Swiss Cheese

It seems that there is an ever growing popularity for this year's Swiss entry, Vampires Are Alive by DJ Bobo. It's coming up quite strongly in the fan polls and William Hill bookmakers this week have it as the favourite to win at 7/1. Indeed it seems to be the favourite of all bookies at the moment with Sweden dropping down.

So what are the chances of Switzerland winning Eurovision? Well, I'm beginning to think quite strong. It's a good little song, catchy and a lot of fun, and as someone said to me, "If Europe'll vote for monsters, they'll go for vampires". Certainly a vampirical stage act could work in their favour... a lot of people are predicting this to win now. It's almost a certain qualifier and a certain winner too? I think it could go rather big...

Switzerland isn't the only mover and shaker with William Hill this week. Bulgaria are up to 10/1 (I still don't believe this'll qualify), Malta are up to 25/1 (about time!) as are Turkey and the dark horses of Latvia - obviously plenty of bets were placed on this when it was 50/1! Bosnia & Herzegovina are up to 33/1, but the Netherlands stay at 100/1 - unfair!

So if the bookies are to be believed, Switzerland are going to be the champs this year. It's doing well in fan polls too, although Serbia's Molitva is the clear fan fave at the mo. Still, you can't deny the power of a gimmick, and vampires may be the way to go this year.

Leave Them Alone!

No, this is not an entry about this year's Finnish entry (which, by the way, is proving spectacularly unpopular - obviously the kiss of death), but an entry in regards to Scooch. You see Charlotte Church has been slagging them off and calling them, and I quote, "absolute shit".

She's got a way with words hasn't she!

But why, oh why, doesn't she just leave them alone?! Scooch are just doing their thing for the old Eurovision, voted in by the UK public. If she doesn't like it, maybe she should enter MYMU next year! But the public have had their say, Scooch are going and I say we should support it instead of bad-mouthing it. After all, it's only a bit of fun isn't it.

Charlotte did however comment on Cyndi's voice being "good". Honestly, all this praise, Cyndi must be the most liked woman in the country at the moment! Unlike Charlotte Church and her horrible comments. You know watching her show makes "every pore in my body itch with embarrassment". Ironically, it's also "absolute shit". So, y'know... pot, kettle, black...

Odds On!

UK bookmaker William Hill opened up the betting on Eurovision 2007 yesterday which is always rather exciting.

Favourites, by far, are Sweden at 4/1. Following behind them is the Russian entry, Song #1 by Serebro, which sounds like a good Sugababes song. Not many people have talked about it but it will probably do very well in the final, and so 9/1 odds have been placed upon it.

Sharing 12/1 are Greece, Belarus and Ukraine. I haven't actually written about the Ukrainian song yet because there aren't really any words. I'll just say the following - accordion, stupid, danzing, transvestite, Junior Eurovision Song Contest reject. That should just about do it.

Behind this load of three are another bunch at 14/1 - Cyprus, Serbia and Romania which I'm surprised about. It'll probably do well, but I'm surprised the Romanian song is so high up. Likewise, the UK at 16/1 is also rather optimistic. Imagine how good our odds are if we'd sent Cyndi! Rather obscenely, Bulgaria are also 16/1 to win which is rather hilarious.

What are the good bets then? Well a flutter on Germany at 25/1 I would say could pay off, as is 50/1 for Latvia. I also feel that Bosnia & Herzegovina is a bit misunderstood at 66/1.

So who's at the bottom of betting pile? Well five countries are currently sharing the 100/1 spot; Portugal and Albania are understandably at the bottom with both countries not having great reputations or indeed songs. Armenia and Lithuania could surprise in the final especially Armenia, I think it's a real dark horse. Finally, it's very sad to see Netherlands at 100/1. Either the bookies have caught on that no-one votes for the Dutch songs these days or this is a very unfair bet! That atrocity that was Amambanda wasn't as low down as 100/1! It's a bit harsh on the Netherlands as I think - and let's be optomistic - that it might squeeze through the semi-finals if it's lucky.

So yeah, if you're feeling lucky then I would say that a few quid on Latvia and Germany wouldn't go amiss! And if you fancy a flutter on the UK getting 'nil points', then 26/1 are the odds Will Hill are currently offering. Not as unpopular as Jemini then, but still less popular than Cyndi (let's not go there again).

