Eurovision Song Contest

[CielOnTap]

The 2009 contest will be held in Moscow in May. I saw three participants' videos on Malene Arpe's Stargazing blog-the Finnish song and video was my favourite of the three videos. (Anythankyou, Ms. Arpe!) Curiously, the three songs are all sung in English. More language variety is expected from Europe!

Here's the link to the Eurovision site where Finnish Waldo's People, Sweden's opera singer entrant,and Macedonian twin brother rock duo, Next Time (song title translates to Something That Will Stay) can be seen:

http://www.eurovision.tv/page/moscow2009/the-participants/semifinal1

Other semi-finalists are here: http://www.eurovision.tv/page/moscow2009/the-participants/semifinal2

[CielOnTap]

The Armenian Jan Jan is an Armenian urban dance anthem--they do use a version of Apple commercial silhouette type coloured screens that flash quickly (warning for anyone affected by fast images).

The Estonian Urban Symphony exudes a Celtic string vibe--I have no idea what is sung but the song is good. Quartissimo with Martina, another string band, will be certain to feel the competition.

So many songs are using synthesizer dance beats, which are not effectively used in all songs.

The Netherlands Shine song group, The Toppers, need to drop the overly bright white lights and shiny suits. Their video looked like a futuristic Mr. Clean commercial set. The song seems to be anti-war but some of the lyrics are recycled. Costumer, get the men some safari suits.

[pretzels]

http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=2067 Lovebugs: musical sound suggests 1980s, lead singer looks like Nirvana's Cobain but does not sound like. Lyrics are so-so. The lead singer has something nasal about his singing style, like the lead singer for Maroon 5.

[CielOnTap]

http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=2341 Hosts announced for the show seem to have popularity based on their appearances. The first semi-final competition will be on May 12.

[CielOnTap]

From the Semifinal 1 list, the Belorussian entrant has a rock song, Eyes That Never Lie. It will give the FYR Macedonia twin brothers competition for rock music.

The Belorussian tune would have fit into the Gundam Wing soundscape for the show.

[CielOnTap]

http://www.eurovision.tv/event/artistdetail?song=24678&event=1480 The Czech song, Aven Romale, is sung mostly in English, with some Czech rap in the middle, and there is some humour evident in the performance. Lively tune for a night out with friends!

[fishandchips]

The semi-final show is about 45 minutes along. On the contest site, someone blogged that the live on-demand stream has no sound for him and he's waited a year for the contest. Central European Time is now on daylight savings time, so CET = GMT +2 hours.

[CielOnTap]

The ten semi-finalists (round 1) who won enough votes to advance for the final show got their positions drawn for the last show. Read about the rankings and the questions asked by the media here.

[CielOnTap]

The contest has its own channel on Youtube, so if you missed yesterday's Semi-final #2 or want a review of all the finalists, this is the place to find the videos.

Contest Final takes place tomorrow night in Moscow.

Estonia's entry still is strong (and Celtic looking); Moldova's folk dance music mixed with contemporary dance beat is quite something else-dancers and singers give their all in the performance. I do like the fact that some of the entries are using their native languages for their performances and that varieties of music outside of dance and rock are showcased.

[CielOnTap]

http://www1.spiegel.de/active/quiztool/fcgi/quiztool.fcgi?id=32013 Test your knowledge of Eurovision Contests past. Something to do until the final for 2009 airs in Europe.