Eurovision 2017: The first semi-final

 Hello!

 I was studying in Spain during Eurovision this year, which allowed for a different and novel viewing experience. As I was super-busy preparing for exams I didn't have time to blog on the contest at the time, though I did live-tweet it.

 Now, back home in the UK, I have the luxury of watching the semi-finals in a more relaxed way and making notes of my thoughts on each song. I hope you enjoy them!

1) Sweden - I was never a fan of this song, but it is growing on me. They are a smooth outfit and seem very into what they're doing. It is an achievement to stay on the treadmills; I didn't notice them at first.

2) Georgia - A very standard Eurovision ballad, but a solid performance.

3) Australia - In Spain they were saying Isaiah looked like Rafa Nadal. I can see that, but he really reminds me of someone else too, and I can't think who. 

 Musically, he is like Tom Odell. I like his voice and style and the song is okay, but the staging could be better and showcase him more effectively.

4) Albania - A shaky start; they could have got into the song faster rather than leaving the singer to manage alone. When it gets going it is pretty good. Staging-wise, I like the clocks, but the flashing lights are unnecessary.

5) Belgium - I'm rather sick of hearing this song. I would probably have liked it otherwise, but it has been overplayed in the Eurovision world, and I think I might have heard it on the radio in Spain, too. 

 The staging is fine. Blanche's performance is good; she is clearly nervous but gets through it.

6) Montenegro - This was one of the more memorable performances when I first watched. I had been wondering if the braid was real until Scott Mills (commentating) declared that it is detachable.

 The song is okay; the singer lifted it to much more than it would have been. The whole thing felt quite Robbie Williams: a very confident number.

7) Finland - People in Spain and online were very surprised when this failed to get to the final. I like it: the staging and performance are understated, in a good way. 

 Funnily enough, just as I was listening to the song and she was singing "Blackbird, don't sing", I read someone on Facebook complaining about birds being noisy in their garden. Birds should sing when they want to! It's a good song.

8) Azerbaijan - At first I found this to be odd and shouty. Behind all the strangeness, however, it is a decent song and it is remarkable how she is able to keep singing, and singing very well, while doing all the actions, writing and climbing the ladder.

 It was undoubtably one of the most iconic performances this year.

9) Portugal - I never disliked this song, but I felt it was overrated. It is beginning to grow on me, though, and I will always welcome new styles, own languages and stripped-back performances on Eurovision.

10) Greece - This was a song that struck me as a solid one the first time around. I like the water theme; it makes a change from endless fire- and lightning-themed stagings.

 The singer is confident and looks like she is enjoying herself; my mother thinks she looks like Cobie Smulders.

11) Poland - The parade of sitcom stars continues with Penny from Big Bang representing Poland. This is one of the better ballads, though not amazing. Her voice is good and she is putting in a good performance. I like the constellation-y background.

12) Moldova - Is it just me or do the two non-sax guys look like Marcus Butler? The song is catchy and something a bit different. The set-up reminds me a lot of Bosnia and Herzegovina's legendary entry from 2008 by Laka.

13) Iceland - The singer's style, hair and the opening of the song made me think this would be an energetic, dance-y number. It turned out to be one of the best ballads of this year. She really owns the stage and is not overpowered by the song like many other ballad-singers; instead she controls it well.

14) Czech Republic - This stood out for me on my first viewing, and I was sad that it didn't get through. Her voice is not what I had expected to come out of her, and it is lovely.

 She reminds me a lot of the Venezuelan singer Georgina, who I mentioned in my "Songs from Salamanca" article.

 Overall, this was refreshingly different, and I liked it a lot.

15) Cyprus - This is actually a very good song musically and the staging is inventive, though all the white light can be a bit hard on the eyes. 

 I just can't completely connect to it personally, and as I tweeted at the time, I can't see why being someone's gravity would be a good thing.

16) Armenia - This had some great arm-ology, as Craig Revel Horwood would say. Overall, it was okay; not a stand-out number for me.

17) Slovenia - This is a real grower and has an epic, musical-theatre feel while also maintaining the time-tested Euro-ballad structure and spirit. The staging was nice and simple and I like his sparkly suit! 

 He handles the high parts well - it was an all-round solid song and performance.

18) Latvia - This isn't my style of music but they were certainly enthusiastic. I can't really bear all the trippy wannabe-trance stuff in the background - it is somewhat headache-inducing. My mother thinks this singer looks like Katy Perry.

 My top ten (just in performance order): Australia, Belgium, Finland, Azerbaijan, Portugal, Greece, Iceland, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Slovenia.

 My top five (starting with the best): Czech Republic, Iceland, Portugal, Slovenia, Greece.

 Overall, it was a decent semi-final and I did have trouble picking out my top ten. Keep an eye out for my write-up of the second one. I'll also be doing a post on the songs from the Big Five and Ukraine, so watch this space!

 I also blogged Eurovision last year, so check out my posts from then as well:

 First semi-final
 Second semi-final
 Big Five and Sweden
 Final

 Thanks for reading,

 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 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

Eurovision 2012 Countdown: The introduction of yearly slogans and themes - what has it added to the competition?

 Hello! Bonjour! ¡Hola!

 We are now less than a week away from the Eurovision final 2012! Which is a very exciting thought.

 Today I thought I would look into the Eurovision branding, themes and little slogans that are now an important factor in the yearly spectacle, but that were only really introduced in 2002.