MYMU Scandal Part 413

So the MYMU scandals carry on in the UK - which is brilliant! All publicity is good publicity as far as UK Eurovision is concerened.

Today, Scooch were featured on the front page of the Daily Mirror with the marvellous pun "The Eurovision Song CONtest". This refers to Scooch having offstage backing singers. Apparantly they were "lying the flag" and they've been branded cheats and miming artists. There are a few flaws here though.

• There is no rule saying you can't have backing singers offstage, it's perfectly legitimate.
• Scooch didn't mime, they were singing too. You can tell because they were singing the verses.
• All 6 acts at MYMU were offered the chance to have offstage backing singers. All declined.

So there you are, mountain out of a molehill, no rules were being broken. It's as if people are implying that they're not allowed to do the same thing at Eurovision - but they are, you can have offstage backing singers there too! So why the fuss!

Well, it's old Justin Hawkins getting on his high horse again. Brian Harvey also complained. If only backing singers had drowned him out, it might have sounded like he wasn't dying whilst singing his song.

In Wogan news, he WAS given the right name down his earpiece. He just either misheard or wanted to muck it all up. Maybe he needs his ears syringing.

Anyway, out of all this, Cyndi seems to be the only one with any dignity left. Are we sure Scooch really won? Is it too late to send her insted?! It is? Oh well. No doubt there'll be more gossip tomorrow.

I Believe In A Thing Called Racism

Big bad loser Justin Hawkins has added to the controversey surrounding this year's MYMU by saying that by not choosing him, the UK public are either racist or stupid.

This is a very silly thing to say. Cyndi got to the superfinal because she was really good. Scooch got to the superfinal because, well... the UK public are a bit stupid when it comes to Eurovision. But the talk of racism is ridiculous. Get off your soapbox Hawkins!

Other MYMU news includes GMTV saying that the mixup on Saturday was on the same scale as the apocolypse, even though Cyndi was on their show and was all very lovely and modest about it. If anyone's got a reason to slag someone off it's her.

It seems that Wogan did get the name "Scooch" sent down his earpiece but the noise made him hear "Cyndi". Perhaps it was the voices in his head. The same one that said Birgitta Haukdal wrote Lane Moje and that the 2005 Croatian entry was a man called Boris Feat. On a more interesting note, he did apologise to Cyndi this morning on his Radio 2 show and then played her song, something I've never heard of before. And I was listening to it, I felt more and more sad that we didn't send Cyndi cos it was quite good wasn't it.

Still, we'll Scooch on and I'm sure they'll fly the flag for us in a lovely manner indeed.

Fly That Flag

Well we all know what happened last night. Here are some of my personal highlights:

• Liz's "dress"
• Brian Harvey crucifying his entry whilst making a vein appear in the middle of his forehead. Let's hope that his bad result doesn't end in him running himself over again.
• Mel Giedroyc referring constantly to the "Eurovish" - funny at first, not after 20 times.
• John Barrowman's excitable dancing during Scooch.
• Hawkins & Brown rocking out the place with their beefeaters
• Noticing that Cyndi looked a bit like Katrina (of & The Waves fame)
• Fearne Cotton's chest and Wogan's commenting on it
• Wogan slagging off Mel's hat
• Mel referring to Bobbysocks' song as what sounded like "Badet Svinger"
• Wogan's constant racism - "we'll show Johnny Foreigner what for"
• Justin Hawkins being a bad loser.

So altogether a rather memorable MYMU that has caused much debate on Eurovision messageboards all day long. But, hey ho, this is the UK entry after all. And all that's left to say is to wish good luck in Helsinki to Cyndi!!!!!

Oh no, wait, Scooch. Sorry.

Time To Make Your Mind Up...

Well Making Your Mind Up this Saturday will officially shut the 2007 National Final season. As it's the UK, it will probably end with more of a bang than a whimper - an opinionated audience, six Eurovision hungry acts, an "expert" panel to whip the crowd up into a frenzy, and Wogan not really knowing what's going on. Sounds like a perfect evening's entertainment to me! But who should win? Well I've heard all the songs all the way through now, and here's my concise evaluation...

01. "DON'T IT MAKE YOU HAPPY" - Liz McLarnon
It's a 60s effort with more than a hint of "Song of a Preacher Man" by Dusty. It's sunny, summery, soulful and she sings it very well - she'll prob do a fab performance to - but it's not going to set the world alight.

