Jury Final for Semi Final 1 – Refresh for latest updates

Skeppsbron Stockholm i samband med Eurovision Song Contest 2016

Hey all, Phil here… We’re (well me) is in situ for the Jury Final of Semi Final 1.  We’ll be here from 2100 with all the shiz on the Jury final?! – What’s that?  – Don’t want to be here? – YES YOU DO 😉  Latest updates will show at the top

2246 – Right, That’s it for tonight – I’m heading off home to the ranch where a Cheese Sandwich and some Rum awaits… I’ll be writing what I think of my qualifiers when I have digested them.   Thanks for staying with us!!

2241 – Second Recap….

2235 – No more songs, just a run through on screen so there will be a fake interval as well…

2229 – So, how have I ranked them, like a jury….. here you are :

Hungary
Russia
Iceland
Malta
Armenia
Czech Republic
Netherlands
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Estonia
Croatia
Cyprus
Austria
Azerbaijan
Moldova
Finland
Montenegro
Greece
San Marino

2229 – And that’s your lot.  18 songs and 18 singers have been completed.  Time for the Juries to do their bit.

2226 –  Malta are last on.  After shouty Bosnia, shouty Ira but in a different way.  This looks fab with the water and Lasers around her.  A very good ending to the contest with a dancy number (as is Bjorkman’s way).  Performance is good enough for it to go sailing through probably in the top 4 of this semi final with this performance.  She’s looked at me throughout most of it and interacts with the dancer just enough.  Long note a touch flat mind, but she’s done enough.

2222 – Bosnia AND Herzegovina – Heavy on the symbolism which is what the performance is all about really.  Vocally Deen seems to be a touch off.  It doesn’t do anything for me and the rap seems like a completely pointless interlude but should qualify but barely.

2218 – Iceland.  Does nothing that you wouldn’t expect – Greta sings this song excellently but I think that Russia takes away the spectacular visuals but, then again the performance is all that matters and, if we’re honest its very static in large parts of this but she was on point and on time with the background.  Qualifying safely I think.,

2215 – Montenegro.  Nothing catastrophically wrong with this song, I just think the juries will not vote for the “real” music and will place this lowly and I can totally see why.  Sorry.

2209 – After another Petra break we have Azerbaijan.  The Eric Morecambe mix comes out for the Juries in the first 30 seconds, and I think it’s really gonna take a miracle because she really can’t sing.  I have it on good authority that the Azeri’s are worried and they have every right to be.  She’s all over the shop but it’s being covered by the off stage singer singing loudly but you can’t hide that first 30-45 seconds.

2203 – Estonia.  In Contast, however, this song has now shot up in my estimation.  I still think that it is too cool for this contest and is playing on that fact and that’s the character that Juri is playing but the voice like George Ezra and his lack of performance is good but boring at the same time.  Hard to know where to place this if I was a jury but probably 5-6-7-8th

2159 – Austria.  Again, a great little song but it’s lost something after what has come on before.  That’s a real shame though because there is nothing wrong with it  (apart from the pink dress she is wearing and the perma fixed smile on her face) – Can’t see this qualifying now because of the other songs, not because of the weakness.

2156 – Cyprus.  Somehow a good song has lost it’s appeal in this run of songs now.  They also have cut less of the wolf into the song again but your lead singer is wearing guy-liner and, to me, whilst this is a decent song it just comes across as noisy after the last 4 songs.

2153 – Czech Republic –  Change of gear to the decent ballad now… This has grown on me as the week has gone by but I’m not sure if this has the legs to get to the very top.  On this performance, which there was absolutely nothing wrong with because it hit all of the marks set for it,  i expect qualifying.

2147 – Russia on 9th.  No matter how much I think that this song has been written to the Eurovsion-by-numbers book, you can’t deny that the stage show is very effective and is designed to take your mind off that – He barely made the jump onto the background.  It depends on if the individual jurors want the kitchen sink and the act, or the crafted song.  I actually don’t know.

2143 – San Marino on stage.  They’ve all gone SILVER!! – The backing singers that is… It’s definitely one of the worst things I have seen at a Eurovision.  The song is being croaked out on stage and the backing singers draping over him aren’t helping.  It’s going to be someone’s guilty pleasure but if you are a juror, it shouldn’t be yours. The backing singers are a touch out as well in points of this song.

