I personally find interesting people who are not esc followers to comment esc but they can only tell us how a simple esc viewer and possible televoter think. We have to take things in more perspective to understand esc. And what the hell is wrong with some people like the Dutch crap ? There's nothing NOTHING cute about it.
Well this is the second semi so I will less comment on the actual show done by Norway (which I’ll do again after the finale) but I’ll more focus on the actual finalists.
The first think I’d like to comment on is the language. Even if we noticed in all national finals and in man y entries throughout Europe a revival of national languages, only 6 songs in the final out of 25 will be in Spanish, Serbia, Greek, French, Portuguese and Hebrew. With France and Spain already finalists, that means only 4 songs qualified and 3 from the first semi and only 1 in the second semi: a huge disappointment (Switzerland, Finland…)
It’s hard to discuss the second semi without mentioning the fact that there was less room for surprises but boy did it leave room for the biggest surprise of the year: Sweden is out for the first time ever. People say it was unlikely to happen before but let’s remember that before 2008 Sweden did not have to do the semi-final often because Lena and Carola assured a finale spot for Martin and The Ark who both would have failed to qualify. Since the introduction of the two semi system where everyone has to take part Charlotte only made it thanks to the juries wildcard and though Malena did qualify Sweden got one of its worst place ever (apart from the last place gained in 1977) finishing only 21st. So the fact Sweden is out is not such a big surprise and with the latest results by the country not a surprise at all: it was actually very likely to happen. I’ll discuss this later when it comes down to discussing each country then but let’s not forget that songs from Ireland, Azerbaijan, Denmark, Norway and Georgia are all written by or partly by Swedes.
As for Croatia and Cyprus, I totally agree with the night’s result. Cyprus did deserve it and Croatia did not deserve it. Period.
As for the fact that the second semi was stronger, I absolutely disagree. The overall quality was quite similar if not a bit lower than the first semi which may have seemed not eurovision enough (many alternative songs like Russia, Estonia or many ballads, leaving room for Greece and Iceland to defend the eurovision type of trash). In a semi where many songs compete in the same category it was hard to see which ones would go through. At the end, I thought some songs would kill each other out (Georgia and Azerbaijan mainly) but what we are left with is a very geopolitical finale that everyone enjoyed to point out: Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Turkey (and Cyprus and Israel) who all took part in this semi (thank god the semifinals were supposed to put an end to that) all made it to the big finale for Saturday night. While Ukraine made it but not Lithuania and all of the Balkans were left out (only Serbia, Bosnia and Albania made it but in the first semi). Romania made it but not Bulgaria. In the West, Netherlands, Switzerland are out while Ireland is in. In the North, Sweden is out and Denmark is in. So the saying that Eastern Europe is most likely to do well seems to verify this year (for once) but that would be ignoring that Portugal, Belgium and Ireland are “finally” in after many years of doing poorly.
Let’s also point out that big performances seem to have been the key for Azerbaijan, Georgia… but some simpler performances like Ukraine or Israel made it while Lithuania did not. Belgium and Ukraine do deserve some big hands for being the two countries with only one singer on stage, like France and Malta last year.
Now for my ranking. Well to be honest, I am much less affected by the results. I had only an interest for two songs, who both managed to remain very high in my list and the rest I let myself being surprised by the live performances. In the end I have 8/10 of the ones I would have in the final (for only 7/10 in the first semi) but none in my top 5 of the semi. The qualifiers are also 11th and 13th in my list so it’s much less of a shock.
1. Israel (qualified) 8,9/10
Without a doubt, the night’s biggest entry is a decent follower for Israel’s two latest esc entries which were both very good. Choosing internally their singer seems to be the right key for Israel’s national final, the Kdam that only serves the purpose to chose then the song. But it barely does, since there a jury has more importance (and by far) than televote, the winning song was never a surprise and also never the rightful one. Nevertheless, Harel Skaat is definitely the cutest guy of the night and with a great voice though he seemed to struggle for the bridge part. With a simple performance, a simple suit and everything else, it is a strong contender for the top 5, especially since he took the 24th place in the draw, after Lena who is the only strong contender from the end w(with maybe Romania).
