It's beginning to hot up in every sense over on the Eurovison.tv website. Tonight at 2100 CET is the first semi-final to whittle down the number of entries to 25 in the Final next Saturday. Tonight's event has 18 countries competing and I don't think any of them is really looking forward to it because they all know that, at the end of the contest, it will be literally curtains for eight performers leaving only 10.
All 18 countries, plus United Kingdom and Spain, will vote for their favourite songs, awarding points ranging from 1-8, 10 and 12 to their top 10 singers. This is the second time in the history of the contest that semi-finals have been introduced and I believe that, with the increasing number if countries showing interest each year, this elimination round will become normal. Goodness knows that the contest takes long enough as it is on the final night. Including voting, it is usually about three hours - a very long time without breaks or adverts as it is aired by the BBC.
My tips for tonight's top 10 are:
* Turkey
* Sweden
* Montenegro
* Portugal
* Malta
* Switzerland
* Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Romania
* Belgium
* Iceland
RESULTS UPDATE
* Turkey
* Sweden
* Israel (I predicted Montenegro instead)
* Portugal
* Malta
* Finland (I predicted Switzerland)
* Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Romania
* Armenia (I predicted Belgium)
* Iceland
Seven of the the predicted 10 got through. I am celebrating that 70% of my predictions were correct - the best I've ever done! My only disappointment is that Belgium was not selected. I thought it was a catchy little tune. Otherwise, I am very happy with the results. I can see either Turkey or the UK winning the contest and the UK has the edge for me, of course! :o) Great results!
Now on to the second semi-final on Thursday.
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First Semi-Final List
18 countries taking part, in the order listed. The ones in bold are MY personal top 10 to reach the Final:
1. Montenegro..........Andrea Demirovic.........singing Just Get Out of My Life
2. Czech Republic...................Gypsy.cz.........................singing Aven Romale
3. Belgium...............Copycat...........................singing Copycat
This is a very catchy little ditty sung with Elvis in mind! A possible winner.)
4. Belarus..............................Petr Elfimov....................singing Eyes That never Lie
5. Sweden................Malena Ernman............singing La Voix
6. Armenia.............................Inga & Anush.................singing Jan Jan
7. Andorra.............................Susanne Georgi............singing La Teva Decisió (Get A Life)
8. Switzerland...........Lovebugs.......................singing The Highest Heights
9. Turkey.................Hadise.............................singing Dum Tek Tek
(Could this be the overall Eurovision contest winner? It has all the ingredients of success: three hot looking girls dancing their audience into a frenxzy, a great song and excellent rhythms. You saw it here first! )
10. Israel...............................Noa & Mira Awad..........singing There Must be Another Way
11. Bulgaria...........................Krassimir Avramov........singing Illusion
12. Iceland..............Yohanna...........................singing Is it True?
13. F.Y.R Macedonia...............Next Time........................singing Neshto Shto Ke Ostane
14. Romania............Elena.................................singing The Balkan Girls
15. Finland............................Waldo's People...............singing Lose Control
16. Portugal.............Flor-de-lis........................singing Todas As Ruas Do Amor
17. Malta.................Chiara...............................singing What if We?
(A lovely little song that will charm you.)
18. Bosnia & Herzegovina......Regina.............singing Bistra Voda
(This could well come up from behind to steal tonight's show but I find their song images a bit disturbing. nevertheless, it has a
memorable tune.)
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Ms CYPRAH's All-Time Eurovision Top 5:
No. 4: Insieme 1992 (Unite Europe) sung by handsome Toto Cutugno representing Italy, 1990.(Toto won many hearts in Zagreb, the former Yugoslavia, especially with a united Europe theme in his song. He beat 20 other contestants to take the coveted prize.)
Eurovision Watch
To follow the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) taking place on March 16 in Moscow, and see ALL the videos of tonight's semi-finalists, click on Meet the 42 Participants, then Click on PREVIEW VIDEOS, and you will be able to get a better flavour of potential winners and make your own choices.
To enjoy some of the old winners in excellent sound, visit the Eurovision Song Contest archives . The site has some really interesting information and great performances, as well as some old classics from Bob Dylan and such like.
Enjoy!
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