Eurovision 2016: The sensational second semi-final

 Hello!

 Now I've given you my thoughts on the first semi-final, I'll share with you my views on the second one, which I feel was definitely the stronger of the two.

 To begin with, the hosts Måns and Petra's "That's Eurovision" performance was brilliant! When they first began I thought, "Oh no, they're going all Broadway to please the Americans even more" (with them having already announced that Justin Timberlake would perform during the final). 

 However, they weren't afraid to mock themselves and the contest and it ended up being really funny and enjoyable. Petra, as I've said before, can pull off pretty much anything.

 Now to the competing songs. I'll be using the same scoring system I did for the first semi, ie, each country will receive a mark out of 20 for the song, as well as comments regarding staging, voice and performance. Let's go!

 1) Latvia - I found the song dull but he had good stage presence. It kind of sounded like a slowed-down version of last year's Aussie entry, "Tonight Again". 10/20

 2) Poland - The lighting was nice. I don't have that much else to say about it! It was okay. I don't really get why it's a favourite. 10/20

 3) Switzerland - This was quite nice and reminded me of "Running Scared", which won for Azerbaijan a few years ago. 11/20

 4) Israel - I was pleasantly surprised by this; the singer came across as a character in interviews I'd seen but the performance was understated and quite calm. I liked the simplistic staging, along with his sparkly shirt and gloves! 12/20

 5) Belarus - Ah, the infamous wolf performance! I found there was way too much going on, making it hard to really appreciate the song. 12/20

 6) Serbia - This song had a good message, against domestic violence, but musically it was very average. 8/20

 7) Ireland - The song was okay; rather clichéd even for Eurovision. Nicky Byrne looked awkward, like he wasn't really comfortable performing it. 11/20

 8) FYR Macedonia - This was one of my favourites. The singer has a great voice - and she also seemed very tall! - and the performance was solid. The song sounded like a lot of others strung together but she pulled it off. The drummer was intense! 17/20

 9) Lithuania - Ah, the return of Donny Montell - this time without a blindfold. 

 This year's song from him - "I've been waiting for this night" - was one of the ones I felt had most potential - it's very One Direction and quite catchy - but I think this performance let it down. 16/20

 10) Australia - This is undoubtedly one of the best songs and vocalists but again, I felt something was missing from this performance. I liked the staging - minimalist but effective. 18/20

 11) Slovenia - This was very Taylor Swift; it veered between country and Europop rather oddly but kind of worked, aided by a confident, impassioned performance. 15/20

 12) Bulgaria - The grammar! "If love was a crime..." At least Frans for Sweden got the subjunctive right with "If I were sorry." This was rather boring and run-of-the-mill Eurovision but she certainly performed it with gusto. 12/20

 13) Denmark - The 15-to-1 style podia were interesting. Otherwise this was pretty clichéd; they seemed to be trying a bit too hard to be A-ha or Herreys. 10/20

 14) Ukraine - As I've said before, I'm not getting into the politics of songs. On a musical level, I found this rather slow and repetitive; however her voice is incredible and her performance was assured. 10/20

 15) Norway - Dry ice alert! People seem generally far less obsessed with dry ice these days than they were for a while a few years ago. This performance, however, had all the dry ice anyone could ever desire. The lyrics of the song are appalling - "I'll be your ice-breaker when you're stuck in frozen water"? 8/20

 16) Georgia - This had a lot of weird trippy stuff going on with the graphics and was generally quite dull. 10/20

 17) Albania - An odd but nice dress couldn't salvage a boring song. 9/20

 18) Belgium - This was like a cross between Fleur East and Kylie, transported into the 70s. The song was very enjoyable (though it sounds like so many we've heard before) and her performance was impressive, especially all the dancing. 14/20

 As mentioned earlier, I found this the better semi-final, with a good range of musical styles and some solid songs and performances. Watch this space for my blog posts about the Big 5 and Sweden, and about the grand final.

 Thanks for reading!

 Liz x

Review: Roxette - Joyride

 Hi!

