Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Tonight it's the Friday night and the usual Novità or Newcomers final. The guest star is ever fabulous Giorgia who could run of their money to any of this years acts... And there's also Fiorella Mannoia, Gianni Morandi and Leone Lewis. As for the newcomers I really haven't listened the songs enough to say a final word but I kinda like Sonohra, the brother duo.... Listen & see here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mdByAfjers Milagro - Domani Jacopo Troiani - Ho bisogno di sentirmi dire ti voglio bene La Scelta - Il nostro tempo Sonohra - L'amore Valerio Sanzotta - Novecento Frank Head - Para pará ra ra ra Ariel - Ribelle Giua - Tanto non vengo

No matter what people say Mietta was a hit last night performing together with Neri per caso. Sometimes these duets are rather embarassing, sometimes well done, sometimes they achieve what they were originally created to: give a song a new dimension. And that's just what happened to Baciami adesso ... Also Loredana Berté & Ivana Spagna worked well, shame the song was only presented outside the competition after its disqualification... Mietta & Neri per caso: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSwVbZO6UVQ Berté & Spagna: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAUNkymzem0 Meneguzzi & Hadley: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiYei3Y9z0k Tatangelo & Bolton: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0L5QQ7kfHsY Zarrillo & Paola e Chiara: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AST7r1hZnN4 and here's the most likely winner of this 58th festival di Sanremo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rw9JR5bjnU

She managed to make everybody talk about her after all.... And her song is not a new one! But it still rocks. Watch and listen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is0OFGw60gM

The horrible joke Chiki went to the final after all. All the other ones are quite good and my favourite is Coral followed by La Casa Azul and Arkaitz. This is what people voted from the MySpace pages to the final: 1.Rodolfo Chikilicuatre - Baila el chiki chiki 109,995 votes 2.La Casa Azul - La revolución sexual 67,706 votes 3.Arkaitz - Un olé 63,460 votes 4.Coral - Todo está en tu mente 58,339 votes 5.Bizarre - Si pudiera 54,842 votes In addition the Jury chose these five acts for the final, and one can only wonder what they were thinking!!?? I would save only Innata, who is my 4th favourite. The rest is useless, and luckily Null System has already been disqualified :-) 86.Null system- Mourning 3226 votes disqualified 97.Innata- Me encantada bailar 2827 votes 106.Lorena C - Piensa gay 2423 replace Null System 142.Ell*as - 100x100 1533 votes 153.D-vine - I do you 1434 votes 416.Marzok Mangui - Caramelo 87 votes

I have finished my homework for tonight and here's my ideas about UK. As BBC has adopted this strange 3 stage battle I will do the same: In the first one Andy beats Michelle , in the second LoveShy beats The Revelations (I will never go for the Supremes wannabes, the real thing is THE real thing!) and finally Rob beats Simona , who gets in as a wild card to the final. In the final it's all about Rob and LoveShy and I go for Rob. For some reason I like the song... Simple as that! Michelle Gayle - Woo (You got me) vs. Andy Abraham - Even if The Revelations - It's You vs. Loveshy - Mr Gorgeous Rob McVeigh - I owe it all to you vs. Simona Armstrong - Changes Hear Rob here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb8Yq0-16os and LoveShy here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alg3kItgY7Q

The Latvian final offers ten songs of all sort. The one to beat seems to be Bonaparti.lv's Italian import Roberto Meloni's Pirates of the sea with Wolfes of the sea . My main contender against them is I'm part of you by Deja vus , three strange looking girls.... Let's see what happens. See & hear them here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JunKTP-aNcg and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dNB4g0AcH8

Tonight's the weird night in Sanremo. All the Big will perform with their guest stars. Not many foreign ones this time except for Tony Hadley, Belinda, Gal Costa, Michael Bolton and Gipsy Kings. More it seems like an opportunity for ex-Sanremo stars and this year's drop outs to shine on stage after all. The queen of desperates Annalisa Minetti is dragged along by Toto Cutugno, Mietta dusts off Neri per caso, Max Gazzé brings along tour friends Paola and Marina, Frankie gives a chance to last year's winner Cristicchi and Zarrillo brings along Paola & Chiara (and hopefully they have a chat with Little Tony about San Marino). The duet to look forward is Loredana Berté & Spagna. Anything can happen. And Loredana can come on stage at any point of the evening like on Tuesday.... One mad woman but the song is good! 1.Ricordi - Finley & Belinda 2.Vita Tranquilla - Tricarico & Il Mago Forrest 3.Baciami adesso - Mietta & Neri per caso 4.Eppure mi hai cambiato ...

