Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Another day, another first 30 minutes technical rehearsals for semi-final two countries: Ireland, North Macedonia, Estonia, Romania, Poland, Montenegro, Belgium, Sweden and Czech Republic. Meanwhile there's first official statement by Ebu about the malfunction of the Kinetic sun. In other words it does work, it only takes too long to remove it during the performances and thus it is not used that way for the delegations. This said, solutions have been found for everyone and a general viewers isn't any wiser. It could also be one of the reasons the acts will be announced Sanremo style besides it being a nice touch and very old school Eurovision - something these young folks have no idea of and are outraged for nothing. In the final there's also one country less as an Big5 country is hosting so that also saves time here and there, not only the performance but the recaps etc. Clearly it just wasn't enough. No big deal. But that's not the only thing from Sanremo in Turin...

Here we go again! Once again Blogilkar's home jury has sat through the songs and videos and voted from 1 to 10. This year the jury consisted of pre-teens, 20somethings, 30somethngs, 40somethings and 50somethings. Even a dog participated and went nuts for Romania but was not allowed to vote. Most of the jury members had not heard any of the songs beforehand, some not even the Finnish one.And yes, this jury didn't care for betting odds, fan favorites or wanks but only their own taste and first impression! I will be counting down from bottom to the top and  here are places 13-16.   Check out the places 17-20 here . 13. IRELAND - BROOKE - THAT'S RICH (Average score 6,28) Her 80's and Blondie influences are out and loud. With a touch of Erika Jayne. Fun entry. A bit bad mixing sound but maybe that's intentional? Hit hard with the pre-teens of the jury of all people! 14. CYPRUS - ANDROMACHE - ELA  (Average score 6,14) Great local music, this sounds like everything you her...

Last Friday North Macedonia had its Za Evrosong 2022 to choose their entry for Turin Eurovision song contest. Andrea Koevska (21) won with Circles .  Andrea comes from an academic family and fell in love with music as a kid when they lived for awhile in Harlem, New York and discovered gospel, jazz, soul and r'n'b. Fast forward to the 2020's when she started posting cover versions on Instagram, was spotted by producer Alexander Masevski and the rest is history. Her debut single I know late 2020 that gained international radio play and millions of Tiktoks. I don't know your name and Talk to me followed before her bid at Za Evrosong. Check out Za Evrosong songs and results here

The North Macedonian national final Za Evrosong 2022 has passed pretty much unnoticed but it's happening tonight. Six songs were chosen from the 47 submissions. Sadly all chosen ones are in English. The songs have been online and people have been able to vote for them for a week. Tonight a combination of those votes and jury (50/50) will choose the winner.  The winner is Andrea. She tied with Viktor but jury gave her max points so she won over: 1. Andrea (jury 12 +online vote 8) 20 2. Viktor (8 + 12) 20 3. Kaly (6 + 10) 16 4. Lara (10 + 5) 15 5. Jon Idy (7 + 7) 14 6. Ris Flower (5 + 6) 11 Let's hear them. Andrea - Circles Kaly - Love and light Lara Ivanova - Flower of sorrow Ris Flower - Flying to Berlin Viktor Apostolovski - Superman Yon Idy - Dreams

Today the first semi-final ones (except for Malta) had their second rehearsal, this time 20 minutes that allowed them about three run throughs to see the adjustments made after the first rehearsals and try possible further ones as the next rehearsal will be already the first full semi final show rehearsal next Monday.  Photos and videos as always lovingly from  eurovision.tv   Sweden has been losing ground in the odds since the first rehearsal and Tusse's operation for vocal cords had a very unfortunate timing as it seems he's not quite in the top form vocally. But then again, it only matters how he sings in jury final and the final night itself. On the other hand he seemed to enjoy the stage much more this time. Otherwise it's pretty much the same as Melodifestivalen, just a few camera angles changes and he has cut off his jacket arms. Some are ready to say Sweden will be a shock non qualifier but no, it's another final for Sweden but probably out of top-10, even if th...

  After two long years the day is finally here! The feeling is a bit surreal and unreal. But here we are and it's a good feeling. As I am not present I just post the photos and videos (all lovingly taken from eurovision.tv ) and comment what I can at this point which is obviously next to nothing for the pure joy of it.  Lithuania's The Roop seems to stick pretty much to the performance of their national final with the same yellow outfits and choreography with the similar backdrop, too. All adapted to Ahoy Rotterdam's bigger stage of course. Besides the three band members the two dancers they had before as well. Slovenia's Ana Soklic is on stage alone with her pre-recorded big gospel choir. The familiar white dress is there as is the big voice. The backdrop seems to be quite effective and beautiful. Russia's Manizha delivers the night's first pyros and wardrobe gimmick and seems to have gained many, many new fans with them. She's got her four backing singers ...

Today's second release comes from North Macedonia and Vasil . Like most everyone also he was confirmed for 2021 after having been internally selected for 2020. Like James Newman for UK also he brings a different side of himself to the contest this year, a boombastic ballad Here I stand .

North Macedonia - Vasil -You The start is promising and then nothing much happens. The best parts are the tango elements, I just wish there was more of it! Why not go for it and fully explore that territory, throw in a proper instrumental break for a great dance routine on stage? Now the break is just some vocal whining on floor and then nothing happens for the grand finale. The idea and the ingredients are there but this is not delivering. Sad. Therefor only 6/10 Croatia - Damir Kedžo - Divlji Vjetre I kinda liked this when it was selected. Then I listened it a few more times and absolutely loved it. This is what I want from Eurovision, be it old fashioned or not: a proper song in native language and you can hear from which part of Europe it comes from. Damir is a great vocalist and sings the hell out of this live. Just the way it should be! I'm almost wanting to give this a perfect 10/10 Estonia - Uku Suviste  - What love is Fandom has taken a real d...

  The Netherlands - Duncan Laurence - Arcade **** This is going to be interesting. Will he win with this simplistic staging and simple performance? In a way it recalls Salvador Sobral's intimate little thing against several other colorful uptempo explotions or gimmicky performances? But then again Russia, Sweden, Italy.... they all seem rather simple on stage without major tricks - will they eat each other out in the end, and some Azerbaijan comes and surprises us in the end?  North Macedonia - Tamara Todevska - Proud *** Another simple staging but full of drama and power, all provided by the vocalist alone.  The song isn't my cup of tea but Tamara is doing a great job, I can say that much. One of those that went from obvilion into spotlight after the rehearsals started. How far it will take her? To the final propably, but how far there.... Hmm... Azerbaijan - Chingis - Truth ***** Like North Macedonia this one rocketed up the betting odds after the...

Some more entries that occupy the lower parts of my personal ranking. Russia - Sergey Lazarev - Scream ** But tears aren’t quiet things They scream I was rather pleased when it was announced Sergey (36) would return to Eurovision. I was never crazy for You are the only one even if it was rather nice harmless pop, but I have always liked Sergey in general. And Scream in his repertoire is just about the worst of all I have heard. I understand he wants to show another side of himself but this is tiredsome musical number. Certainly it will be nicely staged and all but as my ranking goes based on "would I listen to this outside ESC"? the answer is clearly a big fat No. On the other hand it's a clever move as he has a back up when he doesn't win: The song was too good/different/difficult for Eurovision . Yeah, whatever. This is simply boring. Save these songs to musicals you do and give us some real Russian pop! Czech Republic - Lake Malawi - Friend of a ...

Former Yogoslav Republic of Macedonia is now North Macedonia, and they're sending to Eurovision a real veteran, internally chosen Tamara Todevska with Proud . An emotional ballad dedicated to her daughter and full of girl power.