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cryptogirlCan't believe it's a week today when the semifinal hits us, presented by the BBC Three stalwart Scott Mills and, er, Ana Matronic from Scissor Sisters. Yes, really. (But no more drunken Sara Cox? Shame, it made the semis that bit more entertaining) Meanwhile, my outfit is ready, and despite being drafted into what promises to be an excellent D&D session for most of the afternoon of the final, me and my cheesy pineapple cubes are READY. BRING IT.
Sweden: Robin Stjernberg, You The host's offering isn't quite Loreen's uplifting dance, and more straight down the middle Radio 2 pleasing pop. Look, no offence to Robin, but Sean Banan was robbed at Melodifestivalen. I crave novelty. I crave catchy. I crave 'my nightmare quota for the next year fulfilled'. I'm not sure Robin's a winner this year; maybe scraping into the top ten, but not gobsmackingly brilliant. Could grow on repeated listens, but meh.
'Too much yodelling for my liking.'
Germany: Cascada, Glorious Yes, that Cascada, of cheery upbeat covers and household favourite Dance Central high-scorer Evacuate The Dancefloor. This is much better than what they did to poor Lena second time around (oh, the humanity). In fact, of the Eurovision moneymakers this year, I'd go out on a limb and say this was most likely to win.
'Already a Cascada fan, so this is definitely my favourite.'
United Kingdom: Bonnie Tyler, Believe In Me 40-boulders-a-day, Silvikrin-bingeing, number 1 Welsh export, flying the UK flag this year. But not, as you might expect, making the most of her belting voice. It's more a gentle slice of Nashville-infused pop from her latest album, but that's not to say it's not a grower. Gazing into my fortune-telling Eurovision glitterball, I'd say it'll fare better than Engelbert.
'I like it; it's proper lighter waving in the air time.'
France: Amandine Bourgeois, L'enfer Et Moi Well, our Gallic chums have turned up the smoulder this year. Little bit of the Amy Whitehouse about her, with a smattering of bluesy goodness. It certainly beats Sebastian Tellier into an, er, helium balloon. And the video is rather well done, though I fear for her flammable drapes. Madam.
'Bluesy and artsy!'
Italy: Marco Mengoni, L'Essenziale Italy have gone for a ballad (woo! More bloody ballads!), albeit an indie flavoured one. It's not terrible, but I can't think of any superlatives to describe it.
Italy: 'Coldplay meets Radiohead, only the guy is actually drowning.'
Spain: ESDM, Contigo Hasta El Final (With You Until The End) I had a long hard think about this one once the bagpipes kicked in, but couldn't get past two crucial features of this group. Number one: with the ironic flatcap and folksy stylings, we are effectively looking at- and I hate to break this to you- El Mumfordo e Hijos. THERE, I SAID IT. Secondly, my dearest husband pointed out that with the equine-themed music video, we are also unable to get past it being My Lovely Horse. Sorry.
This year has quite a few absentees who have previously competed: Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Monaco, Morocco*, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Turkey. Mostly, these countries have run out of money because lol, austerity. Excitingly (if you're sad like me), Liechtenstein has announced it was going to take part but then they didn't have enough money, so it might have to be next year. What, not enough cash in all those offshore bank accounts?
* Alright, they were only in the contest once ever, but hey, you never know eh?
(Possibly) coming next, the result of cobbling together a Spotify playlist of every single country's available entries and listening to them in a marathon that has so far stretched over one working week. May feature full lobotomies.
Sweden: Robin Stjernberg, You The host's offering isn't quite Loreen's uplifting dance, and more straight down the middle Radio 2 pleasing pop. Look, no offence to Robin, but Sean Banan was robbed at Melodifestivalen. I crave novelty. I crave catchy. I crave 'my nightmare quota for the next year fulfilled'. I'm not sure Robin's a winner this year; maybe scraping into the top ten, but not gobsmackingly brilliant. Could grow on repeated listens, but meh.
'Too much yodelling for my liking.'
Germany: Cascada, Glorious Yes, that Cascada, of cheery upbeat covers and household favourite Dance Central high-scorer Evacuate The Dancefloor. This is much better than what they did to poor Lena second time around (oh, the humanity). In fact, of the Eurovision moneymakers this year, I'd go out on a limb and say this was most likely to win.
'Already a Cascada fan, so this is definitely my favourite.'
United Kingdom: Bonnie Tyler, Believe In Me 40-boulders-a-day, Silvikrin-bingeing, number 1 Welsh export, flying the UK flag this year. But not, as you might expect, making the most of her belting voice. It's more a gentle slice of Nashville-infused pop from her latest album, but that's not to say it's not a grower. Gazing into my fortune-telling Eurovision glitterball, I'd say it'll fare better than Engelbert.
'I like it; it's proper lighter waving in the air time.'
France: Amandine Bourgeois, L'enfer Et Moi Well, our Gallic chums have turned up the smoulder this year. Little bit of the Amy Whitehouse about her, with a smattering of bluesy goodness. It certainly beats Sebastian Tellier into an, er, helium balloon. And the video is rather well done, though I fear for her flammable drapes. Madam.
'Bluesy and artsy!'
Italy: Marco Mengoni, L'Essenziale Italy have gone for a ballad (woo! More bloody ballads!), albeit an indie flavoured one. It's not terrible, but I can't think of any superlatives to describe it.
Italy: 'Coldplay meets Radiohead, only the guy is actually drowning.'
Spain: ESDM, Contigo Hasta El Final (With You Until The End) I had a long hard think about this one once the bagpipes kicked in, but couldn't get past two crucial features of this group. Number one: with the ironic flatcap and folksy stylings, we are effectively looking at- and I hate to break this to you- El Mumfordo e Hijos. THERE, I SAID IT. Secondly, my dearest husband pointed out that with the equine-themed music video, we are also unable to get past it being My Lovely Horse. Sorry.
This year has quite a few absentees who have previously competed: Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Monaco, Morocco*, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Turkey. Mostly, these countries have run out of money because lol, austerity. Excitingly (if you're sad like me), Liechtenstein has announced it was going to take part but then they didn't have enough money, so it might have to be next year. What, not enough cash in all those offshore bank accounts?
* Alright, they were only in the contest once ever, but hey, you never know eh?
(Possibly) coming next, the result of cobbling together a Spotify playlist of every single country's available entries and listening to them in a marathon that has so far stretched over one working week. May feature full lobotomies.
no subject
Date: 2013-05-09 07:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-05-09 11:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-05-09 11:33 am (UTC)I find IRC to be the best medium for virtual heckling.... :-)