3 hours ago, I Am A Swede said:

Listened to the rest of the songs now, and... not impressed. Albania is, in my opinion, by far the best entry this year.

Poland has one of the better songs as well, and there's something about the Icelandic entry that appeals to me.

Malta has clearly been inspired by Netta's win for Israel a few years ago. The song isn't bad, but it's nothing special either. A fate they share with Sweden, the UK and Greece.

And there were some really bad entries in this second half as well, like Russia, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Georgia and the worst of them all, Latvia. 

 

I like Denmark as well. The song would have better with a stronger vocalist. It kinds of reminds me of a SAW tune. My favorites 5 in order are:

1: North Macedonia

2: Iceland

3: Portugal

4: Albania

5: Denmark 

Scrolling through more of the Eurovision vaults, good Lord... how wonderful that someone has uploaded all these preselction broadcasts... I'm enjoying the hell out of them. 

 

 

My favourites so far:

1. Albania

2. Estonia

3. Poland

4. Iceland

5. Norway

Edited March 27, 20214 yr by I Am A Swede

My top at the moment... 

 

 

Also, Israel has released their long-awaited revamp - and it has changed the song dramatically:

 

 

 

And as previously reported, Belarus are GONE! I’ll update the main post shortly

 

Malta are now the clear betting favourites, ahead of Switzerland and France. A really interesting stat - if these three songs are indeed the final Top 3 in Rotterdam, it will be the first time since 1986 that: 1. all three songs have French song titles, and 2. two of the Top 3 are fully French language.

8 hours ago, alphanguy74 said:

 

 

 

Nice find! So a bit of historical context here - ABBA had competed in the previous year’s Melodifestivalen with Ring Ring, but had only come third. Now at the time, the regional juries were “experts” - musicians, actors, journalists, etc. When the juries knocked back Ring Ring, the public went into uproar as it was by far their favourite (but unfortunately had had no say in the vote at the time).

 

So following that controversy, the jury system was revamped for Melodifestivalen 1974 - the regional juries were now a mixture of musicians and general public (the first time the public had had a say since 1962). And it was partly due to this revamp that Waterloo came out on top by a large margin.

 

And the rest, they say, is history... 😉

My Top 10 at the moment:

 

1. Norway

2. Cyprus

3. Belgium

4. San Marino

5. Denmark 

6. Netherlands

7. Romania

8. Australia

9. Albania

10. Ireland

 

My joint last place goes to North Macedonia, Georgia and Latvia.

Semi final running orders have been released! Youtube recaps are also here...

 

 

 

Next week it's finally time for Eurovision week....  

 

On a more somber note... Earlier this week former Swedish Eurovision participant Svante Thuresson died, 84 years old. Together with Lill Lindfors he gave us our first top 3 result back in 1966, with this unforgettable classic.

 

^^^ Awww that is so sad. Vila i fred!

 

In terms of this year’s contest, the first and second rehearsals are now pretty much done for all countries, and the betting odds are insane at the moment - for the first time in many years, there is no absolute standout winner.

 

Currently based on odds aggregators (c/o EurovisionWorld.com):

 

1. Italy 🇮🇹 - 22% of winning the whole contest

2. France 🇫🇷 - 20%

3. Malta 🇲🇹 - 12%

4. Iceland 🇮🇸 - 8%

5. Cyprus 🇨🇾 - 6%

^^

I can see why. It's a very even field this year. Too bad that it's because most of the songs are quite bland and uninteresting and not the opposite..... 

6 hours ago, I Am A Swede said:

^^

I can see why. It's a very even field this year. Too bad that it's because most of the songs are quite bland and uninteresting and not the opposite..... 

 

in your opinion, of course. I actually think a lot of the songs this year are quite high quality and very diverse in their offerings - certainly worth celebrating!

^^

Absolutely only in my opinion.   

And if there's one thing I've learned from watching this show through the years it's that my opinion usually diverges a great deal from popular opinion.... 

 

Well, after seeing the performances in the first semi-final I feel even more strongly that this is a weak year. I would be hard pressed to pick 10 songs that I feel deserve a place in the final.... 

 

Again, this is only my personal opinion though.

Recap of the 1st semi-final:

 

 

The following countries qualified from the 1st semi-final:

• Azerbaijan
• Belgium
• Cyprus
• Israel
• Lithuania
• Malta
• Norway
• Russia
• Sweden
• Ukraine

The following countries did not qualify:

• Australia
• Croatia
• Ireland
• North Macedonia
• Romania
• Slovenia

I'm happy with the results although I would have switched Croatia for either Azerbaijan or Israel.
IMO, Ireland and Romania were a mess on stage, and Slovenia and North Macedonia were plain boring.

One of the Icelandic performers tested positive for Covid-19, so Iceland will not be able to perform live in tomorrow's semi-final and in the Grand Final on Saturday.
However, "their song will remain in the competition and [they] will broadcast their rehearsal performance, recorded on the stage on 13 May."

 

https://eurovision.tv/mediacentre/release/ebu-statement-regarding-icelandic-delegation-wednesday-19-may

Another former contestant has passed away. This time it's Franco Battiato who, together with Alice, represented Italy in 1984 with "I treni di Tozeur". He passed away yesterday at the age of 76.

 

Edited May 19, 20214 yr by I Am A Swede

Oh no 😢 I Treni Di Tozeur is one of my favourite Eurovision songs. Rest in peace!