My Rankings Of ESC 2011 So Far

Semi Final 01 -
1st - Croatia - Celebrate - Daria Kinzer
2nd - Norway - Haba Haba (Little By Little) - Stella Mwangi
3rd - Russia - Get You - Alex Sparrow
4th - Hungary - What About My Dreams - Kati Wolf
5th - Serbia - Caroban (Amazing) - Nina
6th - Poland - Jestem (I Am) - Magdalena Tul
7th - Armenia - Boom Boom - Emmy
8th - Albania - Feel The Passion - Aurela Gaçe
9th - Switzerland - In Love For A While - Anna Rossinelli
10th - Azerbaijan - Running Scared - Eldar And Nigar

Semi Final 02 -
1st - Slovenia - No One - Maja Keuc
2nd - Ireland - Lipstick - Jedward
3rd - Sweden - Popular - Eric Saade
4th - Austria - The Secret Is Love - Nadine Beiler
5th - Israel - Ding Dong - Dana International
6th - Estonia - Rockefeller Street - Getter Jaani
7th - Belarus - I Love Belarus - Anastsia Vinnikova
8th - Denmark - New Tomorrow -  A Friend In London
9th - Bulgaria - Na Inat (For Spite) - Poli Genova
10th - Slovakia - I'm Still Alive - TWiNS

Using these "Finalists", here are my Final Rankings -

25th - Italy - Madness Of Love
24th - Azerbaijan - Running Scared
23rd - Slovakia - I'm Still Alive
22nd - France - Sognu (Dream)
21st - Germany - Taken By A Stranger
20th - Albania - Feel The Passion
19th - Armenia - Boom Boom
18th - Spain - Que Me Quiten Lo Bailao (Nobody Can Take Away The Good Times I've Had)
17th - Denmark - New Tomorrow
16th - Belarus - I Love Belarus
15th - Bulgaria - Na Inat (For Spite)
14th - Poland - Jestem (I Am)
13th - Switzerland - In Love For A While
12th - Estonia - Rockefeller Street
11th - Serbia - Caroban (Amazing)
10th - Sweden - Popular

9th - Hungary - What About My Dreams

8th - Austria - The Secret Is Love

7th - Israel - Ding Dong

6th - Russia - Get You

5th - Ireland - Lipstick

4th - Croatia - Celebrate

3rd - The United Kingdom - I Can

2nd - Norway - Haba Haba

1st - Slovenia - No One

But with about a month to go, i'm sure things will change....

My Eurovision 2004 - Semi Final - 06 Andorra

YES! Fuck Yes. Andorra. What an amazing try! For Andorra's debut entry, Andorra made it their goal to prove that a small nation, which is mainly a tourist attraction, could be awesome. They chose 2 acts (Marta Roure and Bis A Bis) and launched their selection process. They chose 12 songs (oh and just so many great songs) and dove in. They divided the 12 songs into 6 Quarter Finals, from which an "Expert" Jury, an SMS vote and a Televote (they even were brazen enough to allow the Catalans living in Northern Spain to have a hand in choosing the first song to be sung in Catalan on the Eurovision stage), chose the advancing song. Then the 6 Songs were divided into 2 Semi Finals, where the top song from each Semi Final advanced to the Final. In the Final, there were 2 separate votes. One chose the song, the other chose the singer. Thankfully, they chose wisely and sent a just so brilliant song, sung by an Andorran singer (bad teeth and all!). Back in 2004, there was just immense hype about the Andorran song. All us ESC fans just adored everything about it and, though we never expected it to win, expected it to get into the final and fall somewhere between 8th and 15th. Ugh. How wrong we were! It only got 18th in the Semi Final with just 12 measly points (all from Spain...shocker). Ugh. Pain. Angst. Anywho

