Eurovision 2012: Best of the Second Semi Final Contestants

Here are the better entries for the Second Semi Final, again in A -Z order. To be honest, only Malta really stands much chance of making that much of an impression but they're here anyway and, if you really really want to see what the other nine have to offer before they're forgotten completely then they're all available in lovely widescreen on Eurovision.tv. Edit a few days later: listening to Sweden again, that is one good performance and a definite contender to win.


Bosnia & Herzegovina

Always in the running, this is a serious but good track and well sung. It has a nice flute section but isn't really a winning entry - again.



Estonia

Another serious entry - there are a lot this year - by a talented singer. It's a classic Balkan-sounding number which will help get support from a good tranche of nations' voters. Good song. Stands an outside chance. Top 10 maybe.



Malta

This country has tried so hard in the past but never made it to the top. This year they have an Enrique Iglesias sound-a-like with a well-written song and plenty of hooks with its Hey Hey Hey and Yeah Yeah Yeah which I'm sure will go down well. Really quite catchy and a top 10 contender if not that much higher.




Netherlands

A quirky number, quite different from the rest which might get some attention. A girl, hopefully without the feathers that she wears in the video and slightly odd costume, playing a guitar, folky and simple. You'll smile if nothing else and think that it was quite nice. Reminds me a bit of the winning norway entry a while ago. It's not as good as that, though, and not a real winning contender but deserves a mention here.






Norway

Tooji is in the same vein as Malta'a entry this year but not as impressive so the votes will be split to Norway's disadvantage and this won't be bringing them another win. It's energetic, though, and a better looking bloke than Malta. It'll make the left side of the voting board but not a great deal more.



Serbia

Here's another scenic number from the country that is trying to regain a number 1 slot from a few years' ago and which usually gets high scores from all but one or two of its neighbours. It has lots of flavours and my son says it's pretty much a Coldplay number rehashed which I suppose isn't necessarily goingto to do any harm. Well-presented and stands a chance of breaking into the Top 10 too.



Slovenia

Conspicous by their absence, due to some pretty dull entries recently, this passionate and anthemic number might change that this year for them. I'm not that sure what to make of it but, if it's really well sung on the night and it builds well on the stage I can see it being popular.



Sweden

Always in with a chance with great songwriters and production people around, this heavy trance number will meet with young voters' approval. It needs atmosphere to work best and quite how it can be presented at its best on a stage remains to be seen. It's good, though, and could be a Top 5 entry if it goes right for the girl. Edit a few days later: I am now predicting this as a possible winner, after listening again. It is very very good indeed. 





Ukraine

I always feel that I have to mention Ukraine as they always seem to do well. Sometimes they definitely deserve it, other times they don't but they're the one old Soviet State that can be relied on the present us with a good-looking, dark haired girl with an almost perfect figure and lots of appeal for the guys out there. This one is another intense dance affair in true Eurovision style but it does lose its way half-way through and you start wondering just who is actually singing - the blonde or the black girls? I guess we'll find out on the night. Not a winner but they'll be competing and stealing votes from many of the other girls no doubt.



Next post will sweep up the remaining entries that are automatically through to the final - the countries that pay for it, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and UK, plus the Azerbaijan effort to win twice in a row.

Eurovision 2012: Best of the First Semi Final Contenders

Ok, folks, here we go. I've been through all the first semi final contenders and here are 8 that deserve a mention. The Eurovision.tv site has some very smart very widescreen videos this year which are reproduced here rather smaller. The other 10 really are not worth troubling with - some real disasters there you can check out in your own time.

The ones most likely to get through the first round, therefore, in alphabetical order:

Albania

This is an extraordinary song and an extraordinary video too. I have no idea what either are about but maybe that's Albanian 21st Century art. I have previewed this before and said that if the singer managed to reach all the notes this could be impressive. It was a bit of a screech before but in this take she's superb. It's not something I would rush out and buy nor will it appeal hugely to many Eurovision voters but it has got something about it that makes it stand out. It sounds like a typical 8th placer with respectful votes from quite a few but it's not a winner.



Cyprus

I have already promoted this big time. It's a very catchy number and if the girl performs well it should do very well. She does have a lot of competition in the pretty dark-haired girl singing pop songs category, though, so may well suffer from split votes there. despite what I said in the introduction, however, the 'official' video is terrible and totally does not do the song or the singer justice with some silly fairy tale about Snow White. So I've added the far better, albeit very scratchy, one here.



Denmark

This is great, a very US-influenced young girl leading a band with a well-written song that will definitely appeal to lots of the younger voters. She's right on tune and looks like a very young Britney or Christina mixed with someone else I can't quickly identify. Nice but that doesn't mean it's interesting enough to win.



Hungary

Theirs is a strong song - quite a protest too but, without the smart video, I doubt if it will get far. It may not even make it past the semis but I included it as there has been a lot of talk about it and the guy is very popular.



