Eurovision Down Under

EDU is flying the flag

2010-06-01T00:01:00.002+10:00

We have a confirmed sighting of one of the Editors who was lucky enough to snaffle last-minute tickets to the Final in Oslo on Saturday night!

Apparently crowds were down due to the fear of volcanic ash stranding people in Norway. But our Editor has no such fear - being quite fluent in Norwegian, being trapped in Oslo would be heavenly for him.

EDU Votes

2010-05-31T00:25:00.003+10:00

Due to one of the Editors being in Oslo this year, some of us completed our usual poll before the Semis. The rest of us voted on the night of the Final.

The votes from EDU are:
Germany 12 points
Albania 10
Romania 8
Belgium 7
France 6
Turkey 5
Iceland 4
Russia 3
Azerbaijan 2
Serbia 1

We got first and third right - and Belgium and Turkey got strong support from several Editors. In a year whn we all agreed we had no idea who was going to do well, we wound up being a bit more accurate than normal... now, to fix our SuperCoach teams!

Thoughts before the Final

2010-05-30T15:29:00.003+10:00

Thought #1
Black-out Sunday is extra hard when you spend 4-5 hours online, downloading the BBC feed so you can watch Eurovision sans-Zamiro.

Thought #2
The PIGS are doing very well this year. The Editors were surprised to see Greece and Portugal get through and when Ireland made it to the Final we felt convinced there is tide of public support for the economies of Europe who are facing austerity measures. Iceland got through coz it was fab!

Thought #2 - part B
Will this PIGS-love extend to Spain's quirky circus act?? Does the European public consider Germany a saving grace or guilty for some private firms' lending practices and Merkel's sloth in approving the loan guarantees a few weeks ago?

Thought #3
We say this to each other and anyone who will listen each year - but Eurovision is a contest where the singer has to sing live on stage. It is really, really important to send people who can actually sing. UK, we're looking at you!

Semi Final #2 - Review

2010-05-30T01:30:00.002+10:00

Semi Final #2 had an embarrassment of riches in comparison to Semi #1 (which was a real dog!). This led to the unfortunate situatiuon of several really good songs missing out on qualification - when they'd have easily qualified if they'd been in Semi #1.

EDU's predictions were pretty good - given the upsets here - with 6 of our 10 predictions making the cut (Romania, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Armenia , Denmark and Cyprus). Lithuania and Bulgaria were unlucky to miss out (perhaps both suffered from being too left of centre - Lithuania with their beat-boxing and glittery short-shorts - and Bulgaria... well the rest of the world is not ready for Shane Warne in a white suit and nude mesh top). Croatia were flat and less than inspiring 'live' and we were not shocked they missed out.

Norge cries 'Fiasko!'
Most of the Editors liked the Swedish entry - more so when we saw Anna nail it 'live' - and we joined the Norwegian press in thinking her exclusion from the Final was a fiasco. For a while it looked like Denmark would miss out too. Sweden was a wild card entry thanks to the EBU last year, so if they failed to get enough points to qualify in their own right yet again, you can hardly blame the EBU for not offering another leg-up. But, just how did they miss out on the points? Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Ireland and the UK all voted in this semi. Surely that's enough allies to make the cut. Monday's analysis of the points will be interesting!

We were surprised to see Israel qualify after Harel Skaat managed to miss most of the notes in his song... perhaps all the folks who bet money on this average tune voted for it?!? We totally understood why Georgia got through - Sopho sounded better live than she did in the studio version of 'Shine' and was probably one of the best performers since Lisa Andreas (Cyprus, 04). Old fashioned sentimentality - or an EBU wildcard - must be the explanation for Ireland getting through. We suspect that Ireland would pull the plug on future involvement in ESC if a former winner could not make it to the Finals.

Amazed and confused do not being to describe our reaction to Ukraine getting through (seriously - are the Russians that good at hacking international phone systems?)

The production was slick again - Haddy's dress a highlight again! - and Norwegain Josh Thomas donned the glittery shorts of Lithuania for great comic effect. We loved Nadia's interview with the Australian couple - instant honourary EDU Editors those two! - and we were so proud of the bloke's pronouncement that he spoke on behalf of all Australia when he said the Netherlands were very special!! Hell yeah - that was insane! We wanted that in the Finals too... "dancers' pretending to be wooden clock figures, oompah music, an unflattering costume and early 60s la-la-la vibe... it was everything Eurovision should be, but has gooten so good at weeding out.

Semi #1 - Review

2010-05-28T22:13:00.003+10:00

Eurovision returns for 2010! After the long wait (boy we've gotten used to mid-May Euros) we finally get to see the Norwegian show. Three great hosts - not sure if we needed them all - but Norwegian Josh Thomas was great (esp. in the Stankovic wig), Norwegian Fuzzy was stunning in a blue gown and the old gal who won in 1956 held it together. The set was great - although there were a few too many shots down through the chandelier for our money... we want to see the unfortunates!

The best acts of the night were Albania (how did her odds get to three figures?!) and Belgium (the intimacy of a bloke with his guitar was really profound). We nearly took the roof off when they were belatedly announced as progressing. Some of the weaker songs of the night made it through - which was a tribute to neighbourhood voting. Greece!! Seriously... that will remain a mystery for the ages. How awful was Greece? And it's gotten through. If Eurovision ever made sense it would cease to exist.

The EDU tips were pretty good - 7 of our 10 tips got through. We got Albania, Russia, Serbia, Iceland, Moldova, Belgium and Bosnia - and that really reflects very different opinions among the Editors - no one of us had all of those in our Top 10.

We were disappointed (but not surprised) that clever, indey Estonia did not get through. We were surprised (but rationalised it as a Balkan backlash against plagarism) that Slovakia missed out. And finally, most of us felt vindicated that the crazy Editor picked Finland - though to be fair they deserved a slot more than some of the night's performers.

On the SBS coverage-front: Sam Peng continues to be informative, funny and observant. He also avoids trying to sound like a wanker or being self-obsessed. Care to wonder what we think of his co-host?

What EDU learnt from Julia Zamiro at Semi #1. It's pronounced 'Ouswoo' and the possessive for Moldova is apparently Moldavian. Also... the booth next door was Bosnia's and the guy flapping wings behind the Maltese singer wore make-up. Riveting stuff. We also liked how she totally missed the self-reference in Belgium's song, even after Sam pointed it out.

BTW - SBS pointed viewers to their website on about six occassions - where you can vote for your favourite. That website's front page included reviews of both Semi Finals (with qualifying nations mentioned) prior to the show being broadcast. Way to direct viewers to spoilers, guys!!

So the news black-out continues for another two days... What a week! We had to avoid finding our the result for Survivor from the US, the conclusion of 'Lost' and the Semi Finals' results. Sunday evening will be such a relief. Thank Gawd the World Cup is live.

EDU predictions (Semi Finals)

2010-04-19T22:42:00.003+10:00

The editors have made their lists, checked them twice and then argued for 2 hours over a bottle of verdicchio.

Here are our tips for the qualifiers from the two Semi Finals (in order of anticipated public votes)!

SEMI 1
Albania Juliana Pasha - "It's All About You"
Slovakia Kristina - "Horehronie"
Russia Peter Nalitch Band - "Lost and Forgotten"
Serbia Milan Stanković - "Ovo je Balkan"
Finland Kuunkuiskaajat - "Työlki ellää"
Iceland Hera Björk - "Je ne sais quoi"
Estonia Malcolm Lincoln - "Siren"
Moldova SunStroke Project and Olia Tira - "Run Away"
Belgium Tom Dice - "Me and My Guitar"

Bosnia Vukašin Brajić - "Thunder and Lightning" (Wildcard)

SEMI 2
Lithuania InCulto - "East European Funk"
Romania Paula Seling and Ovi - "Playing with Fire"
Azerbaijan Safura Alizadeh - "Drip Drop"
Bulgaria Miro - "Angel si ti"
Turkey maNga - "We Could Be The Same"
Armenia Eva Rivas - "Apricot Stone"
Denmark Chanée and N'evergreen - "In a Moment Like This"
Croatia Feminnem - "Lako je sve"
Cyprus Jon Lilygreen and The Islanders - "Life Looks Better in Spring"

Sweden Anna Bergendahl - "This Is My Life" (Wildcard)

There's a 50/50 chance of these odds being accurate, though there's only a 10 percent chance of that

2010-04-05T23:09:00.002+10:00

Betting is to be approached tenatively in all matters - the house always wins. But this is doubly true in Eurovision, where national fervour clouds punting and produces daft odds year after year. 2010 seems to be no exception, with UK bookies William Hill's cuurent list of odds showing Germany marginally ahead of Azerbaijan and Israel:

11/4 Germany
7/2 Azerbaijan
8/1 Israel
12/1 Denmark
14/1 Norway, Armenia and Croatia
25/1 Greece
28/1 Sweden
33/1 Belgium, Ireland and Turkey
40/1 Slovakia
66/1 Albania, Belarus, France, United Kingdom, Spain, Ukraine and Romania
80/1 Iceland
100/1 Bosnia & Herzogovina,Moldova, Russia, Malta, Serbia, Lithuania, Cyprus and Georgia
150/1 Finland, Latvia and Estonia
200/1 Portugal, Switzerland, Bulgaria and the Netherlands
250/1 FYR Macedonia, Poland and Slovenia

Most of EDU's favourites are 33/1 or wider. Which means we are either about to become incredibly rich, or we'll lose AUD on the Euro yet again!

Sweet!

2010-03-25T10:53:00.002+11:00

Ukraine has been fined by the EBU for their mucking around since the deadline for entries passed. The EBU fined NTU over the entry submission delay and also imposed an additional fine for every next day after the deadline with no entry submission.

As the old saying goes, bureaucratic fines are the mother of invention.

NTU has revealed the official entry to ESC 2010 for Ukraine will be: "Sweet People" to be sung by Aloysha.

Stay tuned in case someone figures out it was released two years ago and/or is plagarised.

You've Got Homework...

2010-03-23T20:56:00.002+11:00

Following a hasty (actually, just 'read' hasty for anything relating to Ukraine, OK?) investigation into Aloysha's winning song 'To Be Free' the Ukrainian broadcaster has realised it was done before.

Rather than disqualify the cheat, and give second place a go (love you Masha, right) OR even re-instate poor ole Vasyl Lazarovych, the Ukrainians have asked to write a new song for Alyosha.

The EBU has granted Ukraine an extension to COB on Friday (26 March) to submit the song.

Now that's a recipe for great music.
What could possibly go wrong now?

Same ole f%&#in Story

2010-03-21T23:17:00.003+11:00

Hey, you know how your Eurovision entry has to be brand new? Like, it cannot have been performed by someone else or infringe their copyright?? Yeah, you do?

