Eurovision 08 Finals

[Shiva]

OK, so a little over a week from now and we will see the first finals finish.

Going from all the press at the rehershals Russia is favourite so far. Followed closely by Sweden and Greece.

Serbia, Boznia, Norway and Azerbijan will most certainly qualify as well.

Ireland apparently stands a good chance of qualifying.

[Cinaed]

right after my exam weds im going to watch all the entries and form a qualified opinion on ESC 08.

[spiller]

7 days to semi 1! woo! Right I think the following will qualify (in no particular order):

Russia: Its Dima, hes fab!
Poland: An excellent song and Isis is hot! :D
Finland: Its just a cool song!
Belgium: I know its a made up language but it sounds cool.
Israel: I like the song
San Marino: Beginners Luck maybe? Also cool song
Norway: Stands out in the running order, so could do well
Andorra: Casanova is an excellent song
Greece: A pop song, might be damaged by following Russia but is last so that can be an advantage
Armenia: Quisho is an excellent singer

From the second semi:
Ukraine: Shady Lady is just excellent and Ukraine is gaurenteed qualification cause of neighbours!
Sweden: Wow! Hero is just fab!
Bulgaria: Love, Love, This song
Denmark: I always like the Danish entry and it nevers does well!
Malta: Vodka is a cool song!
Croatia: Again neighbours will ensure this gets in
Latvia: Pirates of the Sea... I am afriad it might qualify...
Georgia: A really powerful ballad, which could do well
FYR Macedonia: I likes it. Its a bit folksy, but i do
Hungary: Candlelight is just wow!

Outside chances (hopes?) are Ireland and Switzerland. I normally get these predictions wrong, but its fun anyway! Ill be live blogging the semi's also so it will be fun!

[crazymonkey]

OMG!!!! do something!!! you dont have exams, its your last days in germany and you're wasting it all!!!!!!

[jellybaby]

Note to Shiva- Eurovision was so 90s. Its all about reality tv singing contests now!

[crazymonkey]

em americas next top model anyone!? omg the final is tomorrow night!!!! aaaaagh

[Invincible]

I'm really excited. Iceland is my favourite and will definitely get thru (if there's any justice). I also love Sweden, Malta, Andorra, Ukraine, Russia, Bulgaria, Latvia, Germany. There are others too but i cant remember (there's like, 45 countries or something!).

I have a sneaking regard for Dustin's effort and naturally i hope he does well.

[Cinaed]

omg i knooooow!

I really want Whitney to win but i dont think she has a chance. Very happy she made it to the top 3 though! I have a fear in the pit of my stomach that stupid C*** fatima will win. i dont want to say ANTM is racially biased, but...

[jellybaby]

I have a sneaking regard for Dustin's effort and naturally i hope he does well.

I loved Dustin when I was little and to this day I won't eat turkey- not even at Christmas. I'm really hoping he does well but i haven't even heard the song.

Is it not getting much airtime or am i just living under a rock?

[Invincible]

He's at number 7 in the irish top 10 (he was number 5 last week) so i guess it's doing alright.

BUT COME HERE ONE MINUTE: U haven't heard the song yet??? Why have u not gone out of ur way to inform yourself of ALL 2008 eurovision songs (and especially your national representative!)? FOR SHAME!!

Are u not completely obsessed with it??

[jellybaby]

He's at number 7 in the irish top 10 (he was number 5 last week) so i guess it's doing alright.

BUT COME HERE ONE MINUTE: U haven't heard the song yet??? Why have u not gone out of ur way to inform yourself of ALL 2008 eurovision songs (and especially your national representative!)? FOR SHAME!!

Are u not completely obsessed with it??

Did my above note to Shiva not give that away? If your shocked by my ignorance of the entries then what i'm about to say next will chill your spine....

I have no intention of watching the Eurovision...I do not know when it is on...I do not know where it is being held and, wait for it,...

I am not remotely bothered [:-P][:-P][:-P]

[Invincible]

Did my above note to Shiva not give that away? If your shocked by my ignorance of the entries then what i'm about to say next will chill your spine....

I have no intention of watching the Eurovision...I do not know when it is on...I do not know where it is being held and, wait for it,...

I am not remotely bothered [:-P][:-P][:-P]

[:-O ][:-O ][:-O ][:-O ][:-O ][:-O ]

I need to lie down in a darkened room. I dont be able!!

[-Vonnie-]

I have no intention of watching the Eurovision...I do not know when it is on...I do not know where it is being held and, wait for it,...

I am not remotely bothered [:-P][:-P][:-P]

Have to say I agree with you there JB although I've lost all respect for you since you said you like Dustin! [:-O ]

[Invincible]

Have to say I agree with you there JB although I've lost all respect for you since you said you like Dustin! [:-O ]

Well in fairness, neither u nor JB have any taste. Ye are lesbians after all like! For crying out loud, if ye're not sane enuff to fancy guys then what hope have ye of liking something as sublime as Eurovision?

[jellybaby]

Well in fairness, neither u nor JB have any taste. Ye are lesbians after all like! For crying out loud, if ye're not sane enuff to fancy guys then what hope have ye of liking something as sublime as Eurovision?

Well you seem to be into little boys more than 'guys' so I wonder what that says about you [:-?]

Sidenote to invincble- you should never wage wars you cannot win...so if you're gonna take on the lesbian contingent of the boards with comments like that you'll have to start building a back-up army...

[Invincible]

Well you seem to be into little boys more than 'guys' so I wonder what that says about you [:-?]

Sidenote to invincble- you should never wage wars you cannot win...so if you're gonna take on the lesbian contingent of the boards with comments like that you'll have to start building a back-up army...

I'll back down. Cross lesbians are more threatening than a nuclear holocaust.

My apologies m'am. It is us, the gay men, who are tasteless and insane.

Now call off ur spikey haired army!

[jellybaby]

I'll back down. !

A wise choice, Invincy, a wise choice[B-)][:))-][=D(]

[Cinaed]

Well you seem to be into little boys more than 'guys' so I wonder what that says about you [:-?]

BUUUUUUUUUUUUURN!

[Invincible]

BUUUUUUUUUUUUURN!

I'm gonna take the high road and ignore such scurrilous accusations. N ur hardly an innocent bystander mister-ive-slept-with-the-vast-majority-of-corks-gay-scene.

[Slayer]

I am a lesbian, and I love the Eurovision. Not all of my kind are ignorant fools.

[Shiva]

Cross lesbians are more threatening than a nuclear holocaust.


"4 SLICES OF HAM TOO MUCH!!!"

Inside joke ;)

[Shiva]

So 9 songs from Semifinal 2 were rehearsed today.

I thought that the strongest rehearsals came from Iceland and Ukraine.

I was also happy with Turkey, Albania, and Belarus

Charlotte was ok but I'm sure she is holding back. It is pretty much the same routine as the Swedish final but, at the moment, it is not coming across as strongly as the Swedish Final performance.

Czech Republic was fine

Lithuania was also ok, nothing wrong with the rehearsal but the song is just not strong enough for me.

Switzerland was the biggest disappoinment of the day , bad vocal and weak presentation.

[spiller]

Shiva are you in Belgrade?

