broke it. They genuinely must have had no clue what they were doing. I suppose at this point they were delusional as well and actually believed they could get to the final with their song.

My 10 to go on to the final was (those in yellow were my favourites):
Austria, Moldova, Israel, Norway, Romania, Hungary, Finland, Switzerland, FYR Macedonia, Bulgaria

The 10 voted to take part in the finals (those highlighted are those I definitely do not agree with, but that is what the public voted):
Hungary, Romania, Norway, Moldova, Israel, Denmark, FYR Macedonia, Croatia, Switzerland, Latvia

Some general conclusions about Eurovision:
I have for a long time believed that fewer countries should be speaking English. I prefer countries speaking in their own languages.
Cultural influence is good.
Semi-nudity isn't good.
Don't put children on stage.
Don't put Hi-5 impersonators on stage.
Ballads with a single person on stage is difficult to sell to an audience.
This is Eurovision some extravagance is good, far better than casual.
The performance has to work as a whole.
It MUST be entertaining, especially if it is going to be REALLY bad, eg. Lithuania which wasn't entertaining.

I just had to include this. What on earth compelled the photographer to take this picture? Or was it just pure luck?

the teacher of autistic children

24 - Denmark - Jakob Sveistrup - "Talkling to You" (pictured below)
This song is perfect for Eurovision. I wish I could have found a photo that captured Sveistrup and his back singers in their synchronised moves. I liked this entry, another fav that made it through.

25 - Poland - Ivan i Delfin - "Czarna dziewczyna"
Oh my! What can I say? What a bizarre finish. "Lai lai laai" definitely saw a gypsy influence here, obvious in the costuming. Than again, I've most likely got it wrong, I'm not familiar with Polish culture. It was bad, and even worse, ended in a wardrobe malfunction, the male lead singer's top came apart exposing his chest. The only thing I liked about this whole performance was the accordion, go figure.

i really thought he would make it through

and so did the British commentator.
23 - Slovenia - Omar Naber - "Stop"
I really really honestly thought he would make it through. I liked this slow song. I guess maybe the presentation was a little too simple. Still, I thought its great crescendo would pull it through. The commentator thought it won the crowd over, so why not the people watching it. I am still so utterly disappointed.

the dancers were too mature for this singer

17 - FYR Macedonia - Martin Vucic - "Make My Day"
Song is quite good, but presentation is terrible. The singer desperately needs a clothes change, he was too casually dressed like the dancers and his male back up singers. The dancers looked cheap and back-up singers looked gay. I would have included a picture to give a clearer picture of what I'm saying but the dancers are just too much for my blogspot. They should have been a little more extravagant for Eurovision, and with those dancers, Vucic should have been more like last year's Deen who sang "In The Disco" for Bosnia Herzegovina. He needs to look more like a pimp with those dancers. This was the second entrant that reminded me of Safri Duo

18 - Andorra - Marian van de Wal - "La mirada interior"
Bad and dull. I'm guessing they were hoping the sweaty shirtless men would pull them through with those giant fans made of feathers. I knew it wouldn't. The british commentator referred to the dancers as 'batman and robin' at one point.

19 - Switzerland - Vanilla Ninja - "Cool Vibes"
A very pretty chick band, they could have been models. Good composition my dad said. It is a good song for Eurovision, but as you often find, they use words no English background speaking country would ever use, "cool vibes"?

20 - Croatia - Boris Novkovic feat. Lado Members - "Vukovi Umiru Sami"
I was outraged when these people made it through to the final round. They started off with traditional instruments like last year's second place Serbia and Montenegro, whether intentional or not. But are nowhere near the standard of my favourite from last year. It was a bad dull song and so was the singer. They took the place of a more deserving entrant. Also, the female back singers were dressed in these white see-through numbers that just looked terrible

21 - Bulgaria - Kaffe - "Lorrain"
This reminded me of a lounge song. I didn't think it really stood out, but the results prove I was wrong. The singer has a better falsetto (I think that's what you call it). It was OK overall.

22 - Ireland - Donna and Joseph McCaul - "Love?" (Joseph pictured below)
Crap. It sounded like bad karaoke. Which is quite sad, because they have won Eurovision so many times yet recent entries have just been bad. This was a brother and sister duet, the boy is 17 but he looks much younger to me and so the back-up dancers just... look too mature for such a child. The Irish dancing was a nice touch but didn't fit with the song, this bad song. Joseph's dancing was amusing, couldn't keep still even for a second.

why...

16 - Finland - Geir Ronning - "Why"
I thought this song would do well in the UK for votes. It isn't the greatest ballad, but it had me singing "why" along with the singers. I honestly thought it would make it.

a little army of dancers

14 - Romania - Luminita Anghel & Sistem - "Let Me Try"
Good performance for Eurovision, with a strong female singer. You'd think the oil drums was some sort of political/environmental statement, but no, it's just Romania's version of Safri Duo.
I knew they'd make it to the final round as well.

