Semi 1 - Greece

Semi 1 - 19

Greece

Kalomira
Secret Combination

Alexander-NL:

Once I found out they won’t be doing the shirt-lift-to-spell-love thing in Belgrade, I’ll be honest, this one dropped a few places in my list. lol It’s a great song and should make top 10 in the final all the same, but something as playful as that could catapult it into the higher half of that top 10. Now I’m not so sure. I still like her and her song though, however singing may not be her strongest point. Qualification is inevitable though.

9/10 (4^th)

Harrow:
In studio it's quite good, shame her squeaky voice is so obvious live, and that performance is ludicrous. Yet another Greece top 10 though I guess. 7/10

Lobo:
Listened to it once. Average song, average and uncharismatic singer... but she performed the song weirdly well..

ade:
Like the awkward gawky cousin of 'My Number One', this tries to be Eurovision by numbers, but the singer is leagues below Helena Paparazou and the song is far less instant, though probably lyrically head and shoulders above My Number One. Dreary. 3/10

Tore:
Greece is the only country that has been top 10 ever since the semi began in 2004. And with “Secret Combination” they will surely do it again. It’s a sophisticated, instant and danceable pop song with “hired” elements from bangla-inspired pop music. The only drawback is Kalomoira who hasn’t the greatest voice in the world to put it nicely. Chances of qualifying: 70%

Stefan:
Kalomoira is Paparizou #2 and producing a carbon copy of the 2005 winner will be good enough to make the final, but not good enough to win. Besides, there's quite some competition for her kind of song this year: 5/10.

Boog:
Haven’t I reviewed this one already? No I haven’t, that was Armenia (or possibly the Netherlands), this the Bronx meets Thessaloniki. ( Bizarrely the Greek delegation must have possessed the same knowledge I have about its two peers and yet chose the graveyard slot. Heavily dependent on the ‘secret combination’ hook as the lyric of the verse barely fits the music, on a head-to-head with the Armenian entry this would be sha* upon from a great height. I’ve always wondered why hot meals are served lukewarm in Greece. Personal Score out of ten (5) Winnschans (1%)

Merseymike:
The bouzoukis click into action and we return to the kebab shop. This makes last years entry sound like a work of art. Boring, boring. 4


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To contribute to the future reviews, which continue on Monday with Iceland, email your reviews to escnationblog@gmail.com. Alternatively, feel free to add your review of all the songs already featured so far, with a rating out of 10 as a comment on each of those posts. All rankings out of 10 contributed to semi 1 songs before 20/04/08 will go towards the ESCNation Blog's ESC 2008 Review Poll. For more info see here: http://escnationmbmusic.blogspot.com/2008/03/esc-2008-mbers-reviews.html

Semi 1 - Russia

Semi 1 - 18

Russia

Dima Bilan
Believe

MerseyMike:
He looks near death on the video. If he makes it to Belgrade, then this is another challenger for the top. It’s a good song, simple as that, and I do like his voice. Great stuff. 9

Boog:
So it starts like that song about an ‘umbarella’ (sic) that was a hit not that long ago, and then delivers a perfectly acceptable boyband sounding album track. ‘Keep it simple’ is a fair maxim for ESC, and I actually find this harmless enough. I’m not sure whether being bilingual is a blessing or a curse for me, but I quite like listening to bad English accents. ( It makes me feel as if I’m on holiday, and that’s always a good feeling) However, his performance in his NF lacked sincerity, and I found his oleaginous victory histrionics unpalatable. (That, however, is my problem, not his, and I shall deal with it as such.) I am reliably informed Dima has a wide fan base so will do very well. The thing which fascinates me the most about Russia is how wide it is. Personal Score out of ten (6) Winnschans (20%)

Stefan:
One word: Desperation. Russia is desperate to win, Dima is desperate to have an international career, and Timbaland is desperate to add an ESC winner to his track record. The latter was a joke. Still, top contender. 7/10.