 Just letting you know that my Record Reappraisal of Roxette's 1991 album Joyride has been published in The Mancunion - both in print and online. I hope you enjoy learning about this classic.

 In other news, I am back from Spain and at Uni. I'm doing some interesting modules this year and trying to do plenty of writing too, both creative and journalistic. I'll post any of it that's music-related here, so watch this space!

 All my writing, musical or otherwisde, will be posted on my writer blog, so please keep an eye on that, too!

 Thanks for reading, hope you're well.

 Liz x

Cats, Kennedys and Austrian delights

 Hello!

 So, I am home for the French Easter holidays - though it is long after Easter! Spring has sprung in Wigan and everything is lovely.

 I don't think I have mentioned on this blog that our cat, Murphy, died quite suddenly in September.

 For a couple of months before Murphy's death a stray young cat - barely a kitten - had been spending a lot of time in our garden.

 We let him - we were told it was a he - sleep in the little kennel we have in the garden and when firework season started, we let him sleep in the kitchen. Our attempts to see if he had an owner came to nothing so in the end we adopted him.

 We had always called him "the kitten" so he became Kitt. Then the vet announced that he was actually a she! Luckily, Kitt works just as well for a girl.

 Here she is:

***

 The latest big excitement for me was going to the 21st birthday party of one of my oldest friends. It was a great night and I re-discovered this song: "Style" by Taylor Swift.

 I had heard it on the radio ages before and hadn't really been impressed by it. Hearing it at the party, however, I  knew it was going to become my "song of the moment" - it sounded sompletely different and I loved it.

 I also really love the video and feel it lifts the song from being pop-y like her other hits to being slightly deeper and more poetic. I like how nature is incorporated and how the guy has heterochomia.

 I've always found heterochromia interesting due to my general fascination with genetics and because a cat used to visit out garden when I was little who had one blue and one brown eye.

***

 There are two major musical excitements coming up in May.

 The first is seeing the wonderful Kennedys, Pete and Maura, again. I'm not yet sure where I'll go to see them; perhaps Southport as the last two times I've seen them there (in October 2013 and June 2014) have been wonderful.

 They are doing a UK tour to promote their three new albums - one each solo and one as The Kennedys.

 I am really looking forward to getting my hands on a copy of West, their album as a duo, as it features the first Kennedys album version of John Stewart's "Queen of Hollywood High," which Maura performed live in 2008 with the John Stewart Band in tribute to the late singer.

 It's just such a joyful performance. I listened to it in France whenever I fancied some familiar music. Five minutes well spent - both creating this glorious thing, and watching and listening to it.

 Maura's new album consists of poems put to music, which naturally fascinates me as a writer. Pete's solo album is a song cycle about New York City. 

 I really can't wait to see them again and to hear all these new songs which cover three quite different genres and come, it seems, from three quite different places both musically and spiritually.

***

 The other big musical event approaching is, of course, Eurovision.

 The Sixtieth Contest will take place in Vienna and we are busy thinking up Austrian foods to have at our annual family Eurovision party! 

 I've been looking through the early Chalet School books for inspiration. It would be good, however, to represent different parts of the country rather than just the Tyrol. Let me know if you have any ideas!

 I recently watched the "Eurovision's Greatest Hits" on the BBC, presented by Graham Norton and Petra Mede. I loved Petra's hosting of the 2013 Contest in Malmö, so I was really glad to see her return to the Eurovision stage. She and Graham worked off one another well.

 Highlights for me included Herrey's singing "Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley" with real gusto and great charisma. Here is the original winning performance from 1984 as YouTube won't let me embed the Greatest Hits version.

 The Bobbysocks, from Norway, were also full of life and put on a fun, lively performance. Here they are back in 1985.

 I really enjoyed Natasha St-Pier, with "Je n'ai que mon âme" ("All I have is my soul"). Having listened to the studio version, I much prefer it sung live.

 It was also great to see Johnny Logan perform - no Eurovision tribute would really be complete without him.