02. "I CAN" - Brian Harvey
Rather nice ballad written by Connor Reeves and sung by Brian Harvey who DOES have a fantastic voice (cf. "If You Ever" by East 17). The ballad is rather pretty but I think the verses are stronger than the chorus so... If he does a mindblowing vocal performance of this it could do OK but no more I think. It may, likewise, bomb.

03. "BIG BRO THANG" - Big Brovaz
The R&B/Hip Hop group hope to do a Love City Groove and bring modern music to Eurovision - but actually, this rap effort is rather credible, catchy and a very good example of UK contemporary rap music - maybe this is where Daz went wrong. A good performance could equal a good result and this would be the best R&B song at ESC this year. Shame they found it upon them to use the word "thang" in the title though.

04. "I'LL LEAVE MY HEART" - Cyndi
Well you could argue that this is the best song musically in the selection and it's a rather beautiful, powerful ballad. Remember - the UK have never failed with a ballad and as we're drawn between Ukraine and Romania, this could probably stand out. However there are two reasons why this will probably not win tonight:

1. The viewer will realise that it's a blatant rip off of You Raise Me Up and therefore not vote for it on principal.
2. She's French.

05. "FLYING THE FLAG FOR YOU" - Scooch
Wow. This is the most naff, cheesy song I've ever heard. But the thing is, they know it is. Full of innuendo, cheesy harmonies and possibly Nicki French on backing vocals, this actually has nul-points written all over it. But don't underestimate the UK televoter - this could be so camp that it could win MYMU. Of course, we'd come 24th in Helsinki, but maybe we'd expect it.

06. "THEY DON'T MAKE 'EM LIKE THEY USED TO" - Hawkins & Brown
Something rather different here. It's sort of glam rock, sort of pop but soulful too! Brown's powerful vocals contrast with Hawkins' falsetto rather nicely and I like the song - it's my personal favourite! But there is a chance that this could sound rather messy live, so it will all be down to the performance. Also, people have aired their worries that The Ark from Sweden will completely overshadow it. They're probably right. It's good though.

So my top six...
1 - Hawkins & Brown
2 - Cyndi
3 - Big Brovaz
4 - Brian Harvey
5 - Liz McLarnon
6 - Scooch

I'd be happy if any of the top 3 won! But I think it's between Hawkins & Brown, Scooch and Big Brovaz. We'll just have to wait and see though. Who will the UK pick as their 50th entry?! I can't contain myself any longer!

Good Draw, Bad Draw?

The draw took place on Monday which nobody watched because YLE's webcast failed. Oh dear, not a good start.

Nevertheless, the draws have taken place and you can find them on the internet if you search hard enough! They're so long they'd eat into my blog if I published them, so instead I'm just going to highlight the main points that occurred

- Bulgaria will open the Semi-Final. This will doubtless scare the average televoter, but might scare them enough to vote for them.

- Cyprus and Belarus, both strong well-thought-of entries are on 3rd and 4th respectively. This won't help their cause.

- Portugal and Norway are not performing next to each other in the semi-final, but will be seperated only by FYR Macedonia which nobody will watch anyway cos they'll just presume it'll qualify (which it will).

- Four of the five wildcards chose postitions 25, 26, 27 and 28. Andorra, however, curiously picked position #21. This mere act of craziness just shows why they have picked up less than 50 points in three years.

- Latvia will close the semi-final and will probably qualify with knobs on cos Mums love opera.

- Bosnia & Herzegovina will open the final and will probably do OK from here, but not a potential winner. Spain are in the cursed 2nd spot and will probably come last.

- Potential winners Sweden will perform 12th, just before the break which isn't so bad, but it might have been better sandwiched between two poorer songs. Saying that, France were drawn 13th, which is probably about 11 places higher than it'll finish.

- Germany, Sweden and Armenia got the wildcards and chose positions 16, 18 and 23 respectively. That's a good draw for Armenia, a cunning choice from Germany (16 is a position songs do well from!) and 18... well that's late enough to be remembered. And Ukraine WON'T be forgotten anyway.

- Oddly, despite wildcards and all, final positions 21, 22 and 24 will be semi-final qualifiers. If Latvia are drawn 24th, run for cover.

- UK have been drawn 19th, and Wogan commented on this on his radio show this morning...

Wogan: "The UK have been drawn 19th, just behind the Ukrainian trasvestite"
Bruce: "Well, we'll all be behind that"

Comedy gold.

