Reactions and Predictions, Semifinal Style

What a shocking first semifinal! Poor Norway, their song was wonderful but didn't qualify, I wonder if it came close. And poor Turkey for not qualifying even though they were the runner-up last year.
I only got six out of ten qualifiers right, my worst in years. Congratulations to all the qualifiers, including those I didn't believe in earlier: Hungary, Lithuania, Serbia, and Switzerland.

I might as well post my predictions for the second semifinal now:

BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA
DENMARK
ESTONIA
IRELAND
ISRAEL
LATVIA
ROMANIA
SLOVENIA
SWEDEN
UKRAINE

Before tonight I would have put Moldova in there but after tonight's results I don't think that's what juries would go for, and telephone voters wouldn't be enough to push it over the top. Instead I put Slovenia, which could be replaced with either of the other female-sang ballads, Austria and Slovakia, but Slovenia's inclusion instead of those is just wishful thinking. Good luck to everyone on Thursday!

Prediction Time Part 1

In less than 24 hours the first Eurovision semifinal this year will have passed. Here are my predictions for the qualifiers:

ALBANIA
ARMENIA
AZERBAIJAN
FINLAND
GEORGIA
GREECE
ICELAND
NORWAY
RUSSIA
TURKEY

Pretty much the countries from this semifinal that have a 100% qualifying record in the two-semifinal format, minus Portugal and plus Finland because the juries will probably swing the score that way. No matter the result, good luck to all the performers!

Top 5 Popular Songs

Time for my top 5 songs for this year’s Eurovision.

5. Israel
Dana International - “Ding Dong”
Reaction: I shouldn’t fall for the typical schlager but it happens anyway. This is no “Diva” but it’s a flashy glittery pop song that hits the spot.
Best Part: Bridge and final chorus
Rating: 5/5

4. Sweden
Eric Saade “Popular”
Reaction: Of course this song was going to be this high. This is a fantastic song for a teen idol type, with typical Swedish catchiness. Uncharacteristically for a song penned by this writer, the key change isn’t awkward. The whistling introduction also works well.
Best Part: Ending
Rating: 5/5

3. Norway
Stella Mwangi - “Haba Haba“
Reaction: This is the most fun song in this year’s contest. It has a joyous, clapping singalong chorus that takes up most of the song. It would be repetitive if it were not so catchy, but I could hear the chorus forever.
Best Part: Chorus
Rating: 5/5

2. Bosnia & Herzegovina
Dino Merlin - “Love in rewind”
Reaction: What’s not to love about this song? Questionable math, SITO, woah-oh-oh-oh-oh, the addition of the trumpet in the second verse, female backing vocals that blend well with the male lead vocal, and a lot of emotion.
Best Part: Last chorus. Also SITO!
Rating: 5/5

1. Russia
Alex Sparrow - “Get You”
Reaction: I almost didn’t put this at number 1 because the intro added in the final version of the song breaks the song up a little too much, but the remaining song is my favorite. It has that RedOne hit quality, and it’s much better than “Dance Alone” from this year’s Swedish selection. It has an aggressive flirtiness and the catchiest chorus in the contest.
Best Part: Last chorus
Rating: 5/5

Tomorrow night I’ll put up my predictions for the first semifinal.

They can

It’s time for rehearsals already, as well as my top 10! It was really hard making placement decisions this time, as I like my top 8 about the same. I would love for any of these songs to win.

10. Ireland
Jedward - “Lipstick”
Reaction: This is a fun, modern, and a little trashy pop song. It’s playful and flirty and very mainstream-friendy. A quick look at Youtube shows that this song already has a large number of teenage girl fans, so hopefully that will work out for them.
Best Part: Chorus
Rating: 4/5

9. United Kingdom
Blue - “I Can”
Reaction: This sounds exactly what you’d expect from an aging boy band, and I mean that in a good way. The vocal harmonies are great, a little reminiscent of Backstreet Boys back in the day (that is also a good thing). It’s a great, strong power ballad.
Best Part: Chorus
Rating: 4/5

8. Estonia
Getter Jaani - “Rockefeller Street”
Reaction: This song is by the best named singer this year (reminds me of Getter Robo). It’s poppy, quirky, and youthful. The subject of the song is a night out at an address that doesn’t exist and certainly doesn’t sound like any of my nights out in Manhattan but probably sounds like my idea of a night out in Talinn if it produces songs like this.
Best Part: Bridge + final chorus
Rating: 4/5

7. Hungary
Kati Wolf - “What about my dreams?”
Reaction: This is a strong dance-pop song, maybe a little dated (it sounds very turn-of-the-millennium) but it works. It has a catchy chorus and lots of interesting high notes.
Best Part: Hungarian verse
Rating: 4/5

6. Latvia
Musiqq - “Angel in disguise”
Reaction: After so many years at the bottom, it feels good to put the Latvian entry near the top. Like last year’s entry, the English lyrics are a little iffy, but this one works really well. The chorus is very catchy, especially the guitar part. The rap verse also works very well.
Best Part: Last chorus
Rating: 4/5