Lena’s First Semifinal in Germany
As we all know, last year’s winner Lena Meyer-Landrut will be defending her title on home soil this year, and Stefan Raab is at the helm of the National Selection once more. This time around, Lena will be competing against herself; the twelve songs up for the golden ticket are the twelve cuts off of her new album, “Good News” that will be released on February 8th.
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| Image source http://escdaily.com/articles/7456 |
On Monday, we heard the first six of those tracks, with three of them moving on to the next round.
1) “Good News” (written by Americans Audra Mae & Ferras Alqaisi)
2) “Maybe”(written by Germans Daniel Schaub & Pär Lammers)
3) “I Like You” (written by American Rosi Golan & Northern Ireland-born Johnny McDaid)
4) “That Again”(written by…surprise surprise…Stefan Raab)
5) “Taken By A Stranger” (written by Americans Gus Seyffert, Nicole Morier, Monica Birkenes)
6) “What Happened to Me”(written by Lena and Stefan)
Normally, I’d place a link to YouTube videos of each of these songs, but Germany’s broadcaster is pretty stringent about copyright violations, and many of these videos have been taken down (or will be in the near future). The best place to check the songs out is on the official “Unser Song für Deutschland” website here.
The winners on Monday, determined purely by a public vote, were:
“Maybe”
“Taken By a Stranger”
“What Happened to Me”
We’ll hear the final six songs on February 7th, and the Finals will conclude on February 18th.
The (Nordic) Weekend Update, 1/30
We’ve had a lot happen this weekend from all over the Eurovision world, so I’m going to break my Weekend Update up into bite-sized regional chunks. And away we go!
Finland:
The last Finnish Semifinal was held on Friday evening, with three songs qualifying for the final via viewer votes, and one song saved by a jury wildcard. (Makes me feel a bit sorry for the fifth performer that night, as he was the only one not to qualify!)
Voted into the Final:
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| Image from http://metalshockfinland.wordpress.com/ |
The Blacksheeps – Dance Tonight (This teen pop-rock group has quite a bit of experience on the song-competition front; they won the youth-based MGP Nordic competition back in 2008 with their song “Oro jaska, beana!“. Agnete and Emelie come from the extreme north of the country, and often mix their Norwegian lyrics with both English and Sami.)
"Je Vecht Nooit Alleen" in Düsseldorf
The Dutch National final wrapped up this evening in Hilversum, and it looks like we have a winner! Local pop-rock band the 3Js were selected internally by broadcaster TROS all the way back in July, and they were given the opportunity to write five unique songs to present to the public. Snippets of the top five were revealed a few days back, but today the Dutch public heard the tunes for the first time in their entirety. (If you’d like to see the full special aired by TROS today, check out Eurovision.tv’s video archive.)
After a 50/50 vote from the viewing public and an expert jury (which included two recent Dutch ESC participants), the winning song was “Je Vecht Nooit Alleen (You Never Fight Alone)”, a mid-to-uptempo tune with a soaring chorus and a positive message.
By the time the chorus rolled around, it was basically a given that this would be the winning entry. The crowd was engaged more during “Je Vecht Nooit Alleen” than any of the other performances, and it received top marks from both the jury and the televoters. When the short excerpts of the song were released last week, chatter from the Eurovision forums leaned more towards the eventual winner than any of the others. The runners-up weren’t bad by any stretch, but with the exception of “De Stroom (The Stream)“, they might not have been as good of a fit for Eurovision. Here are links to “Ga Dan Niet (Don’t Go Then)“, “Toen ik jou vergat (When I Forgot You)“, and “Weelderig Waardeloos (Luxuriously Worthless)“.
What do you think of the 3Js’ entry for Düsseldorf? Was “Je Vecht Nooit Alleen” the best choice? Leave me a comment and let me know your thoughts!
It’s Blue for the United Kingdom!
And the news from the Big Five is coming fast and furious this week (well, except for Italy…but they’ve been out of the game for fourteen years, so I suppose we can forgive them for being a bit slow on the uptake, right?).
After months of teasing and rumors from the United Kingdom, with names as varied as Mika, Charlotte Church, Pixie Lott, and Katherine Jenkins being tossed around as possible representatives, the BBC just threw Eurofans a massive curveball by announcing that the recently-reunited boy-band Blue would be the British flag bearers for Düsseldorf! Not only that, but the BBC has taken all of the fun out of the Preselection process…by completely eliminating the Preselection in the first place! This is the first time since 1994 that the UK has gone for an internal selection, and the first time since…well…ever…that the British public will have no say over either the singer or the song! It’s hard to tell if this is to cut down on costs, or if Blue’s selected song “I Can” is just too good to pass up. (The song has yet to be released, so it’s still a bit of a mystery for the time being.)
