Eurovision 2013 - Malmö (Sweden) - the final

(This blog is now being UPDATED as the various countries sing - the introductory 'spiel' from the Swedish TV presenter - and comedienne - is really quite good this year. There will be a final UPDATE near the end once the competition is over, but I will summarise the results immediately below)

The results of Eurovision Song Contest for 2013

Denmark is FIRST with 281 points
Azerbaijan is SECOND with 234 points
Ukraine is THIRD with 214 points
- a very convincing victory for Denmark; although I did not cast my vote for them (I gave them 7 ¼ to 7 ½, my 7th equal vote more or less) it is still a pretty good song and Denmark will make for a nice location for Eurovision next year.

You can see the full voting details in the Eurovision website here.

Congratulations to Denmark on their win and see you next year in Copenhagen, or whichever Danish city is chosen to host it. Here's the winning song:


Below are my comments during the evening:

So, tonight is the night - the final of the Eurovision Song Contest for 2013! There are 26 contestants tonight, 20 qualifiers from the first and second semi-finals, plus the 'big 5' who pre-qualify for the final by virtue of their major financial support for the EBU and finally the winner of last year's contest and this year's host nation which also pre-qualifies for the final - the 6 nations in all that this applies to are high-lighted below.

The final will begin at 9pm (Spanish time - or 8pm in the UK) and runs for 3+ hours. The full order in which the entries will be performed is in the Eurovision website here and the page has links to view video-clips of all the competing entries.

I'll be updating the list below (in performance order) as the show progresses with my comments on each performance (updated comments for the 20 qualifiers from the semi-finals). Apart from having watched a video-clip of the United Kingdom entry once only, I had not seen any of the entries until the two semi-finals and still have not seen recordings of the entries for Sweden, France, Germany, Italy and Spain and do not plan to watch them before the performances on Saturday evening so that the whole evening will be as 'fresh' as possible for me.


1 – France: Amandine Bourgeois - L'enfer Et Moi Pre-qualified for final.
It seems superfluous to remark that htis is being sung in French - she's performing well a sort of rock ballad. She is quite a pretty blond, with a 'rounded' figure, good to see. The song is quite good, but probably not a a winner, sadly.

2 - Lithuania: Andrius Pojavis - Something
[My reaction during 1st semi-final - Good-looking man singing in English. Good if not perfect voice and is a pleasant boppy pop effort. Probably not a winner I suspect - a few "off" notes in his voice.]
Catchy tune, but his voice is still a little 'off' occasionally. Easy on the eye though.

3 - Moldova: Aliona Moon - O Mie
[My reaction during 1st semi-final - Pretty red-haired lady with long ball-gown dress. Good voice, singing not in English (good). Nice ballad, but hardly a winner, in my opinion. Quite dramatic & pleasant to listen to though.]
Another very creditable performance - she's doing her best (which is a good best) with the material she has to perform, but unfortunately the song ain't that great, not that it's that bad either.

4 – Finland: Krista Siegfrids - Marry Me
[My reaction during 2nd semi-final - Blond lady (this is Finland after all) singing in English a very cheery boppy song - typical Europop - might easily do well & she is certainly performing it with great gusto, supported by male dancers wearing masks & backing female singers. Not bad at all, I'd say it should get to final.]
Another good performance, perhaps not quite the winner though, but certainly deserves to get quite a high point score.

5 – Spain: ESDM - Contigo Hasta El Final (With You Until The End) Pre-qualified for final.
Spanish bag-pipe introduction. She's a rather attractive Iberian beauty, but unfortunately so far her voice is rather weak - hope she recovers later in performance. As I'm in Spain now I can't vote for this, even if I wished to, which sadly would be unlikely in any case. The song ain't bad though, but her voice is not really up to it in my opinion. He voice didn't recover, by the way.

6 - Belgium: Roberto Bellarosa - Love Kills
[My reaction during 1st semi-final - Young pleasant-looking man with longish straight brown hair, quite young. Good voice, singing in English a pretty nice ballad. Might do quite well in a fair world (i.e. probably not Eurovision). I like it.]
This is a really nice song and again he's doing it proud - should get a decent level of votes if there's any justice.

7 - Estonia: Birgit - Et Uus Saaks Alguse
[My reaction during 1st semi-final - Very attractive dark-daired lady, singing presumably in Estonian. Nice ballad and she has a good voice. It's good, but whether it will appeal to wider audience I doubt, probably too high quality for Eurovision.]
Excellent ballad and she has a very good voice. Will it get many votes, though? If I had to eat my words I wouldn't mind.

8 - Belarus: Alyona Lanskaya - Solayoh
[My reaction during 1st semi-final - Beautiful blond lady singing in English. Voice is good, a lively bit of Europop, backing dancers & singers. Not bad at all & quite well performed. A winner though?]
Another good performance of this lively song, perhaps not a winner, but it certainly deserves a few votes.

9 – Malta: Gianluca - Tomorrow
[My reaction during 2nd semi-final - Nice-looking young man singing in English - a good voice, with male/female backing music & singers. The words are amusing and tell a stroy and it is being performed pretty well, but I wonder if non-English speakers will wonder what it's all about. But it is so nice, surely no-one could not like this? I do like it a great deal.]
Another very attractive performance and he has a very 'smiley' face which is engaging. I like this a great deal - might switch my allegiance to it I suspect from what I did in 2nd semi.

10 - Russia: Dina Garipova - What If
[My reaction during 1st semi-final - Pretty female, long straight black hair, excellent powerful and true voice and it's a nice ballad. Sung in English. It's actually quite catchy and the words are good. Might do well I suspect.]
Her voice is excellent, no doubt about that & the song is very nice and optimistic.

11 – Germany: Cascada - Glorious Pre-qualified for final.
Blond pretty but slightly 'round' lady singing in English - her voice is OK, but not perfect, and the song ain't that great in my opinion - it's a lively boppy number, but I can't say I like it much.

12 – Armenia: Dorians - Lonely Planet
[My reaction during 2nd semi-final - Young nice-looking man (long hair, goatee & moustache) - good voice, but with some off-notes I'm afraid. Singing ballad with rock overtones in English with backing group - like this at first, but off-notes are putting me off. No - I don't think so, sorry.]
I think his performance is a little better tonight than in the 2nd semi- but there are still a few off-notes I think. Not a bad song, but I'd be really surprised if this ended up winning.

13 - The Netherlands: Anouk - Birds
[My reaction during 1st semi-final - Pretty lady, long auburn hair, has an excellent voice and it's a good if slightly unusual song, but I like it quite a lot and it's sung in English. A quality song, but perhaps not quite right for Eurovision, but the kind of song that could last.]
A classy song and she has an excellent voice. It's a proper, intelligent song and deserves to do well, even if I suspect (sadly) it is too good for a competition like this.

14 – Romania: Cezar - It's My Life
[My reaction during 2nd semi-final - Started with a deep voice, but now is singing falsetto, amazing voice. His voice is powerful and excellent - he is singing in English & song is pretty amazing. Should definitely get to final, if only for novelty, but it will certainly merit it.]
I can only repeat that this is pretty amazing. Could we be in Bucharest next year? Perhaps not, but it is undoubtedly a contender.

15 – United Kingdom: Bonnie Tyler - Believe In Me Pre-qualified for final.
Her voice is good, but I wonder if she's not having an off-night - ah, now she is recovering, thank goodness. It's a good song, but trying to be objective it ain't a patch on Malta or Romania. As I'm in Spain I could vote for this, but I don't think I necessarily will - sorry.

