Live blogging: semi-final 2

[jawnbc]

Opening
A well performed everything but the kitchen sink pistache. The hosts still suck hard.

Croatia
Wow, he really is pretty--stunning really. And he can carry a tune. And he's got a bod too (can see it under his shirt). But song's too ambitious. Balkan block may save i though.

Ireland
Holy shit--this is great! Black Daisy are performing (even the drummer), Sinéad is rockin' it hard and 4 real, yo. Great shots, great staging. Totally could qualify on merit alone.

Latvia
Love it or hate it--I love it. Compare this to Croatia: here's a real musician and singer, rather than a model who sings.

Serbia
I'd totally hit those backup singers and accordionist. But Marko's vocals are all over the place.

Poland
Her vocals were all over the place in the national final, and they are here again. When you've got a simple ballad you need someone who can sing big and sing in tune. When Lidia goes big she goes off pitch. The chorus should be the best--not worst--part of a ballad. Ow on that last note, poor love.

Norway
The big favourite...and he's a bit rough vocally. Staging is great and he's settling in. Certainly a qualifier, but I don't hear "winner." Then again, I never did. :)

Now former winners are sharing their experience. Short, sweet, well done! Nice way to fill time for those EBU members who don't run ads.

Cyprus
After a rough national final vocal--horrible, really--she's off to a nice start with what really is one of the best songs in this year's Contest. Oh dear on the chorus though. She's only 16, but there's a panopoly of 16 year olds (Lisa Andreas 2004 comes to mind) who sounded great. Or seemed to, at the time. Not a qualifier.

Slovakia
Welcome back to the ESC after a decade Slovaks! The Slovaks had an elaborate, high quality national selection. When they chose this ballad, many wondered "why?" Kamil and Nela are singing and performing it very well (give him a hair cut and I'd be there in a heartbeat--yum!). Romania did very well with a song like this in 2002--but they sang in English. Will Europe shrug because it's in the Slovak language? Overall very well done, with the odd wail by Nela. But still very nice. Would be better if she didn't hold the microphone in a way that covered her face though.

Denmark
Ronan Keating co-wrote this very nice pop song. Today Brinck sounds...pretty good: it's the one of the background vocalists who's off. No wait, Brinck's falling out of tune again. No he's out of tune. Praying won't help now dude. What a disappointing performance. One of the best songs this year too.

Nooooo! Not the hosts again! His hair is almost as big as hers today! Wassupwitdat? Please stop shouting like you're at a football match, kthanksbye.

Slovenia

Silk screens! Classical musicians! No singing! Some growling! Now she's singing. Now they're growling. Cellist is hawt. But it's really boring for the first 1.5 minutes. Some have compared this to Norway's Nocturne, which won in 1995. But that was a quiet performance that drew the audience in. This was just...there. Well performed, but nothing special.

Hungary
It's gay time! Fuck he's got a body on him. And he's settling into the song. Great choreography--but he's a professional dancer who can sing a bit. I like it! Hungary's first choice for 2009 dropped out. Then their second did. For third string he's pretty good! Borderline qualifier...because he's not the only going for the gay vote (stay tuned).

Azerbaijan
Another hot favourite tonight: AySel and Arash. Neither is a brilliant vocalist, but they're getting the job done. She looks great; he doesn't look goofy. Should qualify easily. Oh jaysus what is he doing with the mo' fo' bazouki? Ooops on some of the high notes AySel. But it's a very catchy, easy to remember song.

Greece
Now with more gay. Sakis was 3rd in 2004, even with a ropey vocal. He's back with straight up pop trance. Gawd he's pretty! Not many men can sing while doing crunches and air humps. Ooh, it's a all a bit shambolic. Cool prop though! Greece is guaranteed a top 10 in the final, thanks to the Balkan bloc. Wow he looks totally out of breath. But he "hit" the last "note". We love you too Sakis, generally naked.

Lithuania
Sasha Son's lived in the UK for a few years and the soul influence is clear. Very talented guy. See? This is a performance that draws you in. He's a pro: working the stage, the audience and the cameras. This deserves to sail into the final. Now he's switched to Russian (his first language) and that will help in the ex-Soviet bloc. But he's earned his spot in the final. Great end gimmick too! I can see why the reports out of Moscow were all so positive!

