I just imagine the Mileena fans on the site loving the devastating flying crotch driver finisher at the end.

You're right. As a Mileena fan, I am drawn to all things crotch.

Did that seem like "Kill Bill Vol. 1 - The Club Remix" to anyone else for a second there? The snow, the twirling...

Also, gotta love the part where she is kidnapped by that guy who pops out of the shadows.

YOU DID NOT!!!





My fave part is the crab walk during the first chorus.

Isn't it a bit soon to start getting hyped for Euro(trash)vision?

Voting's mostly political anyway, and i hate that the UK always seems to find the dirgiest crap to throw in the ring each year. It's an insult to the amazing history of artists we're famous for; from the Beatles to Blur, from the Sex Pistols to the Bangles, from the Smiths to PJ Harvey. (i could go on). Who was it last year?? Englebert Humperdink!?!? he hasn't been relevant since the 70s

That Euphoria song was a bit too club-dance for my taste but i can see why it was perfect for this. I honestly thought the Russian grannies did a much better job. Fun yet forgettable pop is what it seems to be all about. Sweden needs to stick to things like making edgy films about maladjusted goth girls with body art depicting certain mythological creatures.

360 days of Eurovision hype a year. You know it.

You know I did!

Oddly similar style....

BTW, i thought the MC hammer sideways walk was outlawed...

I'm just as frustrated with all the disgusting Croatian entries in the 21st century (few exceptions aside). Our entries were far better in the '90s and especially back during the Yugoslavia days when we won the competition once (1989).

As for the UK, their 1997 winning entry "Love Shine A Light" is one of my all time favorites at ESC, it would very likely make my ESC all-time Top 5 if I were to make it. I can't remember any good ones from UK in the 21st century.

Generally speaking, I enjoyed ESC far more back when live orchestra was involved and countries sung in their native language. Now almost everyone sings in English and the whole thing comes off a bit too generic. Various national cultural influences have almost been completely lost, shame since that's what gives Europe its charming flavor. Oh well...

I thought Humperdink seemed like a stupid joke that accidentally did something interesting. Not the kind of record I'd race out to buy, or listen to repeatedly on my iPod, but it seemed like a genuine effort. A nice bit of a throwback and a refreshing change of pace from the white noise of pop X-factor winners.

I'm a sucker for the electronica-dance era, though.
Found Euphoria pretty satisfying in a field that struggled to challenge.

So, 2 interesting updates (as far as I'm concerned):

#1: I have heard the Croatian entry in its entirety and it's definitely a step up from last year, but it's still a bit frustrating. The problem is that the Croatian board decided to send a klapa, but I feel like the song itself (or more precisely the melody of the song) doesn't represent that well the kind of music "klapa" usually perform, the sound is way too modernized. I'm afraid they'll end up being labeled as "boy-band", ugh. I doubt they're going to qualify for the finals, they'll be labeled as a "boy-band", but since they're nothing like the popular boy bands of the West, they'll fail to reach the young audience (which I presume is the dominant kind).

#2: UK is sending Bonnie Tyler, heh. They tried something similar in 2011 when they sent a boy-band Blue who had been successful in Europe during the first decade of the century, but ended up in 10th place. I haven't heard Bonnie's song yet, but considering how long ago Bonnie was at the top (no where near as fresh as Blue) I doubt her former glory is going to help much.

Excuse me for double posting, but I have now heard all the 2013 entrants at least once and here are my impressions at this point.


GENERAL: None of the songs knocked me off my feet like last year's Euphoria which became my instant favorite. I would even say that last year's Italian and Estonian entries that, back then were my #2 & #4 respectively, are better than any song this year (to me at least). However, on the good side at least there's less shitty entries than last year, so that's something. This year there are a few rock entries that I like, which hasn't been the case that often with me at ESC. Another interesting tidbit is that there actually aren't any ABBA-like entries, quite a surprise!


