Ah Greece. Greece is always good for at least 2 great songs. This year, Greece decided to do a National Final of 6 Songs, much like last year. However, this year they decided to present songs by "New" Artists (i.e. Greek X Factor winners/fan favorites, Greek Idol winners/fan favorites, etc. ).
I chose my winner by listening/watching the songs and giving points when i felt comfortable ranking the songs 3 times.
Songs -
Number - Title (Translation) - Artist
01 - Come With Me - Kokkina Halia -
02 - The Time Is Now - Valanto Trifonos -
03 - Hamogela (Smile) - Triimitonio -
04 - It's All Greek To Me - Antigoni Psychrami -
05 - Watch My Dance - Loucas Giorkas Feat. Stereo Mike -
06 - I Don't Wanna Dance - Nikki Ponte
First comments -
Clearly "I don't wanna dance" is the winner. "Come with me" is forgetable, "It's my time" is too...well just too cypriot. "Hamogela" could do well....if every voting nation were greek..."It's all greek to me" is just ruined by the performance. "Watch my dance" is just...ugh...vomity (but the men are oh so yummy). Yep "I don't wanna dance" is the winner.
My Final -
01 - Come With Me - 04 02 02 = 08 Points - 6th
02 - It's My Time - 06 06 04 = 16 Points - 4th
03 - Hamogela - 08 12 10 = 30 Points - 2nd
04 - It's All Greek To Me - 10 08 08 = 26 Points - 3rd
Following the popular trend of last year (Not by European or Eurovision standards, but by Serbian standards), Serbia presented 3 Songs and a Televote chose the Winner.
I followed the same format.
Number - Title (Translation) - Artist - Televotes - Place
01 - Ring Ring Ring - The Breeze - 4 049 Votes - 3rd
02 - Idemo Dalje (We're Moving On) - Aleksandra Kovac - 5 994 Votes - 2nd
I totes 100% agree with the Serbian Public. How amazing/upsetting.
Anywho, "Caroban" won. As it should have. For it is simply amazing. It's filled of everything that's good in this world. The other songs never stood a chance.
Okay so MGP (Melodi Grand Prix) [i.e. the Norwegian selection for Eurovision] was fucking just so bril this year. So here are my final results.
I followed the actual draw of MGP this year, but with a minor difference. In the actual MGP, there was only 1 round of Televoting that selected the 2 Finalist and 2 Second chance songs. Then the top 2 5th place songs were awarded a Wild Card to the second chance round.
I used two round of Televoting to chose my 2 Finalists and 2 Second Chance Songs, but like the actual MGP, my 2 top 5th place songs were awarded wild cards.
Key - Final Semi Final Wild Card
Number - Title (Translation) - Round 01 - Round 02 - Place
Semi Final 01 - 01 - Guns And Boys - 65 823 - 82 917 - 4th
02 - Daisy - 53 542 - X - 5th 03 - Vardlokk (Calm Call) - 64 158 - 98 836 - 2nd
04 - Alt Du Vil Ha (Everything You Want( - 47 992 - X - 6th
05 - Jobbe Litt Mindre Og Tjene Litt Mer (Work A Little Less And Earn A Little More) - 23 254 - 7th 06 - Trenger Mer (Need More) - 88 751 - 113 459 - 1st 07 - Not That Easy - 69 815 - 86 524 - 3rd
Comments -
Trenger Mer had me from the very start. Always and forever. Over time, Vardlokk has grown on e at the same time that Not that easy has ungrown on me.
To Final -
To Second Chance Round -
Semi Final 02 - 01 - I'll Be Yours - 75 492 - 91 374 - 3rd
02 - You Can Depend On Me - 34 247 - X - 7th 03 - Hungry For You - 64 771 - 88 998 - 4th
04 - Sand - 37 478 - X - 6th 05 - Oh Oh (Puppy) Love - 57 150 - X - 5th 06 - You're Like A Melody - 107 934 - 134 761 - 1st 07 - Allergic - 68 954 - 102 817 - 2nd
Comments -
Of course "You're Like A Melody" won. Because it's just the best. It touches me. Chooseing between "Allergic" and "Ill be yours" is an eternal struggle, but both are in my final. Whatever else i chose, they are both in my final. "Hungry for you" can never be more than 4th. And of course, i just adore "Puppy Love"....so it gets a second chance.