Moldova
Turbo folk! When it's done well I love it. Nelly Ciobanu is another pro. She's nailing the vocal, owning the stage, looks fab in a frock that shouldn't look fab (green with purple suede boots?). This isn't over-choreographed. Moldova's back in the final methinks. Of course if you've ever been to a bar/bat mitzvah or Jewish wedding you've heard the hora lots before. Hey hey!

Albania
Kejsi Tola just turned 17 (hear that Christina from Cyprus) and she sure can sing! Dunno about the 2 mimes and Dude in Green Suit™ though. But she's nailing this very nice, fun pop song. It's the sort of total package that often won the Contest in the 70s and 80s. Who can resist a talented ingénue? I sure can't.

Now hot Dmitry is in the Green Room in the same outfit as Tuesday. I'd still have his babies. The different countries trying to get their flags into the background is pretty hilarious.

Ukraine
But wait, maybe the gay vote will be a 3 way split? Because nothing like a diva and muscle boys to warm a euro-gay's heart! But...holy shite she's lost in the middle of all this. Rule #1: the props cannot upstage the act--and here they totally do. Yes she really sang "you are sexy bum, anti-crisis bum." Because she cares about you, in this time of trouble. And the drum solo too? This really is a mess and doesn't deserve to go through...but probably will with enough ex-Soviet support. Unless it gets bumped by the jury choice for spot #10.

Estonia
My favourite before the actual show. Estonia's never made it out of the semi-finals in 5 previous tries. Not only should this qualify, it should win the whole damned thing. Unique, polished, passionate, brilliant staging, stunning to hear and see. Quality all around!

Netherlands
But wait....the gay vote split 5 ways? 3 camp middle-aged guys (only one is gay), 3 big gurl background vocallists, tons o' glitter, a dance remix, and the crowd loves it! This was always my dark horse to win (older kewl of Denmark '00, party vibe of Estonia 01' and dance vibe of Isräel '98. But will it? I hope so!


I think the following deserve to qualify: Ireland, Latvia, Norway, Azerbaijan, Greece, Lithuania, Moldova, Albania, Estonia, Netherlands.

Comments

[gorkabear.livejournal.com]

I loved your analysis for this semi...
Waiting for the results, watching it 1 hour later

[jawnbc]

Did you watch the eurovision.tv stream or TVE?

[gorkabear.livejournal.com]

TVE on La 2
DVB, great sound (well, in theory)

[reshep.livejournal.com]

The weird thing about Arash is that he totally hits the notes in the beginning, but when using more of a pop-voice, it's all over the place.

i like the sexy bum.
but the drumsolo was so wrong.

[jamaisneutral.livejournal.com]

Did the "hell machine" actually serve a purpose apart from filling the stage? She was a bit...slutty. I'm really turning into an old Catholic lady, I thought she was OTT. Still... not many people can sing about anti-crisis bums with centurions (the roman variety, not the cylons) by their side.

I was secretly rooting for the Toppers.
Of course now they're blaming their loss on the "eastbloc" and I'm thinking they're a bunch of middle aged sore losers.

[zurcherart.livejournal.com]

The Lovebugs divided the blame between the bloc voting ("Switzerland has NO friends" ... we really do need to team up with Belgium) and the they were dark pop-rockers not colorful freaks. Apparently the forgot that they didn't learn stage presence.

[zurcherart.livejournal.com]

I was really rooting for Ireland. Great performance and stage presence. The bugs could take a few stage lessons from them.

We must have seen a different feed for Estonia though. :(

[garpu.livejournal.com]

Ireland was good. Just saw the 3rd one. Meh. You'd do the dancers? That lead singer's got some serious 'fro happening.

[garpu.livejournal.com]

I really really like Cyprus's song. Shame the singer was so sharp on it. She and the Polish singer were all over the place. Problem with the stage monitors?

[jawnbc]

Cyprus actually improved amazingly from the national final, where she howled. No, really. Poland sang about this badly in her national final--but since they did well with a ballad by a blonde last year they thought it'd work again. Regardless of the singing. Ow ow ow!

[garpu.livejournal.com]

I really like Cyprus's song...Poland's was good, too, but Jesus, she went through more keys than Stravinsky.

[jawnbc]

I hope Estonia wins. My favourite this year!

[jamaisneutral.livejournal.com]

Dark? They think they were "dark"?
LMAO!
Fantastic!
They sound like a bunch of teenage rebels.