15 - Hungary - NOX - "Forogj vilaj"
Not a particularly great song. I don't think the singer is particularly great and I think singing in her own language helped a lot. I think the main feature of the performance is the traditional dancing. The male dancers are great, and the singer manages to dance a bit and keep up with them too. If it wasn't for the dancing Hungary would have had a hard time trying to get into the final round, but as it was they were a shoe-in.

norway and it's glitter

I can't believe the photographer actually took a picture of this. Then again, I would have.

long locks and wig wam

9 - Netherlands - Glennis Grace - "My Impossible Dream"
Cheesy dull motivational song that would have done better if sung in its own language. Atleast then the positive message couldn't be understood and her odd pronunciation of English heard.

10 - Iceland - Selma - "If I Had Your Love"
The type of pop number I expected to find at Eurovision, but not memorable at all.

11 - Belgium - Nuno Resende - "Le grand soir"
A single male singing a ballad on stage. Not enough show for Eurovision and not a memorable song.

12 - Estonia - Suntribe - "Let's Get Loud"
Girl group, each with a fake-gay-turntable prop. The equivalent of last year's Hi-5 group Switzerland's Piero and The Music Stars who sang "Celebrate!" Bad, bad, really bad.

13 - Norway - Wig Wam - "In My Dreams" (pictured below)
The image of this band is etched into my brain, and shall never be forgotten. I don't remember the song because the image was what shocked me. I knew they'd make it to the final round.

the three musketeers

5 - Latvia - Valters & Kaza - "The War Is Not Over"
Bad dull duet using two young blonde guys and sign language.

6 - Monaco - Lise Darly - "Tout de moi"
Nothing special. She can sing but her pronunciation of french is so bad that my dad started ranting on about how her pronunciation is worse than his (it has been years since he has really used his french which is his second language) and she should be singing more like Edith Piaf (who does have an accent).

7 - Israel - Shiri Maymon - "Hasheket Shenish'ar"
Not a fav of mine, I generally don't like the female ballads you find at Eurovision, but she was good and I knew she'd make it through to the final. She should have kept singing in her own language though, instead of changing to English. Israel generally always makes it through to the final.

8 - Belarus - Anzhelika Agurbash - "Love Me Tonight" (pictured below)
I was fascinated by the costuming and especially the three musketeers. The singers outfit was ripped apart twice to reveal this 3rd and final number. My dad started questioning whether this was Eurovision or a BAD cabaret. It's true. The song was bad, the singing was bad, and the presentation was very corny. I thought it was hilarious.

yo grandmamma

2 - Lithuania - Laura and The Lovers - "Little By Little"
bad dull pop "rock" band

3 - Portugal - 2B - "Amar"
Bad duo, with bad singing parts that gave the singers a really poor start that pretty much continued, even though they might have had the singing ability. Don't really remember the song to be honest.

4 - Moldova - Zdob si Zdub - "Bunica bate toba" (pictured below)
A personal favourite. A song about a grandmamma in a rocking with a drum, also pictured below. I'm glad they put the grandmamma on stage, their peformance wouldn't be the same. An excellent song for the very first entry from this country. The performance is definitely memorable, uses instruments I believe are traditional, is in their own language (as far as I know) and their costumes are culturally influenced. The band is dynamic on stage, so I believe they will go far.

her yodeller

as well as trombonist

it's heidi

1 - Austria - Global Kryner - "Y Asi"
I liked this entry, being the first to perform is never good though. I thought it was catchy, I liked the brass, and an accordion is always good, an instrument that was actually patented in Austria. I think cultural influence is important, that is why I referenced the origins of the instrument. The song was sung in english and italian, though I always prefer countries using they're own language. They did have a yodeller which I thought was excellent and I thought the singer's costume was adorable.

eurovision song contest 2005

Oh how I love this contest. My mum got the 2oo4 CD for her birthday last year which I am listening to now as the soundtrack for this entry. Now I know there is a lot of cheesy crap which this contest is renowned for, and its standards aren't the highest, but you can get some good songs. It is after all the good AND the bad (often really really bad) that makes it so damn entertaining.

Now I did SMS some people about the preliminary finals being on last night and the finals tomorrow night, but I seriously doubt that anyone took notice, let alone "spread the word" as I was hoping would be done. Kimmie completely forgot, though she called me back after receiving my message. She does promise to watch the final though. So unfortunately I had no-one to vent my shock and mild outrage about the 10 countries voted to go to the final round.

Then it occurred to me I have my blogspot, but I was too tired last night to make an entry and decided to do it today.