It’s Jedward for Ireland!
As prayed for by many, feared by just as large an amount, and expected by most, RTÉ’s 2011 Eurovision hunt has resulted in a win by Jedward and their song “Lipstick”. For those of you who haven’t seen it yet, or for those who are inexperienced in the world of the Grimes brothers, brace yourself.
I hate admitting this, but after a few listens to “Lipstick” (and particularly the studio version), it’s actually beginning to grow on me. John and Edward’s voices might not be the second coming of Johnny Logan, but they’re incredibly energetic and high-spirited, and they have cannonballed completely into Eurovision’s campy deep end. Love them or hate them, you know that they’ll put on a massive show in Germany, and the cameras will be following them around religiously at the Euroclub. Whether this means that they’ll turn into the next Silvia Night or the next Verka Serduchka, who knows? But, then again, Silvia and Verka were both considered joke entries, while Jedward (and their fans) aren’t. Granted, I don’t want to go so far as to call them “serious musicians”…”serious entertainers” might be the better choice of phrase, don’t you think? Will they win Eurovision? I doubt it (although they’ll probably get maximum points from the UK if they reach the Finals). At the very least, their enthusiasm is infectious.
The biggest drawback that I see here is that a hole in the ozone layer might open up right over Düsseldorf due to all of the hair products the boys use to construct their trademark coifs…please be careful, boys!
Azerbaijan has decided…
…and in a sudden twist, the Land of Fire has decided to send not one, but two singers to Germany in May! After months of semifinals, winnowing 77 contestants down to only five, broadcaster İctimai Television made the executive decision to send both Eldar Gasimov (the only remaining male contestant) with Nigar Camal (an Azeri-born singer now living in London) to sing a duet, which will be announced hopefully sometime in the near future.
Here’s the baby-faced Eldar:
…And here’s Nigar:
Remember, last year Azerbaijan put literally millions of dollars behind Safura’s entry to Oslo, hiring world-class choreographers, producing a high-end music video, and even advertising their entry on ESC blogs in order to gain more momentum. It resulted in a somewhat disappointing 5th place for “Drip Drop”, considering the effort they put into it. What do you think will happen this year?
The Weekend Preview, 2/10
We’ve got another busy weekend ahead of us, so let’s dive right into what we can expect from all over the Eurovision world over the next few days!
On Friday, Azerbaijan will finally make their decision on who they’ll send to Germany this year. Their preselection process started back in mid-November with 77 candidates, and they’ve finally been narrowed down to five final performers: Aynishan Qulieva, Ilgara Ibrahimova, Eldar Gasimov, Ilhama Gasimova, and Nigar Camal. It’s still a bit unclear how the song will be selected; last year, the top three candidates sang three different songs, and while the winning performer was selected the night of the finals, the winning song wasn’t confirmed until over two weeks later. Considering Azerbaijan’s penchant for flexibility on their preselection processes (their dates have been moved around many times, for example), who knows what answers we may find tomorrow night, or what questions will remain!
Also on Friday, Ireland will pick the artist and song that they hope will bring the nation to the top of the Eurovision heap for an eight year. Brief snippets of the songs were released last week, but they were heard in their entirety for the first time just today.
Don Mescall – Talking with Jennifer (written by Ronan Hardiman, Don Mescall)
Nikki Kavanaugh – Falling (written by Christina Schilling, Camilla Gottschalck, Jonas Gladnikoff, and Hanif Sabzevari)
Bling – Shine On (written by Patrick Mahoney)
The Vard Sisters – Send Me an Angel (written by Liam Lawton)
Jedward – Lipstick (written by Dan Priddy, Lars Jensen, and Martin Larson)
Ironically, “Lipstick” is the only song that has been removed from YouTube for copyright reasons. Why ironically? Well, first, as its considered the frontrunner in tomorrow’s competition, and second, as a portion of the song was “accidentally” released on Amazon.com too early, prompting RTÉ to make the decision only one third in the hands of the audience’s vote, rather than fifty percent. The remaining part of the decision will be in the hands of regional juries throughout Ireland.
