Sweden:- Semi-final 1

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

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

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

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.