So, entry by entry... [My impressions may change over time and of course the live performance is another important factor]:

Semi-final 1:

01. Austria


02. Estonia


03. Slovenia


04. Croatia


05. Denmark


06. Russia


07. Ukraine


08. The Netherlands


09. Montenegro


10. Lithuania


11. Belarus


12. Moldova


13. Ireland


14. Cyprus


15. Belgium


16. Serbia



Semi-final 2:

01. Latvia


02. San Marino


03. Macedonia


04. Azerbaijan


05. Finland


06. Malta


07. Bulgaria


08. Iceland


09. Greece


10. Israel


11. Armenia


12. Hungary


13. Norway


14. Albania


15. Georgia


16. Switzerland


17. Romania



Final:

01. Sweden [host nation]:


02. France


03. Germany


04. Italy


05. Spain


06. United Kingdom





One final thought:

Staying clean until the broadcast. Looking forward to coming back, though.

I was going to post a countdown, but I don't know how to do the kids math.
Apparently you don't count weekends, bank holidays, but this adds extra days to the countdown. I don't know.

I watched some fan made "My Top 39 ESC 2013" videos and the more I hear

entry the more I like it.


Mick's favorites, prediction by Nephrite:






EDIT [May 10, 2013 - 4 days to go]: My pre-show Top 10! (Including links to official videos.)

# Country Artist Song	01 SAN MARINO Valentina MonettaCrisalide (Vola)	02 FRANCE Amandine BourgeoisL'enfer et moi	03 ROMANIA CezarIt's My Life	04 ICELAND Eythor IngiÉg á líf	05 ALBANIA Adrian Lulgjuraj & Bledar SejkoIdentitet	06 GREECE Koza Mostra feat. Agathon IakovidisAlcohol Is Free	07 ITALY Marco MengoniL'essenziale (Extended Version)	08 CROATIA Klapa s MoraMižerja	09 IRELAND Ryan DolanOnly Love Survives	10 HUNGARY ByeAlexKedvesem (Zoohacker Remix)

JUST OUTSIDE OF TOP 10 (in no particular order): Denmark, Malta, Norway and Switzerland.

COMMENTS: So, it's been almost a month since I first reviewed the songs and some things have changed. The biggest change would be Denmark slipping out of my Top 10 (initially had it at #2). As I kept listening to the song it simply lost its spark. There was a short period during which I digged Norway, but right now that one too is outside of my Top10. Meanwhile, France, Iceland and Hungary climbed up my list. I had France as #1 for a while as I saw some live performances and loved the singer's energy, we'll see! Sorry Cezar (Romania), as much as you amuse me and the song gets quite cathy over time, I just have to give the top spot to a more serious entry. Or not? We'll see, we'll see...

If it stays like this for me, that would mean that Albania, Italy and Hungary made it into my Top 10 for the 2nd year in a row (Italy was also in my Top 10 in 2011, so that's 3 years in a row). I'm a bit upset that the eurovision YouTube channel doesn't have Croatia's official video on its list (not sure what's the reason). The response to the official video has been very positive and it would certainly help the Croatian entry to have it available at that channel since that's where most people check the entries. Oh well...

The first semi-final finished ~2h ago.

Results:


Comments:


EDIT: Interesting article about common Eurovision myths in UK's The Guardian.



EDIT [May 16th] - Second semi-final finished ~1h ago:





EDIT: Post semi-final 2 "Withdrawal rumours begin"! My comment: I hope at least 10 countries withdraw following this year's failure. LOL @ organizers deciding the entries order and failing miserably at it! 10 out of 16 entries in the first SF were pop songs performed by female solo artists, no rock songs at all. Second SF was so much more diverse. TERRIBAD Sweden, TERRIBAD!

Just finished the first Semi Final. Haven't read anything (here, or elsewhere) yet. Still taking it in (the winners haven't been revealed yet).

Was a little bit disappointed. A lot more hohum pop than I expected. So many solo females! Disappointing lack of absurdity. Mirror ball, spacemen and big cosmic skirt having to do all the heavylifting. I'm not sure I'm ready to take Eurovision this seriously.

