Well on a personal level, I gleaned that the walk between MalmoMassen and the Malmo Arena hasn’t changed all that much – neither has the media centre!
So what did we end up with after a couple of hours of “fun” in section A6 of the arena?
Firstly, Bambi Thug‘s stage show is one hell of a show. It literally pisses all over Olly, and not in a good way, and Croatia and whilst that might get the more televotes, there is something to be said for the shock and awe the thug has brought. Olly was clearly pulling out (fnarr) of some of the higher notes because he is clearly using it as a pacing rehearsal, and that is not a bad thing,
Azerbaijan and Australia are the axis of evil no one in their right mind should vote for. Azerbaijan looks cheap and badly through out and Australia feels as though they are not trying any more and that is a shame because this had so much potential but it just falls flat on screen and on stage.
Finland has missed the “funny” camera angles and there was no nakedness because, well, this song is a mess and it’s not a hot one either. Lithuania still comes across as someone who thinks he has qualified but he is struggling – something that could be applied to several of the songs this afternoon. Poland and Luxembourg would also be in that category. Poland just still looks all shades of wrong and has been over-staged. Luxembourg just smacks of entitlement. It’s probably going to get through on the fan votes alone, but I have trouble seeing getting a lot on Saturday.
Despite me hating on it a lot, Cyprus surprised me – it’s a decent show opener even though I have seen and heard the song a million times before. Serbia just passes me by I’m afraid. It’s just *there* and doesn’t do a lot to make me want to actively vote for it.
Ukraine is still excellent and looks even better in the arena setting that I was expecting which was quite a lot if we are being honest. Hera Bjork is going to need some serious help from the voters around Europe because even an actual lift on stage couldn’t get this one of the bottom.
Slovenia are trying to be a higher class Windows 95 Man with their dancers actually trying to be naked rather than just pretending.
Portugal and Moldova just passed me by completely I’m afraid so I might need to take a second look at them at 9pm CET when the second dress rehearsal starts. Of the other big five and Sweden that took to the stage, Sweden were just there and going through the motions for me and Germany was very warm on stage – it could have been all the fire that they used but Issak can sing very well, just this one might not be the one for him.
The Other Fella may have the same, of differing, opinions – who knows, but check him out and be back here at 9pm CET for our first live blog of the season.