Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

One gets almost emotional with a title like that! Italy back in Eurovision, and hosting a party! Che emozione!  Anyways, Raphael Gualazzi and the Italian delegation are hosting a party in Dusseldorf's Jazz Schmiede Club and of course Raphael will perform. One of the surprises is his version of Blue's UK entry I can that you can have a teaser here . Blue will be amogst the guests while the artists in the second semifinal are busy with their jury rehearsal...

While the Finnish media has been delighted today and also rather surprised Paradise Oskar actually did make it to the final in some other countries it's a different story. Ask Norway. Ask Stella Mwangi. She was quoted commenting "Shit happens" before bursting into tears. The Turkish guys seem to have taken it easier but has anyone seen Emmy for comments? Turkey misses the final for the first time and after 6 top-10 finishes in the past eight years including one winner and one runner-up. Armenia misses the final for the first time, too. They have scored 5 top-10 placements in the past 5 years. And more importantly lose the personal battle with Azerbaijan that went on to the final and is one of the favourites even for the victory. Last night's qualifiers brought some surprises. Who would have thought Lithuania would make it? Evelina is a mighty singer but the song was concidered maybe a bit dated. And then we have a trio of good mood rather acoustic simple songs Switze...

Germany is well know for it's punctuality and that things work. Eurovision 2011 apparently has proved that image wrong. And the worst happened last night when several countries were left without their commentators when the sound faded. Like Finland. We had two commentators, Asko Murtomäki, an Eurovision expert and newcomer Tarja Närhi (who was absolutely fabulous!!!), they got tired of the problems and the German saying just "We'll fix it" and 5 minutes before the start took their mobile phone and the whole show was commented by phone. It ment that most of the time only Tarja was speaking and they couldn't use their written script but had to improvise mostly - but they did a great job! Greece, Cyprus, Portugal, Norway, Spain, Croatia and Serbia were amongst the countries that were left without commentators according Iltalehti.  And that brings us to protests. Norway was one of the biggest favourites to win the contest and instead didn't make it past the semif...

First when Paradise Oskar pulled out a number one for his starting position last night I was rather disappointed and thinking "ok, there go all chances to do well in the final...." as it does matter. Finland had a great spot in the semifinal in halfway and sandwiched between to so different songs from Georgia and Malta. Now, Da da dam didn't seem like an opening track for the final, it would sit in nicely somewhere else. Or would it? Maybe people voting are enchanted by it and compare the others to come to it and decide none is as good? Well, maybe that's a bit of a daydreaming but then if we think about some contest openers that went on to win the contest, songs like Ding-a-dong and Diggi-loo diggi-ley. Da da dam fits in just nicely. There's not two without the third, as they say? But then it would become rather problematic: Finland is hosting the Ice Hockey worldchampionships in Helsinki and Hartwall arena from May 4 to May 20, 2012. Would we host it in Turku an...

Oh I can't go to sleep yet. Serbia just drew number 24 for the final! And Lithuania gets number 4. Greece gets number 9. And number 19 for Azerbaijan. And Georgia gets the 25! Switzerland gets number 13, sandwiched between Italy and UK. Hungary gets number 5. Oooh no... Finland got number 1 :-( Russia gets number 10 between Greece and France. And finally Iceland gets 21, just before Spain. And of course we have the slots number 11 for France and 12 for Italy, 14 for United KIngdom, 16 for Germany and finally number 22 for Spain. And now for real: Good night Europe! Wake up call in 4,5 hrs.... sigh.

Eurovision is beautiful because it is full of surprises. Turkey and Armenia, thought to be intouchable and always in the final are out, so is a big favourite Norway. Instead Iceland and Switzerland, and most of all Lithuania that was mostly ranked chanceless made it. And most of all, FINLAND IS IN!!! Me so happy! Now let's see what number we get for the final and then... sky's the limit! So, the qualifiers are: Serbia, Lithuania, Greece, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Switzerland, Hungary, Finland, Russia and Iceland! So, I had 7-8/10 in my prediction. I had Norway, Turkey and Albania in but instead we got Lithuania and both Iceland and Serbia that I had as one of these two. I will get back to comments, results and predictions tomorrow after work. Now folks, good night and da da dam!

Ok, folks! It's almost the time, how time flies when you are having fun! In 1,5 hrs the first semifinal of the 2011 Eurovision song contest will kick off and it's been interesting to read about the predictions, polls and such, but as we know in Eurovision nothing is sure until it's over. However, my last minute prediction - before seeing the entries live and in Tv - is in no particular order: Turkey, Russia, Finland, Georgia, Norway, Hungary, Azerbaijan, Greece, Albania and Iceland or Serbia.

So, not only the winner of Eurovision 2009 Alexander Rybak, also the winner of 2010 Lena announced Paradise Oskar is her favourite this year. Not when asked by a Finnish reporter out of courtesy but blurting it out in a press conference before no one had time to ask! Before she has expressed her teenage crush on the guys of Blue but maybe she has found a new sweetheart? :-) Her mind has been occupied with a problem as well: If she wins again how she will give the award to herself??!! Before tonight's semifinal and moment of truth you can watch a nice video of what to expect tonight  here . (eurovision.tv also features Finland in the photo for the story and also in the video's image it's the Finnish postcard.....)