Interesting... coz it doesn't look like the new board controlling Ukrainian television knows about that (quite important) rule.
As we saw yesterday, having fired the pro-Ukrainian TV board, the new pro-Russian board declared Vasyl Lazarovych to be an invalid selection and forced him to enter a new National Final with 19 other unfortunates. As luck would have it, the singer who went on last - Alyosha (real name Olena Kucher) - won the Final with her song 'To Be Free.'
The lyrics were written in 1977 and the music supposedly written by Alyosha herself - except that it sounds pretty much exactly like 'Knock Me Out' by Linda Perry and Grace Slick.

Yep - past the date for all entries to be final, the Ukrainian delegation cancels Vasyl's entry, holds a new Final and select a song that must be disqualified. Are the ESC going to allow Ukraine a third shot at this? Or will second place Masha Subko with 'Ya tebya lyublyu' be sent?

Tune in for the next thrilling installment - same bat-sh*t crazy time, same bat-sh*t crazy country.

Butterflies and Elvis

2010-03-20T17:13:00.003+11:00

Belarus has gone back to its playbook from 2005 and done the old swapping-the-song-at-the-last-minute trick.
After five semi-finals, the public selected the group 3+2 to perform 'Far Away' at Oslo. But the day before the Meeting of the Delegates, Belarus announced that 3+2 had a new song - written by an influential Russian music producer - called 'Butterflies.'

Like Lazarovich with a Double By-Pass

2010-03-20T16:45:00.005+11:00

EDU is calling shenanigans on Ukraine's Eurovision process for 2010.
Last December the Ukrainian selectors announced that Vasyl Lazarovich would compete for Ukraine and then sought songs for him - nothing too controversial there, same thing is happening in Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, Belgium & Turkey. In a broadcast final on March 6th, 'I Love You' was selected from five songs as Vasyl's entry.

But a funny thing happened on the way to those finals... Ukraine had national elections, the pro-Russian candidate won and the entire board of the TV network were replaced. And so, Vasyl was informed that his selection had been retrospectively deemed to be illegitimate.

On March 10, a new National Final was announced and 19 candidates quickly collected.
Vasyl announced he would compete in the new Finals on March 20th: "I am not afraid of a national selection; I know that I have support in Ukraine in the face of fans of my talent. Yes, I am not happy with the re-selection, as I was elected by a legitimate vote. But, in order to dispel such doubts, I accept the rules of the new leadership of the channel.”

Rush to Judgement - Part Five

2010-03-18T00:23:00.006+11:00

ESTONIA
Artist: Malcolm Lincoln
Song: "Siren"

Malcolm Lincoln got 54% of the popular vote, beating former Vanilla Ninja (Switzerland, 2005) Lenna Kuurmaa who sang "Rapunzel."

GERMANY
Artist: Lena Meyer-Landrut
Song: "Satellite"

Breaking a long tradition, Germany is sending a cute girl. Lena won the Nationals in a sing-off with Jennifer Braun: each of them singing "Satellite" as well as "Bee." Jennifer also sang "I Care For You" and Lena sang "Love Me."

A knock-out final followed, where Jenniferreprised "I Care For You" and Lena Meyer-Landrut won with her version of "Satellite."

U.K.
Artist: Josh Dubovie
Song: "That Sounds Good to Me"

"That Sounds Good to Me" is written by Mike Stock and Pete Waterman (of Stock Aitken Waterman infamy). Get ready to be Rick-Rolled!

SWEDEN
Artist: Anna Bergendahl
Song: "This Is My Life

Anna was on Super Troopers a music program in 2004, and came 5th in their Idol in 2008. The Swedes pick on the Norwegians a lot - expect the love!

SERBIA
Artist: Milan Stankovic
Song: "Ovo je Balkan" (This is the Balkan)

Milan is also an also-ran from the world of Idol - he came 4th in Zvezde Granda.

Haven't we Been Here Before?

2010-03-18T00:14:00.004+11:00

Two artists return to the scene of the crime... well, one artist and Feminnem.

Feminnem divided the Editors in 2005 when they performed 'Call Me' for Bosnia & Herzegovina - some of us got the joke and others treated them as serious performers (and justifiably panned them). We are united in 2010 in thinking this is historical - Feminnem are back, singing "Lako je sve" (Everything is Easy) for Croatia ! We are pretty sure no other act has represented two nations at the Finals before. Plenty have entered Nationals in multiple countries...

The other repeat offender is Niamh Kavanagh who won the thing in 1993 for Ireland. She returns (rather boringly for Ireland again) singing "It's for You."

Rush to Judgement - Part Four

2010-03-17T23:58:00.011+11:00

Too many entries... not enough Editors!

Azerbaijan
Are sending Safura [Safura Alizadeh] but they're not sure of the song just yet. It will be "Drip Drop", "Under My Skin" or "Soulless" or... "Don't let the Morning Come"

Bulgaria
Having opted for singer Miro and having advertised for someone to write him a tune... they're doing a Tose tribute with "Angel si ti" (You are an Angel)

Lithuania
InCulto will perform "East European Funk"

Turkey
Punctually challenged maNga have selected their song - "We Could be the Same"

Moldova
SunStroke Project and Olia Tira will channel Lady GaGa with "Run Away"

Russia
Peter Nalitch sings "Lost and Forgotten"

Portugal
Filipa Azevedo is so new to performing all her website photos were taken by herself in a toilet. She will be singing "Há dias assim" (It's One of those Days).

Romania
Paula Seling & Ovi sing "Playing With Fire"

Greece
Easily the oldest contestant this year (heck, he's our age!) will be Giorgos Alkaios & Friends - they're singing "Opa"

Shock! French Surrender... want to play football instead

2010-03-01T15:10:00.003+11:00

FRANCE faced a hell of a challenge trying to follow up the success of Patricia Kaas in Moscow.

Bruno Berberes, the Head of Delegation for France made no bones about it - "We can't give less than Patricia Kaas" he stated. Rumours were flying of the big name who would appear...
suggestions ranged from retro (Natasha St-Pier) to the obvious: Christophe (The Turtle) Willem - winner of the 2006 Pop Idol. To top it off, a public suvey showed a majority wanted UK's Mika to represent France. Choices! Choices!

So it was something of a surprise when Europe 1 radio announced that France was sending relatively unknown rapper Jessy Matador, a musician and dancer from the Democratic Republic of Congo with the song "Allez! Ola! Olé!" (Come on! Ola! Olé!) which is a song promoting the 2010 FIFA World Cup!

Gaëlle Placek, journalist for French weekly Télé Loisirs retorted: "France Télévisions is not willing to win the contest but aims to promote a song in relation to the Football World Cup and to have a smash hit for next Summer... France's got very few chances to win Eurovision with this singer."

Scandal - Finally!

2010-03-01T15:02:00.002+11:00

The first juicy scandal of Eurovision 2010 is warming up in Armenia.

Eva Rivas (real name: Valeria Tsaturyan) won Armenia's national finals with the song "Apricot Stone." She placed second with the jury and won the popular vote, while rap duo Mihran & Emmy won the Jury vote with "Hey (Let Me Hear You Say)" but came third in the popular vote. Mihran & Emmy find the results harder to swallow than... well an Apricot Stone.

Fans of Emmy & Mihran immediately claimed that their SMS votes had failed to go through - whilst E&M's PR manager has claimed that 5,000 SMS votes had already been registered for Rivas just 30 seconds after voting was opened. Apparently overloaded by the huge number of instant votes for Rivas the servers mysteriously went down. Armenian television acknowledged that over 30,000 SMS votes had not been counted.

Emmy & Mirhan plan on mounting a challenge in court.

Did we mention that Rivas' main sponsor is Samuel Karapetyan, an influential businessman who is the brother of Karen Karapetyan, the chief of staff of the Armenian president?

Rush to Judgement - Part Three

2010-03-01T14:58:00.002+11:00

SPAIN
Spain has selected an actor who has recently turned to musicals. Daniel Diges will sing (Something Tiny) or "Algo pequeñito."

Diges rose to fame in a teen drama series "Nada es para siempre" and has appeared in kid's TV and five other productions. His recent work has been in large scale commercial musical theatre - appearing in the Spanish productions of "We Will Rock You", "High School Musical" and "Mamma Mia!"

Rush to Judgement - Part Two

2010-03-01T14:46:00.005+11:00

BELARUS
Belarus is sending the song 'Far Away' by 3+2 to Oslo. 3+2 are Artyom Mihalenko, Elgiazar Farashyan and Yulia Shisko, along with backing vocalists Alyona Karpovich and Ninel Karpovich. That would be three lead singers, plus two backing singers - so Three Plus Two. Ya get it? Amazing creativity on display there. zOMG.

LATVIA
Winner of Latvia's Nationals is Aisha (full name: Aija Andrejeva) who will be singing "What For? (Only Mr God Knows Why)."

SLOVAKIA
The Czechs are gone, but Slovakia is ready for another tilt - this time they are sending Kristina (name: Kristína Peláková) who will be singing "Horehronie"(that is a Slovak province, so there may be a tourism angle at play... I hear their mountains are the new Alps.)

By the way - SBS has confirmed that they are televising Eurovision 2010. The dates are:
First semi: 28 May 2010 (Fri, 19:30)
Second semi: 29 May 2010 (Sat, 19:30)
Final: 30 May 2010 (Sun, 19:30)

Rush to Judgement - Part One

2010-03-01T14:34:00.005+11:00

POLAND
Poland has selected Marcin Mrozinski whp will sing "Legenda" (The Legend). Marcin is an actor/singer (we hope he may be a singer/actor!) and he was the last of six wildcards added to the original four entries selected by TVP. He won a third of the popular vote in the Nationals.

FY MACEDONIA
Gjoko Taneski will represent FYROM with the song "Jas ja imam silata" (I have the Strength). Gjoko won by the skin of his teeth thanks to the Jury giving him 12 votes (public had him in second place). The popular vote went to Vlatko Ilievski with "Sreka" (who came second in the Jury).

MALTA
Thea Garrett has won Malta's eagerly contested Nationals with the song "My Dream." She saw off a large number of contenders including some very familiar faces in Malta such as Lawrence Gray (7th place) and Claudia Faniello (8th).

SLOVENIA
Ansambel Roka Žlindre and Kalamari will represent Slovenia with the track "Narodnozabavni rock" (Folk Rock). Roka and his back-up band won by a huge margin - second placed Nina Pušlar scored less than a quarter of the votes of first place! EMA also saw the return of EDU favourite Nuša 'Energy!' Derenda who came 9th place with "Sanjajva." Most intriguing song title of the show was Lea Sirk's "Vampir je moj poet."

Dima Bilan touring Sydney & Melbourne

2010-03-01T14:20:00.003+11:00

Winner of Eurovision 2008, Dima Bilan, is heading Down Under for a short promotion tour this month. He will play the Dallas Brooks Centre in Melbourne on Thursday 11th March and the UNSW Science Theatre in Sydney on Friday 12th.

Dima's press release promose a concert "sure to enthrall spectators, showcasing a group of Russian ballet dancers, as well as a live music ensemble." On Dima's first ever visit to Australia he is looking forward to experiencing "Australian culture, warm weather and see some beautiful attractions including the Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge, the famous Bondi Beach and maybe I'll even get to meet some koalas.”

Dima Bilan was recently in Vancouver, where he devoted a song to Eugeniy Plushenko (the skater who did not remove any of his toes on stage in Belgrade). He sang "Impossible is Possible" in Eugeniy's honour and said "There is no one in Russia who would be indifferent to Eugeniy, everyone believes in his success."

Eugeniy Plushenko got silver.

Did you hear the one about the Dane, the Thai, the Welshman and the Islanders?

2010-02-08T15:39:00.004+11:00

You can always rely on Eurosong to create some strange combos - and this year has two already.

In the red and white corner from Denmark comes 40-something Tomas N'evergreen and Gen-Y Dane/Thai babe Chanée (real name: Christina Wongskul) with 'In a Moment Like This.'

But not to be out done, in the divided corner, hailing from Wales, but representing Cyprus comes Jon Lilygreen accompanied by Cypriot act The Islanders, singing 'Life Looks Better In Spring.'

Bridesmaid, finally Bride!

2010-02-08T15:29:00.004+11:00

Björk finally gets to sing for Iceland! No, not that one. Helga Björk - who has performed back up two years in a row for Iceland (behind Euroband in '08 and Yohanna in '09) - has won the Icelandic Nationals and will now get her moment in the spotlight. She will be singing in French and English (perhaps an appeal for bail out funds as much as it is for votes). The song is 'Je ne sais quoi' (I Don't Know What).

Georgia is sending the lovely Sopho Nizharadze - but no song has been selected as yet.

Defending champions Norway have elected to disregard EDU's advice of sending Röyksopp (or Anneli Drecker) and are sending some uber-cute Kooks reject named Didrik Solli-Tangen! Didrik will sing 'My Heart Is Yours' (clearly disregarding the fact that our heart is Anneli's).

Wake Me Up When January Ends

2010-02-08T15:05:00.012+11:00

As the finals start to come thick and fast, the following nations have announced their singers, but not their songs:

Belgium

Tom Dice

Bulgaria
Miro

Turkey
maNga

Ukraine
Vasyl Lazarovich

Now, as always, Albania had their national finals before anyone cared and have selected the zaftik Juliana Pasha who is singing 'Nuk mundem pa ty' (I Can’t Be Without You).
Bosnia and Herzegovina is sending Vukašin Brajić with 'Munja i grom' (Thunder and Lightning).

Girl folk-duo Kuunkuiskaajat will represent Finland - performing 'Työlki ellää' (One can work for a living, too)

The Dutch announced their song 'Ik ben verliefd, Shalalie' (I'm in love, Shalalie) and then sought their singer. Sieneke was announced as Netherlands' representative on Feb 6th.

In what looks like the first gag song of the year (we so hope this isn't serious, mum!) Switzerland is sending the unique looking Michael von der Heide who is performing 'Il pleut de l'or' (basically = Golden shower!!)

So what did we miss?

2009-12-30T12:50:00.002+11:00

In the six months since Moscow, there has been plenty of movement at the station - with five countries pulling out and one nation returning. BTW - Austria and Monaco still look like sitting ESC out for the time being.

Right Back Where We Started From (Returning Nation)
Georgia - They really do want to put in an entry!

The Pain of Withdrawal (Departing Nations)
July
Czech Republic - Fresh from a nul point for the Super Gypsies, ČT announced their withdrawal citing a mutual lack of interest between the Czech public and fans of the contest.
October
Hungary - MTV pulls out of 2010, citing financial limitations.
November
Montenegro - RTCG pulls out of 2010, citing financial limitations.
December
Andorra - Submitted an entry and then started looking for loose change under the sofa cushions. In December 2009 RTVA announced their withdrawal due to a lack of funding.
Lithuania - LRT pulls out of 2010, citing financial limitations. They are currently looking under the cushions of their sofas and if they find €90,000 they'll be back in.

Skaat. Skaat. Skaat.

2009-12-26T11:04:00.002+11:00

The long interregnum comes to an end, as Albania conducts its semi-finals in order to pick a 7 minute long song in need of a pruning. But, what's this? Out of the blocks, without warning comes Israel - announcing their 2010 singer on Christmas Day.

Meet Harel Skaat who has been confirmed as the singer for Oslo by the Israeli public broadcaster IBA. He will sing four songs at a mini-Kdam later on with the public selecting his song for Norway.
But seriously, with six months to go - who cares. Wake me up in February.

Georgia on my Screen / Czech, please?

2009-07-25T10:43:00.001+10:00

After a tumultuous year, domestically and Eurovisually, Georgia has confirmed it will be back at Eurovision 2010 in Oslo. After their brief war with Russia, Georgia pulled out of Eurovision, only to re-enter with a disco-dig at Vladimir Putin which saw them disqualified. In the meantime, they managed to win the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.

CT, the Czech broadcaster, has pulled stumps on the failed experiment that is Czech music at ESC. The show was never all that popular in the Czech Republic, even though it has been a huge hit in Slovakia. None of the Czech acts made it past semi finals and only one of them got to double points in their semi finals (and that had more to do with the small pieces of tin foil covering the girls, rather than the thousands of missed notes).

Gypsy.cz's song 'Aven Romale' (Moscow, 09) scored the first nul pointe in ESC since Switzerland in 2004.

Moscow 09 in Review: The Voting

2009-05-20T07:19:00.003+10:00

There has been no talk of bloc voting this year. Given the size of Norway's victory and the consistency of it's voting-earning from all nations (everyone gave him points and apart from Turkey, Portugal and sections of Eastern Europe just about everyone had him in their top three) it is fair enough to say that everyone agrees the right person won.

Some of the old biases were in evidence - Cyprus giving 12 points to Greece, Andorra giving 12 to Spain - but generally we saw a return to votes being earned by good performances and publicity efforts. The UK scored its best result in seven years after Jade Ewen completed a 13 nation tour appearing on talk shows and variety shows across Europe - oh, and singing very, very well on the night.

After a closer contest (perhaps Oslo in 2010) we may be able to verify if the return of juries has finally slayed the Neighbourhood Watch scheme which has undermined several contests. One concern we have is that the juries make their scores after watching the dress rehearsal on the Friday night! This does seem very wrong - if a performer misses a note or has a sore throat on Friday, but nails it on Saturday at the Final, they will get marked down on 50% of their score for a sin committed off-camera.

Is it asking too much for the juries to watch the Final and make up their minds during the 15 minute interval? Like the rest of us.

Moscow 09 in Review: Stankiest Performance

2009-05-20T07:16:00.002+10:00

For the second year running, Ukraine made us want to have a hot shower.

Moscow 09 in Review: Raise the Double Standard

2009-05-20T06:59:00.002+10:00

We always learn a little about the host nation from their presentation of Eurovision and 2009 was no different. Russia clearly wanted to make an impression on Europe and despite the GFC hitting them worse than most, forked out a staggering $55m on the stage and show. The stage was quite simply the most amazing thing ever! 2,000 square metres of LED (apparently 30% of the globe's LEDs were there) broken into wings, back drops and moveable circular pieces meant most contestants got live footage superior to their video clips.

But among the technical achievement were a few strange or worrying moments. As not mentioned by SBS, Georgia was forced to withdraw from the contest for having the words Put and In next to each other in their crappy disco track. The reference to Putin was clear and deliberate, but nothing in the song lyrics was political. It is safe to assume Russia put pressure on the EBU to ban it on the grounds of political comment. So what were we to make of the Russian military choir chanting "They're not gonna get us" along with tATu as the interval act at Semi #1?

And then we get to appropriate standards of dress and 'traditional values.' Germany scored a coup by enticing burlesque dancer Dita Von Teese to perform on stage as the titular Miss Kiss Kiss Bang. Unfortunately for them, she was a bit more titular than Russian authorities could handle at the dress rehearsal on Friday - her low-cut corset revealing most of a boob when side-on (though with pastie covering any nipple). Although Dita replaced her corset with one that covered more boob, the Russian broadcasters avoided putting her on screen until the very end of Germany's performance (apparently taking 2 and bit minutes to spot the new corset).

Standards are one thing - it's a family show after all, right? Well, boobs are banned, but apparently groins are great. We can recall at least two close ups of groins (Turkey and Ukraine) and plenty of up-panty angles. In the interests of accuracy we will go through all six hours and note all instances, maybe taking screen shots. How can one be OK and the other not?

To quote Dita herself: "What about the oiled up guys in loincloths?"

Moscow 09 in Review: The Hosts

2009-05-20T06:47:00.002+10:00

It is not often the hosts from the Semi Finals have everyone talking - but it's safe to assume it's never going to be good when they do. Alsou and Ivan Urgant did a great job at the Final - polished, well-dressed, nothing silly. As Graham Norton said before they appeared on stage: "Unfortunately... they're quite good."

This was in contrast was the first Semi - hosted by model Natalia Vodyanova and journalist Andrey Malakhov. Natalia has not presented on TV before, which means throwing her before 30 million viewers with a week's training was a bit optimistic. Making her speak in French was inviting disaster. Clearly upset by her stumble on the French introduction when we next meet Natalia she's quite bubbly, the time after that she is clearly swaying (nice job Andrey, trying to make it look like you were both dancing side to side) and from there on she was a Whoo! girl punching her mike in the air and making some weird, substance affected comments. Like:

"I don't push buttons on the catwalk, I push buttons off the catwalk"
"Where are your buttons, Andrey?"
"In the end, I am a lady"
"Oh my god" (noteable for the number of times she yelled this out), and,
"Stick with Andrey, he knows how to party" (so that's where you got the stuff!)

Andrey displayed clearly that workplace and sexual harrassment laws have yet to arrive at Russian TV networks (a bit like Ch 9!) by attempting to mount Natalia throughout the night. His most priceless contribution for the night was on Israel making it to the Final:
"The most political correct song of the Contest"

Moscow 09 in Review: Coverage

2009-05-20T06:08:00.002+10:00

Following an amazing broadcast by Russia and a remarkable victory by Norway (averaging 9.4 votes from every nation) we turn our eye to the highs and the lows of the contest.

2009 marks the first year for three decades with no Terry Wogan commentary via the BBC. SBS have attempted in previous years to introduce some Australian content to the commentary - for purposes which have never seemed apparent (it clearly weren't broke). With Terry's departure the network understandably decided to use local commentators to fill the vacuum.

Well known SBS identity Julia Zemiro and less-known 3RRR host Sam Peng were sent to Moscow with both of them commentating for the three nights. And it got off on the wrong foot - a cartoon about how Julia loves Eurovision. We don't care. It's not about the host - particularly not the one we already know - it's about the contest. An intro on who Sam was would have been useful, but we instantly found out he was there to carry Julia's bags (literally and metaphorically).

Sam displayed some knowledge of the contest and contestants (basis stuff from the notes the EBU would provide each commentating team) and some wit on the few occasions he was allowed to get a few words in. Yet each time he attempted to add some information or explanation he was told off for being a swot or having done research.

Julia on the other hand continually provided timeless quips and observations like "Yeah", "That was good" and "Who's next?", whilst labouring a few personal favourites (we get it, you liked Belarus, now move on). By way of establishing her reputation as a Eurovision commentator, Julia decided to eat into the mike and appeared tipsy at the second Semi. Knowing that Julia has been involved in Eurovision: The Musical (which displayed a deep knowledge of the contest) we assumed she knew more about the show: if not spotting half of Eurobandid (Iceland 08) in the backup singers for Yohanna, then certainly that Alsou came second in 2000!

We opted to download the BBC coverage with Graham Norton and watched this the day after. The differences were quite clear - a far greater engagement with the audience, more detailed intros, slightly saucy comments after a song, and most noteably the BBC commentators talk over the audio track where SBS turned off the contest's audio whenever Julia and Sam spoke, meaning we kept missing hosts' dialogue or having the music drop in and out.

From the comments at SBS's Eurovision website, the fan reaction is overwhelmingly negative - and somewhat confused. Terry's retirement was never explained - the t-shirts at the end 'Terry's not doing it tonight' were unclear and have led some viewers to think SBS decided to not use Terry's coverage or that he'll back next year. A bit of recognition to the guy on his retirement after 25+ years of commentating would have been polite and avoided viewer confusion. Still, the night got nearly half a million viewers, up 12% or so on last year's coverage.

Constructive feedback: Share the commentating duties next time. One commentator at a time: Sam can do the two semis and Julia the Final - having them both talk was inefficient, the schtick got old quick, and their banter was forgettable. Sam's use of information and delivery of comments will be suited to the semis as we meet 35 nations for the first time. At the Final, some knowledge can be assumed, and more barbed comments made by Julia. If the audience has a preference, then splitting the duties will make it come clear.

Alternatively - save the money and just use the BBC commentary - even post-Wogan it remains brilliant.

Overheard at Rehearsals

2009-05-12T17:44:00.003+10:00

PUTIN: I have something you might wanna put in.
AY SEL: Er...
PUTIN: Berlusconi told me to try that line.

Dance with Me

2009-05-10T11:26:00.003+10:00

For Australian Eurovisionaries wanting to join a crowd during the SBS coverage, here are some locations in Sydney & Melbourne:

Sydney:
Hoyts Entertainment Quarter, Lang Road, Moore Park
17 May - starting 7pm
Cost $15.00

Melbourne:
Eurotrash Bar, 18 Corrs Lane, Melbourne (small lane between Lonsdale & Lt Bourke Sts, near Russell Street)
Cost: $25.00 - includes basic drinks during the broadcast.

EDU is happy to add any other venues hosting a screening to the blog or EDU website, just drop us a line.

Push the Button

2009-05-10T11:24:00.001+10:00

For those night owls wanting to stay up overnight next Saturday night/Sunday morning and watch ESC live on-line, an extra bit of fun commentary will be available via the 'so hot right now' Twitter.

Brilliant UK comedy writer Graham Linehan (Father Ted, Black Books, IT Crowd) and the TWUMPET team will be hosting a live Eurovision Twitter ‘Happening’’ at:
http://www.twumpet.com/

Partners in Crime

2009-05-10T11:15:00.005+10:00

The hosts for the Semi Finals have finally been annouced - not a moment too soon! A TV personality and a model will host the two Semis, with the Final to be hosted by a former Russian entrant and 'the best dressed presenter on Russian television.' (Think Megan Gale, Andrew O'Keefe, Vanessa Amorosi and Eddie McGuire). Get ready for style to grind substance into the ground!

Semi Finals

Natalia Vodyanova -a model since she was 16 years old, part of Calvin Klein's 2002 campaign.
Andrey Malakhov - a former journalist on Channel One TV who presents several talk-shows.

Finals
Ivan Urgant - an actor and singer, who has worked in radio stations and on MTV. He presents a number of shows in Russia.
Alsou - represented Russia in 2000 with "Solo" (finishing second). Since then she has worked with Enrique Iglesias, Jon Bon Jovi and Nelly.

Lose Control

2009-05-10T11:02:00.004+10:00

In what may be the greatest news in Eurovision news ever - Germany has announced that their stage show for the very cool and very swinging 'Miss Kiss Bang Bang' will include the world famous (and utterly wonderful) burlesque dancer Dita Von Teese.

Obviously Dita has to keep it clean - but even so, it will be a huge highlight to an already impressive live performance. Should Ms Von Teese do something outrageous on the Saturday night the EBU will use the footage of the Friday night dress rehearsal. That is the EBU's guarantee against any act pulling something political or distasteful each year.

This is EDU Calling

2009-04-24T18:16:00.002+10:00

The Editors have ranked the songs and argued differences in opinion over France and Turkey. Our predicted qualifying songs from the semis (below) were ranked alongside the five automatically qualified to produce our Top Ten list. While we love Norway, we love Switzerland just a little bit more - well, a heck of a lot more. The editors were also surprised to strongly agree on Portugal - their best placing ever calls!

FINAL PREDICTION
1 Switzerland 12 pt
2 Norway 10 pt
3 Portugal 8 pt
4 Estonia 7 pt
5 Malta 6 pt
6 France 5 pt
7 Turkey 4 pt
8 FY Macedonia 3 pt
9 Iceland 2 pt
10 Armenia 1 pt

Semi-Final #2 Predictions

2009-04-24T18:15:00.001+10:00

Semi-Final #2 Predicted Top Ten
Norway Alexander Rybak - Fairytale
Estonia Urban Symphony - Rändajad
Moldova Nelly Ciobanu - Hora din Moldova
Albania Kejsi Tola - Carry Me in Your Dreams
Ireland Sinéad Mulvey and Black Daisy - Et Cetera
Greece Sakis Rouvas - This Is Our Night
Azerbaijan AySel and Arash - Always
Slovenia Quartissimo feat. Martina Majerle - Love Symphony
Denmark Niels Brinck - Believe Again
Cyprus Christina Metaxa - Firefly

Semi Finals - EDU Prediction

2009-04-24T18:11:00.001+10:00

Semi Final #1 Predicted Top Ten
Switzerland Lovebugs - The Highest Heights
Portugal Flor-de-Lis - Todas as ruas do amor
Malta Chiara - What If We
Iceland Yohanna - Is It True?
Turkey Hadise - Düm Tek Tek
FY Macedonia Next Time - Neshto shto ke ostane
Andorra Susanne Georgi - La teva decisió
Belgium Patrick Ouchène - Copycat
Armenia Inga and Anush - Jan Jan
Bosnia Regina - Bistra voda

The King is Dead...

2009-04-17T18:49:00.002+10:00

SBS has revealed its plans for Eurovision 2009 - and they involve two Australian commentators on the scene.

Now that Sir Wogan has retired, SBS will attempt to fill the vaccuum with an Aussie angle. Fans (including EDU) revolted when Des Mangan commentated in in 2003 - in lieu of Terry Wogan - and since then SBS has shied away from too much local content. Julie Zemiro - host of RockWiz and star of Eurobeat (the ESC stage comedy) - will broadcast from Moscow, alongside 3RRR broadcaster Sam Pang.

As per 2008, the two semi finals will be delayed a few days in order to screen from 7:30pm on Friday 15th & Saturday 16th May. The Final will screen at 7:30pm on Sunday May 17th.
(more details here)

This means that Australian viewers will be denied the usual BBC commentary - this year provided by Graham Norton (whose hilarious chat show is currently on ABC2 Thurdays at 9:30). For those keen to hear Norton's commentary might try UK-specialist file sharing sites like thebox.

Putin' on the Politics

2009-02-20T16:45:00.002+11:00

EDU expected Georgia to blackban this year's contest in Russia, after they decided to taunt the lion from the wrong side of the zoo cage (in the military sense). We were non-plussed when they announced they would withdraw from Moscow 2009. We were kind of surprised they re-entered only a few weeks later.

Now it becomes clearer. It is hard to flip the bird on an international level if your country's only international relations are at Eurovision. So, EDU is delighted to hear Georgia is sending Stefane & 3G to Moscow with the song '(We Don't Wanna) Put In.' Opting against more challenging puns on the name Medvedev, the Georgians swear the song is not a swipe at Vladimir Putin. Which is a good thing... we're not sure the same rules apply to singers as they do to journalists - but we hope Stefane & co have better exit strategy for Moscow than Saakashvili did.

/delurk

2009-01-22T18:11:00.002+11:00

(Not) In the words of Scripture, it is time to put aside non-camp things. With a mere four months to go until the next Eurovision Song Contest, the first contestants are being announced and even a tune or two being released.

The big news thus far is that Sakis Rouvas is back! Sakis (3rd in 2004 and host of 2006's show) will represent Greece once more. He is sure to be the early favourite in betting - esp after Dima's 'Lazarus with a quadruple bypass' of a song won last year.

Four other nations have announced their acts, with the songs they will perform to be decided later on. They are:
Azerbaijan (sending: AySel Aysel Teymurzadeh), Israel (Mira Awad - the first Arab-Israeli singer to represent Israel and Noa Achinoam Nini), Netherlands (De Toppers - who are old enough to know better) and Switzerland (the Britpop stlyings of Lovebugs)

Only four countries have unleashed their songs onto the unsuspecting public.
Albania - As usual, the Albanian nationals were first cab off the rank (in December) and were won by Kejsi Tola with 'Më merr në ëndërr' (Take me into your Dreams). Turkey was not far behind, announcing Belgian-born Hadise Hadise Açıkgöz would represent them with 'Düm Tek Tek' (Boom Bang Bang - relax Lulu, it sounds totally different!).

Belarus are offering David Cassidy look-a-like Petr Elfimov with 'Eyes That Never Lie' and Bosnia-Herzegovina are sending U2 wannabes Regina with 'Bistra voda' (Clear water).

ASIA-vision

2008-09-19T09:55:00.005+10:00

Eurovision Song Contest heads to Asia
Bettina Brinkmann of Eurovision.tv announces: "Having brought the European version of the Eurovision Song Contest to the Middle East and North Africa, we are now delighted that viewers across Asia will enjoy one of the best established entertainment shows in the world."

And it's not even April 1st. (Seriously - Middle East and North Africa! Was Morocco in it once?! Lebanon was banned and Turkey considers itself European... which leaves Israel as the sole nation in the Middle East and North Africa. In her down-time Bettina scripts adverts for the McCain campaign.)

Asia's version will start in 2009, and involve competitors from Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Macao, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Can we be the first to de-cry the bloc-voting of China, HK, Macao and Taiwan - which is ruining Asiavision?

It will be produced and marketed by a new company - Asiavision Pte Ltd. National and regional finals will take place over six months - with one Grand Final.

Asiavision's CEO - Andreas Gerlach - claims the "format is highly suited to the Asia region and its people who love popular music and have a strong national pride." Oh, so they're the unique people in the world who like popular music and have national pride. I was wondering where they'd gone.

Having lived next door to international students in down-town Melbourne for nearly 10 years - the EDU editors have been exposed to more Asian pop than anyone should be. (Imagine castrated cats covering Celine Dion songs). We predict that this Asiavision Contest will not be a Contest to be listened to, but a Contest to be avoided

Because People Count...

2008-09-19T09:55:00.002+10:00

The EBU have announced the return of the International Jury to Eurovision 2009!

Apparently in the face of demands of the BBC (one of the major funders of the Contest) the EBU have decided to be seen to do something to negate the appearance of Eastern Europe's neighbourhood-friendly voting patterns overwhelming another year's results. An International Jury will cast their votes on the performance and these will be considered along with the televoting of the public.

As yet there has been no announcement on how the jury will be used - whether they will account for 50% of the scores or (more wildly conjectured) that a popular winner and jury winner may be announced.

The EBU went to lengths to explain that western Europe has been voting for eastern European acts for several years and that is the real reason they've been winning, but they also acknowledged the rise in technology allowing people to vote for their own nation through trickery or diaspora votes.

"Every year you think, it can't get any worse...."

2008-08-15T16:22:00.002+10:00

It looks certain that time is up for Sir Terry Wogan commentating on Eurovision Finals for 37 years. :-(

He pretty much declared he was out in the current 'Radio Times' in the UK. Wogan has just turned 70 and says the "political voting" has tired him.

"I was considering giving up before Belgrade, and now I have to say I'm very doubtful about ever wanting to do Eurovision again. I've had so much fun, but I think it's time for someone else to take over...Days before the show, I knew Russia would win. The fact is, Putin was getting nasty, which means the former satellite states were always going to vote for Russia in order to keep the oil coming."

Wogan's comments were made just a few days before Putin & co invaded fellow-ESC competitors Georgia. As we write this lines of Russian troop carriers are heading towards the Baku pipeline south of Gori, Georgia.

While Terry acknowledges Western Europe considers ESC schalger-fest ("we have always taken Eurovision with a pinch of salt") he still considers neighbour-voting to be an Eastern only affairs - "The former Eastern Bloc countries are not sufficiently versed in the ways of democracy to realise they are supposed to be voting for a song, not a next-door neighbour."

Far from wanting the UK to retire with him, Wogan hopes for a great act to sacrifice their repuations for schlager-glory. "The only way the UK will ever regain any respectability is if we get a major British star – Robbie Williams, Take That, God knows there are enough of them – to represent us, and then people will vote for us."

We'd suggest The Wombats or Hot Chip, but Tezza's on the right path...

The Image of You

2008-06-21T18:14:00.002+10:00

Kevin Rudd - Australia's PM - got Eurovision more press coverage than the latest Contest when he invoked ESC to dismiss rumours former Prime Minister Paul Keating could star in Australian Tourism adverts in the UK.

"Paul Keating's chances of being the Australian face of tourism in the UK are as likely as him and John Howard winning Eurovision, the PM says."

And it didn't take long for the photoshopping of Keating and Howard onto various Eurovision bods to begin!

Full stories here:
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23869753-662,00.html

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/06/16/1213468299989.html

Oh, You're Two Semis!

2008-06-01T10:42:00.003+10:00

The results of the votes from the two semi finals have revealed a few surprises.

Russia did not win its semi-final (indeed it came 3rd - trailing Greece by 21 points and Armenia by 4).
The 20 countries with the most points from the voting public (over both nights) would not include Poland nor jury-selected Sweden - Macedonia and Bulgaria were the two countries in the top 20 who were eliminated.
San Marino was last overall, getting 5 points. They were one point behind Hungary. Estonia (who truly deserved nul points) got 8 points and were 3rd-last overall.
All countries who performed 2nd, 10th (middle), 14th and 19th (last) on both nights qualified to the Final.
Those performing 5th, 8th, 12th and 15th got the Kiss of Death - with all countries being eliminated.

Most of the feedback we've received from regular ESC-viewers and un-initiated was that they felt the best nations got through to the Final - with Switzerland missing out due to a lacklustre performance rather than conspiracy of the East. No one has had a big wrap for Poland, Sweden, Macedonia or Bulgaria - so any argument over whether they deserved to be or not seems moot.

EDU will reserve its judgement til next year - but the signs are good that the Two Semis are less affected by bloc voting than previous systems. (Now, if they'd only limit the Final night's voting to the 25 nations in the Final - this would be sorted for good).

AUSSIE ESC BLACK-OUT

2008-05-20T18:39:00.003+10:00

EDU has officially stuck its fingers in its ears and is singing 'La La La [key change] La La La' from now until Saturday night (AEST).

We may be back between the end of Saturday's delayed telecast of the 2nd Semi on SBS-TV (2130 AEST) and the Final commences of Sunday morning (around 0400 AEST) - but we are planning on having an international drinking night, so we may just be in the corner in a drunken stupour giggling at IPL team names.

For non-Australians and Aussies who love spoilers - here are some 'fabulous' sites with all the latest news and reviews:

http://thegogglesdonothing.blogspot.com/

http://www.schlagerblog.blogspot.com/

http://www.pigletwildebeest-eurovision.blogspot.com/

GO ICELAND!!

NB: Oh, and we're pretty sure Wogan is just blowing hard here. He will retire soon - but the UK will stay in Eurovision. ESC is bigger than Terry (we can't believe we said it either!)

I Feel Like TV Tonight

2008-05-17T23:55:00.002+10:00

One of our fave Oz bloggers - David Knox of the seminal TV Tonight - has been invited by SBS to provide a Eurovision blog for 2008.

SBS Blog by David Knox

Il Faut Du Temps

2008-05-17T16:14:00.002+10:00

EDU is not saying that Greece and Russia are over-compensating for anything...but... apparently their stage props are too big for the stage!

Previous stages have had 2 or more stage doors, allowing the largest props to be cleared and the props for the next act to be brought out within the 30 second 'postcards.' Belgrade has just the one stage door and that has become a problem at rehearsals.

The Greek delegation have adapted their giant book that turns into a heart, adding wheels to speed the movement and making the prop lighter. The Russians however seem to be holding their breath and stomping their feet. They are refusing to crop a ladder from their stage set up. Expect a TV ad break to get moved to before their act.

Where Men Ride

2008-05-17T16:00:00.000+10:00

As fans begin to pour into Belgrade for the semi finals which start in 72 hours, some security concerns remain - especially with regard to gay and lesbian fans. In early April the Serb newspaper Alo! included an interview with Mladen Obradovic, president of fascist party Obraz in which he described Eurovision as ‘gay youth day’ and made specific threats against gays and lesbians planning to visit Serbia for ESC.

European Pride Organisers Association (EPOA) has written to the EBU about Serbia's poor record on human rights of lesbian, gay men, bisexuals and transgender (LGBT) people. For its part the EBU has received a guarantee of the safety of delegations, press and fans from the President of Serbia.

Recent parliamentary elections also favoured pro-western parties, which hopefully indicates groups like Obraz are increasingly marginalised.

Never Let it Go

2008-05-13T23:27:00.001+10:00

The Director of Eurovision TV - Bjorn Erichsen - has criticised (Sir!) Terry Wogan's commentary for Eurovision. Most right thinking people consider Woganisms the highlight of most years and his barbed witicisms are the way many viewers get into Eurovision in the first place. The attack is really akin to going after the goose that lays the golden egg.

Said Erichsen: "Terry Wogan is a problem because he makes it ridiculous. I know he is very popular, and maybe that is the reason why a lot of people watch. But one day he will have to retire and the BBC will have to find someone else. It will be interesting to see if that attitude changes. The BBC gets a very large audience but it chooses to represent the Contest in a certain way. They take it far more seriously in Sweden. They have a genuine love and respect for it."

They also take it very seriously in Denmark - which is where Erichsen hails from. You remember Denmark, the nation which lodged an official complaint about Wogan after he described the 2001 hosts as Doctor Death and the Tooth Fairy as they used rhyming couplets for the entire night.

"The UK has double standards in the contest. It is something you love to hate. It's something to laugh at. It's something continental. It's a scam. It's ridiculous. The British like to distance themselves from it." (The Contest, not Europe). Erichsen's view is that all viewers of the BBC feed should receive only serious commentary which promotes the quality of the competition. No word yet on when the EBU will regulate for quality to be introduced.

Mr Erichsen also reject out of hand any investigation into the claims that Cliff was robbed of the 1968 Eurovision Song Contest victory by General Franco.

A Homage to... Congratulations!

2008-05-06T15:07:00.002+10:00

A fascist dictatorship, thousands slaughtered in a vicious civil war, holding back Spain for decades, allying with Hitler - we know Franco was bad - but this, this (!) is just beyond the pale!!

A new Spanish doco reveals that Franco bought Spain their Eurovision victory in 1968 by promising other nations that Spain would buy their television series if they sent votes the way of Massiel. As all Euro-buffs know, La La La pipped Cliff Richards by a single point!

Shame Franco. Shame!
Full story here

Three Times the Schalger Fun!

2008-05-04T11:56:00.001+10:00

As per usual with SBS and Eurovision we have some good news and some bad news.

The surprisingly good news is that the First Semi Final will be shown. The BBC - whose feed is what we see on SBS in Australia - are only required to show the second semi final by the EBU. The BBC are electing to cover both semis - Paddy O'Connell and Caroline Flack will provide commentary on both nights.

The bad news is that the delays are getting longer. Semi Final #1 takes place in the early hours of Wednesday 21st (Australian time) but will be screening on Friday night - a delay of 60 hours! The second semi will be delayed 36 hours and the Final by the requisite 12 hours (or so). The silver lining of that cloud, of course, is that we get three straight nights of schlagerfest over a weekend. (Book your sickie for Monday 26th now!)

SBS will show both semi-finals and are advertising Julia Zemiro as the presenter. Whether she just introduces the show before crossing to the telecast is unknown. Julia has been a long-time cast member of Eurovision: The Musical and knows her stuff.

SBS screening times:

Friday 23 May 7.30 1st Semi
Saturday 24 May 7.30 2nd semi
Sunday 25 May 7.30 Final

The Triumph of the Musical Mediocrity

2008-05-04T11:26:00.001+10:00

EDU fave, Terry Wogan, who again provides commentary on SBS's coverage of Eurovision - Sunday 25th May from 7.30pm, has been talking up the show in the UK press. He claims any US network "would kill" for something like Eurovision. "It's the only international television/radio event of its kind anywhere...a wonderful idea – bringing Europe together in song – a huge, brilliantly produced triumph of musical mediocrity."

Wogan has given up predicting the UK will win each and every year - and now predicts someone from Eastern Europe will win each and every year. Much safer that way.
Original interview here

Nomads sucks slightly more

2008-05-04T11:19:00.002+10:00

Lithuania's re-vamped version of 'Nomads In The Night' has failed to impress the composer of the tune. Vytautas Diskevicius said, "the result is disgusting" - come on Vytautas , tell us what you reall think. Accepting our challenge, Vytautas continued to describe the version we will hear at Belgrade as "really sad and dissapointing," doing a "hundred times more damage than improvement."

Having never been huge fans of version 1 - we can still appreciate Vytautas' opinion. A song with subtle instrumentation and a focus on an operatic vocal has been rendered into a maelstrom of clashing instruments, 'up' vocal inflections and guitar wank that would do the '80s proud.

So You Think You Can Baila?

2008-04-13T10:56:00.002+10:00

Spanish TV channel RTVE and Rodolfo Chikilicuatre have launched a public contest for three members of the public to win the chance to dance alongside his current dancers Disco and Gráfica on stage at Belgrade.

The public are invited to fill in this form: http://www.eurovision2008.rtve.es/index.php?option=com_forme&Itemid=88
and then upload a video of themselves dancing the Chiki Chiki onto youtube. RTVE win announce the winners in a special show before the Semis.

EDU Ill-Fated Predictions

2008-03-21T11:26:00.003+11:00

So, we've got all 43 songs selected. We know 38 of them have to qualify to be in the Grand Final - and we wait with breathless anticipation to see whether the EBU has found a way around bloc voting in the semis.

Semi Final #1 is certainly the strongest of the finals and there are a few nations who will consider themselves unlucky not to qualify: including former winners Israel, Estonia, Greece and Finland. Semi Final #2 is much more of a dog - and seems to be the only semi we're likely to see in Australia in SBS. Webcasts, here we come.

Based on the quality of the song (!) and the number of 'like' nations in the semi-finals, the Editors make their first tentative prediction (certain to be completely wrong).

From Semi Final #1, EDU reckons the following six will definitely qualify:
Andorra / Armenia / Ireland / Netherlands / Norway / Slovenia
Taste suggests the final three to qualify will be Belgium / Moldova / Greece (but our neighbourhood watch methods suggests they will miss out and the following will sneak in: Bosnia and Herzegovina / Poland / Russia)

From Semi Final #2, EDU reckons the following eight will definitely qualify:
Belarus / Bulgaria / Denmark / Georgia / Hungary / Iceland / Sweden / Turkey
Taste suggests the final two to qualify will be Croatia / Switzerland (but our neighbourhood watch methods suggests they will miss out and the following will sneak in: FYR Macedonia / Ukraine)

And so, EDU awards its points for Eurovision 2008, thus:

1 point Charlotte Perrelli - (Sweden) Hero
2 points Maria Haukaas Storeng - (Norway) Hold On Be Strong
3 points Hind - (Netherlands) Your Heart Belongs To Me
4 points Sirusho - (Armenia) Qele Qele
5 points Csézy - (Hungary) Szívverés
6 points Sebastien Tellier - (France) Divine
7 points Paolo Meneguzzi - (Switzerland) Era Stupendo *
As we're not totally sure Paolo is going to qualify, we reserve the right to give 1 point to Rebeka Dremelj - (Slovenia) Vrag naj vzame - and add a point to Charlotte through Sebastien.

8 points Mor Ve ötesi - (Turkey) Deli
10 points Dustin the Turkey - (Ireland) Irelande Douze Points
and the EDU tip for 2008 winner is:
12 points Eurobandid - (Iceland) This Is My Life

Take Me to Your... Re-Hash

2008-03-16T10:42:00.003+11:00

Sweden's Melodifestivalen has finally concluded - which brings an end to the pre-selection of songs for ESC 2008. MF has continued the trend of familiar faces returning to the scene of the crime, with 1999's victor Charlotte Nilsson - now known as Charlotte Perrelli - selected to perform at Belgrade with the song 'Hero.' (Ironically a singer named Nielsen was second place).

Perrelli (her husband changed his name from Ingrosso as part of a feud, so you know he is actually Italian) has had only one Top 10 single since 'Take Me to Your Heaven' and her last two singles did not chart in Sweden. 'Hero' has gone straight to No.1 - feat not even 'Heaven' accomplished.

San Marino announces: I Sh*t Me

2008-03-14T00:52:00.002+11:00

We've had artists called No Name and Anonymous & songs called Disappear and Leave Me Alone - but it appears apathy is turning to enmity - and self-loathing at that. San Marino have announced the penultimate 2008 ESC entry - and it is Italian 5 piece band Mi Odio (I Hate Myself) with the song 'Complice.'

When we say they've announced we mean just that. Mi Odio was unanimously selected by the Sanmarinese jury - but so far only a snippet has been released for us plebs.

After the Finals...

2008-03-14T00:41:00.002+11:00

come the claims of plagarism!

Like the tides or interest rates going up, accusations of plagarism have become inevitable in each Eurovision contest (and we love them!). The latest storm in a tea cup concerns Germany's song-writer: Remee. The Danish song-writer claims to have written 'Disappear' "a long time before" the remarkably similar song 'Break the Silence' appeared (performed by a talent show entrant called Steffi List).

Here is Steffi List's 'Break the Silence' and here are No Angels with 'Disappear'

Quelle Surprise!

2008-03-11T23:07:00.002+11:00

Jelena Tomašević has won the Serbian Final - Beovizija - with 'Oro,' in a move that stunned and surprised absolutely nobody. Oro was deliberately placed 20th out of 20 songs so it would be the climax of the night - the other 19 contestants really just wasted their time showing up. Željko Joksimović will now be the host of Eurovision 2008 and the composer of the host nation's song. Ruslana, take a bow and exit stage left. We've found our new ESC+hog. Perhaps Željko can hand himself the trophy if Serbia wins this back to back.

Everything Old...

2008-03-10T14:01:00.004+11:00

Belgium has gone back to 2003 when a folk act singing in a made-up language came 2nd - for 2008 its folk act Ishtar singing 'O Julissi Na Jalini' in a made up language.

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Portugal has returned to sending winners of Idol (Operação Triunfo) this year sending Vânia Fernandes who will perform 'Senhora do Mar' (Lady of the Sea).

Russia had the option of re-sending the brilliant Prime Minister (2002) or the crusty Polina Smolova (2006 - Belarus) but eventually settled on the artist formerly known as Dima Bilan (he lost the rights to his first name in a bizarre deceased estate decision recently). Viktor Bilan - who came 2nd, fifty points south of Lordi in 2006 - will perform 'Believe' which we feel lacks the energy and pop-hooks that 'Never Let You Go' had.
Montenegro may have settled on a song for Stefan Filipovic: 'Zauvijek volim te' (I Love You For Eternity).

The Song not the Singer...

2008-03-09T15:47:00.002+11:00

And tidying up the loose ends, we have a number of songs being announced for entries where the performer was announced months ago.

Armenia - Sirusho will sing 'Qele Qele' (Come Come) which was selected from four songs performed on March 8th. Coma coma more like! EDU thought 'I Can't Control' it was the best of the pick - but Armenia never listens to us.

Netherlands - Hind has performed her song 'Your Heart Belongs to Me' on Dutch telly. Its a moroccan-infused pop track, a bit on the repetitive side, but Hind carries it off very well - sort of Ofra Haza meets Beyonce.

Even Hugo's doing it!

2008-03-09T15:41:00.002+11:00

Well it took TVE until about 2am to get to the decision, but Spain is sending their first intentional gag entrant this millennium. Rodolfo Chikilicuatre (who like Silvia Nott and Verka is a comic character) will perform 'Baila el Chiki Chiki' (Dance the Chiki Chiki). Andreu Buenafuente is the actor behind Chikilicuatre and appears on a late night private TV station in Spain - La Sexta. Chikilicuatre was the popular winner of the bizarre myspace competition Spain ran, as well as the televised final. To see him: http://www.youtube.com/v/QNw-Rt42VTg

Self-Fulfilling Prophecies

2008-03-08T10:24:00.002+11:00

Germany has selected girl band 'No Angels' with their song 'Disappear.' No Angels are a culturally blended German-Spice Girls with questionable fashion sense and limited range. Disappear is the ESC song of 2008 most likely to force itself into your head and loop all night long despite your best efforts.

Oui! Oui!

2008-03-08T10:16:00.003+11:00

Massive news from France! After last year's break-through of singing partly in English and taking the micky out of Eurovision - they have gone the whole hog and are sending Sébastien Tellier with 'Divine.'

The entire song is in English and sounds like Cornelius covering a George Harrison song. It's utterly wonderful and will ensure France come dead last. (Seriously pearls before swine stuff!) Tillier's latest album was produced by Guy-Manuel de Homem Christo (half of Daft Punk).

Former ESC-Stars of Macedonia

2008-03-08T10:09:00.004+11:00

Two of Macedonia's best Eurovision entrants are coming Down Under.
Karolina Goceva is already in town - playing Perth (March 7), Melbourne (Saturday March 8 - at the Croatian Club, Fitzgerald Rd, Sunshine), Adelaide (March 10), and two shows in Sydney (March 13, Forum - Fox Studios - March 15, Bella Vista Cruise).

And if that wasn't enough - creme caramels herself is only a few weeks behind Karolina. Elena Risteska will Grand Neret Reception, 19 Salicki Avenue, Epping (Melbourne) on 21 March. (more info here)

The Great Pretenders

2008-03-04T23:27:00.009+11:00

The latest rounds of national finals are inspiring some deva ju - that certain feeling that you've heard something like these songs before. We present:

Greece - Kalomoira Saranti with 'Secret Combination' which sounds for all the world like a Britney Spears (Toxic era) track. Kalomoira can at least claim common cultural territory, as she was born in the USA. Kalomoira joins Poland's Isis Gee as the second septic in ESC 2008.

