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…