Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

SVALA goes for pastel fashion while Hovig has natural pastel colors Bubble Artsvik Camouflage Lidia Colorful Polina Sporty Ilinca  Edurne. Enough said. Dima looking fashionable Francesca  having a coffee before saying anything about the fashion choices.... Douwe in Lady & the Vagabond OMG. Ira is filming a new video.... as are Navi band. This week's covergirl is Claudia. How was your week?

Here are some random pics that didn't squeeze into any post over the past two weeks from my lovely collaborators Robert, Jack and Markus in Stockholm, and myself. No intruduction, you should recognize everyone, right? Thank you guys once again for all the fun and work, you made me feel like being on spot. Thank you!

Some changes in Moldova; the backdrop is darker, the cosmonaut Uirii Ribac dances away till the end of the song in his metallic outfit.  Lidia has a new dress that is supposed to be the one, she has added some French to the song when the cosmonaut arrives and this blogger wonders if it allowed at this point? Anyways, apparently all is improved in the Moldovan act except Lidia's vocals but we can't help that, can we? She sings in front of a wind machine the last part getting her hair blown. Otherwise she's pretty static on stage and one would expect her to dance a bit more as her cosmonaut is all over the place..... A borderline qualifier. Maybe. Or then not, the astronaut didn't help the first time he appeared on Eurovision stage, not sure if the weide audiences find it any proper this time. In press conference Lidia promised further changes to the staging and said the French lines are now taken to the consideration of EBU and if they agree will be used in semifinal...

What would be Eurovision without rumours? When these people spend time together for two weeks, and even meet each other all over Europe the weeks before every year there are some minor or major romances, some getting public most being kept secret. Not all end up Like Finland's Kaija Kärkinen falling for her composer Ile Kallio under the magic spell that is Rome 1991. Ten albums and two sons later they are still together..... The whispers from Stockholm tell Moldova's Lidia Isac and yet unnamed member of Cypriot Minus One are hitting it off ..... so it's not Juri, the cosmonaut. Is she seeing falling star with an alter ego? And then every year someone seems to be pregnant, or at lest rumored so. Lat year it was the Dutch Trijntje Oosterhuis. This year it's apparently Malta's own Ira Losco. That would explain that horrible sack she's wearing and the shapeless rack under it. Oh, we do like a bit of a juicy gossip. Stay tuned. Update May 8: Ira Losco ...

Next on stage was Moldova: And yes! The video's cosmonaut is there, dancing it away most the song. Lidia's dress for today was rather horrible, luckily that's not the one for the night!  The backdrop is various shades of blue, maybe to represent the sky the stars are falling? She's got backing singers hidden away to save the day as Lidia alone.... oh well, never mind.  In the Meet & Greet she reminds her song is written partly by the team who wrote last year's runner up A million voices . Like that would help.... and then we are told a story about her French teacher who wanted her to sing Edith Piaf songs. Hmm, I wonder what cosmos she was from? Maybe the same as Juri, the cosmonaut. Truth to be said, it wasn't that bad. It only proves her entry is wrong for her. 

Better late than never, here is the video for the Moldovan entry Falling stars . Lidia Isac gets into some interstellar affair. Colorful and just enough weird to keep you watching and wondering what ws it all about.....Let's see if the Montenegrin astronauts will make a comeback on stage in Stockholm?

This is maybe the most unfortunate group of songs. MOLDOVA - LIDIA ISAC - FALLING STARS (Gabriel Alares, Sebastian Lestapier, Ellen Berg, Leonid Gutkin) Lidia won the very mediocre Moldovan national final, with a song partly Made in Sweden. Blogilkar: How generic and unmemorable can you get? This is kinda ok when you hear the studio version, but live it has been painful so far everytime I have heard it. Unoriginal in every way 100%. 4 Jack:  I have to admit Falling Stars is a bit of a guilty pleasure. I doubt Moldova will make the final and there's a chance this will be a car crash on stage, but I just can't help but enjoy this song when I listen. 6 Peter:  Personally I'm not such a big fan of Lidia's voice, it doesn't captivate me. But I do like the typical Eurovision chorus which is pretty good - the only reservation I have is if this is a memorable song - so far I don't think so. 5,5  Robert: OMG, this is such a Melodifestivalen song. Heard t...

Among many glamourous events in the Israel Calling Eurovision promo event in Israel this week also something more earthly happened: the artists planted an Eurovision forest in the Presidential Park in Tel Aviv. Now that's an idea to adopt to every host city from now one to leave a living mark of the event that took place.  On top you can see Finland's Sandhja and Austria's Zoe getting their hands dirty. Donny Montell, Ovidiu Anton, Ivan, Joe and Jake, Eneda Tarifa, Lidia Isac, Freddie, Poli Genova and Sergey Lazarev were also showcasing their gardening skills..... Let those trees grow and propser!

Moscow hosts again another Eurovision pre-party, for the 7th time already. This time in Izvestiya Hall. Apparently 13 acts will be present - even though there are mixed information on Albania's and San Marino's participation, let's see.... Albania - Eneda Tarifa Armenia - Iveta Mukuchyan Azerbaijan - Semra Rahimli Belarus - Ivan Cyprus - Minus One Israel - Hovi Star Macedonia - Kaliopi Malta - Ira Losco Moldova - Lidia Isac Russia - Sergey Lazarev San Marino - Serhat Spain - Barei Switzeland - Rykka

One of the favorites, Lidia Isac won in Moldova tonight. She won televote and jury ranked her third - the exact opposite what happened to Sandhja in Finland btw - and won. Jury's favorite was Valeria Pasa but televoters ranked her only 6th. It was a very close run in the televotes: 8.362 for Lidia and 8.267 for DoReDos. (2.631 for Cristina so it was a two horse run). 96 votes more for DoReDos we would have had a 3-way tie on top! I don't know the Moldovan rules who would have won then....