So that's it really. All the similar sounding songs have been set apart, and looking at the semi-final draw you can see just that all songs following on from the previous one are completely different from the one that's just preceded it. Lots of musical styles and all apart which is good. And the UK's draw of 19th isn't bad at all! Hooray :-)

Luck Of The Draw

Tomorrow, the draw will take place for the Eurovision Song Contest Final and Semi-Final 2007. It’s always a good event which leaves fans full of speculation and thoughts on how the draw could shape the results. Generally, I don’t think the draw is overly important, but…

- A later draw does generally mean a better result, it has been statistically proven and everything.
- Last year, none of the first nine songs performed in the Grand Final actually finished in the top half of the table.
- A qualifier from the semi can reveal a lot about how influential the draw can be. In 2004, the Netherlands performed last in the semi-final and finished 6th. It was drawn to perform seventh in the Grand Final and, with it being a rather quiet song, it only came in 20th. Likewise in 2005, Latvia scraped through the semi-finals by 4 points starting in fifth position. It was drawn for twenty-third for the Grand Final and finished 5th, just 4 points off 3rd place.

So, what should we look out for? Well with the new rules this year which allows the first few names to be picked out of the hat to choose where they can perform, it is possible that some song-clashes may be avoided. There are certainly some similar songs in both the Final and Semi-Final, and some countries won’t want to be drawn by other countries. For example…


SEMI-FINAL
Norway & Portugal – both have similar style latino songs with similar titles.

Serbia & FYR Macedonia – both rather nice Balkan ballads that are likely to qualify, could both lose points if drawn together.

Netherlands & Belgium – will NOT want an early draw, they will want to qualify,
and with them both not being the most popular countries to vote for, they’ll be looking for late draws, especially as both have decent songs.

Croatia, Czech Republic & Iceland – a threesome of rock could be disastrous if drawn together!


FINAL
Armenia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Ireland, Lithuania – all rather similar downbeat ballads. If drawn together, and then Serbia & FYR Macedonia qualify and get drawn by them, they will all get lost.

Romania, France – have similar entries by all male groups. If Israel qualify and get drawn with them too it could all get rather repetitive…

Sweden & UK – I’m only predicting here, but if The Ark performed against a MYMU-triumphant Hawkins & Brown I fear that both extravagant rock numbers would get lost.


So you can see how the draw could potentially affect things! There’s a lot of songs that could stand out, but also a lot of songs that could drown in a sea of similar genres… tomorrow’s draw might help us more at looking at the possible winners and losers.

Czech It Out

Whilst last night may have seem overshadowed by the rather extravagant events in Sweden, it must not be forgotten that Czech Republic and Portugal were also picking their entries.

Czech Republic enter for the first time this year and will obviously be in the semi-final in Helsinki. Will they be able to get out of it? Surely not. They’ve chosen a rock (ooh, surprise) song called “Mala Dama” to represent them, sung by veteran Czech rockers, Kabat. When I first played it back, I thought there was something wrong with my speakers. For all I know there still might be. But from what I heard, “Mala Dama” is a dreadfully laborious song sung in a manner that can only be described as sinister and ork-like. It’s pretty bad. Not much hook and the vocals are just quite appalling. Whether it was coincidence that my laptop crashed soon after listening to it is another story. Either way, the debut Czech Republic entry leaves a lot to be desired.

Which reminds me, Portugal chose their entry yesterday. Portugal have been in Eurovision well over 50 years now and are still without a Top 5 finish. In fact, the last time they sent a decent song, and I mean *actually* decent, was in 1998. And it only came 14th. Since then, every year they’ve sent rubbish song after rubbish song. It’s beyond wonder. Anyway, last night there was a small glimmer of hope! Their song is actually… alright! “Danca Comigo” is the name of the song, and it’s a typically latino affair reminiscent of Spain 2001 I think. It’s sung by, what sounds like, a hapless lady called Sabrina or needs to work on her live vocals. But overall, it’s not a bad effort. I doubt it’s a qualifier, but at least Portugal won’t shame themselves (again) this year…

'Ark At The Swedish Result...

