EUROVISION 2019 DARE TO REVIEW 4: SWITZERLAND, BELARUS, AUSTRALIA, UNITED KINGDOM

More mid table entries in my own personal ranking

Switzerland - Luca Hänni - She got me ***

All the bros go Yo yo yo, All the girls go Yo yo yo

Everyone go Yo yo yo, She got us dirty dancin'

Luca Hänni (24) has been on Eurovision radar already years and here he is, as one of the main favorites. No wonder, She got me checks all the boxes of what is a succesful Eurovision entry on paper. The result is this year's male Eleni: a lot is happening in the video, and certainly on stage in Tel Aviv but not so much in music. My mind drifts away half song and I lose interest.... Long three minutes. Winner? Hardly.

Belarus - ZENA - Like it **

Yes, you gonna like it, Yes, you gonna like it

Let me in your heart

Alexandrovna Kupriyanovich or simply ZENA is this year's youngest, 16, but has already a lot of experince. As a kid star she has participated in various major contests like New Wave Junior and Slavinski Bazaar, and tried to get to Junior Eurovision twice as well but instead ended up co-hosting the show in Minsk last year. She' s allaround media personality and her song fits her persona and career; she looks like a perfect pop star and the song is exactly what you would expect to hear. Harmless and forgettable, but catchy and engaging when it's playing and when you hear it for the first time. People may Like it. It shouldn't make the final but who knows? I wouldn't be surprised.

Australia - Kate Miller Heidke - Zero gravity ***

Hey you (hey you, hey you, hey you) It’s me again

Hey you (hey you, hey you, hey you) Stone in my shoe

Kate (37) is actress, singer-songwriter and classically trained singer who loves alternative pop. And that's what she's mixing up in this Zero gravity. This one's a stone in many shoes really. Some say this comes too soon after Estonia's opera pop last year but this is very different from that I think. I love the Kate Bush vibes in the verses and the rest calls for opera arias mixed up with electronic sounds. It's all so weird it's already pretty good. How this one will succeed will be one of the most interesting things to follow come voting. Or will the journey end up in semi final already?

United Kingdom - Michael Rice - Bigger than us ***

It’s bigger than us, It’s bigger than you and me

It’s bigger than us, It’s bigger than everything we see

Michael (21) got here through X Factor 2014 (eliminated in bootcamp) and All together now 2018 that he won. The song is co-written by Swedish entrant John Lundvik who dropped it by advice of Christer Björkman it being "too weak", or so they say. Not the best starting point is it? This gets an extra kitch point for the finger snapping and the classic wave to the left and wave to the right choreography by the choir. He gives the song all he's got but I'm afraid Sweden will sweep off the votes and beat this one by some 20 positions.....

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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.

FINLAND: REMEMBERING KIRKA

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...

Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

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