The 2016 Eurovision Song Contest - The First Semi-Final

The really big news this year is that the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest (the Grand Final at least) will be broadcast live on American television, on Logo, this coming Saturday at 3:00 PM EST. More details can be found here.

The event will be hosted, as it was today, by Mans Zelmerlow and Petra Mede from the Globe Arena in Stockholm. The voting is quite a bit different this year, but still more complicated than it needs to be. An explanation can be found here. Oh, that wacky Eurovision. Also new this year is the app that you can use anywhere.

There were eighteen nations participating in the first Semi-Final, ten will qualify for 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…

Finland - "Sing It Away" by Sandhja - Very old school disco, but entertaining.

Greece - "Utopian Land" by Argo - I'm surprised Greece could afford to enter this year, it's a very traditional tune with a bit of hip-hop rap, not a bad song, but the performers seemed more than a bit sedated.

Moldova - "Falling Stars" by Lidia Isac - Alone on stage, she had more energy than Greece… and hey, what’s up with that creepy astronaut?

Hungary - "Pioneer" by Freddie - Hot guys and a big drum, what more do you need?

Croatia - "Lighthouse" by Nina Kraljic - It's just not Eurovision without some yodeling and an insane dress, and backing vocals by druids…

The Netherlands - "Slow Down" by Douwe Bob - This is seventies American country music, really not bad, and it grows on me more each time I hear it. The tune sorta has a England Dan and John Ford Coley vibe, I like it.

Armenia - "LoveWave" by Iveta Mukuchyan - Is she a superhero? Nice cape. Sexy, the performance is better than the song, as so often happens at Eurovision.

San Marino - "I Didn't Know" by Serhat - I love this song, for all the wrong reasons. It's so bad, and yet it has everything it needs to win this.

Russia - "You Are the Only One" by Sergey Lazarev - Great song, great effects, wings and lightning, definitely a qualifier despite the country's recent actions. With these effects, the song could have been awful and it would have qualified.



Czech Republic - "I Stand" by Gabriela Gunčíková - Zzzzzzzz, she's just standing there… zzzzzzzzz…

Cyprus - "Alter Ego" by Minus One - Strong pop rocker, a rarity in this contest, will definitely be in the Grand Final, as good as Russia, its best contender even if it does remind me far too much of "Somebody Told Me" by The Killers.



Austria - "Loin d'ici" by ZOË - She has more energy than Greece (but most of the acts do), her smile and movements are contagious, the performance better than the song.

Estonia - "Play" by Jeri Pootsmann - Once again, a better performance and effects than song, I like it, but is he twelve? He definitely is giving off a serial killer vibe no matter how old he is… like someone on Twitter said, he's definitely a Slytherin.



Azerbaijan - "Miracle" by Samra - Okay song, nice effects, but 'it's gonna take a miracle' to beat the other effects-heavy entries this year.

Montenegro - "The Real Thing" by Highway - This one is harder than one might expect, somebody got guitars for their birthday… so not the real thing.

Iceland - "Hear Them Calling" by Greta Salóme - I like the outfit, definitely more superhero than Armenia.

Bosnia & Herzegovina - "Ljubav Je" by Dalal & Deen featuring Ana Rucner and Jala - Gold and silver foil outfits with fishnet accents? Anti-war, anti-Russia song? Great presentation …ummm, did he have to rap? Still, better rap than Greece.



Malta - "Walk on Water" by Ira Losco - Nice song, better performance than song, Ira kicks it, but that guy crawling around on the floor has got to go.



Those going through to the Grand Final on Saturday are Azerbaijan, Russia, The Netherlands, Hungary, Croatia, Austria, Armenia, Czech Republic, Cyprus, and Malta. That should give you an idea as to how they vote, and how good I am at picking winners. See you in a couple days for the Second Semi-Final.

Even More Eurovision 2014

As the clock ticks down to the first Semi-Final on May 5th with competitions every day through to the Grand Final on May 10th, the 59th annual Eurovision Song Contest in Denmark's Copenhagen is looming closer and the competition is fierce.

Here is a quick look at some more of the entries this year, featuring more than a few vastly different musical styles:

Belarus - "Cheesecake" by Teo



Georgia - "Three Minutes to Earth" by The Shin & Mariko



Greece - "Rise Up" by Freaky Fortune featuring Ricky Kidd



Iceland - "No Prejudice" by Pollaponk



San Marino - "Maybe" by Valentina Monetta



Armenia - "Not Alone" by Aram MP3



Malta - "Coming Home" by Firelight

Eurovision 2013: Five More from the Second Semi-Final

FYR Macedonia - "Pred Da Se Razdeni" by Esma & Lozano



Translated, it's a song of hope ("If I Could Change the World") and those kinds of things always do well in Eurovision. Plus it's got a beat you can dance to, and seriously this one grows on me each time I hear it.