To chose my winner, i divided the songs into 2 Semi Finals based on performer. In each Semi Final, i awarded "Televotes" to chose the 3 Finalists. In the Final, i chose my winner in two rounds. In the First Round, i awarded points two times, first based on first listen and second after a few listens, to chose my top 3 Songs. In the Second Round, i chose my winner by awarding "Televotes"

Number - Title (Translation) - Televotes - Place
Semi Final 01 - Bis A Bis
01 - El Destí (Fate) - 5 491 - 6th
02 - No Esperis Amor (Don't Expect Love) - 25 169 - 1st
03 - Confia En Mi (Trust In Me) - 18 204 - 2nd
04 - Vine (Come) - 14 657 - 3rd
05 - Anem Cap Al (Let's Go North) - 6 723 - 5th
06 - És Que Si (That's It) - 13 098 - 4th

Semi Final 02 - Marta Roure
01 - Crec (I Belive) - 10 091 - 6th
02 - Terra (Land) - 15 715 - 4th
03 - Em Quedarà (It Will Remain For Me) - 20 269 - 2nd
04 - Si Et Perds (If You Get Lost) - 18 568 - 3rd
05 - No És Nou (It's Not New) - 14 649 - 5th
06 - Jugarem A Estimar - Nos (Playing At Loving Each Other) - 32 007 - 1st

Final -
Number - Title (Translation) - Vote 01 - Vote 02 - Total - Televote - Place
01 - Em Quedarà - 08 - 02 - 10 - X - 5th
02 - Vine - 02 - 04 - 06 - X - 6th
03 - Jugarem - 12 - 12 - 24 - 41 247 - 1st
04 - No Esperis Amor - 10 - 08 - 18 - 18 691 - 2nd
05 - Si Et Perds - 04 - 10 - 14 - 16 583 - 3rd
06 - Confia En Mi - 06 - 06 - 12 - X - 4th

Comments -
"Jugarem A Estimar - Nos" has been my clear favorite since the beginning. That said, back in 2004, i was WAAAAY more in love with "No Esperis Amor" and "Vine" than i am now. I was also WAAAAY less in love with "Confia En Mi" and "Si Et Perds" than i am now. Thankfully, my tastes have matured. There's an mp3 floating around out there of Bis A Bis performing "Jugarem", but it was Marta's song from the instant it was presented. I think the most impressive thing about the Andorran selection this year is that they found that elusive combination of being modern, yet folksy and true to the Andorran music tradition (glares at Portugal, who just sends folksy but far from modern songs).

My Eurovision 2004 - Semi Final - 05 Israel

Despite a poor result in Riga, Israel decided to use the same Selection Format. This year, they selected world renowned Israeli Opera Star and Counter - Tenor David D'Or to represent them in Istanbul. He presented 4 Songs and a combination of an "Expert" Jury, Televote and SMS vote chose the entrant. All the songs were pretty bland so i didn't waste a lot of time here. I chose my winner by awarding "Televotes".

Number - Title (Translation) - Televotes - Place
01 - Freedom - 54 935 Votes - 1st
02 - Yamim Tovim (Good Days) - 27 286 Votes - 3rd
03 - Bo'U Mal'Achim (Come Angels) - 19 472 Votes - 4th
04 - Leha'Amin (To Believe) - 47 044 Votes - 2nd

My Eurovision 2004 - Semi Final - 04 Latvia

Oh Latvia. You used to be sooo amazing (And your selections 2004 - 2006 are proof of that). What happened? Oh Well. Anywho...

Latvia 2004 was pretty awesome and momentous. Not only did it mark the first appearance of Chilli (a true drag queen born as a man and just about as fabulous as Latvians come), but it marked my first dealings with C - Stone and 4 - Elements (whom i just fucking adore despite not being appreciated by the Latvians) and also Z - Scars (whom i have a soft spot for but not so soft they ever place higher than 5th in all their tries).  After the last couple years of big finals (20 songs or more), which amounted to 1 (undeserved) Win and 1 (undeserved) bottom 5 placing (at home no less! yikes!), Latvia made the decision to tone it down this year and only present 10 songs to compete for the Ticket to Istanbul.