[Shiva]

Shiva are you in Belgrade?
I wish, I just have my methods of watching the rehearsals :)

[spiller]

lol! waster! (Says I who has 3 days to pack yet is devouring all he can on ESC)

[Shiva]

lol! waster! (Says I who has 3 days to pack yet is devouring all he can on ESC)

Please you can't have that much to pack :)

[spiller]

Holiday Pay, C&A, H&M, low cost of living and low consumer confidence = fab january sales....

[Shiva]

I've got an update on the chances of each song qualifying based on the current betting odds for Semi-Final 2. :

These are pretty certain qualifiers
Ukraine : 94%
Bulgaria : 85%
Turkey 84% (although it's slipping slightly)
Sweden : 80%

These four also look good at the moment
Macedonia : 60% (increasing its chances based on previous odds)
Latvia : 60%
Georgia : 58%
Iceland : 54%

These six are are still in contention
Albania : 52%
Portugal : 52%
Belarus : 50%
Croatia : 50%
Denmark : 48%
Switzerland : 48% (huge drop in the last couple of days) Due mainly to really bad practises
Malta : 42%

And these are probably no hopers:
Cyprus : 30%
Czech Rep. : 20%
Lithuania : 20%

Tomorrow it's back to semi one with with a massive 13 countries doing their second rehearsals including Ireland at 18.20 CET.

[Shiva]

Here are the current odds for the First Semi Finals

These five look to be pretty certain.
1 : Russia 98% (was 98%)
2 : Armenia 97% (98%)
3 : Greece 88% (90%)
4 : Bosnia-Herz. : 81% (73%) - big jump in support for this.
5 : Romania : 81% (was 78%)

Best of the rest
6 : Ireland : 65% (was 67%)
7 : Azerbaijan : 58% (was 58%)
8 : Norway : 58% (was 55%)
9 : Slovenia : 58% (was 63%)

These are still in contention
10: Finland : 50% (was 50%)
11 : Andorra : 46% (was 54%) - one of two big losers over the past couple of days
12 : Poland : 44% (was 44%)
13 : Belgium : 42% (was 40%)
14 : Estonia : 40% (was 40%)
15 : Moldova : 40% (was 40%)

These are now the outsiders
16 : Israel : 38% (was 45%) - the other big loser
17 : Montenegro : 34% (was 37%)
18 : Netherlands : 30% (was 30%)
19 : San Marino : 28% (was 20%)

[Shiva]

Personally these are my 5 favourites, no particular order. I hope they all qualify :)
Iceland - This is really really growing on me
Andorra - Always liked this song
Ukraine - another strong pop entry
Sweden - see above
Norway - grows on you

[spiller]

Of course, the betting odds really can only reflect the top 9 of the qualifiers from each semi, as the Jury's picked the 10th which is really interesting. So if Ireland is not in the top 9, the Jury's will not vote it in!

Granted we wont know the Jury picks until after the final, when all voting records are realeased!

As an aside. Shiva and I will be liveblogging the 2 semi's and maybe the final over on my blog (http://stephenspillane.blogspot.com), if you want to be a panelist let me know!

[Shiva]

Second round (dress) of rehearsals for semi one:

Slovenia: Got off to a terrible start and ended up the same way.

Azerbaijan: Bad camera work followed by ropey singing. OTT.

Moldova: nice rehearsal if not a little odd.

San Marino. The lead singer is dressed in a white suit jacket, dark trousers, dark shirt and white belt. This was very professionally presented, good camera shots. It's seen maybe as a potential jury qualifier.

Belgium and the dress. Its not the most appealing of outfits, red and white stripes that make her look like a strawberry swirl sweet! Its the same static black and white backdrop. For me, it's such a shame that they did not use the backdrop from the Belgian national final. Turkey were able to use figures from their preview video. Why not Belgium? Good vocal performance but the main talking point is the dress!

Montenegro! It is a nice performance but the song will go nowhere. Stefan is wearing black leather trousers, a white shirt and a black top with a red hand on it. Each of the backing singers is wearing a black leather outfit and a red glove on one hand. His vocals were good but the song is not.

Boaz from Israel was wearing a silver waistcoat and this has improved a lot. They have toned down the performance so the skipping/dancing by the backing singers is not as distracting and now does enhance the performance and his voice is holding up well. Much much better than last Sunday.

Estonia are dressed in blue, orange and yellow suits. The amazonian girls come on stage with 2 Estonian and 1 Serbian flag. Love or hate the song, this was also a polished performance, don't discount this!

Ireland next. Now the camera work has improved a lot since Ireland's first rehearsal but there are still shots that are being missed. It is just too busy a stage that, if the shot is wrong, it looks very messy on screen. Litty B and Ann have changed their harmonies a bit which sounds better to me. Scrolling across Dustin's trolley were the words' Sven, Best Director in the World' and 'Serbia, We love you' in Serbian. Will it qualify. I honestly don't know. I think that it will but it's not what I would call a 'certain qualifier'

Andorra next. greatly improved vocals from Gisela (yay!!!). She is dressed in black trousers , a white top and a golden basque which looks a little strange but nothing as bad as Belgium and Slovenia. Her hair looks very strange to me , not sure if this will be the style in the semi final. This rehearsal was a HUGE improvement on their first rehearsal . This is greatly improved and almost sure to qualify now.

Norway , this is good, in fact at times it borders on being very good. The choreography is simple but perfectly compliments the song and Maria sings well in every run through. After what has gone before, this is a very likely qualifier and deservedly so.

Poland and Isis Gee is in what looks like a bridal outfit and her five backing musicians are all in white. Isis sings very well and really uses the catwalk to full effect but there are some unfortunate facial contortions, which she needs to lose. This is certainly coming up with every performance and I think it is sufficiently different from Norway to stand out. Again, like a few songs in this semi, it has a strong chance of getting the jury place if it fails to get one of the top nine positions with televoters.

[spiller]

Im really looking forward to doing the liveblogging with you now shiva!

[GiftedAndGay]

Omg its Eurovision time again :eek:

My head hurts at the thought of it

Make it stop, make it stop [=;] [:-))]

[Shiva]

Day 2 of the dress rehearsals.

(well these 2 were last nights dregs ;) )

BOSNIA is just pure theatre and the performance is totally unforgettable. This is a song that will have vey little broad appeal but those who like it are certain to vote for it and with neighbours and diaspora it's a virtually guaranteed finalist. However come the 24th, I can't see it troubling the Top 10.

ANDORRA was vastly improved on the first rehearsal. Gisela moves around the stage with ease and the background singers frame her perfectly. We know Gisela will be wearing white but her hair styling has yet to be finished. These things matter when the camera spends so much time focusing on the singer. Vocally Gisela was quite good and after writing this off on the first day, I wouldn't be so sure, especially with Slovenia (which is going for the same kind of votes) looking so poor.

First up this morning was Sirusho for Armenia. This just gets better and better with every run through. Sirusho sounds confident and looks a lot more confident that before. The choreography is complex and involves a lot more rolling on the floor than I would like, but it is effective for the overhead shots. They have almost all the camera angles right, which is more than can be said for several entries, and even if the song is a tad repetitive, the dancing and fireworks add a bit of variety. Other people may be less impressed but for me this is an absolutely certain qualifier, and it’s not totally out of the running to win.

