The Arockalypse

NEWS FROM ANDORRA

2007-11-07T17:30:00.000Z

It seems that Ràdio Televisió d'Andorra are gonna bite the bullet and enter Eurovision for the 5th time in 2008. They probably reckon on balance that with the new two semi-final system they've got a better chance of qualifying. Fair play I say.

So, it appears they've recently been on the lookout for an act to represent Andorra in Belgrade and the name that keeps cropping up on the rumour mill is that of Gisela.

She's a young lass from Barcelona and took part in the first edition of Operación Triunfo in Spain in 2002. You know, the one that Rosa won, yeah remember that? Well Gisela actually also went to Eurovision then in Tallinn as well, albeit as one of Rosa's backing singers. It looks as though RTVA are actively courting her to be their representative in 2008.

Here's a couple of vids of her.

Turu Turu

Vida

Tu Voz Se Apagará

Ins and outs in 2008

2007-06-20T11:20:00.000+01:00

The other day it was confirmed that AZTV (or Azerbaijani telly) won't be able to enter the 2008 Eurovision as they are too close to the Azerbaijan government. Thank fuck is all I can say to that. I mean their votes would be so predictable I can already give their top 5 without hearing any songs for 2008. Turkey (cultural), Georgia (neighbours), Armenia (Nagorno-Karabakh Armenian diaspora), Russia (history), Ukraine (history)!!!!!

So far the only other country that looks seriously likely to not take part in 2008 is Israel. The head dude of Israeli telly says that the Contest doesn't fit in with what he sees as his channel. It pretty much looks like he's gonna get his way and that Israel's about to do an 'Italy' or a 'Luxembourg'. Maybe one of the other Israeli TV channels will step into the void, but first they'd have to join the EBU so 2007 could see Israel's last participation for quite some time.

Other countries have said they're thinking of pulling out due to bloc voting:- Andorra, Denmark, Ireland, Malta. Of these Malta has now confirmed they'll definitely be in Belgrade.

I think Ireland will now look on balance and say ok we got top ten in 2006 so it's not impossible to do well... if Malta's taking part then so will we.

If Danish TV can get around their money issues then I don't really think they'll be wanting to spoil the party and will take part as well.

That leaves Andorra and I think if Monaco decide to come back in 2008 (which is pretty possible), then Andorra will enter again.

About Monaco, well they had a bit of a hissy fit last year and withdrew, but they screened the final live in 2007, which is the prerequisite to competing the next year so it seems they're keeping their options open. I really hope Monaco do come back as they've got such a great history in this contest.

It also seems that Slovakia might make a return in 2008 under pressure from Czech TV to rejoin. Slovakia last took part in 1998 and I guess the Czechs want them to rejoin the madness and swap 12 points!!

Countries that have confirmed they'll definitely be in Belgrade are:-

Serbia (obviously)

United Kingdom

Bulgaria

Greece

Armenia

Hungary

Latvia

Sweden

Lithuania

Poland

Cyprus

Netherlands

Estonia

Montenegro

Malta

Belgium

Austria

Czech Republic

Serbia at Eurovision

2007-06-14T12:33:00.000+01:00

Serbia may have won Eurovision in 2007 on their debut as an independent country, but it wasn't the first time that Serbian singers have entered the contest. In fact the first time Serbia took part in Eurovision was as part of Yugoslavia, when a Serb sang the debut Yugoslav entry in 1961. Here's a look at Serbia's past attempts...

FEDERAL SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA

1) 1961 - Љиљaнa Пeтpoвић - Heкe Дaвнe Звeздe (Some Distant Stars)

Ljiljana, who comes from Novi Sad, sang the first Yugoslav entry. She was 17 years old when she entered Eurovision gaining a respectable 8th place, with this traditional ballad. Today she's a bit of a recluse and doesn't perform in public anymore.

2) 1962 - Лoлa Hoвaкoвић - He Пaли Cвeтлa У Cyмpaк (Don't Turn On The Lights At Twilight)

Lola sang the second Yugoslav entry and came joint 4th with the United Kingdom. She was born in Belgrade in 1935 and was a popular singer in Yugoslavia during the 60's.

3) 1974 - Кopни - Гeнepaциja '42 (Generation '42)

The third Serb entry at Eurovision came in 1974 (the year ABBA won), when Korni represented Yugoslavia and came 12th. Unfortunately, the orchestra in Brighton virtually killed all the low-key charm of the studio version, by blaring out a load of brass, knocking out the moog that runs through the whole song. The song itself is about being born in 1942 during the hardest part of the Second World War in Yugoslavia (particularly in Serbia, which suffered extreme hardship during the years of the puppet Croatian nationalist government).

4) 1982 - Acкa - Xaлo Xaлo (Hello Hello)

Serbia got their next attempt in 1982 at Harrogate, when the girl group Aska represented Yugoslavia and they came 14th. The song's asking about where the girls' lovers might be now and is a typical 80's schlager pop song. Again the BBC orchestra can't match the bounce of the studio version, but the three singers are so wooden and look like they really don't want to be there. Not Yugoslavia's finest hour!

5) 1991 - Бeби Дoл - Бpaзил (Brazil)

Baby Doll was unleashed upon the unsuspecting European public as Yugoslavia's 1991 entry. The Yugoslavs tried to turn Rome into Latin America for three minutes, with what can only be described as drag on acid (even though she's actually a real woman!). The song is about creating a new kind of dance, with the end result of the partakers getting naked!!! Thankfully the language rule in place at the time ensured most people didn't get this! The dancing is atrocious and Baby Doll herself is totally out of tune. The RAI orchestra didn't help matters and massacred the song completely (not the only time that night they did so) and turned the guitar solo into a joke. If anyone laments the loss of the orchestra at Eurovision, 1991 is a great year to show how bad some of the orchestras have been in the past. The camera director also thinks that half-way through the song's proceedings would be a great time to show off the Italian film set used as the stage!!! Yugoslavia came second last with 1 point! All in all, car crash telly at its best!

FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA

1) 1992 - Eкcтpa Heнa - Љyбим Te Пecмaмa (I'm Kissing You With My Songs)

As Yugoslavia was haemorrhaging its constituent parts at an alarming rate and with the Bosnian War having broke out the previous month, JRT soldiered on regardless and kept its promise to enter the 1992 contest. When the deadline to confirm entry had been set in 1991, Yugoslavia was still intact, but even by the time they had come to their national final, Slovenia and Croatia had broken away. At the time of the contest, in May, both Bosnia and Macedonia had also declared themselves independent states. Extra Nena went to Malmö representing an area effectively the same as Serbia and Montenegro, but even though she sang well and the song was well arranged, there was no way on God's earth that the juries were ever going to let this song win, which is a shame as it's possibly the best song that Serbia entered to the contest, whilst they were a part of Yugoslavia. They came 13th with 44 points. As for the following year, well JRT was expelled from the EBU after the 1992 contest in protest of the wars in the former Yugoslavia and Serbia wouldn't be able to enter the contest until after the revolution, which ousted Milošević from power.

SERBIA & MONTENEGRO

1) 2004 - Жeљкo Joкcимoвић & Ad Hoc Orchestra - Лaнe Moje (My Dear)

Serbia returned to the Eurovision in 2004 with the introduction of the semi-final as a part of the new country of Serbia & Montenegro. Željko sang his heart out in Istanbul and won the semi-final, but was defeated in the final by some Ukrainian Miss Whiplash! They came 2nd gaining points from every other participating country. To me this is a better song than Molitva, which won for Serbia in 2007, but it obviously wasn't to be. Željko himself is a big star in his homeland and is famous across the former Yugoslavia. Serbia & Montenegro found themselves automatically in the 2005 final where they were represented by Montenegrin boyband No Name, who came 7th. Automatically qualified to the 2006 final, Serbia & Montenegro couldn't pick a winner of their national selection with the Serbs blaming the Montenegrins of vote fixing and demanding a re-run of the national contest. Despite appeals to the EBU, the deadline for 2006 came and went without an agreement on who should represent Serbia & Montenegro. They were disqualified from the 2006 contest, although still retained their voting rights. The day after the Athens contest, Montenegro held a referendum on independence, which agreed to the peaceful division of Serbia & Montenegro into two seperate countries.

SERBIA

1) 2007 - Mapиja Шepифoвић - Moлитвa (Prayer)

Serbia returned to the 2007 Eurovision semi-final as an independent country and proceded to win the entire thing. It's not my favourite song in the 2007 contest and not my favourite Serbian entry, but I can see it's appeal, even though Marija sounds a bit histrionic live. It's not the best winner ever, by a long shot, but at least it kept Ukraine's drag queen from winning, which is a good thing by me!!! It also goes to prove that a ballad can win Eurovision and that you can also win the contest by singing in your own language and not in English. Let's see what Belgrade has in store for us in 2008.

Eurovision 2007 DVD

2007-06-10T22:31:00.000+01:00

The DVD of the 2007 contest arrived on my doormat the other day courtesy of HMV.co.uk (a snip at £9,99!). Not watched it all yet as I'm not sure I can cope with seeing that Serbian dyke win again or watch Andorra fail to qualify to the final, but no doubt in time I'll overcome my fear... it was still a great week after all!

Helena Paparizou

2007-05-30T11:32:00.000+01:00

After a year without much of the ol' Paparizou, I thought I'd upload her discography... so here goes...

2003 - Aναπάντητις Kλήσεις (Unanswered Calls)

2004 - Tρελή Kάρδια (Crazy Heart)

2004 - Aντιθέσεις (Antithesis)

2004 - Kάτσε Kαλά (Just Sit Down)

2004 - Στην Kαρδιά Mου Mόνο Θλίψη (Sorrow In My Heart)

2005 - My Number One

2005 - Light In Our Soul

2005 - Mambo (Greenglish Version)

2006 - Υπάρχει Λόγος (There's A Reason)

2006 - Mambo (English Version)

2006 - Gigolo

2006 - Φως (Shine)

2006 - Aν Eίχες Έρθει Πιο Nωρίς (If You'd Come Earlier)

2007 - Mαζί Σου (With You)

Eurovision voting changes

2007-05-19T20:37:00.000+01:00

Here's my two ideas to change the voting in Eurovision.

1) Points given to each competing country from each competing country

OK, so pretty self explanatory really, but each country gives points to every other country taking part in order of how well each country scored in the televote. This would mean votes given out in the final of between 1 and 24 points from each country. The points 22, 23 and 24 could still be announced as 8, 10 and 12 are now, whilst the lower points flash up automatically on the screen as points 1 through 7 do now.

The benefit of this system is that it gives a fairer representation of the success of each competing country. It ensures that a country needs to do better across the board than get a few high points from a few countries to still do well.

2) In the semi-final, the qualifiers should be the countries with the votes from the largest amount of other countries, irrespective of their actual score

In this way, a country with votes between 8 and 12 points from eight other countries, wouldn't qualify over a country receiving votes between 1 and 10 points from sixteen other countries. Tie-breaks could be split by using the current points system (or the points system above). In the 2007 semi-final under this system, the qualifiers would have been:-

Serbia - 38
Hungary - 35
Belarus - 29
Latvia - 29
Turkey - 27
Bulgaria - 27
Slovenia - 26
Georgia - 19
Andorra - 19
Poland - 19
Portugal - 15
Norway - 15
Moldova - 14
FYR Macedonia - 13
Albania - 11
Iceland - 10
Cyprus - 10
Denmark - 10
Switzerland - 10
Croatia - 9
Netherlands - 9
Estonia - 6
Montenegro - 6
Israel - 6
Malta - 3
Belgium - 2
Austria - 2
Czech Republic - 1

It doesn't make a difference at the extremes of the table, but does stop some countries having an unfair advantage of qualifying every year.

What do you think?

MUU & Being interviewed on Finnish TV

2007-05-17T22:15:00.000+01:00

Kiitos Heli ja Tomi!!!