2139 – Bit of a problem technique before Armenia… but Iveta finally comes on and sings the song.   She’s not wearing any bottoms she’ll get a cold if she’s not careful.  To my ear trying to sound too much like Shakira but hasn’t got the strength.  Gets votes for holograms on stage and local ethnicity and it should qualify I think but it’s too weak to finish too high up on this performance.

2136 – Netherlands.  A very good song and a complete change of pace after the big bold Croatia.  The Juries are going to be seeing a very good singer holding it together.  This has appeal all across the board for me.  He stops the song and it looks awkward to the juries and it fell flat.  It can’t be changed now.

2135 – After a little break with people that I know…..  Douwe Bob…

2128 – Croatia with a tree hugging postcard are next up.  Nina does start singing this in a carrier bag then her body armor comes on show.  The song is a good jury based song and she’s doing nothing wrong and sells it well, she’s hitting most of the notes which is a pre-requisite.  Nothing wrong with that and she’s sold that very well.  Likely Qualifier again.

2124 – Hungary. Freddie has got rid of the leather jacket.  That’s a good start.   This, Sandhja, is how you need to command the stage.  He’s absolutely killing it and owning the stage.  This is such a good and lively performance.  This has gone into the lead in my ranking.  thats the best he’s performed that all week..

2120 – Moldova next.  Lidia has been all shades of average this week and has just been melting into the background but has not put a foot wrong but, you know what, It looks better than it has all week when placed next to Greece in an immediate running order.  There is just a shadow of a chance for this one.  It’s uptempo and lively but the Spaceman is still a rubbsh idea and I have no idea why it is there.   This, shockingly, is the best one of the 3 so far!

2116 – Greece are next with an “industrial” Postcard.  Well when it starts the lead singers voice is a touch off key to my ear, then the rap comes in and it just looks messy.  As the song gets on, it becomes a shouty mess.  Even with the diaspora voting for this, it’s struggling.  If it gets through, it’ll be 8th-9th-10th but its just a 20 second hook that repeats over and over and it’s a long old 3 minutes…

2111 – Song 1 – Finland…. Postcard is Sandhja in a disused skate park of some description..    Great graphics as well. Sadly, though, the Reindeer leather jump suit is still looking all sorts of wrong.   Yes, she is giving it some on stage and the backing singers are in black but the overall impression with me is that Juries can’t place this first because this semi is stacked.  She’ll be lucky to get out of this.

2109 – Hilarious joke at Europe’s expense….

2107 – Petra and Mans on stage and they are funny!! – Well I think so!

2104 – So after Mans we see another travelogue of Europe with all roads leading to Stockholm from all across Europe.

2101 – If you’ve seen the MF, It’s the same performance of Heroes with the real boy and the choir…. On the cheap here Christer?

2100 – Thats good – all started on time….  Now its the show intro, basically zooming into Globen and then into Mans singing….

2048 – well i’m sat in my seat waiting for this to start….  I can see a screen so I will see what the juries see…  Remember they vote on what they see this evening and its 50% of the vote. Strap in… or on….  we’re ready to go.

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Nicolo
Nicolo
7 years ago

Funny, if I knew nothing about Eurovision, I would say all the songs look bad according to your comments but Russia. Can’t understand why you put them all down.

Shai
Shai
7 years ago

Copy/paste from my post on Eurovision Ireland(which still need to be approved)
It’s a nightmare of a semi.
3rd year in a row, I haven’t watch any footage from the rehearsals(except one performance, and I will live it to to guess, which one was that).I like to have some surprises on the night itself.

Her are my prediction(in order of appearance):
Hungary
The Netherlands
Armenia
Russia
Czech Republic
Cyprus
Austria
Iceland
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Malta

Some of the songs in my predictions are song I don’t like.

Austria is song I love and although it chances to qualify are very low,it is on my list as a song I would love to see qualifying.

I think it most unlikely that Azerbaijan & Greece will miss out, but I have no good words about both entries and if the reports over Azerbaijan been completely out of tune, are correct, They should be punished. I am sorry there is nothing irritate me more than a singer singing out of tune.

If last year I had 9/10 in semi 1, this year I will be happy with 7/10