Romania: Catsuits and Folk Music: The Review

There was little surprise when Mandinga won the Romanian national final earlier this year. Their song Zaleilah had already been a huge hit in Autumn of last year. Their song is very light and summery which may play to their advantage. I have a theory that because many songs are selected in the winter there is a distinct lack summer hits at Eurovision. I do thing that a (proven) summer hit can do very well at Eurovision. While Spain might be an example I thought that their song was a little cheap sounding.

To be honest I'm not sure how to judge Zaleilah, I'm not really a huge fan of summer songs and I think that might be why I find that it is a bit instant for the first third listens, then just becomes annoying. I know that many fans don't agree but that's just my view.

The advantage that this song has is that it is coming after a rather drab two songs (Latvia and Albania) - those will be tough swallows for the normal audience. Romania have a historical record of 100% qualification. Staging is the strange thing, with the lead singer in a leather catsuit surrounded by a selection of folk singers, all in all I'm not sure of this entry but I'd should qualify.

Verdict: It feel just a little thin to me but on the first couple of listens I'd say it should pick up a couple of televotes.

Grade: C

Verdict

All Round Delight In Euroland After Super Saturday

So Eurovision fans breath a sigh of relief as Loreen won Melodifestivalen with 268 points winning five international juries and topping the public televote with 32.7% - a historical record. We will have a full Analysis of the Melodifestivalen final and semi-final voting patterns later tonight or else tomorrow.

Next came the presentation of the Serbian song by Zelijo Joksimovic. It's a lot like his 2004 entry but I really don't think that it is nearly as good. For me this could be the Harel Saart or Amurary Vassi of 2012. Anyhow the song is called Nile Ljuvbav Stvar (I could only find the English version - sorry).

Romania came next with a song that sounds like a cross between Lily Allen and Shakira. While the song may be annoying after two months, I am loving the Leather Catsuit. Mandinga is the singer and her song (sung mostly in Spanish) is called Zaleilah.

In Portugal after the usual remarkably long voting have decided to send Filipa Sousa to Eurovision. Fairly unamazing song at the moment.