Also, for those who are unaware, I was also interviewed on Finnish TV twice in Helsinki, so I'm now something of a Finnish icon having sung Shanghain Valot at the top of my voice in a Finnish Karaoke bar. It was possibly not the finest hour of my life and sadly evidence of this exists on the internet, but you'll be hard pressed to get the website address from me.

Suffice to say it was broadcast on YLE extra. Oh dear!

They then invited me and Markku to the studio to film a segment of a chat show, in which I was asked about 6 questions to do with Athens and 2 about Helsinki! Go figure! This included the painful question "so which is nicer... Athens or Helsinki?" If ever an interviewer was gonna pick a dumb question this was the one to pick!! I think I just about held it together - well they weren't burning effigies of me in the street so we must've done ok... funniest moment having me singing Salvem El Món and trying in vain to get Markku to play the bongos on live TV.... only in Finland!!!

Quick plug for the muu café below!
http://www.muu.fi/eurovision2007

Pics of Helsinki

2007-05-17T22:07:00.000+01:00

ME WITH ANONYMOUS FROM ANDORRA

To view all the pictures I took in Helsinki click on the link below....

http://www.box.net/shared/kftm9ih666

Glad that's over then....

2007-05-17T18:23:00.000+01:00

...came back from hospital earlier today after my Tympanoplasty op.

It went well... I feel much better now than I did 24 hours after my last two Mastoidectomies... a bit dizzy and spaced out, but that's to be expected after a good few hours of surgery on me head!!

The cut's really small and just goes around the top part of my ear, not all the way round like the last couple of times... and big bonus.... my facial nerve's still intact so no facial paralysis, which is excellent.

Just gotta get better now and hope that it's a bit longer than 2 years before the tumour comes back again... fingers crossed!

For now though, things are good.

Back from Helsinki

2007-05-15T11:11:00.000+01:00

We arrived back from Helsinki on Sunday afternoon... it's now Tuesday and I've had a couple of days to digest what happened over there.

OK, so what did I learn? Well most importantly I learnt a lot about friendship and what it takes to be a good friend (and also what traits I value in friendship). Secondly, I learnt that Finnish food isn't as bad as M. Chirac believes it is!!! We tried reindeer and I can tell you it's bloody good! Thirdly, I learnt that the Finns are a friendly, organised people, who are generally reserved (until Saturday night that is when I saw more drunks and more blatant drunkeness than I've ever seen in my life). Fourthly, I learnt that for right or wrong the Eastern European countries have become a major powerhouse in this Eurovision Contest.

The semi-final came and with great expectation we went to the Hartwall Areena wrapped in Andorran flags, convinced this was the year Andorra was certain to get out of the semis and make it to Saturday's event. I have to say that the semi-final was slickly presented and I can't find fault with the way the Finns presented the Contest. My only gripe was the empty seats given free to VIP's who failed to turn up.... this was bad, but at least it allowed us to move down and get a great view of the semi.

Watching all 28 semi-finalists perform, it was hard to pick the ten that would go through. It was possibly the strongest semi-final fielded so far... there wasn't one duff note and everyone really gave their all... We cheered hard for Andorra and given the reaction in the hall I was absolutely convinced they'd walk it.

Then came the announcements of the 10 qualifiers... Belarus (OK it was slick), FYR Macedonia (for the 4th year running and I really don't get this), Slovenia (yep she had a huge voice), Hungary (again yes, this was possibly the most credible song on offer), Georgia (well not my thing really, but a memorable show), Latvia (this was just bad opera to me), Serbia (not my thing, but she has an amazing voice), Bulgaria (this did sound massive in the arena), Turkey (again a great show and performance of a great RnB effort) and finally Moldova (yeh again she nailed this). So nothing from the west of Europe and no Andorra.

To say I was gutted would be an understatement. I was obviously in agreement to the rest of the audience due to the booing, which even drowned out the presenters. We chatted to the UK and Austrian commentators afterwards and both agreed with us that never has bloc voting been this extreme. On reflection, I can understand why 7 of the 10 qualified and I do believe that they were decent qualifiers, but FYR Macedonia, Georgia and Latvia? I just don't get it. How could they qualify over Andorra, Netherlands and Denmark? It's just odd and they way it came across was that the West is helpless against this blatant Eastern bloc voting.

This was backed up in the final, when the remaining Western countries competing:- Ireland, UK, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden and Finland found themselves in the last third of the scoreboard come the end of the night. Surely they weren't ALL so bad? Ireland and the UK I can agree with (the performances were shockingly bad), but Germany? Sweden? Finland? they rocked and were light years ahead of Romania's, Bosnia's and Latvia's attempts. I dunno, the EBU seriously needs to sort this out before the West just thinks enough is enough and pack their bags.

However, it takes more than Eastern bloc votes to give a good placing and the Western countries are also voting for the Eastern countries. The reason? On balance they send better songs. They have better, more original performances. They know how to put on a show. It means much more to an artist from Belarus or Armenia to compete in Eurovision than it does an artist from the UK or Norway. And this is also part of the problem. How do we in the west convince a generation of people who still consider the Eurovision to be a contest of schlager music that it no longer is this? Schlager has had it's day and that was proven so dramatically in the semi-final.

On balance the top ten in the final all deserved their place there. There isn't one duff song (save the Ukrainian effort, but even that is cleverly camp, unlike the UK's naff camp). There isn't one duff performance in that top ten:- Serbia, Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Belarus, Greece, Armenia, Hungary and Moldova all nailed their performances and all deserve their top ten placings. There's no denying that bloc voting helps, but where was Bosnia, Slovenia, FYR Macedonia, Latvia, Georgia or Lithuania in this list? They were further down the table - proof that you need more than just having a lot of neighbours to do well at Eurovision. If all it took was having lots of neighbours, well Russia would win every year. Russia's never won. If Finland - a country never having got higher than 6th - can win in 2006, then surely all it takes for the West is to come up with a great song, a great act and a great performer. Sadly, the East just did this better than the West last Saturday night. The West still thinks of Eurovision as stuck in the past... the East see it as very much in the present and therefore they are always going to do better until the West realises this.

I'm still gutted for Andorra... they had a great song, a great performance and quite frankly, they were robbed. But, they got 12th place in the semi-final and were only 12 points behind qualifying. Similarly, Portugal shockingly came 11th in the semi - just 3 points behind qualifying - Portugal's best result for years. My advice to RTVA and also RTP.... don't give up. You were close this year and proof that with a little effort the West can do well. With a crap song you will always do bad - Montenegro (part of the former Yugoslavia) bombed big time in the semi-final.

All this talk of broadcasters withdrawing is bad sportsmanship in my opinion. Yes I agree that the EBU needs to look closely at the bloc voting (which is blatant) - especially in the semi-final where it is far more decisive I feel. But to simply have the Western broadcasters give up is bad taste. They just need to make more effort.

So... 2008... Belgrade here we come!

Download the winning song Molitva by Marija Šerifović below:-

Serbian version - http://www.box.net/shared/dpcrla3622

Serbian dance mix - http://www.box.net/shared/e28acoazpl

English version (Destiny) - http://www.box.net/shared/hlmtj58h0p

English dance mix (Destiny)- http://www.box.net/shared/catfao2fhl

Finnish version (Rukoilen) - http://www.box.net/shared/1poacxc847

Watch the winning performance below:-

Best of 2007 national finals:- part four

2007-05-14T23:11:00.000+01:00

01 - Monrose - Even Heaven Cries
2nd in the German national final
http://www.box.net/shared/f702dokpen

02 - Jennifer Chevallier - Mon Étoile (My Star)
Unplaced in the French national final
http://www.box.net/shared/zoie57p4qg

03 - Sonya Aldén - För Att Du Finns (Because You Are)
6th in the Swedish national final
http://www.box.net/shared/0kitf0vhy3

04 - Tάμτα - With Love
2nd in the Greek national final
http://www.box.net/shared/knkgsjvkb4

05 - Luka Nižetić - Pusti Me U San (Let Me Into A Dream)
11th in the Croatian national final
http://www.box.net/shared/k0r97m6s9l

06 - Mariza Ikonomi - Ku Është Dashuria? (Where's The Love?)
3rd in the Albanian national final
http://www.box.net/shared/l9mccgb71i

07 - Trilogy - Starlight
2nd in the Maltese national final
http://www.box.net/shared/isyykg1s5v

08 - Johanna Kurkela - Olet Uneni Kaunein (You're My Most Beautiful Dream)
6th in the Finnish national final
http://www.box.net/shared/jsla8usuvm

09 - Hele Kõre & Kristjan Kasearu - Romeo Ja Julia (Romeo And Juliet)
2nd in the Estonian national final
http://www.box.net/shared/ry1ebb4esr

10 - Cyndi - I'll Leave My Heart
2nd in the British national final
http://www.box.net/shared/aex02bumn4

11 - Marie Lindberg - Trying To Recall
5th in the Swedish national final
http://www.box.net/shared/ks5sjmree3

12 - Дзiянa Гypцкaя - How Long?
2nd in the Belarussian national final
http://www.box.net/shared/luuznk75vx

13 - Vanessa & Henrique Feist - Além Do Sonho (Beyond The Dream)
3rd in the Portuguese national final
http://www.box.net/shared/ep0kc5ffnu

14 - Гpyпaтa - Back In Your Heart
5th in the Bulgarian national final
http://www.box.net/shared/jf9e5ycgbs

15 - Re:public - Home
6th in the Latvian national final
http://www.box.net/shared/oqoa2kj1az

Best of 2007 national finals:- part two

2007-04-04T23:29:00.000+01:00

01 - Andra & Simplu - Dracula, My Love
Disqualified from the Romanian national final
http://www.box.net/shared/ba4nn26flx

02 - Кpyм - Дoкoгa (How Long)
Unplaced in the Bulgarian semi-final
http://www.box.net/shared/4xj7g684qo

03 - Medhi-T - On And On
2nd in the French national final
http://www.box.net/shared/t8ec783602

04 - Big Brovaz - Big Bro Thang
Unplaced in the British national final
http://www.box.net/shared/tbpy6dvah3

05 - Coфи Mapинoвa И Уcтaтa - Я Tвoя (I'm Your's)
3rd in the Bulgarian national final
http://www.box.net/shared/mm5fc9stgq

06 - BZR feat. Cheb Hamid - Galbi
Unplaced in the French national final
http://www.box.net/shared/z2s5ml5cmy

07 - D'NASH - Tu Voz Se Apagará (Your Voice Will Fade Away)
3rd in the Spanish national final
http://www.box.net/shared/t019o9abej

08 - Arne Lauri & Deva Deva Dance - Supreme Nature
9th in the Estonian national final
http://www.box.net/shared/aaqb4ukrhc

09 - Eлeнa Пeтpecкa - Пeaм (I'm Singing)
5th in the FYR Macedonian national final
http://www.box.net/shared/jg9xus0ngg

10 - S-Lavina - Higher (Balkan Heart)
10th in the Bulgarian national final
http://www.box.net/shared/e16d8x5yz9

11 - Claudia Faniello - L-Imћabba Ghamja (Love Is Blind)
7th in the Maltese semi-final
http://www.box.net/shared/tq16ay7fe7

12 - Helena Vondráčková - Samba
Disqualified from the Czech national final
http://www.box.net/shared/jy94rzczzh

13 - Unknown artist - Báilame (Dance For Me)
Unplaced in the Spanish selection process
http://www.box.net/shared/h5tnjnxpdh

14 - Sebastian - Naj Svet Zakriči (Let The World Cry Out)
9th in the Slovenian national final
http://www.box.net/shared/e5fhlgmeu0

15 - Maja Гpoздaнoвcкa Пaнчeвa - Кaвиjap И Cвилa (Caviar And Silk)
15th in the FYR Macedonian national final
http://www.box.net/shared/epukitydo2

16 - Feminnem - Navika (Habit)
9th in the Croatian national final
http://www.box.net/shared/mgxp61o69s

Best of 2007 national finals:- part one

2007-04-01T15:48:00.000+01:00

Download my favourite songs of the 2007 national finals season. I've only included studio quality versions, which explains the lack of anything from Armenia, and I've tried to be as democratic as possible and find something from every country. However I was unable to find anything worthwhile from Montenegro as all 10 songs in their final were, in my opinion, rubbish!

