(no subject)
I liked the hosts! Anke was wonderful and the other two were fine. The postcards were dull dull dull! We definitely didn't need to see them twice! The intermission with the drummers... Really? You couldn't find anything in Europe? They were fun to watch, I suppose, but if you closed your eyes the drumming itself was really boring. And it went on for way too long! I didn't mind at all when we lost contact with the Swedish commentators, and it was only annoying later when they were speaking on a phone.
Okay, onto the interesting part!
Poland - didn't qualify
Looked pretty good, but sounded awful. I honestly thought someone had forgotten to turn up the music and the backing vocals.
Norway - didn't qualify
That Norway didn't qualify was the big shock of the evening, at least up here in Scandinavia. I can't say much about it, because I knocked over my glass of soda, and was busy saving the sofa. I only saw the last 30 seconds or so, and from what I heard, Stella didn't sound too good. Very out of breath. I'm not really that surprised that African rhythms didn't work, though.
Albania - didn't qualify
Sounded awful too. And she wasn't less scary than in the video.
Armenia - didn't qualify
Emmy sounded better than the previous singers, but sadly, that isn't saying much. Loved the boxing glove chair, though! I want one!
Turkey - didn't qualify
Vocally, it was a really bad start of this semi final, which showed in the result. I thought Turkey was a sure thing, but the singer sounded really bad! And I was a bit disturbed by the staging, with the Phoenix thing. Sure, she was dressed as a bird, but she was the only woman on stage, and she was locked in a tiny cage. Not good, Turkey! They should have kept the robot knight who tried to take her arm off with a chain saw from last year's entry. That was brilliant!
Serbia - qualified
I wasn't sold on this beforehand, but wow, did it ever win me over! First of all, Nina sounded really good, which was a welcome change from what had gone before. And the dresses! OMG, I want the dresses! This was fun and sweet and definitely deserved that place in the final.
Russia - qualified
Well, Alex certainly finds himself cool. In what world is Danny Zuko still cool? Ugh, he's just very off-putting.
Switzerland - qualified
Easily the best number of the evening! So lovely! Absolutely wonderful, and Anna sounded fantastic. It was so simple and clean, and I love it!
Georgia - qualified
I'm surprised but pleased that this qualified. I really like the anger of it! It sounded good, even the rapper!
Finland - qualified
It's just so damn smug! Argh! But I can't deny that he sang it reallly well, and I suppose it deserves a place in the final just for that.
Malta - didn't qualify
What a waste! This was supposed to be camp and fun, and only Glen made an effort. What's with all the black? I was completely expecting in choir girls to rip off their big black dresses to reveal something more interesting in Bucks Fizz fashion, but it just never happened!
San Marino - didn't qualify
So very very dull! And she didn't even keep the royal wedding hat which was the only interesting thing in the video.
Croatia - didn't qualify
Points for the costume changes! Very nicely done! But the song sucks, and Daria sounded rather iffy, and the choir was the worst of the evening.
Iceland - qualified
Aww, it's nice. I still think it got to the final on mostly sympathy votes, though.
Hungary - qualified
Yeah! It's great! Don't know why she was wearing Mount Everest on her finger, but she sounded good! Great song.
Portugal - didn't qualify
I like it! It's fun! It's like a crappy version of Village People, in a way. Love the girl in the beret!
Lithuania - qualified
Biggest surprise of the evening! How desperate are people for a ballad of this type if they voted for this? I mean, Evelina did sound great, but the song is so fantastically bad!
Azerbaijan - qualified
Liked the whole setting. The song is great, they sounded okay.
Greece - qualified
Qualified despite Stereo Mike doing his best to ruin it. Loucas is great, though! Maybe half a song is enough.
So, how well did I do? I had 6 out of 10 on the ones I wanted to move on beforehand, and 7 out of 10 on the ones I thought would move on. Decent result, I suppose.
I can't wait until Thursday!