Blue first formed back in 2001, broke up in 2005, and reformed in 2009. They’ve had a string of hits that charted not only in the UK, but also all over Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. They’ve even released some of their songs in Italian to a positive reception. They’re not as well-known in the United States, but one of their first major hits was a remake of R&B group Next’s “Too Close“. They’ve also had some fantastic collaborations, with artists from Lil’ Kim to Stevie Wonder, Angie Stone, and Sir Elton John.
This might be Blue’s first trip to Eurovision, but some of the individual members of the group have toyed with the ESC in the past. Member Lee Ryan wrote a song that was submitted to the 2005 Preselection (Andy Scott Lee’s “Guardian Angel”), Antony Costa performed in the Preselection the following year (“It’s a Beautiful Thing”), and Duncan James was a member of the panel that helped select Jade Ewan in 2009.
For me, though, as soon as I heard that Blue would be the British representative this year, my mind automatically went to a scene from one of my favorite movies, “Love Actually”. Sadly, I can’t embed the clip in this post, but here’s a link! Enjoy (I hope the members of Blue, at least, have had a good laugh about it…if not…::awkward!::)!
The Weekend Update, 1/23
Another day, another update…Semifinals have continued this weekend in Finland, Iceland, and Norway, and Croatia’s preselection has kicked off, as well. There are also further updates from Azerbaijan, Portugal, Moldova, and Malta! And away we go…
Finland:
Three more acts have moved on to the Finnish Final after this Friday’s semi. After a public vote, this week’s winners are:
Paradise Oskar – “Da Da Dam” (Reminds me a bit of Belgium’s Tom Dice from last year, don’t you think? If Tom were a member of Greenpeace Suomi, this might have been the result.)
Milana Misic – “Sydämeni kaksi maata (Two Countries of my Heart)” (Milana is the daughter of a Croatian father and a Finnish mother who actually represented her nation fifty years ago in Finland’s debut ESC entry.)
Father McKenzie – “Good Enough” (Yes, they’re named for the character in “Eleanor Rigby”!)
Knocked out at this round of the competition were Jimi Constantine’s “Party to Party” and Soma Manuchar’s “Strong“. An interesting point of trivia, courtesy of reader Stefanos in Finland: Soma’s outfit was designed by Mert Otsamo, a finalist on the first season of “Muodin huipulle”, the Finnish version of “Project Runway”. According to Stefanos, “I liked his work on Muodin Huipulle more than I did Soma’s outfit.” I haven’t seen any of Otsamo’s work, but after seeing Soma’s outfit, I’d be hard-pressed to imagine I’d disagree.
Next, we move on to Iceland:
It’s been a week of highs and lows for Iceland this week. On Tuesday, we heard the sad and sudden news of the passing of Sigurjón Brink at the age of only 36. He was supposed to sing in the third semifinal next week, and it has been decided by both the network and his family that his entry, “Aftur Heim (Back Home)” would be performed as a tribute by a group of his friends and fellow musicians, and will therefore remain in the competition. Next week’s semifinal heat is sure to be an emotional one.
In the second semifinal, which aired last night, we had five songs competing for two slots in the final. The victorious tunes were:
Yohanna – “Nótt (Night)” (As I mentioned last week, Yohanna came in second place back in the 2009 competition with “Is It True?” I try to stay as neutral and impartial as I can, especially during the preselection phase of the Eurovision year, but I honestly think that Yohanna might, in fact, be the personification of a Disney princess.)
Matthías Matthíasson & Erla Björg Káradóttir – “Eldgos (Eruption)“ (I speak no Icelandic, but I’m pretty sure I recognized the word “Eyjafjallajökull” at the start of the song…is this a tribute to the epic volcano that covered half of Europe in ash last year? Any Icelandic readers wish to comment?)
We’ve got more news after the break!
