The 2016 Eurovision Song Contest - The Second Semi-Final

It's Eurovision week and we're in the midst of the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest from Stockholm Sweden (last year's winner). The First Semi-Final was Tuesday, The Grand Final is on Saturday, and today was The Second Semi-Final.

By the way, this edition of the Contest had an introductory explanation song of what Eurovision was all about

Eighteen nations competed in The Second Semi-Final with only ten going through to The Grand Final. The links below are to the song's video, and not their Eurovision performance, and I'll give you my impressions as they performed…

Latvia - "Heartbeat" by Justs - Cute boy in a leather jacket always equals points in this contest. He's so earnest, and rules the stage as he sings. Tis one is a good opener and has good chances.



Poland - "Color of Your Life" by Michal Szpak - Johnny Depp as a Redcoat? Though, this might be weird enough to go through… just based on his jacket…

Switzerland - "The Last of Our Kind" by Rykka - She's smoking… on my, is she on fire? No, but let's face it, it wouldn't be the first time at Eurovision. Not a bad song, very hopeful, and anti-war songs always do well in the Contest, but the performance is a bit lacking.

Israel - "Made of Stars" by Hovi Star - I like the retro-hair, but not the song so much until it kicks in, but I do kinda dig the spinning acrobats in the big Hula-Hoop. This is definitely one where the performance is better than the song.

Belarus - "Help You Fly" by IVAN - Naked guys and wolves, always a winner. Wow, he got dressed quick. Great use of effects and illusions, Belarus is always good at that, even though it looks like they cribbed some of Russia's act, but that might be reversed, depending on the order of performance. Lots of charisma, I liked it.



Serbia - "Goodbye (Shelter)" by Sanja Vučić ZAA - There was a lot of buzz about this one, but really the song and Sanja don't do much for me. A lot of leather on that stage.

Ireland - "Sunlight" by Nicky Byrne - This was one of my early favorites before the Contest, very catchy and fun, but it’s Ireland, which doesn't usually get many votes, ever.



FYR Macedonia - "Dona" by Kaliopi - This was actually another early favorite, but after a while it began to grate on my nerves, much like her waving her arms has in this performance. If she keeps flapping her arms, she's going to take off… On a serious note, this is one of the few songs not in English, so I have no idea what it's really about. It could be quite important.

Lithuania - "I've Been Waiting for This Night" by Donny Montell - Another pretty boy trying to own the stage, but unlike Latvia's Justs, he has more energy, hotter dance moves, and better effects… he's just not as cute.

Just a word about the song intros, this year they are very simple, just the artist(s) chilling and posing in Sweden. Usually the intros are very arty, so much so that they leave you scratching your head more than the performances themselves. These are pretty basic, almost disappointing from what we've come to expect from Eurovision.

Australia - "Sound of Silence" by Dami Im - This is Australia's second year in Eurovision, but like Ireland and the UK, its chances of winning are slim. I like the sparkly dress, the levitation effect, and the holograms, and she's got quite a voice. She is very Eurovision.



Slovenia - "Blue and Red" by ManuElla - This has a interesting country music vibe underneath, and that's quite a dress. She's even yodeling, always welcome at Eurovision.

Bulgaria - "If Love Was a Crime" by Poli Genova - Oooh, is she from the future? Kidding aside, this is actually pretty good and catchy, and it ends with a choir, she might qualify for The Grand Final.

Denmark - "Soldiers of Love" by Lighthouse X - Is it just me or could these guys be David Tennant's kids? Just average Eurovision boy band garbage.

Ukraine - "1944" by Jamala - As I mentioned above, anti-war songs always do well, and seeing as Russia invaded Ukraine recently causing much Eurovision controversy, this tune definitely raises some eyebrows. She's not playing around, this one is definitely going through.



Norway - "Icebreaker" by Agnete - Is this Frozen? This one has its moments but it's a bit schizophrenic as a song with its stops and starts.

Georgia - "Midnight Gold" by Nika Kocharov and Young Georgian Lolitaz - This was another of my favorites, mostly because it's one of the rare rockers. Pearl Jam meets Bush with none of the balls, and a retro sound that doesn't quite fit their image or Eurovision. I like it, but I'd be surprised if it goes through.



Albania - "Fairytale" by Eneda Tarifa - Another song called "Fairytale"? I guess they want history to repeat itself. I didn't like it, and in a way, I was happy my streaming went out during the song.

Belgium - "What's the Pressure" by Laura Tesoro - This tune is a great closer, even with its derivative disco rifts. It has great dancing, energy, and performance. If there's anything that unifies Eurovision fans more than an anti-war song it's mindless fun. This one is a score.



Those going through to the Grand Final on Saturday are Latvia, Georgia, Bulgaria, Australia, Ukraine, Serbia, Poland, Israel, Lithuania, and Belgium.

Ukraine versus Russia on stage will be fun… or interesting at least. See you on Saturday for The Grand Final, which will be broadcast live for the first time in the United States on Logo, details are here. And did I mention the guest appearance by Justin Timberlake? Yeah, be there!

