Semi-Final 2
My analysis:
I'd felt that this was the stronger of the semis, but I'm not sure now.
1. Dino Merlin - "Love In Rewind" (Bosnia)
This was a very clever song. The lyrics are still meaningless, as far as I can tell, but the tune was brilliant and you could tell it was going places the moment everyone started clapping along (which they did on the opening line "One to a hundred"). I'd wondered if this could really be carried off live, but it definitely put that query to rest. If you weren't singing along by the end of it, you were watching the wrong show.
Dino came 5th with 109 points.
2. Nadine Beiler - "The Secret Is Love" (Austria)
I still can't stop wondering what would've happened if "Oida Taunz" had been performed here instead of this ballad. That said, it was a rather pleasant number and Nadine sold it well. Her voice is quite strong, and she's still young so it'll probably get better in time. I was still surprised to see it do as well as it did, though.
Nadine came 7th with 69 points.
3. 3JS - "Never Alone" (Netherlands)
After a strong song and a moderate song, the quality really dropped off with this one. It was a pretty boring song on the CD, and the performance was almost soporific at times. The Contest may no longer need a flashy stage show (the last few winners have proven that, I feel), but it does still need something to keep people interested, and the Dutch need to learn that. Unless they do soon, their proud record of only qualifying from the very first semi (way back in 2004) will continue.
3JS came 19th with 13 points.
4. Witloof Bay - "With Love Baby" (Belgium)
I still don't understand why this finished as low as it did. The song was very catchy and the performance was well-done, I felt. Indeed, the beatboxing and so on made things sound marginally better than on CD, and that's no mean feat. Perhaps it fell prey to the curse of being too adventurous, as the only other purely acapella song at Eurovision did a few years ago. A shame, though, as I'd thought Belgium was going to turn their record around now.
Witloof Bay came 11th with 53 points.
5. TWiiNS - "I'm Still Alive" (Slovakia)
It bothers me that a large chunk of Eastern Europe seems to think that this is the height of pop music still. If the Slovaks were unlucky last year with the incredible "Horehronie", they proved that they can still enter a rather bland song with the best of them this year. The live band was a clever idea, to be fair, as it made it stand out a bit from the pack, but it still wasn't anything special.
TWiiNS came 13th with 48 points.
6. Mika Newton - "Angel" (Ukraine)
Now this was a revelation! I'm still not overly convinced by the song itself, but Mika really performed it wonderfully and sold it well. What really stood out, though, was the sand-art going on in the background. I'd never seen anything like this before, and the speed and detail which the artist was able to command were quite amazing. If anything, that nearly distracted from the song!
Mika came 6th with 81 points.
7. Zdob şi Zdub - "So Lucky" (Moldova)
Just when we were wondering if everyone was taking themselves seriously this year, the Moldovan crazyboys prove that they certainly aren't. It may not have featuring drumming old ladies, but it did feature girls on unicycles and a shouted refrain which I'm sure half of Düsseldorf was joining in with. A lot of fun.
Zdob şi Zdub came 10th with 54 points.
8. Eric Saade - "Popular" (Sweden)
This was the performance I was waiting for, and it didn't disappoint at all. Eric completely nailed the song and the choreography, and I suspect that if the votes for the final were done then he would've swept the board. This was brilliant from start to finish.
Eric came 1st with 155 points.
9. Christos Mylordos - "San angelos s'agapisa" (Cyprus)
This did sound better live than I thought it would, but it's impossible to remember much beyond the "hammer throw" from the dancer during the bridge.
Christos came 18th with 16 points.
10. Poli Genova - "Na Inat" (Bulgaria)
As with Albania, this was a strong song which was given an amazingly gutsy performance by a relatively petite woman. I'd felt that the language barrier was going to get in the way, and I think it probably did, which was a real shame for such a good performance.
Poli came 12th with 48 points.
11. Vlatko Ilievski - "Rusinka" (Macedonia)
I'd assumed this was going to be Turbo-Folk, but it really wasn't. Hard to explain precisely what it was, because the performance really under-sold the song. Rather a disappointment from my perspective.
Vlatko came 16th with 36 points.
12. Dana International - "Ding Dong" (Israel)
This was a song with some reasonable expectations behind it, Dana being a former winner and all. If anything, though, the rather unremarkable performance of the rather unremarkable song confirmed my suspicions that "Diva" won all those years ago almost by accident. There wasn't much going on here.
Dana came 15th with 38 points.
13. Maja Keuc - "No One" (Slovenia)
After drifting for a bit with the last four songs, this really reignited the semi. Maja's voice is terrific, and the song really sounded brilliant in this setting. It built up from seemingly nowhere into a kind of Anastacia/Christina Aguilera sort of thing, and I was pleasantly surprised at the fact that I found that to be a good thing. Definitely a performer to watch out for in the future, too.