Last night, Sweden held its annual Melodifestivalen and it had a unanimous winner… see the results:

01 “THE WORRYING KIND” – The Ark (248 points)
02 “A LITTLE BIT OF LOVE” – Andreas Johnson (189 points)
03 “CARA MIA” – Mans Zelmerlow (171 points)
04 “I REMEMBER LOVE” – Sarah Dawn Finer (122 points)
05 “TRYING TO RECALL” – Marie Lindberg (70 points)
06 “FOR ATT DU FINS” – Sonja Alden (62 points)
07 “VAGER DU, VAGER JAG” – Sanna Nielsen (44 points)
08 “WHEN THE NIGHT COMES FALLING” – Sebastian (39 points)
09 “SAMBA SAMBERO” – Anna Book (1 point)
10 “JAG TROR PA MANNISKAN” – Tommy Nilsson (0 points)


So, the glam rock wannabes of Sweden will be heading to Helsinki hoping to get the place boogalooing with the excellent “The Worrying Kind”. It’s really rather good and nothing else like it at Eurovision this year – I think it could be a hit!

Other MF results of note… sad to see 9th and 10th place pull in only 1 point between them. Anna Book deserved more! Tommy got what he deserved.

Marie Lindberg scored only 4 points from the juries (meanies) but 66 points from the public vote which brought her well up to a highly deserved 5th place.

Andreas Johnson loses again. He came 2nd in the jury vote and 3rd in the televote. “Cara Mia” came 2nd in the televote, gaining a further 110 points from the 61 he scored from the jury, thus swapping round Mans and Sarah Dawn Finer for the final result.

Well that’s about it for another year. The Ark is a great winner from Sweden and should be on for a good result from Helsinki. I don’t know why but I’ve always had a gut feeling that Scandinavia might win again this year… could Sweden be the ones to do it?

Swing A Song

Last Thursday, Germany picked their Eurovision entry for 2007. After they went country last year, it seems only right that they should head in the direction of swing music for 2007. And it works an absolute TREAT!

Roger Cicero, jazz musician with wonderful Buble-esque voice, was chosen to represent them with "Frauen Regier'n Die Welt" (Women Rule The World), and it's, well, a straightforward swing song! It's an absolute joy to listen to and to watch to. Cicero knows how to work a hat, that's for sure. And if you wanna get a head, get a hat etc.

This song has a double bass, brass, piano, saxaphone, it's the whole works! So here's a question - can it win? Hmm... well I'll be intrigued to see the draw on Monday, but I think this could do brilliantly well in Helsinki. I know we all expected more from Texas Lightning last year, but this is better and very different! Max in 2004 entered a sort of laid back easy listening track in 2004 and that got 8th place, so maybe this could got a few better. I certainly hope so, it's one of the best of this year - it might have even pierced my Top 5. What a thought...

Is That A Whiff Of The Souk...?

Ah, Wogan's favourite phrase to comment on anything sounding vaguely ethnic. He'll be using it plenty this year, not least on Turkey's entry, "Shake It Up Sekerim" which was finally revealed yesterday.

And it's really good!

Imagine if Justin Timberlake was Turkish and you're pretty much there. It's a very funky song, very contemporary with a fantastic chorus and there is much whiff of the souk about it still. Some have compared it to Sertab, and I suppose that's fair - it is sort of east meets west pop, but it works really well, and this should surely qualify if there's any justice.

Meanwhile, Serbia also chose their debut entry this week as a sole state. The question is, whose entry is better? Serbia or Montenegro? There's only one way to find out (in mock Harry Hill fashion)... and that's to listen to the songs. I would say that Serbia win this year.

"Molitva" is the Serbian song and will be sung by Marija Serafovic who sings like an angel and looks like Pink, a bizarre juxtaposition. However, despite "Molitva" being a very nice song indeed with a rather beautiful melody, it falls very much into the same category as Bosnia & Herzegovina and FYR Macedonia. All these songs are very nice on their own but they really cancel each other out - they're all rather similar Balkan ballads. Unluckily for Serbia, I'd say their entry was the weakest of that three.

It will probably qualify from the semi-final though (as will FYR Macedonia undoubtedly) and a draw that puts those three songs together would be disastrous. Still, it's not happened yet so we won't worry too much. But with so many Balkan ballads, the votes will probably be all split between them and they'll all finish mid-table. Which leaves perhaps a more funkier, Turkish effort to come through... maybe...

Melodifestivalen Tonight!

