Taken By A Stranger Wins In Germany

In a clear case of leaving the best until last, Song 6 of 6 in the German NF will be Lena Mayer-Laudruts entry as she attempts to defend her title in Düsseldorf.  It was the best song and will score highly in the final, although the runner-up "Push Forward" was another high quality effort.

The fact that the song sounds nothing like "Satellite" can only be a good thing, sending a clone would have been an embarrassing disaster.

Magdalena Tul wins in Poland

A highly entertaining Polish contest ended with pre-final favourite Magdalena Tul winning with her song "Jestem".  Didn't think it was the best entry on the night, like last year there were a couple better further down the field, in particular runner-up Anna Gogola whose entry has swiftly made it onto my IPod.


Magdalena will be a certain qualifier, but the song will finish in the bottom half on the big night.

Six More Entries Decided

Ireland


Unfortunately for the rest of Europe the Irish are inflicting the Brothers Grim(es) on us.  Jedward and their awful song "Lipstick" was not the winner with the regional juries, but carried enough of the telephone vote to beat Nikki Kavanagh by a short head.  In hindsight though RTE may just have played a blinder here.  The country (and presumably RTE) are virtually bankrupt, so send the worst entry ever - Genius!


They will struggle to get out of the semi-final, mainly because their rather large fanbase in the UK cannot vote, and the rest of Europe will be scratching their heads in bemusement.


Malta


Considering that their NF was chock full of quality efforts, I am at a loss as to why Glen Valla was the choice of the Maltese jury/televoters.  He is nothing more than a token Pretty-Boy, his disco effort "One Life", although a lot different from the usual girl-ballads they are more associated with, it is rather uninspiring, and will struggle to qualify.


Iceland

In a result that surprised no-one the late Sigurjon Brink will be represented in Düsseldorf as his song "Aftur Heim", performed by a tribute band consisting of five of his friends, was an easy winner in Iceland.  Nobody can claim it was the best song, because it wasn't, however the story behind it was more than enough to gain the sympathy of the Jury and televoters.  Whether the sentiments will be enough to bring it much success in the contest, who knows.


I understand this is the first time since 1965 that a deceased songwriter has been represented.


Finland


Another country on the long list of "..we do not want to win this thing.." as ordinary boy-band-type-performer  Paradise Oskar received the Finnish nod.  The song "Da Da Dam", is beyond uninteresting, it's nonsense title notwithstanding.




Belguim


After last year you would have thought that Belgium were on the way back, but Witloof Bay are no Tom Dice, nowhere near.  3 minutes of total tedium that I struggled to listen to.  Certain non-qualifier.


Norway

Finally, a wining entry I have a strong regard for. "Haba Haba" by Stella Mwangi (despite a hefty nod in the direction of Shakiras "Waka Waka" World Cup effort) is strong and dynamic and should get votes by the shed-load.  Must stand every chance of figuring very highly in the final, and could present Norway with their second winner in 3 years.

Eldar & Nigar to Duet for Azerbaijan

It took 3 and a half hours of low quality and low budget broadcasting to finally bring us the result of the Azerbaijan NF.  5 singers who had all pre qualified prior to Christmas sang 4 (yes 4) times each, then after what seemed like forever the Jury (no televoting involved) announced that the tuneless Nigar Jamal and the slightly less tuneless (but extremely young looking) Eldar Gasimov would duet in Düsseldorf. 


Had all the hallmarks of a pre-determined result, with Eldar being the only male entry and all.  You do not just suddenly decide on the night that a duet is your preferred option, that is nonsense. 


Performances by Anna Rossinelli, Safura and Sofia Nizharadze made the show slightly more bearable.

Finals in Ireland and Azerbaijan Tonight!!

Two finals tonight, luckily due the time difference they do not clash (and viewers will get to see a fair chunk of the Maltese semi-final in-between).  In Azerbaijan it is just the winning singer that is being selected, with the song being internally selected at a later date, however in Ireland it is a more conventional NF with 5 songs up for the vote.  I, along with many thousands of others, tuned into the Derek Mooney radio show on RTE Radio 1 yesterday afternoon to hear the final selection in full for the first time:


1. Don Mescall - "Talking With Jennifer" <<< reminded me of a cheapened version of "Jessie" by Joshua Kadison.  Boring, forgettable, no hope.


2. Jedward - "Lipstick" <<< Just to highlight the stupidity of these pair of half-wits, a 30 second snippet of this effort was leaked online earlier in the week, forcing RTE to hastily alter the voting system, handing the Juries more say.  Thank goodness for that, hopefully common sense and not the votes of a couple of thousand silly-daft teenage girls, will prevail.  The song is rubbish of the highest order, and if somehow it wins will be a bigger turkey than Dustin ever was.


3. Bling - "Shine On" <<<  Sounds like an early 80s also-ran in the UK ASFE, bland beyond belief.  Making up the numbers and nothing else.


