Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Equaling Oslo 2010 Malmö 2013 will have 39 countries taking part. Bosnia & Herzegovina, Slovakia and Portugal are staying away for financial reasons, Turkey just for reasons known only to themselves while Poland stays away another year with excuses. Armenia returns now that the contest is not taking place in an enemy country so to speak.  The following 39 broadcasters have signed up: Albania (RTSH), Austria (ORF), Armenia (AMPTV), Azerbaijan (Ictimai TV), Belarus (BTRC), Belgium (RTBF), Bulgaria (BNT), Croatia (HRT), Cyprus (CyBC), Denmark (DR), Estonia (ERR), Finland (YLE), France (France3), Georgia (GPB), Germany (NDR), Greece (ERT), Hungary (MTV), Iceland (RÚV), Ireland (RTÉ), Israel (IBA), Italy (RAI), Latvia (LTV), Lithuania (LRT), FYR Macedonia (MKRTV), Malta (PBS), Moldova (TRM), Montenegro (RTCG), the Netherlands (TROS), Norway (NRK), Romania (TVR), Russia (C1R), San Marino (SMTV), Serbia (RTS), Slovenia (RTVSLO), Spain (TVE), Sweden (SVT), Switzerland (...

That is how another article in Iltalehti today is headlined. Talking about the gay in  Eurovision. Or actually in the fan base. For many gaymen the Eurovision is an annual pilgrimage for partying, sex and making contacts.  Finnish Kalle tells he has been to Moscow, Oslo and now Dusseldorf and it’s very good, especially after homophobic Moscow as a gay man who’s single during these weeks. The city is full of saunas, bars and sex is available easily, for free or for cash.  He says he spends about 3000 euros a week there. He also ads there could be more fights and sly games like the Russian and Swedish fight this year, and Norway complaining the Eastern Europe didn’t like the African rhythms. Two German gay couples Stefan & Peter and Sven & Henrik are also interviewed. They have been to Helsinki, Moscow and Athens before. They think the Helsinki 2007 was the best: many gay bars and good local transport, and one could walk to the hotel afterwards. As couples they...

So, the first day of rehearsals is over. They might be "only" technical but already give hints what to expect how things will turn out later. This first part of the first semifinal turned out to be a solid pack and when five songs were presented I had five possible or sure qualifiers. Disturbing! Of course it's not going to be like that when tomorrow we have another nine songs to go through ( btw, tomorrow I can't be blogging until the evening so tomorrow's comments and posts will all come together, not as the day progresses ) and the things may look a bit clearer - or then not.  The biggest positive surprise today was maybe Albania . I didn't count much on it but it did make an impact. I was also very relieved Finland did look stunning and sounded as good as I hoped it would. Way to go Axel! I have to admit Armenia gave a good show without being over the top and as much as I wished it would be a disaster it's a contender. Not for the victory but for a g...

Namely the bubbly girls will deliver the Finnish votes on May 14 in Eurovision so get ready for some giggles and a lot of laughter! You have been warned! Meanwhile, here they are on stage in Oslo where they just missed the final by lousy three points....

My friend Robert will set his exhibition again in the Eurovision town after last year's success in Oslo. Be sure to have a visit and enjoy some colorful Eurovision history in  Douze points lounge when in town! The Douze Points Lounge at the NRW-Forum Düsseldorf In the 1950s, when television was still a novelty and European awareness was still in its infancy, a truly great European idea was born: the Eurovision Song Contest, known to many in Europe by its French name, le Grand Prix Eurovision de la Chanson. What initially looked like a European version of the already successful Sanremo Music Festival, quickly evolved into a large-scale TV event. It was a kind of showcase for the seven major countries that took part in the first contest; a technical and aesthetic spectacle. When the lights went up on the very first Eurovision Song Contest in Lugano on 24 May 1956, Germany was in the middle of its post-war economic miracle. No-one at the time could have foreseen that the number of c...

