Watching the second jury semi ended up being a rather difficult task (despite not having to blog this one) - it may have only one more song than the first one, but it somehow felt a lot longer. I'm not sure why, possibly it's the songs or the way they're ordered. When the recap showed the earlier songs, some of us wondered "oh, this was today?", possibly suggesting that they may suffer in the televote.My main advice here is not to get non-hardcore fans to watch it with you. Especially the sceptical kind. As Sild reported and Keith captured in his camera, a night like this can only end up in tearing Lou leaflets and putting her head on a mad cat.
I'll try to do some kind of prediction too, so:
1: ICELAND - After so many ESC ballads over the last three years have been compared to Yohanna, this is the first one that actually gives me a similar feeling. Not really because of it being the same country, or hair, but rather the way a simple ballad is staged to perfection. I can see this finishing top 3 in both televote and jury.
2: AZERBAIJAN - As Sild said, this somehow wasn't as good as it promised during the earlier rehearsals, but should still sneak up to the top 3 or so if he manages to find the cameras again by tonight. I wonder if it's all the fanboys in Euroclub that made him so camera-confused?
3: GREECE - It's an OPA feeling all over again, and that one finished second in its semi, and possibly third under the new system, so this is what I'll guess.
4: NORWAY - I was worried about the limited appeal this song might have among those who aren't electronic music fans or Scandinavian, but the staging makes this stand out enough.
5: GEORGIA - The poor guy really looked like he's going to explode last night, but this shouldn't stop most those who go for the calculated stuff.
6: ISRAEL - Jury pleaser and all that, but by the end of the semi I kind of forgot it was there. Maybe it was Iceland's fault.
7: MALTA - As Sild said, there's an audience for stuff like this, but Malta also has a few jury friends in this semi.
8: FINLAND - Another of those that would make more sense on a Saturday night. Last night, especially in this draw, felt too early for this kind of thing, but I guess they've still done enough.
9: ARMENIA - Felt like a surefire top 5 while watching it, but by the end of the contest, Albania stole some of their thunder. Wouldn't be surprised if this doesn't make it at all.
10: BULGARIA - This may be three minutes of random noise, but somehow I remembered this at the end of the contest. These guys know how to sell a non-song when it matters, so it may be enough.
11: ROMANIA - Still no idea where to put this, so I'll throw it in the borderline region. I don't even know if I want this to qualify or not, either result would be some kind of amazing.
12: HUNGARY - I couldn't be happier to be wrong about this, as this is my favourite in the entire contest, but sadly this didn't have the intimate feeling it had in the smaller stage of the Hungarian final, and Alex looks a bit lost here.
13: SAN MARINO - I saw nothing to convince me that they'll get a significant number genuine televotes or jury votes. It's all a question of whether their pre-agreed swaps are enough.
14: ALBANIA - The ending with the pyro and all is quite impressive, but there's an awkward intro with lots of bad teeth to put many viewers off before that.
15: MACEDONIA - I adore this now, but it took me several times to get it at all, and I don't see why a normal viewer should.
16: SWITZERLAND - Is this starting to look like Sild's list? This has a good draw, but "who are these strange-looking people and why are they just standing in a line" will probably be the most common reaction tonight.
17: LATVIA - I didn't think it was as bad as Sild did, but still, when the recap came, it felt like some kind of distant intro. Can their diaspora in Norway save them from zero?
Off to enjoy some Swedish sun now. Hej dough!
IDENTITY THIEF
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