Georgia is one of the four countries picking up their songs this Saturday (the others being Finland, Latvia and UK). Some interesting stuff there but I have one superfavourite: Salome Korkotashvili with Captaine ! A girly little pop number in a very European Frenchy way. The favourite seems to be though Georgian's own Ricky Martin, Irakli and his song Freedom is quite good, too. Listen Salome here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s-WtGx8vzo

After 26 songs Slovenia's Rebeka is still my favourite. Watch her performance in the Greek final here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKBXiteaFug and a fabulous interview on esctoday.com here: http://www.esctoday.com/news/read/10691 :-)

The Greek final, hosted by the anorexic sisters interrupted by about a million advertising breaks and half a zillion papauza popopos and psiko para kulos in between poto potos kakamos and other bla bla bla I have no idea of and yet another tribute to Athens 2006 (Greek people, get over it! It was great, it was wonderful, it was unique but it was already 2 years ago....). Sarbel was there, Evdokia was there and then finally we heard the songs. Chryspa was good but maybe a bit boring and I officially don't like Kalomoira or her song now after seeing it live. I liked Kostas a lot. His performance was very Koldun-esque and the revamped version of the song worked nicely.... After that it was time for those Azeri lovebirds Einur & Samir to bring some heaven & hell on stage. Not still sure what to think about it.... Then it was on to Rebeka in an interesting dress and premiere of the song in English, Heavy weather is all we had together ... I think I prefer the origina...

France has decided to go for an internal choise this time, hoping to improve their poor showing the past few years. Last year's entry was rather wonderful I think but Europe wasn't impressed. They promise big names but if they mean with "big names" the same thing YLE people usually do I am not so thrilled. We will see. I give some names I'd love to see in the contest: Jeanne Mas and Myléne Farmer . Both huge icons of the 80's and 90's, both in a need of a boost. Natasha St Pier and Patrick Fiori , both would be very welcome back now that they have made it big. Alizée , Myléne's more than a one hit wonder protegée who looks & sounds like taylor made for Eurovision. Liane Foly who has expressed her will to do it previously. Roch Voisine and Zazie , two big names... And what about Patricia Kaas ?

The three hopefuls in Greece are all rather good but in the end I hold my fingers crossed for Kostas Martakis, whose song is maybe the least Greek one. It's easy, catchy and pop. But it seems everybody thinks Kalomoira has the secret combination to win. Let's see... A lot of guests to fill in the show: Sarbel of 2007, Evdokia Kadi from Cyprus, Einur and Samir from Azerbaijan, Romanian duet Nico and Vlad and Slovenia's Rebeka Dremelj. 1. Chryspa - A chance to love 2. Kostas Martakis - Always and forever 3. Kalomoira - Secret combination

Andorra has finally released a full version and video of their entry Casanova performed by Gisela. See and hear here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWhQc4jQ1yo

Rosario Morisco, Francesco Rapetti and Valeria Vaglio are the unlucky ones who didn't manage to charm the 1000 jury members last night and are out of the Friday's Novitá final. Today Sanremo takes a breath (football anyone?) and goes on tomorrow when the Big ones will duet with other more or less big ones. A nice back door to people like Ivana Spagna , last year's winner Simone Cristicchi , Marina Rei , Paola Turci , Neri per caso , Paola & Chiara and the ever desperate Annalisa Minetti to get on stage. And someone has managed to drag in also Michael Bolton ....