To Final -
To Second Chance Round -
Wild Card -
Semi Final 03 -
01 - Nothing Remains - 26 195 - X - 7th 02 - Gone With The Wind - 77 458 - 102 354 - 2nd 03 - SOS - 58 761 - 83 517 - 4th
04 - Like Dreamers Do - 49 834 - X - 6th 05 - Dance Tonight - 71 993 - 73 259 - 3rd 06 - Haba Haba - 97 942 - 116 354 - 1st 07 - Fire Below - 55 815 - X - 5th
Comments -
Of course, "Haba Haba" is my winner, for it's just amazing. Gone with the wind takes 2nd, for now. But "Dance Tonight" is fast on it's heels. SOS gets 4th and i guess Fire Below gets 5th
To Final -
To Second Chance Round -
Wild Card -
Second Chance Round -
The 2 Advancing songs were chosen in 2 Rounds. In the First Round, the 8 Songs were divided into 4 Pairs. In each Pair, a Televote chose the advancing song. In the Second Round, the 4 Songs were divided into 2 Pairs. In each Pair, a Televote chose the advancing song.
Round 01 -
Pair 01 - 01 - Guns And Boys - 72 815 - 1st
02 - Fire Below - 56 259 - 2nd
Pair 02 -
01 - Not That Easy - 88 920 - 2nd 02 - Hungry For You - 93 257 - 1st
Pair 03 -
01 - Puppy Love - 69 185 - 2nd 02 - Dance Tonight - 108 429 - 1st
Pair 04 - 01 - I'll Be Yours - 97 520 - 1st
02 - SOS - 52 418 - 2nd
Pair 06 -
01 - Hungry For You - 98 524 - 2nd 02 - I'll Be Yours - 103 259 - 1st
Comments -
"Dance Tonight" and "I'll Be Yours" are just fucking amazing.
Final -
In the Final, i chose my winner in 2 Rounds of voting. In the First Round, i awarded points 3 times, whenever i felt comfortable awarding points. The first time, i divided 200 points between the songs. The Second time, i divided 600 points between the songs. The Third time, i divided 600 points between the Songs. The 4 Songs with the most points advanced to the Second Round. In the Second Round, i divided 200 points between the songs 3 times and 400 points between the songs 5 times.
Ukraine always brings their A - Game. Always (except 2003, 2005 and 2010). They have produced just some of the greatest ESC entries ever. "Wild Dances" in 2004, "Show Me Your Love" in 2006, "Danzing" in 2007, "Shady Lady" in 2008, "Be My Valentine" in 2009. All just simply amazing songs and in my top for for their years. "Shady Lady" is one of my favorite ESC songs ever and "Wild Dances" will always have a special place in my heart, cause i loved it and it won my first ESC. That said, their selection process is well spotty at best. In 2005, they hosted a long NF that went over 15 weeks, just to have the Final won by a "Wild Card" thrown in at the last minute. In 2010, they chose a singer and held an NF,....but then decided it was "Unfair" (Meaning that everyone panned the song in minutes) and held a new National Final. This year was no different. They started their National Final back in like...well it feels like 2 days after ESC 2010, and over the next 4 Months held 5 Quarter Finals and 3 Semi Finals just to whittle down the original 30 songs to 21. It was long and arbitary and well just silly. And then of course, because they are eastern europe so a little behind in technology but way ahead of the world in corruption, once they selected a song, within 24 hours, there was outrage, a petition and a new Final, where the top 3 songs from the previous NF will compete for the actual ticket for Düsseldorf,...not that i didn't leap for joy when i heard the news.
Anywho, i won't submit you to the full NF and follow their model for selection. Of the 24 Songs they selected for the Semi Finals, i mainly agree and when i don't, it's not enough to actually care. So i'll begin with the Semi Finals.