Malta will hold their semifinal on Friday and their final on Saturday. On Friday, the 24 candidate songs will be trimmed down to 16 by a 75/25 jury/audience vote decision. On Saturday, those remaining songs will compete, and the winner will be decided by a 60/40 jury/audience split. All the songs can be previewed, in their entirety, here. For Malta fans, there are many familiar faces competing this weekend: Fabrizio Faniello made it to Eurovision in 2001 and 2006, and his younger sister Claudia has tried many times to make it to the event, but often falling just short of the ESC goal. We also see the return of Wayne Micallef, who presented one of my favorite preselection songs from last year, “Save a Life“. In fact, out of the twenty-three singers in this weekend’s competition, eighteen have attempted, at some point, to represent Malta in either Eurovision or Junior Eurovision in past years! Will the victory go to a veteran, or to a new talent? We shall see…
On Saturday, we’ll see what Belgium has to offer the growing Eurovision field. In light of the difficult economic times, Walloon broadcaster RTBF came up with an interesting twist on an open call for songs. Belgians were allowed to submit their songs (in French or English), and the public would be able to pledge money to the entries of their choice. When a song received €20,000, they would be qualified to go on to the next round (all money donated to non-qualifying songs would be reimbursed). That money would then go to the further production and refinement of their entry. Thirty songs ended up making the monetary benchmark, and that was later pared down to fourteen final entries. A 50/50 jury/televote split will decide the eventual winner.
We will also see Finals in Iceland, Norway, and Finland, continued semifinals in Spain, Lithuania, Latvia, Croatia, and Sweden, and the first semifinal in Estonia‘s Eestilaul. Of course, I’ll try to bring you updates as often as I can!
Have a great weekend, Eurofans!
Lena’s Second Semifinal in Germany
Today, Lena presented the final six candidates for her Song for Düsseldorf (also, the final six cuts on her new album, “Good News”, which is being released on February 8th…nice timing, PR people!). After another entertaining show (including a parade of adorable outfits on Miss Meyer-Landrut), we’ve got the top three songs that will be moving on to the Finals on February 18th.
Qualifying to the next round and joining “Taken By a Stranger“, “Maybe“, and “What Happened to Me” in the finals:
“A Million and One” written by Stavros Ioannou & Errol Rennalls
“Push Forward” written by Daniel Schaub & Pär Lammers (who also wrote “Maybe”)
“Mama Told Me” written by Stefan Raab & Lena Meyer-Landrut (who also wrote “What Happened to Me”)
Eliminated in this round were:
“Teenage Girls” written by Viktoria Hansen, Lili Tarkow-Reinisch and Yacine Azeggagh
“At All” written by Aloe Blacc
“A Good Day” written by Audra Mae, Todd Edgar Wright and Scott Simons
Now, some rumblings have been coming up recently claiming that if either of Raab’s songs goes to Eurovision, that he should step down as host, likely to be replaced by Hape Kerkeling. No further confirmation of this has come up, either from the EBU or the German broadcasters, so I honestly doubt that he will be forced to recuse himself as host. Furthermore, when Belgrade hosted Eurovision back in 2008, host Željko Joksimović was the author of “Oro”, Serbia’s entry that year, with no major outcry or claims of malfeasance. But, of course, we’ll see what happens!
The Weekend Update, 2/6
Another weekend has come and gone, with tons of Eurovision news to report!
Norway:
The Second Chance round, or “Siste Sjansen”, has wrapped up, with eight songs battling against each other in a series of tournament-style knockout rounds. After all of the carnage subsided, we were left with two songs standing, and going to the finals next week. And they are…
Sie Gubba – “Alt Du Vil Ha” and
The Lucky Bullets – “Fire Below”
Next week is the Norwegian Final…who are your favorites?
Croatia:
Yesterday, the top twelve contestants (including Daria Kinzer, selected as last week’s Wild Card) returned to the stage, fighting for six places in the next round. Five of those placements were decided last night, while the sixth will be announced on next week’s show. Daria Kinzer, Mirko Švenda, Jacques Houdek, Katica Marinović, and Ana Eškinja. Next week, those Top 6 performers will try to make it to the Top 4.
