Phil: Now you’ll know from previous years at this contest that I don’t understand Balkan ballads and I particularly don’t understand why they come so high.
However, this one I do understand very very well. It’s three men. Three drummers, singing a song about the ‘old times’ which grows on you from the start and winds up to a big finish with a red stage and all sorts of flag waving. It’s the one that the Balkans enter every time that passes me by and makes me go “meh” and this is NO exception.bHowever, I can easily see this finishing in the top 10 of this bit, and possibly the top 10 of the entire lot.
Franko: And onto what I think is almost certainly going to win semi final one and a country I visited but last August. From this performance I may well be going back there next year. It’s standard Balkan ballad fare but very powerful with it. It has drums, men and girls and then they march around the stage and pose like an old Soviet war memorial all building to a big climax (ooh matron!). There’s no way this isn’t qualifying and I’d say definite top 5 if not 3. There’s certainly nothing else from the Balkans in this contest to get excited about so this will take all those votes for sure.
Sarajevo 2010 quite possibly.
Roy: It’s looking very possible on this form. It’s got the usual slow build up, walk to the front, build to crescendo, dramatic blast at the end format that at least one ex-Yugo produces every year – but it’s always the most successful among them.
So it’s qualifying for certain, will be the best ranked Balkan for sure, will almost certainly win this semi and is likely to be troubling the vote counters quite highly on the big night.
I got the shivers and I don’t even like the song much.
My first true contender of the week. Roll on semi final two …