Who Will Win Eurovision 2012?

Tonight sometime after 11pm a years worth a speculation, of wonder and projections will all be shown to be either true or untrue. Will 2012 be another 2009? Or maybe a shocking 2000? Well there still is time for a lot more predicting today. So lets look at how the field is shaping up:

Hypothesis 1 - Most Likely

UK - Engelbert didn't have his greatest performance since he arrived in the jury final and I think that this is falling by the wayside at great speeds. Being the first of five slow songs won't help either. Despite earlier predictions of beating Blue, I suspect that this could end up lower than the UK expected. Prediction: 16th-20th


Hungary - This is a song that I really feel is not up to the required standard of the final. I think this will most likely come last but it might do a little better due to a lack of rock in this years final. Prediction: 21st-26th


Albania - Despite what many might say about this song it has a lot of fans out there and is getting quite a lot of views on YouTube. I think this is going to do a lot better than people expect. However the draw will hold it back but I suspect this will be in the jury top 5 and do well on the public televote. Prediction: 6th-10th


Lithuania - I am happy to see Lithuania in the final, however I do suspect that it got there as the 10th qualifier. I think this is just one of those songs that won't standout on the final night. Prediction: 21st-26th


Bosnia & Herzegovina - This is another song which I think shouldn't have made the final as it is really dull. The other Balkan songs will hoover up the votes so I think that this is going to go nowhere and is another potential last place song. Prediction: 21st-26th


Russia - Russia really have a great piece of entertainment in this entry. I suspect though that they will find it difficult to bring this song over the line when the points come in. I think that while there will be some jury support for this I can't really see it making the dizzying heights of the Top 5. However it is sandwiched between a large number of ballads which helps to make it stand out. Prediction: 6th-10th


Iceland - Despite this being a fan favourite and the fact that I do like it as a song, I think this was the one that was saved by the juries from the first semi-final. It is a strong song, and could score reasonably well with juries. However I think that this just isn't going to get enough public televotes. Prediction: 16th-20th


Cyprus - I was impressed with this song in the first semi-final but given the draw and the opposition it is going to come under a lot of pressure. Ivi didn't have the best jury show [vocally] and I think that this will lose out in a high quality show. Prediction: 21st-26th

France - This was another one which could have gone either way. However I think that this song is just to inaccessible to get in one listen and that in the jury final where Auggun would have needed a lot more votes from she didn't sing well enough. Parts of the song were pretty off-key. Overall I can't see this having a huge impact. Prediction: 21st-26th


Italy - Once again Italy and France are beside each other in the final. But this year I think it is very safe to say that Italy will outscore France. Out of Love is a really great song and deserves recognition. I don't believe that this has the oomph to get it over the line but it does have the strength to score well with juries. Nina has given a very consistent performance since she arrived in Baku, there's no reason to suspect that she won't tonight. I think it is a possible winner but an unlikely one. Prediction: 1st-5th


Estonia - I think this is one that is going to do better than expected. I think juries will like this song over other vocally good songs and I think it won't do awfully on the televote. It's not going to win by any stench of the imagination though. Predictions: 16th-20th


Norway - This is a song that I suspected might do well if it got a strong draw. It didn't but it still could do reasonably well for Norway. Tooji didn't give the best performance last night but it wasn't to bad. I think this might come around 10th with the public but about 15th with juries. Prediction: 11th-15th


Azerbaijan - Azerbaijan have definitely sent the typically host country bland song. However it is the host country and it is Azerbaijan who have a short but good track record. There's something in this song for both  juries and public. Prediction: 6th-10th


Romania - If it wasn't for their 2010 entry I'd say this was going to do really well for Romania. This didn't go perfectly in the jury final but it still will score well. This song has a track record so it will do pretty well. Prediction: 11th-15th


Denmark - Despite this being a favourite of mine I think this is not going to do very well. It is a bit of a neutral entry but has some potential. Prediction: 16th-20th


Greece - Tonight is going to be a real test of the strength of the Greek vote. There will be a good number of diaspora votes but I still think this won't get the jury support that it needs. This might well be the first Greek song out of the top 10, but then again di dn't we all say that last year? Prediction: 11th-15th


Sweden - Despite one small mistake in the jury final I think that this is the one to beat. I think that the extra votes that it got at Melodifestivalen, the fact it has been a success in Norway, Finland and Greece shows that it is neither just a fan favourite nor a piece of Swedish music that will only score well in Scandinavia. However if this doesn't win it could come further down the scoreboard. Prediction: 1st-5th


