Deja Vu

This week in Eurovision brought some stuff we've seen before. Another drag queen, two more songs about dancing, and many more rock songs. Some of these were very good, and some of these were not. I'll try to keep my comments short.

On Tuesday, France chose "L'amour a la francaise" by Les Fatals Picards. It's a cute rock song, but I would have preferred "Galbi" or "On and on". Really I'm just happy that "Bye Bye Papa" didn't win; it sounded too much like "I Get Around" by the Beach Boys for my taste. I noticed that from 1:04 to 1:06 there are some strings that sound identical to the ones at the beginning of "Work Your Magic", which, if Belarus makes it to the final (if you haven't figured it out yet, I hope it does), could work to France's disadvantage. Austria's song, "Get A Live, Get Alive" by Eric Papilaya, is an okay rock song, but isn't really anything special.

Germany chose "Frauen regier'n die Welt" by Roger Cicero. It's a nice jazz/swing song, but as hard as I try I cannot get into that type of music. Forget what I said about other the other ballads, Serbia's soung, "Molitva" by Marija Serifovic is my new favorite ballad. It has a great chorus and Marija has a great voice. I love the drums towards the end. Turkey's entry was revealed Friday after much anticipation, and luckily "Shake It Up Sekerim" sounds nothing like "Yassou Maria". It sounds sort of like a Turkish Justin Timberlake. Ukraine chose "Danzing" by Verka Serduchka and it is a dance song much scarier than the one about vampires. It sounds like it should be the theme song for a children's TV show - one of those surreal ones that gave sensitive kids like me nightmares.

It took us until Saturday for us to get a Lordi rip-off as close as the Czech Republic and their song "Mala Dama" by Kabat. I say that because it is a rock song with growling vocals. It's a good first try for the Czech Republic.
Portugal chose "Danca Comigo" by Sabrina. I wonder if the Portuguese voters have been listening to the songs already selected, because this song is somewhat similar to "Ven a bailar conmigo", and not just because of the name. I prefer Norway's song, but I'd wait until the draw for the running order to predict who will do better. Hungary released "Unsubstantial Blues" by Magda Ruzsa. Like the title implies, it is a singer-songwriter style blues rock song. It's not that bad, but it's in the middle of the pack for me.

And of course, Sweden chose "The Worrying Kind" by The Ark. Remember when I said their style of glam rock isn't really my thing? Well, after listening to more of their songs I have realized that it is. The song is very good and too fun for its subject.

The songs from Russia and the United Kingdom haven't been revealed/chosen yet, but you will have to wait until later for my opinions on them because next week I'm starting my 2nd annual countdown of the songs chosen, starting with my least favorites next week and ending with my top 5 the Sunday before the actual shows.