although i've put 'deffo' i must admit i'm not as confident with my predictions on this one:
deffo non-qualifyers:
Macedonia
Netherlands
Malta
Portugal
Bulgaria
Georgia
deffo qualifyers:
Serbia
Ukraine
Slovenia
Sweden
Turkey
Slovakia
Norway
3 others to qualify from the following:
Belarus
Croatia
Estonia
Bosnia
Lithuania
You have to think only one can qualify out of
estonia and
lithuania? i favour estonia but lithuania has the better draw and the showier number.
belarus have a much better song than previously but looks like it is hampered by the draw and static presentation.
the one in my deffo list that i'm not absoloutely sure about is
slovenia. in terms of quality it should qualify but slovenia are the poor man of the balkans in term of local support and a poor draw makes it vulnerable. it's going to need jury help.
a hard one to predict is
croatia. for my money it's the most sleep inducing of the songs this year... i mean boring with a capital B. it also follows slovenia and is likely to come off second best in a straight comparison for neutrals (also has anyone heard a live version of this yet?). but you can't ignore the level of friendly voters it will attract... i don't know? a hard one?
i wanted to put
turkey into the borderlines but i'm guessing their diaspora will see them through. it only really it's ethno charm going for it.
i've put
bosnia in the borderlines, but i can also see this one coming top 3. from my personal point of view i'd rather stuff my ears with iron filings but i can't help thinking it's position in the draw, jury friendly musical ability and vocal, and heavy friendly vote presence will make this a contender... hope i'm wrong
