Eurovision 2015

[Steve_uk]

Azerbaijan should qualify but not sure it will set the stage alight with a song described as a "mystical contemporary ballad".

 

[Steve_uk]

Would it be unbefitting to compare the UK entry with a 1980s advertisement for Birds Eye Potato Waffles..

 

[Steve_uk]

I can't believe Sweden is once again the favourite in the betting(I think it's the holographic choreography which lets it down as well as the backing singers). I'll reserve judgement on the Italian entry until rehearsals. Both can be beaten.http://www.oddschecker.com/tv/eurovision

 

[Steve_uk]

Semi-final 1
16 countries will take part in this semi final on 19 May.

First half

Armenia English Genealogy "Don't Deny" —

Belgium English Loïc Nottet "Rhythm Inside" —

Estonia English Elina Born & Stig Rästa "Goodbye to Yesterday" —

Finland Finnish Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät "Aina mun pitää" I always have to

Greece English Maria Elena Kyriakou "One Last Breath" —

Macedonia English Daniel Kajmakoski "Autumn Leaves" —

Moldova English Eduard Romanyuta "I Want Your Love" —

Netherlands English Trijntje Oosterhuis "Walk Along" —
Second half

Albania English Elhaida Dani "I'm Alive" —

Belarus English Uzari & Maimuna "Time" —

Denmark English Anti Social Media "The Way You Are" —

Georgia English Nina Sublatti "Warrior" —

Hungary English Boggie "Wars for Nothing" —

Romania Romanian, English Voltaj "De la capăt (All Over Again)" From the beginning (All Over Again)

Russia English Polina Gagarina "A Million Voices" —

Serbia English Bojana Stamenov "Beauty Never Lies" —

10 will qualify so only six to discard. There's such a lot of rubbish here it's hard to decide. I've divided them into top,middle and bottom,with top being sure qualifiers and bottom probably non-qualifiers. Those in the middle are nothing special but may survive due to inferior entries in their group:

Top: Russia,Greece,Estonia,Romania,Belarus

Middle: Belgium,Netherlands,Denmark,Hungary,Armenia.Moldova,Finland

Bottom: Serbia,Macedonia,Georgia.Albania.

I'm going to put Belgium,Netherlands,Denmark,Hungary and Moldova through along with the Top 5.

 

[rcgills]

Would it be unbefitting to compare the UK entry with a 1980s advertisement for Birds Eye Potato Waffles..

It did actually remind me of an advert from probably around the same time, but it wasn't that one, it was one for a toothpaste, Mentadent P I think

 

[Steve_uk]

Listening to the first semi finals again I may have missed Moldova,so here it is,wondering whether Eduard has done enough..

 

[Steve_uk]

..and here's a full Russian entry and a sure qualifier.

 

[slick]

Not a bad song Steve but knowing the part politics plays in the Eurovision would you trust backing a Russian entry at the moment?

 

[slick]

It did actually remind me of an advert from probably around the same time, but it wasn't that one, it was one for a toothpaste, Mentadent P I think

Nope definitely Birds eye potato waffles
well spotted Steve, I must admit it's quite catchy though.

 

[rcgills]

This is the one I was thinking of

 

[Steve_uk]

Before discussing the second semi-final let's take a look at San Marino,which reminds me of some chords from Lionel Richie's Hello and part Israel Eurovision 2002:

Montenegro also features in this semi-final and if either of them qualifies then Ireland could be in trouble:

 

[Steve_uk]

Here is the Polish entry,a difficult one to judge as the artiste became a wheelchair-user following a car accident. It gets us into second-guessing sympathy votes,political votes,the teenage vote and so on. All concerns are valid,but I would just say since the advent of the jury system favouritism is less marked than in the past.

 

[Steve_uk]

Here are the Semi-final 2 participants to be held on 21 May:

First half

Czech Republic English Marta Jandová & Václav Noid Bárta "Hope Never Dies" —

Ireland English Molly Sterling "Playing with Numbers" —

Lithuania English Monika Linkytė & Vaidas Baumila "This Time" —

Malta English Amber "Warrior" —

Montenegro Montenegrin Knez "Adio" Goodbye

Norway English Mørland & Debrah Scarlett "A Monster Like Me" —

Portugal Portuguese Leonor Andrade "Há um mar que nos separa" There's a sea that separates us

San Marino English Michele Perniola & Anita Simoncini "Chain of Lights" —
Second half

Azerbaijan English Elnur Hüseynov "Hour of the Wolf" —

Cyprus English John Karayiannis "One Thing I Should Have Done" —

Iceland English María Ólafs "Unbroken" —

Israel English Nadav Guedj "Golden Boy" —

Latvia English Aminata "Love Injected" —

Poland English Monika Kuszyńska "In the Name of Love" —

Slovenia English Maraaya "Here for You" —

Sweden English Måns Zelmerlöw "Heroes" —

Switzerland English Mélanie René "Time to Shine" —

This is only my opinion but here goes:

Definite qualifiers: Sweden,Slovenia,Iceland,Latvia,Romania

This leaves 5 places left to qualify. Remember 6 countries will not make it through to the Final.

Out of these six non-qualifiers I have Switzerland,Israel,Portugal and Montenegro as my definite noes. It's also possible that San Marino and Malta will not qualify,with Poland borderline.

This means that Ireland,Norway,Lithuania,Czech Republic,Azerbaijan and Cyprus should be safe.

 

[Steve_uk]

Remember that apart from the two semi-finals there are the 7 countries who have automatic qualification this year. They are Austria,UK,Germany,France,Spain,Italy and Australia. So there are 27 participants in total(7+10+10).

This is about as good as we're going to get on a live performance of the Italian entry.

 

[Steve_uk]

There's a fine balancing act to be performed this year,wondering whether the winner of the Sanremo Music Festival can pull off the double at Eurovision,given that the latter is hardly devoted to classical music. This is probably why Sweden's entry is the favourite because of the teenage girl vote. My favourite is probably Australia's Guy Sebastian and it may all go down to the performance on the night as it did last year and 2001 to name but two occasions. I have discounted Estonia as that format was done last year with a better song. I have also rejected the Finnish entry as a gimmick,though one does recall those Russian grannies taking 2nd place in 2012,an achievement not attained through the quality of their song.

 

[Steve_uk]

So Guy Sebastian can play the piano. Now that's interesting..http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/...h-Australias-entry-Guy-Sebastian-perform.html

 

[Steve_uk]

Another plagiarism row erupts as Sweden becomes the favourite. I didn't recognize it but the sense of the lyrics did remind me a bit of the "I'm cursed theme" with Alexander Rybak holding his head,and Måns Zelmerlow talking about demons in his mind. Judge for yourself here:

 

[Steve_uk]

More Eurovision news: the running order of the semi-finals has been decided,Slovenia's Maarya has released a new video(but why not two skilled violinists to back her and not that horrid simulation),and Jorgen Ingmann who won the 1963 Eurovision with his wife has died.http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=running_order_of_semi-finals_revealed

 

[Steve_uk]

I am indebted to Chris Gavryl on youtube,who has also predicted that Finland will not qualify after being early favourites:

You can watch his second set of predictions here:

 

[Steve_uk]

Eurovision fans have a treat in store when a special tribute programme airs from London's Hammersmith Apollo at the end of the month,when hosts Graham Norton and Petra Mede will reminisce on a Golden Age,or amass a collection of has-beens depending on your point of view. I divulge a snippet of the kind of thing to expect:

.

The show was held last night and will be broadcast on BBC1 on Good Friday at 9pm. For those who can't wait there's an ersatz radio version here: