Congratulations Ukraine!

After a trilling night of Eurovision Ukraine has walked away with their first win at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.

Ukraine certainly was a surprise victor having not really been talked about before the event. Ewan Spence over on ESCInsight deserves credit for noting that Ukraine were a contender just before the final.

Less Than One Hour To Junior Eurovision

Here we go again!

With less than one hour to go to the final of the Junior Eurovision Contest 2012, excitement is certainly building, even those who don't normally pay the slightest attention to JESC appear to be starting to having a peak at what is going on.

Tonight is definitely difficult to call, there's probably about six possible winners. JESC is generally more difficult to call than its larger adult version. This probably is more because we don't spend as much time discussing the contest and Eastern Europe has a majority of entries in the contest.  However it still looks like an enjoyable evening and voting should be exciting.

At the moment in my opinion, the main contenders to winner are Russia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. Of these I think Russia has the best chance, though that's only a guess, Georgia could do anything though I don't think that it is as strong as Candy Music was. Azerbaijan did not sound brilliant last night, so it may not be in contention.

I'll be tweeting from The Best Eurovision Blog twitter account. Please do follow us and feel free to tweet your opinions to us.

JESC Reviews: Part 3

With less than 48 hours to go until the grand final in the Netherlands how do the last four songs on my list measure up?

Israel 
Kids.il - Let The Music Win
Israel make their debut at the contest with a song that combines many of the bizarre elements of so many songs. While it sounds like a group of primary school children at first it then strangely picks up, and makes for a nice listen, which, if pulled off well live could give Israel a good finish on the score, however being sixth in the running order may not help it greatly and Georgia have yet to sing.
Verdict: Reasonable debuting attempt
Grade: C+

Moldova
Denis Midone - Toate Vor Fi
This is reasonably boring JESC songs and coming after Georgia this just may not work on the night. However Moldova have had mixed results at JESC, so though this is predictable it could do well and the last verse could help it to leave some impression.

Verdict: Meh, middle of the road attempt not a challenger
Grade: D

Netherlands
Femke - Tik Tak Tik
This certainly is Netherlands showing that they believe people are gullable and just might fall for the same song again. Still I do like this one it does bounce along very nicely and the tik tak tik being sung in the back ground. I also like Femke, I think she is a charismatic singer. The problem for Netherlands is that they are just out shone in this competition.

Verdict: Could do very well but probably won't hit the highs of the last two years.
Grade: C



Russia
Lerika - Sensation
One way or another I think that this is one of the most promising songs in this years contest. Lerika has the experience of last year to build on, and she impressed when live last year despite virtually no support from Moldova itself. The song is polished and professional sounding and certainly will be a great cracker in the contest however it is very conceivable that this could go into a neck and neck race with either Azerbaijan or Georgia for the top place.

Verdict: Creditable winner with experience.
Grade: A

JESC Reviews Part 2

We'd all like a little extra time to do something, and with end of semester exams knocking on the door I sure am one of those people. Anyhow somehow I shall get these finished with the joy of Junior Eurovision and the  rehearsals to look forward to. Anyhow time to look at a couple more songs (and hopefully not shredding them to death).

Georgia
FUNKIDS - Funky Lemonade
After the very successful Candy Music, Georgia appear to be trying a similar strategy this year. JESC is most unusual, as the winning country does not have to host the contest the defending champion appears to be more inclined to come back stronger. The song though does lack the impact of Candy Music, though the kids are cute, the song lacks a lot and gets a bit repetitive. Personally, it reminds me of the nineties
Verdict: Not a winner and not what we saw last year.
Grade: D

Ukraine
Anastasyia - Nebo
The strange staging is the first thing that stands out almost instantly at me. The song itself is difficult to like however maybe this is all just a weird package that when its all brought together will look great at JESC. Though the song picks up towards the end. The change to English is nice but still it is not quite what I was hoping for.
Verdict: Don't like it but stranger things have happened at JESC....
Grade E

Belgium
Fabian - Abracadabra 
Belgium has stuck to the formula and gotten a catchy song that lacks a knockout punch to send to JESC. I like this one and I think that Fabian has a lot more charisma than many other JESC contestants will offer. The song is a good listen on the first hearing though my interest in it began to fade in it after multiple listens. While it is to late to say it now the song could be changed somewhat to substanically improve it with only minor changes.
Verdict: In spite of its faults it's a good attempt from Belgium.
Grade: B-

Azerbaijan 
Omar and Suada - Girls and Boys
"Kids wrote this song". In your dreams, Azerbaijan, maybe a child was present in the room while this was drawn up, but seriously, pull the other one. However this is Azerbaijan's debut entry at JESC and it certain is going to be in serious competition to take the top spot and take yet another trophy to Azerbaijan. In compassion to the other songs that we have heard this definitely stands a head and shoulders about the others. It's catchy and has all the elements of a winner. However I would just question whether or not this is all just a little bit clinical, and it may not be in the best place in the running order.
Verdict: Strong song that will be in contention but not a definite winner.
Grade: A- 

JESC 2012: Reviews - Part 1

It's hard to believe that another Eurovision year is nearly upon us. And, like every year, it kicks off with the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. This year, as you should know, Netherlands is hosting it. In the run up to the rehearsals here at the Best Eurovision Blog, I'm taking the time to look at the contestants and what they have on offer this year.

