Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

I wasn't planning on doing personal reviews this year either but here we go after all. Truth to be said I have listened the entries 0-2 times before sitting down now to comment them. Let's go! The usual Blogilkar's home jury will reunite later and the results revealed in due time. meanwhile, my thoughts and comments on the entries of Eurovision song contest series is right here.  Austria - Cosmò - Tanzschein ** Certainly different from last year's entry. I kinda like this but then in the end not so much. This starts well and makes me curious but then it gets quite repetitive and goes nowhere. He's doing vocally good enough live but not so sure about the performance and masks and stuff. Haven't we seen that quite a few times already? Not sure how this act will open up to those not understanding German though. I can't quite see neither juries nor televoters going wild for this. Final placing 20something? Or even dead last. Again. Austria knows something about ...

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...

  Here it is. Five million hits. I never thought I would see this day when I started this little blog long time ago. But you keep coming back and slowly it all ads up. Some years have been busier, 2009 being the top of the tops with some incredible figures, some less but the flow of visitors is a steady never stopping flow. I am so grateful and keeps me going even if with each new million milestone I have been planning to stop this adventure and concentrate on something else and this five million was meant to be The One but then came Måneskin and Italy won! It's impossible to stop now as I always said I will be present at Eurovision again only if and when Finland or Italy wins again.... So.... I guess I will go on at least another year. Or another million? Thank you! Grazie! Kiitos!

Here we are, ta-dah! The final part and the Top-5 of our amateur, first time hearing demoscopic jury. In the end the most divisive entries were Lithuania (scoring several 1's and 2's and then mainly 9's), Russia (everything from 1 to 8), Norway (from 1 to 9), Ukraine (either 1-3 or straight 8's), Georgia (1's or 8's mostly), Portugal (from 1 to 9, and everything in between), Denmark (either 1-3 or 9's). Finland, Italy and France suffered from some jurors giving 1's or 2's.  As one can expect the results were sometimes quite different in different age groups, and most everyone had not listened the songs beforehand, nor is a keen follower but just a regular viewer that watches the show when it happens. So, there are some surprises in the ranking that are far from the various fan polls or betting odds indicating all is possible come May 22.  United Kingdom scored big with the youngest group along with Romania, Finland and Greece while they really didn...

And here we reach already the Top-10 and its lower half. Some compromising entries here, those you like even if you kinda shouldn't, guilty pleasures. That end up placing a bit higher than they maybe should. Or? 6. CYPRUS  8.0 "It's very Lady Gaga" "I know I should hate this but in the end I love it" "Sounds so familiar" 7. GREECE  7,7 "The video ruins it" "Fantastic 80s flash back" "We all want to fly with horses" "Great song" "She's got a great voice, hope she can deliver it live!" 8. GERMANY  7,2 "Despite the important themes I don't think I ever want to hear this again"  "His joy is infectious and the whole thing is totally bonkers!" "Now that was... something else!" 9.  SWEDEN  7,0 "This gives me goosebumps" "Swedes know the productions"  "With a backstory like his how could he lose?" "A bit weird, but sings well" 10....

Here comes the third part of this demoscopic jury results. Some fan poll and odds favorites didn't make it any higher than this, just outside the Top-10,  including Malta and Switzerland with Italy. 11. MALTA  6,8 "She's good, deserves a better song"  "I could dance to this in a club" "Netta and Toy already won, this feels a bit copycat even if the song's very different" 12. THE NETHERLANDS  6,7 "Despite disturbing broccoli, I love this!" "Great colorful video" "Church music?" "What an earth is that language?" 13. CROATIA  6,4 "The bit in Croatian was best, why not fully in Croatian?" "13 in a dozen of these but this is so Eurovision!" "Tiktok? That's a bit lame" 14. BULGARIA  6,3 "I know that wallpaper" "Huge hair" "Sleepy" "Pretty song and voice" 15. SERBIA  6,2 "Hearing this right after San Marino (in our viewings, Ed.note) ...

