What a fantastic show for my first live Eurovision experience! The opening act was certainly a highlight, with a very beautiful rendition of Euphoria, started off by a children’s choir including deaf children signing, then joined by last year’s winner, Loreen, wearing a beautiful red flowing gown. From my vantage point near the middle of the catwalk, I was in the perfect position to view it all! She walked right past me!
Austria I thought did very well, an upbeat, poppy song sang earnestly by a young girl. But unfortunately it wasn’t enough to get them into the finals.
I also liked Estonia. A beautiful girl singing a lovely song. Clearly her strategic use of wind machine and flowy fabric gave her the edge.
Slovenia was where the true Eurovision spirit started to kick in, with hot male back-up dancers dressed in S&M gear for no apparent purpose (other than perhaps to get the gay vote …?).
Croatia went with a more traditional entry, which gave the audience time to use the free wi fi to check their Facebook etc.
Denmark was one of the favourites, and was well represented by fans as Copenhagen is just a 20 minute train ride away. They have an Isla Fisher lookalike for a singer, and went all out with a spectacular stage production worthy of a soft metal band, featuring a background of flames, the wind machine was well cranked up, and there were fireworks and gold glitter. All this had me wondering, could Eurovision possibly be rigged? (But if they do win I will definitely be going next year!)
Russia had another strong song sung by a beautiful girl which made it through despite a lack of wind machine, and certainly no glitter in sight.
In silhouette, I wondered whether there was someone dressed as a reindeer on the stage. Now this is more in the vein of the wackiness of Eurovision! When the lights came up, it became clear that he was only dressed as an oaf or a giant or something, maybe beauty and the beast? But Ukraine certainly had one of the more original openings for an act this Eurovision as he carried the singer in and stood her on a rock. I guess that’s that’s one way to make sure the audience can see you.
The Netherlands entry is a great song, but possibly more in the vein of Lana del Rey than Eurovision. Still, it was enough to get them through to the finals. Thank goodness! They were the last finalist to be announced tonight, and the Dutch crowd were so passionately convinced that they had made it that there may have been a riot had another country been announced.
Another ‘only Eurovision’ act from Montenegro with rapping astronauts and a real party vibe. Unfortunately their amazing costumes and stage performance weren’t enough to see them through, much to the bitter disappointment of their supporters in the audience. Fortunately, these were far fewer than the Dutch fans.
The Lithuanian performance is really all about the charisma of the lead singer. He has some really cheeky eye contact going on. The stage performance was fairly pared back. I know that these are difficult economic times across Europe, but you would think they could have got him a t-shirt that fitted seeing as he was going to be representing the nation on the telly and all.
Belarus had all the elements going on for a successful Eurovision performance; a petite blonde in a short, silver fringed dress, a big mirror ball, hunky back up dancers and ethnic rhythms. (Although I thought they had a better song in 2012 yet somehow that didn’t make the final!)
We thought the Moldovian act showed promise when we watched the singer walk on stage having her dress carried during the postcard. This performance was worthy of Lady Ga Ga with red, sculptured hair and a dress grew like Alice in Wonderland eating a mushroom before erupting in flame.
Ireland was one of my favourite performances. What more could you want apart from shirtless men beating drums to Celtic-pop rhythms? I think they also deserve extra points for including the incredibly predictable words – “dancing til the morning light” in their lyrics. Their lead singer was also very charismatic, but was interchangeable with Lithuania. Imagine the horror backstage – “Nooo, you’re wearing the SAME OUTFIT!!!”
The most memorable thing about Cyprus was the dress. Sure, she can sing and it’s another lovely song but I think everyone was distracted by the see-through lace look.
I thought that Belgium delivered the heart and soul of Eurovision – an incredibly catchy, irresistibly dancy pop tune with lyrics that you could pick up before the end of the first chorus. The dancers choreographed like Miss FiFi’s jazz ballet class from 1979 made this perfection.
The three girls from Serbia didn’t make much of an impression with their cutesy outfits and boppy song. Although I later saw another recorded version of this song where they were dressed as angels and devils, and the whole thing seemed to make much more sense. Maybe they should have stuck with the original costumes?
A pleasant surprise for we Australians was an hilarious filmed segment featuring Julia Zemiro attempting to explain the Australian obsession with this event. I don’t know whether the Europeans really understood it, but it certainly struck a chord with the Aussies.