Lithuania:
The first round of Eurovizija 2011 kicked off this weekend in Lithuania. A total of fourteen songs vied for only three spots in the final, and here are the victors:
Monika – Days go By
The Independent – 7th Bus
Sasha Song – The Slogan of Our Nation (Eurofans might recognize Sasha from his beautiful, yet undervalued 2009 ESC entry, “Love“)
Latvia:
The past few years have not been easy for Latvia in Eurovision…they came in last place in their semifinal in 2009 and 2010, and haven’t made it into the Top Ten since 2005. Let’s hope that Eirodziesma 2011 puts them back on the right track. Out of ten contestants last night three were voted through to the finals by the television audience, while two others made it through with the jury’s blessing.
The audience’s picks:
Evija Sloka – Don’t Stop The Dance
Pieneņu vīns (Dandelion Wine) – You Are
Blitze – Hop
And the Jury’s favorites:
Jānis Stībelis – Let It Be Me
D-Family – Daylight
Sweden:
For many people, Sweden’s Melodifestivalen is the absolute ultimate. Some even feel that it’s become more stereotypically “Eurovision” than Eurovision itself has! This is the country that’s brought us ABBA, Carola, the Herreys, and Charlotte Nilsson-Perrelli…schlager in all of its glory! However, over the past few years, Sweden has fallen further and further down the rankings, and they even missed the final last year for the first time since the 1970s. This year, I think viewers can expect a mix of the classic Swedish style (glitz, key changes, choreography and wind machines) and more current styles (rock, hip-hop, etc). We’ll see what lands a spot in Stockholm’s Globen Theater, and eventually, what makes its way to Germany.
Unfortunately, due to the Swedish broadcaster’s rules, once a song has made it through to the next round (or to the Second Chance round, like what we’ve just seen in Norway), those semifinal videos are made unavailable to the public, in order to keep songs that qualified early from having a significant advantage over those songs selected in later rounds. While irritating for bloggers like myself, I understand where SVT is coming from. What I can tell you, however, is that the two songs that qualified directly to March’s final are:
Daniel Saucedo – “In the Club” and SwingFly – “Me and My Drum”.
Moving on to the Second Chance round (Andra Chansen, in Swedish) are:
Jenny Silver – “Something in your Eyes” and Pernilla Andersson – “Desperados”
I don’t know about you, but I think I need a weekend to recover from this weekend!
Recap: Second Semifinal in Spain
Last night, a dozen more candidates broke out their best Eurovision Song Covers and fought it out in Barcelona for one of only five coveted spots in the Final of “Destino: Eurovision”. Here’s a quick recap!
Qualifying to the next round via the audience’s vote:
Esmeralda Grao – This seasoned performer was actually a backup singer for Spain’s 1998 entry, and has been working the local scene ever since. She took on Nina’s “Nacida Para Amar“, the 1989 Spanish entry that ended up in 6th place.
Melissa – Ok…so what we’ve got here is a Spanish singer who took on Vicky Leandros’ “Apres Toi“, a song performed in French by a Greek-born artist and won the 1972 contest for Luxembourg. Confused yet?
Sebas – This self-proclaimed Eurovision fanatic lived his dream by not only performing in an ESC Preselection, but making it through to the final by the will of the public vote. His Spanish-language interpretation of Marija Serifovic’s winning Serbian ballad “Molitva” might not have been flawless, but knowing that a fellow Eurofan made his dream come true makes me feel a bit warm and fuzzy…
Making it through via the jury’s vote:
Don Johnsons (yes, like the “Miami Vice” actor…) – Following the lead of “Da Igual” last week, this band took “Yo Soy Aquel“, the 1966 Spanish entry by Rafael, and adapted it for a modern audience.
Mónica Guech – Mónica proved that one can sing Dima Bilan’s 2008 winner “Believe” without having to resort to figure skaters or Stradivariuses!
Eliminated by the Jury: Alazán (who covered “Bandido“, originally performed by members of their own family), Pau Quero (who might have become Spain’s answer to Josh Dubovie with his cover of “A-Ba-Ni-Bi“), “Sometimes” (who did an acapella cover of Abba’s legendary “Waterloo“), and Valeria Antonella (who came in from Mexico and covered “Save Your Kisses for Me“).
Eliminated by the audience’s vote (or lack thereof): Lorena Rosales‘s cover of “My Number One“, Sergi Albert‘s version of “Hold Me Now“, and Miami-based band “We“‘s rendition of “Enseñame a Cantar“.
