EUROVISION 2020: REVIEWS OF AUSTRALIA, AZERBAIJAN, GREECE AND ARMENIA

AUSTRALIA - MONTAIGNE - DON'T BREAK ME

First thing: the staging in the national final - I don't get it. It distracts completely from the song that when only heard is pretty fantastic. One of my favorites this year in fact. I like the sound, lyrics and her vocals on it. It's catchy and somehow melancholic that fits me perfectly. Great song that doesn't sound like an Eurovision taylor made entry, which is always a positive thing. Montaigne is interesting and a bit nuts in a good way. I have no idea how this would have done in Rotterdam though, especially with a staging like that. Could have been a non qualifier or who knows mid table in the final? Hard to say and we'll never find out. I give anyways 9/10

AZERBAIJAN - EFENDI - CLEOPATRA

Cleopatrrrrrrra! Everyone's talking about the staging here. Actually it's the most interesting thing of this; How would have it been? How they were supposed to bring this live? And that's about all there is to this. No proper song to back it up. Do I want to listen to this on repeat without the video? No. Will I listen to this beyond May? No. This is a stage show and concept, not a real song. 5/10

GREECE - STEFANIA - SUPERG!RL

Talking about manufactured Eurovision by numbers.... and the rather embarassing videoclip with its special effects that puts me off the song definately. Stefania fits the song though so that's a plus. The song has its moments but mostly it gives me nothing, maybe I'm not in the target group. Besides, I always wish Greece would bring something you can hear local elements, this one could be from anywhere aka as steril as it gets. 6/10

ARMENIA - ATHENA MANOUKIAN - CHAINS ON YOU

I must be out of the target with this one, too. I just dislike the breathy talking in the beginning, Britney mastered that already 20 years ago and this reminds me of some Janet Jackson/Paula Abdul choreography stuff from the late 80's/90's and it's already quite lame. The song's melody is annoying and even if the final version is much better than the original, this still propably sits at my last place. But it's not Athena's fault, just not my cup of tea. 4/10

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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?

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!

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

NO AMOR IN ICELAND FOR ÁSDIS MARIA

In Iceland Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins 2014 started as well. Five songs in the running and two were voted to the final: Gréta Mjöll - Eftir eitt lag and Gissur Páll Gissurarson - Von . To be honest I'm not very suprised about the choices even if I was hoping for Ásdís María Viðarsdóttir - Amor to make it. The people of Björk didn't warm up to that enough, sadly. Also Sverrir Bergmann - Dönsum burtu blús and Vignir Snær Vigfússon - Elsku þú are out but that's ok. Or maybe I would have sent Ásdis Maria with Vignir to the final....Oh well. Next week another five songs and two qualifiers.

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..... )

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.

ESC 2016 ARMENIA: IT'S IVETA MUKUCHYAN!

Armenian tv has revealed tonight the name of their artist for the 2016 Eurovision song contest in Stockholm. It's 29-year-old Iveta Mukuchyan. Born in Yerevan she moved with her family to Germany when she was 6. At 23 she moved back to Armenia and continued her music studies. She has taken part in the Armenian Pop Idol finishing 5th in 2010 and she also did The Voice of Germany . In 2012 she was voted the Sexiest Armenian. Armenian tv has made a call for songwriters all over the world to submit a song for her by November 13, 2015. Let's see which direction the final choice will go, Freak or her latest release that you can hear below.... Whatever it is it will be an improvement from last year's fiasco.....

EUROVISION 2024: DAY 2 REHEARSALS FROM ICELAND TO LUXEMBURG

As there isn't much to blog when rehearsals are done with closed doors (and yes, I'm all for it!) I will just do a feature with a couple of photos from the rehearsals as published by Ebu. Today a couple of things caught my eye: Luxemburg's totally wrong outfit, Finland's and Slovenia's "nudity" and Moldova's lack of those violin girls. Not so sure of Azeri outfits either. As for the rest pretty much the same and expected. Today we had the first 30 minutes technical rehearsals by these countries: ICELAND SLOVENIA FINLAND MOLDOVA AZERBAIJAN AUSTRALIA PORTUGAL LUXEMBURG

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

WEEKLY DOSE OF EUROVISION STARS SOCIAL MEDIA AFFAIRS FROM VALENTINA'S RAVIOLI TO LINDITA'S BIKINI

Valentina has been in Valle della Luna in Sardegna.... ... and did some ravioli, too :-) Jimmie enjoys life in Oktoberfest, Frankfurt Serhat enjoys life in Oktoberfest, Munich Omar enjoys life with Hempy products Claudia enjoys walking some shih tzus Demy enjoys some relax and ... err, trimming Iveta is fashionable Michal is a fashiom victim from Gucci shirt down to torn jeans Svala is fashion Icon. Lena is somewhere warm and nice Ilinca enjoys shangias in Ibiza Amir enjoys the feeling when the new album is ready and recorded Lindita continues to enjoy American sun..... And Vaidas has a sleepbuddy .-) How was your week?

Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

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