 Bring on Eurovision 2015! I'm so looking forward to witnessing this historical event.

 Thanks for reading,

 Liz x

Songs: Style - Taylor Swift - 2015

Queen of Hollywood High - Maura Kennedy and the John Stewart Band - 2008

Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley - Herrey's - 1984

La det swinge - Bobbysocks! - 1985

Je n'ai que mon âme - Natasha St-Pier - 2001

Hold Me Now - Johnny Logan - 1987

Review: Roxette - Look Sharp!

 Hello all!

 I am very pleased to have had a write-up of Roxette's classic album Look Sharp! published by The Mancunion. I hope you enjoy it!

 All the best,

 Liz x

Eurovision 2013: My overall verdict

 Hello! Hallå!

 On Saturday 18th May 2013, the Eurovision final came to us from Malmo, Sweden, following the two semi-finals earlier in the week. As someone who'd had exams and various duties that week and the weekend before, Eurovision was something relaxing to look forward to.

 And the show itself didn't disappoint. Petra Mede was a brilliant and funny host - she coped absolutely fine with hosting the contest alone, something that I had anticipated being a challenge for anyone. But she turned out to be just the woman for the job.

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 In the UK the semi-finals were commentated by DJ Scott Mills and Ana Matronic from the Scissor Sisters. I like the idea of getting an American in so we could see what someone from outside of Europe thinks of Eurovision. She seemed to enjoy it, as did Scott, and their commentary was quite listenable.

 I enjoyed the first semi-final more than the second one - I felt that the quality of the songs was higher. My favourites were Ukraine and Belgium.

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 I also liked Latvia's song in the second semi final and was surprised and disappointed that they didn't make it through to the final.

 I was also surprised Serbia didn't get to the final - I didn't really like the song but it was pure Eurovision!

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 Then the day of the final came! My family had a party, as always! We love Eurovision!

 Graham Norton did the commentary for the UK and did a good job at it.

 Petra was great again as host and I loved her short history of Sweden, even if it was a bit odd:

 I love the dancing meatballs!

 I didn't think a lot of the green room host, Eric Saade, and I wish we could have had Krisse again! But I did quite like Lynda Woodruff, who gave a comical view of Sweden. I think it's cool that she's known for being both a singer (as Sarah Dawn Finer) and a comedienne.

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 I also liked the butterfly theme; I had anticipated this being a bit boring and monotonous but the way they had the flag of each country on its butterfly was nice and looked really arty. 

 The sequence with the caterpillar travelling from Baku to Malmo where it became the Eurovision butterfly was sweet; I especially loved the bit where the caterpillar curled up to sleep like a cat on someone's dashboard.

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 I was sad that yet again, people generally seemed to be voting for their neighbours. However, Denmark still seemed to be the runaway favourite, getting lots of high numbers of points from countries that are geographically nowhere near it. 

 As I don't think a lot of the song, all I can assume is that its sound managed to appeal to a diverse range of people across Europe. You can't deny that it really was the generic Eurovision song. I just don't personally get why it was so popular; for me it was good but not mind-blowing by any standard.

 Still, congratulations to Emmelie de Forest and I look forward to another Scandinavian Eurovision!

 Thanks for reading,

 Liz x

Songs:

Gravity - Zlata Ognevich - 2013

Love Kills - Roberto Bellarosa -2013

Here We Go - PeR - 2013

Ljubav je svuda (Love is Everywhere) - Moje 3 - 2013

Swedish Smorgasbord - Petra Mede - 2013

Only Teardrops - Emmelie de Forest - 2013

Eurovision 2013: My first thoughts

 Hello!

 As you may know, Eurovision 2013 is almost upon us: the semi finals are on 14th and 16th May and the final is on the 18th.

 I am a huge Eurovision fan - it occurred to me recently that Eurovision is probably my favourite yearly event. I love the way it unites so many people and the fact that for a few hours people all over the world are watching the same thing. It's amazing; a real feeling of the numinous, which is perfectly summed up in this clip:

 Last year I did a Eurovision countdown, posting about Eurovision past and present in the run-up to the competition in Baku.