Norway:
From Florø, the westernmost town in Scandinavia, we had this week’s semifinal for the Melodi Grand Prix. Qualifying directly to the final are:
Babel Fish – “You Can Depend on Me” and
Hanne Sørvaag – “You’re Like a Melody” (Hanne is no stranger to Eurovision. She’s composed three songs for the competition: “Disappear” for Germany in 2008, “My Heart is Yours” for Norway 2010, and “Shine” for Georgia, also in 2010)
Moving on to the Second Chance round will be:
Endre – “Oh, Oh (Puppy Love)” and
Mimi Blix – “Allergic”
Croatia:
The first round of this year’s Dora Festival happened this weekend, and unlike what we’ve seen in the Nordic countries I’ve just mentioned, singers in Dora do not sing their proposed Eurovision songs until the final round of competition. Instead, they choose a song freely, and hope that televoters will look favorably on them. (This is actually a similar format to what Germany did last year. It worked for Lena Meyer-Landrut!) Out of twelve singers in this heat, five have already been chosen to continue on. The sixth will be announced next week.
Confirmed for the next round are: Miro Tomic, Jelena Vanjek, Dora Benc, Sabrina Hebiri, and Jacques Houdek (who was the evening’s ultimate winner). We’ll see another round of twelve next week.
Azerbaijan:
After seven weeks of preliminary heats and one semifinal, the top 5 singers in Azerbaijan’s preselection have been picked. Like in Croatia, they have been singing covers, and we won’t hear their proposed entries until the final round (or, knowing Azerbaijan, possibly even after the winning singer has been selected). They’ll go up against each other on February 2th. And they are:
İlhamə Qasımova
Eldar Qasımov
Aynişan Quliyeva
Nigar Jamal
İlqarə İbrahimova
(For the record, I had been rooting for Çingiz Mustafayev, a participant on Yeni Ulduz, the Azeri version of the “Idol” franchise. Not only was he a strong singer and a confident performer, but he is also a trained classical Flamenco guitarist fluent in Azeri, Turkish, English, and Spanish. Sadly, he was knocked out of competition in the semifinal round. If he had been sent to Düsseldorf, and had his talents put to good use, Azerbaijan could have possibly gotten some valuable votes from Spain, who will be voting in their semifinal. Çingiz, if you’re reading this, please keep trying!)
Finally, lists of competing songs have been released in Moldova (although out of the 92, songs listed on the official Moldovan broadcaster’s website, only these songs are continuing on to the next round) Portugal, and Malta. Portugal will select their song on March 5th, Malta on February 12th, and Moldova on February 26th.
Phew! After all of that, I don’t know about you, but I need a nap. I’ll keep you all posted on more news as it comes in!
Reise Nach Düsseldorf: Altbier!
Hey, everyone!
Like I’ve mentioned before, 2011 will mark my first official in-person Eurovision experience. I’m incredibly excited to be working with my OGAE chapter (Rest of the World) and the chapter’s official site, www.esckaz.com!
Anyway, as I’m preparing for my ESC trip, I thought I’d share the moment with you all. Starting today, and going through my trip to Germany, I’ll be occasionally putting up videos of my own personal “Reise Nach Düsseldorf”. It’s nothing fancy or high tech at this point (what can I say…my experience with video editing is less than copious!), but I’m looking forward to being able to interact with my readers on a whole new level.
If you’re either from Düsseldorf or will be joining me at Eurovision this year, let me know! How should I prepare myself for the trip? What are some of the local sights that I should take in? How about the best local restaurants to check out, or places to see and be seen? I’ve got two full weeks in North-Rhine-Westphalia…let’s make it fantastic together!
Here’s my first entry, where I test out the local brew…Altbier!
Again, major thanks go out to the Ale Jail in St. Paul (and their vinicultural counterpart next door, the Wine Thief), my local go-to-spot for hard-to-find beers from all over the world! If you’re anywhere near the area, check them out! http://winethief.net/
An Open Letter to Slovakia
Dear Slovakia,
Seriously? You’re toying with our emotions here! First you say you’re out, then you’re back in, then you’re out again…and this morning, you shock Eurovision fans by having your name appear in the Semifinal Draw in Düsseldorf. The officials at Eurovision didn’t say very much one way or another, leaving us all bewildered and more than a little confused. Now you say that it’s just easier to send a performer to Germany than it would have been to pay the fine that the EBU would impose on you for a late withdrawal.
::sigh::
So, that’s settled, then? You’re in? Not going anywhere? We’re at 43 nations again? We’re all cool?
Please?
Love,
Samantha
(PS: If you end up doing an internal selection, please consider sending Tomáš Bezdeda…his songs for the 2009 and 2010 Slovak Preselections were quite good…you’ve nearly sent him to the ESC twice already, and if you’re going to continue playing with my heart the way you have been, sending a cutie like Tomas would make me feel at least a little better.)