Hind next for The Netherlands. This is such a bad draw having both Armenia and Netherlands together. Hind is in her stage outfit which thankfully isn’t the dreadful black frock that was held to camera on Monday. She’s in a full length violet number with a cutaway front which reveals her thigh, which I’m not sure is a great idea. Hind concentrates on singing and she sounds great, while two male dancers give a very energetic support and three female singers give both the vocals and the stage an extra depth. I think that despite the betting odds, and coming straight after Armenia’s similar ethno-pop song, this has a strong chance of qualifying.

FINLAND are now in their stage outfits, with the lead singer in leather and the bassist and guitarist stripped to the waist. It begins with an explosion of light but soon settles into a pretty stand “rawk” workout. The wind machine and flames are good and the vocals and strong and sound perfectly matched to the song, but I still can’t see the market for this. It’s in the Top 10 favourites to qualify and there’s certainly nothing like it in this semi, but I think it has little appeal to traditional Eurovision fans or to rock fans (assuming any are watching the semi-final this year). Not a qualifier for me.

Romania: This was an excellent rehearsal Stage looks magificent with some very effective overhead shots. Vlad was in a jacket and jeans and Nico had a leather top on but not sure if they are the semi final outfits.

Russia: The vocals are very strong. Dima rips his shirt open just near the end of the song. Overall, a major change in the performance. Strangely enough, now that the ladder has gone, it's the skater that is distracting on stage. However, it is still going to be one of the main potential winners this year.

Greece: Kalomira did the first run through of her song and it was not very good. Then we had a panic in the Press Centre when we lost the live feed from the Arena!! It came back after about 5 minutes and we saw 1 minute of the performance. thankfully they did perform the song one last time and it had much improved. Kalomira starts with a pink dress the top of which becomes a jewelled bidice later in the song. In the final performance, the camera shots were very good as was her vocal. I think this is definitely going to qualify.

All of the songs in semi one have now have had their second rehearsals so it's time for my first prediction. Here are the ten songs I think will qualify;
Guaranteed : Romania, Russia, Armenia, Greece, Bosnia
Then these five (in decreasing order of certainty) : Norway Israel, Azerbaijan, Poland and Netherlands.

I have Ireland 11th for two reasons, first because what's coming across on screen is far too messy and secondly Netherlands has a stronger chance of being the jury choice. I think that it's highly likely Andorra and San Marino will be a jury rather than a televote and I can't see many votes for Ireland from Eastern Europe.

Now onto semi final 2 :)

Iceland: Fridrik is dressed in a black waistcoat with a little bit of pink on the sleeves. Regina is in a black dress also with a small bit of pink and pink shoes. Excellent rehearsal. Great camera angles, great vocals. One of the strongest openings to a contest in years. This is fast becoming my favourite of the entire lot so far.

SWEDEN is vastly improved on the first dress rehearsal. Charlotte is in a silver tassels but rather bizarrely, they go for a long short when there’s the “out of the light” transition, which rather loses the point of having that monochrome effect. There is a blast of light and lazers after the key change, but the build into tat key change is still shorter than before and the spin is still missing. It’s all very calculated and somewhat synthetic, but even from this draw and coming after Iceland, I now think it’s a guaranteed finalist.

TURKEY and despite the fact that this is one of my favourite songs of the year, I’m even less sure about it being a qualifier now than at the end of the first rehearsal. There is better eye contact by the singer and for at least two thirds of the song he’s the only one in shot, but somehow it is still not gelling together properly. It’s as if it finds its full potential very early in the performance and never build beyond that point. It’s lacking any kind of build or any kind of variety, even with the pyro effects. The thing is, if it does qualify and gets a nice late draw, it could be Top 10, but the hardest job could be getting out of the semi.

UKRAINE and Ani is in her stage frock, which is remarkably similar to Charlotte’s, but it suits Ani figure a lot better. This is another song that gets better with every run-through and they have finally managed to overcome the problems with getting Ani up and down off the light boxes as well as bringing the backing singers out of the boxes at the start of the song. Ani wasn’t as strong vocally today, but she apparently has a bug.

Right now of the first four songs in semi two, I think Ukraine is a guaranteed finalist, Sweden and Iceland (in that order) are pretty certain and Turkey may be the one to lose out. It is of course possible but unlikely that all four will make it.

[Shiva]

Dinner break is over and we have the last 3 for today.

LITHUANIA is even worse then before, there are some awful facial contortions and an absolutely dreadful pair of leather trousers, and I’m not sure if one is the cause of the other. Vocally it’s strained at times and if this qualifies.

ALBANIA and for the second time in a few days the only issue is “what IS she wearing”. The jacket has some sort on military motif and there’s a skirt that tapers towards the back. The stage setting with a heart motif is gorgeous, the performance has understated passion, but this girl doesn’t need to look like she’s about to mount a dressage horse. A simple dress (ala Poland 1994) would be perfect. If that problem is sorted and Olta can keep giving good performances like this, I think that this could very well qualify.

SWITZERLAND is vastly improved on the first rehearsal, Paolo is generally hitting the right notes and he looks a lot more comfortable in his dark suit and shirt. The dancing has been slightly toned down, although the dancers dark costumes mean that they are being lost from several camera angles. The piece where everyone moves towards the catwalk is now more natural. There are unnecessary but not totally distracting pyro effects. After writing this off, I think it might be back in contention for a place in the final.

[Harry Bo]

Im really hoping Russia does well....phwor...

http://www.evrovizija.com/uploads/user_uploads/Image/esc/Dima3.jpg

[Shiva]

Czech Republic is first up today and my God, this has really improved!!! The camera work and pyrotechnics are excellent, her vocals were miles better than the Czech Final and greatly improved on the first rehearsal. Tereza is dressed in a silver dress as are 2 of her backing dancers, the other two in silver hotpant outfits. The more oomphy backing track is lifting this song so much so this has moved from a no hoper to a possible qualifier for me. Her vocal on the night of the semi will be crucial though.

BELARUS now has Ruslan in his leather trousers, and they look miles better than on the Lithuanian singer. The vocals weren’t as good today and there are two issues that need to be sorted out, the silver coloured clothes of the backing dancers mean that they are being completely lost against the dark blue and silver screen and they’ve added some silly nonsense with a giant ribbon banner at the end, which is awkward and unnecessary. This is still in there with a chance to qualify from a very tough semi-final.

LATVIA are now in full stage costume and have their ship’s wheel in the centre as the camera does a circular shot to open the song. Vocally it’s ok, although the female vocals are far less secure than they guys. There’s a gimmick with a telescope shot and tons of posing and jousting shots but the whole thing is a giant mess, not helped by what looks like a psychedelic vomit backdrop. This is struggling to make the Top 10 right now.

Croatia next and this is such a charming song . The presentation is excellent. the dancer is in wine, 75 cents is in white and the rest of the group are dark. Gramaphone on stage also and the dancer has a pedastal also. Seagulls on the backdrop. This is looking like a qualifier for me. (along with 15 others!)

Bulgaria next and this a huge contrast compared to Croatia just before it.
Stage colour is predominantly red. Joanna is dressed in a red, Moulin Rouge style dress with red stockings, There is a dancer on stage also with a sleeveless T shirt with the number '12' on the back. A few messy camera shots still need sorting out though but the vocals, what there is of them, are good.

