Tonight: Semi-Final 1 (Preview)

The day has finally dawned and Eurovision 2013 is upon us. Today the speculation and hypothetical what ifs end. It's time for business to begin, the results are now indeed very real. So whats to look forward to? Who are my favourites and who's going to qualify? Let's take it from the top.

Austria

Austria opens this years contest with what is a reasonable song that could do with a somewhat better performance. The song has a good studio version that just cannot be picked up live. This probably is not a qualifier given Natalia's performances but still it should be a respectable opener to the show

My Grade: 5/10

Qualifier? No

Estonia

There are many fans out there for whom this Estonian entry is the one that bet Winne-Pooh. For me this is a dull not outstanding song that has its merits but it is completely lost in the overall scale of the contest, despite a fair draw this probably will end up a near qualifier. This though is very well performed.

My Grade: 5/10

Qualifier? No

Slovenia

Though this song is the first truly up-tempo number that the audience will hear there have been many concerns raised about the vocal abilities behind this song and given that these came through in the jury performance this song now seems dead in the water. However I would still maintain that Hanna has a really great song and I enjoy listening to the studio version of this.

My Grade: 6/10

Qualifier? No

Croatia

Underrated by fans and bookies alike going into this semi-final Croatia looks not just sure of itself but probably the best Balkan song in this years contest. Personally I think this is a great entry and even some of the critics of this song will sure agree that the harmonies are just wonderful. However before rehearsals started I had concerns that this song may struggle in the final as it just does not appear to go anywhere in the song. Though this Klapa entry will surely impress juries, in fact I think it may win the jury vote tonight.

My Grade: 7/10

Qualifier? Yes

Denmark

In my humble opinion this is the best song in this years contest. Everything about it just appeals to me. As a Eurovision fan this song leaves me in the unusual place where I think that though this is my favourite it may not be the best choice for the contest in the long run. Having said that this will sail into the final tonight.

My Grade: 10/10

Qualifier? Yes

Russia

Another song that has it's place booked in the final, but for all the wrong reasons. I see this entry as one which is manufactured and unoriginal. It will do well this year and could possibly win this semi-final, it still is a nice song but I just wish it was stronger.

My Grade: 6/10

Qualifier? Yes

Netherlands

This is another song that I really hope qualifies just to prove to the Dutch that they can do well at the contest. This song as its faults but overall it makes a nice package that should impress on the night.

My Grade: 8/10

Qualifier? Yes

Montenegro

No, just no. I really don't like this song and could think of many others that would have been better choices than a Dubstep entry. I don't get this but given what some influencial people think I'm inclined to see it as a qualifier.

My Grade: 4/10

Qualifier? No

Lithuania 

I like this song to an extent but this is just not one that will appeal to the mass audience and will probably not qualify.

My Grade: 5/10

Qualifier? No

Belarus

It really is a shame that Belarus changed their song and I do not agree with the opinions that if this song was from Turkey we would all be saying that it was a sure qualifier. Given the reports I have heard from Malmo over the last few days I think this would be an unlikely qualifier, but given that we will only be losing six songs this is possible.

My Grade: 5/10

Qualifier? Yes

Moldova

This is an Eastern European song sung in Romania that will appeal to many people. I see this as a likely qualifier though I think it is a dull song.

My Grade: 6/10

Qualifier? Yes

Ireland

At this point those of you who have followed the blog with me should know that I am not over keen on this Irish entry, in particular I do not think much of the performance. Having said that I am always very pleased to hear the rather positive feedback and given the late draw and the lack of anything really challenging after it, Ireland should have a positive outlook.

My Grade: 5/10

Qualifier? Yes

Cyprus

No it's not going to qualify, there is much more entertaining songs in this semi-final and more importantly there are better songs that will soak up the jury votes. Not a qualifier in my book though I have enjoyed the song on occasion. 

My Grade: 5/10

Qualifier? Yes

Belgium

Some people argue this is looking more and more sure of a qualification, I’m starting to agree with them, though this is only due to the running order position of the song. If this was any earlier in the draw I would have written this off. It’s by no means my favourite song this year but I don’t hate it in spite of only hearing it for the first time on the national final.