I divided the 24 Songs into 3 Semi Finals. In each Semi Final (After 4 Months of listening to the songs), i awarded Televotes based on how i felt. The top 2 Songs from each SF advanced to the Final, and the 3rd and 4th place songs advanced to a Second Chance Round, along with 2 "Wild Cards'
Semi Finals -
Key -
Gold - Advanced To Final
Silver - Advanced To Second Chance Round
Blue - Wild Cards
Number - Title (Translation) - Televote - Place
Semi Final 01 -
01 - Eyo Imya (Her Name) - 3 771 - 8th
02 - Hero - 21 003 - 6th 03 - My Expression - 32 771 - 3rd
04 - Sever - Jug (North - South) - 24 269 - 5th 05 - The Kukushka (The Cuckoo) - 42 916 - 1st 06 - Gliadi (Look) - 30 159 - 4th 07 - Vse Resheno (Everything's Sorted) - 36 250 - 2nd
08 - Love - 9 157 - 7th
Videos Of Top 4
My Expression -
The Kukushka -
Gliadi -
Vse Resheno -
Semi Final 02 - 01 - Angel - 22 159 - 4th
02 - Ave Maria - 4 248 - 8th
03 - Tsvetok (Flower) - 11 933 - 7th 04 - Superhero (U - La - La) - 27 814 - 3rd 05 - Why Did I Say Goodbye - 32 745 - 2nd
06 - Victim Of My Love - 20 258 - 6th
07 - Aces High - 21 004 - 5th 08 - Action - 37 891 - 1st
Final - In the Final, i selected my winner in 2 Rounds. In the First Round, i awarded points 3 Times to select my top 4 Songs. In the Second Round, i awarded Televotes based on how i felt.
Of course, because it's Ukraine, there were tons of scandals and upsets. Going into the Final, the favorites to win were Zlata, Jamala, Mika Newton and Anastasiya Prihodko. The winner were chosen by Internet voting (10%), SMS Voting (45%) and an "Expert" Jury (45%). In the End, Mika Newton won out over Jamala and Zlata, but of course a foul was called at once. It turns out, although Mika revieced the most Televotes, she received them from only 2,000 unique phone numbers, while Jamala (who placed 3rd in the Televote) recieved the most Televotes from unique phone numbers (from about 6,000 numbers, 3 times that of Mika). Just hours after the final was held, a Jury member and a petition signed by over 10,000 Ukrainians called for a revote. NTU complied, chosing to hold a Second final between Jamala, Mika and Zlata. However, Jamala and Zlata decided to withdraw, Jamala in protest and Zlata to avoid drama, and so Mika was offically declared the entrant to ESC.
That wasn't the only drama. In the Final, Vitalyj Galay (My Expression) and Tanya Vorzheva (Vse Resheno) were disqualified because they used a backing tape with vocals, and hence were declared to not have performed their entries "Live". ARMIYA withdrew from the final, for no good reason, but inexplicabily chose to sing a random song. Whateves. Hours after winning the National Final, Mika declared that she didn't want to sing "Angels", but would rather prefer to new song to be named at a later date.
In the end, it was decided that Mika would sing a revamped version of "Angels".
4 months of Selections and tons of drama all to select a boring ballad. Sigh.
My thoughts -
Smile has been my absolute favorite since the beginning. Not only was it my favorite from Ukraine, but it has been the song to beat from 2011. At first, i thought it was a race between "Smile" and "Action", however over time, "The Kukushka" has grown in my heart to be my current 2nd.
Israel. What can i say? i'm a sucker for a hebrew accent! Israel has been a bit of disappointment the last few years. But what could compare with "Hasheket Shenish'Ar" by the divine goddess Shiri Maimon? Israel has tried various formants for success, the most common (i.e. the format for 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010) is to internally select a singer and then present 4 Songs, from which their entry is selected. This year, it's back to basics and that means an open National Final, which the Israelis call Kdam. By far, the most noteworthy and favorite to win, is Dana International.
For those of you who don't know, Dana International is simply a fucking legend. In 1995, she got 2nd place in Kdam with the AMAZING "Laila Tov Europa"(Good Evening Europe).
Despite not winning, which rumor has it is all because the Israeli Juries were unsure about a Transgender Person repsenting Israel, the song went on to become a huge hit in Israel. In 1998, Israel put aside it's worries and internally selected Dana to reprsent the Nation with "Diva".
Of course, selecting a Transgender singer (She was born a Male and later had a number of surgeries to become a female) caused quite the stir in Eurovision. Of course she swept ESC 1998 (despite "Hemel En Aarde" being universally known as the best song of ESC 1998)
Despite not having the best song, she by leaps and bounds had the best performance of a pretty amazing song (Diva is ranked 3rd in my ESC 1998, which is nothing to laugh about considering it is just a brilliant year).
And of course she is absolutely brilliant and perfection.
Although she for sure brought her A Game, she's by no means the only great song.