AfterDark Horrorfest - Part 3

I'm Terry Willitts, and welcome to the third and final of my guest-blogging posts for Glenn Walker's WELCOME TO HELL.

In parts one and two I've reviewed six of the eight movies of the AfterDark HorrorFest IV, starting at what I felt were the weakest and moving upwards. Today we will be discussing The Final and Lake Mungo.

THE FINAL is a phenomenal concept and though it falls a bit short of its potential, it still delivers an excellent story. Written by Jason Kobolati and directed by Joey Stewart, it is a revenge tale about a group of high school outcasts who decide to get even with all the popular kids, so they invite everyone cool/popular in school out to a secluded cabin for a big keg and boozer. Once there, they enact their revenge in a twisted and complex series of tests and tribulations.

There's a fine line between a creative revenge fantasy and angry geek wank and this almost, but not quite, stumbles across that line – instead it creatively straddles it, jumping in to the latter for a few moments at a time, but stepping back into the former in time to salvage the plot and the enjoyment of the story.

I'm not sure the social commentary here will be taken as anything more than the backstory to the movie.. and that's okay. (Unlike Zombies of Mass Destruction, it does not detract from the story... mainly because it wasn't so ham-fisted and obvious in its delivery.)

I really enjoyed this movie, and give it an 8 out of 10. I was prepared to call this the best one of the year, until I watched the one movie I was not looking forward to viewing at all.

LAKE MUNGO surprised me. It's the best movie of this batch of movies. Lake Mungo is an Australian psychological horror film written directed by filmmaker Joel Anderson, only his second movie. It's presented in the form of a documentary, which in and of itself does not exactly lend to traditional horror storytelling. (Because of this, comparisons to The Blair Witch Project will be made – I find that this movie is vastly superior, as it does not attempt to go overboard with the scary.)

This is a subdued horror story. There aren't many moments of shock, but rather an ongoing, underlying sense of creepiness. This movie gave me chills on multiple occasions and there's not many movies that I can say that about.

It's the tale of a family, dealing with the death of sixteen year old Alice. As the story progresses, we see that there was a lot more to Alice than anyone knew, and this movie somehow manages to masterfully jump from being fictional documentary to suspense to mystery and, of course, a touch of horror all throughout.

It's wonderfully done, though I'm sure it won't appeal to everyone – it's not a fast-paced, action-packed slam-fest, but it IS an inordinately creepy and well-crafted tale. And you must, you MUST sit through the beginning of the final credits for the true twist.

Good stuff.

As mentioned before, I did not want to see this movie. I was not looking forward to it, the only reason I watched it was because I had decided that I would watch all eight. And I learned a lesson. The old adage "Don't judge a book by its cover" still applies.

This movie gets a rare 10 out of 10 for me. I understand that the makers of The Ring are going to be remaking this for American audiences. Normally, I'm open to remakes, I like seeing a different take on a story... I don't see how this will be worth the remake, but again, I'm not going to judge it until it comes out. However, this Australian movie is perfect as it is.

Thanks to Glenn for letting me play in his sandbox, thank you for reading my reviews. You can follow me on Twitter, read my occasional blogging at This Is Really The Best Blog Ever, or visit my creative writing website, 770 Days.

Wilfred

When I first saw this Australian TV series on IFC, I thought at first it was about furries, but it’s not. It’s just a man dressed in a dog suit, who for all intents and purposes is the dog. Just use your imagination. The thing is, this dog, Wilfred, played by Jason Gann, just happens to talk, and just like the American "Davey and Goliath" or even the Son of Sam if you like, only Wilfred’s mistress’ boyfriend, played by Adam Zwar, can hear him talk.



The subtly hysterical and sometimes downright mean and always raunchy series, created and written by Gann and Zwar, airs on Tuesday evenings on the Independent Film Channel, check it out.

Attention Aussies! :-)

Here’s the quote, no, strike that, the entire paragraph from my review of NBC’s “Kath and Kim”:

”Surprisingly this is an American version of one of Australia’s most popular sitcoms. Now, either Australian television viewers have shockingly lower IQs than Americans, or NBC butchered this adaptation. Judging from the few Aussies I know, I would have to go for the second option. Way to go, NBC, now when are you bringing back “Manimal” and “Supertrain?””

Please understand first that this was a review of the absolutely dreadful American version of “Kath and Kim,” and understand second that this was not a comment on the IQs of Australians, but a comment on what idiots the folks at NBC are. And yes, I freely admit I’m more scared of Aussies than I am of bloodsucking network executives, who I think it has been proven, do in fact have smaller IQs than the rest of us. The American “Kath and Kim” would be proof of that I think.

It should be further noted that I have never seen the original, Australian, version of “Kath & Kim,” so I can’t comment on how good (or bad) it is. I believe I only said it was a “popular sitcom” – something I doubt you can fault me on. Honestly I can’t wait to see, and review, the original.