It's 11.30pm and I have just heard Mietta and can go to bed.... She didn't let me down. A beautiful song in pure Mietta style. Tonight the festival seems to be going much faster than last night, after hard critic and very disappointing viewing figures (only 9,5 million viewers instead of the usual 11-16 million). Good Sanremo songs so far but nothing extraordinary. Giò di Tonno & Lola Ponce with their Gianna Nannini penned musical tune didn't convince me yet but it could indeed battle it out with Meneguzzi and Tatangelo... Or will Italians follow the rest of Europe and vote something different and surprising come Saturday night? See & hear her here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qjOkb4PrNo and the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Hc0MPsgUes&feature=related

Eurovision veterans Dima Bilan, Polina Smolova and Prime Minister lead the list of 25 hopefuls to win the next Eurovision song contest. I personally think it is a question of a year or two when Russia wins, but didn't I say that already 2-3 years ago? Anyways, there are artists from all over Mother Russia but also from Ukraine (Alexandr Panayotov), Camerun and Nigeria (Pierre Narciss & Jam Sheriff) and Belarus (Max Lorens & Satsura). And of course Prime Minister that comes from all over the place: Russia, Ukraine and Mongolia! 1. Andrei Makarenko 2. Nora Adam 3. Natalia Terehova 4. Natalia Astafieva 5. Anna Mushak 6. A-Studio band 7. Alexandr Panayotov 8. Prime-Minister band 9. Pierre Narciss & Jam Sheriff 10. Alexei Vorobyov 11. Zhenya Rasskazova 12. Yuliya Mikhalchik 13. Aza Bataeva 14. Anatoliy Alyoshin 15. Elena Gorbushina 16. Zhenya Otradnaya 17. Tamila Grischenko 18. Roman Bezhin 19. Alsou Zainutdinova 20. Dima Bilan 21. Max Lorens & Satsura 22. Monte-Christo...

Israel has chosen my favourite!! Maybe the tide is turning? The song is beautiful, very Israeli and reminds of wonderful late Ofra Haza and yes, it's co-written by Dana International but no, there's not a trace of Diva in it. Well done Israel. And will Dana be the backing dancer in Belgrade, please? 1. Ke'ilo kan (As if here) 164 2. Bli Ahavi (Without Love) 120 3. Parparim (Butterflies) 110 4. Hin'e Ha'or (Here's the light) 84 5. Masa Haiyai (The journey of my life) 82 See & hear here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jL9JM3NUzlg

I Novitá: Tonight the second Sanremo night with the same system as last night. The rest of the Big will perform as well as the rest of the Novitá, three of them going home. Again a jury of 1000 (different) people and Duran Duran as guest stars. All eyes (and ears) on Giò di Tonno & Lola Ponce and Sergio Cammariere.... and I'm all for Mietta! Let's hope Little Tony (escorted by 4 doctors 24/7) will talk her over to represant San Marino! Mario Venuti - A ferro e fuoco Amedeo Minghi - Cammina cammina La scelta - Il nostro tempo Giò Di Tonno e Lola Ponce - Colpo di fulmine i Sohnora - L'amore Gianluca Grignani - Cammina nel sole Jacopo Troiani - Ho bisgono di sentirmi dire ti voglio bene Mietta - Baciamo adesso Rosario Morisco - Signor si Little Tony - Non finisce qui ***Duran Duran*** Ariel - Ribelle Tiromancino - Il rubacuori Finley - Ricordi Francesco Rapetti - Come un amante Sergio Cammariere - L'amore non si spiega Valeria Vaglio - Ore ed ore Loredana Bertè - M...

Sanremo is changing: a famous name is not enough anymore to reach the final, or singing about mother either. Both Daniele Battaglia and Andrea Bonomo were eliminated in Novitá along with MelodyFall. In Big Paolo Meneguzzi and Anna Tatangelo confirmed their pole positions but have a surprise challanger: Francesco Tricarico . I couldn't stay up to listen to Tricarico who sung last but heard Paolo that is good indeed in a traditional Sanremo pausiana style but didn't like at all Tatangelo's song about her gay friend: calculated, banal and corny to say it nicely...

Already for 50 years we have been singing Volare...oo-ooh, cantare... aaa-ah.... Well deserves a stamp to give a good start to the 58th festival!

