Sunday, May 03, 2009

Will you catch me when I fall?

The rehearsals for this year's Eurovision Song Contest have started in Moscow, with the first semi-final just over a week away. Of course regular readers of this blog will be aware that I've had some big important stuff occupying my time over recent weeks, meaning that this year's contest has probably passed me by - I only really followed Melodifestivalen in any detail, and haven't heard too many of this year's ESC entries so I'm a bit late to the party I guess :) anyway my favourites so far are still Finland, Denmark and Hungary, who knows, I may even find some other songs I like among the ones I haven't heard yet....

(I think "La Voix" is in with a good chance, but I still can't get the same enthusiasm for it as I would have for "Hope and Glory". Sverige should just have sent "Tingeliin" anyway!!)

Anyway one that I just recently came across is the Swiss entry, "The Highest Heights" by a band called Lovebugs. Possibly the most un-Eurovision song this year, it's different and contemporary and I really hope that it's enough to stand out within its semi-final. I can tell you that this will be one of the songs which will definitely have a post-Eurovision run on my iPod. Here's the official preview video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OE5Cww_Jx0

The problem I have with Eurovision is that it's just got too big, and so many of the entries from one year to the next are interchangeable same-old same-old "My Number One" ripoffs - and that song was one of my least favourite winners ever. No doubt this year will bring a new crop, many of which will inevitably pick up more votes than they deserve: I'm just so tired of that style of Eurovision song which seems to have taken over the contest in recent years.

When I come back from my holiday I'll have to do a crash-course in this year's ESC before the semi-finals kick off. According to what I've been reading on the web, Norway seems to be the "chosen one" this year...

3 comments:

Raquelita said...

By the sound of it,you've already heard all the ones you need to hear- everything else (maybe with the exception of Portugal and BiH) is pap.

I'm still supporting La Voix I think,although it will be interesting to see how it's performed on the night with the 6 people rule and all.

Oh,and Tingelin was blatantly the best thing to come out of this years' contest.I heard the Russians were not happy about it but I think that's just because they're miffed that they didn't think of it first.It would have done a million times better than Prihodka!

Laura (EuropeCrazy) said...

I'll need to get into ESC mode now I'm back :) also this will be the first year that I'll get to watch the two semi-finals as well as the final live, although I imagine it could be torture this year!

I saw a feature in a magazine in Dusseldorf which, even though my German is (shamefully) non-existent, I guessed the translation was something along the lines of Germany being ashamed of its entry this year. (I didn't hear it anywhere or see the video on the music channels.

Great holiday by the way, even with a couple of days of dodgy weather...more about it this weekend!

Laura (EuropeCrazy) said...

Well...I spent much of yesterday watching ESC rehearsals on YouTube, as I hadn't heard a lot of the songs till now. I'm a bit disappointed with Finland and Hungary as they don't really come across too well on stage.

BiH is totally compelling and I think this will definitely be in the top 5 in the final. Portugal is really charming and I like their colourful stage set. Norway is looking more and more like a winner, that's if he doesn't drown in a tidal wave of his own smugness ha ha.

Don't even start me on Russia - it's their worst entry ever!

Rachel you were absolutely right - pap indeed!