Saturday 3 May 2014

Is Eurovision coming home?

Eurovision week is truly in full swing. More and more people are arriving from far flung parts of the world in order to enjoy this yearly spectacle of glittery campness which attracts many a confused child to the community.

Malta
Vocals were not as good as they have been but they have been performing quite a lot recently, so maybe they are just making sure they don't overdo themselves. The performance as a whole is still really good and the group is seen to be enjoying themselves while there. 

Noticed a personal digital camera on the piano but not sure if this is part of the show or if it was there just for the rehearsal for other purposes of the delegation/team. Not much of an applause this morning in the press area but that could be due to the visible lack of gathered people - partly due to the arena being open and accredited members watching it there and also due to the bus service which unfortunately has not done much to help improve the image of Copenhagen. All in all, this will qualify, and it will do well.
   
Israel
Fierce! There has been a lot of work done by the Israeli team in order to ensure that the best is given in their performance and they have done a great job. So good in fact that I am a bit worried about my wild prediction but will stick by it just because I need to be true to it.

Mei is no longer on her back in the bridge but is on her knees which makes it look much better and has a better flow. I am sure many people will be watching this on Thursday and would vote for it - and yes, I don't just mean the usual suspects.
 
Norway
I think this is one of the songs which is growing on me (but as mentioned yesterday, this happens to most songs by the end of the two weeks). I never paid much attention to Norway before heading out to the Danish capital and even when here, it was not one of the ones I had much of an opinion on. Now however I do have a respect for this entry. Carl seems to connect more with the camera, the vocals are quite strong and he seems more confident on the stage. The visual presentation is nice and works well for the accompanying music. The only thing which I find the entry will struggle with is that it is best described as "fine". The song is "fine", the vocals are "fine", the presentation is "fine" but what would a teenager in Belarus find in the song to vote for it? What would make an Irish mum watching tv after dinner call for Song 3? Stranger things have happened so wouldn't say a definite no, but still leaning towards unlikely qualifier.

 
 Georgia
Still of the same opinion as before - I really do not understand this song and don't see why it was sent to Eurovision by internal selection. You can imagine this being the unforeseen winner of a tragic national final gone bad, but internal selection?! The best thing about the happenings during this rehearsal were the free hugs being handed out by some members of the Austrian accredited team. Some songs, however weird and underappreciated by the gathered press they may be, still manage to find followers in the European households but I don't know if this will have the same luck - mainly due to the lack of a Sopho in the team.
  
   
Poland
I still love this entry to bits and cannot even try to hide it. I would love it if Europe feels the same - and you never know, they might! The song works incredibly well (well, what did you expect me to write?). The twirls, the clothes washing, the butter churning, it is all still there and add to the mix good ethno music and great stage presence and you have a great entertaining entry which hopefully attracts the viewers at home which watch Eurovision every year just for this kind of thing.


Cleo is owning the camera and is flirting with the audience quite a lot. The dancers also have become much more suggestive but still within taste so that the EBU doesn't need to ask them to cool it down a bit. Could this go through to the final? What do you think? Comment below or why not join our community and post in the Message Board.

 
   
   
Austria
Nearly impeccable performance! Staging is complementing the song really well and Conchita belts the song out with dignity and grace. There were a couple of notes which were not perfect but this does not bring any dampner to the song. Second run will also have the pyro used.

No pyro in two and three started a bit wrong so had to be restarted due to a mistake by the crew. We get to see where the pyro is in this round - and it is right at the end during the very last word of the lyrics: "flame".
 
Lithuania 
Well, you can never rule Lithuania out due to their strong showing in past editions of Eurovision but you will be forgiven for thinking how on Earth could this work? You would be surprised! Even though the song itself is a bit of a mess it could find appeal in households, however Poland is quite close in the running order and is better refined. On the other hand, Vilija does have an extremely camp male dancer fumbling around underneath her personal area - something which can never be a bad thing in this show!

The dance routine stilldoesn't convince me though, even though they try to have the catchy move for the chorus, it doesn't seem to be creating any stir of fans waning to copy it. Vocally however Vilija is quite good, not perfect but reasonable. Will we see her on Saturday night? What do you think? Comments always appreciated here or in the Message Board.


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