Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

Once again many spokespersons are already familiar faces. There are previous Eurovision singers and winners, even previous Eurovision and national final hosts and then well known tv-hosts and hstesses in theirown counties. And then some random celebrities like Ireland's ex-Westlife singer and UK's celebrity tv cook Nigella Lawson. Here they are from Valentina Monetta to Helena Paparizou, from Tinkara Kovac to Andrea Demirovic, Teo, Suzy and Nikki.and more.... and ding dong alert: Krista Siegfrids will burst out with a bubble of laughter and positivity, too!

Rise and dance like a phoenix in the rain. It was no secret in Copenhagen Eurovision some ladies really hit it off, namely Austrian Conchita Wurst (who ended up winning the contest), Ruth Lorenzo (respectable 10th place) and Suzy from Portugal (just missing out by one point the final). There were rumors of an eventual trio forming for some work together, but now it seems Ruth and Conchita have kicked Suzy out and plan a duet only for Ruth's worthcoming album. In these photos by yours truly the moment they told her is captured below.... (Maybe, lol)

Suzy Wants to be yours but she also wants to be ammarinese. Maybe? Good luck Portugal! Quero ser tua, oh oh oh!

San Marino had its first technical rehearsal this morning as the second country after Moldova. It ment also a very early wake up and pick up to the venue "just to be sure". It sure was sure as the ride took 15 minutes instead of 1 h 40 min scheduled.... Anyways, the rest went on smoothly and Valentina had time to reconnect with Cristina Scarlat and later Suzy from Portugal joined in and by the time we were ready to leave also the Netherlands, Montenegro, Hungary and Malta had arrived. In the 40 minutes of rehearsal the song was performed four times, each performance followed immediate rescreening for changes. Smoke and wind machine were tested as well as different colors. More changes and minor hickups will be fine tuned for the second rehearsal on Friday. Valentina stands on a giant sea shell like a Botticelli's Venus while her four backing singers (Giovanna Naber, Giacomo Di Benedetto, Sandrina Sedona and Paulo Alves) are placed in the bachround by the side o...

Waiting and waiting. That's what it is all about. But while you wait you may meet some cool people, like these in the pics :-)   You may also need ear plugs....

Portugal returns after one year break and caused in the end the biggest scandal of the season with the voting hassle. Suzy will be in Copenhagen with her pimba song Quero ser tua , and nothing will change that. She started in music already as a child and scored her first big hit in 1999. And she lives in Dubai these days.... Robert: Suzy has a summery, medicore song for me. It's nothing very special. However, after all the dirt, including death threats, that are just beyong any imagination you can only hope she will have a revenge over her critics and qualify for the final. The poor losers who cause this ridiculous behaviour are most likely fans of Catarina Pereira's Mea culpa . But that song is just as medicore to me as Suzy's. My clear favorite was the diva Zana with the song Na asas da sorte . Maybe a bit oldfashioned, I admit, but a strong performance, catchy and with four great backing singers. Blogilkar: I'm with Robert here. I do like Quero ser tua , f...

Portugal entertained us tilmthe early hours with their 50th anniversary show in Eurovision. Sadly most every previous entry presented in one way or the other during the night was better than any of the songs in competition tonight. This blogger wishes nothing more than a Portuguese win in Eurovision but it is not going to happen in 2014 either. The final was like a 1982 final, time stood still. Not necessarily a bad thing, but the songs weren't that good. Or rather original. One reason is some of them were written by the usual writers who seem to send their songs to anyone who will accept them hoping for a spot in the national selection. Unfortunately two of these made the top-3.... Leaving Zana out. But all is good in the end as Suzy won leaving them home :-). Hooray Portugal for choosing a local product! 1. Suzy 41,56% - Quero ser tua     2. Catarina Pereira 23,58% - Mea culpa 3. Rui Andrade 14,56% - Ao te encontro

In the aftermath of Swedish and Danish Eurovision galore also Portugal re-entered the Euromania. The semifinal took place late last night and ten became five. It's 50 years since Portugal's debut in Eurovision and as much as I would like to see them finally winning - they have surpassed Finland already by a large margin in number of years in contest without a win - it's not going to happen this year either. Somehow the whole show gave an impression of being thrown in a timecapsule back in time about 25 years. Sometimes it's good things don't change and indeed the evening was rather entertaining with songs that were timeless. For all the wrong reasons. Add some bad camerawork and you have it summed up. I was expecting maybe a bit more modern touch, and most of all more originality and boldness taking clues from the fantastic musical heritage they have but no. Anyways, I think the five best offerings did make the final. Now it may be more to an artist's likabi...