01 - Elli U - Trans-European Express
10th in the first Latvian semi-final
http://www.box.net/shared/m3p5zzidot

02 - Andreas Lundstedt - Move
6th in the first Swedish semi-final
http://www.box.net/shared/ipxgoxcznl

03 - Indiggo - Lovestruck
Withdrawn from the Romanian national final
http://www.box.net/shared/yrvcb7h0vm

04 - Infinity - Hooked On You
Unplaced in the Norwegian national final
http://www.box.net/shared/a02pezyduh

05 - Пeтя Пaвлoвa - Runaway
Unplaced in the Bulgarian semi-final
http://www.box.net/shared/sg87fcr54n

06 - Cвaякi - Caлoдкi Mëдзiк (Tasty Honey)
5th in the Belarussian semi-final
http://www.box.net/shared/4l1rubeqf4

07 - Hafsteinn Þórólfsson - Þú Tryllir Mig (You Make Me Mad)
3rd in the Icelandic national final
http://www.box.net/shared/xflctfy1jh

08 - Måns Zelmerlöw - Cara Mia (My Beloved)
3rd in the Swedish national final
http://www.box.net/shared/zlr7uufr38

09 - Charizma - Emily
Unplaced in the Polish national final
http://www.box.net/shared/n9pmofm5i8

10 - Laura Voutilainen - Take A Chance
4th in the Finnish national final
http://www.box.net/shared/mj40x316cn

11 - Ragnheiður Eiríksdóttir - Ég Og Heilinn Minn (Me And My Mind)
Unplaced in the Icelandic national final
http://www.box.net/shared/rmnyb2o0qy

12 - Sopho Khalvashi - Fantasy Land
4th in the Georgian national final
http://www.box.net/shared/ef8mv3ksdt

13 - Vanilla Ninja - Birds Of Peace
4th in the Estonian national final
http://www.box.net/shared/poc4djtz09

14 - Elin Lanto - Money
Lost to Kom by Jessica Andersson in the Swedish wild-card round
http://www.box.net/shared/tj0jxghzil

15 - Aвiaтop - Aнгeли (Angels)
5th in the Ukrainian national final
http://www.box.net/shared/sc6qyiuzvq

Portugal:- Studio version

2007-03-29T20:39:00.000+01:00

The last studio version from the songs for 2007 is here. At long last!

http://www.box.net/shared/ls7rm3m5od

A few good men

2007-03-29T00:34:00.000+01:00

Today the US military announced that they would no longer allow army soldiers / marines to have large visible tattoos other than those they already possess.

What a shame I say as it'll lead to less of this:-

In order to ensure that the finest American military guys don't go getting any more tattoos, the army is photographing each soldier. Oh to be that photographer!

I can but dream!!!!

Joleen, Joleen, Joleen, Joleen!

2007-03-26T20:37:00.000+01:00

On Saturday night David, Nicola and myself went to see Dolly at Sheffield Arena. It was all very poppy and not as good as the last time I saw her when she played with only a bluegrass band. However, her voice was, as usual, note perfect and she played a couple of the songs I like including Shine, Two Doors Down and Joleen. Sadly though she never did some of my favourites, especially her version of Stairway To Heaven, which is amazing. For me she could have done more bluegrass as I always think that's where she really excels and not in songs like Those Were The Days, but there ya go!

Ukraine:- Studio version

2007-03-21T12:31:00.000Z

If you're seriously head-fucked then you can find the Ukrainian entry below in studio quality.

It's mental and hideously infectious... I'm having a bad feeling.... very bad.

The title change is to avoid the confusion that they had sung "I want to hear you say... Russia goodbye" in the national final version. Apparently they never did such a thing!

Oh they wouldn't have done that to secure a big vote from the anti-Russian lobby in Ukraine. Would they? Hahaha...

They've said "lasha tumbai" is Mongolian, but according to the Mongolian embassy in Kyiv it ain't!!! Who knows!

Crazy!

Вєрка Сердючка - Dancing Lasha Tumbai

http://www.box.net/shared/4fpm1tztdl

Flying the UK flag (but not for me)

2007-03-18T16:12:00.000Z

The British national final (and last one of this year) was held last night in Maidstone. Five of the six entries were well sung and whilst not all of the five would have been great ESC entries, I could have supported them.

Sadly the worst act won. For those that still don't know that was Scooch with their song Flying The Flag (For You).

They can't sing, they can't dance, they have zero song-writing ability. They have used every camp, gay innuendo in the book. They represent nothing of the current UK music scene. They are plastic pieces of nothing.

To say I'm embarrassed is an understatement.

I feel sorry for Cyndi (who sang her heart out) and what Wogan did to her at the end. He said that she'd won, when in fact she had come second... however we never saw the result of the televote and it all seems a bit suspicious to me.

I feel sorry for Big Brovaz (who were fucking excellent and took defeat graciously) whose career is now ruined by the idiotic British public.

I don't feel sorry for Justin Hawkins, who proved what an arrogant bastard he is by storming off the stage in a strop.

I feel sorry for the rest of Europe who will have to endure this nonsense on 12 May.

I feel sorry for the country that comes 11th in the semi when we have squandered our automatic place in the final with this.

Wogan should be sacked, how he decries "johnny foreigner" and makes people not take their opinion seriously is beyond me. The opinion of the 41 foreign countries was that Big Brovaz should be first with Cyndi second. Terry made people think that the opinions of the other 41 countries don't matter when ultimately that is ALL that matters. The BBC should pull out of ESC and give it to Channel 4 or take a year's break and evaluate the way they select the British entry.

We deserve nothing more than 0 points with this in my opinion.

And to all those Brits who will decry another abysmal UK result in Helsinki, they should take a look back at the MYMU on 17 March and think... well we only have ourselves to blame.

Scooch - Flying The Flag (For You)

The mp3 is here:- http://www.box.net/shared/ac0gkqvfei

Ear we go again!

2007-03-18T15:31:00.000Z

On Friday I got some bad news.

I was at the hospital for a check-up on my ears when they told me that I've got a new tumour in my left ear. Again. This is the 3rd time now and only 18 months after the last one.

To say I'm gutted is an understatement. It's benign, but is attached to my inner ear so is quite dodgy, which means they need to operate quite soon. So... 3 days after we get back from Helsinki, I'll be in hospital having me head drilled apart... hahaha... soon there'll be fuck all left in there!

I'm so worried that this time I'm gonna lose my facial nerve... I mean how many times can they get in there without doing damage to it... not even to say if the cholesteatoma has damaged the nerve anyway. Because it's in a nasty place the risk of me losing 100% of my hearing in my left ear is about 90% apparantly, but to be honest that doesn't bother me as much as the possible paralasis to my face.

Luckily I saw the consultant who had a proper look inside, which is good as it might have been missed by a more junior doctor who would have said come back in 6 months!

I sound a bit doom and gloom and that's not what I want to sound like... I just want people to know that cholesteatoma is evil and it's not just an ear infection. There's little widespread knowledge of it and if me talking about it helps anyone then that's good.

All I have to say is that the risks are nasty and I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy... I don't know 100%, but I always wonder if I was misdiagnosed with my ear problems as a kid and if I had been correctly treated would I find myself in this situation now.

If you know any kids who have been diagnosed with glue ear, it's worth getting a second opinion from an ENT consultant or specialist. If they detect it as cholesteatoma in its early stages, then it can be removed and the child will likely have a good chance of it never recurring and of regaining 99% of their hearing. Leave cholesteatoma and the tumour will grow as the child grows:- it could then cause total hearing loss, facial paralasis, body paralasis, loss of taste, meningitis, abcesses in the brain and ultimately death.

So... my op is on 16 May and we'll see what happens from there.

Oh dear

2007-03-17T22:24:00.000Z

What the fuck have we done?

Netherlands:- English version

2007-03-15T23:29:00.000Z

Here's the English version of the Dutch entry.

It's called On Top Of The World. Edsilia may end up being on top of the world as this sounds so much better in English and knowing she a can belt out a tune, she should be in with a fighting chance of qualifying.

Edsilia Rombley - On Top Of The World

http://www.box.net/shared/032hlomgnh

Ireland:- Studio version

2007-03-15T23:26:00.000Z

Below you will find the studio version of this year's Irish entry They Can't Stop The Spring.

They couldn't stop the squealing pig woman on vocals either, despite many valiant efforts at trying!

Dervish - They Can't Stop The Spring

http://www.box.net/shared/668rovdl4r

Albania:- English version

2007-03-15T23:20:00.000Z

So here's the 3 minute English version of Albania's Eurovision entry.

It's called Hear My Plea...

It's still shit.

It's quite a desperate plea n all and will no doubt fall on deaf ears as everyone'll've decided to take a toilet / coffee / beer / fag / magazine / pizza (delete as applicable) break within the first 2 bars.

Frederik Ndoci feat. Aida - Hear My Plea

http://www.box.net/shared/xaj1h6pdf8

Russia goes for song number one

2007-03-14T10:02:00.000Z

After an internal selection, Russian TV has announced who paid the most money to represent the world's biggest country at Eurovision.

The winner of this dubious honour is a girl group called Serebro. They have little live singing experience, but that don't matter because they've got big financial backers.

To be fair to Channel 1 Russia, they do seem to be picking some decent commercial eurosongs of late and this one's no exception. It's a bit of a dance-pop crossover and reminds me a little of Ooh La La by Morandi.

Yeah this is pretty good and one of very few real pop songs in this year's contest, which'll help it to stand out... now let's just wait and hear how the girls are live.

Cepeбpo - Song Number 1

http://www.box.net/public/ty4mg8gxib

Eurovision draw:- the final

2007-03-12T22:27:00.000Z

The draw for the final on 12 May is as follows:-

01 Bosnia-Herzegovina - worst possible draw for Bosnia's ballad
02 Spain - sadly have the dreaded #2 slot, but ok after Bosnia
03 - semi-finalist
04 Ireland - very bad draw for Ireland
05 Finland - ok after Ireland's ballad
06 - semi-finalist
07 - semi-finalist
08 - semi-finalist
09 Lithuania - could've been better
10 Greece - a good draw for Greece
11 - semi-finalist
12 Sweden - good draw before the break
13 France - bad draw after the break
14 - semi-finalist
15 Russia - not too bad a draw
16 Germany - possibly the best draw in the final
17 - semi-finalist
18 Ukraine - will stand out anyway
19 United Kingdom - a great draw between 2 comedy songs
20 Romania - could be a disaster for Romania
21 - semi-finalist
22 - semi-finalist
23 Armenia - could surprise with a great draw
24 - semi-finalist

Eurovision draw:- Semi-Final

2007-03-12T22:18:00.000Z

The draw for the semi-final on 10 May is as follows:-

01 Bulgaria - not a great draw
02 Israel - they'll struggle from here
03 Cyprus - touch and go
04 Belarus - another bad draw for Belarus
05 Iceland - unlucky after Belarus
06 Georgia - not bad between 2 rock songs
07 Montenegro - rubbish song anyway
08 Switzerland - will stand out after Montenegro
09 Moldova - ok
10 Netherlands - likely after a break so bad news
11 Albania - who cares
12 Denmark - good draw
13 Croatia - bad draw
14 Poland - could be a lot worse for Poland
15 Serbia - great draw
16 Czech Republic - not too bad
17 Portugal - so so
18 FYR Macedonia - again so so
19 Norway - will struggle in clutch of similar entries
20 Malta - could stand out before Andorra
21 Andorra - will definitely stand out
22 Hungary - as will Hungary
23 Estonia - great draw for Estonia this year
24 Belgium - pretty good draw
25 Slovenia - very good draw
26 Turkey - excellent draw
27 Austria - possibly the best draw in the semi-final
28 Latvia - not as good a draw as you might expect

Iceland:- English version

2007-03-12T22:13:00.000Z

The Icelandic song to be performed by Eirkíkur Hauksson will be performed in English in Helsinki and will go under the title of Valentine Lost.