The Weekend Update
Well, another weekend has come and gone, and while we don’t have any new songs added to the roster of Official Eurovision entries, we had a lot of activity over the past few days in the realm of Preselections, especially from the Nordic region. Here’s what went down up North!
Finland:
This Friday marked the first Semifinal in the Suomen Karsinta (Finnish Qualifier), with five songs battling it out for three places in the Final. And the winners are:
Johanna Iivanainen – Luojani Mun (My Lord)
Cardiant – Rapture in Time
Marko Maunuksela – Synkän Maan Tango (Troubled Country Tango)
So, in the three songs listed above, we’ve got a ballad, metal, and tango, and the rejected songs were pop and rock…you can’t say that the Finns lack variety! We’ll see five more songs next Friday.
We’ve got more after the break!
Iceland:
The first of three Icelandic Semifinals (or Söngvakeppni Sjónvarpsins…try saying that five times fast!) took place on Saturday evening, with two songs sailing through to the final out of five competing tunes. Unlike the Finnish Preselection, local broadcaster RÚV has mandated that all songs must be sung in Icelandic (although I believe they retain the option to switch to English at a later point). The two going on to the final are:
Haraldur Reynisson – Ef ég hefði vængi (If I Had Wings)
Erna Hrönn Ólafsdóttir – Ástin mín eina (My Loved One) (I’m not quite sure if I’ve got the translation right on this one…any Icelandic speakers out there want to let me know?)
There are two more rounds of Icelandic semifinals to go. Within those two semis are songs by 2009 Eurovision runner-up Yohanna (her song “Is it True?” was truly a stunner) and rocker Magni Ásgeirsson, who is actually better known to American audiences from his appearance on CBS’s 2006 series “Rock Star: Supernova”. Magni came in 4th place, but his career has continued to flourish, especially in his native country. Here’s Magni performing an original song on “Rock Star: Supernova”.
And finally, we have news from Norway:
This year’s Melodi Grand Prix started on Saturday night, with seven songs competing for the chance to continue. The top two go directly on to the finals, but the songs that came in third and fourth place go on to a wildcard round, or Siste Sjansen.
Moving on to the finals:
Helena Bøksle – Vardlokk
Åste & Rikke – Not That Easy (Ah-Åh-Ah-Åh)
And to the Second Chance Round:
Sie Gubba – Alt Du Vil Ha (Everything You Want)
Use Me – Daisy
So, what do you think of the songs that went through? Who are you rooting for so far? Drop me a line in the comments!
Eurovision 2011: Feel Your Heart Beat!
Ok, folks…this just got real!
Every year, the country that has the honor of hosting the Eurovision Song Contest gets to put their personal stamp on the event. Through branding and design, the nation has the opportunity to make Eurovision their own! Last year’s theme for Oslo was “Share the Moment”, which carried through not only in the advertising, but through the whole contest itself. The “postcards” used to introduce artists showed groups of fans gathering together in the nation’s capital or largest city, and the interval act was described as the “World’s Biggest Flash Mob”, involving dancers throughout Europe, as well as in the Telenor Arena itself. It was incredibly sweet, and I felt like it really embraced the ideals that the ESC stands for.
The official logo and motto for the 2011 Contest has just been revealed:
According to the Eurovision.tv website, “The theme refers to the great emotions which music can evoke – and which belong to the distinctive character of the Eurovision Song Contest: enthusiasm, heart beating, excitement, love and passion. There are no limits to these emotions, there are no language barriers. The theme also refers to the fact that every song has its individual rhythm.” It also alludes to Lena saying “I heart you!” to her fans and supporters during an interview…ain’t she cute?
We also have the official confirmation of this year’s hosts: Anke Engelke, Judith Rakers, and Stefan Raab. Anke is an experienced television and radio personality born in Canada, and Judith is a well-known news presenter and writer. As lovely as Anke and Judith may be, however, Stefan Raab may the true star of the show. He’s basically the German Mister Eurovision (or, should I say Herr Eurovision?), as he wrote the songs performed in 1998 and 2004 (you can see him as the conductor and lead guitarist, respectively, in the two performances), performed the unforgettable song from 2000, and set up the popular (and obviously fruitful) preselection for 2010, “Ünser Star für Oslo (Our Star for Oslo)”, the competition that picked Lena and “Satellite” to represent Germany. In Oslo, he acted as Lena’s nearly-omnipresent mentor. Raab doesn’t just sit at home and obsess about Eurovision all day long, however; this jack-of-all-trades also hosts the wildly successful “TV Total”, a comedy/variety show. He’s also the originator of the Bundesvision Song Contest (an all-German song competition), as well as the International Wok Racing Championship. I kid you not.
