Monthly Archives: February 2012
Iceland has decided: it’s Jónsi and Gréta Salóme!
The highly-anticipated Final of Iceland’s National Selection, Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins (try saying that five times fast!), wrapped up this Saturday, with seven songs vying for the victory and the chance to represent the nation in Baku this May. Despite a number of strong performances, only one song could win… Read the rest of this entry
Norway has Decided: it’s Tooji!
A night in Norway that seemed to be coasting towards a predictable finish suddenly veered away from the expected outcome as the 2012 Melodi Grand Prix came to its close on Saturday night. Ever since the songs were released, a nearly-deafening buzz was coming from popular folk-rockers Plumbo and their song “Ola Nordmann”, and most fans were bracing themselves for a tinwhistle solo in Baku. When the time had come for the ten songs in the Final to be winnowed down to a four-song Golden Final, the three first-placed songs from the Semi had all qualified (“Ola Nordmann“, “Somewhere Beautiful“, and “Things Change“), along with one second-place finisher… Read the rest of this entry
Hungary has decided: it’s Compact Disco!
Tonight was an exceptionally busy one in Eurovision circles; between two semifinals and a trio of National Finals, fans had their work cut out for them! The first of the Finals to determine its winner was Hungary, which returned to a National Selection format for the first time since 2008. After the eight competing songs were narrowed down to four via a televote, the professional jury took the reins and picked a winner from that lucky quartet.
The Weekend Preview: Super Saturday and Beyond…
It’s gearing up to be a very busy weekend in the world of Eurovision. On Saturday, the second semifinal of Sweden’s Melodifestivalen will kick off, live from Göteborg (and more details on the competing songs can be found here. We’ll also see the second Lithuanian semifinal (but due to conflicting reports on the lineup of the event, I hesitate to post the competing songs). Most eyes, however, will likely be on one of the three National Finals that are to be held. We will get our official songs from Hungary, Norway, and Iceland before the day is out. Let’s take a look at the respective lineups one more time, shall we? Read the rest of this entry
Preview: Melodifestivalen Semifinal 2
It’s a Saturday in February, and you know what that means…time for another Melodifestivalen Semifinal! This week’s event comes to us from the Scandinavium Arena in Göteborg, which also hosted the 1985 Eurovision Final. This week, we’ll see eight contenders fighting for two tickets to go “direkt till Globen” and two opportunities for an “andra chansen” on March 3. As usual, broadcaster SVT keeps a tight lid on the songs until their live presentation (and then promptly locks the qualifiers down again), but we’ve seen minute-long snippets of rehearsal footage. Read the rest of this entry
Germany: And we’re down to the Final Four!
We’re getting down to the wire in Germany’s National Selection, “Unser Star für Baku”. Now with twice-weekly shows, the Finals are just days away. Germany’s top five candidates were given the chance to sing a pair of songs this week; who came out on top, and who’s heading home?
Five Songs Revealed in Ireland
We’ve seen the rumors, we’ve heard the whispers, we’ve fallen for some of the red herrings …and now we’ve finally heard the songs! Irish broadcaster RTÉ has unveiled the quintet of songs in the running for the nation’s ticket to Baku. The songs will be performed on “The Late Late Show” on February 24, and a 50/50 jury/televote split will determine the winner.
In their running order, the songs are:
Israel has Decided: It’s Izabo’s “Time”!
One of the nations whose Eurovision plans appeared up in the air was Israel. The return of 1998 ESC champion Dana International last year resulted in disappointment (and a number of unfortunate jokes about the state of her “Ding Dong“.) After originally hemming and hawing over their participation in the contest (as the date of the Final coincides with the festival of Shavuot), national broadcaster IBA confirmed that the nation would, in fact, be competing in Baku. There had been rumors of a public National Final (or Kdam), but due to logistical issues, that plan was scrapped. What is a network to do? Read the rest of this entry
One more Star Eliminated in Germany
We’re getting closer to finding Germany’s next Eurovision Star, meaning that one more candidate has been cut from the list of ProSieben’s talent search “Unser Star für Baku”. We’re getting down to the wire; after tonight’s show, only five names are left in the search to find out who will fill Lena Meyer-Landrut’s shoes. Read the rest of this entry
Results: First Semifinal in Lithuania
This past weekend was a busy one in the world of Eurovision. Alongside the National Final in Malta and Semis in Sweden, Hungary, and Norway, Lithuania also held their first Semifinal of the 2012 season. Nine songs were performed, with the top scorers in a combined jury and televote moving on to the Finals on March 3.
Continuing on in the competition are: Read the rest of this entry
The ESC Insider 