Iceland

This is a nice track, two people, which is often a good combination these days, and it seems to have come from the same stable as Denmark's 2010 brilliant number. The girl sings and plays a violin and the boy's bearable too, something which might have cost Azerbaijan a win last year as he just made us all laugh but luckily there weren't any other real contenders at the end of the day. There's a massive pause near the end which will really confuse the audience. That trick has been used many times before but seldom in Eurovision so it'll help make this a memorable track and may give Iceland their highest showing in this competition. I think it is a contender.



Ireland

Well, this has to be the best song but... can JEdward sing it live? The official video shows their badly synchronised efforts from the performance when their song was selected but, thank goodness, the soundtrack is the good studio version. Now, if they can pull off a good mime, stay fairly still and no one notices they'll win. In other words, they may well not win. Your guess is as good as mine.



Moldova

Great trumpet, rhythm, a jazzy, modern, fun feel to this. It's a bit wacky but I reckon it could have a lot of appeal. The guy singing is good and should come across well on tv and the girls are stunning. It's cool and unpretentious which I admire from this little state that has tried hard over the years. Remember the upside-down flower pots last year? At one point they were Top 3!





Romania

I have just written about this in my last post. A good number and nice video. Could do well.


Russia

If you haven't already heard, Putin has persuaded some old ladies from some distant village to perform. They look pretty sad, despite the grins, and he really is taking the p*** out of Europe with this entry. His nation has tried very hard to win in previous years with some very impressive entries but this is plain ridiculous and I won't even give it another airing here. If you want to watch five or six old women in dresses made of red carpet singing, unbelievably, in English about having a party then go and find it yourself. Putin's boys will ensure that it gets through the semis, though. If it doesn't then there'll be hell to pay.

Eurovision 2012: Romania

Of course, Elena is the reason the Romanian entry by a group called Mandinga is climbing the popularity charts. She sings well too. This is one of those tracks that looks good on a video where she's changing her clothes and the scene every line for no apparent reason and the whole thing makes you feel fairly content with the world and maybe even want to visit Romania one day soon. On stage, though, with a fixed stage, one set of clothes and no beach or sunshine and it may not quite have the same appeal. Cheery stuff, though. The type that often lands up in the Top 10 but this is not a winning contender.

UK Eurovision Entry

UK positions from 1957 to 2011. So where will Engelbert Humperdinck place UK in 2012?

Until 1999 the UK entry had only twice failed to make the Top 10 and in most years it made the Top 5. The UK even won five times and were runners-up a remarkable fifteen times. This century, however, has been pretty dire, coming bottom twice - now that's saying something when you recall how really bad some countries' entries were!

Jessica Garlick managed 3rd in 2002 and Jade Ewen a creditable 5th in 2009 but the other years are best forgotten.

So for 2012 what do we do to try and revive our former glory in this competition? We brush the dust off Engelbert Humperdinck, someone who we last heard singing Release Me, The Last Waltz or Les Bicyclettes De Belsize - usually briefly before the rush to change stations for 3 minutes. Now 76, Englebert sings Love Will Set You Free, a well-written ballad from writers and producers of excellent pedigree. It's not a track that does a lot for me but I can't be bothered to rush to change channels any more either.

It could be an inspired selection, though. There are many attractive dark-haired girls with pop songs and a fair few groups doing whatever thing their nation has asked. Engelbert does stand out and, if there are, as I suspect, few other really good ballads to catch the attention of our voting friends abroad then he could scoop up most of their votes whilst the pretty girls and boys may find their votes diminished by being shared with others.

I'd hate to make any predictions as this year looks crazy. But I think we'll make the Top 5 this year and feel respectable again. Our biggest problem could be Ireland's Jedward if they can play their backing track and mime. Waterline is a damn fine song. There are also some potentially very popular acts like Cyprus which could be so instantly addictive that they get the votes they need. More about them another day.

In Memory of The Monkees' Davy Jones

30 December 1945 – 29 February 2012

Oh Dear. JEdward Get The Eurovision Gig again!

Oh dear. JEdward have got the Irish gig for Eurovision again. I use the term gig loosely as it would imply some sort of co-ordination between the rhythm of a track and the movements of their limbs. I also use the term song loosely if your first experience of the song Waterline is the first video below. The singing in rubbish and the dancing hilarious - one of them seems always to react about half a second later than the other, reminiscent of one of the One Direction boys so maybe it's a modern boy thing.



However, and this is a big however... if you listen instead to the track below (and can avoid wondering who on earth chose the cute picture) you'll realise that this is one remarkably well-written track and, if they can be persuaded merely to mime and not move too much to this as the backing track that everyone actually hears on the day, then I can see this a potential winner.

As I said. Oh dear.

Summer Camp cover "Everywhere"

Have to promote this track from a cool guy and good friend of my son's. Jeremy's written plenty of great original material too and good luck to both of them. I just know I'll be listening to Dermot O'Leary one Sunday afternoon before long and they'll be on their way.

The official blurb says Jeremy Warmsley and Elizabeth Sankey are a bona fide couple and make up London-based duo Summer Camp, who cover their favourite British love song for the Mix Tape Tour.



Summer Camp cover "Everywhere" from Mulberry Mixtape on Vimeo.