Here's my NF.  As in the actual NF, i chose my winner in 2 Rounds. In the First Round, i chose my top 3 Songs by "Televoting" and in the Second Round, i chose my winner by "Televoting".

Number - Title (Translation) - Artist - Round 01 - Round 02 - Place

01 - Dziesma Par Laimi (A Song About Happiness) - Formins And Kleins - 3 389 - X - 9th
02 - Angel's Song - Kristine Broka And Santa Zapacka - 1 347 - X - 10th
03 - Ready - 4 Elements - 13 393 - 37 844 - 2nd
04 - Like A Star - Tatjana Timcuka - 6 931 - X - 5th
05 - Let Me Go - Rain - 4 835 - X - 8th
06 - All You Know - C - Stones - 19 646 - 41 297 - 1st
07 - We Share The Sun - Johnny Salamander And Meldra - 8 318 - X - 4th
08 - Not That Everyday Girl - Chilli - 18 830 - 18 879 - 3rd
09 - Runaway - Z - Scars -  5 374 - X - 7th
10 - Fly Away With You - Amber - 5 888 - X - 6th

Comments -
"All You Know" has always and forever, since the moment i first heard it til the end of time, been my winner. "Ready" has been as close as any song could come to it for just as long. Back in 2004, i clearly adored "Like A Star" but with time, i've come to realize it's kinda just a bunch of noise. Of course, i immediately recognized that Chilli was amazing and the Latvians would just never understand or be able to appreciate her. Back in 2004, i was mystified about "We Share The Sun" but now i know it to be just a certain kind of cool. Like all Z - Scars songs, i intially dismissed "Runaway" only to have it grow on me in time. My second clearest memory of Latvia 2004 (After "All You Know" being just far tooooooo awesome),  is being completly pissed that given a bunch of awesome to pretty good songs, Latvia chose one of the worst (Dziesma Par Laimi). I couldn't and wouldn't understand it and i hated them for it. Oh how i hated them! But that was back when i thought ESC was just about chosing the most amazing song your Nation had to offer and presenting it to the World in the Largest Music Stage in history! Now, i know that it's about winning, or at least placing well. With that knowledge, i've softened up on the Latvians. I mean, they won with a mediocre at best song in 2002 and bottom fived with a pretty great song, at home no less, in 2003. So i like to think that the Latvians, as a nation, said "What the Fuck! Let's just send something different, regardless of whether it's good or not. and see what happens!". And they did. And they got 17th (and failed to qualify) in the Semi Final.  But it taught them a lesson. You just can't send any old thing based on the fact that it's "Different". If you're gonna send crap, it has to be ballad (see Latvia 2005 and 2007).

My Eurovision 2004 - Semi Final - 03 Switzerland

Oh the Swiss. You never quite know what you'll get with them. In 2004, the Swiss held thier last National Final until 2011. After erm... "disappointing" finishes in 2000, 2002 and after the just utter fail of 2004 (where they got dead last. In the Semi Final. With "Nul Points". The only time that's ever happened in the Semi Final to this day. Yes, 33 Nations gave points in the Semi Final, and not a single one [Even Austria!] deemed their song worthy of even a single point!), the Swiss broadcasters decided that the Swiss folk clearly had terrible taste in music and shouldn't be let anywhere near chosing the Swiss entry. This decision worked at least once (in 2005 when they chose an Estonian rock band to represent them) but other than that, hasn't done much better. Anywho, for a couple weeks, it looked as if the Swiss were finally taking ESC seriously with some pretty good songs in the running. Unfortunately, they chose "Celebrate!". The problem with "Celebrate!" isn't that it's a bad song (it's halfway ok sometimes), but that it completly polarized everyone. It either had to Win by a landslide or it would get nothing. It was just one of those things. At the time, most everyone thought/hoped (me included) that it wouldn't even get anywhere near the final, but i remember that more than a couple Eurovision commentaries thought it would do quite well. Guess who won that arguement?