Egor Zheshko - A More-More
Belarus
Belarus kicks off this years contest with a rather odd but catchy song for Junior. This is vocally pot on but may be hard to pull off on the night, though some might argue that he survived the national final so should put up a good show at Junior. Backing dancers are distracting and I think that they might be Belarus's acceptance that the song is not really that good. Personally I could see this doing very well with the juries on the night but I don't think it is a winner by any stretch. It bounces along nicely but does feel longer than 10 minutes.
Verdict: A good show and vocal but not a winner.
Grade: C

Lova Sonnerbo - Mit Mod
Sweden
This is what I love to see at JESC. A simple song and good singer who capable of performing a moving performance of the song. However as much as I love it is difficult to see it doing extremely well at JESC and Sweden have entered more interesting songs than this to the contest and yet have not really reaped the rewards of it. So it is difficult to see this one doing extremely well.
Verdict: Strong song but lacks a lot, though I still love it.
Grade: B+

Igzidora Gjeta - Kam Nje Kenge Vetem Per Ju
Albania 
At any level it is difficult to understand what Albania will send to the contest and sadly this year is no different. There song this year has a really promising opening but then descends into the dangerous hell that many we have heard so many times at JESC. Though Albania's light jazz song may have done well at grown-up Eurovision this one clearly is disorganised with the strangest combination of instruments I've heard in recent years. Not a winner, but maybe I've set the bar to high for a debuting country.
Verdict: Poor debuting entry
Grade: E

Compass Band - Sweetie Baby
Armenia 
The last review for today is for the Armenian entry. Once again this does not live up to my expectations but then again it is JESC. However this song does not work on any level. It sounds like a poor school choir and I just don't get what is good about it. However some parts of the song are ok, so I shall not tear it to shreds.
Grade: E

Disappointing first set of reviews, but you are more than welcome to disagree with me. Bring it on (Bitch!)

A Friend In London Vs. Crystal Lake

The good people at Crystal lake music sent me over this video which I thought I might share with you. It is an interesting remix of one of my personal favourite Eurovision songs, and before anyone asks I'll be starting to review the songs in this year's JESC shortly

Congradutions Georgia!!

I would like to start by saying congratulations to Georgia. They were one of the best songs in there however I was not convinced by them on the night.

So as we saw Georgia win JESC 2011 we now can draw a close to the Eurovision year. From next Saturday we move into Eurovision 2012. Even writing it seems a little odd but we will get there. So...

Happy New (Eurovision) Year Everyone!!! 

Once again I am sorry I could not find the time to write of late. In university, I am always writing a lot and you can get tried of this. The lack of material to write about also did not help. Going forward you can follow me on twitter (@SpTynan) and I will have some blog posts in due course.

Netherlands to host JESC 2012!!!!

It has been annonuced that Netherlands will host JESC 2012 next year in Amsterdam. This is a big step for Netherlands and shows their commitment to Eurovision both Junior and Senior. I am delighted for them and have big expectations for them. So we will see how that progresses.

Sticking with JESC the running order was done today and the running order is here: http://escxtra.com/articles/23131 Interestingly Georgia has got the best slot. 12th and today they launched a new video clip today with revamped music and that is the video of the day, I think this version is a bit stronger and could stand a great chance at JESC this year.

 Also just to mention the new Eurovision website ESC Buzz www.escbuzz.com. I believe this could be one of the greatest innovations for Eurovision fans in a few years. It is run by the highly innovative team at ESC Insight. Well Done.

More News

Well I am back, for a short while. Today there is a few bits of news flying about. First up it's Cheryl Baker has made it to the final of Popstar to Operastar. She is there with X factor winner Joe McEldery. I'm not watching the show so I don't have a real opinion on how good they are but my guess is Joe will win. He is also the bookies favorite. He should be the same fresh faced, sweet heart of the British Public he was in 2009. As opposed to the aging sticking set that is Cheryl.


Italy are in talks about joining JESC according to the Oikotimes, a decision is expected that Italy will be there in 2012, but this is only talk really. However this is great news for JESC, has a member of the big 5 is needed to give the contest some creditably. Serbia is also expected to announce their plans during the week. Georgian final on July 9th.