Personally I'm not surprised this munter lost his valentine... I'm aghast he even had one to begin with, but there ya go, proof that there's someone out there for all of us!

Follow the link if you dare....

Eiríkur Hauksson - Valentine Lost

http://www.box.net/public/alt6f11s0a

Swedes are the worrying kind

2007-03-12T22:03:00.000Z

Sweden's six week long national final came to end on Saturday night in Stockholm. Ten songs competed in what is known in Eurovision circles as THE selection show.

The winner was The Ark with their glam-rock-disco disaster The Worrying Kind. I guess it's fair to say that I loathe this kind of '70's retro stuff, but I bet there's tons of people, all over Europe, who will love this.

I just have to hope now that the UK don't select Justin Hawkins as I don't think I'd be able to cope.

The Ark - The Worrying Kind

The mp3 is here:- http://www.box.net/public/6addne903d

Czech out those little women

2007-03-12T21:50:00.000Z

The Czech national final took place in Praha on Saturday night as those Bohemians (and Moravians) selected their début eurosong.

Nine entries took part. The best one had earlier been disqualified, but I don't know why. All nine songs had previously been hits on the Czech charts so at least they have some measure of popular support.

The winner was the most well known act:- hard rock group, Kabát. They've been going over a decade and I guess it's fair to say they have some stage experience. The lead singer's voice reminds me of a lot of OI bands... especially Screwdriver.

It'll come as no surprise then that the song's a rock song. It's ok. I don't mind it for the 3 minutes it lasts.

Kabát - Malá Dáma (Little Woman)

The mp3 is here:- http://www.box.net/public/dr6krb6s6e

Portugal dance their way to Helsinki

2007-03-12T21:37:00.000Z

Portugal's national final was held in Lisboa on Saturday night. Ten songs took part and the public voted for the winner. As ever in Portugal, it wasn't a very inspiring batch of songs.

The winner is by a young girl called Sabrina and she has a pleasant enough way about her, with a bit of a see-through skirt going on to entice the straights!

The song's basically a call for people to dance with her, and if she keeps opening her skirt like that she could well be inundated with menfolk... it's a typically Portuguese Eurovision entry, which means a) it's sung in Portuguese, b) it's about 100 rpm's too slow for what it needs to be, c) there's some heavy brass going on, d) it's all very sugary, e) it's really a bit naff.

However, if that's your idea of a wet dream then you're gonna love it!

Sabrina - Dança Comigo (Vem Ser Feliz) (Dance With Me (Come On Be Happy))

A live mp3 is here:- http://www.box.net/public/yqdpaqbq0a

Beating the Hungarian blues

2007-03-12T00:19:00.000Z

After holding an internal selection, here's the Hungarian entry.

Having taken a one year break from the mêlée last year, Hungary have returned with a load of old shite! It seems that they'll not be bettering NOX's 12th place in 2005.

I really don't get why they've gone for this gravel voiced woman singing something very worthwhile I'm sure, but instantly forgettable. The main criteria for a good eurosong, of whatever genre, is it MUST, MUST, MUST have a hook, otherwise how the fekk is anyone gonna remember it to vote for you?

Nah this ain't doing it for me. Not one iota.

Magdi Rúzsa - Unsubstantial Blues (which kinda says it all really!!!)

http://www.box.net/public/0oz7bb5eau

Shake up a Turkey

2007-03-12T00:09:00.000Z

On Friday Turkish TV revealed their entry for Eurovision, which they'd chosen internally.

You'll remember that the singer Kenan Doğulu had already been picked some months back when I posted his most recent song of the time.

His Eurosong sounds nowt like that!!

Hahahahaha....

I'm torn on this one... it's modern yes and has a nice (subtle) Turkish element to it. Kenan's also doing his best to be Justin Timberlake, but I dunno... is it me or is the chorus like really really really really repetitive?

Listen and judge for yourself.

Kenan Doğulu - Shake It Up Şekerim (Shake It Up Sweetheart)

http://www.box.net/public/9b466ue8eq

Women rule in Germany

2007-03-11T23:46:00.000Z

Last Thursday evening in Hamburg, the Germans chose their song for Europe and David Hasselhof was nowhere to be found!!

Three songs were in the running, but this swing-lite number swung its way into the public's heart and will be representing Europe's most unnationalistic country come May in Helsinki.

The singer's clearly very good at what he does, with a nice smooth voice that suits this kind of music really well. He carries it off well n all, making it all seem very effortless and he looks the part with his trademark hat. Yeah I quite like him.

The song's nothing original, but the style is very original for Eurovision and I reckon we could see Germany back in the top 10 this year. I think the style is too narrow in the audience it targets to make it the winner, although you never know. I predict a solid result, without setting the scoreboard too much alight.

Roger Cicero - Frauen Regier'n Die Welt (Women Rule The World)

The mp3 is here:- http://www.box.net/public/kgrqjzuff9

Serbia's prayers are answered

2007-03-11T23:28:00.000Z

Serbia held their Eurovision selection on Thursday night in Бeoгpaд. This is the first time Serbia will participate as an independent country after the last vestige of the former Yugoslavia, Montenegro, parted company with the Serbs last May.

Ten songs were in competition to be the favourite of both the public and a jury. The winner was this rather ugly duckling going by the name of Marija Šerifović. She's got a better voice than face thank God. The song's about a prayer and isn't quite as dull as it sounds. It's a bit of a big ethno power ballad and is likely to get all the ex-Yugoslavs wetting themselves to call in and vote for Serbia. As regards a Yugoslav peace anthem, I prefer Macedonia's effort... just the lyrics in that are a lot cleverer than in this, but I can sit through it happily enough.

You can watch the video below and work out why they decided to dress Marija as a Laura Ashley sofa.

You can then piss yourself wondering why they decided to decorate the act with all manner of nonsensical acts going on behind the poor woman. The camera operators are obviously having a laugh though as they try, but fail, to decapitate the dancers at various crucial points during the song's proceedings!

Mapиja Шepифoвић - Moлитвa (A Prayer)

An mp3 is here:- http://www.box.net/public/n4jf187luk

Danzing in Ukraine

2007-03-11T23:12:00.000Z

Last Friday, Ukraine held their Eurovision final in Киiв. Seven acts battled it out to be the televoters' favourite.

It's not often I'm rendered speechless, but I afraid with this I am rendered so.

Bєpкa Ceдючкa - Danzing

If you possibly bear to download a live mp3 it is here:- http://www.box.net/public/73ox4z1sqr

Armenia:- Studio version

2007-03-11T23:02:00.000Z

Here's the studio version of the Armenian entry... not too different to the live version to be honest, but less people cheering!

Hayko - Anytime You Need

http://www.box.net/public/744f4323ke

Spain:- Studio version

2007-03-08T13:11:00.000Z

Here's the studio version of the Spanish song.

NASH - I Love You Mi Vida

http://www.box.net/public/3efibjnn26

Get a life Austria

2007-03-08T12:31:00.000Z

Austria announced their Eurovision entry yesterday after Austrian TV held an internal selection of both artist and song.

The singer's a guy called Eric Papilaya (very Austrian surname!) and he took part in the last season of Austria's Pop Idol competition. Therefore, logic says, he should be able to hold a tune.

The song's called Get A life - Get Alive and is being promoted as the song of the Vienna Life Ball 2007. For those who don't know, the Life Ball is an AIDS charity that holds a masquerade ball every year in Vienna (usually on the same date as the song contest). It raises money for various AIDS charities including Elton John's foundation. It is, therefore, supporting a worthy cause.

It's a pretty uptempo and rocky affair, and pretty enjoyable. It kind of reminds me of stuff by Bon Jovi and he's very popular across Europe... especially in Spain so this could get a fair share of the Iberian votes. The song was originally written for an Anastacia single, but it got dropped when she got cancer and nothing ever happened with it... it would've been interesting to hear Anastacia's take on it.

This is ok, Austrian TV have certainly made a bit more of an effort this year after they took a break last year.

A decent mp3 of the song is here:- http://www.box.net/public/r8zzvpbktd

Luv een ze Frensh way

2007-03-08T12:08:00.000Z

France chose their song for Europe on Tuesday just gone and it's an absolute work of genius. There were 10 songs to pick from and the public televoted for their favourite. It was a pretty eclectic mix of R'n'B, rap, ballads, French-Arabic and the one that won.

The winning group is called Les Fatals Picards and the song is called L'Amour À La Française (Love In the French Way). Where it strikes a stroke of genius is that it's partly sung in a mixture of English and French...

The lyrics tell a story where part of a sentence is in English and the rest in French... and it rhymes! Except this isn't the only genius part of the song.

The English is actually in Frenglish and the French is in Franglais... confused? Maybe, but it's fantastic and if you understand both English and French this is a very clever song along the lines of some of the stuff Manu Chao has come up with (check out Le Rendez-Vous by Manu Chao to see what I mean).

Great choice France...

Les Fatals Picards - L'Amour À La Française (Love In The French Way)

There's an mp3 here:- http://www.box.net/public/tknvm2z3hi

Making Your Mind Up

2007-03-06T12:04:00.000Z

The BBC has announced, and about bloody time 'n all, that the 4th edition of Making Your Mind Up... ie the-annual-shameful-music-show-on-telly-where-a-bunch-of-wannabes-and-ex-famous-people-compete-to-win-a-place-at-the-Eurovision-for-the-UK... will be held on 17 March in Maidstone of all places.

Now Auntie's courting a bit of controversy here, as the official deadline for each country selecting its entry is the 12th. The BBC reckons they knew they'd never be able to make that deadline when they were in Athens and the EBU gave them clearance to use the 17th March as the selection date. Hmmmm... call me dubious but....

Anyway the BBC reckons that it's because they knew they'd have difficulty competing with Dancing On Ice over on ITV. The 17th looked like a better date. But... it may all have gone a bit horribly wrong as a few days ago ITV announced that they were suspending all interactive programming whilst some auditors looked into alleged fixing of phone votes or summat. Obviously Dancing On Ice is affected by this and may end up being pushed back a week... coming back into direct competition with Making Your Mind Up. It seems you can't outwit the outwitted!

Well to be fair to the Beeb, they've not done that bad a job this year, with a couple of songs that would be great entries at Eurovision. Let's just see whether the public can be relied upon to actually pick the best of the lot. I can but live in hope.

Here they are anyway. Have a listen and see what you think. This is probably the order I'd put em in:-

Big Brovaz - Big Bro Thang http://www.box.net/public/5reci4gidv

Justin Hawkes & Beverlei Brown - They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To http://www.box.net/public/3skvejqr09

Brian Harvey - I Can http://www.box.net/public/gccsmeq60s

Liz McClarnon - (Don't It Make You) Happy! http://www.box.net/public/6npxcmcgk5

Cyndi - I'll Leave My Heart http://www.box.net/public/aex02bumn4

Scooch - Flying The Flag For You http://www.box.net/public/fiajdd3oi0

Bosnia's river of words

2007-03-06T11:48:00.000Z

Bosnia-Herzegovina revealed their Eurovision entry on Sunday after Bosnian TV held an internal selection of both artist and song.

The artist's called Marija Šestić and hails from the Serbian Republic in Bosnia. Her Dad's a bit of an esteemed bloke as he wrote the Bosnian national anthem.

Anyway the song's a ballad and it's about rivers! Inexplicably! It's all very deep and meaningful I'm sure, but this ain't anywhere near a patch on Lejla (last year's Bosnian song which came 3rd). To be frank it's more like Za Našu Ljubav from 1996. If anyone's as sad as me to remember that then they'll recall that it came like 22nd out of 23 or summat.

The fate of young Marija is going to be determined by how many of the other ex-Yugoslavs make it through the semi-final this year. If none of 'em do (let's face it... an unlikely prospect) then Marija'll probably do quite respectably and will get high votes from the other countries of the Western Balkans. If however, say 3 of the other ex-Yugoslavs qualify she may find her voting base slips somewhat drastically.