Turkey - After shockingly missing the final last year Turkey are back in a big way, I think that while some think that this is a poor enough song I actually think that it is fairly strong [I still don't like it]. This also works really well on stage. Turkey and Azerbaijan are both very able to score well when both have strong songs and I think that this year will be no different. Prediction: 2nd-5th


Spain - I'm not Spanish but unlike most people I think that this is a really, really good song and the vocal performance is simply jaw dropping. I think this could win the jury vote [marginally] but I think while it is a contender to do that anything is possible tonight so I think it might not do all that well as I'm unsure what the public will make of it. Prediction: 6th-10th


Germany - I think that Germany have come up with a song that might do better if it was only the northwest of Europe voting. I also wonder if Germany is going to be able to override their political image tonight. I know they did this in 2010 but I'm not convinced that they can do so tonight. Juries might well give this a couple of extra points  but I don't see it as the dark horse that everyone else seems to. Prediction: 6th-10th


Malta - Malta were a surprise qualifier in my books but now they have a great draw which might help them, especially when they are surrounded by ballads. I suspect though that this scrapped into te final and I think they should be happy with that. However it is a strong song, compared to those around it so it might get a few more votes. Prediction: 11th-15th


FYR Macedonia - Macedonia have quite a strong song relative to the position in the draw. Kaliopi is one of the more well-known Balkan singers and should score well across the region. She has excellent vocals and is another potential jury winner. But I suspect that the song may not have huge appeal outside of the Balkans. Prediction: 11th-15th


Ireland - I can only say that I'm really proud of Jedward and feel that they are great ambassadors for Ireland. I wish them the best of luck tonight. This was good in the jury final and they have scored well with juries before. The big question is can they overcome Eastern Europe? Last year nearly all the points they got came from Western Europe so if they can't they'll most likely not score as well. But I suspect that they may break Eastern Europe and do pretty well. Prediction: 1st-5th


Serbia - Despite this being third favourite I'm not convinced that this song is fresh enough to be a winner. If Lane Moje could not do it in 2004, when Balkan Ballads were popular I find it difficult to believe that a less exciting copy of the song can beat it in 2012. Having FYR Macedonia doesn't help Zeljko's chances either. Prediction: 1st-5th

Ukraine - Ukraine did well in the draw, drawing the well regarded second last slot. Ukraine have a very strong singer with a not-so-strong song. It will pick up a couple of undecided votes in the coming so late. Prediction: 6th-10th


Moldova - This is a song I feel will be lost at the end. After a rake of strong songs this almost pales in comparision. Pasha is a great performer and singer but there is little in this to really bring in a lot of votes. Prediction: 16th-20th


So it's time to get off of the fence. I think that the Top 5 will look like this:

1. Sweden

2. Italy

3. Turkey

4. Ireland

5. Serbia

That's really all that can be said. I wish everyone good luck tonight. It's in the hands of the juries and the public now. May the best song win.

What A Week!

So as the technical rehearsals draw to a close we now have had a really fun week so I'm going to use this post to look back on that as well as to tell you my top 10 for semi-final 1 and to look to the week ahead.

Rehearsals Week 2012
Sunday (last week) saw the beginning of the rehearsals with the first half of semi-final 1 starting. The big winners here were Iceland and Romania who both went from being likely to definite qualifiers. Belgium also perked themselves up as possible qualifiers. There was one car crash which was Greece who raised a couple of eyebrows with their performance, particularly vocals.

Monday saw people actually consider that there was a mild chance that San Marino could qualify. Denmark and Russia both gave us performances that leads me to believe either could win the first semi-final. Moldova seems to have come across well on stage and Pasha showed us he had some vocals. Ireland managed to underwhelm everyone but everyone still thinks that it is sailing through to the final. Austria was Monday's car crash.

Tuesday saw the rise of Macedonia and the fall of Bulgaria but was by far the dullest day we had.

Wednesday was Sweden's day as their march to victory began. Loreen certainly has her critic's though and there is certainly an anti-Sweden vibe coming through from Baku. It's in many blogs but it seems especially prevalent in the press reports from Baku. Other highlights included Norway's off key rehearsal [well if your like me and don't like Tooji]. Bosina & Herzegovina also fell in many peoples expectations.

Thursday and Friday saw second rehearsals begin. Austria and b redeemed themselves a little, and Ireland got the fountain working. Russia proved that everyone still loves the Grannies and Greece showed they can make marginal improvements to a vocal performance.

