The Eurovision Song Contest 2012

The Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan this year, at the end of May. For those unfamiliar with the phenomenon, it is similar to "American Idol," but predates it by several decades.

Over forty nations, mostly from Europe, but some from Africa and Asia, enter one original song into the contest, and over two semi-finals and one final, all of those nations vote by phone or computer for their favorite. The trick? You cannot vote for your own nation's entry. The winning nation hosts the contest the following year. Past winners and contestants have included ABBA, Katrina and the Waves, Lordi, Cliff Richard, Nena, Lulu, Johnny Logan, and Celine Dion.

Here are four more entries from the first semi-final:

Albania: "Suus" by Rona Nishliu



Romania: "Zaleilah" by Mandinga



Switzerland: "Unbreakable" by Sinplus



And Belgium: "Would You?" by Iris



While Albania and Belgium present some of the same old ballads that invariably both bore audiences and also win the contest sadly, Romania and Switzerland are more with the spirit of the mad dancey eurotrash tunes that embody the spirit of Eurovision. I kinda like Romania as an early fave, and the Swiss entry is growing on me.