Switzerland

Like Swiss clockwork

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We’re staying true to our traditions and open this season’s reviews with Switzerland. Hurrah! And surprise, surprise, the Swiss are being equally predictable by sending off the usual mediocre semi-final filler for yet another year. At least they’re being as consistent as their own clockwork.

We were cautiously optimistic when we heard that Timebelle would compete in the national final again. We liked their first attempt at representing Switzerland two years ago and the quirky pop number Singing About Love would probably saved the Swiss from finishing dead last in Vienna. Unfortunately since then the group has changed direction, lost a couple of band members and gone all serious and gloomy on us. Gone are the playful happy go lucky girl next door, the chirpy accordion and the clunky guitars. It’s been replaced by a slicker, more mature sound, and Apollo is a rather repetitive and pathos filled mid-tempo ballad. Continue reading

First impressions from the first dress rehearsal of the second semi final

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ukraine ebu andres putting
– No, no, no, Andres Putting, don’t come any closer! Pic by EBU/Andres Putting

Yay, we remembered there were 18 more songs to go and just saw the first dress rehearsal for the second semi final. It is also brewing up to be a great show, of course. The undisputable highlight being our favourite Schlagerboys appearing on the big screen, driving around in a taxi, which we’ve heard is shady business in Stockholm. This is what else to expect:

01 Latvia Justs Heartbeat

Has shown a vast selection of leather jackets, so it is a bit disappointing that he chose the black one for the stage. Maybe he should borrow Poland’s stylist? Other than that, douze points for effort. Will be in the run for best performance in the final together with Hungary’s Freddie.

02 Poland Michał Szpak Color Of Your Life

After the Bosnia & Herzegovina disaster in the first semi final, we are happy there is at least half a cello left for Poland. Michal wants people to sing along, and we can now reveal why you know that melody so easily: it echoes the riff of “I will survive”, which is a message we keep repeating to ourselves every morning these days. Clever little thing that Captain Jack Sparrow. Continue reading

Highlights from the Red Carpet

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Last night it was time for the opening party in Stockholm! With the plebeians kept comfortably at arms length, the Eurovision stars finally got to officially meet and greet each other. But before hogging into the free champagne and finger food at the swanky City Hall, they did their schlager duty and had a stroll down the red carpet to show off their finest rags and feathers.

We did of course miss our own Agnete, which was exactly to be expected. We offered to step in, but strangely we never received a reply to that email. Oh well, it’s their loss! As the organizers obviously preferred to keep us safely behind the barriers we made the most out of it and bellowed as loud as we could to catch the stars’ attention. Here’s a few red carpet highlights for you, with pics by yours truly and our buddies over at EBU.

Belarus red carpet
We were happy to see that IVAN picked up our styling tips and showed up on the red carpet without wolves, but with a manbun. Jared Leto might not be that well known in Belarus, but apparently they do read our blog over there. Photo by GEE

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Hurrah! Second semi-final coming up!

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TH00006_37
Oh, please! Get a room!

Tonight is a big one coming up for us as Norway is on, and no less than FIVE of the guys on our hotlist. We recommend a bottle of Chardonnay, Valium and an oxygen mask within reach. If all goes well and we don’t pass out with overexcitement before the Czech Republic sings, we hope we will be able to celebrate the following ten countries going through to the Grand Final (click on the links to read our review):

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Shine some light on Switzerland

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Please, someone who can speak German, French, Italian or Romansh, tell her she shouldn't enter the stage in such a damp dress.
Please, someone who can speak German/French/Italian/Romansh, tell her she shouldn’t enter the stage in such a damp dress.

What better way to open a new Eurovision season on the International Women’s Day with a strong, independent gal who’s not mucking around, mind you. Is it finally Switzerland’s time to shine again?

 

When Switzerland selected Mélanie René and Time to shine a while back it was still early on in the national selection season and hard to tell how the entry would measure up to its future competitors. With more than half of the songs known by now the Swiss can be pleased it’s 1. Not a ballad, 2. Potentially has a pimp slot in the second semi-final running order and 3. A song that would probably benefit from the bigger staging and better production the ESC format will offer. Continue reading

Grand final: Fun facts and what to expect

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Romania
“In the beautiful, Norwegian village of Bryne you can find a piano like this in every home”

Yay, the grand final is rapidly approaching in Copenhagen! We just watched the jury final, and here’s a heads up on what to expect:

1.Ukraine: Tick-Tock sung by Mariya Yaremchuk

Struggles to impress us with a man in a hamster wheel. That’s nothing but a nice try when Greece has THREE men on a TRAMPOLINE.

2.Belarus: Cheesecake sung by Teo

Thank God the final at least has one song about cakes. Claims to not be Patrick Swayze, which is great as he never would be able to lift us anyway.

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You cannot believe what was going on in B&W Hallerne today

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There were rehearsals. Actual, real rehearsals! With artist in clothes! Well, sort of anyway. Here are our first impressions from the second semi final:

1. Malta is definitely coming home with us

Malta’s performance was once again steady as a rock and we’re starting to get that winning feeling. And attention! If you look closely, you will see a selfie of us and Marco Mengoni as a part of their stage backdrop. We are very happy to be up there with the loves of our life during such an important moment in history. Oh, and yeah, we are also glad that 130 million viewers get to see our friendly faces, of course. Vote for us, Marco and Malta. It’s number one, peeps.

Firelight
“And to the right we have an image of my favorite girls in Good Evening Europe. Do notice the fine details and carefully planned and coordinated outfits.”

2. Mei Feingold is still very angry

Half way through the song we just want to scream “WE GOT YOUR POINT THE FIRST TIME” back at her. Also, her stage backdrop looks like something from an adaption of a not so pleasant Cormac McCarthy novel. But thumbs up for effort and all.

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Switzerland soldiers on

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We’re back! There’s 39 entries to review before Natalia from Austria takes to the stage in Malmö Arena for her first, faltering rehearsal so we better get cracking. The much debated running order was just recently announced and it looks like most blogs present their reviews in accordance to this. We hit the shuffle button as usual and present the reviews in no particular order.

We do however keep the tradition of letting the Swiss open the ball as they go ahead and pick their entry while the closing credits for last year’s final are still rolling. Continue reading