Bear in mind that these are all reviewed on first listen (apart from Iceland, which I had already heard a couple of times)
Malta: "MY DREAM" - THEA GARRETT: Old-fashioned ballad which is not too far away from an Idol-winner’s song. I know that Malta has a big ESC-fan-contingent, however it is not the most memorable Maltese entry I’ve ever heard and although it’s not the worst, it has the feel of a toilet break about it :(
Albania: "IT’S ALL ABOUT YOU" - JULIANA PASHA: The backing track has a touch of the "Womanizer"/"For Your Entertainment" about it, which can only be a good thing :) however the end result is a little bit of a let-down on first listen. It could be a grower though and might just qualify...
Greece: "OPA" - GIORGOS ALKAIOS & FRIENDS: They look like a boyband who’ve seen better days and all they’ve got to look forward to is the cabaret circuit. It’s all very formulaic and Greece-by-numbers, but it’s a potential crowd pleaser. And they are Greece, so they are absolute qualifiers - they only have to turn up! They need to shout the "Opa" but louder though, as it lacks a real hook.
Portugal: "HA DIAS ASSIM" - FILIPA AZEVEDO: She warbles this power ballad like a Portuguese version of Leona Lewis, however there’s not much of a song in here and it will struggle to qualify. It certainly has none of the pretty charm of last year’s Portuguese entry.
Macedonia: "JAS JA IMAM SILATA" - GJOKO TANESKI, BILLY ZVER & PEJCIN: More Balkan rock, however I didn’t like this as much as the Bosnian song and again I think this could struggle despite the good old ‘Balkan bloc vote’. The rap section in the middle was ok though, but rap is notoriously looked upon unfavourably at ESC :(
Belarus: "BUTTERFLIES" - 3+2: Now this puzzles me. They are obviously going for the well-dressed Il Divo vote, only without the opera. I think this is aiming fair and square for the jury vote this year and may do well for that reason, although it’s pretty boring and old-fashioned and light years away from "Work Your Magic" - one of the best songs never to have won ESC!!
Iceland: "JE NE SAIS QUOI" - HERA BJORK: one of the more traditionally appealing ESC songs this year. She’s a good singer and the song has a good dance beat - and that all-important key change!! I’d like to see it doing well (as I keep my fingers crossed for Iceland every year), but the whole volcano-situation may have a negative effect on the voting???
4 comments:
Haha, I love the idea of a volcano back-lash :)
I'm really not loving that volcano at all, the ash came back this week and they closed the airspace again, which I'm ever so slightly concerned about as it's just over a week to go till my spring hols....
Oh no :( I hope it calms down again for you. I guess even if you get out there its the worry that you might not get back when you want that could be trouble. I have flights booked for the 8th june, so I feel your pain. Fingers crossed for both of us!
Oh I'm feeling your pain too! Still a bit of time to go till 8th June so fingers and everything else crossed that it's gone by then.
Yes I'm more concerned about being stuck and not being able to get back, than actually getting there...nothing against being stuck in Slovakia of course, but it's the idea of losing our quota of annual leave days from work which is a pain. We're both being very philosophical about it though, if it happens it happens and what will be will be. I'm just glad I got to Sweden and back before it all started - that was the holiday that really mattered of course :)))
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