Georgia - "Waterfall" by Nodi Tatishvili & Sophie Gelovani


I usually like Georgia's entries, but this slow motion love ballad barely kept my attention for three minutes. Zzzzzzzz…

Greece - "Alcohol Is Free" by Koza Mostra, featuring Agathon Iakovidis



Greece usually hits the contest with an upbeat dance club number, but this year they went with something a bit different. What at first seems like a very traditional old country song turns fun and madcap very quickly. The title is "Alcohol Is Free," you get the picture. I like this one a lot. It won't win, but I hope it gets to the finals.

Hungary - "Kedvesem (Zoohacker Remix)" by ByeAlex


More catchy pop fun that grows on me with each listen, slowly becoming a favorite, but again, I don't think it will win.

Iceland - "Eg A Lif" by Eythor Ingi


Yet another European lesson in just because you look metal, it doesn't mean you are metal.

The second Semi-Final will take place on the 16th of May.

Eurovision 2012 Is Coming

Yes, it's that time of year again, time for the annual Eurovision Song Contest. Today, I'm giving you a peek at the first four entries from the first semi-final on May 22, 2012.

Competing for Montenegro: "Euro Neuro" by Rambo Amadeus



For Iceland: "Never Forget" by Greta Salome & Jonsi



Greece: "Aphrodisiac" by Eleftheria Eleftheriou



And Latvia: "Beautiful Song" by Anmany



Greece is always a fierce competitor in Eurovision, and it looks like this year is no exception. Latvia's song is growing on me, mostly because it's about Eurovision. There are many more to come. We'll see what happens.

Eurovision 2010 - Greece

Greece goes both traditional and dance this year with "Opa! by Giorgos Alkaios & Friends. Always a strong contender in the Eurovision Song Contest, this one will place high.

Eurovision 2009 Semi-Finals 2 – The Results

Coming through the Second Semi-Finals to compete in Saturday’s Eurovision Song Contest Finals are: Azerbaijan, Croatia, Ukraine (go, Svetlana!), Lithuania, Albania, Moldova, Denmark, Estonia, Norway and Greece.

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Eurovision 2009 Semi-Finals 2

The Second Semi-Finals of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest began with a weird sort of hip hop Mummers thing without the feathers, past hits of the Contest on accordion and banjo, if you can believe it, or at least that’s what it felt like to me. And the polar bears were scary.

The same hosts, Natalya Vodyanova and Andrey Malakhov, were back, annoying as ever. Where’s Terry Wogan when you need him? And the same corny inserts and intros as Tuesday as well, I guess they come with the hosts. Either way, we’re off to find who are ten (nine plus a wildcard) finalists are for this round.

01 Croatia - Igor Cukrov featuring Andrea’s “Lijepa Tena”
Igor is sexy, but someone ought to tell him there’s such a thing as trying too hard. The charm is on overload, and the wind machine wasn’t helping. The wind made the women look like they were witches cavorting on a “Dark Shadows” cliff top. It’s a beautiful song, as is his companion Andrea, but I have to wonder why she didn’t sing the whole song. I liked her voice more.

02 Ireland - Sinéad Mulvey & Black Daisy’s “Et Cetera”
I like this one, always have. Very frenetic, very 1980s, very rockergirl – but it just might be too mainstream for Eurovision. I hope not. As much as I want it to go through, it probably won’t.

03 Latvia - Intars Busulis’ “Probka”
This guy looks scared. Maybe that’s his natural expression? Or an affectation like Fred Schneider or Danny Elfman? The vocals are stronger than the original recording, and their energy is apparent. Strong finish, I just wish I knew what he was so scared of.

04 Serbia - Marko Kon & Milaan’s “Cipela”
The ‘shoe’ song, or at least what it’s translated as. Wow, that’s some ‘fro, dude. But on second look, it appears that everyone on stage spent the afternoon with a demented hairstylist. Nice computer image effects, I gotta admit it’s different. It’s catchy, and could very well make it through.

05 Poland - Lidia Kopania’s “I Don't Wanna Leave”
Not my cup of tea, but this is the kind of song that always gets through, and sometimes wins. I’ll be honest though, I would rather have taken a nap. She’s no Celine Dion – you can take that any way you want to.

The crowd certainly seems more energetic tonight. Maybe the soldiers with guns aren’t marching through the audience as often as they did on Tuesday. And the flag and banner wavers don’t seem to be restricted to only one section either. Or maybe someone explained to the audience that this was Eurovision…

06 Norway - Alexander Rybak’s “Fairytale”
This was an early favorite, and this performance did not disappoint. Alexander’s got talent and charisma, and his dancers were a hoot. Final-bound.

