Eurovision 2017: The second semi-final

 Hello!

 I hope you enjoyed my blog post about Eurovision 2017's first semi-final. Here are my thoughts on the second.

1) Serbia - This was one that stuck in my head. It isn't amazing, but it's catchy in its own way. It has some cheesy lyrics - "High off the ground, I'm not coming down" - but is otherwise tolerable.

2) Austria - This was one of my stand-out songs from this semi. It is remarkable how through the lovely staging they managed to transform a fun folksy song with a mountain-y video into an epic Eurovision ballad. It reminds me of Frans's "If I Were Sorry" from last year: laid-back and adaptable.

3) F.Y.R Macedonia - This was another average song that managed to stick itself in my head. The singer looks a bit like Celine Dion but her voice and style are more like Madonna. 

 A lot of techno-themed staging would get too much, but one song's worth is okay and makes for an interesting change.

4) Malta - This one actually does sound like Celine Dion! I feel like this could be a very standard ballad sung by another person, but this singer lifts it with her personality and with her obvious passion for being there and for the song.

5) Romania - I thought this was just okay at first, but I'm coming to really like it. It is a great hybrid of rap and yodelling, bringing the two together effortlessly. It is nice and cheerful and utterly Eurovision.

6) The Netherlands - This was the stand-out song for me. The harmonies were perfect; very Wilson-Phillips. The song is lovely. It is by far the Eurovision entry I've listened to most this year. I've been really impressed by The Netherlands' entries the last few years.

7) Hungary - This isn't one of my favourites, but isn't bad, and I was caught by surprise when he burst out rapping. I liked the simple but colourful presentation.

8) Denmark - I found the song very ordinary, but the performance quite enthusiastic and fun.

9) Ireland - His voice really surprised me. The song is quite nice and the staging is minimal but works. The balloon is unusual and it all seems to tie together neatly. However, it is missing some Eurovision pizazz.

10) San Marino - Valentina again! Is she really the only singer in San Marino? Jimmie is a good complement for her, though, and the song is pure Eurovision: upbeat and catchy, with a colourful background, disco theme and great outfits. This should have had a chance.

11) Croatia - This was even odder this time around than when I first heard it - I don't think I had realised one guy was singing everything. Switching between pop and opera literally every line is really remarkable. 

 The song is quite pleasant but think it could be better staged, and he could have benefitted from making it more about the song and less about him.

12) Norway - I really didn't think much of this at first. My mother likes it, however, and it has grown on me slightly. Normally Norway turn out decent if not great songs, and this was a disappointment in comparison.

13) Switzerland - This reminds me a lot of the UK's song this year. It's passable. Some of the lyrics are cheesy to say the least. The yellow and purple theme is quirky and different but might get annoying after a while. This is another song my mother likes.

14) Belarus - I really enjoyed this at first. I still like it, but I think I'm losing my love for it. It is well-performed and I love hearing an own-language song. I just don't feel the song itself is as good as other folk songs we've heard on Eurovision recently.

15) Bulgaria - This was another surprising voice - it sounds older than a seventeen-year-old's. The song is an ear-worm and could easily be in the UK charts sung by Bieber or Mendes, though this guy's voice is perhaps superior to both. 

 I could do without the strobing and weird jerky camera effects, but both song and performance are very good.

16) Lithuania - This is a funny one because I like the verses but the chorus feels rather run-of-the-mill Euro-ballad-y. The singer is very intense, but if you like her style then the song can be quite an interesting journey to take with her.

17) Estonia - Another male-female duet from Estonia, and this wasn't as good for me as 2015's "Goodbye to Yesterday". It really reminds me of another dance track. I can't think which. 

 While it didn't live up to Estonia's track record, the song was pretty decent and well-performed. The guy's intense staring to the music was a bit much, however.

18) Israel - This was an average upbeat Eurovision song - he performed it okay, but the song itself wasn't very memorable.

My top ten (just in performance order): Austria, F.Y.R. Macedonia, Malta, Romania, The Netherlands, Ireland, San Marino, Croatia, Bulgaria, Estonia.

My top five (starting with the best): The Netherlands, Austria, Bulgaria, San Marino, Romania.

 Look out for my views on the final, coming soon!

 Feel free to check out my posts from last year's contest, too:

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

 Thanks for reading!

 Liz x

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 2016 by my brother

 Hello!

 This is a guest post by my brother Noah Gibson with his views on this year's Eurovision Song Contest. He has two YouTube channels where he reviews music: GibboMaths and GibbyTheLegendG.

 I hope you enjoy his post!

***

Having watched both semi-finals and the final of Eurovision 2016 and having heard all the songs, I have given them all ratings out of 20. I have also rated Romania, which I have listened to on the internet. 