16 – Sweden: Robin Stjernberg - You Pre-qualified for final.
A nice-looking blond man, with a good voice and it's being performed quite well, in a way similar to some of the Netherlands song, but not as good I think.

17 – Hungary: ByeAlex - Kedvesem (Zoohacker Remix)
[My reaction during 2nd semi-final - Male singing in Hungarian with male guitarist and female singing backing. Tuneful and not unpleasant too listen to, it has an attractive beat - he has a good voice & it is different. Might at least get to final, I suspect.]
Another good performance of a catchy and quite attractive song. Probably not the winner, but certainly not a 'dud'.

18 - Denmark: Emmelie de Forest - Only Teardrops
[My reaction during 1st semi-final - A classy song - lead female singer - long blond hair & male group and musicians. Sung in English - nice song & should do pretty well in a fair world.]
Yes, its a nice song and they're performing it well again.

19 – Iceland: Eythor Ingi - Ég Á Líf
[My reaction during 2nd semi-final - A long-haired blond young man singing in Icelandic. He has a superb voice and it seems to be a nice ballad - I rather like it, his voice is so good, the fact I don't understand the words really doesn't matter to me. This is quality, even if unlikely to win.]
Yes, he has a lovely voice and this is a quality song, even if highly-unlikely to win.

20 – Azerbaijan: Farid Mammadov - Hold Me
[My reaction during 2nd semi-final - Good-looking young man simply and nicely dressed, singing in English (he has a good voice). Song is mainly a ballad & I like the choreography with a similar 'mirror image' in a glass box. Yes, I like this - it should get to final I think.]
Another classy performance of this fine song, deserves to get a fair number of votes.

21 – Greece: Koza Mostra feat. Agathon Iakovidis - Alcohol Is Free
[My reaction during 2nd semi-final - Mixed-age male group singing a very Greek-sounding ditty. Very cheerful and lively. Younger ones all very good-looking of course. Fun to listen to, but surely this can't get through to the final even with its 'subversive' title.]
What can I say? Why this got to the final is a mystery to l'il ol' me, perhaps it's a sympathy vote for the mess the country is in?

22 - Ukraine: Zlata Ognevich - Gravity
[My reaction during 1st semi-final - Beautiful lady in tight white long dress, singing pretty well, although the song is not perhaps my cup of tea, although it is quite catchy, sung in English. Her voice is well capable of handling this pretty difficult song, though - really not bad at all.]
Another good performance. It's a good song, but I doubt it's the winner (but I've been wrong before).

23 – Italy: Marco Mengoni - L'Essenziale Pre-qualified for final.
Italian is a very 'sexy' language and he's a sexy-looking guy in a nicely-fitted suit. A romantic ballad sung pretty well in Italian - very romantic, but I'll be rather surprised if it gets a high number votes, far less is the winner.

24 – Norway: Margaret Berger - I Feed You My Love
[My reaction during 2nd semi-final - Blond female beauty in tight white long dress, singing in English. It's a lively, sexy rocky ballad and the male drummer backing is banging away. Think this could easily make the final (& at least Norway has plenty of money to stage next year's show if they win). Yes, I quite like this & should at the very least get to the final if there is any justice.]
One of the three or four songs (the others are Malta and Romania, possibly even Belgium or Azerbaijan) that could win tonight, I think. This should certainly do very well, whatever happens.

25 – Georgia: Nodi Tatishvili & Sophie Gelovani - Waterfall
[My reaction during 2nd semi-final - Both the female and male singers are beauties, with good voices singing in English. It's a nice ballad and should certainly make the final. Perhaps not a winner, but it deserves a place on Saturday I think.]
I think this will be in the top tier, it's a very pleasant tuneful ballad, although I tend to doubt it is the winner.

26 - Ireland: Ryan Dolan - Only Love Survives
[My reaction during 1st semi-final - Good-looking and clad in tight leather suit - very easy on the eye. Good voice, and nice song. Voice good, but not perfect, but he is VERY good-looking so might do well. Topless male backing, leather trousers - wow!]
Yes, he is certainly very easy on the eye, this young man! Another very decent performance of this lively #Europop - should get a fair few votes.

UPDATE (23.02 CET) Well, the singing is now over, I've narrowed it down to 2 to vote for - Malta or Romania, I think Norway is just eclipsed by these 2. I think I have now made my choice and am going to vote for Malta as it is the best of the 2 or 3 really nice songs.

(23.40 et seq)
I'm going to list the top vote (12 points) from each country (out of the 39 who vote) and for whom that vote was given:
1 - San Marino goes to Greece
2 - Sweden goes to Norway
3 - Albania goes to Italy
4 - The Netherlands goes to Belgium
5 - Austria goes to Azerbaijan
6 - United Kingdom goes to Denmark
7 - Israel goes to Azerbaijan
8 - Serbia goes to Denmark
9 - Ukraine goes to Belarus
10 - Hungary goes to Azerbaijan
11 - Romania goes to Moldova
12 - Moldova goes to Ukraine
13 - Azerbaijan goes to Ukraine
14 - Norway goes to Sweden
15 - Armenia goes to Ukraine
16 - Italy goes to Denmark
17 - Finland goes to Norway
18 - Spain goes to Italy
19 - Belarus goes to Ukraine
20 - Latvia goes to Russia
21 - Bulgaria goes to Azerbaijan
22 - Belgium goes to The Netherlands
23 - Russia goes to Azerbaijan
24 - Malta goes to Azerbaijan
25 - Estonia goes to Russia
26 - Germany goes to Hungary
27 - Iceland goes to Denmark
28 - France goes to Denmark
29 - Greece goes to Azerbaijan
30 - Ireland goes to Denmark
31 - Denmark goes to Norway
32 - Montenegro goes to Azerbaijan
33 - Slovenia goes to Denmark
34 - Georgia goes to Azerbaijan
35 - FYR Macedonia goes to Denmark
36 - Cyprus goes to Greece
37 - Croatia goes to Ukraine
38 - Switzerland goes to Italy
39 - Lithuania goes to Azerbaijan

Final UPDATE
- the winner is Denmark with 281 points
- second is Azerbaijan with 234 points
- third is Ukraine with 214 points

You can read my articles about the semi-finals here:
Eurovision 2013 - 1st semi-final - 14th May
Eurovision 2013 - 2nd semi-final - 16th May

Eurovision 2013 - Malmö (Sweden) - second semi-final

(Please see UPDATE at end)

Tonight the second semi-final is being held and will comprise the next 17 competitors, singing in the following order (I'll UPDATE this post as each song is performed) and of these a further 10 will go Through to the final on Saturday, with the remaining 7 being Eliminated from the contest:

1 – Latvia: PeR – Here We Go Eliminated
(21.13) Boy-band wearing, tight, glittery, grey or black suits, singing in English quite a pleasant ditty, if this wins I will be amazed. Not a bad song at all mind you for a party

2 - San Marino: Valentine Monetta – Crisalide (Vola) Eliminated
(21.16) A pretty blond singing in Italian what sounds like a romantic ballad. She has a good voice & it is very pleasant to listen too, but may be too 'niche' for Eurovision, but I wouldn't mind having this on my music player

3 - F.Y.R. Macedonia: Esma & Lozano - Pred Da Se Razdeni Eliminated
(21.19) Good-looking man in dark suit with white t-shirt, singing a nice ballad in a language other than English, unfortunately mixed with some fat, red-dressed lady singing much more discordant sections. Maybe this is 'sophisticated' FYROM music, but the effect is not good for me - I'd prefer him on his own in all sorts of ways; apart from anything else he has a very good voice. "Nul points" overall.