Anywho, this year the Swiss presented 12 songs to compete for the ticket to Istanbul. For my selection, i chose my winner in 2 Rounds. In the First Round, i gave votes twice (once based on my rankings after the first listen and then based on a couple listens) to chose my top 4 songs. In the Second Round, i chose my winner by "Televoting"

Number - Title (Translation - Artist - Vote 01 - Vote 02 - Total - Round 02 - Place
01 - Fly Away - Tiffen - 05 - 04 - 09 - X - 5th =
02 - Sicuramente Uomini (Men For Sure) - Mauro Sabbioni - X - X - 00 - X - 11th =
03 - Something New - Carmen Fenk - 02 - 06 - 08 - X - 7th =
04 - Je Rêve D'Un Monde (I Dream Of A World) - Lorenzo Marra - X - X - 00 - X - 11th =
05 - The Ghost Of You - Daniela Brun - 01 - 02 - 03 - X - 10th
06 - L'Île De Lumière (The Island Of Light) - Fanny - 04 - 01 - 05 - X - 9th
07 - By Your Side - Mario Pacchioli - 03 - 05 - 08 - X - 7th =
08 - Heb Ab (Take Off) - Irina - 06 - 03 - 09 - X - 5th =
09 - You Are Pretty - A - Live - 07 - 10 - 17 - 26 132 - 4th
10 - Dove Nascono Gli Amori (Where Love Affairs Are Born) - Antonella Lafortezza - 12 - 08 - 20 - 41 429 - 2nd
11 - Le Monde Danse (The World Dances) - Caroline Agostinio - 10 - 12 - 22 - 46 847 - 1st
12 - Celebrate - Piero Esteriore And The MusicStars -  08 - 07 - 15 - 28 715 - 3rd

Comments -
Back in 2004, everyone and their mother knew that if it was left up to anyone but the Swiss, "Le Monde Danse" would clearly win. But because it was the Swiss, everyone was "cautiously optimistic" and therefore not surprised when it only got third. Personally, i remember being angry at them for chosing such a stupid song, but in time have grown to appreciate it. Over the years (for me), it's been a two way race between "Le Monde Danse" and "Dove Nascono Gli Amori" (both of which are just perfectly amazing songs). I remember having a very high opinion of "You Are Pretty", which (thankfully) has diminished through the years. All in all, it was a pretty good NF, but that's "Good" in relative to the Swiss. Looking back, i can see the Swiss had only 2 options : chose an amazing song ("Le Monde Danse") and have some pride, but have to worry about being overlooked, or chose "Celebrate!" and either win or fail, but be remembered. And since the Swiss have a complex about always being forgotten, their choice was clear.

My Eurovision 2004 - Semi Final - 02 Belarus

Yay! Belarus! One of the debuting/virgin nations to ESC in 2004. It was also the only Belarussian National Final that wasn't wrought with controversy, song changing, winner changing etc to date. That being said, it was a pretty great show and the voting was just well one of the closest votes in ESC National Final history (The difference between the first and last place songs was less then 400 votes). In the end "My Galileo" won and went down like a storm among fans. I can't think of a single fan or ESC fan polling that didn't place it in the Final (and then in the top 15 to boot!). I initially had mixed feelings about it, going from "ugh it's just a bunch of noise sung by a woman who clearly has never spoken english and is pronouncing it based on cue cards" to "well...it might do alright". Over time, it's grown on me and become on of my favorites that, in moments of weakness, i even place in my top 15 overall of ESC 2004 (which is saying a great deal).