Songs -
Number - Title (Translation) - Artist
01 - Al Ahava (About Love) - Adi Cohen
02 - Ohev Et Ze (I'm Loving That) - Knob
03 - Or (Light) - Chen Aharoni
04 - It's My Time - Idit Halevi
05 - Hakol Sababa (Everything Is Good) - Hatikva 6
06 - Amri Itach (I'll Take Off With You) - Niki Goldstein
07 - Kach Oti (Take Me) - Sivan Bahnem
08 - Tu Du Du - Michael And Shimrit Greylsummer
09 - Ding Dong - Dana International
10 - Nosa'At El Ga'Agu'Ay (Driving To My Belongings) - Carmel Eckman
In the Actual National Final, the winner will be chosen by a combination of Televoting (60%) and an "Expert" Jury (40%). Of course, i have to complicate things because it's my nature :). I selected my winner in 2 Rounds. In the First Round, i awarded points 3 times (First after my first listening, Second after listening to all 10 songs 3 times and Third after just listening to the songs i liked) to select the top 3 Songs. In the Second Round, i awarded Televotes based on what felt right.
Round 02 -
01 - Ohev Et Ze - 38 914 - 3rd
02 - Tu Du Du - 59 173 - 2nd
03 - Ding Dong - 80 259 - 1st
Thoughts -
Although Dana was always my winner, i'm a bit surprised by some of the other entries. Clearly, "Ohev Et Ze" was a favorite from the beginning, but "Tu Du Du" managed to overcome it. Something about that song just touches my heart. Normally, i despise when songs are sung in a language other than the Native language of the nation or english, but "Tu du du" managed to worm it's way into my heart. Of course, i expect it to fail epically at the actual NF, which i'm sure "Ding Dong", "Ohev Et Ze" or "Al Ahava" will win. It should be Dana, and if it's not, i'll be completely shocked and appalled.
Oh Slovenia. Despite their past couple of ESC entries, Slovenia has amazing singers, who present amazing songs (Se In Se 2002, Lep Poletni Dan 2003, Tvoj Glas 2004, Cry On My Shoulder 2004, Metulj 2005, Stop 2005, POJDI Z MENOJ 2005, Mandoline 2006, SOS 2006, Cudezi Smehlajaja 2007, Vrag Naj Vzame 2008). In short, Slovenia is usually just fucking awesome. However, in the past couple of years, they've just failed, utterly and completly. They haven't even presented any awesome songs in their National Finals! Mostly, it's just been a bunch of noise.
However, this year is different. They've gone back to the one televisied show (as in 2003, 2005, and 2006) and actually presented some pretty good songs. Of course, there's the mandatory silly eastern european songs and boring ballads, but there's some actual brilliance this year.
Songs -
01 - Time For Revolution - Rock Partyzani (The silly song mentioned before)
02 - Moje Luci (My Lights) - Tabu
03 - Bilo Lepo Bi (It Would Be Nice) - Nina Puslar
04 - Vanilija (Vanilla) - Maja Keuc
05 - Disko Raj (Disco Paradise) - Feliks Langus
06 - Slovenka (Slovenian Girl) - LeeLooJamais
07 - Ladadidej - April
08 - Ti Si Tisti (You Are The One) - Sylvain, Mike Vale And Hannah Mancini
09 - Pravi Cas (Right Time) - Time To Time
10 - Bistvo Skrito Je Ocem (The Essence Is Hidden From Eyes) - Omar Naber
In the actual National Final, an "Expert" Jury chose the top 2 Songs and then a Televote chose the winner. But of course, i did things differently. I selected my winner in 2 Rounds. In the First Round, i listened to and watched the songs over the course of many days and awarded points on 4 separate occasions. Then i watched the live performances and awarded triple weight points to select my top 3 Songs. In the Second Round, i awarded Televotes to select my winner.
Round 01 -
01 - Time For Revolution - 01 01 02 01 03 = 08 Points - 10th
02 - Moja Luce - 05 06 04 12 15 = 42 Points - 5th
03 - Bilo Lepo Bi - 08 07 10 06 24 = 55 Points - 4th
04 - Vanilija - 07 12 06 10 30 = 65 Points - 2nd
05 - Disko Raj - 04 05 05 04 12 = 30 Points - 7th
06 - Slovenka - 02 03 03 03 09 = 20 Points - 8th
07 - Ladadidej - 10 08 12 07 21 = 58 Points - 3rd
08 - Ti Si Tisti - 06 04 07 05 18 = 40 Points - 6th
Well, considering the past few years, this was a brilliant EMA. Of course, Omar is my winner, cause he had a brilliant song and he's just so fucking cute. My initial favorites were "Bistvo Skrito Je Ocem", "Ladadidej" and "Ti Si Tisti", however over time, i've come to just adore "Vanilija". All said and done, it's a perfectly respectable entry and i hope it does well at ESC.