Saturday and Sunday saw Sweden take to the stage and finally nail the performance [depending on whether you think she mumbles the song or not]. Norway also managed to get the vocal performance back together. The Big 5 and Azerbaijan also showed us that they are able to take the lead at Eurovision. Italy showed they might not have cared about Eurovision but that they can still do there best to try to win it. Italy now in moved as a strong favourite, probably second to Loreen. Germany showed that Stefan Raab can still produce a good entry and Germany has exceeded expectations to become one of the potential winners of the contest. The UK left us all a bit worried after the first rehearsal but we all calmed down a bit after the second rehearsal. Clearly Engelbert can pull this off live.

My Top 10 [Semi-Final 1]
So that was rehearsal week, but how do the songs stand now? Well I will publish my thoughts on the semi-final 1 qualifiers on Monday Night/Tuesday Morning after I get reports for the dress rehearsals and more importantly the jury final. But for now my Top 10 favourites [and my votes are]:

• 12 points - Denmark
• 10 points - Iceland 
• 8 points - Finland
• 7 points - Austria
• 6 points - Romania 
• 5 points - Russia
• 4 points - Belgium
• 3 points - Albania 
• 2 points - San Marino 
• 1 point - Greece

So that's my Top 10 I expect some of you might disagree with it but unfortunately you cannot change my music tastes.

Tomorrow

Though the will be no live shows tomorrow, it is an important day. At 3pm CET the first full run through of the dress rehearsal will begin and, more importantly, at 9pm CET tomorrow evening the jury final will take place. I will have a blog post assessing what happened in that. See you all tomorrow.

Reaction To Rehearsals: Day 8

So today might be the last day of rehearsals but that doesn't mean there are a lots of second rehearsals to get through today.

Estonia - Ott had a great rehearsal today but he is playing around with the notes in the song a lot which might be a little risky. I haven't seen this on the screen but it does look very static on stage, unless camera work is really good this could be a bit dull looking on stage.

Slovakia - Some corrections were made which is a relief. I'm not sure if this is a qualifier but I'd say it still has a chance.

Norway - Vocally this is back on track. He is using a backing singer to get him over the harder notes though, which is something that don't agree with. Tooji is really going to have to make sure he doesn't over perform this.

Bosnia & Herzegovina - This does remind me of Eurovision entries of old. I hate the dress though and I'm not hearing anything overly positive from Baku though.

Lithuania - This song is growing on me (well the last 90 seconds anyway).  This was a good rehearsal but the blindfold really must be dropped.

UK - There have been some very good changes in aspects of the performance but most importantly this was vocally good today. This is looking like a strong entry from the UK.

France - This still looks messy today but it is vocally good again which is a massive concern dealt with.

Italy - This was done as a full dress rehearsal and all is looking perfect on stage, there are very few faults in this entry.

Azerbaijan - All very similar to yesterday's performance but they are deliberately trying to lose this by throwing in the wailing man in the middle. Bit dull but anyhow.

Spain - This is as good as yesterdays performance, which was excellent. In spite of people claiming there is no major connection I think that this is the best vocal at Eurovision.

Germany - After Germany's great rehearsal yesterday all that they would need to be able to do, they held their own today and I think that they should be pretty pleased to be able to do that.

So that's all the technical rehearsals done for 2012. Tomorrow evening dress rehearsals kick off in Baku, with the jury final later that night. I'll put up a post later tonight looking back on this week.

  

Rehearsals: Day 6: Friday: Second Rehearsals

Once again we are cutting through songs at speed today so we'll keep this fairly brief. Today we have the second part of semi-final one and the songs from semi-final two that we heard on Tuesday.

Russia - Nothing huge has changed, but I've heard that they brought meat pies for the press today. Apparently one of the grannies was off key but all in all this is doing well. People (the press) really seem to love this.

Hungary - It hasn't changed much since the first rehearsal. It seems a little messy on stage but all in all this is shaping up to be a little mediocre.

Austria - After a very disappointing rehearsal on Monday, this is shaping up to be a great performance on account of today's rehearsal. According to those in Baku the camera work has greatly improved. As I have previously mentioned this really needs to be live with a crowd to make it stand out.

Moldova - This was a stand out entry in the first rehearsals and today they seem to have been able to hold that high standard. This is probably going to qualify but being sandwiched between the Trackshittaz and Jedward won't make that easy.

Ireland - Vocally today saw an improvement and more importantly the fountain is now going up to the full height. People are talking about Jedward jumping into it and I think that is definitely going to be the case, if you look at the rehearsal video Jedward's dancing does seem to get very disjointed towards the end. i.e. something is going to happen here and they're just filling in these spots with some dancing until they do it live.

