I Am A Swede

Swedish actress Meta Velander died today, 100 years old (born August 13th 1924) Among other things in her long career (she made her first film in 1945!) she was the Swedish voice of Mrs.Potts in "Beauty and the Beast" and Madame Medusa in "The Rescuers" with smaller roles in "The Aristocats" and "The Great Mouse Detective"

^^ KKL always looks fabulous. 🥰

Greece, France and Luxembourg were my three clear favourites. I think Greece especially had a phenomenal staging. So beautiful. And Klavdia sang fantastic. France also had beautiful staging and Louane sang her heart out. Finally Luxembourg, who had a vastly improved stage show compared to the national final, and I loved the nod to France Gall on the little tv screen in the dollhouse.

Yay for Luxembourg and Greece! 🥰 And I must say that Latvia's song is oddly magnetic. I think it deserves a place in the final. I would much rather have seen Australia and Serbia in the final than Lithuania and Malta though. ETA: Malta, Israel, Armenia, Lithuania, Latvia, Austria, Greece, Luxembourg, Denmark and Finland qualified for the final. Australia, Serbia, Czechia, Georgia, Ireland and Montenegro eliminated.

After watching the performances tonight I can't understand why Finland and Malta are seen as some of the favourites. Finland's song is not one of the best this year and I maintain that Miriana Conte who represents Malta is a poor singer. My guess is that it's because of the controversial nature of both these songs. I'm not all that impressed with Austria either. But France on the other hand emerged as a big contender tonight. A beautiful song, a wonderful singer and fantastic staging. Greece also had a spectacular stage show which definitely enhanced their chances. I guess it's part nostalgia factor but I really want Luxembourg to go through to the final as well. I love the homage to France Gall and Laura Thorn sold the song very well. Much better than in the clip from the national final.

That backdoor pilot may have failed, yet one year later "Empty Nest" became a reality anyway, so it wasn't a complete waste of time. The show was completely revamped of course, but still....