Yup, it’s that time of year again. The biggest, best, most popular and most exciting national final will take place this Saturday night as Sweden choose their entry in the annual Melodifestivalen. After four semi-finals and a wildcard round, there are now 10 entries in contention for representing Sweden in Finland in May. After their 5th place finish last year, they will be looking for another Top 5 finish. Could they do it? Possibly! Here’s what’s on offer this year…


01. “A LITTLE BIT OF LOVE” – Andreas Johnson
Andreas makes his second consecutive Melodifestivalen Final appearance after finishing 3rd last year with Beatles-y “Sing For Me”. His song this year is not as good as last year, but it sure is a catchy affair. It’s a sort of sing-a-long pop rock song with all ladies guitarists a la Robert Palmer. It’s a nice sweet start to this year and he’s a popular singer but I don’t think this song is strong enough to go two better than he did last year.

02. “FOR ATT DU FINNS” – Sonja Alden
This came through the wildcard round, and it must be remembered that all wildcards should still be taken seriously – just look at Denmark! Anyway, this song is probably not going to do a DQ. It’s a pleasing but rather plain ballad with rather atmospheric sounds to it. It’s become a bit of a favourite, but I can’t really see this doing better than mid-table. Nice song, but that’s about all.

03. “SAMBA SOMBERO” – Anna Book
Now this song has taken some bashing amongst Eurovision fans, mainly because it did stop the absolutely magnificent “Move” going to the final (or even the second chance round!). However, this song is insanely catchy and the larger-than-life Anna Book performs this samba-schlager belter absolutely joyfully! It’s such a great song with such a great performer! It probably won’t win – if it does there’ll be riots – but it should do well hopefully. It’s like a fun version of Norway. What more do you need to know?!

04. “WHEN THE NIGHT COMES FALLING” – Sebastian
This is a sort of rock-meets-schlager kind of song and it breezes along rather nicely with Sebastian, who has a voice not too dissimilar to Andreas Johnson, taking the reigns. It’s a catchy chorus with descending melody, but there’s something about this that irritates me slightly… I’m unsure of what it is though! I can’t see this clambering right to the top of the scoreboard tonight.

05. “TRYING TO RECALL” – Marie Lindberg
Marie is a schoolteacher by day, but at weekends she likes to take part in Eurovision based competitions, hence her place in Melodifestivalen. “Trying To Recall” reminds me of Katie Melua doing Kings Of Convenience. It’s a gentle song with strumming guitar throughout. It’s very beautiful actually, folky, and this could be the surprise winner in Sweden. And if it pulled a good draw at Eurovision, it could do very well indeed. It would certainly deserve to. Very nice.

06. “CARA MIA” – Mans Zelmerlow
Well here’s your expected Swedish schlager-cheese. The very charming Mans sings this Mediterranean inspired “Cara Mia” with a HIGHLY catchy chorus. It’s not perhaps the most musically brilliant piece you’ll ever hear, but it’s got a good dance beat to it, and a good key change into the chorus. There’s just nothing particularly striking about the song – it IS good, but it’s not a Eurovision winner, and I’m unsure if it will win tonight.

07. “JAG TROR PA MANNISKAN” – Tommy Nilsson
Tommy is the singer of one of Sweden’s best ever songs, “En Dag” which finished 4th in 1989. This ballad here though is, I would say, the weakest song in this year’s Melodifestivalen and is the rank outsider. It’s just quite dull really and cannot stand out in a vibrant and exciting final such as Melodifestivalen. I predict last place for this rather drab affair. It’s a shame cos he’s got a great voice, but the song lets him down lots.

08. “VAGER DU, VAGER JA” – Sanna Nielsen
No one does Schlager like Melodifestivalen veteran Sanna Nielsen, and she’s here again with another cheesy, catchy pop song which I have rather a soft spot for! This is a bright, happy, cheery pop song that is clichéd in everyway possible and cheesier than a platter of brie, but it’s so cheesy that it gets away with it! I doubt this is going to be the winner tonight but it should clock up some points hopefully. Great stuff!

09. “I REMEMBER LOVE” – Sarah Dawn Finer
Well this is a rather nice ballad! Not the most exciting but it has a very nice, endearing tune. There’s something about the chorus that makes me think ‘Great British Song Contest’ but that’s not a bad thing! This is a very nice song but perhaps not immediate enough to clock up the big votes. Deserves to do well though and if it does win Melodifestivalen then it will be a nice and pleasant surprise!