I novitá: Tonight starts the 58th Festival di Sanremo. Our favourite Swiss guy Paolo opens the show. There will be a jury of 1000 people. All the "Big" ones stay in contest but only four of the "Novitá" will go on to the final. Lenny Kravitz returns to Sanremo as a guest. Apparently this Sanremo is all made for Anna Tatangelo to win, but recently it looks like Paolo Meneguzzi is becoming the one to stop her.... We will see come Saturday! Paolo Meneguzzi - Grande L'Aura - Basta! Milagro - Domani Toto Cutugno - Un falco chiuso in gabbia Frankie Hi NRG - Rivoluzione Andrea Bonomo -Anna Fabrizio Moro - Eppure mi hai cambiato la vita Frank Head - Para pará ra ra ra Anna Tatangelo - Il mio amico Michele Zarrillo - L'ultimo film insieme Melody Fall - Ascoltami ***Lenny Kravitz *** Daniele Battaglia - Voce nel vento Max Gazzè - Il solito sesso Eugenio Bennato - Grande Sud Valerio Sanzotta - Novecento Giua - Tanto non vengo Francesco Tricarico - Vita tranquilla Se...

We're off to Israel next where Boaz Mauda will sing five songs tonight and tomorrow we will know the song for Belgrade. He isn't alone though as two songs are duets. The songs in all are good and it's a bit hard to pick up my favourite but ... Ke'ilo kan written by Dana International is my favourite from his solos and would be a very good entry. Both duets; Hin'e Ha'or with Maya Avraham and Parparim with Oshrat Phaphir would be great for Belgrade, too. I prefer the latter one though. Check the entries here: http://www.iba.org.il/eurovil/

Less than a week to go so let's see how the situation is on viisukuppila's fan poll, again counted by my very own very unorthodox metod: 1. Mikael Konttinen +53 finalist 2. Movetron +27 finalist Vuokko Hovatta +27 second chance 4. Cristal Snow +25 finalist 5. Teräsbetoni +13 finalist 6. Ninja -2 second chance 7. Kari Tapio -10 finalist 8. Hanna Marsh -11 second chance 9. Crumbland -29 second chance 10. Jippu -37 second chance 11. Jenna -55 second chance 12. Kristian Meurman -76 finalist So the fans would vote Vuokko Hovatta and Ninja to the final from the second chance. The order by received votes in various semis looks like this: 1. Teräsbetoni 51,7% 2. Kari Tapio 46,7% 3. Mikael Konttinen 46,1% 4. Cristal Snow 27,4% 5. Kristian Meurman 26,8% 6. Movetron 20,3% The finalist songs got most votes in the third semi (78,1%) against those that dropped out so that's bad news to Jenna and Vuokko Hovatta. However in the first semi the qualified songs only got 67% of the votes...

Well, at least in Macedonia the song I feared would win actually did so. Not that I like it that much.... 1.Tamara, Vrčak & Adrian - Vo Ime Na Ljubovta 24 2.Lambe Alabakovski - Zemjo Moja 18 3.Risto Samardžiev - Dojdi Do Mene 17 4.Sašo Gigov-Giš - Docna E 12 5.Sonja Tarčulovska - Balada 9 6.Parketi - Strawberry 8 7.Tuna - Prašuvam Bez Glas 6 7.Elvir Mekić - Armija 6 9.None - Vrati Se 5 10.Jova Radevska - Jas Sum Ovde 4 10.Nokaut - Samovila 4 12.Aneta Kačurkova - Poraka 2 13.Vlatko Ilievski - So Drugi Zborovi 1 14.Goran Naumovski - Se Što Znam 0 14.Igor Mitrović - Se Sakame 0 See & hear here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIjWvsUenqw

UPDATE: The song's actually not bad but very nice! This is propably closest to Gotan Project we get in Eurovision and the Moldovan drum beating granny's got a challanger! Kraljevi Ulice & 75 Cents won the Croatian final and yes, 75 cents is 75 years old and therefor will be the oldest singer in the Eurovision history (a wild guess!). Well, thankfully he hasn't got so far to travel! The song? Well, I must admit I never bothered to listen to it beyong 15 seconds... The jury's vote gave the victory to them as there was a tie. Considering my favourites came 9th and 14th I don't agree with Croatians anymore... 1.Kraljevi Ulice en 75 Cents – Romanca 31 2.Antonija Šola - Gdje Je Srce Tu Je Dom 31 3.Ivo Gamulin Gianni – Sanjam 25 4.Bonaca & Nera - Tvoje Oko Za More Duboko 24 5.Maja Šuput - Lako Zaljubljiva 22 6.Tamara Obrovac –Amor 20 6.Emilija Kokić – Andeo 20 6.Prva Liga i Druge – Vila 20 9.Ivana Banfić - Mir 16 10.Pero Galić - Otvori mi oči 15 11.Giuliano - Plav...

Regina Òsk's and Fridrik Omar's Euroband did it with their revamped This is my life (Fullkomið líf) proving joint forces work better, both being beaten in the national finals before. Ok, I didn't count this one as my favourites beforehand despite knowing its popularity but I must tonight they really rocked and voilá: Iceland is one of my favourites this year.... :-) And my real favourite Mercedes Club came second.... Not bad at all! See & hear it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGtz7pXa2rQ and see & hear the original versione here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVkch2fNaoI&feature=related

The unstoppable happened and the first ever puppet performer in the Eurovision becomes reality with a lot of booing in the audience. Is this where Lordi and Verka got us? Why do I miss a good Irish ballad now? Or do I? Shame anyways as for a change Ireland really had a couple of goodies in the final this year.... See & hear it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnsPfRdSU0Q

Romania will once again send a song partly sung in Italian. Quite unusual Eurovision entry and it will be interesting to see how it will work out in Belgrade. I'm quite happy with it and my favourites came 2nd and 4th so I guess I'm satisfied... 1.Nico & Vlad Mirita - Pe-o margine de lume 271 2.Biondo - Shine 264 3.Paula Seling & Provincialii - Seven days 208 4.Catalin Josan - When we're together 197 5.Zero - Come this way 181 6.Leo Iorga & Pacifica - Prea mici sunt cuvintele 164 7.Nicola - Fairytale story 162 8.Tabasco - Love is all I need 126 9.Rednex feat. Ro-Mania - Railroad, railroad 96 10.LaGaylia Frazier - Dr Frankenstein 93 11.Simona Nae - The key of life 73 12.Yana - C'est la vie 37 See & hear here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmJnLM_l_3Q (btw nice stage. Helsinki 2007 anyone?)

Ani Lorak was the chosen singer and presented five songs tonight. The winner is Shady lady composed by Eurovision veterans Philip Kirkorov and Karen Kavaleryan ... Kirkorov is becoming a new Ralph Siegel, only that he gets anywhere in the ex-USSR area, from Russia to Belarus to Ukraine.... Why does the staging make me think of Azerbaijan? 1. Shady Lady 14 votes 2. A dream for a brighter day 8 votes I'll be your lady 8 votes 4. Ya stanu morem 4 votes 5. Zhdu tebya 2 votes Se and hear it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlQ03amvLuo

I must say I have no memory of this winning song so I guess I didn't like it. I'm also a bit surprised the Italian act did so well and the other wildcards failed, too... 1.Deep Zone & Balthazar - DJ Take Me Away 15,27% 2.Georgi Hristov and Gianni Fiorellino - Sogno 15,17% 3.Nikolai Manolov - Po-dobre 12,98% 4.Dani Milev - Svetlinata i mraka 11,54% 5.Svetozar Christov & Vladimir Dimov - Tired Soul 11,26% 6.Nevena Tsoneva - Ne istjesvai 9,63% 7.Desi Dobreva - Strong 9,60% 8.Ivaylo Kolev - Should’ve Been the One 3,76% 9.New Generation - Running Scared 3,14 10.Ivan and Stani - You are magic 3,06% 11.Simona Sivanio - Promise me 2,33% 12.Те en Preslava Peycheva - Tazi Vecher 2,06% See & hear it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9FzSrLypX8

