Eurovision 2012 - Baku (Azerbaijan) - first semi-final

(Please see UPDATES at end)

This year the Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Baku (Azerbaijan) as the Azerbaijani entry won last year's contest in Düsseldorf (Germany) with their song Running Scared:



- I didn't see the contest last year (the first time in many years, but I was out for dinner that evening I seem to recall), but it is quite easy to see why it won as it is a pretty good song and quite 'catchy'.

Tonight the first semi-final is being held and will comprise 18 competitors, singing in the following order (I'll update this post as each song is performed) and of these 10 will go forward to the final on Saturday, with the remaining 8 being eliminated from the contest:


1 Montenegro: Rambo Amadeus - Euro Neuro Eliminated
- (21.10) is this some kind of bad joke? A fat greasy-haired slovenly-dressed man? In fact the song is a sort of quirkjy 'rap' effort, that is not too bad, but I cannot possibly believe this could win - but what do I know?

2 Iceland: Greta Salóme & Jónsi - Never Forget Through
- (21.13) A bit of a dirge of the 'dum-di-dum' rhythmic variety - not a winner, I think.

3 Greece: Eleftheria Eleftheriou - Aphrodisiac Through
- (21.16) Greece may be on the ropes financially, but this is a 'sexy' song - who will pay for next yera's show if they win? ;) It's quite amusing actually and will probably get to the final.

4 Latvia: Anmary - Beautiful Song Eliminated
- (21.20) 5 "30-something" smartly-dressed ladies singing in English - a very tuneful ditty, bthat 20 or 30 years ago could have been a winner, but is too 'intelligent' I suspect for today's mindless pap. Could get to the final.

5 Albania: Rona Nishliu - Suus Through
- (21.23) A rather strange-looking lady, singing what is probably quite a dramatic ballad, but her voice is a little 'off'. If this makes the final then I know nothing (but we knew that already - ed.)

6 Romania: Mandinga - Zaleilah Through
- (21.29) Pretty woman singing a rubbish song (IMHO of course) - formulaic and boring with 'pseud' Romanian (presumably) rhythm. Not good.

7 Switzerland: Sinplus - Unbreakable Eliminated
- (21.34) dramatic start, from a not bad-looking fellow, but unfortunately he CANNOT sing - the worst kind of non-English speaker massacring English. Sorry, we won't be having the next contest in lovely Switzerland ;) Will this really make the final?

8 Belgium: Iris - Would You Eliminated
- (21.38) A pretty young thing singing in English - her voice is sadly not very strong, because it's not a bad tune, although she got better as she snag - perhaps nerves at beginning. Might get to the final, but absolutely not a winner.

9 Finland: Pernilla - När Jag Blundar Eliminated
- (21.41) Pretty re-head singing in Finnish, quite a nice ballad, sung in Finnish (presumably). In a fair world this might do quite well and probably deserves to get to the final if people can look beyond not understanding the words (unless you're in Finland, of course). A decent voice on her, too.

10 Israel: Izabo - Time Eliminated
- (21.46) A decidedly quirky song by a male (with guitar) and a female (on keyboard) - I rather like this and it should certainly get to the final - it's really catchy.

11 San Marino: Valentina Monetta - The Social Network Song (Oh Oh - Uh - Oh Oh) Eliminated
- (21.50) Golly this is good, it's a nice 'sexy' and boppy song with an attractive female lead singer. Certainly needs to be in the final - might even win?

12 Cyprus: Ivi Adamou - La La Love Through
- (21.54) A leggy brunette. Not a bad song and she has a good voice, but not as good as San Marino although it is a very worthy entry. Should get to final.

13 Denmark: Soluna Samay - Should've Known Better Through
- (21.57) Not a bad tune and she is certainly pretty, but her voice is not tone-perfect. Possibly won't make final I suspect.

14 Russia: Buranovskiye Babushki - Party For Everybody Through
- (22.01) Is this some kind of joke? Eccentric certainly! A catchy tune, but surely this is so bizarre it can't win? It might just make the final I suppose for laughs! But for me it's NO, NO, NO!!!

15 Hungary: Compact Disco - Sound Of Our Hearts Through
- (22.07) Not a bad effort and lead singer has a good and powerful voice. Unusual song, but I rather like it - should easily get to final. Sung in English.

16 Austria: Trackshittaz - Woki Mit Deim Popo Eliminated
- (22.10) A quirky sexy song sung in German, by an attractive if eccentric group. A sort of German rap effort and not bad at all - should get to final.

17 Moldova: Pasha Parfeny - Lăutar Through
- (22.14) A nice-looking fellow with a troupe of equally-attractive females singing in English quite catchy tune - and he has a decent voice. Could easily make final and if it does might do well there. Yes. it is quite a decent song and a good performance.

18 Ireland: Jedward - Waterline Through
- (22.18) I find Jedward completely awful, usually, but despite myself this ain't half bad - in fact it is pretty good, it is fast-paced, lively and of course their choreography is very good and their singing is pretty good too - could easily do rather well.

My vote this evening went to number 17 - Moldova - it's a good song, well-sung and the performers are polished and professional - easily deserves a place in the final in my opinion.

- The contest this evening will begin at 9pm (Spanish time - or 8pm in the UK) and runs for two hours.
- According to the Eurovision website page for the first semi-final, viewers in Spain will have an opportunity to vote in this evening's semi-final (but not in the second semi-final on Thursday)
- Once the results of this evening's semi-final are known I will add Through (to the final) or Eliminated to each entry.

UPDATE (23.05) I have now updated the article with all the results, showing the 10 countries which go Through to the final and the 8 countries which have been Eliminated. It was an enjoyable evening and I shall look forward to the second semi-final on Thursday even though [because I am in Spain] I won't have a vote. See you on Thursday!

2nd UPDATE (Friday 25MAY2012 08.40 CET+1) You can see my article on the second semi-final held on the evening of Thursday 24th May here.

3rd UPDATE (Saturday 26MAY2012 19.30 CET+1) My blog article on the final of this year's Eurovision Song Contest is here; it will be updated throughout the show later this evening as each entrant performs; I shall also be 'tweeting' simultaneously my reaction to each of the performances - my Twitter feed is here.