Europe are Shock!

Welcome to this week’s Sunday Eurovision roundup. Unfortunately I was unable to write last week’s post because I was sick in bed all week.

Finland – I really liked “Battlefield of Love”, so I was disappointed that it had a poor performance and a poor result.

Romania – The only song I really care about in this is “Shine”, which luckily won its semifinal. I hope it wins because this would look fantastic on a big stage (the Romanian semifinals stage is smaller and has much less of an impact.

Sweden - I really liked the first semifinal, and I’m happy with the results, although I thought “Alla gamla x” deserved better than last place. I liked this week's semifinal less, but it was full of surprises. I’m pretty sure nobody expected Carola and Andreas not going directly to the final. Since it’s less likely that they’ll win now, there’s a better chance that someone else will win (Amy? Charlotte? BWO????)

There are many many many finals next week, as Bulgaria, Croatia, Iceland, Ireland, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, and Ukraine select their songs. As for predictions, I’d like to see “Gdje je srce tu je dom” in Croatia, anyone but the turkey in Ireland, “The devil” in Poland, “Shine” in Romania, and “Zavet” in Serbia. There are also semifinals in Belgium, Finland, and most importantly Sweden, because BWO will be performing! If “Lay your love on me” is anything less than amazing I will be sorely disappointed.

Concert Review - Robyn 2/5/08

Last night, I saw Robyn at the Highline Ballroom in NYC. It was a very special show, as she told us it was her first live show in the United States! Despite the loud crowd, this has to be one of my favorite live music experiences. The venue was fairly small so it was very intimate, and I got fairly close to the stage. Robyn is an energetic and engaging performer and I like her music even more now that I've heard it live. Hearing her and the entire crowd singing "Konichiwa Bitches" was quite an experience. The entire crowd sang along with every song and she seemed a bit surprised that they knew all the words. I hope her performances in this country will lead to success here.


--Youtube video will be posted soon--

Super Sunday

It's time for another Eurosunday! This weekend had quite a few finals with some high points (Slovenia) and low points (Estonia).

Denmark - Denmark selected "All Night Long" by Simon Mathews. It's a cute, yet a little repetitive, song about having fun . I wasn't too taken with any of the Danish songs so I can't comment on the songs that didn't make it.

Estonia - I'm disappointed with the Estonian final, which selected "Leto svet" as its winner. I thought "365 days" and "Ice-cold story" (2nd and 3rd place in the national final) were much better songs and could have been memorable in Belgrade. Kreisiraadio seem to be this year's Todomondo, with a completely unmemorable song with multiple-language gimmick in order to pick up points.

Lithuania - "Nomads in the night" is my favorite Lithuanian entry from the past 3 years that I've been writing about Eurovision, but that's not saying much as I strongly disliked their last two entries. Jeronimas Milius sings a sentimental power ballad, and although his accent is a bit strong, he has a good voice. It's going to take a few listens for it to grow on me (and then it will probably jump to the top of my list), but I can see this appealing to fans with theatrical tastes.

Slovenia - This preselection was the highlight of my weekend. The final was of very good quality, and I would have been happy if half of the songs had won. Luckily the winner was my favorite, "Vrag naj vzame". It is probably destined to be a fan-favorite-that-goes-nowhere like "Je T'adore", but until that time comes I'll pretend that isn't the case and keep listening to this song on repeat.

Next week brings finals in Hungary, Moldova, and Norway, and semifinals in Belgium, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Romania, and Sweden. I'd like to see "We Are One" win in Moldova, and "Always always" in Norway (if it makes it past the last chance round), but those probably won't happen. I'm also looking forward to seeing "Dr Frankenstein" at the first Romanian semifinal, and of course I want to see what great (or not-so-great) songs Melodifestivalen will bring us this year. Next week my Eurosunday may be posted on Monday (because next Sunday I will be seeing the Spice Girls!!!!!)