Ukraine At #Eurovision: The Highlights

In Ukraine's 13 years of Eurovision history they have now won twice (and that includes that didn't even compete last year!). But that isn't even the whole story of their success as they've been in the top 10 an amazing 9 times!!! Ukraine IS Eurovision as far as I'm concerned.

I've got to admit I've had a soft spot for Ukraine since Ruslana won back in Turkey in 2004. Here's her epic "Wild Dances".



My commutes to my job in Vauxhall in 2006 (and onwards!) were done to the soundtrack of Tina Karol's Show Me Your Love, getting only a 7th place finish (ROBBED!)



Verka Serduchka represents everything that is delightful about the Eurovision Song Contest. She's funny, she's talented and by jove doesn't she know how to dress?! I'm still in shock that she came runner-up to Serbia in 2007 with this now CLASSIC Dancing Lasha Tumbai.



What's this? A third year in a row with an awesome tune? Yeap. 2008 Ukraine brought their top game to the table with Shady Lady by Ani Lorak. This has remained a staple MP3 on every device I've owned since!



No. It can't possibly be true. Ukraine didn't go for a fourth year of fantastic music, did they? Well I suppose this one is debatable but not if you ask me. Be My Valentine by Svetlana Loboda in 2009 was brilliantly staged, had sexy men and a fabulous singer. And what a tune it was!!!



2010 allowed Ukraine to show they could do heartfelt songs without glitzy staging and crazy gimmicks. Something they'd show again with 2016's winner! Alyosha and "Sweet People"



2011's Angel and 2012's Be My Guest are great songs too and 2013's Gravity scored massively but it was 2014's return to form that really got me back on the Ukraine bandwagon. Tick-Tock by Mariya Yaremchuk came with a man in a hamster spinning wheel...



And then, after an understandable absence in 2015, another winner. Well done Ukraine, you are epic!!

My Eurovision Top Ten

Today's the day! And after a 7 hour round trip to Gatwick I'm looking forward to settling down with my favourite television show. Below you'll find my top 10 picks from the final, but in no particular order. I would be happy if any one of these won for all sorts of different reasons. Sweden because Eric Saade is HOT. Estonia and Iceland because the songs get stuck in my head. Blue because they're doing it for the UK! And of course Germany's Lena because her song is absolutely awesome.

I can't wait

Romania



Sweden



United Kingdom



Germany



Estonia



Denmark



Finland



Austria



Hungary



Iceland

Eurovision 2011: The Second Semi Final! #esc

It's another semi final tonight! I love that we get semi finals now, it really gives us a chance to come to know the songs better. In my opinion, this will be a far more entertaining semi final than Tuesday's, with far better quality songs. Here are my top 5.

Denmark

Denmark's entry sounds fresh, is sung well and looks good. A Friend In London - New Tomorrow



Estonia

Rockefeller Street, sung by Getter Jaani, is pure Eurovision. It's poptastic, awesome hook and chorus. Whilst it's not my absolute favour song in the contest, I think it may well win. And it'd be a well-deserved win at that.



Sweden

Well you know Eric Saade is "Popular" around these parts. Very popular. I will state I don't think this song is even half as good as last year's Melodifestivalen entry "Manboy", but I still think it's awesome.



Romania

Hotel FM's "Change" is rather catchy, in my opinion. Love it.



Slovakia

A bit slow, but I like it. Twins are the antidote to those other doppelgangers on tonight... Jedward. Embrace them and "I'm Still Alive" instead...

Eurovision 2011: The First Semi Final! #esc

So tonight is the night... Eurovision begins! I can't contain my excitement *looks over list of songs for first semi-final* Ok, excitement contained. All the middling to awful songs in one semi-final! What a terrifying prospect...