Anywho, to select my winner, i voted on the songs in 2 Rounds. In the First Round, i awarded "Televotes" to select my top 3 Songs. In the Second Round, i divided 11 points between the songs. (Note - Although most of titles are in Russian, the majority of the songs were performed in English)

Number - Title (Translation) - Artist - Round 01 - Round 02 - Place
01 - Govorjat (They Say) - Adelina - 1 954 - X - 10th
02 - My Galileo - Aleksandra And Konstantin - 2 119 - 05 - 1st
03 - Mnje Nje Nuzhno Bolshei Ljubvi (I Don't Need A Great Love) - Irina Dorofeeca - 2 213 - 02 - 3rd
04 - Pust Tajet Snjeg (Let The Snow Melt) - Maksim Sapatkov - 1 932 - X - 13th
05 - Dozhdis (Wait) - Natalia Tamelo - 1 927 - X - 14th
06 - Ja Pytajus (I'm Trying) - Olga Molcanova - 1 977 - X - 8th
07 - Ljubov Nje Ostanovit (There's No Stopping Love) - Natalia Podolskaja - 2 311 - 04 - 2nd
08 - Ja Hranju Nadjezhdu (I'm Cherishing Hope) - Aleksandra Gajduk - 2 008 - X - 6th
09 - Pjesnja O Ljubvi (Love Song) - Polina Smolova - 1 920 - X - 15th
10 - Svoboda (Freedom) - Corrinana - 1 967 - X - 9th
11 - Skazi Mnje (Tell Me)  - Jana - 2 039 - X - 5th
12 - Ne Perezhivaj (Don't Take It Too Hard) - Aleksandr Soloduha - 1 996 - X - 7th
13 - Prosto Slova (Just Words) - Anna Bogdanova - 1 948 - X - 11th
14 - S Prekrasnym Svjetom (With The Beautiful Light) - MiLR - 1 937 - X - 12th
15 - Lel - Janet - 2 067 - X - 4th

Comments -
In the 7 years since 2004, my top 3 has yet to change. Oh, they've moved up and down in their order, but the choices have always been the same. "Ljubov Nje Ostanovit" is a pretty awesome song and would have done well at ESC (don't lose heart, Natalia got her chance in 2005... for Russia. And that year, Belarus was represented by a Russian....WTF?) Anywho, it's a pretty bland NF with a few treasures.  Anywho, defying all expectations and fairness (and being a part of teaching me that ESC will never turn out as i expect because it's [for the most part] left up to people who just watch it and vote one or two nights a year, based on just 3 minutes, and not by the people who listen to the songs over and over and have it control their lives), Belarus failed to qualify, only getting equal 19th in the Semi Final.

Still, it's a bloody great song.

My Eurovision 2004 - Semi Final - 01 Finland

Yay! Finland! After begin regulated out of the 2003 Contest (despite having high hopes on a pretty catchy modern song from 2002), the Finns decided to try this Semi Final system everyone was fussing over.  Tehy chose 20 Songs to compete in 2 Semi Finals for the 12 Spots in the Final.  Despite being initially praised for selected mostly modern, catchy songs, the hopes of the Finns were once again dashed by the "Juries", who in selected the top 6 Songs in the final who advanced to the Second Round, where a Televote chose the winner, failed to give a single point to a huge favorite, the winner of the Second Semi Final, and my personal favorite. That said, it was still a pretty awesome try for Finland, even though they failed to make it out the Semi Final.

Anywho, for my selection, i used the same Semi Final system and voting (With a few tweaks to avoid shared placings) to chose my 12 Finalists.

Number - Title (Translation) - Artist - Votes - Place
Semi Final 01 -
01 - Dance My Heart Away - Heidi Kyrö And JUST - 13.5% - 3rd
02 - I Can't Stop Lovin' You - Kirsti Ranto - 16.9% - 2nd
03 - What If - Karoliina Kallio - 02% - 8th
04 - Mouse In The Misery - Komissio - 01.8% - 9th
05 - A Little Crazy - Anna Stenlund - 39% - 1st
06 - You Don't Need To Go - Iina And Gary - 04.3% - 7th
07 - I Don't Need To Say - Geir Rönning - 01.7% - 10th
08 - Higher Ground - Sheidi - 07% - 5th
09 - Takes 2 To Tango - Jari Sillanpää - 05.8% - 6th 
10 - Toarie - Riikka - 08% - 4th 