Maja came 3rd with 112 points.
14. Hotel FM - "Change" (Romania)
This was a hell of a lot of fun. The tune is catchy, the lyrics are simple enough to sing along with the chorus pretty quickly, and the vocalist really had a good stage presence. The dancers with trumpets helped out as well. One of my old tests for a Eurovision entry is "Would I listen to an album by this act?" and the answer here was "absolutely".
Hotel FM came 4th with 111 points.
15. Getter Jaani - "Rockefeller Street" (Estonia)
For obvious reasons, this was a controversial song in our apartment. I loved it from the start, particularly with Getter's little magic trick with the wand, while it took a while to grow on Krista (it beat a song by one of her favourite bands to get to Eurovision). In the end, though, it came down to a very well-written track by Sven Lõhmus which was performed particularly well.
Getter came 9th with 60 points.
16. Anastasiya Vinnikova - "I Love Belarus" (Belarus)
This was truly dismal. There've been years when I've been behind Belarus out of some perverse hope that it would create a similar effect to Ukraine's win in 2004, but I couldn't even justify that this year. The song was terrible and the performance was worse. The dulcimer-y thing doing the main riff was the only saving grace here.
Anastasiya came 14th with 45 points.
17. Musiqq - "Angel in Disguise" (Latvia)
I think this one was rather hard-done-by. The song itself is brilliantly done, and perhaps the only thing that lets it down is the rapping. It's grown on me a lot even since the Contest, particularly that chorus. While it may not have gone places, Musiqq is an act I'm watching out for in future.
Musiqq came 17th with 25 points.
18. A Friend in London - "New Tomorrow" (Denmark)
This song pretty much changed my opinion of it on the night. I'm still not a fan of the indie-rock stuff usually, but this really was performed brilliantly, and the lyrics are clever enough to mean something but simple enough to get everyone singing along. The band definitely knew what to do with the song, too, so full marks.
A Friend in London came 2nd with 135 points.
19. Jedward - "Lipstick" (Ireland)
To hear this described as a moderate favourite was a bit of a shock, as I'd always assumed Europeans to be intelligent. The performance was almost unwatchable, as the two brothers seemed intent on having fits on stage (backstage they appeared to be worse, frankly). As a song, it is moderately catchy, but I was still hoping it wouldn't make it.
Jedward came 8th with 68 points.
I'd felt that this was the stronger of the semis, but I'm not sure now.
1. Dino Merlin - "Love In Rewind" (Bosnia)
This was a very clever song. The lyrics are still meaningless, as far as I can tell, but the tune was brilliant and you could tell it was going places the moment everyone started clapping along (which they did on the opening line "One to a hundred"). I'd wondered if this could really be carried off live, but it definitely put that query to rest. If you weren't singing along by the end of it, you were watching the wrong show.
Dino came 5th with 109 points.
2. Nadine Beiler - "The Secret Is Love" (Austria)
I still can't stop wondering what would've happened if "Oida Taunz" had been performed here instead of this ballad. That said, it was a rather pleasant number and Nadine sold it well. Her voice is quite strong, and she's still young so it'll probably get better in time. I was still surprised to see it do as well as it did, though.
Nadine came 7th with 69 points.
3. 3JS - "Never Alone" (Netherlands)
After a strong song and a moderate song, the quality really dropped off with this one. It was a pretty boring song on the CD, and the performance was almost soporific at times. The Contest may no longer need a flashy stage show (the last few winners have proven that, I feel), but it does still need something to keep people interested, and the Dutch need to learn that. Unless they do soon, their proud record of only qualifying from the very first semi (way back in 2004) will continue.
3JS came 19th with 13 points.
4. Witloof Bay - "With Love Baby" (Belgium)
I still don't understand why this finished as low as it did. The song was very catchy and the performance was well-done, I felt. Indeed, the beatboxing and so on made things sound marginally better than on CD, and that's no mean feat. Perhaps it fell prey to the curse of being too adventurous, as the only other purely acapella song at Eurovision did a few years ago. A shame, though, as I'd thought Belgium was going to turn their record around now.
Witloof Bay came 11th with 53 points.
5. TWiiNS - "I'm Still Alive" (Slovakia)
It bothers me that a large chunk of Eastern Europe seems to think that this is the height of pop music still. If the Slovaks were unlucky last year with the incredible "Horehronie", they proved that they can still enter a rather bland song with the best of them this year. The live band was a clever idea, to be fair, as it made it stand out a bit from the pack, but it still wasn't anything special.
TWiiNS came 13th with 48 points.