10. “THE WORRYING KIND” – The Ark
And finally, the favourite! Remember Alvin Stardust? That sort of 70s rock and roll boogie? Well here it is in fine form! “The Worrying Kind” is a very fun song indeed and, I truly believe, would be in serious competition for the prize in May. The chorus is a very catchy affair indeed and it’ll get your mum and dad rockin’ around the room that’s for sure! Norway and Finland have both sent rocky songs of late – surely it’s Sweden’s turn! This would be a nice choice for Sweden and this really would stand out in this rather average year…


Well that’s the list, and here’s my own top 10 of how I would like to see things finish tonight…

01 “THE WORRYING KIND” – The Ark
02 “SAMBA SAMBERO” – Anna Book
03 “VAGER DU, VAGER JAG” – Sanna Nielsen
04 “TRYING TO RECALL” – Marie Lindberg
05 “CARA MIA” – Mans Zelmerlow
06 “I REMEMBER LOVE” – Sarah Dawn Finer
07 “FOR ATT DU FINS” – Sonja Alden
08 “A LITTLE BIT OF LOVE” – Andreas Johnson
09 “WHEN THE NIGHT COMES FALLING” – Sebastian
10 “JAG TROR PA MANNISKAN” – Tommy Nilsson

In all honesty, I’d be happy if ANY of the my top 6 won! So many quality songs, and this is why the Melodifestivalen is the most popular National Final around Europe. It’s looking very good for The Ark, but there may be a surprise tonight, who knows.

What must be said is that tonight is pretty much the end of the National Final season. After tonight, all that will be left is for Hungary and Russia to reveal their songs and for the UK to pick their song next week. So it’ll be a sad one tonight, but at least with MF we go out on a high!

Austria's Alive Again

After taking a year out (or, more accurately, sulking ‘cos no one liked their Alpine inspired entry of 2005), Austria are back, ready to take on 27 other semi-finalists in Helsinki, looking for a Grand Final place on Saturday 12th May.

Sadly, I fear the worst.

One of their Pop Idol losers, Eric Papilaya, has the unenviable job of trying to reignite Austria’s Eurovision flame with a song called “Get A Life, Get Alive”. An interesting fact about this song is that it was not recorded by Anastacia, but could have been had she not become ill. So, strictly speaking, she did not reject the song as such. But if Anastacia had recorded it, I imagine she would have only used it as a b-side. It’s not very good.

It’s not overly forgettable but, at the same time it lacks ANY sort of spark. It’s rather dull, rather bland and – I’m afraid – Austria may sit out next year in the thought that nobody likes them. The truth is their song is no good. AND it was an internal selection. Tut tut indeed.

The glory days of Alf Poier, Thomas Forstner and Udo Jurgens seem very far behind. Good luck to Eric – but don’t expect to see Saturday 12th.

Catching Up...

OK, OK, so many apologies for not updating this blog sooner but it seems that another entry is picked every six minutes! Here’s what’s been going on over the last few days…

Saturday night saw Croatia and Lithuania pick their songs for 2007. Croatia will be participating in the semi-finals with “Vjerujem U Ljubav” sung by the group Dragonfly and old rocker Dado Topic – he’s 57! Surely the oldest Eurovision participant for many years… This song was a surprise winner and it’s not hard to see why. It begins nicely and, y’know, seems to float along rather pleasantly. But I found it utterly forgettable even as I was listening to it! I know I kind of liked it but it’s impossible to recall. Croatia have a very impressive Eurovision track record, not missing a grand final since their debut in 1993 – the only non-Big 4 country to achieve this. They are a popular choice amongst Balkan voters but I’m not sure that this will make the Top 10 of the semi-final which is a shame.

Lithuania’s 2006 entry, “We Are The Winners”, assured them a place in this year’s Grand Final, and to represent them this year is an entry of completely different extremes than LT United last year! “Love Or Leave” is the gentle flamenco song that they send this year, sung rather beautifully by 4Fun. It’s a nice song with Spanish guitar throughout and a sweet bossa nova beat for the beat to breeze along to. Again, it’s a tad forgettable but it’s very different and a late draw could pay well for Lithuania. Not a winner I think, but it’s a nice entry and probably Lithuania’s best song to date.