2. Turkey (qualified) 8,8/10
One of my favorite songs of the year in audio did make a huge live. The thing is, it might be too huge. The lights were amazing because having the ones of the back all shut and leaving his face in some haunting fake shadow. The smoke, the weird robot figure ending up a woman (answering the mystical title “We could be the same” in a very interesting manners : robot/human or man/woman ?) Being the only one in the rock genre it will be likely to win many votes (since if you like a ballad you have many songs to go for, same for pop, same for schlager..) and with the Turkish diaspora plus most likely some jury support, this is one song that I can’t see out of the top 5. And that would be a good thing too
3. Ukraine (qualified) 6,3/10
Now we turn to the songs that I let myself being surprised by and this one is the biggest jump in my list. One of the best performances of the night (so hard to be all by yourself and not be boring or anything) and this was just right in everything, even the look was the most modern one (unlike some very old fashioned dresses again (Azerbaijan) or some weird styles (Switzerland)). The pronunciation was the only flaw for a song which fails to be any strong while her voice is excellent. Alyosha deserves a better strong but for Ukraine this is a huge difference to the horror we had last year.
4. Romania (qualified) 5,7/10
Another good surprise, even if I admit starting liking it before the performance. It was a very strong performance : I very much like the huge performances for upbeat song while singers do not move on stage. Paula was amazing looking and the song was delivered with the power it deserved. Not such a bad song after all even if I do hope we’ll get Catalin on the esc stage.
5. Cyprus (qualified) 4,8/10
Another one I started liking just this week before the contest : when it came up in my mp3 I would not push it off like I do many other songs. A strong voice, a very simple performance with a guitar he actually does play (not like Sweden, erm erm) and a simple but pleasant entry. I can’t see why it wouldn’t be in the final but with only one song to Tom Dice in the same style, Cyprus might very well be killed by Belgium, unless he manages to steal a few points and prevent Belgium from winning. We shall see but it does not have the same instant attraction than “Me and my guitar”.
6. Denmark (qualified) 4,7/10
Not a big surprise to see this doing not so badly in my list : Chanee is a strong singer while N’Evergreen who can’t sing a single note is filled with a lot of charisma (and is actually quite a hottie) with great looks and a very nice performance, in the very eurovisiony style, could not leave me without a lot of frustration but I do recognize its quality. The fact that when it came to the last envelope it was between Sweden and Denmark should have given us a clue it was going to be the smaller esc country, Denmark. Why? Because as I said for the first semi, the juries love the eurovision entries (they saved Charlotte in 2008) and they would prefer this to Sweden. Moreover, the international juries did not like Anna in the Melodifestivalen finale (France even gave her 0). So Denmark it was, even if both songs are actually to the same level to me.
7. Sweden (did not qualify) 4,7/10
Now why did no one see it coming? Mostly because of the song itself. It was cute, pretty well sung, very simple, not too eurovision-esque but not too alternative (like Estonia) so in the end, a perfect match for Eurovision. Add to that Anna’s cuteness and we all sure it was a package going straight to the final. What went wrong? Not much but the guitar was not played, the little fairy girl dress with the converse red shoes did not work. In the Melodifestivalen the Swedes completely went against their juries and the international juries who all defended Salem extremely different entry (and masterpiece) “Keep on walking” now they have to live with it. What if the 3rd of that final, Eric Saade”s “Manboy” would have gone? With his sexy look, the huge performance and of course the Frederik Kempe’s writings (who wrote Charlotte and Malena’s songs), it would have been in the finale. Maybe it will help Swedes rethink their esc entries. This song would not have added much to the esc finale after all and it was one of the pre contest favorite leaving more room for the other ones.
8. Ireland (qualified) 4,6/10
I still do not like the song and actually I think her performance was only barely ok. The light work is fine, the backings were great, but her dress was awful and definitely old fashioned (just like the ballad after all), the pipe was extra cheesy and definitely too much, and making her this tall was rather freaky. But she did the job. Vocally the best of the night, what else could she have done for such a song that delivers itself just fine? No, her only chance to catch the top 10 is to please the juries as televote will definitely overlook her for more modern ballads (Belgium, Israel and Ukraine). She made it to the finale, that’s already big for Ireland. Let’s not ask for more miracles.
9. Georgia (qualified) 4,2/10
This is the one I like best in all the Caucasian woman modern power ballads (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia). Why? Well it can’t be look since all women were nice in their own ways. It can’t be live, they all really made big messy lives. It barely can be songs since they almost all sound the same. So I won’t have much things to make a reasonable comment except this one came the best of the three tonight and it seems like the only one I would have saved for the night, and it’s most likely to be the only one missing out the top 10 in the finale.
10. Switzerland (did not qualify) 3,9/10
Well it’s hard to chose the last finalist since I don’t like them all much but I don’t hate them either. I decided to save the Swiss entry because it was in French and it was not the typical power ballad. It was definitely different than everything else and even if he doesn’t sing that well he did not pretend doing so and that was pleasing. With a fine performance (but it could have been so much stronger) and great backings, this came out nice and we all knew it would not have gone through. So I do feel like saving it.