Tore:
Dima Bilan makes a second attempt to win ESC. In 2006 he had a really good song, a solid performance and was only beaten by Lordi. Two years later he has apparently teamed up with American hit-producer Timbaland in order to climb one step on the scoreboard. Pity this time the song is a rather lacklustre “boyband ballad” and sung with an overdramatically airy voice. Will probably score very well and is a serious contender for victory. Chances of qualifying: 90%

Ade:
Appalling diction on a song that sounds like it was kicked off a BackStreet Boys album. Not a patch on his last Eurovision song. This will be top ten without trying, but I hope the friendly voting won't help it win. Given that the Diaspora have little else to vote for, this is the one to watch. Pure unadulterated shite. 2/10

Lobo:
Listened to it once. Most average song ever.

Harrow:
It's growing on me all the time, looking forward to the stage show too. 8/10

Alexander-NL:

The only song that’s a ballad all the way through that I really like this year, while I do like my fair share of ballads. It’s well-written and produced and in studio I adore it. But my big fear for this one is, well, the artist. I’m sure I’m not the first to mention it in my review of this song, but yes, basically I’m scared Dima will have a heroin fit on stage. It would ruin the song, definitely, but at the same time it also sounds like a vote-grabber. Certain finalist.

8/10 (6^th)

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To contribute to the future reviews, which continue tomorrow with Greece, email your reviews to escnationblog@gmail.com. Alternatively, feel free to add your review of all the songs already featured so far, with a rating out of 10 as a comment on each of those posts. All rankings out of 10 contributed to semi 1 songs before 20/04/08 will go towards the ESCNation Blog's ESC 2008 Review Poll. For more info see here: http://escnationmbmusic.blogspot.com/2008/03/esc-2008-mbers-reviews.html

Semi 1 - Romania

Semi 1 - 17

Romania

Nico & Vlad
Pe-o margine de lume

Alexander-NL:

Nico annoyed me at my first listen. Now she doesn’t. To me it’s just your average cheesy ballad, it’s just a bit too cheesy for me. But so was Bonaparti. And what I don’t like is that the ending could have been much more impressive, it’s now a bit naff to me. Still, I just have a feeling this duo will do quite well in this semi, though I can’t say I’m too sure they’ll do that well in the final.

4/10 (33^rd)

Harrow:
Battling Belgium strongly for the worst song of 2008 prize. Even before Nico 'attacks'. 0/10

Lobo:
Haven´t listened to it.

ade:
A pretty boy singing what sounds like a sub-Italian pot boiler of a song. Goes exactly where you expect, I suspect this one will have many fans and grab many votes. An early bet for me, or so I thought. Then *she* appeared and it all went so very wrong. Her unappealing harsh voice dragged the whole thing down from a possible victory into thedepths of the barrel. Oh, and she looks like his mum. 3/10

Tore:
Romania is responsible for one of the most classic ballads this year. And it’s like being back in 1994 when Norway and Sweden were battling it out in the male-female ballad duet department. This will do well with the juries, but with a great draw being the first ballad in the second half of this semi it won’t be difficult for the Romanians to qualify with the televoters either. Chances of qualifying: 70%

Stefan:
A pop-opera entry by a powerful male singer, that should certainly apply to lots of middle-aged female voters. And then the shouty Italian bits by a rather untalented lady kick in. Don't know what to make of its chances, 4/10 from me.

Boog:
Oldies will heave a sigh of relief as a mellow tenor voice soothes away the memory of the heavy metal entry. A rhapsody unfolds which whisks you away to land of make believe. The relief is short lived as a velvety, romantic, luscious rendition gives way to a strident woman with a karaoke voice, and (thud!) you land back on planet earth. Even that most welcome of sounds, that of the Italian language, doesn’t compensate for her tortuous attack on an otherwise wistful melody Don’t get me wrong; I do know why this has to be, as no male soloist has won since Toto ( and Johnny the Logan before that!). The Italian and Romanian languages do both work well in this kind of song, and I think the Italian restaurant community in Brussels is more likely to vote for this than the San Marino entry. Personal Score out of ten (8) Winnschans (2%)