07 Cyprus - Christina Metaxas’ “Firefly”
Unlike Ireland or Norway, this was not one of my favorites before this, but I have to say that the unique presentation kept my attention, or at least more than Poland. It’s amazing what giant glowing icecubes can do. But then again, on a Eurovision bizarreness scale, giant glowing icecubes are amateur hour.

08 Slovakia - Kamil Mikulčík & Nela Pocisková’s “Leť Tmou”
Zzzzzzz…. Sorry, dozed off. Just watch, now this one will win.

09 Denmark – Brinck’s “Believe Again”
This Lionel Ritchie soundalike was an early frontrunner, and while he’s almost as good looking as Ritchie (again, take that any way you want to), the stage presentation of this song is much better than the audio version suggests. Better than expected, good chance to get through.

10 Slovenia - Quartissimo featuring Martina’s “Love Symphony”
I’ve always liked this entry but wondered how audiences would react to a mostly instrumental performance. I guess I had nothing to worry about. Except that they would hide the woman behind the only vocals in the song – she’s behind that curtain much too long. It’s not like she’s Martha Washington or anything, let us see her! I think this will hurt their chances.

11 Hungary - Zoli Ádok’s “Dance With Me”
Another frontrunner that conjures the ghosts of disco. I thought it interesting that he started the song lying on the floor, a stunt that helped Russia win last year. Perhaps he should have also taken off his shoes. Despite all that, Zoli is very hot and moves with confidence and sex that should have girls, and boys, all over Europe voting for Hungary.

12 Azerbaijan - AySel & Arash’s “Always”
This one is another entry that is a favorite of friends that does nothing for me. The stage show is better than the song despite the weird torn costumes of the back-up dancers. The charisma of the singers more than made up for what I think is a weak entry.

13 Greece - Sakis Rouvas’ “This Is Our Night”
Greece is always a strong competitor in Eurovision, and 2009 is no exception. The song is great dynamic dance music, but I have to wonder if Sakis attended the same dance rehearsals as his back-up dancers. He seems out of sync more often than not. Still a hot performance.

14 Lithuania - Sasha Son’s “Love”
Powerful song with a very simple performance. I would have rather had Sasha Son stay behind the piano, he’s not a dancer, not even a subtle one. I also thought the “Hope” sign and the flame in the hand was a bit much. It’s like he’s playing the Serbia card. Still this just might win.

15 Moldova - Nelly Ciobanu’s “Hora Din Moldova”
As much as this song and stage performance begs to be in a Dumpsta Players production, I don’t think it has the stuff to make it to the Finals, despite all the jumping around and the guy yelling with the big stick.

16 Albania - Kejsi Tola’s “Carry Me In Your Dreams”
Albania’s teen idol pop princess, her teenybopper back-up singers, mimes and … is that Disco Gumby? Wow. Did someone slip something into my drink?

Um, a toaster? Yeah, I’ve definitely been dosed…

17 Ukraine - Svetlana Loboda’s “Be My Valentine! (Anti-Crisis Girl)”
I love this song and Svetlana, so much that I bought the album (not an easy task for an American), and I guess there’s no hiding this is my pick to win it – whether that will actually happen is a whole ‘nother thing. A lot of money was certainly spent on the sets and costumes. She is certainly a stage visionary on the scale of Kate Bush or Madonna, but I don’t know how this will affect Eurovision audiences. And I don’t know about her playing drums or the half-naked gladiators, but I have my fingers crossed.

18 Estonia - Urban Symphony’s “Rändajad”
Beautiful woman and a beautiful song, and a sobering moment after Svetlana Loboda. I think this has a good chance.

19 The Netherlands - The Toppers’ “Shine”
Their wardrobe people are mad at them, aren’t they? Catchy uplifting song that in my opinion was stronger in the studio. If they were wilder than just the costumes they might have had a shot.

Wow, this is a hard one. Tough competition tonight. My picks to go through to the Finals: Estonia, Ukraine, Serbia, Poland, Norway, Denmark, Slovakia, Hungary, Greece and Lithuania. We’ll see, shortly.


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Eurovision 2009: Greece, Moldova and Spain

"This Is Our Night" by Sakis Rouvas (Greece 2009)


"Hora Din Moldova" by Nelly Ciobanu (Moldova 2009)


"La Noche Es Para Mi" by Soraya (Spain 2009)

All three are great examples of what Eurovision is all about, and all three strong contenders. We'll see.