 This year I will be posting some Eurovision-y things, including my commentary on the two semi-finals and the final, and maybe some Eurovision history beforehand. In the meantime, if you are a Eurovision fan and you haven't seen my countdown from last year I recommend it.

 Here are my initial thoughts on this year's contest:

 The host county/city: Sweden is a country I have wanted for a long time to visit, and I don't know a lot about the city of Malmö, so this year's Eurovision is a good opportunity to see and learn more about both.

 The Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo in 2010 was probably my favourite that I've seen so I'm hoping that having it in another Scandinavian country might bring about similar success.

 The venue: Malmö Arena seems to be smaller than some recent Eurovision venues, which I think is meant to give the show a more intimate feel - although to be honest I don't personally mind the bigger venues and if you're watching on TV it doesn't make much difference anyway.

 The host: There is only going to be one main host this year, Petra Mede. This is a bold step after there being two or three hosts the last few years, but having looked her up I see she seems very feisty and has a lot of presence so hopefully she can pull it off.

 Eric Saade will be the green room host; this Swedish pop star represented his country at Eurovision 2011 in Düsseldorf with the song "Popular" of which I am not a fan. However, I won't judge his hosting abilities until I see them.

 I am convinced, however, that he cannot better Krisse in Helsinki in 2007: there was an amazing green room host.

 Participating countries: Most of Europe seems to be taking part in this year's competition; notable exceptions being Portugal, Poland, Czech Republic, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Turkey (among others). 

 I am particularly sad about the absence of Portugal as I love Portuguese-language music. Bosnia and Herzegovina also produced one of my all-time favourite Eurovision songs:

 However, we still have plenty of countries taking part, and hopefully those who can't this year will be able to return in the future.

 The UK entry: Being from the UK, I have heard a lot about our entry for this year; namely Bonnie Tyler with her song Believe in Me. 

 I like Bonnie Tyler's older songs such as Total Eclipse of the Heart, and although Believe in Me isn't quite up to that standard in my humble opinion, I do think it is a nice song.

 I'm really looking forward to Eurovision 2013 and I hope you are too, let the competition begin!

 Thanks for reading,

 Liz x

Songs: 

Glow - Madcon - 2010

Pokusaj - Laka - 2008

Believe in Me - Bonnie Tyler - 2013

Eurovision 2012 - The final! My thoughts.

 Hello Eurovision fans!

 Well, last night was the grand final; what we've all been waiting for. And it didn't disappoint. There were some amazing songs, and Baku did a great job of hosting a brilliant show.

 I wasn't so keen on the ridiculous political voting - I had kind of been hoping that it had become less of a problem in recent years; however it seems to have re-emerged in force.

 Luckily, I think the winner won on the strength of the song and the performance, because Sweden were receiving douze points from countries that are nowhere near it geographically. So that's nice. With regards to the winner, talent won over daft block voting.

 I personally enjoyed Loreen's winning song, Euphoria, though I felt she performed it better in her semi-final. Other songs I enjoyed were Echo (You and I) by Anggun for France, which I voted for, Be My Guest by Gaitana for Ukraine, and Quédate Conmigo by Pastora Soler for Spain.

 As usual we had our family Eurovision party; we watched the show together and ate cakes and brownies we had baked earlier that featured the flags of the participating countries. We had a great night and really enjoyed the spectacle.

 So, thank you to Baku for a great show, and thank you to all the performers for making this year's Eurovision amazing!

 Here's looking forward to next year in Sweden!

 Please keep coming back to my blog; Eurovision may be over for the year but I will still be blogging regularly about music and artists of all genres, past and present, that I love.

 Also, maybe check out some of my earlier, pre-Eurovision posts which feature artists and bands such as Roxette, Gloria Estefan, Céline Dion, R.E.M., Paul Young, ABBA, Martika and Dire Straits, among many others!

 I will be sure to keep posting on this blog, so come back and visit when you can.

 Thanks for reading,

 Liz x