 Before then, there had been various logos used, but the themes and slogans only really started to be a big element of the contest in Estonia in 2002, when they introduced their slogan, "A Modern Fairytale," with this logo:
                                                            

 I was eight when this contest took place, and all I can really remember was the female presenter boasting that Estonia was the only country in Europe beginning with an "E". And I remember thinking, what about England? But I suppose politically, and Eurovision-wise, we're in the UK.

 To be honest, "A Modern Fairytale" sounds a bit odd to me, and I don't really see what it has to do with Eurovision. However, this magic, fairytale kind of thing seems quite popular with the Baltic countries, what with Latvia the following year having, 

  

"Magical Rendez-vous"   

               

 Finland in 2007 having, 

"True Fantasy"

 and Russia in 2009 having, 

                                                                      "Fantasy Bird" 

(and it is ironic that this contest was won by a song called, "Fairytale" - from Norway, another Baltic nation!)

 I must admit, though I didn't think much of the bird logo when I first saw it, it has certainly grown on me, and I now think it's quite pretty, and the colours are lovely - they look especially striking against my blog background, which makes a nice effect.

 

 I can't say for sure, but it looks like it was the 2004 competition, with the above logo, when the standard Eurovision emblem, with "Eurovision" written in script with the country's flag in a heart for the "v", was first used. There wasn't any other individual emblem that year from what I can find, but they did have a motto - "Under The Same Sky," which I think is a lovely idea because it adds to the impression that people all over Europe are united through Eurovision.

 

 The logo of the 2005 competition in Kiev in Ukraine carries on the "Eurovision" and flag theme, and also has a twirly thing which looks like a shell and which may represent the layout of the city (?) but other than that I can't think of any other explanation of it, and I can't find anything on the Internet about it.

 The slogan was, "Awakening," which according to Wikipedia, "symbolised the awakening of the country and city ready to present itself to Europe."

 

 In 2006 we had this logo from Greece - and I must point out that the multicoloured squiggles are meant to be - I presume - the readout on a sound-meter - possibly also a heart monitor - and the resemblance is much more apparent when watching it dynamically on a video clip from the competition. 

 I like it, but I don't think it's the best we've ever had. Their slogan was, "Feel The Rhythm," which sort of goes with the emblem and graphics, and which is a nice idea, but again not awe-inspiring.

 Finland in 2007 I have mentioned - True Fantasy - and I love the way they managed to tie this in with Krisse - an amazing Finnish comedienne who presented some of the Eurovision coverage that year. I have a blog post on her; if you would like to see it look at the blog archive; it's the third Eurovision one from the bottom.

 I don't like the graphics though - a bit psychedelic for my liking - but at least they tried to create their own identity within the wider Eurovision franchise, which I like.  

 They also had their interestingly-shaped stage which according to Wikipedia was supposed to look like a kantele - a traditional Finnish musical instrument. However, I'm sure I remember hearing on the commentary that the large arching thing on the stage was supposed to a whale's bone, or something like that... so I don't know.

 2008 was Belgrade in Serbia, and they had possibly the most interesting logo and tagline of all: 

 I personally don't find the stark red and blue very pleasing on the eye, but I really like the premise behind it all which is that they are linking the contest with the fact that Belgrade lies on the confluence of two rivers, the Danube and the Sava, hence the idea of "Confluence of Sound." 

 Their stage also reflected this, with two graphical "rivers" flowing down onto the stage and then meeting and flowing together; this is a nice concept but again I didn't personally find it very pleasant to look at. However, I applaud Belgrade for coming up with what was easily the most innovative yet logical concept yet.

 Moscow in 2009 and their Fantasy Bird I have mentioned; next was Norway in 2010 which, as I've mentioned before on this blog, was one of my favourite Eurovision years. 

 I've spent a lot of time watching and re-watching videos of songs from this particular competition; therefore I've become very familiar with their "Share the Moment" motto and their little bubbly logos.

 This particular contest was all about sharing and unity; probably best signified by the interval act of the flash mob with people all over Europe taking part; united by music and dance.

 2011, last year, the competition was in Düsseldorf in Germany. I really enjoyed their hosting of Eurovision as a whole, but I was slightly put off by their emblem of a neon heart pulsing rather too graphically and realistically for my liking - and with sound effects. I faint at the sight of blood and a pulsing heart is not the sort of thing I want to see on a regular basis throughout the broadcast of Eurovision.

 Their motto was, "Feel Your Heart Beat!" which kind of fits in with it nicely, but which isn't my favourite Eurovision slogan ever.

 To be honest, I don't know what is my favourite slogan - probably "Under The Same Sky" in Turkey in 2004. But the theme I admire the most has to be Serbia with their "Confluence of Sound," and how far they managed to work with the concept so that it almost defined their hosting of Eurovision. 

 And this year? We are in Baku, Azerbaijan, with the slogan, "Light Your Fire!" and this logo: 

 I think it is very pretty, and I am interested to see how the concept will pan out, and how far they will take it... obviously short of setting the place on fire.

 I do think it is a good theme as a whole, and it reflects the country - the so-called "Land of Fire," and also the Eurovision spirit as a whole; that there will hopefully be something for every individual that will "light their fire" so to speak, and make them feel happy. 

 So overall, I feel that the idea of individual themes, logos and taglines for each year is good because it helps to give each year's competition an identity of its own, as well as reinforcing some of the values of the main Eurovision phenomenon.

 Thanks for reading.

 Bring on Baku! Two days until the first semi-final!

 Liz x