My Grade: 5/10

Qualifier? No

Serbia

I love the Serbian entry this year either as a studio version or as a live performance. This is a sure qualifier given the number of neighbours they have in this semi-final and the song is quite a nice one. How they do on the final night will largely depend on the running position it gets.

My Grade: 8/10

Qualifier? Yes

So my 12 points are as follows:

12 - Denmark

10 - Ukraine

8 - Netherlands

7- Serbia

6 - Croatia

5 - Slovenia

4 - Moldova

3 - Russia

2 - Austria

1 - Cyprus

But my prediction as to who will qualify is:

Croatia

Cyprus

Netherlands

Denmark

Ukraine

Russia

Moldova

Serbia

Belarus

Ireland

But of course I will be wrong but I do hope you enjoy the show.

Day 1: Rehearsals As Observed In Dublin

Eurovision 2013 really took it up a gear as rehearsals kicked off in Malmo today. So what did we learn today?

The Stage Looks Amazing
I'm really pleased with the overall stage. I was afraid it would be a bit too much like the 2010 stage when SVT were making some many budget cutbacks.

Semi-Final 1 has a dull start
Despite the EBU's shouting about the importance of not using a random order for the draw SF1 still will have a fairly dull opening of Austria, Estonia, Slovenia and Croatia will only have Slovenia to liven the mood.

There was no major surprises today
This nearly was the biggest surprise of all. It is early days yet, though some surprises may come nothing about any of the songs. Austria and Croatia remain borderline qualifiers though I think that Croatia are still an amazing song. Slovenia was the only country with any real vocal problems though given that this is only the first rehearsal there's a lot of time to iron out problems.

Denmark, Ukraine and Russia all remain some of the strongest songs in the competition and all could conceivably win the contest overall, though I remain unconvinced that Russia will be able to do this, given the votes in that block that will go to Ukraine which has a far more original song.

Of course tomorrow I will be very much looking forward to the Irish rehearsal and will be giving some reaction to it tomorrow.

Dull, Medicore and Plain

Croatia perhaps has not had an outstanding Eurovision record over the last 3 or 4 years, and let's be honest they haven't ever seemed to try very hard. But the varied selection processes that they have engaged in suggests that they might actually want to do well.

Croatia surprisingly decided to run with internal selection process and selected Nina Badric and her song Nebo. This was a straight-forward choice for Croatia. It is a balkan ballad. However my problem with this is that it is as plain as plain could be. This is far from what you want in order to attract votes from outside of the Balkan region. This song really does not go anywhere.

I think that in a semi-final full of balkan ballads this is going to struggle to stand out and be heard the only advantage it has is the fact that it is on immediately after Slovenia. This means that people interested in the Slovenian entry might be awake enough to hear this.

Verdict: There is very little to said about this entry, and I think that it is one of the lesser entries in this years contest. The standard for Balkan entries this year is very high and I cannot see this as a standout song. There will be those who disagree but this is regularly skipped when it comes up on my MP3 player [No I don't have an IPod - deal with it].

Grade: D+

I could not help but wonder whether or not Nina is continuing her sex ban. Either way I doubt her husband is unduly happy.

LESS THAN 4 WEEKS TO EUROVISION

I know that things are falling behind here but while Eurovision may be just around the corner, for me, that corner is called college exams. Anyhow its going to take another ten days and then a further 3 days to get over the after exam party hangover. Anyhow there is a small bit of business to be talked about:

• I've only just realised that the first semi-final of Eurovision is less than 4 weeks away. YAY
• The good people running West-End Eurovision this year are going to streaming it live tomorrow night on their website.
• Spain and the UK have announced the results of their OGAE votes, full results are over on escXtra. Unsurprisingly Sweden received both 12's. This leaves Sweden in the lead. Italy and Netherlands got the two sets of 10 points. UPD: As I was writing this I noticed that Finland and Croatia have also awarded 12 points to Sweden and Loreen. This now puts Sweden on course for a landslide victory - It's all starting to remind me of Norway 2009.
• Finally Eurovision Croatia sent me over a video which I actually think is very heartwarming and nice to see fans out and about rather than simply on the internet. You can see it here.