Well, a worthy winner in Poland. Most of the songs were rather horrible in all their lack of anything Polish in them, or even good pop music. A little bit surprised for Margo's only 7th place as well as Men Meadow's 3rd place... But the winner's all that counts and it's good so all ok! 01. Isis Gee - For life 24 (12+12) 02. Natasza Urbanska - Blow up 15 (8+7) 03. Men Meadow - Viva la musica 12 (2+10) 03. Plastic - Do something 12 (10+2) 03. Edi Ann - Lovin' U (Edyta 12 (7+5) 06. Izabela Kopeć - You've got my love 10 (4+6) 07. Sandra Oxenryd - Super Heroes 9 (6+3) 07. Margo - Dlatego Walcz 9 (1+8) 09. Afromental - Thing we've got 7 (3+4) 10. Starnawski & Urban Noiz - It’s not a game 5 (5+0) 11 Kasia Nova - The Devil 1 (0+1) 12.Queens - I say my body 0 See the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEpTcjtbN-U

Another rather surprising result in the third Swedish semi where favourites Patrik isaksson and Ainbusk both are out already as well as the wildcard Eskobar. BWO went to final as expected and well deserved it, their song is a very catchy dance anthem that can take a deep pow towards Madonna and ABBA... The other direct finalist is Frida fr. Headline and I just ask why??

As expected Teräsbetoni walked the third semi in Finland with 51,7% and Crystal Snow easily qualified, too, with 24,7%. Now the question is how to stop this mixture of Dschingis Khan, camp that's not camp enough and Finnish metal from going to Belgrade, or wherever the Eurovision will be this year.... See & hear here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGtz7pXa2rQ , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZqCuvr2aU4 , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Su9u7QGpbQ , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmP0sLaV_r8

UPDATE: EBU has given a statement tonight 22.2 that the preparations in Belgrade go on as planned for now.... Now that the situation in Serbia and Kosovo is Eurovision threatening YLE's Kjell Ekholm (of EBU's reference group) has apparently offered Helsinki as a back-up option. Will we be back here so soon? Not after another 40 years?! I'm not sure I can survive that! Serbians and other people, cool down, make peace and Eurovision!

The 58th Sanremo festival will occupy the Italian media next week. Pippo Baudo has revealed some numbers and details of this year's selection. The jury that chose the songs received nearly 300 songs, some desperate to have a career like Annalisa Minetti (1998) sent even 5 songs, none of them made the final and she's a previous winner. Other previous winner were knocked out, too: Ron (1996), Alexia (2003), Povia (2006), Matia Bazar (1978,2002) and Syria (new comers 1996). Other names worth mentioning are Ivana Spagna, Silvia Salemi, Tazenda, Manuela Villa and Pacifico who was 21st on the list and the first one out... Baudo said it wasn't easy as they tried to avoid a mistake like last year when Irene Grandi 's Brucia la cittá was not included - only to become a huge hit in the summer. The list wasn't final until moments before the announcement on January 6, and there were still 40 songs in the consideration. See & hear some of the drop outs in their pr...

UPDATE: It looks like he has sent 3 songs, one of them now withdrawn as it is actually from 2006 and therefor no good for Eurovision. Here's the original: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOhxYna_2xI The rumour is Dima Bilan will enter the Russian selection with a song in Spanihs, Por que te amo... Porque, Dima, porque? Here's the other song in 2006: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tn9e8MCCHsE

Phew... the last review for this weekend: Romania. And not an easy one. I still would like to ignore Biondo 's Shine for known reasons but I can't as I just love the song. Cătălin Josan with Run away is my real Romanian favourite in the final as my other favourite Nico and Vlad Miriţă with Pe o margine de lume is sung partly in Italian. I also like Zero feat. Marius Moga with Come this way but don't get what's sa fabulous in Paula Seling and Provincialii with Seven days and especially the annoying Simona Nae with The key of life . All is good as long as Dr. Frankestein or Railroad, railroad won't win! See & hear here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSPJSm_ZN9E , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZmk2qSQC0s&feature=related , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EP1gSstBd9U

The Irish songs are out now, too, and as usual there are the Irish ballads and then a little bit more. The real contenders to stop Dustin the Turkey are Donal Skehan and Leona Daly . Donal offers some un-Irish EuroPop with more than a touch of Sweden and boybands. Leona has a banging piano to start with and goes from there somewhere good.... why am I thinking of lovely Dusty Springfield for some reason?? Dustin? Well, it's 3 minutes of insane Eurotrash from the 90's... but how does it work live? Bad I hope....

