Life after Helsinki 2007 Eurovision

The voting order has been created by the results of the last night's jury vote that counts 50% of the final result. What does it tell us? I don't even try to think what it means, who could be the runaway winner or if there is one at all this year. The early countries would indicate big votes for Italy but does that mean it will lead and then drop? Big favorites Italy and Russia are among the lasst ones to vote, thus not getting any points at that point while Norway is the last one... giving 12 to Sweden that might catch up with Italy that didn't get any points just moments earlier? I'm not try to guess, we will see tonight. Here's the order (and you can see all the spokespersons here ) Montenegro - Malta - Finland - Greece - Portugal - Romania - Belarus - Albania - Moldova - Azerbaijan - Latvia - Serbia - Estonia - Denmark - Switzerland - Belgium - France - Armenia - Ireland - Sweden - Germany - Asutralia - Czech Republic - Spain - Austria - Macedonia - Sloven...

So, tomorrow's the night. Sweden, Italy and Australia have kept their favorite status all along, while Russia and Belgium have made the last minute rush to claim the trophy, and can we ignore Serbia's explosion that was first laughed at, then labelled hopeless and then all of sudden everyone loved it.... Estonia, Norway and Azerbaijan hang in there while Slovenia has been slipping while Israel hasn't risen as high on the list one could easily think seeing its popularity. Georgia started from the bottom and has worked its way to the midtable. France and Romania are slowly climbing and Armenia falling The biggest losers are Finland, Iceland and Belarus that were 5th, 10th and 15th still on May 10 but didn't survive the semifinal. Here are the rankings for the finalists (May 4-May 10-May 22) on Oddchecker. Sweden (01-01-01) Russia (07-07-02) Italy (02-02-03) Belgium (13-12-04) Australia (03-03-05) Estonia (04-04-06) Serbia (21-22-07) Norway (06-06...

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!

Euro Fan Cafe has been going all week and a lot has taken place there. Anne Marie David came and charmed, giving a mini concert and touched some fans to tears declaring without them she wouldn't be alive. And then she cried some, too. Eurovision can give you so much once you take part in it indeed. I would like to quote Hanna Pakarinen here when she said she didn't realize that taking part once you are a member of a very special family forever. So true. Jacqueline Boyer was there too and sung Tom Pillibi. How cool is that?  Several Austrians have taken the stage, like unrecognizable Thomas Forstner and ever so energetic Stella Jones (both pictured here).  Also Waterloo & Robinson who sung about their little world in 1976 have changed quite a bit and Waterloo even sung his national final entry from 1990, when he finished 4th with So ein wunderschönes Leben . Check out the video below. 

Nina Sublatti is the lonely Warrior in the grand final tomorrow. Singing at number 23 only ballads follow her and it isn't exactly party times before her after Serbia finishes their business at number 8. And the other Warrier was sent packing her bags and home yesterday. Listen what she's got to say and ... Vote, vote, vote!

France's Lisa Angell seems like a wonderful personality, besides being a great singer with a beautiful song. This blogger was in #TeamAngell already before my Flying Reporter Robert had this little chat moment with her. She's fab! And she was given the doomed #2 slot in the final. Make sure to vote for her and break the curse! Ok? 

Here it is, the running order. Thoughts? Not sure if the last place is best for Italy, or anyone. I would switch Italy and Russia and it would be already better. And poor France...  and the big uptempo numbers at 3rd, 8th, 12th.... Hungary willl stand out, so will Cyprus. Estonia might get lost between Israel and the UK. But then... it could be worse if drawn :-) 1. SLOVENIA 2. FRANCE 3. ISRAEL 4. ESTONIA 5. UNITED KINGDOM 6. ARMENIA 7. LITHUANIA 8. SERBIA 9. NORWAY 10. SWEDEN 11. CYPRUS 12.AUSTRALIA 13. BELGIUM 14. AUSTRIA 15. GREECE  16. MONTENEGRO 17. GERMANY 18. POLAND 19. LATVIA 20. ROMANIA 21. SPAIN 22. HUNGARY 23. GEORGIA 24. AZERBAIJAN 25. RUSSIA 26. ALBANIA 27. ITALY