Latvia - have joined the lighter side with a pirate themed 'Pirates of the Sea' by Wolves of the Sea (an instant group featuring a radio presenter, one of the singers from Bonaparti.lv from last year and a leggy dancer to get the DOM vote). At EDU HQ, all we can hear is Boyzvoice selling fish fingers.
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Finland have not surprisingly returned to the source of their 15 minutes of Euro-fame - heavy metal. This year's entry is Teraesbetoni (lit. = steel-reinforced concrete) with 'Missae Miehet Ratsastaa' - and they dont sound so much like Lordi, as they do Spinal Tap.
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Georgia can be forgiven - as new arrivals - for not fearing a Corinne repeat in their selection of sight impaired Diana Gurtskaya. Her song 'Peace will Come' is benign at first, but once it gets going it comes off like a slow tATu track.
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and

Perversely, the United Kingdom has gone for someone who can sing - former garbo, Andy Abraham, who was 2nd on the X Factor (Series 2) doing his Hot Chocolate impersonation. His song 'Even If' reminds us of 'Starlight' by Supermen Lovers (c. 2001).

Super-Saturday Round Up

2008-02-24T16:01:00.008+11:00

The biggest day of the year viz National Finals has come and gone. There are some good songs, some shite songs and there is a most definitive single digit salute to the Contest from Ireland.

The Good:
First song of the year to go in our special category 'too good for Eurovision' is Bulgaria's dance track - 'DJ, Take Me Away' by Deep Zone & Balthazar. Two DJs attacking their turntables whilst one of their Dads plays guitar (seriously). The female vocalist does a great job in the studio. Interestingly, they've done a re-mix of last year's entrant from Bulgaria.

Iceland didn't send our fave (Ho Ho Ho We Say Hey Hey Hey) but the re-vamped version of 'This Is My Life' (originally Fullkomið líf) should see Eurobandið get to the Grand Final with help from Western Europe.

Poland has opted for US-born Isis Gee (real name: Tamara Gołębiowska / Tamara Wimer) who will sing 'For Life' - a adult-contemporary ballad of the Shiri Maimon mould.

The Bad:
Apparently everyone under 50 years in Croatia was out doing the town on Saturday night, coz escapees from the nursing home have won Dora. Kraljevi Ulice featuring 75 cents (a 75 year old vocalist) will perform 'Romanca.'

FY Macedonia is doing it by the numbers with a lifeless Pink rip-off with two annoying male rappers interrupting it. Tamara Todevska featuring Vrčak & Adrian Gadza will perform 'Vo Imeto Na Ljubovta' (In the name of love).

Turkey and Ukraine had announced their singers a while ago, but the songs have just been revealed. Mor ve Ötesi (Turkey) have a unengaging heavy-rock pop song called 'Deli' (Eng. nuts, crazy, insane). Ani Lorak's Shady Lady was selected as the best of the five songs she presented to Ukraine. The other four must have been woeful!

And the Ugly:
Ireland have clearly decided that parody is the best form of defence - and are sending their version of Ozzie Ostrich: Dustin the Turkey. The song would not be out of place on a teen's mobile phone (yep - its that crap) but the lyrics are amusing enough:
"Drag acts and bad acts and Terry Wogan's wig...
Give us another chance, we're sorry for Riverdance"

Romania may face a crisis - after it selected Nico & Vlad Miriţă with 'Pe-o margine de lume.' If you listen closely you'll hear quite a bit of Italian in the lyrics - if you listen very closely to David Bustamante's 'La magia del corazón' from the Spanish National Finals, 2002; you'll hear where this song was stolen from!

A Deli of Love

2008-02-16T23:38:00.004+11:00

Norway has selected Maria Haukaas Storeng to sing 'Hold on be strong.' Maria has such faith in her song she has changed her surname by deed poll to match the song title.

Moldova have opted for jazz singer Georgeta Burlacu who will perform a 'Century of Love' in three minutes (after a national final which had the public and two juries select three different winners!).

Turkey's song title has been announced (Mor ve ötesi will sing 'Deli') and Serbia's final will be on Wednesday (Feb 20th). All eyes are on Super-Saturday (23rd) when the Ukraine reveals Ani Lorak's song and no less than seven national finals are held!

Heartbeat by Candlelight

2008-02-16T23:36:00.001+11:00

So, Csézy's song is still called Szívverés (Heartbeat) when it's in Magyar - but when she sings it in English for ESC it will be called 'Candlelight.' Clear?

Szívverés - why do you skip when my baby kisses me?

2008-02-09T11:52:00.000+11:00

Hungary may have provided the first decent song of the Contest (is it the dawning of the good songs, or are our expectations now so low?). The artist is Csézy and her song is 'Szívverés' (Heartbeat). The Hungarian jury placed this second; one point behind Adrien Szekeres with 'Piszkos tánc' but the public vote reversed that order when the National Final was held on Feb 8th.

The song will be performed in English (we've only heard the Magyar so far) and its a fairly obvious, swelling sort of a ballad, not out of place on a Disney soundtrack. Some re-arrangement will help it, losing the cheesy electronic percussion and emphasising the strings and piano.

Who Will Rid Me of these Terrible Songs?

2008-02-04T19:23:00.000+11:00

2008 is not looking any better - with the Eastern bloc sending more boring warbling and the public of northern and western Europe seemingly sending suicidal entries to undermine the contest.

The latest unfortunates from a big weekend of finals are:

Azerbaijan - Elnur Gusseinov feat. Samir Javadzadeh with Day after day
http://www.youtube.com/v/lZn08gySKTc&rel=1
He has until May to learn how to pronounce his lyrics; we have until May to forget hearing it this once.
The Azeri final did have some talent - rock group Unformal were third overall and kicked it - combining fast tempo with traditional instruments and a strong Ofra Haza style vocal.

Lithuania has given the nod to the lead singer of a heavy metal band (Soul Brothers) who is going solo with an operatic ballad. He is Jeronimas Milius - the song is 'Nomads In The Night'. You can see it here: http://www.youtube.com/v/CdjPk_XZ2rU&rel=1 (but we suggest you watch 2nd place Aiste Pilvelyte with 'Troy on Fire' instead).

Denmark has left originality and gay anthems behind and gone for a runaway from Dexy's Midnight Runners - Simon Mathew with 'All Night Long' just pipped UNITE with 'Tree of Life.' Simon's tune is bland, cliched-adled and sounds like a 1980s Cricket advert jingle.
http://www.youtube.com/v/6MewUjExmno&rel=1

We get some eyecandy from Slovenia as their failed 2001 Miss World entrant, Rebeka Dremelj let's the Devil take it in 'Vrag naj vzame.' In one of the narrowest public votes ever, Rebeka beat Skupina Langa by 0.7% of the vote.
http://www.youtube.com/v/XRkmoWo1HNY&rel=1

but the most miserable of the miserable is Estonia. Kreisiraadio are a comedy act (in the sense that Benny Hill or the Black and White Minstrels were). They got nearly 50% of the public vote in round one - from a field of 10! The lyrics (apparently) see the two complain about a lack of camping gas, too many green beans and eating sausage, whilst repeating Summer Light in various languages (and mangling German totally!)
You will think we are being too mean until you see: http://www.youtube.com/v/O4333LKdVmo&rel=1

Everything Old is New Again

2008-02-02T11:50:00.000+11:00

Romania's National Final features a few familiar faces - one of which is far from home. 'Fairytale Story' is sung by Nicola - who finished 10th in 2003. 'Dr Frankenstein' is sung by LaGaylia Frazier & Anna Sahlene - Anna sang back-up to winner Charlotte Nilsson in 1999, sang 'Runaway' for Estonia in 2002 (3rd place) and finished 5th in the 2006 Swedish Nationals.

(Romania's Final is 23rd Feb)

The Rub of the Draw

2008-01-31T16:21:00.001+11:00

Neighbourhood Watch may have gotten a lot easier (and the EBU forgiven) with the implications of the Semi Finals arrangements becoming clear.

Turkey will have to qualify without the help of its diaspora in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands (all of whom reward Turkey regularly).
Cyprus and Greece are on their own in different semis.
Ireland will be denied their 12 points from the UK (probably not an issue if they actually send a turkey-puppet).
Sweden will rely on Iceland and Denmark (as Finland and Norway are in another semi)
Georgia will need to qualify without Armenian or Russian help.

Of course for all that, Moldova and Romania (the new back-scratchers) are still together, as are Latvia & Lithuania, plus Andorra and Spain. Of course, the sheer number of Balkan nations who share votes means there is no way to isolate them. So we see Bosnia & Herzegovina, Slovenia and Montenegro in Semi #1 and Albania, FYR Macedonia, Croatia and Serbia in Semi #2.

A Continent Divided

2008-01-29T10:55:00.000+11:00

The pots have been ripped asunder and the two Semi Finals look like this:

Semi-Final 1 (20 May)

Andorra / Armenia / Azerbaijan / Belgium / Bosnia and Herzegovina / Estonia / Finland / Greece / Ireland / Israel / Moldova / Montenegro / Netherlands / Norway / Poland / Romania / Russia / San Marino / Slovenia

Germany and Spain will exercise voting rights and broadcast semi-final #1

Semi-Final 2 (22 May)

Albania / Belarus / Bulgaria / Croatia / Cyprus / Czech Republic / Denmark / FYR Macedonia / Georgia / Hungary / Iceland / Latvia / Lithuania / Malta / Portugal / Switzerland / Sweden / Turkey / Ukraine
France, the United Kingdom and Serbia will exercise voting rights and broadcast semi-final #2

Our immediate reaction is that Semi 1 looks to favour the 'traditional' ESC entrants, whilst Semi 2 is certain to be dominated by Eastern bloc friendly voting. Iceland, Denmark & Switzerland can give up now.

ESC goes Potty

2008-01-27T15:02:00.000+11:00

Showing just how complex you can make picking semi-finalists at "random" - the EBU has announced it will select nations from pre-allocated pots. The pots are basically the blocs we all know and loathe - Tito is re-born in Pot 1, the Scandavians are mostly in Pot2, Greece and Cyprus share Pot 3 with Turkey, most of the former Soviet nations are in Pot 5.

Step 1 - Because of the odd numbers, two envelopes one containing the words 'Semi-Final 1' and the other 'Semi-Final 2' will be drawn.
Step 2 - The pots will be split in half 'randomly' with half of each pot going to the first semi-final and the other three in the second one.
Step 3 - The left over nation in Pot 5 and Pot 6 will then select the envelopes from Step 1.

The Big Four and Serbia (the five nations in the Final) can broadcast both semi-finals or just one, but the viewers from their countries can only vote in one. The Big Four will be forced to vote in one of the semis - which will also be drawn. Whether the BBC will broadcast the other semi is not known - which means it is unclear if SBS will show both semi finals in Australia (or either!). NOTE: All semi-finals will be webcast live through Eurovision.tv.
Joining the five finalists will be the top nine finishers from both semi finals - PLUS - a tenth will be determined by the back-up juries! The EBU is gonna make sure the favourites get through! The draw for the semi-finals will take place at the Belgrade City Hall on Monday 28 January 2008.