Edit: 12 points to the voting period electronica song, with all the people dancing. Loving it. Makes me think of some of the great contemporary Swedish acts I'd like to see. Fever Ray, The Knife, Familjen, ceo.

Slovenia was probably my favourite song. It feels a bit like a response to Euphoria and doesn't strike me as particularly Slovenian (singer from US?), but it was probably my favourite song. Montenegro, Denmark, Lithuania bringing up the rear. Honorable maratime mention to Croatia, and less honorable (but still sincere) mentions to anyone who put pretty girls in short skirts. Moldova had a great stage act.

Unless we get a repeat of 2011, I can't see any of these Semi Final 1 acts winning it. Slovenia could maybe make an argument. Belgium might have a shot if people can stop staring at Poirot Jr. It had that big sound. Gotta think something better will come from the remaining acts, though. I guess Netherlands could be a dark horse, but I doubt it.



Post-Results Edit:


Post Post-Results Edit: These spoilers are probably completely unnecessary, but hey. Safety first.

Agreed, the first SF is rather forgettable. And I'm glad you noticed the solo females overload. Considering the draw wasn't made randomly, but a committee decided the order for "good variety" purposes, it is a REAL FAILURE!



Oh, so you liked Slovenia. It's just not the kind of music I like, too "dubstepish" for my taste and yeah I heard the singer is from US and even though I'm not too familiar with Slovenian music, I guarantee that's not the sound of the country.

Montenegro is a mixture of rap and dubstep and since I don't like those two genres of music it's understandable I didn't like it. It's one of my least favorites actually, just gives me headache. However, since dubstep is rather popular lately I wouldn't have been shocked had it qualified, it does sound modern (it's just my problem I don't like that kind of sound).

I find Lithuania boring and the singer and his facial expressions and his arms movements funny. Denmark is solid, yeah. Glad you liked Croatia.




Very interesting! Won't say more than that since you haven't read anything in here yet.



Ahahahahahaha! I kept staring at her feet too, but mainly because her legs are a bit... Hmmm, not sure how you say it in English, like they're "twisted" inwards? The tips of her left and right feet are pointing at each other. Man, I'm being mean now...




LMFAO!




I'm going to be mean again, but his face annoys me SO MUCH! Ewwww!




All ex-Yu got eliminated and all ex-Soviet countries qualified, that was the most common bitching comment around the web. Quite a few bitched about Lithuania qualifying. I would have ditched Lithuania and Belarus and instead put Croatia and Cyprus through. I think I like Serbia better than Ukraine and Moldova too.

Btw, I found this. (Results of SF1 voted by Aussies)

EDIT: I'm dying to hear your thoughts on the final entry in the 2nd SF! Wish I could see your face too once the song really kicks off lol!

Finished watching a [little while] ago. Vast improvement over the first Semi Final. Much more variety, much more to enjoy. I'd have to say on the whole it's been a step down from the last few years, but that's me. From the previews, I'm not expecting the "Big Five" to change my impression much.

If Euphoria was the obvious stand-out of 2012, then Romania answered the call this year. There was a lot of hype down here for it, but I was still blown away. How could I not be? Romania took it to a whole other level in every possible way. Words fail. Romania: they saved the best for last.

Malta were the first to really spark me up. Charming, nice entry. Bulgaria kept things going with some nice vertical drums and energy. Song title had me worried, but I thought the pseudo-ska of Greece was a good time. First impressions of Hungary were bad, but turned out I really liked it. I'd put them all through, but then Romania just destroyed everyone. So it hardly matters now.

I couldn't believe Georgia had the guy behind Euphoria! Dullsville! They're the entry that will be competing to fulfill a repeat of 2011. Dreadfully boring duo! Armenia were a disappointment, too. Boring American Idol rock. Thought Norway was a bit overrated. Israel offered a big, honest effort, but not enough to really win me over. Eurovision timewarp: Finland = 80s; Latvia = 90s; Armenia = 00s. Someone will be terribly cheated, probably Romania.