So, here we have the initial break down of the performance slots for the countries. The producers and EBU will now sit down tight and make the running order by morning so the two dress rehearsals can go on tomorrow. Any guesses who will open and close the show? Funnily Austria was already drawn at number 14, right in the middle separating the countries. Could this become a tradition? First half: Armenia, Australia, Belgium, Cyprus,  Estonia, France, Israel,  Lithuania, Norway, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden, United Kingdom 14. Austria Second half: Albania, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary,  Italy, Latvia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russia, Spain

After another great show, less spectacular by organizers but more stunning by the artists and Conchita always in top form and lovely Valentina Monetta in greenroom we have results. If I look at my Wish list I only got 6/10 but my prediction was pretty good: 9/10. Only Poland took Czech Republic's place and they still haven't made it to the final. Ever. Shame. But then, I was toying with Poland, too, so it's ok. Here are the qualifiers: Lithuania (first half) Poland (second half) Slovenia (first half) Sweden (first half) Norway (first half) Montenegro (second half) Cyprus (first half) Azerbaijan (second half) Latvia (second half) Israel (first half) Stay tuned for the press conference and their slots in the final. And the full line up looks like this:

Oh dear. If I had trouble filling up the Wish list for the first semifinal in the second one I have too many I want in the final! I had to leave four potential ones out of it. Also, with my Flying Reporter Robert this time our Wish lists are quite different, while our Prediction list 9/10 the same. Let's see how it goes.  So, here is my Wish list , or those I would like to qualify: Lithuania, San Marino, Montenegro , Norway , Portugal ,  Czech Republic , Israel , Azerbaijan , Slovenia (the ones I had to drop but I would like to see in the final instead of some that qualified from the first semi are Ireland, Latvia, Sweden and Poland) Robert's wish list is: Ireland, Montenegro , Norway , Portugal , Czech Republic ,  Israel , Latvia, Azerbaijan , Iceland, Slovenia And what comes to the real thing, here's my Prediction list: Lithuania, Montenegro, Norway, Czech Republic, Israel,  Latvia, Azerbaijan, Sweden , Cyprus, Slovenia And ...

Just kidding. The Norwegian entrants Mørland & Debrah Scarlett are the most wonderful ones, far from monsters even if they transform as such on stage in a magnificient way. Just check out their performance tonight (and vote, vote, vote!) Meanwhile here they are speaking words of wishdom and sending their greetings to you. Enjoy!

Knez is competing tonight in the seond semifinal and he surely won't be saying Adio to the final on Saturday if it's up to me. meanwhile, here are his best regards and best wishes especially for you! (Vote, vote, vote! - that's my message for you!)

Loïc was also very happy and satified after his qualification for the grand final and took some time to greet all of you, my lovely readers! Got rhythm inside? Vote for Belgium on Saturday!

This piece of news isn't at all unexpected, as I have expected it all along: the talks about Australia only coming back next year in case they win has been only to calm waters so to speak until we see how it all goes. And it all has been going so well they might become a regular ficture from now on. They’ve already proved more adept than most countries. Executive Supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest, Jon Ola Sand has said that Australia’s efforts have been noticed and will be rewarded. "Australia has demonstrated that it can deliver the good things, and the interest is huge in the country, so it is clear that we will discuss whether to extend the contest. This is not in place permanently, and we have not discussed the issue in the EBU Reference Group, but the idea is interesting." as Metro.co.uk reports. If Jon Ola Sand wants it, who would say no? This blogger backs up the idea. Australia has brought one of the top-5 songs and my favorites and takes it serio...

Few days ago we published a video where the KLM crew was singing Trijntje's Walk along to support her entry. Now the video filmed by my Flying reporter Roberd has made the Netherland's biggest newspaper De Telegraaf in aftermath Trijntje's failure to make the final. How cool is that? (For us, not Trijntje!)

