TT
I've just seen this year's national final for
Iceland
on eurovision.tv (webcast). Iceland had six songs vying to get to the Eurovision Song Contest in May. In order of performance tonight, these were:
1) Íris Hólm - The One
2) Matthías Matthíasson - Out Of Sight
3) Hvanndalsbræður - Gleði Og Glens
4) Jógvan Hansen - One More Day
5) Sjonni Brinck - Waterslide
6) Hera Björk - Je Ne Sais Quoi
Okay, here's my points of view on each.
Íris Hólm - The One A ballad. Difficult to tell this early as I didn't know what else was coming up yet, but I did wonder if it would be a tad quiet.
Matthías Matthíasson - Out Of Sight Much livelier, with ladies doing an impressive dance routine, but the song was below par, IMHO. To be valued for the dance routine rather than song. ps I didn't get up and dance along!
Hvanndalsbræður - Gleði Og Glens
Jógvan Hansen - One More Day Definitely the best so far, a ballad with much better clarity of voice than "The One". The first one to have a hope of qualifying for Eurovision.
Sjonni Brinck - Waterslide A group was sitting on stools singing this. It was a livelier song than "One More Day", and the tune sounded vaguely similar to "Penny Lane" by The Beatles. I'd love to know what the context of the title was though; did they mean waterslide as in the type I enjoy going on (e.g. Oasis at Newquay, Splashdown at Tower Park, Poole, Aquadrome Basingstoke). There was a beach style backdrop too, which looked a bit out of place in a song coming from Iceland. A likeable song (better than songs 1-3), but not sure this was as good as "One More Day".
Hera Björk - Je Ne Sais Quoi French title, but the rest of it was in English. Again better than songs 1-3, and much livelier than song 4. Thought it might just win as it was catchy, and the French title may attract votes from French speaking countries.
Icelandic viewers were able to vote by phone, and the numbers appeared even on the webcast. Anyone know what would have happened if I'd tried dialling 00 followed by the country code for Iceland and then the phone number for the song. Would the system have picked up that it was dialled from outside Iceland, and rejected the vote (but nonetheless still charged me for an international call?). I didn't bother trying to dial internationally.
At the end they recapped the six songs. By now I was hoping the qualifier would be Jógvan Hansen - "One More Day" or Hera Björk - "Je Ne Sais Quoi". I now felt Sjonni Brinck - "Waterslide" wasn't really one to win.
There was an interval during which the presenters were talking (in Icelandic). They spoke to Alexander Rybak who won last year. Some girls played the fiddle tune from "Fairytale". Some songs were sung, including "The Winner Takes It All" (that was in English). During this time the recap happened twice more.
At the end it was time to announce the winner. I was mystified when they called out Hera Björk - Je Ne Sais Quoi and Jógvan Hansen - One More Day . I've since read on eurovision.tv that bit was the "Super-Final". Obviously I couldn't understand what was going on as the presenters were talking Icelandic (which I don't understand), and I had no idea of how they announce their winner. I'm so glad it was those two who made it that far, of the six those are the two I felt most suitable for qualification to the Eurovision Song Contest.
Finally the winner was announced: Hera Björk - Je Ne Sais Quoi , and she sang it again. I think they made the right choice there, it was certainly the catchier one of the two and has the added bonus of a French title, which may attract Brownie points from France, Belgium and other French speaking countries.
Well now Iceland will have to take part in one of two semi-finals (Tuesday or Thursday of Eurovision week), and finish in the top ten to get through to the grand final on Saturday 29 May. Will they make it past the semi-final? Time will tell, it depends what other songs they're up against in whichever semi-final they get put (Tuesday or Thursday).
This was my first ever time of seeing a non-UK national final on the Internet. Did anyone else see this? Has anyone else seen any other non-UK national finals online?
So when will the UK have its selection. Looking at eurovision.tv, it appears no date has been chosen yet, whereas just about every other country has either chosen a song or has a national final booked. This time last year we'd picked ours - "My Time", to be sung by Jade Ewen. Are we going back to picking it in March this year?
