Dancing On Top of the World

This week saw two songs sent to Eurovision, and a few other countries' fields were narrowed down.

The runner-up in Finland was "We Should Be Through" by Mikael Saari. It's a ballad like Finland had sent the two previous years, if not more powerful. There were lots of comparisons to "Kuula" and I think I like this song a bit better.


One of the songs that failed to advance from the second heat in Hungary was "Hadd legyen más" by Szabó Ádám. The addition of the accordion to this rock ballad is intriguing and makes it unique.


Latvia had two semifinals in a row this week. Fox Lima failed to qualify from the first one with "Tirpini." The song is calming and mystical at first, then has a lot of drums, chanting, and wailing. The performance in the semifinal looked low-budget but beautiful.


Datarock failed to even make the superfinal in Norway's Melodi Grand Prix final with their song "The Underground." Datarock are notable for being EA darlings. Theirsongs have appeared in NHL 08, FIFA 08 through 10, NBA Live 08, The Sims 2 and 3, Madden NFL 08, and Need for Speed: Pro Street. Their songs have also appeared in several ads and TV shows, but who watches TV anymore? "The Underground" is a fun and funky disco-rock song. It has a sax solo and a key change, what more could you want?


Sweden's second semifinal saw the great "On Top of the World" by Swedish House Wives, which I realized much too recently is a play on Swedish House Mafia. The group is made up of Pernilla Wahlgren, Hanna Hedlund, and Jenny Silver, who all had great songs in years past of Melodifestivalen. Their song this year is an electronic dance song with a fantastic schlager chorus that floats on air.


Next week: finals in Austria, Germany, and Latvia! Semifinals in Estonia, Hungary, and Sweden! And the end of online voting in Spain, which will eliminate one of two songs in their four-song selection.