Why not visit this exhibition of Austria's efforts in the Eurovision song contest over the decades in Haus der Musik. Free entrance, too!

My flying/bicycling reporter Robert managed another scoop: to get the guys of Il Volo in front of his camera and send greetings to all of you. But as you know, things don't always go the perfect way.... like if your battery runs out, or you phone's memory..... This is exactly what happened here. A bit like the Finnish entry was the shortest ever, this is the shortest greetings video ever. Enjoy.... but don't blink, it's only 5 seconds! :-)

My bicycling/flying reporter Robert met the overjoyed and happy Elhaida Dani from Albania today and she wanted to send you some greeting. Enjoy!

Australia leaves no detail unperfect in their debut. Some camera angles and lights have been fine tuned and the whole thing looks pretty awesome. When you add the uptempo groovy song with great arrangement and Guy's flawless vocals there is a possibility we might end up in some European country next year, as Australia's guests. Guy looks Aussie chick and his backing group's got the moves right to the perfection. This is polished and well thought over - without being cold and boring. Love it!

UK's first rehearsal was kind of a disaster and made us forgot all ideas of a surprise in the making, or UK doing very very well this year. It all went a bit better today but still...  I don't get the idea with neon lights if this is supposed to be Charleston? It all comes across very lazy and uninspired even if Bianca and Alex put on a funny face when needed and act it out. Something just doesn't work. I would like to like this a lot more than I do in the end.... sigh....

Germany's Ann Sophie was trying a different outfit today, still in black pantsuit but with different accessories, including not so sober ear rings and (too) high heals. The backdrop is the same, and the choreography with her backing singers. She does her butt firt dance in the beginning we already saw in the German final. Nice song and nice vocals. Nice staging. Too much nice won't usually take you that far in the end, and I can't see black smoke coming out of a pipe for Ann Sophie being elected the new Lena. 

Lovely Lisa from France next. I have fallen totally for this funny lady ( check here ) and the song is great, and the staging maybe one of the bests. Or the backdrop. The effect with the four drummers and the rest on screen looks wonderful and  the song just grows and grows and she's fabulous singer. Not much else to add. I hope she does very well on Saturday!

Spain's Edurne with her Italian dancer Giuseppe Di Bella put on stage quite a show. Spain is famous for overdoing their acts and runing it all but this time it seems that everything holds together even if an awful lot happens on stage. The song starts with the famous la pietà pose and she's wearing a red cap and dress. Jesus, pardon Giuseppe is barechested in her arms. She gets up and finds the wind machine. Half way he tears off her dress and she sparkles in gold and the stage turns from dark to bright. After a lot of echoes notes it's time for a dance. And then some more long notes and behold, the dark clouds are away and she brings us the sun. The song's crap but they make the most of it, and all in all she's got better vocals (or backing singers) than I expected. 

Il Volo has come and conquered. One of the top contenders for victory - and The One for me - rehearsed for the second time this morning. They haven't been easy to access due to popularity with medias but my bicycling reporter Robert managed to get them on video, more about that later! Stay tuned. They have also proved to be funny and friendly in their press conferences and media meetings, but then we #IlVolovers already knew that :-) But back to this morning. no major changes to the previous one. The backsdrop is the same, guys are wearing their Armani suits and sing easily their lovely tune. I know they will gear it up when the live audience is there so .... Can we say it? Turin 2016? If I have to find something negative, was Gianluca looking a bit too angry? Was Piero searching for his voice the first lines? But then, it was early morning..... maybe their cappuccino wasn't perfect this morning? The delegation says they still need to finetune some things - maybe we are ta...

Being the home entry is always a bit double-edged sword. On the other hand you get the extra attention, but then you may end up overlooked a bit. Surely the host broadcaster makes their own entry look good in every possible way. This said, it's nice Austrians have left their staging rather minimal and simple as it suits the song perfectly - the only extravaganza being the burning piano, one of the rare special effects this year. But it fits. Minor changes in outfits for today. I like his voice a lot, and the song's good, too. Yet it's very hard to say how this will end up on scoreboard...