DENMARK is the last of the semi-finalists we have today and being honest it’s not really getting much better. The performance is the same as before and there are far too many long shots in my opinion. If you have a photogenic singer, then use him for close-up. The falsetto is marginally better but this is lacking any kind of lift and there’s one too many choruses at the end when makes the song too repetitious. Right now, I don’t see Denmark making the cut.

We're now getting our first view of the "Big 4"; U.K., Germany, France and Spain, starting with the U.K.'s Andy Abrahams, who will sing at #2 (i.e. the worst position in the draw) in the final. For me the only question regarding the U.K.'s entry is whether it will finish last or second last and right now, I'm still thinking it will be lat, but I do think that a "nil points" is not going to happen. On the positive side, the stage for this is great. It's a multi-couloured checkerboard and reminds me of the 1970s "Soul Train" show, which fits the song perfectly. Andy sounds great and the backing singers and musicians compliment the vocal perfectly. However now of this makes the slighest difference where you remember the draw position and the sheer unmitigated banality of the sopng, that people will have forgotten before the next country's postcard is over.

The second of "The Big 4" is Germany who will be #4 in the final and while the U.K. is a lot better than I expected, Germany I'm afraid is a lot worse. Vocaly it was fine, and the two backing singers add a much fuller sound, visually however it was horrendous. Two of the girls are dressed in pink and two in blue. The have chiffon capes which come off as they step forward for the chorus. One of the girls has the worst bright red perm I've seen since a 1970s sitcom and while the others shed their capes she keeps hers and it looks all wrong. There are some good pyros that emphasise the end of some lines but someone gets carried away at the end and all we see a fog of leftover fireworks. This needs work and I mean MAJOR work in the next 24 hours.

What I thought I saw from France was what looked like a unkept homeless person shoved into a shiney suit arriving on a golf cart, then transforming himself into some form of pagan sunworshippier. Oh yes I think there were five people doing some cooing ala the Beach Boys in there somewhere as well. Find a town called "Bizarre" and keep going for another mile or two.

SPAIN: The song starts with Rodolfo playing the opening notes to 'Old McDonald had a farm' on his toy guitar ( Can he do that?) He has five dancers onstage with him. So we have a different dance routine than the Spanish final and the preview video. Words like 'Dos El Cruisaito' appear in big white letters on the backdrop during the chorus. Then they throw in some pyro as well. Again, camera shots need to be sorted out. this is absolute rubbish but I have a horrible feeling taht this could do very well indeed on Saturday May 24th.

The final country to have its first rehearsal - the host Serbia.
At the start of the run through , the sound in Jelen'a ears was far too loud and she screamed in pain! Her vocals on the initial runthrough was excellent but I will have to wait to see the second rehearsal to see the way it will be presented on screen.

[spiller]

Im really hoping Russia does well....phwor...

http://www.evrovizija.com/uploads/user_uploads/Image/esc/Dima3.jpg

Ahhh Dima, that pic is very risque!! [:-P]

[Shiva]

The hall I would say was about 15 to 20% full.

There were sound problems on the postcards when they lost sound completely in the Arena for about 10 of them.

The biggest positive reactions in the Arena for the first 10 songs were for Israel , Azerbaijan, Norway and Poland. Very muted reaction to Estonia, Moldova and San Marino.

In the second half, the main muted reaction went to Ireland, a small bit of booing also. Andorra sounded just awful and the headpiece she wore did her no favours. Most of the rest of the second half got decent reactions, the strongest going to Greece, the longest reaction going to Bosnia & Herzegovina even longer than Russia's. The best Visual pyrotechnic award went to Finland which looked very well.

In the Armenia Vs Netherlands battle, Amenia got the better reaction but Hind's reaction was good also and Hind's vocal sounded better (In the hall anyway)

The commercial break is after Russia but I have to say that they had the book for Greece on stage very very quickly, so maybe there was no need to change it after all.

Clips of the 5 finalists are also shown. (the big 4 and Serbia)

Based on what was in the hall, I am a little worried about Norway. Poland outshone it a bit in the hall but I hope my worries are unfounded. The second half was a lot better than the first. Romania also performing and sounding ok, not as strong as I thought though.

[Shiva]

The show begins with the band playing some classic ESC songs - Congratulations, Waterloo and Volare,

Then the hosts are introduced.

MONTENEGRO up first . Good vocals, decent opener.Stefan wearing white shirt with black tshirt and red hands. Good applause from the audience.

ISRAEL - Boaz dressed in silver waistcoat and grey trousers. , backing singers dressed in black and grey. Excellent vocals , great camera work, really loud reaction in the hall.

Now ESTONIA, Blue suited guy's voice is VERY hoarse, must have asore throat. Performance same as previous rehearsals. Muted reaction from the audience.

Each postcard is a way of making each country's flag.

MOLDOVA on next and Geta is on the sofa. Again adecent performance with the Cleo Laine impression during the trumpet solo. She stil has the teddy bear and the wind machine. Better reaction than to Estonia but still not strong.

SAN MARINO next. Band in black, Dancer in flowing Eimear Quinn dress. Good vocals. Sound so far is good on TV in here anyway. Good reaction but not fantastic

BELGIUM Next. Still wearing Strawberry Swirl Dress. Audience can be heard clapping along at the start. Female backers seem to be wearing tiny black hats as well. Very good reaction, not as good as Israel but 2nd best so far I feel.

Now Commercial Break with a video about Belgrade introduced by no 2 in the world Ana Ivanovic.

Presenters back in different outfits. Talking about San Marino and Azerbaijan debuts.

AZERBAIJAN next. Camera shots greatly improved. Vocals also good. Good pyrotechnics. Best reaction in hall so far.

SLOVENIA. Rebeka still in green cage , same S&M motor bike helmets. Have to say best vocals I've hears from her since she started rehearsals. Good reaction in the hall.

Maria next for Norway. All in blue, with wind machine. This is such a strong presentation on screen. Another great reaction in the hall. ( not sure how full it is though)

POLAND and Isis has lost the white wrap and is wearing a blue dress. Excellent vocal. Excellent camera shots, smoke on stage, everyone else in white. , Excellent reaction, Azerbaijan reaction still the best so far I think.

Then, the presenters are back to tell people how to vote and not to vote until the end of the songs. A bit shaky presentation here. Script needs work.

IRELAND next. Very strange postcard! Dustin , if it possible, out of tune for slow bit. Camera work improved but not perfect by any means. ok reaction in the hall, but definitely booing can be heard, more cheers than boos though.

ANDORRA next. What has she on her head! Worst vocal so far in my opinion, she seemed nervous but she good good audience reaction.

BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA next. Excellent performance and vocals, looks really well on scren . Really good on screen but again, Azerbaijan is still the best screen reaction I've heard so far.

ARMENIA next. Vocals sound very screechy to me especially in the firast half of the song but it has actually got the best reaction I have heard thus far. Camera work was good though.

NETHERLANDS next. Hind is still in the blue dress with knee length boots. Hinds vocal is perfect . A much better performance than Armenia but not as good a reaction in the hall.

FINLAND next. Great performance of a rock song, vocals and cameras great and the pyrotechnics really enhanced the visual performance. Another great hall reaction.

