Oooh, this is a tricky one - I think I'll struggle to repeat the nine out of ten I got right on Tuesday! The second semi, on the face of it, contains three entries that ought to be a class apart - namely Azerbaijan, Denmark and Switzerland. So reading through the reflections of those at the rehearsals it's been somewhat startling to discover that Switzerland are as good as being discounted, Denmark are regarded as struggling to qualify, and even Azerbaijan - the bookies' favourites to win the contest outright - are not seen as certain qualifiers. Having had a look at some of the rough recordings of the rehearsals on YouTube, I must say I can't really see what the problem is with Switzerland - the vocals seem as strong as on the studio version, although admittedly the backing singers maybe aren't quite up to scratch (to my mind that was Selma's main problem when she unexpectedly came a cropper in 2005). But perhaps this is a moment to believe in the wisdom of crowds - the thumbs-down for Switzerland seems so widespread, there must be a fundamental problem with the song or the performance that I just can't see. So I've struck them off my list of potential qualifiers.
As for Denmark, the rehearsals do seem a little underwhelming - but they weren't that bad, and with the quality of the song my gut feeling is they'll just about scrape through. I think Azerbaijan will qualify as well, although it's very hard to see them winning the contest now. Another difficult one to call is Georgia - I don't rate the song at all, but I've given them the nod on the basis of aesthetics (never to be underestimated at Eurovision). So my prediction for the ten qualifiers goes like this -
Armenia
Georgia
Romania
Sweden
Ireland
Azerbaijan
Israel
Croatia
Turkey
Denmark
Speaking as quite possibly the world's only joint Eurovision/Scottish nationalist blogger, I of course can't let the long-overdue appearance of a Scottish performer on the Eurovision stage pass without mention. The individual in question will naturally be performing for...Cyprus. This will be the first Scottish involvement in the contest since 1996, when the brilliant Karen Matheson (of Capercaillie fame) sang for...France.
It's worth noting that the last Scot to actually sing for the UK - you know, that country we're allegedly part of - was Scott Fitzgerald some twenty-two years ago. Even more startlingly, of the dozens of acts to have appeared in UK national selections since 1997, just one has been Scottish.
The 'Union Dividend' in action!
An' that last Scottish attempt wis the lovely Zoe fae River City an' her pal.
ReplyDeleteIt's one o' ma main reasons fer bein' a Nat - so that we can put oor ain entry in tae Eurovision. Oor time will come!
Ah'm wi' ye maistly oan yer predictions, tho ah find Croatia an' Ireland too borin' tae pick masel. Ah've put Slovenia an' Ukraine in their place. Ah wid love Netherlands tae get through, but that's as likely tae happen as Josh Dubonnet is tae get double-digit points. No gaunnae happen.
ReplyDeleteAh'm wi' ye tae oan Azerbaijan's strange fa' fi grace. Ah've been tellin' onybody that wid listen fer the past twa month that they wid win, but noo ah'm no sae sure. Ah ken they've paid loads o' manats gettin' Beyonce's choreographer in, but lookin' at their video makes me think he's takin' the piss. It looks mair like the dancin' fae Mickey Jackson's Thriller than it ever does teardrops. Armenia's comin' up oan the ootside, but ah think Germany's got the win this time.
It's grand is it no, that the past couple o' years hae seen a movement back westwards? Less Eastern domination, despite whit the chateratti wid hae ye believe. Mibbe that's the influence o' the juries comin' back.
The Georgian entry sounds not bad; I don't know how she can sing though, when she's being manhandled so much. She's pretty enough I guess, but I suspect that (although I've not looked)lots of the others will be too.
ReplyDeleteSophia, I love the German song, but I wonder how it's going to translate on stage. It would indeed be refreshing to see a second western winner in a row, although looking at the voting patterns last year I'm not sure how much of an impact the juries were really making. I think Norway's huge victory was masking a lot of very familiar bloc voting.
ReplyDeleteAye mibbe James, an' tae be realistic, the neebourhood votin's never gaunnae go away entirely. Ye could hear familiar votin' patterns under wee Alexander's landslide last year. Ah dae wonder tho, if thae patterns will be as strong if there's less distinctly ethnic entries. Any country now, ye could imagine puttin' in a very generic westernised-type pop/dance/softrock sortae thing, ye ken, bland euro. Mibbe in the process losin' voters who're efter a stridently ethnic entry. Or does an entry like that fae say, Croatia or Georgia get extra neebor-votes precisely because it's gaunae get votes across the board. Ah don't know.
ReplyDeleteIt's excitin' though, innit?