4 – Azerbaijan: Farid Mammadov - Hold Me Through
(21.22) Good-looking young man simply and nicely dressed, singing in English (he has a good voice). Song is mainly a ballad & I like the choreography with a similar 'mirror image' in a glass box. Yes, I like this - it should get to final I think.

5 – Finland: Krista Siegfrids - Marry Me Through
(21.26) Blond lady (this is Finland after all) singing in English a very cheery boppy song - typical Europop - might easily do well & she is certainly performing it with great gusto, supported by male dancers wearing masks & backing female singers. Not bad at all, I'd say it should get to final.

6 – Malta: Gianluca - Tomorrow Through
(21.34) Nice-looking young man singing in English - a good voice, with male/female backing music & singers. The words are amusing and tell a stroy and it is being performed pretty well, but I wonder if non-English speakers will wonder what it's all about. But it is so nice, surely no-one could not like this? I do like it a great deal.

7 – Bulgaria: Elitsa Todorova, Stoyan Yankulov - Samo Shampioni (Only Champions) Eliminated
(21.37) Dramatic-looking and quite beautiful young lady singing in Bulgarian, with musical backing & a sort of pirate character playing pipe type instrument. It's quite lively and not unpleasant to listen to - has middle-eastern overtones. Not really my thing though, but she has a good voice.

8 – Iceland: Eythor Ingi - Ég Á Líf Through
(21.41) A long-haired blond young man singing in Icelandic. He has a superb voice and it seems to be a nice ballad - I rather like it, his voice is so good, the fact I don't understand the words really doesn't matter to me. This is quality, even if unlikely to win.

9 – Greece: Koza Mostra feat. Agathon Iakovidis - Alcohol Is Free Through
(21.45) Mixed-age male group singing a very Greek-sounding ditty. Very cheerful and lively. Younger ones all very good-looking of course. Fun to listen to, but surely this can't get through to the final even with its 'subversive' title.

10 – Israel: Moran Mazor - Rak Bishvilo Eliminated
(21.49) Nice, interesting looking young lady singing a ballad in Hebrew with male singing ballad, she has a good voice and I quite like the song, but unlikely to get to final perhaps, a bit too 'niche' perhaps.

11 – Armenia: Dorians - Lonely Planet Through
(21.54) Young nice-looking man (long hair, goatee & moustache) - good voice, but with some off-notes I'm afraid. Singing ballad with rock overtones in English with backing group - like this at first, but off-notes are putting me off. No - I don't think so, sorry.

12 – Hungary: ByeAlex - Kedvesem (Zoohacker Remix) Through
(21.57) Male singing in Hungarian with male guitarist and female singing backing. Tuneful and not unpleasant too listen to, it has an attractive beat - he has a good voice & it is different. Might at least get to final, I suspect.

13 – Norway: Margaret Berger - I Feed You My Love Through
(22.02) Blond female beauty in tight white long dress, singing in English. It's a lively, sexy rocky ballad and the male drummer backing is banging away. Think this could easily make the final (& at least Norway has plenty of money to stage next year's show if they win). Yes, I quite like this & should at the very least get to the final if there is any justice.

14 – Albania: Adrian Lulgjuraj & Bledar Sejko - Identitet Eliminated
(22.09) Male long-haired singers with drummer & guitar backing singing a noisy rocky ditty with Balkan overtones in Albanian. Not bad I suppose - at least it's more or less in tune despite the noise.

15 – Georgia: Nodi Tatishvili & Sophie Gelovani - Waterfall Through
(21.12) Both the female and male singers are beauties, with good voices singing in English. It's a nice ballad and should certainly make the final. Perhaps not a winner, but it deserves a place on Saturday I think.

16 – Switzerland: Takasa - You And Me Eliminated
(22.17) Trendy young and old singing and instrumental group singing in English, singing a very lively ditty, classic Europop with a nice beat, should get to final.

17 – Romania: Cezar - It's My Life Through
(22.21) Started with a deep voice, but now is singing falsetto, amazing voice. His voice is powerful and excellent - he is singing in English & song is pretty amazing. Should definitely get to final, if only for novelty, but it will certainly merit it.

UPDATE
(22.25) For me it is a choice between Malta, Norway and Romania (all with 7 3/4), then next tier down Azerbaijan, Iceland and Georgia. I voted for Norway.
(23.01) All results in and updated above against each country. The 10 countries going through tonight are (re-arranged in alphabetical order):
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Finland
Georgia
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Malta
Norway
Romania

To re-cap from my article about the first semi-final held on Tuesday 14th May, the following 10 countries were voted through to the final this coming Saturday (re-arranged in alphabetical order) :
Belarus
Belgium
Denmark
Estonia
Ireland
Lithuania
Moldova
The Netherlands
Russia
Ukraine
- they will be joined in the final by the 5 countries which have pre-qualified automatically, the so-called "big 5" who pay most of the running costs (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom) and by last year's winner and this year's host nation (Sweden) who together with those selected to go through this evening will comprise the 26 finalists.

UPDATE
My article covering the Final on Saturday 18th May 2013 is here. Denamrk won with a score of 281 points, next came Azerbaijan with 234 points and in third position was Ukraine with 214 points. Denmark were worthy winners; next year the contest will be held there, presumably in Copenhagen - 'see' you then.

Eurovision 2013 - Malmö (Sweden) - first semi-final

(See UPDATES at end)

Tonight the first semi-final of Eurovision 2013 is being held in Malmö and I will be commenting in this article (and via Twitter) as the evening progresses.

Tonight the viewers in the 16 competing countries, plus those in Sweden, Italy and the United Kingdom will be able to vote. As viewers in Spain are not able to vote tonight, the programme is not actually being shown on Spanish television, although the programme can be followed on-line here (I'll be watching it on BBC3 from the UK). Spanish viewers will however be able to vote in the 2nd semi-final on Thursday (along with viewers in France and Germany) and this programme will be televised here (on TVE - La 2). The Final is on Saturday 18th May. All 3 programmes begin at 9pm in Spain (8pm in UK) and last for about 3 hours.

1 - Austria: Natália Kelly - Shine Eliminated
(21.13)Quite a pretty lady, long dark curly hair - good strong and true voice - singing in English - nice tuneful song and she's performing it very well; 4-person backing group (2f, 2m). Pretty good & impressive I'd say.

2 - Estonia: Birgit - Et Uus Saaks Alguse Through
(21.17) - Very attractive dark-daired lady, singing presumably in Estonian. Nice ballad and she has a good voice. It's good, but whether it will appeal to wider audience I doubt, probably too high quality for Eurovision.

3 - Slovenia: Hannah - Straight Into Love Eliminated
(21.21) An American apparently, singing in English - she has a nice voice, but not entirely true I'd say, it's a lively song, but I doubt very it's a winner. Her voice is good, but not strong or true enough. Not a great song, in my view.

4 - Croatia: Klapa s mora - Mižerja Eliminated
(21.25) All male group singing in a language that is not English (good for them) & it's a tuneful song, a ballad with boppy chorus. Voices are good and powerful. Not a winner, unless Balkan voters all go for it.

5 - Denmark: Emmelie de Forest - Only Teardrops Through
(21.29) A classy song - lead female singer - long blond hair & male group and musicians. Sung in English - nice song & should do pretty well in a fair world.

6 - Russia: Dina Garipova - What If Through
(21.36) Pretty female, long straight black hair, excellent powerful and true voice and it's a nice ballad. Sung in English. It's actually quite catchy and the words are good. Might do well I suspect.

