Eurosunday: 150th Post!

As the title states, this is my 150th post on this blog, which means I've posted around once a week on average, which makes no sense because I've posted so infrequently that I can barely remember what points I posted more frequently. Anyways, on to this week's Eurovision decisions.

This week, two songs were chosen/revealed. First is the entry from Belarus, “Eyes That Never Lie.” It’s a pretty good rock song sung by a teen idol type…I’m beginning to sense a pattern. I’ve only heard a live version so it has a chance to improve in a later version, but it’s nowhere near my favorite entry from the country (also not my least favorite either).

Just when I was really starting to like “Zauvijek volim te” Montenegro busts out something that sounds very poppy and exactly like the usual thing I like. I don’t know if it’s just me or not, but “Just get out of my life” sounds a lot, a lot like the disqualified “Innocent Heart” from Malta this year.

In Finland, the top song, “Speakerbox” used sign language in the choreography. The song itself didn’t make that big of an impression on me but visually it looks better and seems a lot more earnest than “The War Is Not Over” did in 2005. The other qualifying song, “Kirkas kipinä” made more of an impression on me, although it’s still nowhere near my favorite in the Finnish preselection. If Jari Sillanpää wins the ticket to Moscow, it might start to feel like a repeat of 2004, since Sakis Rouvas is the Greek performer (although I’d love it to be a repeat of 2005 with Chiara, Omar Naber, and Feminnem, even though I’m not too fond of the first two’s songs this year and I haven’t heard Feminnem’s song for Dora yet).

I predicted it last week (not that it took much skill) -- the United Kingdom sent the Emperors of Soul home. Personally, if it was up to me I would have sent them home just for singing a Billy Joel song, but that’s because I’ve been forced to listen to too much Billy Joel throughout the years. Jade’s spot in the bottom two was much less predictable, since she seems to be “the chosen one” of Your Country Needs You. The remaining three acts are all decent and assuming the song fits their voice, could do decently as well, although my favorite is definitely Mark.

The time has come for me to actually listen to the Bulgarian songs, what with the addition of the good songs as wildcards directly into the semi and final. Still, none of the songs really interested me. Here’s to hoping that something really great will be found in the final.

Norway held its first semifinal this Saturday. Unfortunately, I don’t have as many early favorites as I had hoped. I like “U look good”, but mostly for the lead singer’s outfit. It will probably grow on me by the final. I also like “Tricky” and really enjoyed the performance (by that I mean the outfits), but not as much as everyone else seems to.

Lithuania had their final quarter-final, and aside from maybe “From the distance” and “Kelias pas tave” none of the qualifiers interested me. Iceland too didn’t really have anything that interested me, although “Lygin Ein” was my favorite of their songs this week.

Next week three countries will have semifinals -- Iceland, Lithuania, and Norway. Six other countries will make their final decisions: Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom. I'd like to see "Det det" win in Denmark, and "Druga liga" in Slovenia (although I haven't heard all the songs yet). My favorite Finnish songs are no secret by now. None of the Romanian songs I've heard really excited me, unlike last year. And of course, I haven't heard the songs from the Netherlands and the United Kingdom (song in the singular, in that case).