I thought I'd select my top 5 songs for tonight... a difficult task given I'm not thrilled by any on the list but here goes:

Albania

I've been scathing about Albania's entries in the past. Too many silly hats and traditional dances. But they've done alright this year, with a poor man's Sertab song. Aurela Gaçe does okay with Feel The Passion



Hungary

Hungary's entry deserves to top the winners for tonight. A modern, fast tempo'd song with good vocals. Kati Wolf rocks What about my dreams



Iceland

A touching, well sung song with a good tune. And the story behind it is, of course, heartbreaking. Sjonni's Friends and the awesome Coming Home....



Malta

Not the best song ever. Not the best vocals either. But I love it... Glen Vella and One Life



Finland

Love this song. Paradise Oskar - Da Da Dam



I expect Hungary to walk it tonight. It'll be interesting to see what actually happens...

Eurovision Countdown: Coming Home

Sjonni's Friends entry for Iceland is a very touching tribute song and rather sweet. I don't think it'll stand a chance of winning but this is yet another song highlighting the rather amazing high standard for this year's competition.

Eurovision Countdown: The Secret Is Love

Austria is back! Hurrah! This year's entry is by Nadine Beiler



The Secret Is Love is good, brilliant vocals but a bit too dull to be the winner I think.

Eurovision Countdown: Change

Hotel FM bring us Romania's entry "Change". And it's not bad, certainly the best Romania entry I've heard. Great beat, good vocals. Could do well...



In worrying news my other half quite like's Belarus' entry... I've asked for them to be sectioned.

Eurovision Countdown: Lipstick

Jedward. Why Ireland?? WHY??? After Dustin the Turkey I thought you couldn't do any thing worse... but JEDWARD???



On second listen it's not so bad but I refuse to link to the live version 1) because it's a carcrash and 2) because it features Jedward.

Eurovision Countdown: Born in Belorussia

My first "OMG THEY DIDN'T DO THAT" entry is Belarus'. Enjoy...



As one says in the comments... 12 points from Stalin!!

Eurovision Countdown: Popular

There's no getting around it. I have a soft spot for Sweden's Eric Saade, and the greatest disappointment of 2010's Eurovision Song Contest was the fact he wasn't in it representing Sweden with "Manboy"



But he didn't give up and last night won Sweden's annual Melodifestivalen and will thus be flying the blue and yellow flag in Dusseldorf with "Popular"



It's a good tune with an awesome hook and I've no doubt it'll do well in May. How can it not when the singer has as cute a face as this???

Eurovision Countdown: Madness of Love

Italy! Yes, you heard me right. ITALY. They have returned to Eurovision and magically made their way in the "Big Five".



Raphael Gualazzi's entry is actually rather good, a bit low key for Eurovision I'll admit and probably more suited to a classy evening out but still it's a quality song with awesome music.

I'm thinking top 50% finish...

Eurovision Countdown: Ding Dong

Dana International. A Eurovision legend. And she's back... Israel's entry for 2011 can hardly fail to impress, surely?



But... I don't think it's got winning potential. Compared to many of the other songs in the competition, it's just a bit run of the mill.

Not awful. Just middling... NEXT...

Eurovision Countdown: Taken By A Stranger

In a change to my usual huge pre-Eurovision summary blog post, I'll be posting a daily look at a particular song from this years contest... starting with the hosts; Germany.

Lena Meyer-Landrut's Satellite was a worthy winner last year. Fun, catchy and all round awesome.



This year, having decided they were on to a good thing with Lena, Germany's entry is more grown up and subtle.

Taken By A Stranger doesn't fall very easily into Eurovision stereotypes (such as the "poptastic" or the "OMG they've gone with their country's traditional music" genres). It's a well-crafted piece of music, and it's easy to imagine it in any European pop chart. I don't want to go over the top but, from a personal taste point of view, I think this is one of the best Eurovision songs I've heard. I absolutely adore it. Saying that, I quite enjoyed Scooch...

Check it out and let me know what you think:

Eurovision Song Contest 2010 - Oslo, Norway - UPDATED

On my main blog it is a yearly tradition that I maintain a Eurovision post in the months leading up to the Final. It is kept updated as and when new selections are made and news comes out. Now that tradition moves here, where it truly belongs... 

