Iceland
Well a late start for Birgita but she did quite well. She looked well and performed the song really well. Others in the delegation say that she was brilliant, but in her silver frock she looked the part and sounded the part so things are looking up…
Mark out of 100 – 68.293
Incidentally … watch out for the introduction of the OnEurope Plastic Fork awards later in the morning!
Austria
What can one say.. He just gets better and i finally get it.. He no longer grabs his crotch, but he grabs his belt and thrusts. The backing singers are a wonder of Austrian womanhood who sing even more out of tune than him!!!
Its fantastic!!!.. Shame it is totally out of context with the contest and will prob come near the bottom.. but the more i hear it… the more this is gonna be the one to upset the Tatu train!! It should score 30948309284 points, but it’ll be lucky to get 20 and that’s a shame!!
Mark out of 100 – 28.348203 (!)
Ireland
Well he looked totally dis-interested during this performance, but he now looks LESS like he has been smacked with the ugly stick and looks slightly better and quite cute.. All he needs to do now is to remember that the key change comes after 2 minutes and that he has to hit the high notes. Admittedly it is loads better than Monday, but that was a low base to work from… He is in with a chance of the Mikey Joe plastic fork award given to those that miss key-changed though !!!
Seriously on this evidence he will struggle to do well.. He has worked really hard but some more has to be done in order for him to have a bit of impact on this contest. Coming after Alf as well…..
Turkey
This is fantastic!! I cant describe just how good this actually is.. She goes around the stage with her dancers and her ribbons and her ethnic dancing… it is just wonderful, wonderful stuff. Note perfect, choreographically excellent and just perfect in every way… This COULD be the first Turkish winner ( and if it is, it is 10 days in Istanbul)
Mark out of 100 – 7,438,480
Malta
Oooh dear … This is not good. It sounds “nice” but it is an Irish entry without the tune or talent so it trundled off to Malta. She now walks around the stage AFTER playing at the piano. It lacks power and togetherness to have any impact. It has been likened to “jelly with too much water.. it looks good, but shake it and it falls apart”… I tend to agree…
This needs all the other entries to fall apart to stand any chance.. She is competent, but she aint no Chiara ( thank the lord)
Score out of 100 – 25.3498
Bosnia
Well… its still top ;o) She’s been having trouble with her mic and her sound but she still attacks this song. Unfortunately I think it is too harsh and will scare Europe away from voting for it.. but it IS a fantastic show and a great song… but I concede that it wont win … Will do well though, and she knows where the camera is.. (Always helpful me thinks in a televised contest!!)
Mark out of 100 – 83.43897
Portugal
This is Fantastic.. Nick was right on Monday.. She has a belting pair of…. lungs on her and really hits all the high notes. The English half is taking this song to places that I and many others didn’t think possible. She has a fantastic stage presence and the voice of an angel.. Unfortunately the Portuguese might well spoil it for the rest of Europe.
Fantastic ;o)
Mark out of 100 – 48983
Croatia
Claudia really does attack (my favourite word today) this song…. The English still detracts from the overall effect somewhat but the choreography is spot on…. Her voice is excellent and she looked very “dirty” in a literal polka dot bikini. This *is* the str8 vote or the undecided vote me thinks… It remains to be seen if her voice can hold out all week, unlike in the Croatian final but, if it does, then she’s onto a good thing…
Cyprus
Eeerm… what can I say without offending more Cypriots??? Nothing… The ending has changed and they still prance about.. Its not a fantastic song and will not do anything special, no matter how much you lot think it will do. It does not have the attack and he does not have the power or the stage presence to do anything other than try his best. Sorry but its true!!
Mark out of 100 – 16 1/2
Germany
This has everything.. Great staging, Great arrangement, famous composers… BUT it has Lou as well. Now i’m not saying that she was a bit flat but……. she was a wee bit. I don’t think that they need *that* much more to worry the rest of the world, but it needs something…. well perhaps just shaving her red mullet would do for a start
Mark out of 100 – 83283 for her hair and 3493 for her.
Spain
Well…. what can I say… All that I can say is that she looks improved from Monday and sounds a damn site better. She looks more professional and has had confidence training from RTVE in the intervening 2 days. It still lacks that certain something that every winning act should have, i might suggest that she is lacking talent… but she has won a talent contest so it must be somewhere!!! Visually the Dancers do a lot more than she does…. which could be a bad thing but who knows!!
Mark out of 100 – 23898 for her and 3482903842093480923 for the cute backing dancer boi (WOOF!)
Latvia
It seem that I, nick_at_esc have been entrusted with the oneurope password. How does one spell moohahahahaha again?
Anyway, Latvia. I had such big expectations, but I’m finding it very hard to get excited about this now I’m here. There are little things in the camerawork that I’m not quite sure about… they’re singing perfectly confidently, but they’re NOT lighting my candle, as it were. Might not be a certainty for Top 5 after all, unless they’re keeping something in the tank for later.
Pi to the fourth minus 17 out of 100 for this one. That OK, Fils?
Israel
Well I’m glad I’m not Israeli!!! Even though my own song isn’t much better I think we might just out score this… or at the very least a 0-0 tie. This gets tackier every time I see it. Lior and his harem of “Schoolkids” still prance round like fools and the girls get to strip. Thankfully he doesn’t strip but his credibility, and that of selections of the IBA go down the tube after seeing this sham of a performance. It will not win.. but it might score!
Score out of 100 – -389472397