Eurovision 2011 - 10/12/14 May 2011

Eurovision Song Contest 2011 Semi-Final 2 Results

My desired qualifiers: Bosnia & Herzegovina, Slovakia, Sweden, Israel, Romania, Estonia, Belarus, Latvia, Denmark, Ireland.

Actual qualifiers: Estonia, Romania, Moldova, Ireland, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Denmark, Austria, Ukraine, Slovenia, Sweden.

Bold entries represent the actual qualifiers that match my preferences.

OUT: Netherlands, Belgium, Slovakia, Cyprus, Bulgaria, F.Y.R. Macedonia, Israel, Belarus, Latvia.

I am GUTTED that Israel and Belarus failed to qualify, as I thought they were two of the best songs of the night. Both were really catchy. I'm DISGUSTED that Moldova qualified for the final as their song is a load of nauseating trash with two lots of strobe lighting (totally unnecessary, IMO). I wouldn't be surprised if that got through just because of the pointed hats and piping unicyclist (both unnecessary gimmicks). Moldova's entry is one I most wanted to stay out of the final. To a much lesser extent I'm disappointed that Ukraine qualified, as their song wasn't up to much IMO. I reckon the gimmick of the sand artist helped get that through. Israel and Belarus deserved the places snatched by Moldova and Ukraine.

I'm so glad that Estonia, Romania, Denmark and Ireland all qualified. In my opinion they were among the best songs in the second semi-final. They were among the six countries I most wanted to qualify. In addition I'm pleased that Bosnia & Herzegovina and Sweden qualified, both of which were among four countries on my "maybe" list. So altogether six out of the ten countries I wanted to qualify actually made it. Not bad I suppose. I'm so overjoyed that Belgium and Bulgaria both failed to qualify. Both countries songs were so terrible I don't even think they should have been in the semi-final, let alone the final. If that's what those countries picked, what else were those up against in their national selections? Belgium and Bulgaria were two countries I most wanted to stay out.

So how will the ten semi-final 2 qualifiers fare Saturday night? We now already know the 15 countries they're already up against (10 from Tuesday's semi-final plus the Big Five who qualified directly).

Remind me, how old are you again?

Eurovision Song Contest 2011 Analysis

So here are all the 25 finalists, in alphabetical order (not order of performance):
Austria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden. Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom.

Now for the 18 countries who failed to reach the final, but which will still vote tomorrow night:
Albania, Armenia, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, F.Y.R. Macedonia, Israel, Latvia, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, San Marino, Slovakia, Turkey.

Now let's look at some country groups:

Baltic States (Ex USSR)
IN: Estonia, Lithuania. OUT: Latvia.

I'm so overjoyed Estonia reached the final, as "Rockefeller Street" is a great song with really catchy chorus and fun-to-copy dance routine. On the other hand, I'm annoyed that Lithuania qualified as I found their entry rather boring and therefore one I'd prefer not to qualify. Norway, Croatia or Portugal deserved the place taken by Lithuania. Although I liked Latvia's entry, it was one of my "maybe" qualifiers from semi-final 2 last night, so I didn't mind it not qualifying. No doubt Estonia and Lithuania will exchange high marks, and Latvia will give high scores to Estonia and Lithuania. That said all three have got other ex-USSR countries to give points to as well.

Benelux
OUT: Belgium, Netherlands (Luxembourg didn't enter yet again).

Actually I'm overjoyed Belgium's trash (capella) didn't qualify. I'm also pleased that Netherlands didn't qualify as their wasn't that brilliant either IMO.

Nordic area
IN: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Sweden. OUT: Norway.

I'm so glad Denmark, Finland, and Sweden qualified, they deserved to be in the final. I thought Iceland was a bit borderline, and was in two minds whether it should qualify or not, but I've no reservations about it being in the final. Norway were robbed though, they too should have made it through. So Iceland and Denmark will surely give each other 12 points.

Greece and Cyprus
IN: Greece. OUT: Cyprus.

I'm so glad Greece made it to the final (I liked the chorus and dance routine), whereas Cyprus failed to qualify (I was unimpressed by their song). Nonetheless Cyprus will still be voting, along with the other 17 countries that failed to qualify. So Cyprus will inevitably give 12 points to Greece, but Greece won't be able to give 12 points back to Cyprus.

Former Yugoslavia
IN: Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Slovenia. OUT: Croatia, F.Y.R. Macedonia.

I think Croatia were robbed there; I'd sooner have seen Croatia in the final and Serbia out. Alternatively if Serbia had to qualify, I'd sooner Croatia had gone through instead of Georgia or Lithuania. Anyway, moving on and accepting the actual situation, it now means Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia and Slovenia will award each other top marks (10s and 12s). Croatia and F.Y.R. Macedonia will both give top three marks (8, 10 and 12) to Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia and Slovenia.

Founding Seven
By this I mean the seven countries who appeared in the very first ESC in Lugano in 1956:
IN: France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland. OUT: Belgium, Netherlands. (Luxembourg didn't enter in 2011).

As I've already said, I'm glad Belgium and Netherlands failed to qualify from last night's semi-final. I'm glad that Switzerland made it through after four years of failing to qualify, this time they had a really good song that deserves to be in tomorrow night's final. It's great to see Italy back for the first time since 1997.

Why are you asking that? This is the Eurovision Song Contest , which is aimed at an adult audience, not the Junior Eurovision Song Contest which happens in November (and which the UK last entered in 2005). What's wrong with dancing along to the songs in the Eurovision Song Contest? It adds to the fun of watching. Remember last year's grand final interval act was the flashmob dance "Glow" (Madcon), during which it was intended for viewers across Europe to join in and "share the moment".

Judge for yourself.

Oh Tumblebot what are you like!

How did you get on at The Gong Show?

I don't think this has been mentioned: Alex Jones (from The One Show) is presenting the UK votes tomorrow night

http://www.tvforum.co.uk/forums/post707172#post-707172

But still... Won't hold it against you!

Will there be a TV Forum Eurovision Song Contest chat room tonight? There was in 2009 (I took part in it) but I don't recall there being one last year (2010).

You've probably just answered your own question.

And it's one thing dancing along to Eurovision, it's quite another dancing along to Jedward. Heck though, I guess they're one step up from Boogie Beebies.

Ah, as you can tell I only saw The One Show repeat!

What about last year's auto-new post mod for Eurovision? Will that be returning?