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3
Albania Bosnia & Herzegovina Croatia FY Macedonia Montenegro Slovenia	Denmark Estonia Finland Iceland Norway Sweden	Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Greece Netherlands Turkey
Pot 4	Pot 5	Pot 6
Andorra Ireland Latvia Lithuania Portugal Romania	Armenia Belarus Georgia Israel Moldova Russia Ukraine	Azerbaijan Czech Republic Hungary Malta Poland San Marino Switzerland

Have Some...Vodka!

2008-01-27T14:00:00.000+11:00

Two national finals took place over the Australia Day weekend - Malta and the Czech Republic.

The Czech winner is Tereza Kerndlová with 'Have Some Fun' - best described as a repetitive, easy-listening pop tune. Tereza (21) was a member of Czech girl-trio Black Milk from 2001 - 2005. One of her former bandmates - Helena Zetová competed in the National Finals last year.

Malta has selected 23 year old Morena with her song 'Vodka' - which is in English and concerns espionage. Malta has ditched the ballads and soft-pop and gone for a full-throttle dance-rock number. This is Morena's break-through move - she has fronted an old man's band called Spectrum for a few years.

There I Am!

2008-01-27T13:54:00.000+11:00

Australian Idol for 2007 - Natalie Gauci - was the special guest star at Malta's Song for Europe on Australia Day! Apparently she flew straight from Hobart Perth to Valletta in a trip that was co-organised by the National Good Causes Fund, timesofmalta.com, and the Maltasong board.

Natalie sang her winner's-curse 'Here I Am' but made up for it by singing a duet with Chiara - they reprised 'Angel' (which came 2nd in 2005). She also performed one of her own songs 'All In My Mind' (thanks to Mel). Perhaps this is testing the waters and we may see Natalie back at Song for Europe in 2009 as a competitor! If she climbs up on a piano, she'd be a shoe-in.

The Song (Title) Remains the Same

2008-01-24T10:32:00.000+11:00

Belarus' National Final on Jan 21st resulted in a victory for Ruslan Alekhno with 'Hasta la Vista.'
If the title sounds familiar - you may be humming Ukraine's 2003 debut entry by Olexandr Ponomaryov. If not now, you will be after you hear this dog.

'Hasta la vista, baby.

I'm gonna miss you, baby'

(This is the Vertigo of '08)

Ruslan is the latest in a long line of Pop Idol winners (or runners-up) to compete at Eurovision - Ruslan who Народный Артист 2, the 2nd Russian version of Pop Idol.

That would make him their Casey Donovan!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQHOgA60LlM

And Greece's 12 Points go to...

2008-01-16T10:12:00.000+11:00

Evdokia Kadi with 'Femme Fatale.'

Cyprus' National Final was won by Evdokia Kadi who finished four points ahead of Nikolas Metaxas with 'I can’t be' (a better song by some commentators). The jury disagreed with everyone and went for the third placed rock chick.

Despite the French title and its English usage - the song is in Greek (currently!)

Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZAX4qfFD7U

The Old, The Cheap and The EMO

2008-01-12T00:34:00.000+11:00

Germany's car wreck of recent Euro-entries looks set to cross lanes without indicating, as the five acts who will take part in the Grand-Prix on 6 March are announced.

'Marquess' is a boy band - well, old man band - of quite tragic mid-to-late 30s who will perform in Spanish 'La Histeria.' Making them look young is star of the German stage version of Mamma Mia - Carolin Fortenbacher (43 yo) performing 'Hinterm Horizont.' Getting serious, 28 year old Tommy Reeve sings the ballad 'Only one Woman.'

'Cinema Bizarre' look like they at late for a party at Vince Noir's house - and will perform 'Forever or Never.' The members include Teenie-Helden, Strify and Luminor. And it wouldn't be Germany without some bimbos - this year brings us 'No Angels' whose song is the assuredly prescient 'Disappear.'

Boobs vs Breasts

2008-01-12T00:29:00.000+11:00

Norway's famous MGP is set to kick off with a polyester model - Lene Alexandra (pictured) - singing a song called 'Sillycone Valley.' (Very good).

In case anyone thought Norway was not taking Eurovision seriously, we see a house divided with members of WigWam writing songs for two rival acts.
CRASH! (who did well with Wannabe in 2007's MGP) return with another song written by Teeny from WigWam. They will go up against newcomers, Cube, whose song was penned by Wigwam's singer Glam.

Malta - Point From Europe 2008

2008-01-12T00:25:00.000+11:00

17 songs will vie for attention in the Go Malta Song for Europe 2008 Semi finals on 24th January 2008. The running order is:

Loved by you - Glen & Pamela
Caravaggio - Claudia Faniello
Give me a chance - Eleanor Cassar
My last Encore - Mary Spiteri
Casanova - Morena - Philip Vella
Throw your stones - Daniela Vella
Love is just the way - Rosman Pace
GO Klinsmann - Dominic Galea
Vodka - Morena
Whispers - Pamela
Superhero - Klinsmann
Contradiction - Jean Claude Vancell
All Right - Chris & Moira
Tangled - Jessica Muscat
If you Believe - Mary Spiteri
Street car of desire - Petra Zammit
Sunrise - Claudia Faniello

The top eight songs will proceed to the final on Saturday 26th.

Iceland's Wild Card (still looking cool)

2008-01-01T17:30:00.000+11:00

Two of EDU's preferred Icelandic entrants are in the Wild Card round to be held on January 12th. We're crossing collective fingers for 'Á ballið á' written by Bang Gang's Barði Jóhannsson and Hafdís Huld's 'Boys and Perfume.'

The full list for the second chance round is:
1. Hafdís Huld Þrastardóttir - Boys and perfume
2. Edgar Smári - If I fall in love again
3. Böðvar Rafn Reynisson & Tinna Marína Jónsdóttir - Á ballið á
4. Áslaug Hálfdánardóttir - Lífsins leið
5. Seth Sharp - Johnny
6. Margrét Kristín Sigurðardóttir - Bigger shoes
7. Einar Ágúst Víðisson & Sigurjón Brink - Straumurinn
8. Hara - I wanna manicure
9. Dr. Spock - Hvar ertu nú?
10. Andrea Gylfadóttir - Flower of fire
11. Hrund Ósk Árnadóttir - Í rússíbana

Nine Entrants Confirmed

2008-01-01T17:10:00.000+11:00

Paolo Meneguzzi & Gisela (Gisela Llado Canovas) have been confirmed as representing Switzerland and Andorra respectively. Gisela previously performed at ESC in 2002 as a back-up singer to Spain's Rosa (Europe's Living a Celebration).

In addition to the three known entrants and these two confirmations, we have four extra entrants announced since December 9th.

Turkey has reportedly given up chasing superstar Tarkan and opted for an emerging hard rock act - Mor ve ötesi.

Ukraine has finally done the right thing and given Ani Lorak her swing at the title. She was ingloriously dumped in favour of Greenjolly after winning a national final in 2005 - and then re-entering in 2006 and 2007. Ani will perform six songs at a televised final.

Albania - the Iowa caucus of Eurosong - has announced their singer and song early (again). This year will see Olta Boka perform 'Zemrën lamë peng.'

Bosnia and Herzegovina will be sending the song 'Pokusaj' with singer Elvir Laković Laka. He looks whacky! Cue comparisons to Jahn Teigen.

Three confirmed: two persistant rumours.

2007-12-03T17:40:00.000+11:00

Armenia: Sirusho Harutyunyan

Sirusho (20 yo) singer and songwriter who announced the Armenian televote results during the Helsinki telecast. She has released two albums and was voted Future of Armenian pop music in the first ever Armenian national music awards. (So, think Delta). Her song will be selected from five to seven songs she will perform in January/February.

Israel: Boaz Mauda

Boaz Mauda (20 yo) was the winner of Israeli Idol (Kohav Nolad) season 5, which was the least-watched and saw the public turn off most of the contestants (so, think Natalie Gauci). He will perform five songs at a Kdam of one.

Netherlands: Hind

Hind (22 yo) is a Dutch/Moroccan singer who came third in their Idol show. She has released two albums, has recently visited the Occupied Territories and played a gig with the Arab Orchestra of Nazareth) and shows great taste - her personal favourite Dutch entries is 'Hemel en Aarde' by Edsilia Rombley.

rumoured

Switzerland: Paolo Meneguzzi

Paolo (31 yo) is from the Italian-speaking cantons of Switzerland and has competed at the San Remo music festival four times.

Andorra: Gisela Llado Canovas

Gisela (29 yo) is a Barcelona-born singer who came 8th in Operation Triunfo's first season (so, think Ricky Lee Coulter). Jordi Cubino - who composed the 2006 Word Cup anthem (soccer) - has written "a beautiful, rhythmic, pop song, tailor-made for Gisela and the Eurovision Song Contest" which will be mostly in English with some Catalan.

Iceland gets Cool

2007-12-03T17:10:00.000+11:00

The Icelandic national final for Eurovision 2008 is on 16 February. The semi-finals started in late November and include some of the best names in Icelandic music: Birgitta Haukdal, Hafdís Huld (formerly of GusGus, solo album Dirty Paper Cups (2006) is brilliant) and Barði Jóhannsson (creator of the sublime Bang Gang and one of the more strange people in Iceland, even stranger than Hafdis!). Barði & Hafdís Huld have a song each in the Final already (written by them):

'Núna veit ég' - performed by the magnificent Birgitta Haukdal (Open Your Heart, ESC 2003) in a duet with Magni Áseirsson.

Barði Jóhannsson's first creation is a throw back to 90s eurodance - called 'Ho ho ho, we say hey hey hey' - performed by Mercedes Club.

There is also a wildcard final, giving several songs a second chance to make the National Final. Barði has a tongue-in-cheek, cheesy duet in the wildcard show. The song is 'Á ballið á' and it is 'performed' by Böðvar Rafn Reynisson & Tinna Marína Jónsdóttir who are having way too much fun.

Hafdís Huld is singing two entries as well as writing one. She will also be in the wildcard show with 'Boys and Perfume' wearing a pink and chocolate dress.

(Now, she performed this song live in May '07 - so one presumes its going to be invalid if selected).

Halfis Huld's other entry, 'Á gleymdum stað' failed to qualify.

EDU now has a blog

2007-12-02T11:59:00.000+11:00

Welcome to EDU's new blog.
We're aiming to have more discussion, musings and temporary links on this blog - as an addendum to the official site: http://eurovisiondownunder.com/.

News on the 2008 Contest will be posted here until the ESC announces the participants in the two Semi Finals to take place (announcement due in Jan 08). Then the EDU site will be its annual update/facelift.