Next week, we’ll see all ten semifinalists duke it out for only three spots in the final, where we’ll finally get to hear some of the possible songs that will represent Spain in Germany this year.
In other cool news…
Various ESC websites are reporting that France’s representative, the 21-year-old tenor Amaury Vassili, will be singing his song not in French, but rather in Corsican! If these rumors pan out to be true, it will be only the second time that this Romance language (which is more closely related to Italian than French) will have been heard in a Eurovision performance. The first appearance of the tongue was in 1993, when Patrick Fiori sang the bilingual “Mama Corsica”. His fourth-place result remains the highest placement for a song in an actual minority language in Eurovision History (and I’m not counting 2003’s “Sanomi” from Belgium…imaginary lexicons don’t count!!!)
Here’s Patrick and “Mama Corsica”:
As soon as we have information on Amaury’s song, I’ll pass it along to you!
(Edit/Update: Yep, it’s been officially confirmed by the EBU…it’s “Sonniu (Dream)”, a Corsican-language Bolero for Amaury!)
It’s Senit for San Marino!
Yesterday, we received the official confirmation of news that had been floating around the ESC Rumor Mill for quite a while: Italian singer Senit will be representing the tiny Republic of San Marino in Düsseldorf this year.
 |
|
| Photo courtesy of http://www.senit.sm/ |
The 31-year-old Senit (born Senhit Zadik Zadik) was born in Bologna to Eritrean parents, and has released three successful albums so far, including one in English. She’s also done a fair amount of stage work on Switzerland and Germany. We’re not sure if she will be singing in Italian, English, both, or something else entirely, but the San Marinese broadcaster will be revealing more information shortly on the country’s second-ever Eurovision entry. SMRTV says that in choosing Senit as their representative, they are reflecting the nation’s own history as a location with an international flavor. (Then again, with only 32,000 residents, they might also just be running out of available singers…)
Here are a few of Senit’s hits:
What do you think of Senit representing San Marino? Will she do better than MiOdio in 2008?
Recap: First Semifinal in Spain
Better late than never…This weekend, we also saw the first semifinal in the Spanish quest for Eurovision Domination. “Destino: Eurovisión” kicked off with twelve acts (either solo singers, duos, or groups) vying for three audience-picked tickets to the next round, or two jury-selected wildcards. In a fun twist, singers were asked to sing Eurovision classics from yesterday and today. Some stuck to tradition, while others put modern twists on old favorites. Acts performed in groups of three, and then the jury immediately eliminated one of the group, and left the rest up to the mercy of the audience. (The actual pool of songs that might go to Düsseldorf have also been selected, but we won’t get to hear any of them until the finals on February 18th.)
Moving on via the audience’s televote:
David Sancho (who sung a big-band cover of “Estando Contigo“, Spain’s debut entry from 1961.)
Lucía Pérez (who sung the Spanish-language translation of Gigliola Cinquetti’s winning 1964 song, “Non ho l’eta“)
Auryn (who sang a harmonious version of the Olsen Brother’s winning 2000 Danish entry “Fly on the Wings of Love“)
Moving on via the Jury’s Wildcard:
Da Igual (who rocked out a new version of Sergio Dalma’s 1991 song for Spain, “Bailar Pegados“)
Gio (who, in my personal opinion, destroyed Lena’s “Satellite“, and not in the good way…)
The jury eliminated acts covering “Wild Dances“, “Ding-a-Dong“, “Gwendolyne“, and “Tu te reconnaîtras“, and the audience passed on covers of “Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi“, “Fairytale“, and “Vuelve Conmigo“.
We’ll hear a dozen more covers next week!
Second Heat in Croatia’s "Dora 2011"
The second heat of Croatia’s preselection, “Dora” was this weekend, and we’ve got six more names moving on to the next round of competition.
Qualifying from last week’s round of performers via viewer televote was Tina Vukov.
Making it through to the next heat from this weekend’s round are Doris Teur, Mirko Švenda, Katica Marinović, Ana Eškinja, and Saša Lozar. We’ll get another name next week, when the results of the long-term public vote wrap up, and from those Top Twelve, only six will proceed on to the following round. From those six, the top four will compete, and the contestant-whittling will continue until we have our Croatian winner on March 5th!
The ESC Insider 