Serbia - Somewhat better than the first rehearsal. No big changes to report though.

Macedonia - this song is dividing people but the performance is good enough to unite them again. This is an on the fence qualifier but today the performance was as good as ever.

Netherlands - This is a very joyful entry and has improved a lot since the first rehearsal, this is going to be a contender to qualify. The blue dress is not the most suitable particularly when she is wear the American Indian headdress.

Malta - Everything seems to be working well on stage but despite what the Eurovision press are saying I don't think of this as a qualifier. Once again the shadows in a background are really effective and should draw a few extra people into the performance.

Belarus - Belarus have got this performance down to a fine art and everything is now working well. The movements of the guitarists is really interesting and looks pretty cool even on the rehearsal tapes.

Portugal - This has really improved since the last rehearsal but it could still struggle to qualify. The dress that Filipa wore today might not be her one for the semi-final [I'd go back to the red one from the national final].

Ukraine - Since the first rehearsal Ukraine have done their best to change the performance and it does look a lot less messy. The dancers are being used less and I believe that the whole think looks well on stage, maybe with the exception of the way they use the four screens at the end.

Bulgaria - This has been a bit disappointing since the start. Without a doubt Sofia is going to be vocally very strong. But still this is all that is working in this entry. The backdrop is more likely to cause epileptic fits than votes at this stage.

Second Rehearsals!: Day 5

Nothing massive has occurred today so I'm just going to wrap this up quickly. Rehearsal Videos can be found anywhere on YouTube or here.

• Montenegro: No major changes to report here. This setting itself up to be one of the stangest entries that we've ever seen on the stage. Unless Bjorn Ranelid.
• Iceland: There are some reports that Iceland were a little off key today but I reckon they will be back on form by Monday. They are after all very strong and consistent performers.
• Greece: Reports would suggest that this has made some marginal improvements. However overall it is still looking like an unlikely qualifier but I cannot rule Greece out of the final
• Latvia: All is working really well on stage but the dress is dire. No seriously, worse than that. Looks like something that would seem out of fashion in the 1970's
• Albania: Truly great song and performance. I'm looking forward to this more and more. I think this should qualify on a strong jury vote. Simple really is the aim of the game here and after Latvia this just works so well. 
• Romania: Like Iceland and Albania this is one of the stand out songs in this semi-final. You cannot really fault this song on anything and it is really starting to grow on me. I just wish she'd bring back the outfit from the national final.
• Switzerland: It's working really well on stage, but still not a qualifier in my books but I can't fully rule it out. 
• Belgium: Say what you want about this entry, it really is vocally strong. I think this is a dark horse for qualification.
• Finland: It definately now looks we are going with the green dress which I don't like personally but then again my mother makes out I have no sense of fashion. This is finally working for me but at this point in time it looks like it could get lost in a sea of more memorable songs. This song always makes me smile though.
• Israel: A little more movement would be welcome but overall this is looking well but its still a borderline qualifier.
• San Marino: OMG where did she get the outfit. (Awful...just awful). The run through looks good. The question is now can a Raphel Sigel song make the final. Sadly, I think not.
• Cyprus: Vocally this is a bit of concern but even though it seemed a little flat I think overall this is starting to add up to a nice little package. I still don't see this qualifying though. 
• Denmark: Well Denmark is Denmark, I'm think that this could very well in this semi, but that may be me being biased towards my favourite song. But still this is well worth watching and should surprise people on the night.

Rehearsals: Day 4: Part 1

Today is the last major day of first rehearsals - tomorrow it moves over to seconds rehearsals which are usually don't tell us all that much extra, but anyhow today there are 10 songs taking to the stage, so we have to keep moving forward. First up was Slovenia

Slovenia - Rehearsal Video
Slovenia are definitely a strong contender but looking at this today all I can think of is Croatia and Feminmen who were considered a shoe in to the final. One stage the white is looking very effective, and the general tone of the song is coming across well. Apparently they are trying out a lot of different backgrounds in today's rehearsal. There are Molitva comparisons going on but I think that that might be overrating the song.

Croatia - Rehearsal Video
Croatia are very unfortunately just after Slovenia, the song is rather like Slovenia's but it does lack something. The performance is certainly interesting to watch, given all of the dancing with lots of moody lighting in the background. This is unfortunately not as accessible as Slovenia and could struggle. I'm also hoping that she intends to change her dress and that that one will not be worn at live show.