And here we go again. Here comes the second set of ranking. Super fan and odds favorite France didn't really win our jury on her side, nor Lithuania but both Georgia and North Macedonia got some unexpected love instead as did Denmark! 21. DENMARK  5,5 "I can see this on Eurovision cruise already!" "Good vibes!" "I'm speechless, the styling?!" "Brings back memories, could be Denmark 1984 entry" 22. AUSTRALIA  5,5 "I would like to know what caused that styling, what is her thing?" "Somehat irritating but still somehow I like this" "Won't pass by unnoticed and forgotten but will people vote for this?" 23. LITHUANIA  5,2 "2am after a few drinks I'd dance the hell out of this" "Finns co-wrote this!" "I think last year's entry was more instant but I like this, too" 24. IRELAND  5,1 "Hysterical, in a wrong way,  this leaves me breathless, there's no stop at all...

For some reason I just couldn't be bothered to do the usual own personal ranking and review this year so I put the together a very own demoscopic jury of friends and relatives instead, that can be divided in three categories: pre-teens, 20/30somethings and 40/50somethings. They got together in separate gatherings in different cities over the week and here are the results!  All the comments are personal views of one or more reviewers and are ment to hurt no one. Especially the artists in question or the songwriters. Anyone's personal tastes cannot be disputed.  The points are the average in scale 1 to 10.  31. NORWAY  4,2 "Boyband energy and innocent clear voice" "The rhythm is too fast for this somehow" "What IS this look about?!" 32. RUSSIA  3,8 "I like the fact this comes from Russia for the things she represents! Equality and female power!" "The Russian folklore part is fabulous!" 33. CZECH REPUBLIC  3,7 "Video makes no ...

It's time to look back what you guys have read this year and below is the top-10 of most read posts published in 2018. Have a look back and re-read! Honestly I'm a bit surprised by some of them! Otherwise you kept clicking anything with "naked", "nude" or "boobs" in the title as the all time top-10 clearly shows.... :-) Altogether you have been again nearly 500.000 readers and I'm still astonished and humble for the numbers, especially when I have been blogging a lot less than before. Thank you again, each and every one of you! The "Was it worth returning?" series of past winners published in March was also highly popular and bubbling under the top-10, and a personal favorite is the series of Cuban music published while I was vacationating there in January. 2019 will bring somewhat new approach to the national final season, I hope you will like it and find it useful! 1. The 120 become 20 for Next star Eurovision 2. Liste...

Here we are. In 2017. After horrible things from Nice to Berlin and other countless ones this year has started with Istanbul. But life goes on, especially inside the Eurovision bubble. A good place to escape to time to time and forget about the rest..... Last year was very kind to this little blog. Over 500.000 visitors throughout the year without any special lows or peaks. You just keep coming back every month, week and day of the year. I will keep doing my little work to gather together news and gossip, facts and fiction for your entertainment and hope you will like it in 2017 as much as before, and as much as I enjoy doing it.  It's the year of Kyiv vol.2. After the troublesome start it looks like things are shaping up. The stage designer has been announced and the rest of the work is in progress so there's hope we will get another amazing contest coming up. I have to admit Stockholm 2016 is hard to beat, thanks to the fantastic script by Edward af Sillén for Måns Ze...

It's time again. Another milestone. The adventure continues. Sincerest thank you to all of you keep following  me.  Thank you! Kiitos! Grazie! We have an exciting new season ahead of us - join me again!

It must be Eurovision season as I get a new country. A big welcome to South Sudan, already the 219th country/flag counter territory that visit the wonderful Eurovision bubble of Blogilkar!  Now only missing 26.... as many as there in the Eurovision final! Wow!

The Common Linnets are enjoying Eurovision song contest 2016 in Stockholm. They also performed in Douwe Bob's bar. Let's see if Douwe matches their placement come Saturday night.... Have fun!

Serhat caught up at Euroclub wishes you enjoy Stockholm and Eurovision!

Minus One from Cyprus wished you beautiful Eurovision and... vote for them! I will, 

Frans from Sweden wishes you good time at the Eurovision!

Francesca Michielin hopes you will like her performance and sends you a kiss!

Nika Kocharov wishes you all a happy Eurovision!

Sandhja wishes a great Eurovision journey for all us. For me, it's been one so far.  Sing it away!

Poli Genova from Bulgaria sends a lot of kisses for you!