After 3rd place last year, Bosnia & Herzegovina have a lot to top. That job goes to young Marija Sestic and her sweet Balkan ballad “Rijeka Bez Imena” (A River Without Words). It’s a typically ethnic affair with a similar structure to their entry last year, “Lejla”, but to make this song truly special it just lacks that beautifully powerful climax that “Lejla” had. It’s very nicely sung and it’s got some great moments but… ah, it just misses the mark. It could have topped “Lejla” but it’s just not strong enough. A Top 10 finish in Helsinki? Perhaps, but Bosnia & Herzegovina won’t improve on 3rd place. Very nice song, though, it seems Bosnia have found their niche.

Meanwhile, I’m very aware that I’ve not mentioned anything about the Andorran entry, despite being out for about a week. The song is called “Salvem A Mon” and is sung by Busted-a-likes Anonymous. If only they’d stayed Anonymous. It’s received a warm reception but, for me, Andorra have still yet to submit a good song to ESC. “Salvem A Mon” is a Son Of Dork / Busted / Avril Lavigne type song that really riles me up the wall. Not my cup of tea. I don’t think Europe will go mad for it either. Although they probably will score more than the 8 points that Jenny From The Blob managed to collect for them last year…

Go Georgia!!!

Hurrah! Georgia did not fail last night and 51% of people chose "My Story" to be their debut Eurovision entry. Sung by Sopho Khalvashi, this is a song with a difference. It's bonkers, it's brilliant and it is my new favourite for 2007, just toppling Malta.

Sopho's performance of this song though was intriguing and it looked like she was engulfed by a large blancmange. Seriously, I'm not making this up.

The tragedy is that this performance looked very silly indeed. This is a song that has the potential to do very well but it needs to be performed well with a big light show, lots of frantic violining with lit-up bows and very intense dancing. In my opinion.

Sopho has the voice to carry this off live, let's just hope she gets the performance up to scratch. Some people can't see this qualifying from the semi-final, but then some people are saying that Bulgaria could win! If folk think Bulgaria could win, then this certainly has a chance... well done Georgia!

If Your Song's Latino, Use "Maria"

This seems to be a nice philosophy to live by if you've been taking an interest in the Greek entry. They've chosen a song called "Yassou Maria" to represent them - as in the Santana song "Maria, Maria", and the Ricky Martin song "Maria". Blondie also sang a song called "Maria" but that's less relevant here.

Sarbel, our lanky male singer for Greece, appears to have gone to the Ricky Martin School of Pop Stars and performs like him. The Greek entry, "Yassou Maria" could in fact be a Ricky Martin song. The Greek entry - obviously highly inspired.

But, no, that's too harsh! It's not a bad latino pop song actually and in a year that, as time goes on, seems to be becoming more open, I think this could rack up quite a few points in the final. I don't think it's strong enough to be a winner but if we are to have a surprise winner then this could be among the candidates.

Oh, and it's probably worth mentioning here that Montenegro chose their first ever entry as a sole nation too this week!

It's called "Hajde Kroci", sung by a guy called Stevan Faddy, and is an 80s-rocky number with catchy chorus but that - ooh - uses distortion guitars. Ouch. 20 years too late.

Trouble a (He)brewing...

Israel chose their entry this week. Teapacks, one of those "zany" type groups will sing Push The Button. No, not the Sugababes song, but a song about a much more relevant matter. Nuclear war.

Now it's a song with a difference a WORLD away from Israel's latest few entries and it has already caused controversy with its lyrics which talk basically about how some countries might 'push the button' and blow us all up to destruction. No countries are namechecked but coming from Israel, whose politics are rather colourful, it's obviously stirred up a bit of trouble.

Even the BBC have reported it! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6405457.stm
That's a nice pic of Dana International too, even though I say so myself. Look at those thighs!

Anyway, there's talk of the Israeli entry being disqualified which it probably won't be. IBA have said that they aren't breaking any EBU rules with their lyrics and if this is true then there's no problem. It's just upset a few people.

It probably won't even qualify though. Cos a song about nuclear war sung in the styles of ska, rock and garage rap might be a bit too much for televoters to take in at once. Maybe.

My First Blunder

Aha. So it seems I've made my first major blunder of the 2007 season by quite harshly (but nevertheless deservedly) writing off the Bulgarian entry, "Voda". Well it's only gone and won this weeks Eurovision messageboard poll hasn't it.

So it's the fan fave at the moment! Don't get me wrong - I stand by my words. It's a horrible mess. Europe will NEVER vote for this to qualify, it will scare the televoters. But, yeah, I just thought I'd let you know that I am once again not going along with the fans. Nothing ever changes.