Sweden - Rehearsal Video
Sweden have been the most anticipated rehearsal. I didn't review Sweden but along with Denmark, Iceland and Italy it is among my favourites. The performance has not changed hugely since the national final but at the end the background does light up with snow. In the rehearsal video that I saw the was no actually snow falling but they do run that prop sometimes. Overall I think that this was an extremely solid rehearsal and this probably is the start of Sweden's march to victory. There has been a general movement against Sweden in the press center and this is very noteworthy as these factors do influence media a lot. Sometimes it is good to be here is Dublin away from all that.

Georgia - Rehearsal Video 
As I have previously discussed I feel that this is one of the weakest songs in this years contest. No doubt though that the performance will be able to lift it a little and today showed that Anri is a very strong performer.  There are a lot of props involved in this entry. There is also the addition of backing singers also helps this entry. The overall presentation is a bit camp and I am really unconvinced on this as a qualifier. Apparently he has a drum and some pyros as well.

Turkey - Rehearsal Video
This is going to go down a storm in Baku, obviously because of the close links between Azerbaijan and Turkey. For Can this really will help to get him to stand out just a little more. Can has decided to keep this performance in line with the ship theme. However the backdrop starts with a sea and lighthouse but then develops into something different which might just be a boring, personally I'd keep the lighthouse all the way through. Vocally this was fine, with no major hiccups, so at the moment it should bring Turkey back into the final after last year. Strangely this reminds me of a Greek entry more than a Turkish one but I don't know why that is.

Estonia - Rehearsal Video
Estonia have a very divisive entry, I think that it is a possible qualifier though. I think that based on today's rehearsal this is a real contender, vocally it was spot on and the backing singer really helps the song. The intense colour really adds to the song. This is not a definite qualifier in my books but it is getting  very close.

Slovakia - Rehearsal Video
I do like this entry but the performance is doing nothing for it. In short: Soften the band image, improve the harsh vocals [i.e. with Lemsip], lose the sunglasses and lose the hat. More eye contact with the camera is required. The song does seem to end very suddenly though which is a little concerning. Eldrine slipped into the final last year and ended up 9th which was a big surprise so there clearly is a market for this out there and these people do actually watch Eurovision.


Norway - Rehearsal Video
Eric Saade Mark II I mean em, Tooji, stepped up for rehearsals today. Visually and in terms of dance moves this is excellent and a very strong visual close to the end. Vocally though it is quite off the mark. I will be waiting for the second rehearsal before I cast aspirations over how this will do. I expect it to qualify but not with ease. Many are suggesting that this could be the surprise non-qualifier of this semi-final but I suspect that the combination of a great draw and the dance show will mean it will go down a storm with the female televoters.

Bosnia + Herzegovina - Rehearsal Video
As expected Maya Saar has delivered a fairly understated performance of her song. The most outstanding thing about this song is the very strange choice of backdrop. Looking at the large number of steady cams on stage this will definitely be an up close and personal performance. Vocally this was good, but that doesn't take from the dull song. While some in the press center are suggesting that this might be the first non-qualifier from Bosnia + Herzegovina. I'm unconvinced, I think it is going through but I'm very hesitant to say that. I'll wait and see what further rehearsals bring.

Lithuania - Rehearsal Video
As usual I cannot understand the logic behind using a blindfold. The performance starts similarly to the one in the national final. Vocally this was spot on, but I still am unconvinced by the song. I think the last 90 seconds work really well on stage. The last 90 seconds backdrop is really interesting, again with the dancing figures in the back ground. This would normally be a non-qualifier but coming at the end of a fairly dull [for the non-Eurovision public] semi-final this might slip through.

Rehearsals: Day 1: Part 1 Montenegro-Greece

Rehearsals today are running about an hour and a half late, and based on previous ESC's this is unlikely to change. As I am not actually in Baku I will be blogging here as videos and opinions come through. I will be updating this page as the day goes on. I don't embed videos onto the blog as I find it slows it down but if you click on the link you should get a video of the rehearsal. I'll try to use eurovision.tv videos but they take a while to appear so you may notice some videos from escXtra who look to be shaping up to have the best coverage so far this year.

Montenegro - Video of rehearsal
No one really knew what to expect from Montenegro as it was never on live TV. This is one of the few songs where vocals really don't matter. I would say though that the overall staging of the song looks very messy and this seems to be the general view.No expects this to qualify and that is my view also but there is a little voice in my head asking me if I'm right in saying that.

