Internet Hiccups and 39 Songs

At the time of writing I have no idea when I will be able to post this, I’ve been without internet for nearly a week! Well, ok, it’s 4 days – but in the great scheme of things, and as someone who doesn’t participate in the outside world so much, this is HUGE.

Work commitments have prevailed over the last few weeks, and I now find myself able to update the blogging world (as if you needed it) on Eurovision happenings

The internet community is now happy recipients of all 39 songs that will be appearing in some form or other in Oslo during the last week of May – the final song was belatedly released on Friday. This pains me greatly as I AM YET TO HEAR IT! Shame on you, Ukraine.

The actual cut off date for entries to be submitted to the EBU was Monday 22 March, but there’s been a bit of a hoo-haa in Kiev of late.

It all began when the president of their national television station NTU chose his chum Vasyl Lazarovich to represent the country and he was duly wheeled out to perform a number of “songs” for the nation to chose. Ukrainians were less than impressed and chose the dire “I Love You” as the best of the worst. It has to be remembered that Ukraine have been extremely consistent of late by bashing out foot-stomping marvels such as Ani Lorak’s “Shady Lady” in 2008, Verka Sedouchka’s frankly bonkers “Dancing Lasha Tumbai” in 2007 and last years “Anti-Crisis Girl”... so a dodgy ballad was never truly going to hit the mark.

What followed was nothing short of incredible, with the President of the Ukraine (c’mon, don’t expect names – I’m internetless!!) being petitioned to get involved and inevitably, the resignation of the NTU boss following. A hastily put together second National Final followed with 20 questionable songs thrown into the ether (including Vasyl, with a re-vamped working of his original winner – he came 7th) and the winner was a quirky little madam called “Aloysha” with .... ermm... I can’t remember! Whispers were soon starting that this song was originally released 2 years ago, which goes against EBU rules which state that the song should not have been published before 1 October of the preceding year. NTU move to the second song, which is also a number of years old and further arguments ensued. It was finally agreed that Aloysha would chose the song that she would sing in Olso. She has chosen a number called “Sweet People” and it KILLS me that I haven’t heard it yet. Sod the fact that my Facebook is incredibly out of date, my emails will have stacked up to epic proportions and all my online pets are dying .... I want my Eurovision!!!


Melodifestivalen hits the spot yet again

I talked below about the Swedish Melodifestivalen and how it is an incredible spectacle of how Eurovision can be hyped up in a country into something wonderful ... and this year was no exception. It doesn’t matter to me that the viewing figures from SVT show a slight drop in the ratings- National Finals are ALL about Melodifestivalen for me. Six semi finals, all held in stadiums with 20,000+ people present, magnificent production and a wealth of talent mean that this is a not to miss spectacular.

To me, Melodifestivalen is about Schlager music. For the uninitiated, Swedish schlager (as opposed to German, Austrian or other central european versions) is basically a pop song, of 3 minutes duration, with a key change and a killer ending. Schlager was meant to have originated in Scandinavia and fits the template of a Eurovision entry spot on. Schlager has been out of fashion this year though, and this years offerings were more of an eclectic mix, 50/50 interspersed with some good old hip shakers.

Favourite for me was Eric Saade’s “Manboy” – a song with lyrics so ridiculous but an endearing melody and an incredible stage performance, he sailed through to the final from Heat 2 and to me, he ticked all the boxes.



Next that I wouldn’t have minded seeing represent Sweden was “Kom” by girl band Timoteij – actually, calling them a girl band is a bit harsh, they bounced on stage with instruments, and there were no real set dance pieces. The song is in Swedish and I couldn’t tell you (without the internet) what they were singing about, but it’s a toe-tapper and I thought they put on a great performance.




At this point of preparing my post - after finally getting internet access after 8 days - I've suddenly become unable to post videos! For the remainder of this post, I will put linkies ... sorry, hope to rectify this soonest.

Following a Eurovision-esque round of voting from international and regional juries and the all important televote, the winner was quiet and unassuming Anna Bergendahl with This Is My Life. She stands sweetly on a huge stage dressed in a prom dress and converse trainers and the song reaches the inevitable crescendo, with wind machines and raised glow sticks. It’s a beautiful song and I have high hopes that it will do really well in May.



Sorting out the wheat from the chaff

Now that all entries have been chosen, it’s time to sort out the Alexander Rybak’s from the Jan Tiegen’s...

It’s clearly the year of the ballad .... and the accordion – a strange mix!

Highlights of the year this year include the following :

Germany – Lena Mayer-Landrut with “Satellite”

Get around the strange “mockney” accent that she’s awarded herself and you have a great song, contemporary and with an attitude I adore. This has jumped to favourite in the betting, and I believe this will give Germany their best result since Max in 2004 (this is all from memory remember people?!)



Turkey – MaNga – We Could Be The Same

The production on Turkish entries is usually superb and this one doesn’t disappoint. It seems to me that Turkey usually alternate a pop song with a rock song, and I thank the Lord that this year is rock year. This is extremely slick, and the live footage I’ve seen proves that they’ve nailed the English lyrics and should put on a great show.



Azerbaijan – Safura – Drip Drop

I don’t usually warm to ballads that quickly, but this has a great RnB feel to it, and the studio version is fantastic. Word on the streets is that her live performance is a little patchy, but she has a couple of months to work on that. I've linked her performance from the Ukrainian NF, it seems like the only non-mimed one out there. Also, how come Azeri girls are so flippin gorgeous? I found myself with a little girl-crush on Aysel last year, and Safura is pleasant looking too!