EBU has finally revealed the votes given by the national juries and the televotes for each country. In the first semifinal we can see than Finland actually finished 6th in the televoting but only 15th with the juries - on the contrary as we Finns believed! In the second semifinal also Sweden was dropped from the final because of the jury and here's the irony: both Finland and Sweden were saved by the juries last year. So those in Finland who are now shouting "Get rid of the juries" shut up and refresh your short memory! Here are the full results for the semifinal one: Place   Televoting Jury Jury + Televoting 1 Greece (151) Belgium (165) Belgium 2 Iceland (149) Portugal (107) Greece 3 Belgium (146) Greece (99) Iceland 4 Russia (92) Albania (96) Portugal 5 Serbia (92) Bosnia & Herzegovina (86) Serbia 6 Finland (69) Iceland (85) Albania 7 Albania (68) Malta (66) Russia 8 Belarus (63) Serbia (65) Belarus 9 Portugal (58) Estonia (64) B...

Marcel Bezençon awards, named after the father of the Eurovision song contest have been handed out and Israel gets a consolation price after disappointing result in the contest itself by winning all three of them. Now that's the first. The Press Award is voted by the accredited media and press in Oslo 2010, the Artistic awar d by the commentators, and the Composer award by the composers of the song in competition. Congratulations Israel!

Last year 130 million people watched the contest and over 10 million televotes were given, let's see if those records will be broken tonight when the competition is fiercer than ever before. There is not a clear winner candidate unlike last year when Norway was won before the voting started really. The juries have already voted last night, tonight it's time for the people in all 39 participating countries to do so. Eurovision 2010 will be also broadcasted live or delayed in Australia, New Zealand, Kosovo, Kazakhstan and also in Hungary and Montenegro giving them a possibility to return next year. The final can be also watched all over the world by various satellites including TVE Internacional, RTP Internacional, HRT Sat, RTS Sat, TVP Polonia and SVT World, and of course on line in eurovision.tv. Have a great time wherever you are watching!

Five trends have been pretty evident in this year's rather recession market contest. First of all these shower curtain trailed dresses sported by Serbia, Croatia and Azerbaijan at least. Secondly violins (or similar) maybe influenced by Alexander Rybak's example last year. Mark Moldova, Albania, Finland and Greece. Thirdly barefoot. Finland, Croatia, Poland, Armenia, Georgia.... Then we have wings of some kind in Malta, Bulgaria and Belarus. And Sweden, the most dominant one even if Sweden is out herself. Denmark, Ireland, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Norway, Belarus - all of them have a touch of Swedish.  Outgoing trends seems to be pyros, which is a relief. They were used a lot less than before and now it is nearly good = used where they fit and not only used because they can, no matter if they fit the staging and the song or not. Also gone are huge drops on stage á la Ukraine 2009 or Greece 2008. Another outgoing trend, or a sign of recession? is the lack of promotion material. All...

Here comes my thoughts and ideas about the second semifinal. After the first semifinal it is pretty clear the 50-50 juries-televote doesn't seem to change a thing so I am not going to adjust any my remarks written here before that. But I must press the fact that I have not seen the final screen shots, camera runs and the overal show the TV viewers will see. It made me change my mind about a few things during the show yesterday (dropping Slovakia and adding Bosnia-Herzegovina for example) but I can't help that now. Lithuania - InCulto - Eastern European funk Like the first semi we have an opener that will surely get viewers attention. When this won I wasn't very pleased but I started liking this very soon and I find it still funny and entertaining. It's all about their attitude I guess. They have fun themselves and don't take this too seriously, yet being totally serious about it. This isn't stupid silly like We are the winners or other similar acts in the past....

The third and last dress rehearsal for the first semifinal of Eurovision song contest 2010 has just finished in Oslo's Telenor Arena and now all is said and done. Juries have already voted and it's a shame for Malta and Slovakia who did better now than last night. They will have to make it right tonight by catching the televotes. Apparently biggest applauses from the journalists and fans present in the arena and in the press center went to Greece and Finland... I will be back tonight after the show to comment the results and the show so please come back then. Around midnight CET. H A VE   A   G R E A T    S H O W !

