Skip to main content

LIVE: Slovenian final

The Slovenian final has just started and it all looks good. Great stage. Omar Naber (ESC 2005) opened the show and we move on to the songs.
Marko Vozelj smartly dressed performs his quite nice yet a bit boring Moj si zrak. Somehow kind of Italian song. Vocally he is pleasant. Dancers inside and outside huge transparent balls complete the act.
Eurovision veteran Nusa Derenda next looking royal in her peach colored dress performing her Sanjajva. Windmachine under her dress makes a nice effect :-). Besides that she has three backing vocalist and the song flows nicely with some a bit ethnic "na la la leys" Vocally she is perfect of course.
The men known to abuse the use of hairgel next, Langa with their Roko mi daj.  This is so called Balcan ballad. Four ladies in black wave in the background and one guy forgot its a so called Balcan ballad and runs around trying to look like it was a rock anthem. Windmachine makes an appearence as well.
Four piece Tangels next with their Kaj in kam.  All are in mainly black and sitting first put get up once they have a solo to do. Pleasant song but somehow I think this is not what get the televoters hot. But I kinda like it.
And after that we have a commercial break and time to reflect things so far. Well, I doubt the winner is amongst the first four songs even if all of them have been pretty good.
After some talk about Eurovision oddities like Verka Serducha, Lordi, Sestre and Dana International we are back on track with Brigita Suler and Para me.  Long blue dress and two male drummers in black, three female backing vocalists and windmachine... is that going to do the trick for Brigita? Somewhat repetitive and a drum bridge reminding a bit of White & black blues but... no. I don't think she's going to win either.
Nezna by Anatastazija next. Once again blue and black. She looks a bit like Italian housewife after a visit to parruchhiere. Three violinist ladies sitting and playing, a grand piano and backing singer. Rather anonymous ballad she kills with some wrong notes. Nope. The worst so far I'm afraid.  I doubt she would have gotten  here if she had to go through the semifinal.
Next one of the favourites, Manca Spik with Andrej Babic's  Tukaj sem doma. Guess what? She's in blue! Alone on stage until an angel choir walks in in white. Anthemic with a wardrobe trick. But haven't we heard this so many times already? Some shaky vocals in a very emotional performance. But if she gets to Oslo and has to meet Coral I think she's doomed.
We move on to totally different atmosphere with Hamo & Gal's Crni konji cez nebo. Singer is very casual while the pianist has a fancy jacket. Very rusty voice but it fits the song nicely. Simple, acoustic and beautiful. I like but this would be something totally different from Slovenia. Judging the applause people liked it!
Next Martina Sraj with Dovolj ljubezni. Silver and white, miniskirt for her while the backing group in black. Starts off very gospely and goes on very American, makes me think of Kelly Rowland but the song isn't really going anywhere (well, neither do those American hits!). Pretty good performance but ... I'm curious to see what the televoters think! After all she did qualify from the semifinal.
While I'm still thinking and wondering about Martina next act is on stage, Stereotipi with Daj mi en snak. For me it's the worst song tonight.  Totally uninteresting. It's not even annoying, just uninteresting. And it's time for a break....
We are back with Nina Puslar and Dez.  Silver pants under a grey dress for redhead Nina - modern day Katja Epstein - and four male dancers with a coreography that use nicely the whole stage. Rocky simple pop song with catchy hook and pulsing beat. This is officially now my favourite! It's not a masterpiece I know but all comes together nicely.
Another by favourite follows right after, Vlado Pilja with Tudi fantje jocejo. Black suit and tie with white shirt looks always good, the song is nicely arranged without pretendous gimmicks and like Dez previously it's nothing extraordinary but a good sum of its parts.  Vlado has somewhat forced vocals tonight though. Shame.
Next on stage something else: Ansamble Roka Zlindre & Kalamari with Narodnozabavni rock. My biggest fear tonight is this would win. An annoying cocktail of rock and folk. They didn't even bother to mix them but keep singing two different songs in pieces and bits. Horrible bs. (Why am I thinking Global Kryner?)
Last but not least Lea Sirk and Vampir je moj poet. Again black and purple! Two dancers and three backing singers with her. Jazzy groovy number. Not bad at all but not maybe exactly what will attract the European televoters, is it?
Another commercial break and I have to admit I have no idea who's going to win, or even who I would like to win? Maybe Nina after all. Or Hamo & Gal? Manca and Nusa are rather calculated and made for Eurovision, and that may not be the best choice anymore. I tend to like the Slovenian entries when fans don't and dislike them when the others think they are great.... Go figure! Recap didn't make things any clearer.
Time for some Quartissimo, last year's winners - that I didn't like btw. Two songs by them and next on stage Sasa Lendero. Next Tinkara Kovac. And now we have Alexander Rybak with Europe's skies. There were reports he was suffering from nervous breakdown but at least play-back seems to be working fine. To say the truth he isn't looking very happy or energetic. And we move on to Fairytale. The act is the same as in Euroviisut in Finland it seems. He has three violinist girls and two Frikar dancers with him.
I guess it's time for the results.....
Oh dear. No comment. Except I'm not surprised.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Your comments are the best!

Marco

Popular posts from this blog

SONGS OF THE YEAR 2015: #5 KRISTA SIEGFRIDS - ON & OFF

Krista Siegfrids is delivering nice pop tunes one after another and this one is particularly catchy and soon you will be singing along..... Hopefully her Melodifestivalen entry will be equally good!