7 - Ukraine: Zlata Ognevich - Gravity Through
(21.40) Beautiful lady in tight white long dress, singing pretty well, although the song is not perhaps my cup of tea, although it is quite catchy, sung in English. Her voice is well capable of handling this pretty difficult song, though - really not bad at all.

8 - The Netherlands: Anouk - Birds Through
(21.44) Pretty lady, long auburn hair, has an excellent voice and it's a good if slightly unusual song, but I like it quite a lot and it's sung in English. A quality song, but perhaps not quite right for Eurovision, but the kind of song that could last.

9 - Montenegro: Who See - Igranka Eliminated
(21.47) Golly - 2 men dressed in space-suits! It's a saort of rap sung in 'not English. Lead female singer is good, no idea what it's about. Not a bad song and at least it's different. A winner though?

10 - Lithuania: Andrius Pojavis - Something Through
(21.51) Good-looking man singing in English. Good if not perfect voice and is a pleasant boppy pop effort. Probably not a winner I suspect - a few "off" notes in his voice.

11 - Belarus: Alyona Lanskaya - Solayoh Through
(21.55) Beautiful blond lady singing in English. Voice is good, a lively bit of Europop, backing dancers & singers. Not bad at all & quite well performed. A winner though?

12 - Moldova: Aliona Moon - O Mie Through
(21.59) Pretty red-haired lady with long ball-gown dress. Good voice, singing not in English (good). Nice ballad, but hardly a winner, in my opinion. Quite dramatic & pleasant to listen to though.

13 - Ireland: Ryan Dolan - Only Love Survives Through
(22.03) Good-looking and clad in tight leather suit - very easy on the eye. Good voice, and nice song. Voice good, but not perfect, but he is VERY good-looking so might do well. Topless male backing, leather trousers - wow!

14 - Cyprus: Despina Olympiou - An Me Thimasai Eliminated
(22.10) Rather beautiful lady with long auburn hair, singing in Greek. She has a good voice & song is rather nice. Hardly a winner though, but at least she'll get 12 points from Greece I imagine.

15 - Belgium: Roberto Bellarosa - Love Kills Through
(22.14)Young pleasant-looking man with longish straight brown hair, quite young. Good voice, singing in English a pretty nice ballad. Might do quite well in a fair world (i.e. probably not Eurovision). I like it.

16 - Serbia: Moje 3 - Ljubav Je Svuda Eliminated
(22.19) Pretty female singers dressed very strangely, like dolls really with very short dresses. Singing in another language, a boppy song, but I'm afraid I don't like it and although voices fairly good, not perfect & the whole thing is very strange. Surely this won't get to final?

I've deliberately not watched video-clips of any of the competing entries this year so it will all be fresh for me when I see them, although I think I may have seen the UK entry when it was selected, but as regular readers of this blog will know from previous years I do not apply 'favouritism' to the UK entry, however good/bad it is, even though I could actually vote for it in the final on Saturday as I am currently in Spain (so I obviously won't be able to vote for the Spanish entry), but as usual I shall vote for what I consider to be the best song and performance on the evening, irrespective of where it comes from.

My top scores tonight (7 1/2) were for Russia and Belgium. Next best score (7 1/4) went to Denmark, Netherlands, and Ireland. Apart from Serbia, which I did not like at all, there were no bad songs.

UPDATE: Once the results come through, I will mark them either Through (10) or Eliminated (6). It has been a pretty good evening overall. All former "Soviet bloc" countries got through, although no former Yugoslavian country did (they were all pretty poor songs, though). The only one I'm surprised and a bit disappointed didn't make it is Austria.

2nd UPDATE:
Here are my articles covering the:
- 2nd Semi-Final (16th May 2013)
- The Final (18th May 2013)

Eurovision 2013 - Malmö (Sweden) - this coming week

(Please see UPDATE at end)

As in recent previous years Eurovision is a 3-part affair with two semi-finals on Tuesday 14th and Thursday 16th, with the final being held on Saturday 18th May. I hope to be able to watch both semi-finals (or at least a part of them) plus of course the final next Saturday. This will be 58th Eurovision Song Contest.

Sweden won last year's contest in Baku (Azerbaijan) very convincingly - I wrote about it here.

You can find out more about this year's contest by visiting the Eurovision website here. There are 16 countries competing in the first semi-final and 17 in the second semi-final, with 10 countries from each semi-final qualifying for the final. The final will include the 5 "big countries" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom), plus Sweden as the winning country in last year's contest, giving 26 countries in all competing in the final on Saturday 18th May 2013.

The running order for the two semi-finals will be as follows:

First semi-final - Tuesday 14th May 2013>
1 - Austria
2 - Estonia
3 - Slovenia
4 - Croatia
5 - Denmark
6 - Russia
7 - Ukraine
8 - The Netherlands
9 - Montenegro
10 - Lithuania
11 - Belarus
12 - Moldova
13 - Ireland
14 - Cyprus
15 - Belgium
16 - Serbia

Second semi-final - Thursday 16th May 2013>
1 - Latvia
2 - San Marino
3 - F.Y.R. Macedonia
4 - Azerbaijan
5 - Finland
6 - Malta
7 - Bulgaria
8 - Iceland
9 - Greece
10 - Israel
11 - Armenia
12 - Hungary
13 - Norway
14 - Albania
15 - Georgia
16 - Switzerland
17 - Romania

It is probably no secret to most people that Eurovision, apart from being a popular annual form of light-entertainment is also rather kitsch and has a particular following amongst gay viewers, this year recognised by host city Malmö and the city is making a particular effort to make LGBT visitors welcome.

It should be a good week, I think ..

UPDATES (Sunday 19th May 2013) 12.05 CET) My articles on the first and second semi-finals and the final are below:
- First Semi-Final, Tuesday 14th May 2013;
- Second Semi-Final, Thursday 16th May 2013;
- The Final, Saturday 18th May 2013.

Eurovision 2012 - Baku (Azerbaijan) - the final

The results of Eurovision Song Contest for 2012

Sweden is FIRST with 372 points
Russia is SECOND with 259 points
Serbia is THIRD with 214 points
- a very convincing victory for Sweden; although I did not cast one of my votes for them, they were in fact amongst the 8 countries for whom I gave my top score of 7 3/4 - 8 (yes, it's an inexact vote - so sue me!).

Congratulations to Sweden on their win and see you next year in Stockholm. Here's the winning song:

Above is the summary of the results and below is my report on the whole evening

So, tonight is the night - the final of the Eurovision Song Contest for 2012! There are 26 contestants tonight, 20 qualifiers from the first and second semi-finals, plus the 'big 5' who pre-qualify for the final by virtue of their major financial support for the EBU and finally the winner of last year's contest and this year's host nation which also pre-qualifies for the final - the 6 nations in all that this applies to are high-lighted below.

The final will begin at 9pm (Spanish time - or 8pm in the UK) and runs for 3+ hours. The full order in which the entries will be performed is in the Eurovision website here and the page has links to view video-clips of all the competing entries.

I'll be updating the list below (in performance order) as the show progresses with my comments on each performance (updated comments for the 20 qualifiers from the semi-finals). Apart from having watched a video-clip of the United Kingdom entry once only, I had not seen any of the entries until the two semi-finals and still have not seen recordings of the entries for Azerbaijan, France, Germany, Italy and Spain and do not plan to watch them before the performances on Saturday evening so that the whole evening will be as 'fresh' as possible for me.

United Kingdom - Engelbert Humperdinck - Love Will Set You Free Pre-qualified for final.
A true professional and a star performer singing a nice ballad - should do pretty well in a fair world. It is so low-key and nice - a real and welcome contrast to some of the other efforts 'pyrotechnics'. Will I vote for this (I'm in Spain)? - more later.