6. Mika Newton - "Angel" (Ukraine)
Now this was a revelation! I'm still not overly convinced by the song itself, but Mika really performed it wonderfully and sold it well. What really stood out, though, was the sand-art going on in the background. I'd never seen anything like this before, and the speed and detail which the artist was able to command were quite amazing. If anything, that nearly distracted from the song!
Mika came 6th with 81 points.
7. Zdob şi Zdub - "So Lucky" (Moldova)
Just when we were wondering if everyone was taking themselves seriously this year, the Moldovan crazyboys prove that they certainly aren't. It may not have featuring drumming old ladies, but it did feature girls on unicycles and a shouted refrain which I'm sure half of Düsseldorf was joining in with. A lot of fun.
Zdob şi Zdub came 10th with 54 points.
8. Eric Saade - "Popular" (Sweden)
This was the performance I was waiting for, and it didn't disappoint at all. Eric completely nailed the song and the choreography, and I suspect that if the votes for the final were done then he would've swept the board. This was brilliant from start to finish.
Eric came 1st with 155 points.
9. Christos Mylordos - "San angelos s'agapisa" (Cyprus)
This did sound better live than I thought it would, but it's impossible to remember much beyond the "hammer throw" from the dancer during the bridge.
Christos came 18th with 16 points.
10. Poli Genova - "Na Inat" (Bulgaria)
As with Albania, this was a strong song which was given an amazingly gutsy performance by a relatively petite woman. I'd felt that the language barrier was going to get in the way, and I think it probably did, which was a real shame for such a good performance.
Poli came 12th with 48 points.
11. Vlatko Ilievski - "Rusinka" (Macedonia)
I'd assumed this was going to be Turbo-Folk, but it really wasn't. Hard to explain precisely what it was, because the performance really under-sold the song. Rather a disappointment from my perspective.
Vlatko came 16th with 36 points.
12. Dana International - "Ding Dong" (Israel)
This was a song with some reasonable expectations behind it, Dana being a former winner and all. If anything, though, the rather unremarkable performance of the rather unremarkable song confirmed my suspicions that "Diva" won all those years ago almost by accident. There wasn't much going on here.
Dana came 15th with 38 points.
13. Maja Keuc - "No One" (Slovenia)
After drifting for a bit with the last four songs, this really reignited the semi. Maja's voice is terrific, and the song really sounded brilliant in this setting. It built up from seemingly nowhere into a kind of Anastacia/Christina Aguilera sort of thing, and I was pleasantly surprised at the fact that I found that to be a good thing. Definitely a performer to watch out for in the future, too.
Maja came 3rd with 112 points.
14. Hotel FM - "Change" (Romania)
This was a hell of a lot of fun. The tune is catchy, the lyrics are simple enough to sing along with the chorus pretty quickly, and the vocalist really had a good stage presence. The dancers with trumpets helped out as well. One of my old tests for a Eurovision entry is "Would I listen to an album by this act?" and the answer here was "absolutely".
Hotel FM came 4th with 111 points.
15. Getter Jaani - "Rockefeller Street" (Estonia)
For obvious reasons, this was a controversial song in our apartment. I loved it from the start, particularly with Getter's little magic trick with the wand, while it took a while to grow on Krista (it beat a song by one of her favourite bands to get to Eurovision). In the end, though, it came down to a very well-written track by Sven Lõhmus which was performed particularly well.
Getter came 9th with 60 points.
16. Anastasiya Vinnikova - "I Love Belarus" (Belarus)
This was truly dismal. There've been years when I've been behind Belarus out of some perverse hope that it would create a similar effect to Ukraine's win in 2004, but I couldn't even justify that this year. The song was terrible and the performance was worse. The dulcimer-y thing doing the main riff was the only saving grace here.
Anastasiya came 14th with 45 points.
17. Musiqq - "Angel in Disguise" (Latvia)
I think this one was rather hard-done-by. The song itself is brilliantly done, and perhaps the only thing that lets it down is the rapping. It's grown on me a lot even since the Contest, particularly that chorus. While it may not have gone places, Musiqq is an act I'm watching out for in future.
Musiqq came 17th with 25 points.
18. A Friend in London - "New Tomorrow" (Denmark)
This song pretty much changed my opinion of it on the night. I'm still not a fan of the indie-rock stuff usually, but this really was performed brilliantly, and the lyrics are clever enough to mean something but simple enough to get everyone singing along. The band definitely knew what to do with the song, too, so full marks.
A Friend in London came 2nd with 135 points.
19. Jedward - "Lipstick" (Ireland)
To hear this described as a moderate favourite was a bit of a shock, as I'd always assumed Europeans to be intelligent. The performance was almost unwatchable, as the two brothers seemed intent on having fits on stage (backstage they appeared to be worse, frankly). As a song, it is moderately catchy, but I was still hoping it wouldn't make it.
Jedward came 8th with 68 points.