ROMANIA next and this is an excellent performance. Great vocals and camera work. And the best reaction on screen so far. this is definitely in the running I feel. Excellent

RUSSIA next and the sound cuts out 10 seconds into the song and Dima has to start all over again! oops! Good vocals, more writhing on floor. Song ends with a bare chest song and he sings " We believe in you' Good reaction in the hall but not an esctatic one.

Commercial Break and we have a video of the building of the set etc, dont think that this will be the video on the night though.

Next kissing couple makes the postcard for GREECE. Backing vocals a little too loud at the start but they soon fixed that I thought. A very energetic performance by Kalomira. Great camera work. and without a doubt, this got the loudest screen reaction of all.

Presenters back on and Novac Djokavic will start the voting by throwing a tennis ball into the crowd. he is not there tonight though and it looks like he will sing a bit id a short song with Jelkjo about Belgrade.

The 19 song reprise is then shown in performance order from 1 to 19. After Greece, there are just over 8 minutes . Presenters say you cannot vote for your own country , have your fingers crossed for your own country but vote for the song you like best.

We then have a video of Serbian 'Winners' mainly sports stars I think. then they advertise the CD and DVD. Then we get another reprise with 5 minutes to go which finishes with just over 30 seconds left

We have an audience countdown. Then the interval act Slobodan Trkulja & Balkanopolis.

Then we have some chat from the presenters . then they show clips of the 5 songs in the final already.

Then we go to the green room for some chat by the other presenters. And then back to the stage where a girl brings on a BIG envelope with the 10 envelopes inside.

The presenters are in the top right of the screen and the list of participants is on the left, blue font on black As each envelope is opened, the chosen country changes to blue font on white background and it also joins a list of 'Semifinal Qualifiers'' so no place in final draw is made.

Then the qualified countries go onstage and we have out goodbyes from the presenters and the credits roll. Phew!

[spiller]

im all excited but cant liveblog, logistical difficulties in the spiller house!

[Cinaed]

Im really looking forward to doing the liveblogging with you now shiva!

will it be in English, or German? [:-?]

[:-P]

[louislestat]

I'm actually worried. Dustin is actually better than the musical diarrhea that has being on so far...... except Israel what a RIDE that Boaz is. I'd shag him or any of his backing singers HUBBA HUBBA

I really liked AZERBAIJAN with the Angels too and Sharon Watts for Norway was excellent

[+saidin+]

What's going on?????? I have no TV [:-((]

[louislestat]

What's going on?????? I have no TV [:-((]

Not missing much..........except what I said above really

Oh and my ''friend'' just text me to say I looked like the Polish one before I got a haircut!!!

[minor_accident]

so, the eurovision has a kids entertainer theme, or is it panto, i didnt get the memo, wtf!?...mind...can we talk.....dustin....we are a sure thing :P

[jellybaby]

ok decided to tune in to see what all the fuss was about and i think Azerbaijans screeching might have just burst my eardrums.

Can u say 'out of key'?

[admin]

Was away for the first half, but saw Dustin, and the boo's say it all!

Loved Andorra though [:-D]

[minor_accident]

did dustin get booed? proud moment ahaha

[admin]

did dustin get booed? proud moment ahaha

he so did, and SO deserving of it too!

[louislestat]

he so did, and SO deserving of it too!

HERE HERE!! Its shit,

The venue is about a third full

[minor_accident]

greece, OMG ..COMPLETE plagurise of beat from give it to me, timbaland,...i kind of like it...damn it !!

[+saidin+]

You know, I bet it was mostly Irish people booing. I mean the Eurovision buffs that would go from Ireland would NEVER have voted that turkey (That no one will admit is ACTUALLY a sock with a man's hand up it's ass!!!)

[louislestat]

Delighted for Israel and Russia and Norway

THRILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLED over Dustin the scumbag

[admin]

greece, OMG ..COMPLETE plagurise of beat from give it to me, timbaland,...i kind of like it...damn it !!

Welcome to the site minor_accident [:-D]

As for Euro 08, couldn't care less about Ireland, but am so disappointed that Andorra didn't get through [:-(]

[sunshine]

what a load of shite. :) i'm glad I didn't waste my time watching the whole thing.
why don't they even fucking sing? just for a change...

[Tom RED]

It's not the same watching the Eurovision Final on Saturday without Ireland. There will be no suspense whatsoever during the points! I'm going to convince myself I'm from Iceland so I can get into it more. Hopefully they will get out of the semis on Thurs.

I didn't know they changed the rules to have two semis and only the winner and the four main sponsors automatically go through!

uAdza0NUBfU

[Cinaed]

some thoughts...

Andorra, robbed!

Netherlands, also robbed!

Dima Bilan, take me NOW! (seriously, i orgasmed when he ripped his shirt off)

Bosnia and Herzogovina...what. the. fuck.

Israel was shit!

Dustin...ah god bless him, i really thought he'd qualify.

The first 10 acts were shit. Nothing really stood out for me, all quite forgettable!

the last 9 had some (well, one would think, anyway) sure-things (Russia, Greece, Armenia, Andorra, Netherlands).

was strangely attracted to the Finnish entry...i'm not really into leather or anything like that, but...i totally would've [:'']

VERY disappointed. oh and the woman presenter...WHAT is she on? every 2 minutes 'Why not go have yourself a drink?" she's like Serbia's answer to Paula Abdul

[sunshine]

I didn't know they changed the rules to have two semis and only the winner and the four main sponsors automatically go through!
so there would be two semi-finals and one more broadcast?

[minor_accident]

cheers admin [;-)], yea vonnie, clairebear and crazymonkey all got my intrigued, any chance to spread my bitchy vacuous commentary and i,m signed up ahaha, knew greece wud get in, the paid richly for the rights to timbos beats , the least they deserve is to be put thru ....or not...i,m sad the tellytubbies(estonia, a hommage to) didnt get thru, terry wogans commentary on that ALONE would make the finals, ah well

[Shiva]

Andorra was robbed...

Vote for Iceland or I will haunt you!!!!!!!

[Harry Bo]

I really think Poland has a good chance of getting in the top 3 in the finals.

As for Dustin.....i'll leave it there.

[Tom RED]

I loved Slovenia below as well and it didn't qualify. It cant be Eastern Bloc voting as Estonia and a few other Eastern European countries didn't get through!

aUi9AjIDSmE

[Bootyzilla]

VERY disappointed. oh and the woman presenter...WHAT is she on? every 2 minutes 'Why not go have yourself a drink?"

When you've spent some time working in Call Centres you come to recognise that woman's bunny-headlights-horror-drivel as plain old bad English. Like Goldmember's entrance in Austin Powers 3: "I am from Holland, isn't that dear?!?! ".

Still though. Useless whore.


I liked Finland and thought Russia would give me Lou Gehrig's, but I was indescribably thrilled that Europe saw through An Scumbag Rubbereacht na h-Éireann and decided to vote No.

'Bye, puppet! I truly hope that you and the rest of your post-DIT "Ohmygod that's sooo funny" losers aren't killed in a plane crash or anything on the way home.

BTW: WHO was the Polish entry? That burnt woman with the awful teeth?

[Cinaed]

[:-O ][:-O ][:-O ][:-O ][:-O ]

omg, apparently this was one of the songs competing for Iceland this year! it didnt get through, but its amazing!