Again, the "Big Five" seemed pretty humdrum. I think Sweden had the best of the auto-qualifiers. Contemporary, nice sound, but lacking the glory of Euphoria. Speaking of glory -- if I thought Slovenia was a response to Euphoria, I guess Germany are just flat-out trying to repeat it. Glorious sounding awfully similar. I wish Italy would bring back Raphael Gualazzi.

Having seen who did and didn't get through... I really think Romania should be up there. I'm not sure everyone will see it that way and I don't really expect it to win, but it'd be a pretty awesome flipside to 1998. I liked Hungary a lot more than I expected. I would call that win something akin to Lena, if a little less obviously catchy. I don't see Malta or Greece having broad enough appeal to go top, but you never know. I could see Iceland or Georgia for a boring result. I'm sure Denmark or Norway will do well. I can't predict a winner. Maybe Belgium. That would be funny.



Post-Results:

I'm glad you recognize how FABULOUS it is!




Yeah, I've been saying the same thing.




That's the best way to describe Malta this year- CHARMING! As for Bulgaria, I like the drums and the show, but unfortunately the painfully nasal voice of the singer ruins it totally for me (no pts!). Greece- definitely a good party song! I feel the same way about Hungary, wasn't much of a fan at first, but I've grown to like it over time.




I agree about these two entries. Georgia is unbearable and Moldova just plain boring.




I don't like the Swedish entry this year, I find the guy and the song annoying. Germany, yeah, there were some accusations of it being a copy of Euphoria. Many like the track and I can see why, it's catchy and the lyrics rhyme, but I find it generic and unoriginal. I like Italy (again lol).




Hehe, I love Iceland this year. Like Hungary, it grew on me over time and quite a bit actually! One of my faves, I think it's beautiful! It reminds me of what ESC used to be back in the day.




The glowing ball appears in the official video too, not sure what's the deal with it though. Although I wasn't blown away with the live performance, this song remains my #1 this year. Love the lyrics, the melody and the awesome change of pace near the end which is in perfect sync with the change in lyrics (at first she's mostly singing about negative stuff and then when the music takes a lift, the lyrics light up too! I absolutely love it and this song failing to qualify caused the biggest rage storm among the fans. Quite a few Croats liked it too.). I'm seriously disappointed.




Another entry I really like and appreciate. Love the electric guitar solo and the singer that leads for most of the track has a great, strong voice. I'm not surprised it failed to qualify, no one understands Albanian and "serious rock" isn't going to do well at ESC anyway.




Haha! Love him! What a BOSS!




San Marino ROBBED! Voted 2nd by the fans before the show! ESC is corrupted!

5 min before Grand Final kicks off, here's my Top 5 prediction:

It was amaaaazing! I had a look at the preview music video. I'm definitely glad I waited to watch it live, the performance just enhanced the ridiculous spectacle of it. Still blown away. Any disappointment was blown away by the looming shockwave of his voice!

It's probably just us, but if anyone else is reading this thread, they really need to see this.

Looks like we had a lot of similar impressions. I can understand liking the Iceland entry, but it just didn't do it for me. It'll be interesting to see how Sweden seems live. The Armenian band can get lost.

My final Top 10 and some comments:

# Country Artist Song	01 SAN MARINO Valentina MonettaCrisalide (Vola)	02 FRANCE Amandine BourgeoisL'enfer et moi	03 ICELAND Eythor IngiÉg á líf	04 ROMANIA CezarIt's My Life	05 ALBANIA Adrian Lulgjuraj & Bledar SejkoIdentitet	06 HUNGARY ByeAlexKedvesem (Zoohacker Remix)	07 ITALY Marco MengoniL'essenziale (Extended Version)	08 CROATIA Klapa s moraMižerja	09 GREECE Koza Mostra feat. Agathon IakovidisAlcohol Is Free	10 NORWAY Margaret BergerI Feed You My Love

Others worthy of mention: Denmark, Ireland, Malta, Switzerland and Ukraine (lol!).