My collaborator Daniel Motiño Camúñez is in Dusseldorf as part of the AEV Espana and here's Paradise Oskar's greetings in Spanish (and in English). 

The national OGAE clubs have been voting the past two months and finally all clubs have given their votes. The last ones were Malta, Germany and Albania and surprisingly Finland got votes from all of them. Or rather the only votes from them: 4 from Malta and Albania and  1 from Germany. Hungary, France, United Kingdom and Sweden were all on top most of the voting but Sweden was left behind in the end. Now let's see how the real results will turn out.... this voting hasn't been that reliable in the past years.... 1. Hungary 277 2. France  270 3. United Kingdom  253 4. Sweden 238 5. Estonia  183 6. Bosnia-Herzegovina  119 7. Azerbaijan  117 8. Denmark  56 9. Germany  50 10. Norway  43 11. Poland  34 12. Italy  28 13. Israel, Romania  27 15. Austria, Russia  26 17. Slovenia  23 18. Greece  19 19. Turkey  12 20. Switzerland, Croatia 11 22. Ireland  10 23. Finland  9 24. Belarus...

A few weeks ago it was announced the lovely girls of Kuunkuiskaajat would tell the Finnish votes in the final. Today the cold shower: EBU has said no. Only one of them will be seen on screen and that one is Susan. Of course the girls are disappointed for the new strickt rules that permit only one person. However they will both be there in YLE's studios even if we will only see Susan.... maybe? (Sorry girls for the photo. I just wanted to make a point. Luv ya!)

So, here we go. The technical rehearsals are over and it's time for the dress rehearsals. That was delayed so so much for the German punctuality. Again! Today the first semifinalists go through the show twice. Tomorrow the third dress rehearsal and then finally the live event to the homes of Europe!  Apparently this first one was far from perfect - at least on the screens in the press center. Timing issues, wrong cameras, stage cleaning showed on screens instead of the postcards but all that should be fixed by tonight when the juries vote already. Some reports tell the hosts were rather clueless in the end when the results were to be announced but surely they will fix that, too. Not much to tell about the performances as we have seen it all already. Except Turkey. They finally revealed what's in the globe on stage. I mean what's the idea of that poor woman doing aerobatics inside it: She will emerge in the end having wings and be free! How cute.... Croatia's dress chang...

... for the second semifinal at this point: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Austria, Moldova, Sweden, Cyprus, Israel, Slovenia and Ireland plus one of these: The Netherlands, Latvia or Denmark. But what do I know?

Blue and United Kingdom on stage next, this time in casual outfits giving a strong rehearsal. I'm not sure about those outfits they are supposed to wear - they looked a bit too stiff or something, this looks better in casual stuff they have been wearing when doing this song around Europe and UK the past month, why make it so serious for the big night? All looked and sounded fine to me but then it all can look so different on TV. Still my main contender for the victory. But I'm still not convinced with this new version.... Lena for Germany did a solid good performance and was vocally better today me thinks. The condom dancers are fabulous and Lena is such a little teaser and actress this will look great on telly for sure. Not a winner but a decent ending for the host country. She's wearing a all black trouser dress this time without the colorful belts and shoes, what's it going to be in the final? Spain 's Lucia has changed to her final dress it seems, pink with co...

France sounds and looks just like yesterday, Amaury even has the same jacket on so is this what he's going to wear? The best of this song is the back screen images in my opinion. I don not get any winning vibes from this so if this wins I have totally lost my Eurovision radar. And this kind of a winner would not do a favour for Eurovision. Top-10 perhaps but nothing more or are the fans fooled by thinking he's so great and so cute. I don't think he's either but then I rate Andrea Bocelli as B-class singer - there are so many better ones.... Italy also looks and sounds the same as yesterday and no major changes has been done. This is a good place to compare France and Italy as I suddenly realized what puts me off the French entry: it's so manufactured and artificial: Someone found this kinda cute guy who can sing and since then put him to recording studio to release albums filled of classics and covers making a lot of money, especially around Christmas and Mother...

Belarus looks on stage like they were hosting a quiz sgow with their huge microphone stands. I won't comment the song or Anastasya's vocal capacities for obvious reasons. No final.With a different singer and lyrics this could be rather nice though. After three poor entries (for me) finally something I like, Latvia . The guys of Musiqq are also in their casual wear today and the performance is a solid good one. They start sitting on stools their backs to the audience and turn around when the chorus kicks in. The rapper guy gets up when it's time to rap a bit and the singer guy has a great voice if a little raspy today after last night's party?. It's groovy, poppy and catchy. I want to believe this qualifies, even if no one else seems to think so... Time will tell. I like it! After Latvia another popular dislike of mine, Denmark . Like Romania more I hear this less I like, but then the televoters hear this for the first or second time and are fooled. Shame. The onl...