Simply put, where's the hook in this? It's all very charming, but charming ain't gonna do well in Eurovision.

Mapиja Шecтић - Rijeka Bez Imena (River Without A Name)

The mp3 can be found by following the link:- http://www.box.net/public/mb5j1r7g1f

You gotta love Lithuania for leaving everything a mess

2007-03-05T14:15:00.000Z

Lithuania's national final took place in Vilnius on Saturday night after one of the most complicated Eurovision selections (bar Spain this year) of all time. It seemed that Lithuanian telly had no idea what the rules were at any given moment and in one final act of incompetence succeeded in one more controversy at the very last moment. More of that in a bit.

The song that actually (or allegedly - depending who you ask) won was this rather subtle and jazz/folk inspired ballad. In the chaos of the Eurovision with artists stripping a go-go, camp dance routines, uptempo pop, screaming singers and general debauchery, this is an oasis of calm and rationality.

It could - with the right starting position - see Lithuania do very well indeed. I like it. I like it a lot.

4Fun - Love Or Leave

The mp3 is here:- http://www.box.net/public/6emg785cdr

However, things ain't that simple.

After the three top songs were selected in the final there was another vote to decide the actual winner. Unnecessary? Yes. Complicated? A little. Confusing? For sure.

Take a look at the following article and see what you think... http://www.oikotimes.com/site/index.php?id=8307

I'm losing belief in Croatia

2007-03-05T14:05:00.000Z

Croatia's national selections for Eurovision took place in Opatija on Saturday night and the winner was this rather bland suedo rock song.

Gone, it seems, are the days of rocking Croatian Eurovision entries. I can't even think of anything to say about this.

Dragonfly feat. Dado Topić - Vjerujem U Ljubav (Believe In Love)

An mp3 can be found here:- http://www.box.net/public/73flu2165a

A big pink Georgian story

2007-03-05T13:30:00.000Z

The Georgian euro selections took place in Tbilisi last Saturday with a bird called Sopho Khalvashi singing 5 songs. The public voted and 51% thought My Story was the best.

It probably was.

It's still not great.

However, Sopho's attempted to sell it by being ill advised to wear a pink blomange that's in serious danger of becoming possessed and eating her! It's no surprise then she looks so concerned!!

სოფო ხალვაში - My Story

An mp3 is here:- http://www.box.net/public/ovsxdem31a

Sweden:- Wild-cards

2007-03-05T12:58:00.000Z

Last Saturday night in Nyköping, the Swedes selected two wild-cards from the 3rd and 4th placed songs of each semi-final to take part in the national final in Stockholm next weekend. In a master-stroke of complication, each song was paired with another and went head to head in a knock-out competition to come up with two winners. You can find 'em below.

Sonja Aldén - För Att Du Finns

Sonja's a great singer and really sells this ballad, which despite being formulaic, is certainly worthy enough of being in the Swedish national final.

Sanna Nielsen - Våger Du, Våger Jag

It's uptempo and lively and if Sanna wasn't as flat as a pancake I'm sure this would be an enjoyable enough 3 minutes... sadly her voice is grating on me.

Andorra save Eurovision

2007-03-04T18:06:00.000Z

Andorra revealed their Eurovision entry on Wednesday after an internal selection by Andorran TV. The song's a cracker. I absolutely love it.

The group are a teen punk band called Anonymous. They're big in Andorra and are starting to make an impact on the Spanish music scene as well. They've written this song themselves and whilst I'm not too keen on the theme (yet another song about saving the planet) this has got a bit of edge about it.

It's catchy, instant, modern and the boys can certainly perform. This could well - and should if we're being honest - see Andorra qualify to the Eurovision final for the first time. It may even take them very close indeed.

Anonymous - Salvem El Món (Let's Save The World)

The mp3 can be found here:- http://www.box.net/public/h78rm9rfmj

Greece shake it up once again

2007-03-02T22:29:00.000Z

The Greeks held their annual boom-bang-a-bang-athon in Aθήναι on Wednesday evening to pick their euro entry. Three songs battled it out in a 3 hour marathon show - can you imagine the BBC devoting THAT much time to Eurovision?

Ever lovers of high drama the Greek public went with the least known performer of the three... a guy called Sarbél who is Greek, but hails from London. So he'll be fighting his corner for a share of the British votes then...

The song's pretty much what you'd expect from a Greek Eurovision entry:- up tempo - check; bouzoukis - check; cute guy - check; a mini drama on stage - checkity-check. It certainly ticks all the right boxes to get the Greeks a respectable place again.

However, I'm not entirely sure about Sarbél's skills as a dancer... it's kind of like watching Lurch from the Addams Family having been reluctantly dragged up on stage by a bunch of over-excitable holiday reps.

And if I'm not sure about his dancing I'm decidedly unsure about his vocal skills, which to be frank are chronically lacking.

Your boy's got some work to do if he wants to prevent a Greek tragedy in Finland.

Σαρμπέλ - (Γειά Σου) Maria

An mp3 is here:- http://www.box.net/public/pguso7s7uf

Pushing Israel's buttons

2007-03-02T22:13:00.000Z

On Tuesday of this week in the sleepy Israeli town of S'derot something quite shocking happened during the selection of their Eurovision song.

The audience actually went with something that has a political message.

And I don't mean something about how we're all so much better off being in the EU or about peace or other such nicities... they picked a song about people blowing themselves up on Isaeli streets.

The group's called Teapacks and it's oh so good... ok I'm not too sure about the rap part in Hebrew half-way through, but this is one rocking song and I think Israel have got it absolutely effin right.

Apparantly there's some talk of a possible disqualification as songs in the contest are not supposed to be political... I say bollox to that... if this gets disqualified then they could retrospectively disqualify nearly every third song that ever took part. And not even to mention the song contest of 1990, which'd be left looking very barren indeed.

It seems to be ok to sing about being European and political unity and peace, but it's not ok to sing about war... I'm sorry but that's insane.

Whilst I personally don't agree with many Israeli policies, I can understand the general feeling of fear in the country and if this is what they want to represent that communal feeling at a European Song Contest then so be fukkin it and screw the lot of em at the EBU in Geneva!!!!

Go Israel!

טיפקס - Push The Button

The mp3 is here:- http://www.box.net/public/2rs59p699m

A Faddy for Montenegro

2007-03-02T21:54:00.000Z

Last Sunday saw the Montenegrins hold their first ever Eurovision national final as a real proper independent country after the debacle that was the Serbo-Montenegrin national final last year. Ten songs competed against each other in Podgorica to represent the world's newest country.

They'll be represented by a guy very famous in his homeland called Stevan Faddy, but oh dear... it's like the last 20 years never happened!!!

Couldn't we just have had the guy banging the drum? ;-)

Stevan Faddy - Hajde Kroči

Here's an mp3 if you're arsed:- http://www.box.net/public/3ae8mn08ju

Anytime you need Matt Monro back from the dead

2007-03-02T21:37:00.000Z

Armenia's national final took place last Sunday night in Erevan... seven songs had made it through from two semi-finals and a jury (ever the advocates of democracy the Armenians) proclaimed this the winner.

The guy's called Hayko and he's apparantly won some Armenian national music award or summat... I guess it must've been the award for youngest old time crooner because despite his ugly mug, this chap could almost be Matt Monro, but without as good a voice.

The song's a ballad.... moving swiftly on.... ha ha, well it's not without its charm and it'll no doubt provide people with a good excuse for a toilet break during the contest, which is always a good thing during a 3 hour long show.

I think Hayko must've employed the Armenian Olympic Gymnastic squad rejects to perform the dance of the seven veils behind him so the jury'd be hypnotised into letting him win... I see no other explanation for this pile of bland dullness.

Հայկո - Anytime You Need

You can find a live mp3 here:- http://www.box.net/public/omx2g73jmg

My world is in the country with the longest name in the world...

2007-03-02T18:51:00.000Z

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia held their national final last Saturday with 15 songs in the running to inexplicably qualify through the Eurovision Semi-Final, but then come nowhere in the main event.

The winner was Karolina Gocheva who you'll no doubt recall got FYR Macedonia an outstanding 19th place in the Eurovision of 2002 in Tallinn. That song (Od Nas Zavisi) was completely different in musical style to this!!! If you believe that then you'll believe that FYR Macedonia ain't gonna get any votes from any of the other ex-Yugoslav countries!!!!

Well it's not terrible, but it's nothing new... let's just see if Karolina throws another hissy fit when Macedonian TV have their annual argument to say that the song can't be performed in English.

Next please....

Кapoлинa Гoчeвa - Mojoт Cвeт (My World)

Download the mp3 here:- http://www.box.net/public/rfpevzxpqp

Tonight in Latvia

2007-02-28T22:51:00.000Z

The Latvian national final was also held last Saturday in Ventspils. There had previously been 2 semi-finals and the 5 best from each went into the final. The public then voted for the winner.

That happened to be a song sung entirely in Italian (a nation not even represented at Eurovision) and is another opera song, so they'll be hoping not to be drawn next to Slovenia then.

They're all good singers, it's all very operatic, it does exactly what it says on the tin.

I'm not really interested, but they'll probably interest me more on the night when I hear them live in the arena...

Bonaparti.lv - Questa Notte (Tonight)

You can find the mp3 here:- http://www.box.net/public/f6k7n0iq07

The Spanish love my life!

2007-02-28T22:30:00.000Z

The Spanish held the last part of their mammoth selection process for Eurovision in Madrid last Saturday night. As usual for Spanish TV it was a drawn out affair with about a million ad breaks and no one seemingly knowing what was going on at any given moment!

The end result was that a boyband called NASH won with another song by that most Spanish of Swedes Tommy G:son. So that's two songs G:son has in Eurovision so far this year... neither of which are for his home country!!!

You'll know it's a G:son song because it's formulaic pop, there's possibilities for key changes and a strip and it could have been written in 5 minutes (and probably was)!

Having said that, it's not too much of a hideous prospect, and NASH are certainly easier on the eye than old Guri Schanke of Norway (or the Icelandic geezer for that matter). I am slightly worried though that these boys have an identity crisis as they all seem to think they're Spiderman!

Mind you, they're a million miles better than Son De Sol and Las Ketchup... I think Spain stand a good chance this year.

NASH - I Love You Mi Vida (I Love You My Life)

There's a live mp3 of the song here:- http://www.box.net/public/b0mx5yeq47

Those Bulgarians need cooling down with water

2007-02-28T22:10:00.000Z

Last Saturday night in Coфия, the Bulgarians picked their song for Europe. Twelve entries had made it through from the semi-final held a few weeks back and televoting provided the winner.

It's an odd one.

I imagine if you're Bulgarian, or Turkmen or even Nepalese for that matter, then you're gonna love this. Everyone further north and west of that is gonna think WHAT THE FEKK IS THIS ALL ABOUT?!!! There's no doubt this bird's got a good set of lungs on her, but it's far too harsh and too foreign for most Western Europeans at least. I'm not sure what the Bulgarians saw in this that made them vote for it in their droves, it certainly couldn't have been the spectacular stage show!!! ;-)

Well ok, another weird song for this year's Eurovision. Maybe they can get hot half naked male dancers to liven things up a bit!!!

Eлицa Toдopoвa И Cтoян Янкyлoв - Boдa (Water)

Download the mp3 here:- http://www.box.net/public/legfgb77j7

Sweden:- Semi-final 4

2007-02-28T21:54:00.000Z

Last Saturday night the 4th Swedish semi-final was held in Gävle. The two winners to qualify for the national final are below...

Sarah Dawn Finer - I Remember Love

A nicely performed nice ballad that will appeal to everyone who is nice. How nice!

Andreas Johnsson - A Little Bit Of Love

Another typical schlager song... sing along everyone, you must know the tune by now!!!