Check out this Aussie programme... Eurovision A-Z

Location

The Telenor Arena, Greater Oslo, Norway.  

Presenters

Erik Solbakken 

Haddy Jatou N'jie

Nadia Hasnaoui

What's Different

This year the 2 Semi Final shows will introduce the same voting system as used, with quite some success, in the 2009 final. This means the votes shall be split 50/50 between a phone vote and jury vote. For more see Wikipedia

Countries, Singers and Songs 

Albania - Juliana Pasha "Nuk mundam pa ty"
Armenia - Eva Rivas "Apricot Stone"
Azerbaijan - Safura Alizadeh "Drip Drop"
Belarus - 3 + 2 "Butterflies"
Belgium - Tom Dice "Me And My Guitar"
Bosnia and Herzegovina - Vukašin Brajić "Munja i grom"
Bulgaria - Miro "Angel si ti"
Croatia - Feminnem "Lako je sve" 
Cyprus -   Jon Lilygreen and The Islanders "Life Looks Better in Spring"
Denmark - Chanée & N'evergreen "In a Moment Like This"
Estonia - Malcolm Lincoln "Siren"
Finland - Kuunkuiskaajat "Työlki ellää"
France - Jessy Matador "Allez Ola Olé"
Georgia - Sopho Nizharadze "Shine"
Germany - Lena Meyer-Landrut "Satellite" 
Greece - Giorgos Alkeos and Friends "OPA" 
Iceland - Hera Björk "Je ne sais quoi"
Ireland - Niamh Kavanagh "It's For You" 
Israel - Harel Skaat "Milim"
Latvia - Aisha "What For?"
Lithuania - InCulto "East European Funk"
Macedonia - Gjoko Taneski "Jas ja imam silata"
Malta - Thea Garrett "My Dream"
Moldova - SunStroke Project and Olio Tira "Run Away"
Netherlands - Sieneke "Ik ben verliefd, Shalalie"
Norway - Didrik Solli-Tangen "My Heart Is Yours"
Poland -  Marcin Mrozinski "Legenda" 
Portugal - Filipa Azevedo "Ha dias assim"
Romania - Paula Seling and Ovi "Playing with Fire"
Russia - Peter Nalitch Band "Lost and Forgotten" 
Serbia - Milan Stankovic "Ovo je Balkan" 
Slovakia - Kristina "Horehronie"
Slovenia - Ansambel Roka Žlindre and Kalamari "Narodnozabavni rock"
Spain - Daniel Diges "Algo pequeñito"
Sweden - Anna Bergendahl "This Is My Life"
Switzerland - Michael von der Heide "Il pleut de l'or"
Turkey - maNga "We Could Be The Same"
Ukraine - Alyosha - "Sweet People"
United Kingdom - Josh Dubovie "That Sounds Good To Me" 

Eurovision Song Contest 2010 - Oslo, Norway

On my main blog it is a yearly tradition that I maintain a Eurovision post in the months leading up to the Final. It is kept updated as and when new selections are made and news comes out. Now that tradition moves here, where it truly belongs... 

Location

The Telenor Arena, Greater Oslo, Norway.  

Presenters

Erik Solbakken 

Haddy Jatou N'jie

Nadia Hasnaoui

What's Different

This year the 2 Semi Final shows will introduce the same voting system as used, with quite some success, in the 2009 final. This means the votes shall be split 50/50 between a phone vote and jury vote. For more see Wikipedia

