OK, first up, to resolve any confusion as to why not all the entrants performed in semi-finals. The United Kingdom, France, Germany and Spain are the founder nations of Eurovision, and effectively finance the contest, thus granting them along with the host nation (Norway in this instance) immediate progression to Saturday night's final, without the need to qualify - all others must run the semi-final gauntlet. Frankly, I'd be far from upset to have a Eurovision without us - Josh is rubbish, and doesn't have a snowball in hell's, whatever Sarah bloody Cawood would have us believe; as long as the BBC still screen it for me, we don't need to actually enter
And tonight, as you're no doubt aware was semi-final 2. Perhaps I was just more in the mood for it, but I thought the standard was far higher than on Tuesday night, thus there's only 4 big red DNWs on my scoresheet (sadly, 3 of those would get in... and I'd have granted the other inclusion on the basis of the fact that its title appeared to translate as Golden Sh...never mind... cool))
Meanwhile, 7 of my 10 favourites will be appearing again on Saturday. I was seriously disappointed to lose Slovenia's hectic bit of folk rock, complete with instrumental moments that seemed not to fit anywhere, and guitar based times. However, their loss was made up for by the inclusion of Turkish prog-rockers Manga, who, along with Macedonia and a handful of others, are now on repeat on my Spotify, the stunning vocal range of a Romanian female, which made up for a relatively lacklustre chorus, an Armenian with enough hair to keep a hundred trichophiles satisfied, and a rather scary looking Ukranian with a song to match. There were also pyrotechnics, which are always Will-approved. Favourites Azerbaijan will also return on Saturday (and can 'Drip, Drip, Drop' on me anytime :? ), to be joined by Cyprus, Georgia, Israel (BORINGTIMES), Denmark (Almost as bad), Ireland (WHY, GOD, WHY!?). Yet, in a surprising turn of events, Sweden and an eccentric Dutch entry will not - both of which I'd have guessed were dead-certs, if only for the ludicrous amount of effort that went into the coreography and set design of the latter. Still, the unpredictability (bloc voting aside, naturally) is one of the things the contest has to be loved for
Conclusively, despite the slightly scary prospect of this being my first entirely sober contest since 2003, it's looking like there'll be more than enough to keep me entertained. Favourites for now include Turkey, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Germany, Armenia and Ukraine... but, I'd be the first to admit that a little too much of my vote HAS been based on costume, performance and... aesthetic appeal, shall we say, rather than music... hence listening to the songs on Spotify where there's no dark hair, darker eyes and shiny costumes to distract my attention. "Will... you're NOT voting for her just because she looks like the girl on your iPod," I was... informed by a sibling 3 hours or so back. His advice was hastily disregarded.
Let's face it, nobody reads my nerdy rants - me included, hence the spelling errors, so to close, just because it amused me the first time and it follows my point nicely - here's the top 3 reasons why those nature was generous enough to equip with a penis... would still have found amusement in Semi-Final 2.
No. You're right. They're no Lena, any of them... <3 Though I do wish she'd stop trying to charge me for her song.
And yes, I know I need to get a life, it's no good you reminding me.
