Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

It's crazy, it's party! Mr Worldwide in his neon green bolero and cha cha cha dancers in pink are giving us an extended version of UMK2023 staging. The pallets are there, there's a wooden box, straps. This is a BIG FINNISH for the first semi-final and I can already assure you the viewing figures will hit the all time high come the final night. For us this is all so weird; we don't have to worry about qualifying as there's no chance in hell we won't, and the only thing we worry about is Loreen. So it is. So be it. Knowing the historic rivalry between Sweden and Finland, all friendly btw, wouldn't it be so sweet to beat her in the televotes and take the trophy!  because, let's admit it, we have come to a situation that anything but victory will do totally forgetting any place in Top-5 would be our second best placing ever.  And I want to thank already at this point Yle, UMK and most of all Käärijä for the best Eurovision journey ever, no matter how it end....

Be kind. Another day, another rehearsals. Today the remaining acts of semi-final two rehearsed for the second time for 20 minutes and this time we get to see the short videos. Enjoy! Wailing Perfection Convincing 33 1/3, part 1 33 1/3, part 2 Bébébé (aka 33 1/3, part 3) Shaky Breathless Thriller Close Tanzen!

Today the first countries took take 30 minutes on Eurovision 2022 stage in Pala Olimpico di Torino, and apparently there were some problems with the rotating sun but generally most delegations were happy, at least in public. Here are some photos published by eurovision.tv with some first impressions - even if it's a bit insane to do any when having not seen a thing really but that's what we do. Judge without seeing. Enjoy! Albania opens the show and just like the song is a cliché of of the Eurovision ethnic dance bangers of yesteryear so it seems is their performance: Bare chested men in skirts to please the gaydom and fandom. How very original. Not. Not impressed at all. And that is just my own opinion, nothing more. I'm just a bit tired of this genre. Latvia is colorful and energetic as expected with a lot of veggies in the backdrop as expected, because it's sexy as f*ck.  Lithuania sticks to the same performance as before, even with the same silver and black dress. W...

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   Romania has a clear idea what they want to do, but in context of Eurovision it sadly looks rather boring and unoriginal, like it was taken from any random tv-show and apparently Roxen isn't exactly at her best in the rehearsals either . Has she taken a bite of something too big for her shoes to dance that way and sing, too? I was sure Romania would qualify and do well but now I'm leaning towards a possible NQ... Azerbaijan is another act that brings nothing new and exciting, including recycling the last year' song. I do like the colors on stage and the hint of mystical east in it but the song's no...

The fourth day of first rehearsals delivers us the goods of the remaining semi-finalist, including favorites Bulgaria and Switzerland and of course the underdog Finland that I like to think will do a lot better that fandom thinks at this point. Photos and videos as always from eurovision.tv   After today's rehearsals Bulgaria, Finland, Portugal (+5), Denmark (+2), Latvia, Albania (+2) moved up in odds while Georgia went dowm (-2). Otherwise Sweden continues to drop and Ukraine to climb. Also Belgium, Moldova, Australia, Ireland, Czech republic, Poland go down and Slovenia, Estonia up.  Georgia's Tonike Kipiani kept it all simple for his staging. In the dark stage only lights on him sitting on a box and writing sin both English and Georgian on him, the smoke and the backdrop. Apparently all was fine enough so in the third run through he felt relaxed enough to play with his voice and sing the song and not only in various voices just to annoy the euroboys. Extra points from me fo...

Today's rehearsals continued with the first rehearsals of the first part of second semi final. Tonight after three days of rehearsals there's already some movement in the odds. Iceland (+1), Greece (+2), Austria (+1) of today's acts move up and from first semi Ukraine (+2), Russia (+1), Cyprus (+2) and Croatia (+3) move up as well. Lithuania (-1), Sweden (-1), Norway (-5), Azerbaijan (-2), Slovenia (-1) and Australia (-2) move down and from today both Moldova (-1) and Serbia (-1) as well) San Marino's Senhit certainly gets everyone's attention with her headpiece. She's having four dancers – already a trend this year – on a rotating thingy and it's all very colorful, happy and insanely catchy as is the music video. Flo Rida is replaced by some random rapper but the strong rumor is he is already in town and waiting for his quarantine and Covid-19 tests to prove negative so he can join the fun. Vocally Senhit seems to deliver as we know she can. Estonia's U...

And here's the rest of the Day two's first rehearsals for the first semi final's second half.  Check the first part here .  Romania's Roxen is casually dressed in green hoodie and they try to recreate the music video on stage with some suffering. There's a lot of smoke, darkness and modern dance. And she's out of breath after all that. I hope they get it all together as I want this to do well. Azerbaijan's Efendi has four dancers with her all dressed in sexy black see through outfits that will surely please any heterosexual man engaging in a rather daring choreography similar to the music video. What I hear both the dancing and the singing were a lot better in the video than live.... Ukraina's Go_a seems to have won over even the most dubious ones with their staging. A great mix of folklore and modernism in both outfits and the performance that fits the song perfectly. Ukraine might score very well, but then this blogger always thought that. Malta's ...