Merseymike:
With Italy not entering, this makes an acceptable substitute. A very typically Italianate dramatic ballad – not sure if the tempo change works, but they sound good together and it’s a welcome respite from the frantic noise of the past three entries. 7

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To contribute to the future reviews, which continue tomorrow with Russia, email your reviews to escnationblog@gmail.com. Alternatively, feel free to add your review of all the songs already featured so far, with a rating out of 10 as a comment on each of those posts. All rankings out of 10 contributed to semi 1 songs before 20/04/08 will go towards the ESCNation Blog's ESC 2008 Review Poll. For more info see here: http://escnationmbmusic.blogspot.com/2008/03/esc-2008-mbers-reviews.html

Semi 1 - Finland

Semi 1 - 14

Finland

Teräsbetoni
Missä miehet ratsastaa

Tore:
Will Finland be stuck with rock acts after Lordi? Hanna’s song last year was perhaps just as much being pop as rock though, but still. This year’s offer is Tërasbetoni who is more on the metal side of rock. It has an efficient hook with the ‘hoh hah!’ part, but apart from that this is pretty ordinary and forgettable. It lacks a stronger and more memorable melody. And in a semi filled with “different” acts this might be more Kabat than Lordi on the scoreboard. Chances of qualifying: 30%

Stefan:
Where men ride, that's what the Finns are singing about. I would suspect it's somewhere on the back of a dark horse. Firmly galloping into my top 3, I keep my fingers crossed and phone ringing to see them cross the Final finish. 8/10.

MerseyMike:
It was the masks, wasn’t it? You know, the day the contest embraced HM? What actually happened was a vote for a few silly masks and a lot of hype. Here, we have no masks, no hype, and very loud HM. I shall have to check with my metal-loving friend Ben as to its quality but for someone like me who hates HM with a vengeance, it’s a non-starter. 1

Lobo:
Haven´t listened to it. Sorry Marianne.

Harrow:
Quite like it, often find myself singing it around the house. 7/10

Boog:
Quite a shock to the system after the dishwater that’s just preceded it. My first reaction is that this isn’t a patch on ‘Mala Dama’ last year (or even Fomins and Klein) but I’ll accept any morsel of rock, however untasty, offered by ESC. Some nice musicianship (which can’t be fully expressed in a traditionally constructed 3 minute song) but a weak hook. I belong to the camp which believes that HRH wouldn’t have won without the Halloween masks, so this truly is pi**ing into the wind. Don’t believe what they tell you about the Tropics; Finland is the land of the monster mosquito! Personal Score out of ten (5) Winnschans (0%)

Alexander-NL:

What I like about this is that it shows that the Finns are true hardrock fans and that they enjoy sending something they like themselves. It’s not my song in particular, though I tend to notice that I like it more in audio than in video, so maybe the shakey cameras in the NF are bothering me more than I thought. I’m not counting on them at this point, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re looking good in the rehearsals and then sneak into the final.

3/10 (38^th)

ade:
Throw some over-blown rock in Finnish and you probably get a similar result to when the Czech Republic sent Kabat. This is truly awful, overwrought, odd kid teen rock lacking in charm throughout and should return Finland to the bottom of the table. 0/10

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To contribute to the future reviews, which continue tomorrow with Romania, email your reviews to escnationblog@gmail.com. Alternatively, feel free to add your review of all the songs already featured so far, with a rating out of 10 as a comment on each of those posts. All rankings out of 10 contributed to semi 1 songs before 20/04/08 will go towards the ESCNation Blog's ESC 2008 Review Poll. For more info see here: http://escnationmbmusic.blogspot.com/2008/03/esc-2008-mbers-reviews.html

Semi 1 - Netherlands

Semi 1 - 15

Netherlands

Hind
Your Heart Belongs To Me

ade:
Very charismatic performer and on the face of it a great chorus with a nice build, though falters towards the end when it ought to be stomping to a climax. Might just drag the Dutch into the final, then with a good draw give a mid table result. She can sing live, which seems to be the
thing she has over the Armenian girl. 6/10

Alexander-NL:

I’m happy with our choice of artist this year. She’s such a doll. Lovely girl, inside and out. I was kinda hoping for something more out there for the song though. To me this sounds like the song that just failed to make her last album. It’s not a bad song by all means though, I just seriously doubt the votes will come rushing in for it. To me it’s not unlikely she’ll make it via the jury and then do badly in the final.