Countries, Singers and Songs 

Albania - Juliana Pasha "Nuk mundam pa ty"
Armenia - Eva Rivas "Apricot Stone"
Azerbaijan - Safura Alizadeh "Drip Drop"
Belarus - 3 + 2 "Butterflies"
Belgium - Tom Dice "Me And My Guitar"
Bosnia and Herzegovina - Vukašin Brajić "Munja i grom"
Bulgaria - Miro "Angel si ti"
Croatia - Feminnem "Lako je sve" 
Cyprus -   Jon Lilygreen and The Islanders "Life Looks Better in Spring"
Denmark - Chanée & N'evergreen "In a Moment Like This"
Estonia - Malcolm Lincoln "Siren"
Finland - Kuunkuiskaajat "Työlki ellää"
France - Jessy Matador "Allez Ola"
Georgia - Sopho Nizharadze "Shine"
Germany - Lena Meyer-Landrut "Satellite" 
Greece - Giorgos Alkeos and Friends "OPA" 
Iceland - Hera Björk "Je ne sais quoi"
Ireland - Niamh Kavanagh "It's For You" 
Israel - Harel Skaat "Milim"
Latvia - Aisha "What For?"
Lithuania - InCulto "East European Funk"
Macedonia - Gjoko Taneski "Jas ja imam silata"
Malta - Thea Garrett "My Dream"
Moldova - SunStroke Project and Olio Tira "Run Away"
Netherlands - Sieneke "Ik ben verliefd, Shalalie"
Norway - Didrik Solli-Tangen "My Heart Is Yours"
Poland -  Marcin Mrozinski "Legenda" 
Portugal - Filipa Azevedo "Ha dias assim"
Romania - Paula Seling and Ovi "Playing with Fire"
Russia - Peter Nalitch Band "Lost and Forgotten" 
Serbia - Milan Stankovic "Ovo je Balkan" 
Slovakia - Kristina "Horehronie"
Slovenia - Ansambel Roka Žlindre and Kalamari "Narodnozabavni rock"
Spain - Daniel Diges "Algo pequeñito"
Sweden - Anna Bergendahl "This Is My Life"
Switzerland - Michael von der Heide "Il pleut de l'or"
Turkey - maNga "We Could Be The Same"
Ukraine - 
United Kingdom - Josh Dubovie "That Sounds Good To Me" 

Eurovision Selections: Two Very Different Shows

This weekend has seen two national selection contests for Eurovision (alright there has been more but I only watched two!). One was Your Country Needs You, which selects the UK entry. The other was Melodifestivalen, which selects Sweden's entry. They were very different entities... 

So this year we went back to the old "all on one day" format of Your Country Needs You. Last year's format of having 6 contestants who were gradually voted off by the public and the judge (Andrew Lloyd Webber) was great especially as Webber hadn't written the song until he saw who was in the final and who might be able to carry it off best. 

This year Pete Waterman was in charge of the song, and after some truly abysmal performances of Waterman classics and then a final 3 set of performances of the "winning song", we ended up with Josh Dubovie, 19 from Essex as our performer singing "That Sounds Good To Me". I can't say I'm inspired by the song. Given Waterman's record it is actually pretty awful. Couldn't we just have sent Steps??? 





Anyway, if you wish to hear the winning entry a video is here. I just wish we had an open competition in which actual artists could compete with their own songs and allow the best one to win. Alas... we must leave that for: 

Melodifestivalen is less a televisual event than it is a Swedish religion. Weeks of musical shenanigans in a large arena resulted in last night's final in which ten songs competed for the glory of Eurovision stardom. Not only were the songs and singers all of a higher calibre than our lacklustre one's. but the voting was done on a semi international basis with foreign juries and Swedish public votes all leading to the final result. That left them with the far better "This Is My Life" by Anna Bergendahl

Although I have to say I really enjoyed Eric Saade's Manboy:

Roll on Eurovision! 

Eurovision: Your Country Needs You!

We knew Pete Waterman would be taking the place of Andrew Lloyd-Webber as songwriter and producer this year. But now the acts who will be competing to take his song to Europe have been revealed as Your Country Needs You! is less than a week away.

Alexis Gerrard, aged 20. 

Esma Akkilic, aged 17

Josh Dubovie, aged 19

Karen Harding, aged 18 

Miss Fitz 

Uni5

A very young crowd, with no one older than their mid 20s. A good looking bunch, it'll be interesting to see how well they can sing and who is ultimately chosen to fight our corner in May!

For some reason the show is on a Friday this year, so this coming Friday you'll find me crossing my fingers and hoping for gold!