Between the 42 countries competing in this year’s event, the obvious passion that Stefan Raab has for Eurovision, and his propensity towards the ridiculous and hilarious, I have a feeling that Düsseldorf 2011 will truly be one for the ages.
And I’m thrilled to say that I’ll be there!
The ESC Insider 
It’s Amaury Vassili for France!
Jan 28
Posted by Samantha Ross
It looks like we have our second name out of the Big Five for Düsseldorf! As we already knew, defending champion Lena Meyer-Landrut will be representing her homeland again this year (her new album “Good News” will be released in February, with all of the songs considered for her participation on it). Today we got news of France’s choice for the ESC: 21-year-old tenor Amaury Vassili. Here’s a clip of one of his earlier live performances (details on his song for Eurovision have not been released yet).
Vassili, despite his young age, is already an accomplished performer; he has released three successful albums that have made some significant impact on the charts in France and Wallonia (the French-speaking portion of Belgium). His style tends more towards “popera”, and while his song has yet to be announced, it’s more than likely that he’ll stay in this general genre. One minor caveat: Amaury tends to sing in either Italian or English, and France, more than any other nation, tends to be a stickler for their language to be featured in their Eurovision entries. (Some ESC fans might remember the uproar back in 2008 when Sebastien Tellier wanted to sing “Divine” entirely in English; the French Parliament basically forced him to include at least a few lines in French!) We’ll see what Amaury decides to do when his song is presented to the public.
More after the jump!
“Popera” has become more popular in Eurovision over the past few years, with middling results. Generally, songs in this style will often qualify for the final, but rarely have a massive impact on the scoreboard in the end. Here are a few examples…let’s hope Amaury will break the trend!
“Cvet z Juga (Flower of the South)” by Alenka Gotar (Slovenia 2007) – Placed 7th in the semifinal, but only 15th in the final in Helsinki (this, however, has been the only time that Slovenia has made it out of the semifinals since they created the system).
“Questa Notte (Tonight)” by Bonaparti.lv (Latvia 2007) – The same year as “Cvet z Juga”, “Questa Notte” placed 5th in the semifinal, but only 16th in the final.
“Pe-o Margine de Lume (On the Edge of the World)” by Nico and Vlad (Romania 2008) – This bilingual performance came in 20th place in Belgrade, despite a 7th place finish in its Semifinal.
“Nomads in the Night” by Jeronimas Milius (Lithuania 2008) – This one didn’t even make it out of the semis, placing 16th out of 19 entries (and, frankly, that might have been a bit generous…).
“Lijepa Tena (Beautiful Tena)” by Igor Cukrov featuring Andrea Šušnjara (Croatia 2009) – This operatic ethno-ballad barely made it out of the semifinals that year, coming in 13th place in its semi (it was saved by the jury’s vote). It eventually came in 18th in the final.
“La Voix (The Voice)” by Malena Ernman (Sweden 2009) – After coming in a respectable 4th place in her semifinal, this accomplished mezzo-soprano only came in 21st place out of 25.
“Illusion” by Krassimir Avramov (Bulgaria 2009) – Don’t even get me started on this one…it ended up with only seven points in its semi, in 16th place out of 18.
“My Heart is Yours” by Didrik Solli-Tangen (Norway 2010) – Despite a good vocal performance and the natural goodwill of being the representative of the host nation, Didrik only came in 20th place in the final. This was one of the lowest placements for a host nation in years.
Opera and opera-infused pop walks a tightrope in Eurovision. Even if a performance is technically skillful and beautifully presented, it might not be as naturally catchy as more traditional rock, pop, or ethnic songs. A casual Eurovision viewer may only see these songs once; a contestant has to be able to capture a potential voter’s attention in only three minutes. Otherwise, their moment in the spotlight becomes a viewer’s convenient bathroom break.
I genuinely wish Amaury the best in Düsseldorf, and I look forward to hearing his song. He has the luxury of being automatically qualified to the Grand Final on May 14th, but he (and his songwriters, producers, and delegation heads) should not rest on their laurels.
Posted in 2011, France, Special Comment
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