#1 San Marino: Although I'm not best pleased with the live performance, the song remains my #1. Great lyrics and music, good vocals and fantastic overall arrangement (the change in lyrics from being pessimistic and dark at first to optimistic and bright nearing the end in wonderful harmony with the change in pace of the song). Quanta vita c’è / Non me n’ero accorta mai / E se ancora non lo sai / L’universo siamo noi / Vola! (The most inspiring part! The underlined verses give me shivers of excitement!) San Marino was robbed! LIVE @ ESC 2013

#2 France: Femme fatale! Love watching her perform the song live and seeing her go wild near the end of the song. Hell, revenge, voodoo-doll (in the official video), it has everything. Pure passion! France robbed just like in 2011! Both times they finished as my runner-ups (in 2011 to Bulgaria, who like San Marino this year, also failed to qualify from the SF). LIVE @ ESC 2013

#3 Iceland: Tsk, tsk, tsk... It pains me to put this only at #3. It's so simple, melodic, pure and I loved the use of lights on stage and loved the little houses on the video-wall in the background. The singer has a great voice and I enjoy listening how cleanly he pronounces the words. I don't understand the language one bit, but I read the English translation and the lyrics seem fine. Love you 2013 Iceland, be proud! This performance and song remind me of good old days, when ESC was a festival of quality music, live orchestra was obligatory as well as singing in native language. LIVE @ ESC 2013

#4 Romania: Cezar, you're glorious! You're THE BOSS! The song is trash, but painfully catchy and his voice is unmatched! Love the absurdity of him standing still and singing in opera voice while the dancers around him are so "hipster" lol. What a combo! As much as I love it, I'll always give advantage to "serious" entries that impress me and thus I have to strip Cezar of the bronze medal. He'll be remembered forever as a true diva! Loved his live performance in London on the Road to Malmö (wearing sunglasses in a closed and rather dark room, lol what a win). LIVE @ ESC 2013

Others: Those 4 are in a league of their own and I'll be listening to those songs for a long time. Albania (LIVE @ ESC 2013) remains in my Top 5, the most powerful song this year. Love the electric guitar solo and the overall instrumental of the song is cool. The lead singer has a very strong voice too! Hungary (LIVE @ ESC 2013) keeps getting better and better the more I listen to it (up to #6 from #10 pre-show and not even being in My Top 10 initially, if I remember well). Just a lovely, calming and humble tune. It's like Malta, only delivers better. Speaking of Malta, the singer was annoyingly happy during the final night and ruined their chances of getting into my Top 10. At #7 a very solid entry from Italy (LIVE @ ESC 2013), nice lyrics and song arrangement, though the singer's on stage style is not quite to my liking. Croatia (LIVE @ ESC 2013) remains at #8, strong vocals and decent lyrics, but a bit underwhelming melody and the lead singer's repetitive left arm movements were annoying during the live performance. Greece (LIVE @ ESC 2013) falls down from #6 (pre-show) to #9 in the end. I just felt bored with the song last night, but since I enjoyed it so far and it is fun, I can't knock it out of my Top 10. Norway (LIVE @ ESC 2013) breaks into the Top 10, just barely, mostly thanks to the cool background sf-like sounds during the chorus, it has something edgy in it, although the singer's voice doesn't impress me. Denmark's good but gets old quickly to me, Ireland is out of Top 10 (originally #9) due to really bad vocal performance in the final. And finally, I never thought I'd say this, but I actually liked the Disneyland nonsense from Ukraine in the final, she really has a lovely and quality voice. Almost made it into my Top 10, lol!

I'm officially drained of energy! Winner was meh. Romania rulzzzz!

Surprised to find I've had Love Kills (Belgium) stuck in my head a few times lately. Heard it on a TV/weather thing between broadcasts, too. It's grown on me. I think it helps not seeing the guy's slightly ridiculous cartoon face.

Cezar still rules the world, though.