'The Wiggle Song' lol

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jwXjCsN3k2M&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jwXjCsN3k2M&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

[crazymonkey]

poland was vile!!! she clearly did commerce in ucc.

i really liked the wierd knitting/laundry song and i thought finlands song was kinda cool too....


oh and the guy singing for romania was amazing....the girl ruined the performance tho

[minor_accident]

poland was vile!!! she clearly did commerce in ucc.

i really liked the wierd knitting/laundry song and i thought finlands song was kinda cool too....


oh and the guy singing for romania was amazing....the girl ruined the performance tho

poland was fabulous, clearly she is the barbie-esque idol every hooker or tranny dreams to be! lol

[Invincible]

Andorra...where oh where is the justice? Best song of the night.

Closely followed by Slovenia...again, ignored by retarded viewers.

I really liked Bosnia, Armenia, Greece and Norway (fab song). Poland was alright but god she spent too long in the deep fat fryer.

Russia - hmmm, yeah, i like it. But it doesnt grab me and it shouldnt be the winner (their song last year should've won).

The Netherlands were also robbed. Great song. I had a soft spot for Belgium, but i guess it was never gonna get thru.

Finland.....NO! NO! NO! Mother of gawwwwwd.

Ireland. Well, what can i say. The song is uptempo and disco-ey. But no-one obviously 'got' dustin. Shame i say.

Israel took me by surprise. I wasnt expecting to like it. And my god did u see the arms on him....[;-)].

Overall, a fairly disappointing semi. Roll on the 2nd one tomoro night. That promises to be much better. Come on Iceland, Sweden and Bulgaria.
(I also like Ukraine, Latvia, Belarus and Malta).

[Shiva]

Israel took me by surprise. I wasn't expecting to like it. And my god did u see the arms on him....[;-)].


HAH! I knew it wasn't the song you liked :P

Dress rehearsals for Semi 2

ICELAND Girls with plastic macs and umbrellas for the Icelandic postcard. The pink and blue setting is nice but Frederik is slightly strained and off the beat and Regina's hair has gone through an unfortunate transformation (was she caught in today's thunder storm?) . This was a very forced performance. They need to look like they are having fun.

SWEDEN : A paint war themed postcard. Charlotte looks relaxed and comfortable, and sings well, the chubby waiters have haircuts like schoolboys but otherwise this is faultless and it's a finalist despite the draw.

TURKEY : Clever postcard with two kebab chefs. Very intense "in your face" style delivery by the unshaven lead singer, the backdrop does a minimum of movement and the band rock out well. Great pyro closing. Think this is going to the final.

UK RAINE. A juggler with handerchiegs for the postcard. Ani is giving a full on performance. The part where she mounts the light boxes still needs work but this is the best so far and its sailing into the final.

LITHUANIA has kids on swings as a postcard before the man in the worst pair of leather pants in the Balkans belts out the rock-opera-lite. It is what it is and it's going home tomorrow night.

ALBANIA has people rolling on the floor for its postcard. Olta is very shaky in parts and the camework is a bit messy. When you combine that with the horrible stage outfit I think that this may now be struggling to make the cut.

We have a return of the Ana Ivanovic insert as an alternative to the ad break.

Switzerland's has a trampoline gymnast postcard. Paolo is absolutely murdering his song, he's hoarse, flat and behind the beat. Worse vocal performance by anyone this week and when we remember Gisela that's some achievement.

CZECH REPUBLIC has ribbon gymnast. Tereza looks lost trying to find the camera angles and she's very poor vocally. All the pyros in the world aren't saving this. Another one going home early.

BELARUS has a basket baller postcard and Ruslan has shaved. The routine is slick, the vocals are strong. The tape at the end comes together well to form the letter "R". This is a very possible finalist.

LATVIA has frantic dress making machinists for the postcard. The pantomime song is vocally stronger than before, but if anything the vocals are too high in the mix. Given that the silly entries from the first semi went home early, it's hard to see this progressing.

Presenters on stage for a voting reminder.

CROATIA has assailing people on a checkerboard postcard. 75Cents is behind the track and it almost coughing out the lyrics, when the band kick in they are good and the sing along chorus is fine, but this is the weakest I've seen this song being performed so far.

BULGARIA : The longest intro in Eurovision history is an epilectic fit put to music before the singer kicks in. Apart from the fact that the singer cannot pronounce her "th"'s she fine. The crowd love this. It's memorable enough to stand out I think.

DENMARK with woman in a box postcard. The backing vocals are higher and it's better for it. This is the best Simon has been all week and this is coming right back into contention for the final in my opinion.

GEORGIA has dancing nurses postcard. Diana has a slight hoarseness in her voice but the performance is otherwise very strong. The costume transition is coming together very well. Don't rule this one out.

HUNGARY has girls dancing in high heels postcard, delay before the song starts. Csezy's hair is a bit severe but the performance is a treat for the ears and eyes, and surprise certain finalist I think.

MALTA has has kids with swordplay as its postcard. The song has strong vocals and great energy but some dodgey camera work (unless someone think Morena's pelvis is worth concentrating on). The audience reaction is poor but this is in the shake-up.

[Tom RED]

For awhile I thought Shiva was actually in Belgrade but this is taken from a AllKindsOfEverything.ie

There are good photos on it.

[Shiva]

For awhile I thought Shiva was actually in Belgrade but this is taken from a AllKindsOfEverything.ie

There are good photos on it.

Well from their Livejournal ;)

[crazymonkey]

was strangely attracted to the Finnish entry...i'm not really into leather or anything like that, but...i totally would've [:'']




i really liked it too!

I am currently in love with sweden's entry....altho her face scares the bejesus out of me!!

sweden no.1
iceland no.2

[spiller]

I think Iceland wont get a look in the final. Its down to Sweden and Ukraine (Ukraine beeing the stronger one). Also Georgia, Russia, Azerbaijan will join them in making the top 5.

[spiller]

I got there before Shiva today!

The first dress rehearsal

This is the rehearsal that used to be known as the "Press Rehearsal", where any staging, change-over issues get resolved before the two full dress rehearsals tonight and on Saturday morning.



The show begins with with 2007 winner Marija Serifovic performing "Molitva", was acapella and then to a dance version featuring dancers who are "half brode, half groom". It's rather odd. Marija then sings a brand new track "Tell Me Why". Marija then introduces the presenters. A slightly underwhelming introduction in my book, The postcards are the same as in the semis.



I am not going to go into much detail on the performances of the semi-final qualifiers, because you've seen them all this week. If there are any more differences I will report them.

ROMANIA : Nico now wears a white a simple white knee length frock. The performance is as strong as ever. Despite the draw I still think this will make the Top 10. Prediction : 6th-10th.

U.K. : Childen ballet dancers for the postcard. The staging is still very effective and the performance strong, but the camera work needs more work. This has benefitted from the ballads being drawn around it, but I still fear it will be lost after 23 other songs are performed. Prediction : 20th-25th.

ALBANIA : Same as before, but she's more confident vocally. I cannot see this doing much on the scoreboard, but it may take some Balkan votes from Serbia. Prediction: 16th-20th.