So, So Cyprus

2007-02-28T21:38:00.000Z

Last Friday night, Cyprus TV débuted their Eurovision entry to be sung by Evridiki, who you'll remember from a previous post!

If Belgium have rejected the French language for their entry, the Cypriots have positively embraced it and will be singing the whole thing in Gallic tongues! Evridiki, as I've said before, is certainly a competent singer and will no doubt belt this out with gusto... hopefully she'll come higher than 11th, the position she attained on her previous two forays into euroland.

The song itself is called Comme Ci, Comme Ça and is a bit of an 80's electro stomper. On first hearing it sounds a bit dated, but like a fine wine, this is a song that gets better with age. Give it a few listens and see what you think. Mind you, the majority of the audience will be hearing this for the first time come the big night, so that doesn't bode too well if it's not very instant...

Eυριδήκη - Comme Ci, Comme Ça (So, So)

Download the mp3 here:- http://www.box.net/public/r2z85k920f

A Belgian crazy mess

2007-02-28T21:21:00.000Z

Last Wednesday Belgium (or more correctly Wallonia) decided who would be their Eurovision entry for 2007. RTBF (Radio Télévision Belge Française) internally selected the KMG's (Krazy Mess Gang) to represent the plucky Belgians in Helsinki.

The song's called Love Power! and is the first time that the French speaking part of Belgium has entered a song entirely in English, which is a bit of a shocker really. It's kinda like Donna Summer et al have never gone away, harking back to the disco era of the 70's and it does have a retro sound.

It's not totally unpleasant and although I wouldn't be rushing out to buy it, I guess if you like this sort of thing then you'll find it a pretty enjoyable 3 minutes. Everyone else will likely just be wishing they'd dug out their platform shoes from the attic for a bit of a laugh.

The KMG's - Love Power!

Download the mp3 here:- http://www.box.net/public/n872t4u8p9

C'est la vie

2007-02-28T21:16:00.000Z

As usual I've been dumped!

As a special treat....

2007-02-22T22:48:00.000Z

Here's the song Cara Mia from the Swedish semi-final last Saturday...

http://www.box.net/public/zlr7uufr38

Vampires live in ... errr ... Switzerland!

2007-02-22T22:36:00.000Z

Swiss TV revealed the song they have selected to represent them yesterday. If you cast your mind back a few months, you'll recall that they'd already chosen cheesy DJ, DJ Bobo to carry Swiss hopes in Helsinki.

Well the song is called Vampires Are Alive and gives more than a passing nod to that most famous of Swiss legends: Dracula - locked away in his lonely castle in the Graubünden near Zürich, playing his alpenhorn, eating museli and chasing girls by the name of Heidi!!

Actually, from what I was expecting, the song's not that bad... it's certainly one of the more dance orientated pop songs picked so far this year and they'll no doubt have a great stage show to match. At least he's Swiss and at least it's uptempo and lively, and at least he (in theory) knows what he's doing (or so we're led to believe).

But... do you think the Romanian tourist board could sue? Watch the video and download the song below.

Get the mp3 here:- http://www.box.net/public/azpuoqmeyn

Reading palms in Iceland

2007-02-21T14:00:00.000Z

The Icelandic national final took place in Reykjavík on Saturday night and if the Finns got it so right, the Icelandics couldn't have got it so wrong.

This was one of the strongest Icelandic national finals since the dawn of time and they ended up plumping for some aging rocker, with a weak voice and a dull uninspiring rock song. I really don't get what Iceland see in this that they think will bring them success in May... maybe I'm missing something, but I think the dark nights have finally got to them!

Eiríkur Hauksson - Ég Les Í Lófa Þínum (I'm Reading Your Palms)

The mp3 is here:- http://www.box.net/public/4p3ljg2eph

Leave Finland Alone

2007-02-21T13:29:00.000Z

The Finnish national final took place in Turku on Saturday night and it was dominated by heavy rock (see previous posts). The winner, beating the very famous Lovex and the gorgeous Johana Kurkela, was Hanna Pakarinen with her rock inthused pop track Leave Me Alone.

The more I listen to this, the more I like it actually and I think the Finns have probably got this one right. Her facial expressions are fantastic, but she does need to work on her vocal a bit before May if she wants to keep the Finns near the top of the scoreboard. The music is this is great, I love all the dirty guitars and the heavy drum beat. The song reminds me of a cross between Shakira and Alannis Morrisette, which ultimately is no bad thing, but the end isn't that strong and I think it needs to be rearranged slightly to be more powerful. At the minute it just seems to peter out and ends on a squib rather than a bang!

The lyrics in the chorus also leave a lot to be desired, but whilst they sound a bit naff in the live version, on the studio version it doesn't sound as noticeable for some reason...

Watch her performance below and download the mp3 further down.

Hanna Pakarinen - Leave Me Alone

The mp3 is here:- http://www.box.net/public/q1gfg66ome

Sweden:- Semi-final 3

2007-02-21T13:11:00.000Z

The third Swedish semi-final took place in Örnsköldsvik on Saturday night. The two songs that have qualified to the national final are below.

Måns Zelmerlöw - Cara Mia

Clearly suffering from the Tornerò effect, this is another high-nrg dance song, belted out by a cute guy with a fantastic voice. On it's plus side this is the sort of thing that would do very well at Eurovision and I'd secretly quite like it to be the Swedish entry. On the downside, it does leave you kind of thinking the Swedes wish they'd entered Tornerò last year!

Sebastian - When The Night Comes Falling

In case you were in any doubt of there being a lack of schlager in the Swedish national final, fear not as here's another schlager by numbers track sung by your camp mate you're secretly embarrassed by. Nope... next...

Lithuania:- Semi-final 1

2007-02-21T13:02:00.000Z

On Saturday night, Lithuania held their first semi-final in Vilnius. Five acts were voted into the national final and another five will suffer the same fate next week. Watch the winner of this semi below.

4Fun - Love Or Leave

This is about as far away from We Are The Winners as you can get and if Lithuania were to go to Helsinki with this, they could get another excellent result.

Ireland can't stop playing the tin whistle

2007-02-21T12:41:00.000Z

Last Friday night the Irish held their Eurovision selection in Dublin. The trad music group Dervish had been selected previously to sing all four entries, which they did (of a fashion) before the public voted to pick the winner.

My personal opinion is that her voice borders between the interesting and grating on my brain. I kind of like the way she sings like she's telling a story, but then she squeels through her nose like a crab being boiled in a pot and that's doing nothing for my ears. The music is pretty good and the sort of style that'll go down pretty well in this neck of the European woods. The lyrics are nothing short of dreadful - they're so cheese-laden they could host a fondue convention. The general sentiment is not bad... the title "They can't stop the spring" comes from the anti-Soviet movement, which took place during the Prague Spring of the 60's and was violently suppressed by the Soviet Union. So why then are the lyrics so awful? Who knows...

What I do know is that this is almost 99,9% guaranteed to get the UK's "douze points". Come on then Ireland... you gonna help us out with a few points n all? ;-)

Dervish - They Can't Stop The Spring

Download a live version of the song here:- http://www.box.net/public/g4blxarngi

Charlotte Helen Nolan

2007-02-14T18:33:00.000Z

My sister gave birth this afternoon at 12:21 to a little baby girl.

She's called Charlotte Helen Nolan and weighed in at 3kg or 8 pounds 6 ounces. She's apparently a big baby, but I've never seen one so small. She's gorgeous and was asleep, but had one eye open...

She's the most amazing thing I've ever seen.

My sister was in the running for the longest labour going, as it took almost 3 days from the onset... she's understandably nakkered, but didn't need any drugs other than gas or air so fair play to her. Ian's just smiling all the time as are my Mum and Dad.

Here's some pics...

Never again without the Netherlands!

2007-02-13T08:46:00.000Z

On Sunday night, the Netherlands selected their song for Europe. I say the Netherlands, but it was actually just one Netherlander! Edsilia Rombley, who had been selected by Dutch TV late last year, sang 3 songs on the Paul de Leeuw show and then was allowed to pick her favourite. It kind of beggars the question, why did she need to sing the other two songs? Did she not already know the song she'd pick? Was it all not a blatant attempt to promote her new Dutch language album?

In true Dutch fashion, they'll get another uptempo entry (like the British and the Swedes, the Dutch seem scared shitless of ever sending a ballad to Eurovision). It sounds a little bit late 90's and little bit 'One Day In Your Life' by Anastacia. At the minute Edsilia seems hell bent on performing this in Dutch in Helsinki. I'm not sure if that's a wise move or not. She may be 'following her heart' in doing so and therefore give a more comfortable performance, but Dutch is hardly the most accessible language is it? She also needs to get into the top 10 out of 28 songs to even qualify to the final on the Saturday and by singing in Dutch she is alienating a lot of potential voters. To her credit she's a good singer and she'll belt this out with gusto come May, although I hope they rearrange it a bit, as it's lacking a little something I think, but more or less I think it's ok.

The only problem she has, is that after being allowed to single handedly pick her own song, if she fails to get the Netherlands to the final, they could be baying for her blood. This has the potential to be the worst career move she ever made... watch this space and the video below.

Edsilia Rombley - Nooit Meer Zonder Jou (Never Again Without You)

Download the song here:- http://www.box.net/public/ul1e56f1v7

Romania send the world crazy

2007-02-12T11:24:00.000Z

The Romanian national final took place in Bucureşti on Saturday night and after all the decent songs were got rid of by Romanian TV (some were claimed to be plagiarised, others performed previously, and others withdrew in protest) the best of a bad bunch seemed destined to win. And that's exactly what happened. The song's quite interesting, ie: to listen to once, think oh right, and then never touch again! After 4 years of decent songs, and high placings, I think this is the year that Romania drop back down into the semi-finals. I just don't see how this has got enough attack in it to do well. It's too laid back and performance is a complete mess.

Locomondo - Liubi, Liubi, I Love You

Download the song at this link:- http://www.box.net/public/eva5tlnhxf

Dragging it up in Denmark

2007-02-12T11:06:00.000Z

The Danish national final was held on Saturday night in Horsens. The winner was not even amongst the top 4 in its respective semi-final and only qualified for the main event as a wild card. So DQ (Drama Queen) was the winner and you could almost be forgiven for thinking that this is the same song as the one the Norwegians had just picked! Also, like the Norwegians I think Denmark have got this wrong. Whereas they could have sent the fantastic and powerful song by Jacob Andersen, they instead went for a bit of cheese, a camp dance routine and a couple of ostrich feathers. If Denmark and Norway now appear back to back in the semi-final it's almost sure to be curtains for them both. Sorry Denmark, but this is rubbish.

DQ - Drama Queen

Download the mp3 here:- http://www.box.net/public/eeb63dohcp

Come and dance with a Norwegian old timer

2007-02-12T10:46:00.000Z

Norway's national final took place in Oslo on Saturday night and there were some great songs in there (see previous posts). However, the Norwegian public went with possibly the most predictable song of the bunch. It's a Tommy G:son song, so you pretty much know what you're getting for your money - and yes there is a key change - and a strip - and it sounds like anything else he ever wrote. On that basis alone, it should do pretty well, but Guri I'm not so sure about. She looks like a bit of a good time girl, and, as I wrote earlier, she's determined to show off her vag at every available opportunity. I dunno though, there's something just wrong about her being flung about... she doesn't look entirely comfortable. Maybe she's secretly longing for her blanket, a cup of cocoa and a Ruth Rendell! I reckon Norway's got this one wrong and should have gone with the mighty CRASH! Aah well...

Guri Schanke - Ven A Bailar Conmigo

The mp3 can be found by clicking here:- http://www.box.net/public/0jvd15idz9

Sweden:- Semi-final 2

2007-02-12T10:23:00.000Z

Saturday night saw the 2nd Swedish semi-final take place in Göteborg. The two acts that qualified for the national final are below:-

The Ark - The Worrying Kind

Hideous retro song kind of akin to a lite version of The Darkness. I can't stand this sort of shite... but at least it's not schlager.

