Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Portugal has lost the backing singers hats but Leonor is wearing the same black dress. She sings well and I like the song, apparently being in a huge minority. I guess Portugal is with San Marino in the group of countries so many fab eurofans love to look upon, talk bad and love to dismiss. This is a good song that could be a hit on the radio outside the Eurovision bubble. The backdrop is dark with blue and grey abstract motives and big city skyline at times. Not the most innotative nor original staging. A lot of shoulder shaking and hair waving by the end for some reason.... As much as I would love to see Portugal also inthe final I'm afraid it's not going to happen.....

All the entries in the second semifinal have now been heard and seen on stage. The first technical rehearsals are over and even if there are still changes to be made for the second round of rehearsals they are minor ones so the act is pretty much what we have seen so far. If we check  Oddchecker  as it was before rehearsals (May 10) and this morning (May 15) there aren't any major changes. The biggest climber is Latvia going up six places to 13th. Lithuania and Cyprus go up 2-3 places in the mdtable but for the rest it's more or less the same. This semi includes both the number one, Sweden, and the bottom one, Portugal. Both keep their standings. Then the droppers. Many talked nicely about Poland, including me, but the betters aren't convinced as it drops four places to 28th. Two highly praised and popular entries Norway (dropping three to 9th place) and Israel (dropping three places to 20th) both are actually going down.... Let's see how things change after toda...

If everyone was talking about Trijntje's dress after her first rehearsal, today's attention is on Portugal's hats. Most are asking why-ay-ay? But hey, Portugal has had hats before! Anyways, Leonor is in black, as are her backing singers. Also the backdrop and stage seems rather dark most of the time with big city silhouttes and skyscrypers (again!) fitting the romance and mostly heartbreak and melancholy atmosphere of the song. And she's got a wind machine! Will this all be enough to take her to the final? Maybe not sadly. I like the song, I like her voice, but.... I feel like I'm in a minority here.

Leonor Andrade has won the Portuguese final of Festival da Canção with Há  Um mar que nos separa . One good news for this night of disasters of various types. The real disaster is Yola Dinis didn't even make the top-3 but Leonor was my second favorite so have to be happy for that little at least. Leonor's song is not bad, it could well be sung by any Italian female singer in fashion, from Emma to Amoroso and Pausini. Tt only needs a better arrangement and a little bit of necessary oomph.  Teresa Radamento and  Gonçalo Tavares made the superfinal as well. 

After two semifinals Portugal has chosen its final line up. Even if the Festival da Canção has a much more modern look than last year, it's still like something that came out of a time capsule. There is live music but the band is so small it pretty much has ruined most of the songs. If you can't have a full orchestra, backing track is a good choice, don't compromise. The songs have been pretty dated (or ruined by the beforementioned band), but there are a couple of good ones, one in particular. All my hope is in it. Televoters have done much better job that the composers who have added two songs to the final line up, in both cases the worst song of the evening for this blogger. What were they thinking? Saving their own asses by choosing the worst? Below are the songs in my ranking. Yola shines over all the rest clearly. I like Leonor, but it should have a new arrangement and remix before Vienna. The rest is hopeless. Teresa and Simone are not bad by no means, just I d...

Portugal selects its entry this week with two semifinals and the grand final on Saturday. Three songs from each semifinal will qualify for the final; two by televoters and one by a jury made of the composers of the participating songs! Now that sounds a bit weird but.... The same happens in the final and three songs will battle it out in the superfinal.  Tonight we have also Adeleide Ferreira (ESC 1985) trying a comeback.  Rita Seidi - Lisboa, Lisboa I like this kind of music and expected something like this when I saw it's by Sara Tavares. Surely not Eurovisionesque and easy, but who knows? Would be a very risky choice that just might pay off... Leonor Andrade - Há um mar que nos separa This could be quite good in the end. The chorus stuck in my head immediately. Filipa Baptista - A noite inteira The arrangement borders ridiculous. How cheap can you get? Yola Dinis - Outra vez primavera Now we are talking. Beautfiful, a touch of fado, great vocals. C...