 I think that this year, lots of entries have had good looking performers and great costumes, backing singers and dancers. The lighting for many entries and the way their act performed the song was very good. Some entries had very modern electronic production and some artists had very strong voices. 

 However, the main bad thing about it this year was that there were far too many sad songs and songs with sad parts in them.

Here are my top 3. 

1. Estonia

 I like the piano in the first verse and the guitar in the bridges. The tune is very catchy and the lighting is very good. It is colourful and sophisticated. Jüri Pootsmann does a good magic trick in the middle of the performance. It is very effective when there is a slow part without many instruments before the final chorus.

2. Sweden

 The verses are sung in a way which is very different to most singing. It has got a good beat that carries the song. The lighting is simple but effective and Frans has got good performance skills.

3. Netherlands

 It is a very relaxing song and has a country edge to it, making it different to many other entries this year. There is a variety of good instruments. The clock projection on the floor is good and Douwe Bob has got quite a good image.

Here are my ratings for each country's song.

Albania – 12/20, Armenia – 11/20, Austria – 16/20, Australia – 8/20, Azerbaijan – 14/20

Belarus – 16/20, Belgium – 15/20, Bosnia And Herzegovina – 12/20, Bulgaria – 17/20

Croatia – 11/20, Cyprus – 14/20, Czech Republic – 17/20

Denmark – 12/20

Estonia – 19/20

Finland – 13/20, France – 16/20

Georgia – 17/20, Germany – 12/20, Greece – 10/20

Hungary – 15/20

Iceland – 12/20, Ireland – 14/20, Israel – 16/20, Italy – 13/20

Latvia – 18/20, Lithuania – 13/20

Macedonia – 9/20, Malta – 9/20, Moldova – 18/20, Montenegro – 15/20

Netherlands – 18/20, Norway – 17/20

Poland – 15/20

Romania – 12/20, Russia – 15/20

San Marino – 16/20, Serbia – 13/20, Slovenia – 12/20, Spain – 17/20, Sweden – 19/20, Switzerland – 13/20

Ukraine – 15/20, United Kingdom – 13/20

Here are some songs that I think sound like 2016 Eurovision songs.

Armenia: Lady Gaga – Born This Way

Austria: Marina And The Diamonds – Primadonna

Belarus: Abba – Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight)

Belgium: Robin Thicke – Give It 2 U

Bosnia And Herzegovina: The Corrs – Only When I Sleep

Bulgaria: The Vamps – I Found A Girl

Croatia: Jessie J – LaserLight

Cyprus: Cutting Crew - (I Just) Died In Your Arms

Czech Republic: Lady Gaga – Til It Happens To You

Finland: Birdy – Keeping Your Head Up

France: Lawson – Taking Over Me

Georgia: The Police – Roxanne

Germany: Little Boots – Headphones

Israel: Adele – Someone Like You

Latvia: Gnarls Barkley – Crazy

Moldova: The Saturdays – Not Giving Up

Netherlands: Slade – Merry Xmas Everybody

Norway: Kamaliya – I'm Alive

Spain: Avicii – Silhouettes

Sweden: David Bowie – Fill Your Heart

***

 I hope you enjoyed this guest post! Make sure you also check out my posts on the first and second semi finals! 

 The next post will be my own thoughts on the Eurovision 2016 Grand Final, so watch this space!

 Thanks for reading.

 Liz x

100 and counting!

 Hello!

 Welcome to my 100th post on this blog! I'm incredibly proud and happy that my blog has reached 100 and is still thriving. It is also more or less three and a half years old - although it feels like I've had it much longer.

 So here is my joint 100th post/three and a half birthday celebration!

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 I celebrated my fiftieth post by looking back at how my blog had changed in the year and a half I'd had it at that point.

 I also looked back at my first post, which listed some of my favourite songs lyrics-wise, to see how I felt about them fifty posts later. Most of them I still loved at that point - and I still love now.

 So, I wondered what to do for my 100th post that would be different. I decided to do a list and a countdown and, in doing so, reflect on my relationship with music and writing over the past three and a half years and how it has evolved, and how it has shaped my life.

 I will link to various other posts on this blog, so this 100th post should also be a good navigational tool for finding music you like that I have written about.

 I hope you enjoy it!

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 Firstly, I present the top 10 most significant things I have achieved since starting this blog.

 Feb 2011 - I set up this blog.

 1) Mar-Apr 2011 - I visited the south of France with my sixth-form college. We were based in Montpellier and visited Carcassonne, Arles and Saintes Maries de la Mer. My love for the area has fuelled many choices I've made in life since, and also inspired my first novel - more about that later!

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 2) Sept - Dec 2011 - I applied for Oxford University and reached the interview stage, which meant I got to stay in Oxford for a few days and see it through a student's eyes.