The Next Four Eurovision Songs

 My, that was a busy day. This is my reaction piece to the finals that were held today. The reaction piece to the semi-finals is here. So here we have the four songs that were selected today:

At no earlier than 13:00 GMT Ukraine selected their entry sung by Tina Turner impressionist  Gaitana with song "Be My Guest" it is rather good too.

Next up is Croatia Nina Badric, with the song Nebo - I am unsure about this song but suspect this could be one of the weaker songs from the Balkans this year. (I wonder is she still off sex too).

Then Latvia delivered a disappointment of a result by sending Anmary with the song "Beautiful Song".

And finally late in the day, Italy came out with an excellent song by Nina Zilli. She was selected with the song Per Sempre. However it is not known if this is her song for Baku. I would love to see it in ESC.

Tonight: It's Another Super Saturday

Today sees a huge marathon of shows across Europe. 4 Acts will be selected today/tonight we know one of those already that is Ukraine who had their final at the ungodly hour of 11:30 CET - here in Ireland that's 10:30 and I wanted a lie on more than I wanted to watch Ukraine. So I didn't see it but I have seen the winner. [full post later].

Otherwise two songs will be presented tonight - that's Italy [who I am very much looking forward to hearing] and Croatia. Croatia will have a special show at 20:00 CET which lasts one hour so we such hear the song around 21:00 CET. Italy will present their song as well tonight and I suspect that it could be very late tonight [after 23:00 CET] before we hear the song I am not sure what I will be watching tonight so I recommend watching the usual channels for information about Italy.

Latvia also will select their entry tonight in a dual final format. The first will be at 18:00 CET [about one hour from now] and the second super final will be at 20:00 CET. I will throw up the review shortly.

Sweden holds the third semi-final of Me.lodifestivalen tonight at 20:00 CET. You can read our reviews of it here.

Lithuania holds a semi-final too at 20:00 CET. Estonia holds one which starts at 20:30 CET. You can read our reviews of the Estonian semi-final here.

This may all be bit  confusing so I recommend the page that escXtra have developed.

The Funnies

You know the way many newspapers (maybe not the FT) publish a couple of funny stories each week just because they are funny. But this is arguably the funniest and strangest story about the Croatian Eurovision Participant Nina Badric. You can read the article here.


All I shall say is that I'd love to see the luck on the husbands face!


Anyone know has any done this before?

Quick News Reaction

A lot of news has reached our desk over the last two days so I am going to quickly run through it.

• France will present their song on Sunday January 29th i.e. this Sunday. The song is understood to be called Echo. It will be presented on a show at 16:00 CET (15:00 GMT). I hope to be around for it and look forward to it. 
• Portugal have announced their composers and singers for Festival Da Cancao (sorry for English keyboard settings). You can see these here.
• Croatia will present their song on 18th February. Due to the busy nature of that day (Italy is expected to present their Eurovision and Latvia hold the Eirodziesma final). We sincerely hope she gets it done early in the day.
• Ukraine have changed their national final date to 18th February. If that's all they change this year it will be a shock. 
• On behalf of The Best Eurovision Blog, I would like to say I am sorry for the mistakes in our reviews of the Hungarian national final the post has been removed and I will post a new one containing all of the songs tonight/tomorrow morning.
• The Semi-Final Allocation Draw will be held tomorrow (afternoon) I will keep you posted about it. Make sure you are following on Twitter @besteuroblog and on the blog. 
• Cyprus will hold their national final tomorrow (Wednesday) at 20:00 CET [I think]. Read our review of the Cypriot national final here.

News Flash

We're very happy with how our "Why Ireland Needs Jedward" post was received. In the future we will try to publish a little more on Jedward (just wait until RTÉ gives the full list of who is participating)

Turkey have announced that Can Bonomo will represent them in Baku. I don't personally go for him but many people will think he is good. (It's Turkey afterall)

Tine Lynggaard has been disqualified from DMGP 2012 due to her song being published to early. (Must not own a calender).

Nina Badric will represent Croatia in ESC 2012. Seems like a good choice.

Melodifestivalen running order has been revealed. The best slot in the semi finals has gone to Danny (sigh) Timoteij are singing fifth in their semi-final (Another sigh).