Hungary - Compact Disco - Sound Of Our Hearts
[My reaction during 1st semi-final - 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.]
Another very sound performance - should do well.

Albania - Rona Nishliu - Suus
[My reaction during 1st semi-final - 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.)]
Just as off-putting as I found it in the semi-finals - complete joke and nonsense. Why is this in the final?

Lithuania - Donny Montell - Love Is Blind
[My reaction during 2nd semi-final - Singing in glittery blindfold, referencing the song title is a very good-looking man with a really rather excellent voice singing a ballad in English. Now he's taken off the mask (he has lovely eyes) and is doing sexy hip-twists and thrusts and it has upped the beat - this is certainly worthy of getting to final and might do very well there. Only flaw is that his pronunciation of 'you' is rather strange. On balance I like, though.]
Another great performance - he is so good-looking and is performing the song very well again - even is pronunciation of 'you' isn't so strange.

Bosnia & Herzegovina - Maya Sar - Korake Ti Znam
[My reaction during 2nd semi-final - Long-haired pretty woman singing and playing piano singing in another language a rather nice ballad - she has a very good voice, so this deserves to do well and will certainly make the final.]
She is really nice and has an excellent voice - the ballad is very tuneful (assume the meaning is 'worthy') - I am liking this a lot as it's another performance (like the UK) which relies on talent, not 'glitter'.

Russia - Buranovskiye Babushki - Party For Everybody
[My reaction during 1st semi-final - 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!!!]
This is even more awful than I recall from the semi-finals! This is a joke - and a poor one at that!

Iceland - Greta Salóme & Jónsi - Never Forget
[My reaction during 1st semi-final - A bit of a dirge of the 'dum-di-dum' rhythmic variety - not a winner, I think.]
Just as their economy is beginning to get back on its feet could it really afford a win? Not something they are likely to have to worry about with this effort. Mind you the performances are very good and all are nice-looking, it is just the song that is rather 'tedious'

Cyprus - Ivi Adamou - La La Love
[My reaction during 1st semi-final - 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.]
A nice song and well-performed - she has a great voice. Should do pretty well. However they are competing against a strong field - let's see.

France - Anggun - Echo (You And I) Pre-qualified for final.
Acrobatics or singing? You decide. Singing in French (thank goodness!) an interesting song with a good beat to it - I quite like it and she has a strong voice. Hardly a winner though, I suspect.

Italy - Nina Zilli - L'Amore È Femmina (Out Of Love) Pre-qualified for final.
A glamorous woman and nice backing-group singing in English. A pretty good song and well-performed. Might do reasonably well I think - it's different from and better than the usual 'dross'.

Estonia - Ott Lepland - Kuula
[My reaction during 2nd semi-final - Very attractive male, with unfortunately a not-perfect voice singing a nice ballad in what is I take it Estonian. His beauty may get them through to the final, but I think this would be ill-deserved as his voice is just not up to it - a pity as I'd love to be more positive about this handsome man.]
Great-looking singer, but his voice is not particularly good. It's a pity for the song itself is quite nice. I don't think this should have reached final

Norway - Tooji - Stay
[My reaction during 2nd semi-final - Another rock effort from a very good-looking man with a very good voice and mixed-sex backing group. Has middle-eastern overtones (almost Turkish in parts). Should do well I think.]
Again a great performance - I learn from Graham Norton's commentary that he is born in Iran hence middle-eastern tone. He is so good-looking and this is a great song. A winner?

Azerbaijan - Sabina Babayeva - When The Music Dies Pre-qualified for final.
(Winner last year)
A slightly-weak start, but she seems to be getting into her stride. Singing in English - not a bad ballad and probably should do reasonably-well.

Romania - Mandinga - Zaleilah
[My reaction during 1st semi-final - Pretty woman singing a rubbish song (IMHO of course) - formulaic and boring with 'pseud' Romanian (presumably) rhythm. Not good.]
"Stet" - just as awful as I recall from the semi-finals. She is a beautiful woman with an OK voice, that's about all I can say about this.

Denmark - Soluna Samay - Should've Known Better
[My reaction during 1st semi-final - Not a bad tune and she is certainly pretty, but her voice is not tone-perfect. Possibly won't make final I suspect.]
Not a bad song but a bit of 'dirge' on balance. Her voice is a bit 'off' at times; she is very pretty though. Hardly a winner - but what do I know?

Greece - Eleftheria Eleftheriou - Aphrodisiac
[My reaction during 1st semi-final - 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.]
Another great performance. What WILL they do if they win?

Sweden - Loreen - Euphoria
[My reaction during 2nd semi-final - Long dark-haired beauty singing in English a very lively song, quite dramatic - she has a very good and powerful voice and this certainly deserves to be in final and will, I think, do well there. Lots of echo-chamber effects. Archetypal Eurovision material.]
This really is very good - it's rather catchy and I like the syncopation. She has a great voice and is putting in a good performance.

Turkey - Can Bonomo - Love Me Back
[My reaction during 2nd semi-final - Modern song with Turkish overtones sung in English and Turkish, very amusingly and wittily. It's quite a lively song and I rather like it and it's certainly not your usual Euro-pop, which is a nice change. Deserves a place in final.]
I rather like this - whilst I don't think it will win, if it did I wouldn't mind at all.

Spain - Pastora Soler - Quédate Conmigo (Stay With Me) Pre-qualified for final.
She has a lovely voice - powerful and true - and is rather striking-looking. Starting as a nice ballad which I'm rather liking. How will next year's show be paid for if they win? Really this is pretty good though and should do fairly well, I think.

Germany - Roman Lob - Standing Still Pre-qualified for final.
A nice ballad sung in English (Graham Norton tells us it is written by Jamie Cullum amongst others) - he is putting in a nice performance and this should do pretty well - he has a good voice and ain't bad-looking either. Yes, this is pretty decent stuff and should do well.

Malta - Kurt Calleja - This Is The Night
[My reaction during 2nd semi-final - My Twitter seems to be down. A good-looking male singer and a his backing-group are all equally good-looking. It's a lively boppy tune sung in English (of course) and is pretty good and he has a decent voice - should certainly get to the final, I think.]
Another good performance - should do pretty well.

F.Y.R. Macedonia - Kaliopi - Crno I Belo
[My reaction during 2nd semi-final - Black trouser-clad (the clothes, not the singer) dramatic-looking female singing what appears to be a feisty ballad which is perfectly tuneful and may well get through to final, not quite as good as Serbian effort on my reckoning, though.]
Deserved its place in final and will probably do quite well, but I suspect not a winner - but voting patterns may make that comment look foolish a little later, if past form is anything to go by.

Ireland - Jedward - Waterline
[My reaction during 1st semi-final - 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.]
Another very sound performance of this catchy 'europop' effort - could this win and how would the country pay for next year's show?

Serbia - Željko Joksimović - Nije Ljubav Stvar
[My reaction during 2nd semi-final - Polished semi-classical instrumental introduction for the good-looking male singer who has a lovely voice and the ballad (although I don't understand it) is lovely - should certainly make it to final.]
I'm still liking this - perhaps not a winner, but still very good and he is still VERY 'easy on the eye'.

Ukraine - Gaitana - Be My Guest
[My reaction during 2nd semi-final - Female with flowers in her hair - lively song which I find AWFUL - it's not tuneless completely, but her voice is not perfect and she's just shouting a lot of it. Should not get to final, but probably will, with voting patterns in recent years.]
I still don't like this, but it is perhaps not quite so awful as I found it in the semi-finals. Her voice is really not good at some points. If this wins then I really do know nothing!