ESC 2016 WISH LIST: MARGARET FOR POLAND

Małgorzata Jamroży aka Margaret has also been tipped for Eurovision and apparently she did turn it down but she'd be perfect. She's got a look and persona you can't unnotice nor forget, she's got hit songs, she has been voted or nominated for everything from Trendy artist to the Hope of the Year, Fashion Icon and Glamour Woman of the year besides the usual best video, song, album, debut..... Oh she's also a fashion designer! She's very clever with social medias and would surely use it to her advantage if selected for Stockholm 2016. Her debut album is titled Add the blonde , do we need to say more? Except it includes mostly Swedish written pop tunes like Tell me how are ya , Wasted , Start a fire and Heartbeat . And of course her debut single and internationally noticed Thank you very much that you can enjoy below with all its anti-textil feel. I think she's Eurovision perfection, she's cheeky and fun, can we have her?

ESC 2016 BELARUS: NAKED WITH WOLVES?

Today's funniest Eurovision related story comes from Belarus. Some sources claim Ivan wants to perform on stage naked and with live wolf or wolves. It surely would be a first on Eurovision stage! We have seen some forgotten underwear over the years, and some cardbox animals though..... Is it time to take things a bit further?  No, according the rules live animals are not allowed, and Eurovision being a family show nudity won't do either. (It seems to be ok to be half naked if you are a dancer though..... )

Rumors, rumors, rumors....

While the national selections for Junior Eurovision are going on around Europe and Ani Lorak's been confirmed as host all sort of rumors about the real thing are beginning to be the order of the day. Austria returns - or then not. Andorra stays home - or then not. San Marino returns - well, most likely but not surely. Luxembourg should make a come back - or then maybe not. Liechtenstein is still in the running - or has it ever been for real? Has the local TV ever confirmed anything? Is it just wishful thinking by the fans? Poland on the other hand has confirmed they will be in Oslo. And Italy will be still out. And apparently there will be no ban or such for Azerbaijan nor Spain for the irregularities in and after the 2009 edition. EBU had to change the text in the rules to make it sure nothing like that what happened in Azerbaijan could happen again. Or if it will they have means and rules to back up a ban or sanction.... Katerina Avgoustakis has been rumored to be in Oslo...

JEDWARD GETS NAKED FOR THE FANS

Well, almost. The boys celebrated their 650.000th follower on Twitter by being photographed fresh from shower as promised. It's not the first time they drop their clothes as you see here . Meanwhile their second album is nearly here and the title track Young love is hitting the charts....

UK: Naked Blue

The boys of Blue have posed nude again. This time for the Attitude magazine's annual Naked issue and they are also in the cover. Watch the video of the shooting here . Band member Duncan, who is bi-sexual, recently told The Daily Star : “We are getting our kit off for Attitude magazine like the McFly boys did. I’m up for showing everything off. I’m happy enough about the size of my manhood. ” Extra media attention won't hurt their changes in Germany to win it for the UK for the first time since 1997... They will and they can!

CAROLA'S BOOBS STEAL THE SHOW, SVT APOLOGIES

Update! Another thing got Swedes talking last night: Carola's boobs when she was giving away an award. This is not the first time her boombs cause headlines; her misfortunate adventures in the 80's in Japan wer explained with her boobs being too big for Japanese market. Ok.... Or was it the song ? Anyways, Carola apologies and says she thinks the dress is stylish and elegant (even her friends said so) and she's a mature woman in her 40s, not a 16-year-old girl and looks like one. The Swedish Oscars, Guldbagge awards were given out last night. Carola was there as a guest star to sing Barbra Streisand's The way we were when honoring the movie stars who passed away during 2012. However, the cameras were too much on Carola, not on the stars showed in photos in the background and that upset many viewers as that part of the show was to celebrate them, not Carola. Oh well...  The producer of the show tells in Aftonbladet the part of the show was made the sam...

GREECE: HELENA PAPARIZOU HITS AGAIN WITH HAIDE

Eurovision song contest 2005 winner Helena Paparizou has been enjoying Top-5 hits every year since 2003 with the exception of 2010 and 2014, this latest one being already her 27th! And Haide is charting also in Bulgaria and Finland, of all places. The catchiness of her hits has changed less over the years than her face....  Here's the English version , below the Greek version. 

GOODBYE, FAREWELL...

The time has come. After all these years, 5,7 million visits, 12.000 articles I guess the time has come. As much as I love and care for Eurovision it just doesn't feel the same. The Corona years took their toll and the past two years and certain decisions have helped me to mature the idea that next year I will hear the songs for the first time in semi-final just like any so called local.  The bubble has burst. Add the toxicity in social medias and fandom. The arrogant teenagers who saw their first contest somewhere 2017 or even 2021 who think they know it all and only their opinion matters. Did I mention the toxic atmosphere on social medias? I'm too old for that sh*t. It's been a long ride that took me to various Eurovision on spot as a fan and tourist,  as a journalist, as a delegation member. I met some great people, made memories of lifetime. In stressful, sad periods of my life this blog has been my safe place, a place to escape and forget everything else for an hour o...

FINLAND: REMEMBERING KIRKA