ESC 2011: Paradise Oskar speaks out, vol 3

In this final part Paradise Oskar comments the last songs in the second semifinal and the Big5. read the first part here and the second part here. For the record, he doesn't believe in pre-contest favourite France's chances...

FYR Macedonia: Nice eastern sound and Kalinka mood. Reminds me a bit of Moldova's Hora hora song a couple of years ago. Absolutely fantastic accordeon in c-part of the song. It's nice they send something that doesn't try to be Swedish or American but the melody is forgettable. And the intro doesn't help either.

Israel: She can sing, at least on video. Credit to her she has written the song herself. If she does poorly she can only blame herself. The sound and the melody have been heard many times before and this isn't giving any credit to Israel. Hard to get the lyrics with this mix of Hebrew and English.

Slovenia: Good singer, and the looks help, too. Do you know how old she is? The melody is a bit boring and the sound weird. Confusing: is this rock or what they are looking for? And the preview video is in Slovenian but she will sing then in English?

Romania: Good stuff! Modern pop sound, except the chorus. Lyrics are rather nice even if with clichés. The bass in the chorus is a bit disturbing making the whole song a bit bland, would be better without it.

Estonia: Modern and new sound in Eurovision. Melodic and sing-a-long chorus. Positive and hits with the first hearing. Not the best but nice little tune in all. I don't get the lyrics though: what happens on that street and why an Estonian girl is singing about Rockefeller?

Belarus: Not totally hopeless, the chorus has ok melody. Even dancable. Starts with an annoying "hey hey yeah yeah" that's always irritating. Totally useless tect with phrases clued together and some "I love Belarus" in between.

Latvia: The singer has a different, nice voice and the chorus has a good melody. Makes clear what's the title of the song. But nothing extraordinary, a bit bland and boring even with the rap part. Is this modern r'n'b or rock? I think this is lame rock and leaves a strange aftertaste.

Denmark: Nicely melodic song that sticks to your head. Rather good lyrics without clichés. But I follow the Swedish Melodifestivalen and this is so similar to Andreas Johnson's Sing for me from 2006. And I have heard a Japanese song that this is even more alike. This leaves a sad feeling you have heard this before.

Ireland: What positive can I say about this now? Rather modern and surely works on dancefloor. The chorus is catchy but annoys me already with first hearing. They've got the attitude righ in performance. But totally annoying song! Nice though that these two are the ones sing "da da dam" too. We couldn't be more different!

France: Different from the rest. Opera song. Good singer who takes his space. But this could have been even more boombastic, now the song kind of stops and the beautiful and catchy chorus you are expecting never materializes fully. It's a bit boring you don't remember the melody afterwords.

Italy: Also this is different from the rest in its jazziness. Gives you good feeling with its down to earth groove. Especially the trumpet solo is nice. Yet the chorus is a bit hard to tell apart and make out the story of the lyrics when switching the language all the time. In three minutes stage version there's no time for the pianosolo which is a shame.

United Kingdom: They can sing. The 90's boyband thing will appeal to little girls and not so little who will vote them just because they are Blue. It's the same song you hear on radio every day. Basic radio pop, well produced. To my ears this is nothing original and therefor I don't even want to hear this til the end...

Germany: I had to listen to this right away I heard Lena is back to defend her victory. Yet another such a cute girl... Lena sounds cute whatever she sings. The song has an exciting, waiting atmoshere that in the end goes nowhere, like it was a long long intro to something. It's fast but it doesn't make you want to dance. Is it planned or do they want to show a different Lena?

Spain: Happy song that brings back memories from the 90's. The best parts are Lucia's legs. Fake. Goes nowhere. They can just fake the whole thing through.

Comments

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This is one of the songs that make me think of sweaty summer nights, humid air and being slightly drunk... I wonder where that all comes from? Anyways. Kylie Minogue recorded On a night like this, maybe not first but better than Pandora or Anna Vissi . And Lord which is actually great!

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Summertime is the time for cover versions and remixes. The late 1980's war of the boombs is over when Samantha and Sabrina put their bras together and cover Blondie's Call me in peace and harmony. Amore, chiamami!

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Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

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