125 million viewers, 10 million votes. It will be something like that, the world's biggest televoting adventure. For the first time the lines will be opened already in the beginning of the show and will remain open until 15 minutes since the last song has been performed. You can vote up to 20 times. And of course not for your own country, that hasn't changed. In case of a tie the televote runs over the jury vote.  Yes, the jurys are there and this time already in the semifinals weighing 50% of the actual vote. Five jury members in each country "who have been asked to judge the vocals, the quality and originality of the songs, the acts and the overall impression of the performance." Amongst them a previous winner and several previous contestants. Who they are we will find out only during the show when the commentators will reveal their names in each country. The jury has already voted from the second dress rehearsal last night. The combined result will give us the top...

I have been watching the first dress via a live stream and it all seemed to went pretty well. I missed the opening but the interval act is noisy and crowded! Overall feeling is that it's all very dark in the hall. Propably it will look better on TV! The whole show. Recaps come twice in the end, the first one being longer than the second one. And curisouly there was not much public present, even the press and fans were kept far away from the stage. Why? Anyways, I hope tom catch the second dress tonight 9pm as well and then it'll be full house I suppose. That's also the one the juries will vote for. They will also watch the last and third dress tomorrow and deliver their votes right after that to Oslo. The fake qualifiers were Greece, Moldova, Portugal, Latvia, Poland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Russia, Finland - causing the only applause - Belgium and FYR Macedonia. Oh they are showing it again? So... I still have no idea what's the opening is but it's fast. In six minut...

A little bit of Hollywood style action in Oslo 2010 last night when the Opening reception was held in Oslo city hall. Everyone at their best and in good spirits, even Bobbysocks and Alexander Rybak were there. Check the photo gallery by Side2 here .

The technical rehearsals are now over. 78 sets of 30-40 mins over the past 8 days. Tomorrow the dress rehearsals start and it all should come together. Tonight's the Welcome reception at Oslo city hall and most everyone (who has managed to get an invitation) is heading that way. Even the first semifinalists can have a long night as the dress starts only at 3pm.

As always the Eurovision nights are filled with parties. There was the Serbian one, the Norwegian one, the Icelandic one, the Greek-Cypriot one and the German-Ukrainian one are coming up.... Read about the parties here . Meanwhile the rehearsals go on today from 11am. Today the countries from Azerbaijan to Slovenia will have their second time on stage and the Big4 will have their first one. Spain, Norway, UK, France and Germany as last starting from 5.30pm will finally show us what they've got.

Day three in Oslo 2010 has closed and tomorrow we go on with the rest of the semifinalists. I will be blogging earlier than the past two days and today my visitors have passed the 350.000 mark. Thank you all! Let's celebrate it with this cute little guy from Slovakia who doesn't speak one word of Finnish yet manages to sing in near perfect accent Työli ellää . Keep following!

Aisha, four backing vocalists and some curtains hanging down. Rather minimal walking by Aisha while the others wander around aimlessly. I almost miss the laundry ladies from the national final. Rather dull 3 minutes I must say. Most bloggers complain about her vocal skills and indeed this song heavily stands or dies with them so she better get them right on the big night. Otherwise it's very blue like the whole setting. Check it out here .

Kuunkuiskaajat got to sing their song Työlki ellää also in the press conference after their rehearsals. Video is here by 3minutes.me.

Robin takes the stage next with a pianist and his backing group Manpower 4. Again very similar performance to the national final one including the weird movements (or didn't he have time to go to the loo before rehearsals?) and funny way of holding the microphone. Will look good on TV screen though but is it enough? Vocally good. Mainly white-blue-black stage. Challenging song and not everybody's cup of tea. I prefer coffee. What do you prefer? Sample here .