GERMANY : More ribbon gymnastics for the postcard. This is a disaster vocally, with very weak vocals for all of No Angels. When the phrase and "I need you here" is sung, you feel it's prayer! The firls wear their chiffon for the entire performance and no amount of fireworks, wind manchines or camera trickery can save it. I really like the song but I think this may very well be last on Saturday night. Prediction : 21st to 25th.

ARMENIA : Same as before, but Sirusho is screaming. Coming after the previous songs, this should have been a contender, but not on this performance. It will get diaspora votes as Armenia always does, but unless the vocals are improved or brought down in the mix, it's not a contender. Prediction : 6th to 10th.

BOSNIA-HERZ : There's a three minute stop before this starts, first sign of a possible technical issue. Good reaction from the small crowd, when it finally gets going. Camera angles are better but still not totally there. This is another one to take Balkan votes and a lot more besides. Prediction : 6th to 10th.

Ad Break, which will show people watching the show in squares all over Europe.

ISRAEL : Come bad camera angles on this unless someone think the back of a cameraman's neck is something Europe will enjoy. YThere are also too many camera angle changes and it bcomes dizzying. Boaz and his team are in fine voice, but is it too early to make an impression? Prediction : 11th to 16th.

FINLAND : Rumours has it that these boys have make-up on their chests to make their abs look more defined. I haven't been close enough to check. It's well performed and it's a great contrast to Israel. It looks great on screen, but with Turkey and Azerbaijan offering other rock alternatives, later in the show, I fear this might get squeezed. Prediction : 16th to 20th.

CROATIA : This was a surprise qualifier for several people but I always saw it as a finalist. The performance is as strong as last night (they could probably do it in their sleep at his stage) and this is another one that will appeal to the Balkans and beyond. Prediction : 11th to 16th.

POLAND : Nicely separated from Israel and it gives a better chance for this to stand out. The swirling shots which show Isis singing to the crowd are strong. I met Isis on the boat trip on Wednesday and she was so pleased to qualify and I guaranteed her 12 points from Ireland. My only worry here is that it is a bit lacking in something to make it stand out after 25 songs. Prediction : 16th to 20th.

ICELAND : Like Poland, Iceland is in the final after several years of failure. The only problem here is the lighting. Frederik is often in shadow, but they do look like they are having fun. A little niggling doubt in the back of my mind says that this might not do so well with so many good pop songs in the second half of the draw. Prediction : 21st to 25th.

TURKEY : As strong as before. Now that it has done the hard work in qualifying it could well go very well on Saturday night. Prediction : 11th to 16th.

Green Room visit as an alternative to the ad break.

PORTUGAL : Vania is holding back (who can blame her?). I still don't like the fuzzy to defined camera change or the long shots, I'd prefer something from backstage looking out at the audience, and there's a shot of a camerman frantically running out of shot.. Great passion, but coming after the ad break isn't a help. Still needs a little work in my opinion. Prediction : 4th to 8th.

LATVIA : I'm far from being the only person being surprised and displeased that this qualified. However it was the only novelty in last night's semi. Tomorrow it has Spain to contend with. Prediction : 21st to 25th.

SWEDEN : This really benefits from coming after the Latvian nonsense. It's well performed, but it lacks something to take it above the rest of the pop songs and to stand out. Prediction : 6th to 10th.

DENMARK : Simon looks like he's having fun and his attitude helps to sell this song. I think that this could do a lot better than people think. Prediction : 4th to 10th.

GEORGIA : Once again Georgia follows Denmark. The chorus sounds great when they kick in and while I find the lyrics a little to surary for my taste, it's a simple message for non Englisg speakers. The costume transition is great and the crowd loves this. Prediction : 6th to 10th.

UKRAINE : It's as great on screen as it is in the Arena and it blows Sweden out of the water in my book. This has Top 3 written all over it.

Presenters on stage, Jovana is a big flowery frock announcing the voting numbers and news of the perpetual trophy.



FRANCE has giant flag wavers for it's postcard. It's still a very strange performance but it does look oddly effective in the long shots. I genuinely cannot see the Eurovision audience going for this. Prediction : 21st to 25th.

AZERBAIJAN : Vocally strong although there are still some dodgy camera shots. Elnur needs to find the camera. I really find it hard to know how people will react to this, so I'm not making a prediction.

GREECE : Kalomira's movements look a bit awkward to my eye and the long shot for the book opening & costume change really looks strange. Kalomira's a little ahead of the backing track at times and the wind blowing her hair into her face is bad. The hip thrusting bit is good, but this is the worst I've seen this so far. Prediction : 6th to 10th.

SPAIN has a bullfighting behind a curtain postcard. Rodolfo managed to knock his glasses off and the whole routine look a bit shakey today. There are still some poor camera shots and this is also the worst I've seen this in rehearsal. Prediction : 6th to 10th.



SERBIA : Multicouloured children for the postcard. There are lots of swirling camera shots to add life to this pretty static stage performance. Jelena is very strong vocally, but the grey frock and purple eye shadow are mistake to my eye. It's just lacking a little impact in my book. Prediction : 3rd to 8th.



RUSSIA : Is more or less the same as the semi. Dima is giving a 110&#37; peerformance when 100% would work better. It's very dramatic, but somehow I think the fact that the two favouraites are coming back to back is playing into Ukraine's hands. Prediction : 1st or 2nd.

NORWAY : Maria does a great job selling her song. I do think there's a bit too much machine in this. I would spare it until the last verse and chorus when the three backing singers come to the front. The ending is very strong . Prediction 6th to 10th.

Basketballer Balde Divac (yes, I've never heard of him either) opens the voting.

After a video montage there is another run oof the reprises.

Then the voting closes and we have the interval, featuring Goran Bregovic and his band. The whole thing is a bit static in my mind. For me it's the weakest interval of the three we've seen this week.

[Invincible]

I'm so thrilled Iceland and Sweden got thru. Excellent performances. I also really like Georgia, Latvia and Ukraine. Did ye see the Ukrainian dancers?? Wow. The blond fella. Wow. And wow again.

I really like Bulgaria too but it didnt come across well, and i guess it deserved not to qualify. But Malta! What happened??

And they let Albania thru?? Grrr.

[admin]

I am excited about the entrants from last night. Some good choices, thought it was weird that malta didn't get through but Latvia did.

PS this ain't Admin

[admin]

Just back from the EBU pressc onference where we get a chance to ask questions to Bjorn Ericsson about the format of the show, its future etc. Here are the highlights;

The position of the "Big 4" in under review. The reference group are consuidering the option of only have the host country as an automatic finalist.

The next Eurovision Dance Contest will be in Glasgow on 6th Septermber. After that the winner will host.

Problems within NBC have delayed the American version of ESC, the EBU is now working with CBS.

The will be a Middle East Song Contst and one for the far East (hosted in Singapore) within the near future. SABC in South Africa is looking a doing one for Africa. A global Song Contest is under consideration for the future.

The feature film with eurovision as its theme starts production in January. There are also discussion about a West End musical featuring existing Eurovision songs.

The whole role of Terry Wogan and the BBC's commitment to the contest was discussed. Reading between the lines, I wouldn't be suprised if the EBU wouldn't be too upset with Terry Wogan's retirement and thre was a telling comment that perhaps the UK should be sending better songs rather than just complaining about its results.