1) Íris Hólm - The One
2) Matthías Matthíasson - Out Of Sight
3) Hvanndalsbræður - Gleði Og Glens
4) Jógvan Hansen - One More Day
5) Sjonni Brinck - Waterslide
6) Hera Björk - Je Ne Sais Quoi
Okay, here's my points of view on each.
Íris Hólm - The One A ballad. Difficult to tell this early as I didn't know what else was coming up yet, but I did wonder if it would be a tad quiet.
Matthías Matthíasson - Out Of Sight Much livelier, with ladies doing an impressive dance routine, but the song was below par, IMHO. To be valued for the dance routine rather than song. ps I didn't get up and dance along!
Hvanndalsbræður - Gleði Og Glens
Jógvan Hansen - One More Day Definitely the best so far, a ballad with much better clarity of voice than "The One". The first one to have a hope of qualifying for Eurovision.
Sjonni Brinck - Waterslide A group was sitting on stools singing this. It was a livelier song than "One More Day", and the tune sounded vaguely similar to "Penny Lane" by The Beatles. I'd love to know what the context of the title was though; did they mean waterslide as in the type I enjoy going on (e.g. Oasis at Newquay, Splashdown at Tower Park, Poole, Aquadrome Basingstoke). There was a beach style backdrop too, which looked a bit out of place in a song coming from Iceland. A likeable song (better than songs 1-3), but not sure this was as good as "One More Day".
Hera Björk - Je Ne Sais Quoi French title, but the rest of it was in English. Again better than songs 1-3, and much livelier than song 4. Thought it might just win as it was catchy, and the French title may attract votes from French speaking countries.
Icelandic viewers were able to vote by phone, and the numbers appeared even on the webcast. Anyone know what would have happened if I'd tried dialling 00 followed by the country code for Iceland and then the phone number for the song. Would the system have picked up that it was dialled from outside Iceland, and rejected the vote (but nonetheless still charged me for an international call?). I didn't bother trying to dial internationally.
At the end they recapped the six songs. By now I was hoping the qualifier would be Jógvan Hansen - "One More Day" or Hera Björk - "Je Ne Sais Quoi". I now felt Sjonni Brinck - "Waterslide" wasn't really one to win.
There was an interval during which the presenters were talking (in Icelandic). They spoke to Alexander Rybak who won last year. Some girls played the fiddle tune from "Fairytale". Some songs were sung, including "The Winner Takes It All" (that was in English). During this time the recap happened twice more.
At the end it was time to announce the winner. I was mystified when they called out Hera Björk - Je Ne Sais Quoi and Jógvan Hansen - One More Day . I've since read on eurovision.tv that bit was the "Super-Final". Obviously I couldn't understand what was going on as the presenters were talking Icelandic (which I don't understand), and I had no idea of how they announce their winner. I'm so glad it was those two who made it that far, of the six those are the two I felt most suitable for qualification to the Eurovision Song Contest.
Finally the winner was announced: Hera Björk - Je Ne Sais Quoi , and she sang it again. I think they made the right choice there, it was certainly the catchier one of the two and has the added bonus of a French title, which may attract Brownie points from France, Belgium and other French speaking countries.
Well now Iceland will have to take part in one of two semi-finals (Tuesday or Thursday of Eurovision week), and finish in the top ten to get through to the grand final on Saturday 29 May. Will they make it past the semi-final? Time will tell, it depends what other songs they're up against in whichever semi-final they get put (Tuesday or Thursday).
This was my first ever time of seeing a non-UK national final on the Internet. Did anyone else see this? Has anyone else seen any other non-UK national finals online?
So when will the UK have its selection. Looking at eurovision.tv, it appears no date has been chosen yet, whereas just about every other country has either chosen a song or has a national final booked. This time last year we'd picked ours - "My Time", to be sung by Jade Ewen. Are we going back to picking it in March this year?