Marie Lindberg - Trying To Recall

Now this is more like it... a beautifully simple song that isn't trying to be anything other than that. Because of its stripped down melody you actually take more notice of it. In the unlikely event that Sweden pick this to represent them, I reckon they could do extremely well. However it'll be a case of do they dare to be brave, or play it safe and stick to the tried and tested schlager formulaic pop.

Finland:- Semi-final 4

2007-02-12T09:59:00.000Z

The last of the 4 Finnish semi-finals took place in Tampere on Saturday night and the 3 entries that have qualified for the national final are below.

Laura Voutilainen - Take A Chance

Laura's back from her 2002 attempt at Eurovision and still has a bizarre dress sense! The song's ok and one of the better ones in the Finnish selection, but it's lacking something for me. I don't really know what, but it just all seems a little flat.

Beats & Styles - See The Signs

What a complete and utter mess!

Jan Wilde & Rose Avenue - Rock 'n' Roll Dreams

And you thought New Romanticism had died in the 80's! Again another rubbish song in the Finnish selection.

Norway:- Wild cards

2007-02-10T13:24:00.000Z

Like their Scandinavian brothers, the Norwegians have also selected two wild-cards to go into their national final taking place in Oslo tonight.

Jannicke Abrahamsen - Rocket Ride

You just know that last week she was 'acting' in a Swedish porno!

Trine Rein feat. Andreas Ljones - Maybe

A country inspired rock song... not doing much for me at all.

Denmark:- Wild cards

2007-02-10T13:08:00.000Z

The two wild cards to go to the Danish final tonight have been decided and they are as follows:-

DQ - Drama Queen

Doing nothing for making Eurovision less gay, Denmark could end up sending a drag queen. Mind you, we all need a bit of lightness in our lives once in a while. What is it though with drag queens having better legs than girls?! Actually he's got a pretty good voice to be fair, although the song's about as original as anything written by Tommy G:son. If the Danes do decide to go for camp then this'd be the logical choice, but as they didn't vote for it initially I don't see how it'll end up in Helsinki.

Jørgen Olsen - Vi Elsker Bare Danske Piger

Oh for God's sake, when will he just disappear into your gran's stocking drawer? He's had his time now and he's even won Eurovision once already. He's still doing that little point and looking meaningfully at the camera. And I don't even want to talk about the dreadful rap part (which is about whether Jutland or Sealand girls are better)... I mean it's like your Grandad discussing college girls with you... it's WRONG! Ugghh.

Five years later...

2007-02-10T13:04:00.000Z

After five years of being single, I have boyfriend!

SHOCK!

His name's Gary and he's fantastic... he interests me on so many levels... and things are looking good ;-)

Sadly my car failed its MOT the other day though and it's gonna cost me £500 to put right... bollox!

Malta get vertigo

2007-02-05T16:11:00.000Z

The last country to pick their entry on Saturday was Malta, with the Malta Song For Europe Final taking place in Ta' Qali. You can see the songs that qualified from the semi-final in a previous post. In true fashion my favourite came last!!!!

The winner was Olivia Lewis on her 13th attempt to represent the little island in the Med. It's all very dramatic and I'm sure it'll go down quite well across the continent, but I don't think they've got a winner with this. With the right stage show they could do quite well, as it's a very theatrical song and one that has to be seen rather than heard, and I guess that's what Eurovision is nowadays.

Watch her reprise (and faltering voice) from the end of the final below.

Olivia Lewis - Vertigo

The mp3 is here:- http://www.box.net/public/b7hc8nf4gu

Time to party in Poland

2007-02-05T15:58:00.000Z

The next country to select their entry for Helsinki on Saturday was Poland. They held their
Piosenka Dla Europy contest in Warszawa. Ten songs competed with televoting deciding the winner. As usual for a Polish final, it was a pretty eclectic / bizarre mix of songs depending on your taste.

The public plumped for the most famous group taking part The Jet Set and their mish-mash of a song Time To Party. It's not great. For me it's like three different RnB songs in one and it sounds disjointed and I personally don't think it works. But then I'm not a fan of this type of music in the first place. Unless they pull something spectacular out of the bag I don't see this causing too much trouble in May. Watch the vid (bad quality) below.

The Jet Set - Time To Party

Download an mp3 here:- http://www.box.net/public/5f5m035an1

Slovenia picks a flower from the South

2007-02-05T15:42:00.000Z

The second country to pick their entry on Saturday with the EMA Final taking place in Ljubljana. See previous posts for the songs that qualified from the semi-finals. This was the first time that the Slovenes got to pick an entry without the interference of a jury, which has always skewed the vote in the past. So it's the first time that a Slovene entry actually has genuine popular support, which I guess is a good thing.

The winner was Alenka Gotar and her operatic pop song Cvet Z Juga (Flower Of The South). It remains to be seen whether or not they'll translate this into English come May or not. Personally I think it would make little difference... I mean people are used to hearing opera in Italian so why not in Slovenian? I think she could do with replacing the backing singers - especially the screechy one - and also losing the cheesy dance, which adds nothing to the song at all. Overall I reckon that Slovenia have a fighting chance of qualifying this year, she's gonna stand out if nothing else.

Watch the vid from the final of EMA below.

Alenka Gotar - Cvet Z Juga

You can find an mp3 of the song here:- http://www.box.net/public/dcte0qlqu4

Estonia commit a crime!

2007-02-05T15:01:00.000Z

The first of four countries to actually pick a song for Helsinki on Saturday night was Estonia, with the annual Eurolaul contest being held in Tallinn. Ten songs were on offer and ETV had put a lot of effort in this year with a great selection on offer. It bemuses me a little as to why the Estonian public went with what they did then. I mean Gerli Padar is quite popular in Estonia at the minute as she's just won some reality celebrity TV show so that could explain it, but she was up against Estonian superstars Ines, Vanilla Ninja and not to mention the gorgeous Hele Kõre and Kristjan Kasearu. It turns out that neither Ines nor Vanilla Ninja ended up in the top three, which I find quite surprising, but then that's the crazy thing about televoting.

Anyway here's a selection of what was on offer in the little Baltic country at the weekend including the winner plus an mp3.

Gerli Padar - Partners In Crime

So here's the winner. This is actually ok and she's a competent performer, but I just fail to see where the hook is in this that can lift it into the top 10 out of 28 songs in the semi-final in May before they can even contemplate taking part in the Eurovision Final. I don't hate this song, far from it, I'd quite happily listen to it on the radio, and it could be a good radio hit, but as a success in Eurovision?... Hmmm something's lacking for me. At best they might scrape into the final. At worst people will just think she's a rip off of Pink.

There's an mp3 of the song at this link:- http://www.box.net/public/d9bgsd1a1l

Hele Kõre & Kristjan Kasearu - Romeo Ja Julia

This came second and in my opinion it should have won. The haunting melody and lyrics just do it for me. The dancers are bizarre, but they could have been lost. There's something about this song that really gets under my skin and the great thing about it is the subtlety of the hook in it despite the fact that the hook is massive. Such a shame.

Vanilla Ninja - Birds Of Peace

The Ninja came 4th with a much more original rock pop song than that performed by Gerli, and they have much stronger voices as well, but I guess the Estonian public just weren't feeling them.

Ines - In Good And Bad

Nice lyrical song, but she ended up a long way down the scoreboard. Her voice seems to waiver a bit, which is a little annoying as she can actually sing, but hey ho... obviously it wasn't to be her night.

Latvia:- Semi-final 2

2007-02-05T14:54:00.000Z

The second Latvian semi-final took place on Saturday night (what a busy evening it was) and five songs out of ten on offer were voted into the national final. Unfortunately the show wasn't webcast and I have no music files of any of the songs so am unable to comment on what they've picked.

Norway:- Semi-final 3

2007-02-05T14:39:00.000Z

The last Norwegian semi-final took place on Saturday night in Stokke. The two songs that have progressed to the national final are below.

CRASH! - Wannabe

A great pop rock song, kind of in the style of some of Blink 182's lighter stuff. They give a great performance as well. Norway's had a great year for songs this year I think.

Jenny Jenssen - Vil Du Ha Svar

Well no Scandinavian final would be complete without at least some schlager so I can forgive em for having the one in there. Personally I don't like it, it sounds like any Danish entry to Eurovision from the '80's.

Romania:- Semi-final 2

2007-02-05T14:26:00.000Z

The second Romanian semi-final took place on Saturday night and 6 out of the 11 songs on offer were voted by the public into the national final. I can only find one vid online so here it is.

Andra & Simplu - Dracula, My Love

The song is totally random, but they perform the ass off it. It's definitely got the WOW factor and is very theatrical. I can see this doing pretty well in Helsinki. UPDATE:- It now appeears this song has been disqualified along with two others in the Romanian national final as they were performed prior to 01 October 2006, which is against the rules sadly. Aah well...

Sweden:- Semi-final 1

2007-02-05T12:06:00.000Z

And yet another country that began their quest to find a song for Helsinki was Sweden. They held their first of 4 semi-finals in Jönköping. The two best as voted by the public qualify directly for the national final and the 3rd and 4th places songs from each semi-final get to have another go in a wild-card round. Watch the two winners below:-

Anna Book - Samba Sambero

Completely ignoring anything that sounds even faintly modern, the Swedes voted in their numbers for the two most traditional schlager pop songs on offer. This one is kind of Caribbean inspired and sung by a fat bird who reminds me a little (or a lot depending on your take) of Chiara. She also has a good voice and oh God I can so see this winning the whole thing for Sweden... I'm off to cry now as I loathe it.

Tommy Nilsson - Jag Tror På Människan

A big schlager pop ballad. He's got a good voice, but what's with his hair? Talk about being blow dried to fuck! Nah this is less my thing than the song above.

Bulgaria:- Semi-final

2007-02-04T23:33:00.000Z

Bulgaria also started their 2007 song search on Saturday night in Coфия. Eighteen songs took part in a semi-final, which a jury whittled down to nine. These songs will be joined by three wild-cards for the national final to take place on 24 February. I don't think the show was webcast as I can only find the one video of the songs that made it through.

Coфи Mapинoвa И Уcтaтa - Я Tвoя

A kind of Lisa Scott-Lee meets a Bulgarian 50 Cent.

Iceland:- Semi-final 3

2007-02-04T22:55:00.000Z

The last of the Icelandic semi-finals was held in Reykjavík on Saturday night. The top three songs that progress to the national final on 17 February are below.

Ragnheiður Eiriksdóttir - Ég Og Heilinn Minn

She seems to be having a good laugh. I imagine this'll sound much better in English.

Hafsteinn Þórólfsson - Þú Tryllir Mig

Oh God this is fantastic! It's so effortlessly camp it's just amazing.

Andri Bergmann - Bjarta Brosið

Cute blonde boy sings a dull schlager pop song.

Finland:- Semi-final 3

2007-02-04T22:39:00.000Z

The third of Finland's semi-finals was held on Saturday night in Tampere. Watch the three songs that qualified to the final below.

Johanna Kurkela - Olet Uneni Kaunein

Finally a decent song in the Finnish selection! Her voice is flawless and haunting. The stage show is a little overblown, but it's interesting at least. Pretty good.

Lovex - Anyone, Anymore

Another good song, from another Finnish hard rock band. This band are big not only in Finland, but also in much of Central Europe, so they could bring a lot of votes Finland's way in May.

Kentala - Left My Heart Behind

Some Bon Jovi inspired soft rock. It's ok if you like that kind of thing, but this ain't doing it for me.

Denmark:- Semi-final 2

2007-02-03T11:54:00.000Z

The second Danish semi-final took place on Friday night in Ålborg. The top 4 songs, as voted by the public, will make their way to the final. Watch 'em below:-

Stig Rossen - Så Nær Som Nu

A bit of a big power ballad this one. It's not really my cup of tea, but his voice is great so I can see why the Danes loved it.

Katrine Falkenberg - It's A Beautiful Day

Twee enough to be the Maltese entry, but for some reason you just can't hate this girl. It's a country style song and is pretty calm except for the dancers on rollerblades!