No movement on getting Italy to return (there's a reward of 100 bottles of champagne to anyone who can get Italian broadcaster RAI to come back. Slovakia could well be back next year, once current financial problems are solved.

There will be no move to change the situation where the non-qualifiers vote in the final ("We are family" and should all participate in the decision).

The whole issue of the draw for final running order of the qualifiers not going out live either as part of the show or being streamed online, is to be reviewed
From the EBU press conferance earlier today, seing as how Spiller stole my thunder :)

PS not Admin again

[spiller]

I'm so thrilled Iceland and Sweden got thru. Excellent performances. I also really like Georgia, Latvia and Ukraine. Did ye see the Ukrainian dancers?? Wow. The blond fella. Wow. And wow again.

I really like Bulgaria too but it didnt come across well, and i guess it deserved not to qualify. But Malta! What happened??

And they let Albania thru?? Grrr.

YUP! thought the same thing! [:-D]

[Popeye]

Can someone youtube the top 5 contenders here so that i can listen to then. Working Saturday night [:-(]

[Shiva]

here are the live songs

Ukraine: http://youtube.com/watch?v=d3AJGLQ7bKs (not bad)
Iceland: http://youtube.com/watch?v=FaIXIzcvPZ8 (YAY! Spectacular performance and the audience were behind this 110&#37; :D)
Russia: http://youtube.com/watch?v=KDJxR0fsbN8 (twinks with ice skaters)
Sweden: http://youtube.com/watch?v=WcebDbVeyGg (when botox attacks)
Portugal: http://youtube.com/watch?v=772BwKsl9nM (vote for me or I will eat you!)
Turkey:http://youtube.com/watch?v=L18mLM53mZU (the most non turkish sounding turkish song)

although those damm Latvian pirates may upset everything: http://youtube.com/watch?v=XDMgeYy80NQ

[+saidin+]

Was Iceland's song produced by DJ Tiesto?! Make the voices squeeky and it's a knacker anthem! [:-O ]

Ukraine all they way!!! Loves it! [:-X]

[Shiva]

After reading the latest reports from todays dress rehearsals here are a few opnions:

Iceland & Sweden – Iceland was much and I mean much, much better than Sweden. I dare to say the Sweden was overshadowed by Iceland. Iceland was better in any way you can think than Sweden. Good vocals, good camera shots, they looked directly to the camera understanding that this is a TV show. Charlotte Perrelli looked dreadful and scary.

Greece – A song that doesn’t deserve to win and probably it won’t as they are better songs than this one. Repetitive, boring and uninteresting.

Serbia – This is a beautiful song. Top score on Saturday but it will not win. Zeljko Joksimovic has found a sort of formula that works well in ESC. His previous compositions from 2004 & 2006 were excellent and got, quite deservedly, high score on the final. But this entry is the weakest of the 3 he has composed so far for the ESC. It missing some passion that his previous entries had.

Germany-This is a perfect pop song. It has some sweetness in it. Unfortunately reports from the dress rehearsals are not good and that is a shame.

Israel – During his performance on Tuesday I had goose bums. It was emotional and effective and if he delivers such a performance on Saturday he will be high on the scoreboard.

Portugal is gaining a lot of support especially after Thursday. And I mean a lot of support.

The main predictions see the top 5 being: Ukraine, Iceland, Portugal, Sweden and Serbia.

Personally I wouldn't object to any of these 5 winning

[Tom RED]

The position of the "Big 4" in under review. The reference group are considering the option of only have the host country as an automatic finalist.

Yeah I was thinking that the Big 4 have a major disadvantage as people are less familiar with the songs, they don't get the same "practice run" of performing to millions in the semi-final. Also I think people voting resent them for getting straight into the Final!

It would also make the semis an even bigger event! The UK dont even put the semis on the terrestial BBC channels! I hope Terry WAGON retires, I used to be a fan, now I actually much prefer our own Marty Whelan.

The UK entry is SHITE this year. Scooch last year was fab! :-)

[Shiva]

The UK entry is SHITE this year. Scooch last year was fab! :-)

I agree, Scooch was a great sing, I'm very sad they didn't do better last year. And yes Andy Abrahanm isn't that good, however I have a horrible feeling that he will do better.

[spiller]

It would also make the semis an even bigger event! The UK dont even put the semis on the terrestial BBC channels! I hope Terry WAGON retires, I used to be a fan, now I actually much prefer our own Marty Whelan.


Its on BBC 3 which is easy to tune into in the UK. I even had it in Germany. Its Free to Air

[Shiva]

Here's the current Top 10 with the bookmakers (and the best odds, currently on offer)
Russia : 3/1
Ukraine : 7/2
Greece : 9/1
Serbia : 14/1 (this one is losing support)
Sweden : 14/1
Finland : 14/1 (there's been a rush of money on this)
Armenia : 16/1
Bosnia-Herz. : 28/1
Portugal, Turkey, Spain : 40/1

[Cinaed]

Greece – A song that doesn’t deserve to win and probably it won’t as they are better songs than this one. Repetitive, boring and uninteresting.

i believe i might have hugged you the other night. i officially retract it [X-(]

Greece is frikkin amazing! Secret Combination, the lyrics are great, she has a stage presence, and (granted i'm going by her dancers in the greek semi final, but) AMAZING performance.

anyone who missed the greek semifinal should check it out here:

(do it, for the dancers, it might have a small part in why i'm obsessed with the song!)

I'm still bitter Andorra's Casanova didn't get it. It's like the one who sang 'Je T'Adore' in 2005. she deserved to move on, and didn't. i hate eurovision, its so unfair! [:-((]

also, be forewarned, if Dima rips his top off again I'm not responsible for my actions [():)]

[Shiva]

i believe i might have hugged you the other night. i officially retract it [X-(]

Greece is frikkin amazing! Secret Combination, the lyrics are great, she has a stage presence, and (granted i'm going by her dancers in the greek semi final, but) AMAZING performance.

anyone who missed the greek semifinal should check it out here:

(do it, for the dancers, it might have a small part in why i'm obsessed with the song!)

I'm still bitter Andorra's Casanova didn't get it. It's like the one who sang 'Je T'Adore' in 2005. she deserved to move on, and didn't. i hate eurovision, its so unfair! [:-((]

also, be forewarned, if Dima rips his top off again I'm not responsible for my actions [():)]

Well in fairness you are the male version of the Greek singer lol

[Shiva]

interesting rumor from the press circles atm.

Macedonia was number 10 in the televoting, but they were kicked out for the jury vote. And guess who the jury vote was? Sweden! I'm guessing catwomans face put people off :D

[Shiva]

Grats to Russia, after a long and tiresome few years, ye finally won it :)

In a complete turnabout, its actually gonna be held in Petersburg and not Moscow, might actually be able to afford it now :D

[sunshine]

you kidding yourself. St.Petersburg will be at least twice expensive for the ESC.

[Shiva]

you kidding yourself. St.Petersburg will be at least twice expensive for the ESC.

less big budget rooms I suppose

[Slayer]

I am DISGUSTED Russia won. The Ukraine should have won! :(

[Shiva]

ggpFs6Eq05k
This is the song that won the popular vote in Sweden this year, the Jury over ruled them and sent in Charlotte, I mean Catwoman, instead.