4. The Vard Sisters - "Send Me An Angel" <<< The sort of song that has been done to death (and a darn sight better) a million times before.  Tuneless, and no chance of winning.


5. Nikki Kavanagh - "Falling" <<< Like last year, RTE have saved the most obvious winner until last.  A very modern song, in the style of Rihanna, it is the best effort by a distance.  A certain qualifier if selected and more than capable of delivering Irelands best result in over a decade to boot.




Lets hope the Irish Televoters / Juries get their act together and send Nikki to Düsseldorf. They would have every right to be confident of a big showing if she should be their choice.  Coverage starts at 21:30 GMT, 22:30 CET.  Link here >>> RTE LIVE 

EuroNite - Last Week 1999

The last contest of the Century took us to Israel, 20 years after they last hosted.  In a first, they employed the services of 3 presenters, including former entrant Dafna Dekel.


For the first time since 1977 the rule about having to sing in a language native to your country was abolished, hence many countries opting to sing in English.  Also it was the first contest that completely did away (on grounds of cost if memory serves) with the Orchestra.


The UK entry was sang by all-girl group Precious.  Indeed, our NF was pretty much of a muchness, with neither Sister Sway, Jay or Alberta really installing much confidence.  The better song go through, but I wasn't expecting victory.  Indeed, it was lead singer Louise Rose who made more headlines on the night, due to a slight wardrobe malfunction.


The winner was a slice of pure-schlager.  Charlotte Niellsen for Sweden with the Abba-esque "Take Me To Your Heaven" (exactly 25 years to the day that Abba had won in Brighton) scored a comfortable victory ahead of Icelands Selma with "All Out Of Luck".


Now, I have a question for you all. What was the last song in the 1999 Eurovision?  Croatia? No!  Dana International with "Free" in the interval - wrong again!  It is a bit of a trick question in all honesty, as the correct answer is "Hallelujah" sang by everyone at the end, sang in tribute to victims of the Balkan War, but more than that I felt a fitting end to the Contest in the 20th Century.

EuroNite - Last Week 1998

The 1998 was the last one (so far) to be held in the UK, thanks to Katrinas win 12 months previous.  Our entry on this occasion was Imaani with "Where Are You", although this song was not the recipient of my 10 penceworth in the NF.  I voted for "I'll Never Be Lonely Again" by Sapphire, which has since become a dancefloor classic and is far better (in my opinion).  If I wasn't over-fond of Imaanis song at the time, her behaviour post-contest didn't endear her to me either (more later).


The concert itself was held at the NIA in Birmingham and hosted by Terry Wogan and Ulrika Jonsson, whose dubious presenting skills (her often repeated faux pas at the expense of the late Conny van den Bos testimony to that) and even more dubious morals have never made me much of a fan.


As usual most of the better entries found themselves as also-rans, Malina Olinescu for Romania with "Eu Cred", and Marie Line with "Ou Aller" representing France deserved far better.


My second most hated figure in Eurovision also appeared this year, that talentless cretin Guildo Horn. His song was nothing more than self-indulgent clap-trap, and I can only assume his gantry-climbing antics were nothing more than a distractionary tactic from his non-existant singing voice.  Would have killed the contest stone-dead had it won.  Only Tuto Cutegno makes my blood boil more.


The winner could have been spotted a mile off.  No-one courted more pre-contest attention than one Sharon Cohen, better know as Dana International.  Say what you like, but "Diva" is one winner that for me is still a fine song, and how important a moment in the competitions history that a Trans-Gender participant should be victorious.  The final round of voting from the Macedonian jury saw off the challenge of Malta (no votes were forthcoming), and with a healthy 10 point haul helped the UK into 2nd place. Indeed, the United Kingdom received votes from every other participating country, but not enough top marks to see off Israel.


Imaani plummeted right down in my estimation in the wake of the contest, as I clearly remember seeing her interviewed on Daytime-TV being most un-complimentary about Dana International (she didn't quite say "..I came 2nd to an Israeli Transvestite, this is unfair and a disgrace.." but it wasn't far off I hate to say), and also rumours of demanding behaviour behind the scenes which surfaced didn't help.  Her song I am happy to tolerate, however for me Imaani remains one of my most loathed UK participants.

1st Semi Final - Germany

Well, I would have dearly loved to have brought you one of Lena Mayer-Landruts songs from last Monday, however the German Copyright Police have done their worst and no trace is available of any performance on You Tube, or been made accessible via download.  Big shame for anyone who missed it as the first 6 songs presented were all out of the very top drawer.  Of the three qualifiers the stand out effort, and a clear audience favourite, was "Taken By A Stranger".  It will take some beating make no mistake, and assuming it is the choice of the German televoters, stands a good chance of claiming a second consecutive victory.