 I ended up going to Manchester University and I like it very much, but it was nice to have that brief taste of being an Oxford student. I love the city.

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 3) Summer 2012 - I started my first paid job, in a small shop. I really enjoyed it and felt it helped me grow up a lot before going to university in the autumn.

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 4) Jul - Aug 2012 - I completed my Gold Duke of Edinburgh's Award expedition, four days camping and walking in the Lake District. I had a great team and came back with some lovely memories and a wonderful sense of achievement.

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 5) Sept 2012 - I started University. I had a great start, meeting the people who would become my good friends on my very first day.

 From there I had some ups and some downs, but overall I'm glad I came to Manchester. It has been a memorable experience and I have met some great people.

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 6) Dec 2012 - Jan 2013 - I went to Beijing with Uni. I applied for a free place on a three-week programme there and was amazed and thrilled to be accepted, especially as I was so young.

 Most people on the trip were older than me but I made some friends for life and it was three weeks I will never forget. Beijing in the snow is freezing cold but almost unbearably beautiful.

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 7) April 2013 - I interviewed folk-rock duo the Kennedys which was a wonderful experience and was the start of the great relationship I have with the Kennedys, who are lovely people. It also gave me the courage and confidence to interview Eddi Reader.

 I am currently interviewing another artist who I won't yet name but whose interview will hopefully feature on this blog soon!

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 8) May - Aug 2013 - I completed my first novel. I had been planning it since I was fourteen or fifteen but my trip to France aged seventeen added a whole new spin to the story. I knew it now had to be set in the south of France, and the location became a vital aspect of the book.

 I am immensely proud and hope to see it published some day.

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 9) Nov 2013 - I was made Fiction Editor at Miracle Magazine! I really love this job. I get on well with the rest of the Miracle team, and I am so proud when each issue of the magazine come out and I get to see the product of our hard work.

 In 2014 I was asked to also be the Blog Editor of the magazine, and I adore this position. I set up the Miracle Blog and maintain it, posting pieces I have written and commissioning them from other writers.

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 10) Oct 2014 onwards - I have accepted a job as English Language Assistant in a lycée (ages 14-18) in Perpignan, in the south of France. I am so happy to have been placed in Perpignan as it looks truly beautiful and my Catalan will come in useful!

 I am very grateful and am looking forward to what could be the best year of my life.

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 I will now list my top 20 songs that I have mentioned on this blog.

 1) Follow You, Follow Me - Genesis

 2) I Want You - The Silencers

 3) Your Swaying Arms - Deacon Blue

 4) Whole of the Moon - Waterboys

 5) Is This Love? - Alison Moyet

 6) On ira - Jean-Jacques Goldman

 7) Queen of the Slipstream - Van Morrison

 8) I've Been in Love Before - Cutting Crew

 9) These are the Days of Our Lives - Queen

 10) Almost Unreal - Roxette

 11) Pictures of You - The Cure

 12) Clouds Across the Moon - The Rah Band

 13) Why - Annie Lennox

 14) Linger - The Cranberries

 15) Coming Home - Firelight

 16) Listen - The Kennedys

 17) Bell, Book and Candle - Eddi Reader

 18) Jasmine - The Kennedys

 19) The Sun, Moon and Stars - Nanci Griffith

 20) Feels Like Home - Edwina Hayes

 21) You Make Loving Fun - Fleetwood Mac

 22) Don't Wanna Lose You - Gloria Estefan

 23) Romeo and Juliet - Dire Straits

 24) Right Here Waiting - Richard Marx

 25) Days Are Numbers - Alan Parsons Project

 Each song links to the post, or one of the posts, where it is discussed.

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 Phew, that was hard! I had to say goodbye to some songs I really love to fit in those I prefer. I would much rather do a Top 100 but I think picking the Top 25 has been a useful exercise in working out what I really like in a song.

 Lyrics are important, as you can tell from the title of my blog. But for me, the number one important thing about a song is the sincerity with which it is sung. A song can have beautiful lyrics, but the singer has to really mean them for me to like it.

 One of my songs, On ira, is French and even before I understood all of the lyrics - which are very beautiful - I loved it because I could clearly hear the love and honesty in Jean-Jacques Goldman's voice as he sang.

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 It's been an amazing experience keeping this blog. I'm so glad I actually got around to setting it up - for weeks I had wanted to and then, in February 2011, I finally took the plunge.

 I must thank my friend Megan, who responded positively to the idea when I mentioned it to her - that really encouraged me to actually do it.

 Thank you to my Mam, who often spurred me on when I was worried a post wasn't "good enough" and made me see that it's not about producing a really polished post, it's about producing an honest and heartfelt one.

 And finally, thank you to everyone who has read and supported my blog and my writing generally over the years.

 Thank you so much,

 Here's to another 100 posts!

 Liz xxx