Its nice to see that the EBU have put forth another set of 30 second clips of rehearsals that have been vetted by the delegations for taste and decency – although there is still some rubbish to be had amongst the jewels. Lets get on with it shall we?
But just before we do – a quick reminder for those of you that seem to be slightly hard of understanding – it’s still a televised song contest, so Styling och consulting is still going to be a major factor as to whether or not the kids or adults that pay the bill actually pick up the phone or go on the internet and vote. Now that rant is out of the way – Onward!
Albania – No matter what the format, Junior or Senior, the basic premise stays the same – a shouty woman/girl shouting down the camera at me. For those of us that are old enough to remember she seems to be channeling her inner Youdipph from 1994 with a dress with wings – wither that or she is trying to look like a Manta Ray. VOcally its what you would expect, but the clip doesn’t give e enough to comment on it fully.
Armenia – The first thing that needs saying here is What on earth is the dragon for? – as stage props go, its pretty stupid and doesn’t need to distract from what is a very very good song. The only thing I can think of is that the girls arent natural movers, but that is dispelled by the fact that they can. I’m perplexed and it all seems so unneccessary,
France – From a song that could happily win this contest, they clearly seem not to want to win again because gone is the classy preview video and in comes a tacky pink “girly” look for the song which doesn’t seem to fit anything – Also getting the talent to stand on a piano is going to be a health and safety nightmare. The bit of the song we got to see (the bridge) is sung well and I still have hopes for a top 5 finish for this one.
Ireland – TG4, NO. It is not Sophie Lennon’s song! – It smacks as though it is Jessica’s in just name only which is either a slight on her ability or an acknowledgement that TG4 dont know what they are doing!. As one of our number has said from the sanctity of this house, it looks like Sophie is the good witch ( In white), Whilst Jessica is the bad witch ( In Red). The look distracts from the talent and that is a shame. By all means give Jessica help, but don’t make it that blatent.
Italy – Italy are swimming against the tide here. There are many good songs in this contest but this is, sadly, not one of them. The girls seem to be shouting on stage rather than being in tune all of the time. There are many times even in the 30 seconds where the mix could have been better as one of the girls is a stronger voice than the other one. It just sounds messy.
Poland – Maja is dressed in “Urchin chic” which to my tired eyes on a Saturday morning looks a bit wrong. Also, if the song is ” I just need a friend” then I’d have staged it without the mood dancers and gone in an entirely different direction. The song is strong enough to cut through all of that though but I reckon we won’t be going to Poland next year.
Spain – Spain really, really want to win this contest. You can see and smell that all the way through this song but Sandra just doesn’t attack the song as through she is convinced its good enough and yes I know she is a child but even so, you eed to have the confidence to pull off what you are singing and, in this video, she doesn’t.
But what do I know? – Make your own mind up here