Dana International did a diva like move cancelling her first press conference after the first rehearsal but we got a real treat after her second rehearsal. Funny and witty, in a good mood the press was roaring with laughter at times - the (anti) Diva is back. Here .

The morning after the Welcome Party is here and Slovenia 's Maja had the earliest call on stage. And it shows and sounds like it, too. Maja is not wearing her actual outfit nor the backing singers but the very high heals are there. The choreography is great and propably they used this rehearsals to master that and the camera angles instead of giving us a vocally perfect performance. This is kind of a "in your face" song and will feel very strong on TV and buzzled people will either go numb or vote for this in masses. Bordeline finalist at this point. More in that out though. Romania has still those annoying girls jumping around with their trumpets and this morning I'm very, very tired of this song that I never liked so much to start with.  I hope there is some common sense in Europe and Romania misses the final for once....  but I doubt it. They will vote this to the final as most of them hear this for the first time. This is a song that turns old at latest with the...

Last night was the official Welcoming Party with its red carpet - only the name brings back such fond memories from Helsinki's Finlandia House in 2007 - but along the week there have been several others worth mentioning, and of course there's a party every night at EuroClub.  The Dutch delegation organized a party where else but on a boat, the Georgian's had a party with all their three Sopho's present, Sopho Kalvashi, Sopho Nizharadze and this year's vocalist Sopho Toroshelidze. The Georgian parties are known for good food and endless wine and this was no exception. Many other artists took part as well, amongst them Paradise Oskar, Nadine Beiler and Emmy. The Turkish party earlier seems to have been great, too. And the OGAE Party. Dana International is going to shine in the coming Israeli party for the nation's Independence Day and then there's the 3M Schlagerbaren to come as well tomorrow  The parties go on.... Here's a great gallery of the Welcome P...

 Hmm, I used to dislike it but now when it's performed very good energy, simple but effective choreography, fire works in the right places and even in the back screen it all of sudden isn't that bad. Lucia dekivers well and one can't say they're not trying. Actually they made something pretty good from rather poor ingredients. This might do better than we ever thought until tonight. If Marie N won with that crap maybe Spain can pull a top-10 with this? Or then not... and if Lucia only didn't look like a rabbit in the flashlight most of the time. Here are the videos: AKOE , Official

Reigning Eurovision queen Lena from Germany next on German stage defending her title that she will lose come Saturday night. The song is weird and I can't made my mind up if I like it or not but the condom dancers are cool. In some run throughs her vocals are very flat but she will propably deliver when it matters and she does look prettier than ever. And as this is the host country's entry the staging is perfect. But I doubt she can win again and propabloy she doesn't want either!  Here are the videos:  Escdaily , Official

One of the favourites next and my favourite to win, United Kingdom and Blue with I can  They have dropped the military aggressive choreography which might be a good thing as aggressiveness has never done weill in Eurovision and they have also remixed the song and it has some changes at least in the intro and even a full stop in the first part of the song that take some time to get used to. Besides that they have four LED walls on stage multipling themselves for the most part showing their faces, or them dancing, or details of the lyrics or simply the words "I can". Not as good as I expected but then this was just the first rehearsal. They still can. Here are the videos: AKOE , Escdaily , Official

After France Italy that makes a welcome return after 14 years as we all know by now with Raphael Gualazzi's jazzy Madness of love/Follia d'amore. First I was surprised to see a whole band with him on stage as I was let to believe he will be alone with his piano but that's good. It gives the song a club feeling. Raphael is vocally giving his all - some say it's not much but I say it's a question of style - and concentrates on the lyrics eyes closed often. Maybe too often say some again. The background is mostly piano playing that fits in nicely. Raphael is the only artist this year sitting down for the performance. How will this do? It deserves to do well as it is real music amongst the circus acts but televoters might disagree. The same goes for France.  Here are the videos: AKOE , Escdaily , Offcial

The Big5 rehearsed for the first time today and first of them was Amaury Vassili for France with his Sognu . He is the only one alone on stage with Finland's Paradise Oskar but where Finland is minimalist France is boombastic with this opera bolero. Vassili has strong vocals and the background thing with clouds and stars and such looks nice. He wears one of his simil-military jackets. But Eurovision winner as most fans think? As much as I would like to see France win but not with this song so hardly. Maybe a good runner up. Here are some other videos: Escdaily and AKOE . 

Another solid performance from Bulgaria .  There's nothing wrong with it but nothing special either. Poli is vocally strong. Looks like they have skipped the use of the catwalk and she does her stripping on main stage instead. Which might be a wise choice - we all remember Safura running like possessed back to stage last year.... and no, it didn't look fine. And I still have my doubts about Bulgaria's qualification chances.... FYR Macedonia also gave a polished performance. Vlatko is wearing a black jacket and his dancers are in white smili-traditional dresses with red belt  His voice is better today, not so nhusky and forced as before and the back screen is still looking fabulous. Still, it is very had for this to qualify even if it is FYR Macedonia. Yet, if it will shock the fans and do so I'm not so surprised after all! Israel and Dana International is the last semifinalist to rehearse today before the Big5 take the stage for the very first time. She's apparent...