Semi Final 02 -
01 - Can't Stop Loving You - Patrick Linman - 09.1% - 6th
02 - 'Til The End Of Time - Arja Koriseva - 14.5% - 3rd
03 - Should I Run, Should I Hide - Sonja Biskop - 17.9% - 2nd
04 - Rain On Water - Johanna Försti - 10.8% - 4th
05 - Like Believers Do - Jonna K. - 09.9% - 5th
06 - One Year Of Love - Jan Mikael - 02.4% - 10th
07 - Eleventh Hours - Susann Sonntag - 19.3% - 1st
08 - Reason - Mira - 06.5% - 7th
09 - Seven Times Seven - Danny And D'Voices - 04.4% - 9th
10 - My Everlasting - Mirella - 05.2% - 8th

Final -
In the Final, i used the same system as in the actual Final and chosen my winner in Two Rounds. In the First Round,  I listened to the songs 6 Times, and after each listen gave points to the songs (based on feeling after each listen but also trying to keep fairness in mind). The top 6 Songs advanced to the Second Round, where i chose my winner by awarding "Televotes".

Round 01 -
Num. - Title - 01 - 02 - 03 - 04 - 05 - 06 - Total - Place
01 - Like Believers Do - X - X - 02 - X - X - X - 02 Points - 10th
02 - Toarie - 08 - 01 - X - X - X - 02 - 11 Points - 5th = 
03 - Rain On Water - X - X - 04 - X - X - X - 04 Points - 8th =
04 - Higher Ground - X - X - X - 04 - X - X - 04 Points - 8th =
05 - Eleventh Hour - 06 - 10 - 06 - 08 - 08 - 10 - 48 Points - 1st
06 - Dance My Heart Away - 02 - X - X - X - 01 - 04 - 07 Points - 7th
07 - 'Til The End Of Time - X - 08 - 01 - X - 02 - 11 Points - 5th = 
08 - Takes 2 To Tango - 01 - X - X - X - X - X - 01 Point - 11th =
09 - A Little Crazy - 10 - 02 - 08 - 06 - 10 - 06 - 42 Points - 2nd
10 - I Can't Stop Lovin' You - X - 04 - X - 10 - 04 - X - 18 Points - 4th
11 - Can't Stop Lovin' You - X - X - X - 01 - X - X - 01 Point - 11th =
12 - Should I Run, Should I Hide - 04 - 06 - 10 - 02 - 06 - 08 - 36 Points - 3rd


Round 02 -
01 - Toarie - 15 210 Votes - 6th
02 - Eleventh Hour - 98 987 Votes - 1st
03 - 'Til The End Of Time - 32 693 Votes - 4th
04 - A Little Crazy - 66 548 Votes - 2nd
05 - I Can't Stop Lovin' You - 28 935 Votes - 5th
06 - Should I Run, Should I Hide - 38 169 Votes - 3rd

Comments -

From the moment i heard it, i've been completely head over heels in love with "Eleventh Hour" and cursed the Finns for not sending it. Cursed them i say! My First top 3 were "Eleventh Hour", "'Til The End Of Time" and "I Can't Stop Lovin' You". In 2006, after a horrible break up, I really got into "A Little Crazy" and "Should I Run, Should I Hide" and they became my 2nd and 3rd....although the order has changed many times over the years. Recently (like since 2009), "Toarie" has clicked with me and over taken "Dance My Heart Away" to complete my top 6.

Eurovision 2004

So over the next couple days, i've decided to return to my First and one of my Favorite Eurovisions, Eurovision 2004.  It was the first year that i was really a part of and i adore it. I'll be posting my National Finals, comments, rankings and etc.


I hope everyone enjoys!