Moldova - Pasha Parfeny - Lăutar
[My reaction during 1st semi-final - 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.]
Another good performance and I'm still liking this a lot. If this won I wouldn't be disappointed.

(23.10) I've voted now - rules say you can vote upto 10 times - I voted twice for UK, 3 times for Germany and once each for 3 others (Hungary, Norway, Moldova), 2 votes not used.

(23.35 - and so on)
I'm going to list the top vote (12 points) from each country (out of the 42 who vote) and for whom that vote was given:
1 Albania votes for Greece
2 Montenegro votes for Serbia
3 Romania votes for Moldova
4 Austria votes for Sweden
5 Ukraine votes for Azerbaijan
6 Belarus votes for Russia
7 Belgium votes for Sweden
8 Azerbaijan votes for Turkey
9 Malta votes for Azerbaijan
10 San Marino votes for Albania
11 France votes for Sweden
12 United Kingdom votes for Sweden
13 Turkey votes for Azerbaijan
14 Greece votes for Cyprus
15 Bosnia & Herzegovina votes for Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
16 Moldova votes for Romania
17 Bulgaria votes for Serbia
18 Switzerland votes for Albania
19 Slovenia votes for Serbia
20 Cyprus votes for Greece
21 Croatia votes for Serbia
22 Slovakia votes for Sweden
23 Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia votes for Albania
24 Netherlands votes for Sweden
25 Portugal votes for Spain
26 Iceland votes for Sweden
27Sweden votes for Cyprus
28 Norway votes for Sweden
29 Lithuania votes for Azerbaijan
30 Estonia votes for Sweden
31 Denmark votes for Sweden
32 Latvia votes for Sweden
33 Spain votes for Sweden
34 Finland votes for Sweden
35 Georgia votes for Lithuania
36 Italy votes for Albania
37 Serbia votes for Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
38 Germany votes for Sweden
39 Russia votes for Sweden
40 Hungary votes for Sweden
41 Israel votes for Sweden
42 Ireland votes for Sweden

(23.20)
The final tally of votes (top 3):
Sweden 372 points
Russia 259 points
Serbia 214 points


NB/ I shall also be 'tweeting' simultaneously my reaction to each of the performances in the final this evening - my Twitter feed is here. In case you are interested, you may read my blog articles on the first semi-final held on Tuesday 22nd May 2012 here and on the second semi-final held on Thursday 24th May 2012 here.

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

(Please see UPDATES at end)

Tonight the second semi-final is being held and will comprise the next 18 competitors, singing in the following order (I'll update this post as each song is performed) and of these a further 10 will go forward to the final on Saturday, with the remaining 8 being eliminated from the contest:
1 Serbia - Željko Joksimović - Nije Ljubav Stvar Through
(21.07) Polished semi-classical instrumental introduction for the good-looking male singer who has a lovely voice and the ballad (although I don't understand it) is lovely - should certainly make it to final.

2 F.Y.R. Macedonia - Kaliopi - Crno I Belo Through
(21.12) Black trouser-clad (the clothes, not the singer) dramatic-looking female singing what appears to be a feisty ballad which is perfectly tuneful and may well get through to final, not quite as good as Serbian effort on my reckoning, though.

3 The Netherlands - Joan Franka - You And Me Eliminated
(21.16) Female singer dressed as Red-Indian 'squaw' - what is this all about. Perfectly nice song and she has a decent voice though. Might or might not get to final - who can tell?

4 Malta - Kurt Calleja - This Is The Night Through
(21.20) My Twitter seems to be down. A good0looking male singer and a his backing-group are all equally good-looking. It's a lively boppy tune sung in English (of course) and is pretty good and he has a decent voice - should certainly get to the final, I think.

5 Belarus - Litesound - We Are The Heroes Eliminated
(21.23) Rock song decently-enough sung (in English) although lead-vocalist's voice ain't perfect - a bit weak in places. Will most probably get to final, though, I should imagine.

6 Portugal - Filipa Sousa - Vida Minha Eliminated
(21.28) Pretty female lead-singer with female and male backing singers - nice ballad with decent instrumentals, sung in Portuguese. Unlikely to get through to final I suspect because it probably doesn't fit in with modern Eurovision. A pity really, but then it might just make it through,

7 Ukraine - Gaitana - Be My Guest Through
(21.33) Female with flowers in her hair - lively song which I find AWFUL - it's not tuneless completely, but her voice is not perfect and she's just shouting a lot of it. Should not get to final, but probably will, with voting patterns in recent years.

8 Bulgaria - Sofi Marinova - Love Unlimited Eliminated
My Twitter is very sporadic here in Spain, sigh. (21.37) Female singer in TIGHT cream leather/plastic(?) dress and similar thigh-length boots singing a very lively song, presumably in Bulgarian. I think it's awful, but it will probably do OK and get to final, although don't ask me to justify it, if it does.

9 Slovenia - Eva Boto - Verjamem Eliminated
(21.41) Pretty woman with long raven-hair singing a very nice tuneful ballad, thankfully not in English - will certainly get to final. A blond-haired beauty has just taken over for a few lines of the song with other equally-beautiful female supporting singers. Yes, this will certainly do well and surely must get to final.

10 Croatia - Nina Badrić - Nebo Eliminated
Abandoning Twitter for now as it ain't working here. (21.45) Dark auburn-haired beauty singing in another language quite a (so far) tuneful ballad with female backing singers and male dancers. It's become more 'dramatic' and strident. Not my taste, but may get to final I suppose.

11 Sweden - Loreen - Euphoria Through
(21.49) Long dark-haired beauty singing in English a very lively song, quite dramatic - she has a very good and powerful voice and this certainly deserves to be in final and will, I think, do well there. Lots of echo-chamber effects. Archetypal Eurovision material.

12 Georgia - Anri Jokhadze - I'm A Joker Eliminated
Twitter still down here. (21.53) A guy dressed like a monk in long red cloak with hood. Now we have female scantily-clad singers and he is now out of his cloak and is a blond good-looking slightly chubby fellow. It's a lively song, not entirely to my taste, but they are performing it well and it will probably get to final and may do OK there.

13 Turkey - Can Bonomo - Love Me Back Through
(21.57) Modern song with Turkish overtones sung in English and Turkish, very amusingly and wittily. It's quite a lively song and I rather like it and it's certainly not your usual Euro-pop, which is a nice change. Deserves a place in final.

14 Estonia - Ott Lepland - Kuula Through
(22.01) Very attractive male, with unfortunately a not-perfect voice singing a nice ballad in what is I take it Estonian. His beauty may get them through to the final, but I think this would be ill-deserved as his voice is just not up to it - a pity as I'd love to be more positive about this handsome man.

15 Slovakia - Max Jason Mai - Don't Close Your Eyes Eliminated
(22.07) Noisy rock-ballad, long blond-haired man in leather/jeans - very lively and he is certainly doing it justice. Not my taste of course, but will probably reach final, but I doubt it could win.

16 Norway - Tooji - Stay Through
(22.11) Another rock effort from a very good-looking man with a very good voice and mixed-sex backing group. Has middle-eastern overtones (almost Turkish in parts). Should do well I think.

17 Bosnia & Herzegovina - Maya Sar - Korake Ti Znam Through
(22.15) Long-haired pretty woman singing and playing piano singing in another language a rather nice ballad - she has a very good voice, so this deserves to do well and will certainly make the final.