6/10 (20^th)

Boog:
One hybrid followed by another. An unfortunate draw for both with the three of the four virtually indistinguishable songs of this genre in the same semi. The version I have is a live one and clearly confirms this girl’s inability to hold long notes; they’ll need to beef up the backing singers at the end of a few lines to avoid the poor girl being exposed unnecessarily. I love the fact that to get to the Kroller Muller national museum in the Netherlands you have to get a train, then a bus, then (if you wish ) a bike (the driveway is looong!)
Personal Score out of ten (4) Winnschans (0%)

Harrow:
More MOR from the Dutch. Nice singer though. 5/10

Lobo:
Listened about 1 minute in a live version. No chance in hell.

MerseyMike:
They seem to have repeated last year’s feat of choosing a good singer and saddling her with a song of breathtaking dullness. This will get some neighbourly Belgian votes but other than that – a good bet for bottom of the pile. 4

Stefan:
For a country whose entries are often as flat as the landscape, they're entering a surprisingly good tune with some semi-exotic elements owed to Hind's background. I'm afraid that still won't help much though. 6/10.

Tore:
This is a pretty decent song. It’s a straight forward pop song with a touch of Arabic in the chorus. It sort of aiming at the same voters as Greece and Armenia (I think) and based on that I’m afraid The Netherlands will suffer badly. But we’ll see. Chances of qualifying: 30%

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To contribute to the future reviews, which continue tomorrow with Finland, email your reviews to escnationblog@gmail.com. Alternatively, feel free to add your review of all the songs already featured so far, with a rating out of 10 as a comment on each of those posts. All rankings out of 10 contributed to semi 1 songs before 20/04/08 will go towards the ESCNation Blog's ESC 2008 Review Poll. For more info see here: http://escnationmbmusic.blogspot.com/2008/03/esc-2008-mbers-reviews.html

Semi 1 - Armenia

Semi 1 - 14

Armenia

Sirusho
Qele Qele

Merseymike:

The kebab shop is never far away from any contest, and our first visit provides no shocks or surprises. Just bores me silly. 4

Boog:
‘Bronx meets the Bosphorus’ – that’s how I started my review of ‘Every Way That I Can’ and it holds for this entry too , but it’s too soon for a retro cover of Turkey 2003, surely, and such a ‘painting my numbers’ version too! Great swathes of empty spaces in the song which can only be camouflaged by (one hopes) yet to be decided choreography. Here one of the strangest restaurants has for scores of years operated in an old church run by a mad Armenian. What you get to eat, and its quality, is completely dependent on his mood of an evening. It can be a culinary feast or an unmitigated disaster. (a bit like this song!) I suspect Azerbaijanis think about Armenians in the way that Belgians consider the Dutch. (i.e. a bit ‘kooky’!)
Personal Score out of ten (5) Winnschans (10%)

Harrow:

I thought on 1st listen that I'd soon tire of this, but I haven't. Will be top 5 and has a great chance of winning. And wouldn't be a bad choice. 9/10

Alexander-NL:

It’s like a hybrid version of some earlier winners. I can’t help myself. I like it better than those winners I’m talking about. And you don’t have to make me feel bad about it, because I already do that by myself. I think it’s powerful and catchy, the singer could have done with some more charisma, but I just hope she can sing. It would have been nice if she had let us known before, the Andorra 06-deception is still fresh in my memory.

8/10 (8^th)

Stefan:
Once upon a time in a mediocre year, there was an average song by a girl with a short dress and some dancers and coming from a country with reliable friends. That was Greece 05 - this is Armenia 08. Possible winner, 6/10.