Iceland - Video of rehearsal
I had forgotten just how amazing the Icelandic entry was. The rehearsal was really strong and seems to have cleared up any doubts about the song. It is just a pleasure to listen to it live. The back drop is Icelandic mountains which really impressive and keeps in tune with the Icelandicness of it all. The backing singers really lift this and it all looks like the usually excellently produced Icelandic entry. Most people seem to be identifying  this as a definite qualifier.

Greece - Video of rehearsal
Well at least it's not in a shopping center. When I first saw the video of the rehearsal I have to say that I though it now fits so much into the standard Greek entry. Yes this does remind me a lot of other Greek entries. But it still lacks anything tangible that will push it on. In my opinion My Number One would not do very well in this day and age. Lead vocals are fairly poor. This was a problem which I had flagged earlier but the general consensus is that Greece needs more backing singers. But then again remember the shock we all got when we saw Greece won last years semi-final?

Latvia's rehearsal is running a bit later than expected and I have to pop out for a while. More reaction later this afternoon.

Sorry? Engelbert Humperdinck You're joking!. Oh your not...

It's finally official: BBC has lost their minds. Send Engelbert Humperdinck to Eurovision.

Time has come to give a reaction. I never have spent an hour after an announcement think about this one. This is a most strange move by the BBC and will divide people. Personally I think that it that he is a little to old for the contest. I'm not saying that in the sense of his age it's more his music style that is old. At the grand old age of 75 he will be one of the oldest performers ever on the Eurovision stage. While he may have the world's greatest songwriters behind [no seriously, they actually could be the world's greatest], he will come across as just a little has been.

I accept the arguements of both sides of the debate. I'm quite a fan of the old music myself. I think the Engelbert [full name to long to write] is quite a distinguished name from that era. However I am unsure that despite the great era of music it may not be fit for the Eurovision stage. I also am unsure whether or not juries will perceive him as being a little to yesterday or not. It is perfectly possible that they would not. But if they did it would really kill the UK. My guess on the whole issue is that BBC picked someone who the tabloids might actually treat humanely thus raising the basic public perception of Eurovision.

I have noted the many comments on Twitter in regards to his selection my favorite coming from Danny Lynch:  "If this was my laptop I'd probably have smashed it against the wall in sheer annoyance". However after the intitial shock most fans are now giving more logical reactions and less emotive reactions like Ian Howell who pointed out that "My objection is that he doesn't represent a popular strand of British music. No top 20 hit in UK in 40 years"  On a macro level I am noticing that the very young generation of ESC fans [i.e. 20 or less] are tending to be disgusted with the news. The mid range [20-30] seem to vary and older than 30 seem to support him. Of course this is just a rough outline and there are many in different categories.
Finally I accept the argument that people over 30 watch Eurovision [like my parents and grandparents]. I just believe that they don't vote very much compared to younger demographic groups. However over-30's won't be enough. Judging reactions I think that you would need to be over 67 to really like him.

As a Commerce [fancy word for Business Studies] student I would really love to know the long term BBC Eurovision strategy is and what they have identified as the core points of competition between entries to justify such a decision.

But anyway we leave the last word to Eddie Izzard [thanks to the EscInsider for reminding me of this one.]

Sweden Finally Gets It Right: Semi-Final Reaction

Because of the rather huge number of shows tonight my reactions are divided into two pieces one for the semi-finals [this one] and one for the ones selecting their ESC song [later].

Sweden: This evenings semi-final in Leksand finally brought me some happiness with the result. Over the last two weeks I had become concerned about the general way the final of  Melodifestivalen was shaping up. This week looked set to be another disappointing one until BANG out came Molly Sandén, looking very sexy and with a vocal performance to match. Her vocals were far more emotional and on key then the earlier clips and rehearsals would suggest. I was also extremely impressed to see them send Bjorn Ranelid and Sara Li to the final. It is an excellent song even if 99% of Eurovision fans dislike it. They also smartly sent Youngblood and Andreas Johnsson to Andra Chansen. Andra Chansen is shaping up to be a very tough contest.

Estonia: It would seem that Estonia have sent August Hunt, Loss Paranoias, Ott Lepland, Liis Lemsalu, POP Maniacs to the final. This does not appear to have gone down well with Eurovision fans, but because I did not watch the show I have no opinion but given my reviews I actually think this was a broadly good result.


Lithuania: Something happened in Lithuania you can read about it here: http://escxtra.com/2012/02/impressions-from-the-3rd-semifinal/

So that was the semi-finals.