James Sampson - Say You Love Me

The kind of thing that Denmark is likely to vote for sadly. It's all ok, but where's the attack in this?

Me & My - Two Are Stronger Than One

Well their voices are better than I thought they would be, but the song's really doing nothing for me.

Slovenia:- Semi-final 2

2007-02-03T11:08:00.000Z

Slovenia's second semi-final took place on Friday night in Ljubljana. The seven songs below were voted into the final by the Slovenian public.

Eva Černe - Čudeži Smehljaja

This girl won the latest edition of Slovenia's Pop Idol show. The song's dull as, but the stage show's pretty interesting. Her voice seems to falter a bit, but then that's understandable when you've got 4 Miss Whiplashes after ya!

Nude - Element L

Despite the name of the band they're performing in boiler suits. Spot the guy in the boots, plus another guy in yellow braces (bring it on!). I like this song... it's sort of a Slovenian Coldplay. Interesting. They could do worse than picking this.

Žana - Druga Violina

Hideous song. Hideous voice. Cheesy Phantom of the Opera guy. This is just dreadful.

Zlati Muzikanti - Pepelka

A bit of a Balkan sing-a-long. They look like they're after recapturing their Venetian past!

Tadeja Fatur - Drugačna (Pesem)

Well this one starts off pretty interesting n all. Then it just descends into disco anarchy! The dancers are clearly doing a Jade Goody workout video!!!

Steffy & Donald TrumpeT - Zadel Si Me V Živo

This would blatantly get the 12 points from Yorkshire!!!

Denis - Nor Sem Nate

A bit of a reggae romp. Shame the boy's totally flat. He managed to fool the audience with the false ending though!!!

Malta:- Semi-final

2007-02-03T10:18:00.000Z

On Thursday night, Malta also began looking for a song, with a semi-final of 16 songs being held in Ta' Qali. The six best, as voted by the Maltese public, have made it to the final being held on Saturday night at the same venue. Watch the vids below (the quality ain't great though):-

Kevin Borg - Whenever

Dull ballad. There were better songs than this that failed to qualify. What's with the backing dancers trying to steal the show n all?

Olivia Lewis - Vertigo

Well this bird's the favourite to represent Malta, but then she's been the favourite every other year since 1243 and failed so the odds aren't that much in her favour. To her credit she's got a fine pair of lungs on her and they've put a bit of thought into the stage show (unlike the song above). Just a shame that the sound is out of sync with the picture.

Klinsmann Coleiro - She Gives Me Wings

Do you reckon McFly could sue?

Pamela Bezzina - All About A Life

Her voice is pretty distinctive, but the song's dreadful. At least the backing singers are behaving themselves though.

SCAR - As Long As You Know

This is the one that I want to win. It's just a really great song. Plus how fit is the lead singer?

Trilogy - Starlight

This is the one that I can see winning. Not one that'd ever make it on any pop chart, but I guess it's pretty captivating. And since when was Eurovision ever about pop music anyway?

Slovenia:- Semi-final 1

2007-02-02T22:18:00.000Z

Right then. Thursday night saw Slovenia kick off on the road to Helsinki with their first semi-final held in Ljubljana. Always ones for a quick turnaround, the second will be held on Friday with the final on Saturday. The vids below are of the songs that qualified for the final.

Alenka Gotar - Cvet Z Juga

Well the Slovenes usually either go for deadly serious or deadly cheesy, but this is possibly the only one that crossovers into both territories. She's got a great voice and it's different enough that it will stand out should it win their ticket to Eurovision.

Zablujena Generacija - Kdo Hoče Plesati Z Menoj?

Fuckin yes! This HAS to represent Slovenia. They fuckin' rock. They even end the song with "Oi! Oi! Oi! Oi! Oi!" Fuckin lovin it! The cameramen seem to have had a nervous breakdown though!

Martin Perovič - Zadeni Me

Pretty (sub) standard Balkan pop fayre. Points to note... his failing voice and lack of stage presence... the half-hearted strip by the backing singers... the fit dancers. Have braces suddenly come back into fashion? That's the second time this national finals season I've spotted 'em... ;-)

Sebastian - Naj Svet Zakriči

Tina Karol has morphed into a camp bloke who's nicked Carola's flag wavers! His voice is not bad considering all the dancing he's doing, but I'm bored, although if you you look carefully his boyfriend in the audience is clearly enjoying the performance!

Alya - Vizija

I need counselling!

Dean Vivod & Tonus Kitaris - Hitmejker

And you thought the Norwegians were weird! I pray to God that this doesn't go to Helsinki.

Don Corleone - Bella Mia

Well if you've been waiting all your life to hear a Slovenian piss-take of Italy then here ya go!

Dull in Hull?

2007-01-31T14:06:00.000Z

So last weekend I went to see Craig in Hull... it was far from dull.

Had a wicked time, especially at his boyfriend Carl's pub... The Polar Bear... which is on Spring Bank... if you're ever in Hull check it out as it's great.

Friday night they had a band on called the Influential Factor, who absolutely fuckin' rocked the place... see their website at http://bands.meefo.com/?band=3179

Friday also saw us refused entry to Fuel because apparently we aren't gay... what? First I knew!!! Maybe it was because I was in me boots and braces I dunno, but the bouncers were very rude to us. Aah well, we got an apology later and everything was ok for the Saturday night.

Me & Craig in the Polar Bear

Carl and dirty Nigel

Craig & Carl at Lounge

On Sunday I stopped by at David's new house for a good laugh at some old photos. I also got to feel up Muriella's tits!

Romania:- Semi-final 1

2007-01-31T13:54:00.000Z

Romania also started out on the road to Helsinki last saturday night in Bucureşti. Eleven songs battled it out to win six places in the national final. Out of the six that qualified I can only find one video, which is below.

Morandi & Wassabi - Crazy

The song's not bad... some more of the usual eurodance that we've come to expect from Romania of late, but the singing (especially the girl) is atrocious!

Norway:- Semi-final 2

2007-01-31T13:33:00.000Z

After they started looking for a song last week, the second Norwegian semi-final took place in Bodø last Saturday night. Another two acts were voted into the final and another two are allowed to have another go in the wild-card round. Watch the two winners below.

Guri Schanke - Ven A Bailar Conmigo

Now Guri isn't exactly in the first flush of youth, but she's still determined to show off her vag as much as possible... maybe her two camp dancers are getting her all hot! She does feel the need to change her dress after all!

Dusty Cowshit - Chicken Rodeo

Well no one can say the Norwegians aren't game for a laugh. Oh dear!

Lithuania:- Quarter-final 1

2007-01-31T13:25:00.000Z

Like their neighbours, Latvia, Lithuania started looking for a song to represent them last Saturday night in Vilnius. However, whereas Latvia has a relatively easy method of selecting an act to represent them, I'm baffled by Lithuania's. It seems there's about 9 quarter finals divided into colours and then semi-finals, which some acts get automatic entry into, then a national final, which some more acts get automatic entry into. Confused? Yeah so am I. So we'll leave em to follow up the Godawful 'We Are The Winners' on their own, until I can understand it.

Latvia:- Semi-final 1

2007-01-31T13:15:00.000Z

Latvia began their song search last Saturday in Rīga. There's two semi-finals leading to a national final in a few weeks. The vid below (very bad quality recorded from someone's TV) is of the song which won the first semi.

Lenii - Take Off Your Mask

Kind of ok, but the performance and dancing is shocking.

Iceland:- Semi-final 2

2007-01-31T12:53:00.000Z

Iceland continued their song search last Saturday night in Reykjavík. Three acts out of the eight on offer were voted into the national final. The vids are below.

Friðrik Ómar - Eldur

Right then, your man's got a good voice, but the song's a little dull and predictable. Not sure why there's 2 blokes banging bottles of Jean Paul Gaultier's Le Male, but anyway!

Eiríkur Hauksson - Ég Les Í Lófa Þínum

Old-time rocker tries to recapture his youth!

Jón Jósep Snæbjörnsson - Segðu Mér

Jónsi returns from his 2004 foray in Eurovision with a cracking song and performance... he's obviously learned from 2004 that you don't need to run about the stage like a mad man to get your point across! Save anything spectacular happening in the last semi next week, this should (in theory) be the song that represents Iceland in Helsinki. Oh and I love his arms n all!!!

Finland:- Semi-final 2

2007-01-29T17:46:00.000Z

Continuing from last week's start, Finland held their second semi-final in Tampere on Saturday night. Watch the vids of the 3 songs that have qualified for the final below:-

Jukka Kuoppamäki - Levitä Siivet

Dull, dull, dull. After Lordi, is this really the best that Finnish TV can come up with? It's like your Dad doing karaoke!

Katra - Tietäjä

Well she was apparantly sick so that explains her dodgy voice! Still not great though, but at least it's an improvement on Dad doing karaoke!

Humane - Plane Away

Quite a nice low-key chilled out effort with a bit of random opera towards the end! Am likin' the guy's red braces under his jacket!

Denmark: Semi-final 1

2007-01-29T17:16:00.000Z

Last Friday night in Hostebro, Denmark began their search for a song for Helsinki. They'll be holding 2 semi-finals before a national final in a couple of weeks time. Four songs from each semi go through as voted by the Danish public. A further 2 songs will be selected by 2 Danish radio stations from those that didn't make it. Watch the vids of those who got through below:-

Jacob Andersen - Listen To Love

A good rock-pop song. If Denmark go for this, then they could have some good chances in May.

Annette Heick - Copenhagen Airport

A very camp pop song about Copenhagen Airport... the gays'll love it at least. Especially once the stripping pilot dancers enter the scene. Her voice starts off ok, but is flat by the end and quite frankly, this bores me.

Danni Elmo - Meaning Of Life

With a voice a bit like Bryan Adams, this is some more soft rock-cum-pop. It's ok and could probably be a radio hit, but I don't think it has enough of a hook to do well at Eurovision. Oh and well done to Dansk Radio, for completely fucking up the sync between the picture and sound!

Annika Askman - Fly

Her voice is a little ropey in places, but again this ok. Just ok though. Not spectacular.

Belarus work some magic

2007-01-23T16:31:00.000Z

Remember about a month ago when Belarus held their sort-of-half-kinda-national-final-thing for Eurovision? If not click the link:- http://thearockalypse.blogspot.com/2006/12/news-from-europes-last-dictatorship.html

Well it culminated in a special show on Belarussian telly last night, where the 3 "winners" performed again and a jury picked the best song.

The winner was a young lad called Dima Koldun who is fuckin hot. He changed his song to the one in the vid below. The quality is terrible, but his voice ain't. I think we could be seeing the first Belarussian in the Eurovision Final since they started trying in 2004.

The song's very 007 inspired, which I find quite ironic coming from the country regarded as Europe's last dictatorship! It is quite cheesy, but the hook in this is immense - it kinda grabs you and drags you along with it kicking and screaming til by the middle 8 it's already got into your skin.

Lovin' it!

Дзмiтpый Кaлдyн - Work Your Magic

To download the song in studio quality click the link below.
http://www.box.net/public/9b3bormmp3

And completing a Nordic night

2007-01-23T16:11:00.000Z

Iceland started their very own 2007 song search about an hour after Norway's started. They're holding 3 semi-finals leading to a grand final on 17 February (The same night as Finland's). The Icelandic public vote for their favourite 3 songs to pass through each semi. The winners of the first semi are below. As the entire population of the country is only 250.000 don't hold out much hope for anything too amazing just yet. Things'll probably get better for Iceland once they've picked a song, had it remixed and translated into English in time for the contest.

Bríet Sunna Valdemarsdóttir - Blómabörn

Ok, so she struggles on the high notes, but the melody is pretty good to this.

Sigurjón Brink - Áfram

Good looking bloke sings some acoustic rock. Not bad, but not sure what the little stomps at the end are all about!

Matthías Matthíasson - Húsin Hafa Augu

Oh why does the guy with the best voice have to be a heffer?