And so all the 32 Swedish songs are known and placed into their "appropriate" (by swedish televoters opinion) places.
In this post, i'll rank both the actual Swedish Second Chance Round and My own Second Chance Round.
Format -
The Second Chance songs from the 4 Semi Finals competed for 2 Wild Cards to the Final. The 2 Wild Cards were selected in 2 Rounds of Televoting. In the First Round, the 8 songs were divided into 4 Matches. In each Match, a Televote chose the advancing song. In the Second Round, the 4 Winning songs were divided into 2 Matches and a Televote chose the advancing song from each Match.
Actual Swedish Second Chance Round -
Round 01 -
Number - Title - Artist - Semi Final from which it qualified - Televote - Place - Q
Match 01 -
01 - Something In Your Eyes - Jenny Silver - SF 01 - 97 638 Votes - 1st - Q
02 - Dance Alone - Love Generation - SF 04 - 85 203 Votes - 2nd - NQ
Match 02 -
01 - My Heart Is Refusing Me - Loreen - SF 02 - 63 159 Votes - 2nd - NQ
02 - Spring För Livet (Run For Your Life) - Sara Varga - SF 03 - 79 542 Votes - 1st - Q
Match 03 -
01 - Oh My God - The Moniker - SF 02 - 72 148 Votes - 2nd - NQ
02 - Alive - Linda Pritchard - SF 04 - 79 269 Votes - 1st - Q
Match 04 -
01 - I Thought It Was Forever - Shirley's Angels - SF 03 - 82 924 Votes - 1st - Q
02 - Desperados (Despair) - Pernilla Andersson - SF 01 - 69 998 Votes - 2nd - NQ
Round 02 -
Match 05 -
01 - Something In Your Eyes - Jenny Silver - 107 159 Votes - 1st - Q
02 - Spring För Livet - 69 418 Votes - 2nd - NQ
Match 06 -
01 - Alive - 73 299 Votes - 2nd - NQ
02 - I Thought It Was Forever - 91 945 Votes - 1st - Q
Actual Results -
Round 01 -
Match 01 -
01 - Something In Your Eyes - Out
02 - Dance Alone - Q
Match 02 -
01 - My Heart Is Refusing Me - Out
02 - Spring För Livet - Q
Match 03 -
01 - Oh My God - Q
02 - Alive - Out
Match 04 -
01 - I Thought It Was Forever - Out
02 - Desperados - Q
Round 02 -
Match 05 -
01 - Dance Alone - Out
02 - Spring För Livet - Q
Match 06 -
01 - Oh My God - Q
02 - Desperados - Out
Actual Results -
Match 01 - Dance Alone - Q
Match 02 - Spring För Livet - Q
Match 03 - Oh My God! - Q
Match 04 - Desperados - Q
Match 05 - Spring För Livet - Q
Match 06 - Oh My God! - Q
Thoughts -
Dude.
Sweden.
Fuck you!
For reals?!?!?!?! you failed to recognize the brilliance of "Something In Your Eyes" AND "I Thought it was forever"?!?!?!?!? Really!
I mean "Spring För Livet" and "Oh My God!" are both fine songs, but they are no where near the quality of "Something In Your Eyes" and "I thought it was forever"! I'm shocked and disgusted. I mean, you're Sweden. It's Melodifestivalen. I could have dealt with "Dance Alone" qualifying, but throwing 2 of your best songs out....inexcusable.
Oh well....this makes the final easier i guess....
My Second Chance Round -
Match 01 -
01 - Oh My God - Lekid - SF 01 - 67 891 Votes - 2nd - NQ 02 - Alive - Linda Pritchard - SF 04 - 75 482 Votes - 1st - Q
Match 02 -
01 - Vaken I En Dröm (Awake In A Dream) - Elisabeth Andreassen - SF 02 - 70 915 Votes - 2nd - NQ 02 - Lucky You - Linda Sundblad - SF 03 - 83 274 Votes - 1st - Q
Match 03 -
01 - Oh My God - The Moniker - SF 02 - 76 991 Votes - 2nd - NQ 02 - Run - Anders Fernette - SF 04 - 88 272 Votes - 1st - Q
Match 04 -
01 - Spring För Livet (Run For Your Life) - Sara Varga - SF 03 - 69 217 Votes - 2nd - NQ 01 - Try Again - Dilba - SF 01 - 84 195 Votes - 1st - Q