FYR of Macedonia will also select their entry this Saturday and they have managed to squeeze in into every final since semifinal was introduced, just to not to make the top-10 there. This year they offer some nationalism and army stuff, some bubblegum pop and everything in between. If you can judge the songs by a 40 second clip my clear favourites are Yova Radevska with Jas sum ovde and Sonja Tarčulovska with Sever i jug . Lambe Alabakovski with Zemjo moja seems to be a contender, too, and worth mentioning are also Tuna with Prašuvam bez glas, Elvir Mekić with Armija and Tamara feat. Vrčak & Adrian Gaxha with Vo ime na ljubovta .

I have never been a fan of wildcards but this time in Bulgaria they really are the only bearable songs, the nine songs that came through the semifinals are all.... well, how to put it nicely? That I rather have the Italian import to win instead of any of them? But I think the other two wildcards will be fighting it over. See & hear them here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye4IEv39qu0 , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EK3CXobYaZs , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ySgI4aLgjo

Croatia used to be one of my Eurovision countries ever since they joined but ... they completely lost it last year (even if I kinda liked the song the rest of the Europe or even ex-Yugoslavia didn't) and this year offers mediocre boredom, to say it nicely. Two ladies stand out: Eurovision veteran Maja Blagdan and ex-sex bomb Ivana Banfić. Ex-Eurovision winner Emilija Kokić is a lost case before it starts. Who knows what Croatians will prefer this year... Look & listen Maja vs Ivana here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Edcs85gSBRk&feature=related , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkW9ttQU75g ,

I certainly hope so! I great song, and in Polish. The Swedish exports Man Meadow and Sandra Oxenryd have songs that should/could be in Melodifestivalen instead and the rest of the entries... well... I haven't heard all of them to be honest but what I have heard... Isis Gee is not bad but I would prefer a song in Polish when they have such a goodie as Dlatego walcz! Go Margo go! See and hear it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aO-1rwZMRg

Next weekend may the busiest all around Europe what comes to Eurovision. On Friday Finland will have its third and last semi and Croatia its semifinal. On Saturday Sweden will have its third semi while Croatia, Ukraine, Ireland, Iceland, Romania, Poland, Bulgaria and FYROM will have their finals so we will have 8 new entries in one evening! And it isn't over yet: Belgium will have its semi still on Sunday evening.... Are we ready?

As usual many countries have/will release their national selection songs on one CD again. Order yours from http://www.bearecords.nl/index.php !

Now that Finland has won Portugal is the one. The one in the contest since forever without a win and this year they have put some effort after Sabrina's suprise last year when she barely missed the final (that was a shame if you ask me!). Not one but three Operação Triunfo singers are in, including the winner Vânia Fernandez and runner-up Ricardo Soler plus Alex Smith. Also last year's third placed Vanessa gives it another try. One more song will be added later. Alex Smith - Obrigatório ter BIG HIT - Por ti Portugal Bla Bla Bla - Magicantasticamente Carluz Belo - Cavaleiro da Manhã Lisboa não sejas francesa - Porto de encontro Marco Rodrigues - Em água e sal Ricardo Soler - Canção Pop Vanessa - Do outro lado da vida Vânia - Senhora do Mar Here's Sabrina in the Portuguese final last year http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQ8Aqs-MqkA

Marika Krook, the Edea solist of Finland 1998 singing all those senseless words with a's and o's in Aava is a mother of daughter after a long run of starring in The Sound of Music in Helsinki. Father is a Finnitalian Peter Viglione. Auguri a tutti! See & hear it here again: http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=CiTjb4y_GX4