18 Lithuania - Donny Montell - Love Is Blind Through
(22.19) Singing in glittery blindfold, referencing the song title is a very good-looking man with a really rather excellent voice singing a ballad in English. Now he's taken off the mask (he has lovely eyes) and is doing sexy hip-twists and thrusts and it has upped the beat - this is certainly worthy of getting to final and might do very well there. Only flaw is that is pronunciation of 'you' is rather strange. On balance I like, though.

(22.27) As I'm in Spain I can't vote tonight, but if was able to it would be a choice between Sweden, Norway, Bosnia & Herzegovina or Lithuania. Other worthy efforts by Serbia, Malta, Slovenia and Turkey. I think I'd probably have gone for Norway if I was able to vote.

- The contest this evening will again begin at 9pm (Spanish time - or 8pm in the UK) and runs for two hours.
- According to the Eurovision website page for the second semi-final, viewers in Spain will not be able to vote in this evening's semi-final (as viewers in Spain - such as me - were able to vote on Tuesday). However, viewers in the UK will be able to vote this evening.
- Once the results of this evening's semi-final are known I will add Through (to the final) or Eliminated to each entry.

To re-cap from my article about the first semi-final held on Tuesday 22nd May, the following 10 countries were voted through to the final this coming Saturday (re-arranged in alphabetical order) :
Albania
Cyprus
Denmark
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Moldova
Romania
Russia
- they will be joined in the final by the 5 countries which have pre-qualified automatically, the so-called "big 5" who pay most of the running costs (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom) and by last year's winner and this year's host nation (Azerbaijan) who together with those selected to go through this evening will comprise the 26 finalists.

UPDATE (23.10) 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 again an enjoyable evening and I shall look forward to the final on Saturday when we will in addition to the 20 so far selected from the two semi-finals see the 'big five' (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom) and last year's winner and this year's host, Azerbaijan. See you on Saturday!

2nd 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.

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.

"Engrenages" - Spiral (French TV cop series) - Series 1

I wrote a couple of years ago about the 2nd series of this 'gritty' French television 'cop' drama.

Since then I've seen the 3rd series, equally-astonishing in its 'grittiness', but just recently I've at last seen the 1st series, which I missed the first time around. This evening, in fact, I've just watched the final two of the eight episodes of this marvellous drama, like all the three series it was shown on BBC4 television. The adjective 'gritty' doesn't quite do it justice though - perhaps 'stomach-churning', 'hurl-worthy' or plain 'gruesome' would sum it up better!

It would be wrong and insensitive to say I have grown to 'know' and/or 'love' any of the characters in this bleak drama, but I suspect it is, whilst no doubt over-dramatised for the purposes of producing a television series, unfortunately not too far removed from the harsh daily reality of many involved in some of the nastier real-life crimes I've heard about in recent years.

I do hope a 4th series is in prospect? - and from this website of French producing company Canal+ it seems that filming of the 4th series began in August this year and will be completed by next April, with the series being expanded from the usual 8 episodes to 12 for this 4th series. What new horrors they will have in store for us can only be imagined! You can find a rough translation into English of the synopsis of the 4th series, linked to above, here.

"Brothers & Sisters" - series 5 begins Thursday 20th January on More4

At last there are firm details about the start of series 5 of "Brothers & Sisters" on More4. Until Sunday the few announcements about it just mentioned, tantalisingly (and irritatingly), that it was 'coming soon', but I expect that in advance of the TV magazines for the week 15-21 January going on sale today meant that Channel4 could no longer plausibly keep it secret!

According to my Radio Times, purchased today, the series will commence its run at 10pm Thursday 20th January on More4, with a repeat later that night at 12.50am. On past experience it is likely to be repeated at least once more before the next episode airs on 27th January, but I won't know about that until next Tuesday until I get my Radio Times for the following week 22-28 January.

Here are edited excerpts of the final episode of series 4, when 'Senator Robert McCallister' (actor Rob Lowe) was [it would seem] killed in a car accident:



- apart from the 'promo' for series 5, currently being shown on More4/Channel4, I've seen some parts of the coming series 5 episodes online (already shown in the US), so I know some of what is going to happen, but I won't spoil the 'excitement' for others. I'm just looking forward to seeing the gorgeous couple, 'Kevin' (Matthew Rhys) and 'Scotty' (Luke Macfarlane).

"Brothers & Sisters" - new run starts tonight on More4

(Please see UPDATE at end)

I started watching Brothers & Sisters two or three years ago and quickly became 'addicted' to it - series 4 of the show is about to begin this evening on More4 at 9pm (with repeats at midnight, next Monday at 11.05pm and on Tuesday at 3am). It's great to see it is coming back!

In fact a couple of weeks ago, before this week's issue of Radio Times came out (geddit? - lol) I had already been searching around on YouTube for clips of the new series, which has already aired in the US, and there are quite a few to choose from, but I won't spoil it for other fans by including any of those here, but here's one of my favourite scenes from an earlier series, when Kevin (Matthew Rhys) goes down on one knee to propose to Scotty (Luke Macfarlane):



- I kind of knew already that Luke is Canadian, and a jolly attractive one, but it had inexplicably escaped my attention that Matthew is not American, but Welsh, until I read a preview of the show today in the Telegraph; according to the interview with both actors on which the preview is based, Luke said that Matthew is a very talented mimic and is able to pass himself off not only as American, but as several different kinds of Canadian, too, with their different regional accents, even down to specific hockey teams - perhaps there was a little hyperbole there? No matter, they are both talented actors and very 'pleasant on the eye'. Apart from this 'gay' interest, there are a lot of other talented and well-known actors in the show - Calista ('Sex in the City') Flockart, Sally Field as the 'mother hen' of the Walker clan, Rob Lowe as the [erstwhile] love-interest for the character played by Calista Flockart and Rachel Griffiths (who plays 'Sarah' - formerly of the equally-magical 'Six Feet Under').

Unlike 'Sex and the City', which I found wet in the extreme (sorry to its many fans out there!), I think Brothers & Sisters has a somewhat wider audience appeal. Of course everyone in the show, male and female, is attractive or charismatic and it deals with people in a comfortable middle-class setting, basically obsessing about themselves - although their finances have been on a roller-coaster at various times none of that sordid detail is allowed to get in the way too much of their fundamental narcissism. Basically it's a great deal closer to my life-experience than some other shows I might mention, if of course shallow. But I don't, frankly, want to see how people live on 'sink estates' in an entertainment show as I really don't have anything in common with the people they portray - I'm happy enough to watch shows featuring such realities in documentaries or 'reality' shows, but on my time off I want something easier to identify with - and which gay man would not want to identify with 'Kevin' or 'Scotty'? Sigh ...

PS/ I neither know, nor do I care, whether Luke Macfarlane and/or Matthew Rhys are 'gay' in real life, but I do think they play the roles assigned to them very well, whatever their personal circumstances - they are actors. No-one should confuse a TV show with real life.

UPDATE (Friday 14JAN2011 16.00 GMT) Series 5 will begin its run in the UK on Thursday 20 Janaury 2011 at 10pm on More4 - read more here.

"Engrenages" - Spiral (French TV cop series)

Unfortunately I didn't see the first series of "Engrenages" a couple of years ago, but the second series of this gritty French TV cop series is currently showing on BBC4 television. The English title of the show isn't particularly good, although it does try and encompass the different themes of the story, I suppose. In any case, I have to say I have become addicted to the second series - I started to watch it before I went to Spain in mid-September, but made sure I recorded every episode on my DVR, because I knew I proabably wouldn't be able to watch every episode when I was there.