Tore:
If I’d been listening to this one out of the blue and was told it was an ESC entry this year, I’d guessed it was Greece. After a rather delicious and calm start, it explodes into a modern ethno-poppy song that is very straight to the point. It’s hands in the air and shake that ass and party all night long. A strong contender for the top 5 this year. Chances of qualifying: 80%

Ade:
This flows by with little to recommend it, it's tedious, dull, no hook, repetitive in the extreme. Wallpaper music. Five years ago, this would have been in with a chance, right now it's a mid range stomper with an average singer. Almost good enough, but too repetitive to make enough
impact. Will benefit from neighbourly voting. 5/10

Lobo:

Haven´t listened to it.

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To contribute to the future reviews, which continue tomorrow with Netherlands, email your reviews to escnationblog@gmail.com. Alternatively, feel free to add your review of all the songs already featured so far, with a rating out of 10 as a comment on each of those posts. All rankings out of 10 contributed to semi 1 songs before 20/04/08 will go towards the ESCNation Blog's ESC 2008 Review Poll. For more info see here: http://escnationmbmusic.blogspot.com/2008/03/esc-2008-mbers-reviews.html

Semi 1 - Bosnia-Herzegovina

Semi 1 - 13

Bosnia-Herzegovina

Laka
Poku�aj

Lobo:
Listened to it once. I liked it, but didn´t like the visuals.

ade:
Interesting start, but goes nowhere very quickly after this. An 'example song' from a country that can do better. Repeat a few sample phrases and hope it works, it almost does Mid range shite. 7/10

Tore:
What a pleasant surprise from BiH this year. Thank God not every ex-Yugoslavian country is stuck in the ethno ballad cliché. After their success in 2006 BiH tried to copy that last year with much less success. This time they go for something totally different and have chosen an arty bizarre pop-song. The song is a two-part affair with a calm first half and with a more energetic second half. And Laka’s mad running/jumping sister tops it all. Chances of qualifying: 70%

Stefan:
Probably the most unusual character in Bosnia's music scene, Laka provides one of the most interesting songs music-wise this year. The stage act is quite bizarre though and may hinder it getting a result that it would deserve. 8/10.

Alexander-NL:

n a word, this is just weirdness. It’s a good song, great melody and instrumentation, seriously they did a wonderful job on that. My question is why it has to be sung in some baby voice. For me it ruins the entire effort. The chicken made me go WTH and laugh, probably the only laugh that was intended by the participant, but I’m not sure what the deal with this is. It borders on funny and the song borders on good and in the end neither succeeds for me.

5/10 (31^st)

Harrow:
LOVE it! So quirky yet still good musically, Laka and his sister will hopefully surprise! 10/10

Boog:

Loved this on first hearing so it’s virtually impossible for me to be in any way objective. On the other hand any of my friends here who’ve caught me in the act of playing it have absolutely hated it. The quirkiness of Battiato mingles enticingly with the incantations and chants, and then the complex rhythms for which central Europeans are unrivalled. What set the seal on it for me was the deliciously deranged art school dramatics performance so favoured here during the Edinburgh Festival each August. Reminiscent of the madness displayed by the Split Enz base player in the eighties, and of Freddie Mercury’s ‘I’m going slightly mad’. Unlike many of the other competitors which build a song around a catchy chorus, this ekes every drop out of each section of the song, and gives you your money’s worth. One of the few entries that requires no work done before the semi. (Many, as you’re well aware by now, need complete makeovers, if not radical surgery) I visited Mostar last summer, an experience to be recommended to one and all.
Personal Score out of ten (9) Winnschans (5%)

MerseyMike:
This is one of the most creative and ambitious songs to have been entered for a while. It’s very much performance art in style, the instrumentation is fantastic, and the chorus is memorable too. Sarajevo 2009? Wouldn’t rule it out. 9

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To contribute to the future reviews, which continue tomorrow with Armenia, email your reviews to escnationblog@gmail.com. Alternatively, feel free to add your review of all the songs already featured so far, with a rating out of 10 as a comment on each of those posts. All rankings out of 10 contributed to semi 1 songs before 20/04/08 will go towards the ESCNation Blog's ESC 2008 Review Poll. For more info see here: http://escnationmbmusic.blogspot.com/2008/03/esc-2008-mbers-reviews.html