Currently we're on episode 6 of 8 of the second series (with episode 7 being shown tonight and again next Friday, both on BBC4). It's still possible, however, if you're quick, to watch the whole series on the BBC iPlayer here.

I mentioned that the series is "gritty" - well, it's that all rght! "Engrenages" means 'gears' or 'cogs', but a more colloquial translation might be 'convolutions' or 'complications'. I think what the actual English title 'Sprial' is trying to convey is the theme of the hidden complexities of the criminal and semi-criminal characters in the series and their inter-relationships. Apart from the fact that the legal system is different in France from the usual English or American we are more familiar with, it adds the seediness of various of the legal protagonists (from the frankly corrupt Advocate Szabo to the ambitious, unscrupulous and completely out-of-her-depth AdovocateKarlsson), not to mention the ambition and publicity-seeking of a Public Prosceutor and a randy and stressed (female) police inspector and the undercover (and good-looking) Arab police officer Samy with whom she flirts.

For me one of the attractions of this second series is the argot, a mixture of slang Parisian French and slang Moroccan Arabic - I can follow most of the dialogue in both languages without using the sub-titles (which are pretty good, I'd say), but it does add an atmosphere of authenticity. Just as in modern 'popular' English, which is peppered with words orginating in India/Pakistan, Africa or the Middle East (which many people don't realise, so ubiquitous have they become), French is similarly admixed with a lot of north-African words and slang, even amongst native French, but of course in this cop show many of the ne-er do wells are of Moroccan or Algerian origin anyway, mainly Moslem but from what I can observe a few of them are probably north-African Jews too (when I lived in Casablanca in the early 1970s, for part of my time there I lived in an apartment in a smartish part of the city adjacent to the Jewish quarter or 'mellah', although many of the original inhabitants had left in the wake of the '67 war). The seediness, corruption and general back-biting, ambition and spite seems to involve all the communities portrayed in the programme, whether French, north-African or Jewish and whether they are the professionals (judges, advocates, police) or the low-life criminals who they are trying to catch or in some cases colluding with. Much grittier than most of the CSI offerings from the US - in fact I'd say the closest to it I've seen is the Glasgow-based Taggart, specially some of its earlier episodes.

Catch it on BBC4 (Sundays at 10pm, Fridays at 11.35pm or on the BBC iPlayer) if you can.

Mark and Tilda on 'a pilgrimage' to Nairn

Yesterday evening the Screen Machine arrived in Nairn after having wended its way through the Highlands on an odyssey/pilgrimage which began on 1st August at Bridge of Orchy, led by Mark Cousins and Oscar-winner and Nairn resident Tlda Swinton.

After a stroll up to town before lunch to pick up a newspaper, as it was such a lovely sunny and warm morning (it has clouded over and become a little cooler since then), I took a walk down the High Street and the first part of Harbour Street before cutting down onto the river and across the Merryton Bridge (for those who know Nairn well, I was obviously coming from the other side in the photograph) so I could walk down the east side of the river to The Maggot area, where the Screen Machine had been set-up in the car-parking area. Then back across the Bailey Bridge and along the shore (I walked, as I often do, in the path down amongst the dunes because few ever go there so it is peaceful and it is sheltered from any sea-breezes that may be wafting in from the beach - not that there were then as it was lovely and warm) toward the beach café and home.

Below are a few photographs I took of the Screen Machine and the Red Bus. I am sure the cinema is wonderful and the programme looks interesting. Candidly, though, I think the multi-coloured ribbons with which the Screen Machine is decorated look really weird and quite tacky, although I imagine the aim is to make what is effectively a modified truck look colourful and 'funky'. However it reminded me, I'm afraid to say, of the Clootie Well near Munlochy in the Black Isle, an area I have known since childhood, as it's where my father came from and where I have spent many holidays, and although it is considered by some to have beneficial properties I have always considered it an eyesore.

Anyway, here are the photos:

Ramshackle Rolls - www.a-pilgrimage.org The 'Screen Machine' comes to Nairn 6 - 9 August 2009 Click here to see enlargements of all these photographs, where you will also find detailed descriptions of each photograph. Click here to see enlargements of all these photographs, where you will also find detailed descriptions of each photograph.

Channel 4 and its free 'Catch-up' feature

I think this must be relatively new on Channel 4 (I don't remember it being mentioned before I left for Spain in January), but I saw it referred to between programmes a couple of days back and this struck a chord when there was a 'plug' later for next week's episode of Brothers and Sisters, to which I became addicted when the last series was run last year on E4. That 'plug' made me realise I had missed the episode from the night before, but not to worry - I was able the watch the whole programme on my PC in 'full screen' mode and enjoyed it, even more so because it was without the ad-breaks. In fact, being able to watch Channnel4 programmes whenever I want, for upto 7 days, makes this a viable alternative to recording programmes on my DVR, even if the picture quality isn't quite so good.

My latest great MP3 gadget

Soon after getting my first MP3 player a couple of years ago (as a Christmas gift - thanks again!) I realised that apart from being a great gadget capable of carrying around quite large music or speech files in a tiny volume, allowing me to dispense with the notion of carrying around CDs, it had some limitations. It meant that I could only listen to music through headphones and not through speakers. I solved that problem last year when I got a set of dedicated MP3 speakers, when I was buying my second (or was it my third? - *) MP3 player - this was great last winter when I was in Spain as I could carry almost 100 CDs worth of music with me and play them through a speaker system, albeit not a very powerful one, in the house I was renting out there.

Then a couple of months ago I heard about the idea of an MP3 player with a built-in FM tranmitter, allowing music played on the gadget to be listened to either via the standard ear-phones or through any suitable FM receiver. However, when I began seriously to look for sources (mainly Amazon or my local Argos stores) they always seem to be out of stock of these particular items. In any case last week I finally asked at the counter of one of the Inverness Argos stores (there are two) if these items had been withdrawn or if they were just popular and in short supply. The assistant said probably the latter and looked up in the computer to see if one was available anywhere else in the north of Scotland; there was one in Elgin (45 minutes from Inverness, 30 minutes from Nairn) and a second in Oban - over two hours drive away, so I reserved the one in Elgin and went there the next day to buy it.

I was somewhat sceptical that the FM signal would be strong enough to make the reproduction of music on a radio or hi-fi system sufficently good to make it comfortable to listen to, but as this gadget cost less than GBP40- I thought why not give it a whirl. I have been pleasantly surprised; it works well in the car and the MP3 unit can be tucked away in one of the glove boxes and gives excellent results on the car stereo. It's also good on various Hi-fi units and radios around my apartment. Sometimes one has to juggle a bit with the ear-phone cables (which must be plugged into the MP3 player when the FM transmitter is on) to get a good signal, but it's not difficult to achieve a perfectly good result. All in all it's a great gadget.

The big advantage of using a proper hi-fi system, rather than my MP3 external speakers, is that the quality of amplification of the signal is so much better and you can get a decent volume without distortion. It's also very flexible in that all I need to carry is the MP3 player itself, not a set of speakers, too. Once I have a proper stereo system in my Spanish house, the problem to taking music back and forth will be easy for my stays there.

* - all my MP3 players are flash-drive models, rather than hard disc units - much more reliable I think. I have several on the basis that if one does ever break down, then I have several 'spares' to take up the slack - I can also keep a unit in various jacket pockets for when I go out walking. All four of the MP3 players are the ITronics brand - inexpensive, but totally reliable so far - the earphone cables need replacing occasionally when the joints get frayed, and the menu system is tricky to get used to (they're all different, for goodness sake, even though of the same brand!) on one or two of them, but overall they are pretty good I think and very good value.