Living Vicariously

*spoiler alert* readers from Australia who do not want to know the results before the show is broadcast should read no further until Saturday.

Although the live broadcast doesn’t start until 9pm, we have learned from last year to get there early to secure a good standing spot. So we walked down to Nyhaven from our hotel at about 5pm to allow plenty of time to catch the boat over. The boats don’t have any set timetable, they are on a continual cycle. It’s a great way to get to Eurovision Island, fast and scenic, passing the Opera House, Amalienborg Palace and other sights.

Land ahoy! Our first sighting of Eurovision Island.

The fans weren’t so crazily dressed this year. Maybe the cooler weather has dampened enthusiasm?

The site this year is B&W Hallerne, a former shipbuilding yard. The site still has much of its abandoned industrial feel. Weeds grow up through the cracked concrete wasteland where we queue up. Food and drink is provided from food vans and temporary bars. Toilets are portaloos – although immaculately maintained. Yet once inside, the stage, the lighting, it’s all completely state-of-the-art, built exclusively for these Eurovision shows. And the best part is that the ‘Fan Zone’ – the floor area reserved for OGAE members, is the area right in front of the stage! We are so close to the stage that we can feel the breeze from the wind machines!

The show begins with last year’s winner, Emmelie de Forest singing her winning song, “Only Teardrops” with a children’s choir. Emmelie and the choir are on stage ready to go before the opening sequence is played, so she stands right in front of us that whole time, just soaking up the atmosphere. She waves, we all wave back. Although she must have sung that song so many times over the past 12 months, it’s clear that she still really enjoys it. The show has begun on a high, and it just gets better from there.

Armenia
This is a great song. It’s very clever musically and has also proven to be popular with the punters, coming up as one of the favourites. It’s also one of the few songs featuring fire! Go the pyrotechnics!

Latvia
Yes, we all knew the words to this hand clapping, foot stomping song. The band’s enthusiasm was infectious, and it’s a fun song. Predictably, it didn’t get through, but everyone had a good time. I wasn’t able to get a photo of this band as an enthusiastic Latvia supporter was standing nearby.

Estonia
This is one of my favourite songs in the competition. Tanja wins the Pink award for being able to sing while simultaneously doing some complex dance moves with her hot, blonde partner. How could this song not make it through? It was certainly one of the crowd favourites.

Sweden
This song was a crowd favourite and is also one of the favourites for taking out the competition. Can Sweden win again? It’s basically a very simple production with Sanne standing and delivering her song with incredible passion. And yes, I just love the dress! It seems to be seventh time lucky for Sanne, who has entered the Swedish competition to select their national representative seven times, before finally achieving this success.

Iceland
Eurovision loves a song with a meaning and this catchy tune is no exception. The primary coloured ones have made it through to the finals.

Albania
This song sounded amazing live. Hersi has a fantastic voice and the arrangement was much stronger live than on the recording. Another great dress, but I could be old-fashioned and suggest that she wears a slip under it.

Russia
Yes, they’re blonde, cute and twins, and they really play this up with the ‘mirror image’ choreography, and the conjoined ponytail thing, although the see-saw idea is pretty baffling. I thought that this was one of the weaker vocal performances of the evening, yet this song made it through although definitely not a favourite with the crowd.

Azerbaijan
Another crowd and public favourite. How can you go past a powerful ballad, a gorgeous, ruby red dress, randomly changing backgrounds and a dancer suspended way above ground on a trapeze?

Ukraine
This cheesy song was a lot of fun live. Mariya just radiated energy and the vibe was infectious. Combine this with a hot dancer in a human size mouse wheel and dress made to flirt with the wind machine and you have an instant crowd favourite. onomatopoeia has proven to be popular with Eurovision voters in the past, and this time was no exception.

Belgium
Another fine ballad to bring a tear to the eye of mothers everywhere, but sadly not enough to make it through to the final.

Moldova
Just when I was beginning to wonder whether Denmark had imposed a one-dancer limit on Eurovision entries, Moldova took to the stage with the full production: dancing boys, drums, the spectacle – this is what Eurovision is all about!

San Marino
Well it’s third time lucky for Valentina from San Marino. Having missed out on the finals in Baku and Malmö – despite being a fan favourite last year – her seemingly birth of Venus inspired number has got her over the line this year! And wasn’t the crowd pleased for her?

Portugal
Another crowd favourite and more dancers and drumming. It’s good to see that drumming boys have remained popular, although they didn’t seem to help Ireland last year. And sadly they did’t help Portugal this year, either.

The Netherlands
For the second year in a row, The Netherlands have submitted an alternative type act to Eurovision, something other than the typical pop tune or torch song. These acts have both been successful in making the finals, just proving that Eurovision doesn’t really like to be predictable, and likes to support the acts that are different. This act had very simple staging and amazing backgrounds. It’s also a great song and was performed really well.

Montenegro
Now this act was pure Eurovision. I haven’t seen an ice skater on stage since Russia in 2008. And this act took great advantage of the touch-sensitive light-up stage. Happily, we get to see it all again at the finals.

Hungary
This act featured contemporary dancing, which is a little disturbing (along with the theme of domestic violence for a Eurovision song entry). It seems that, in 2014, the 80’s no longer live on forever in Eurovision. I guess it took until the 80’s for 60’s influences to disappear. Where is the cheesy choreography? Where the tragic costumes? Maybe things will improve in semi final 2?

Overall the show was very slick and the presenters very professional. Talking in between acts was kept to a minimum, with the focus on the music. The postcard theme of making the flag and focusing on the performer rather than their country was very inventive. The comedy sketches in between were clearly inspired by the success of last year’s comedy sequences – funny and short. The crowd cheered when the winner of ‘wearing most silver’ was announced – hey guys, it’s not really a competition, is this really something to be proud of?

So these are the 10 countries going through to the final:

We’re here! After a dash to our hotel to dump our bags (where the Greek entrants are putting on the diva!) we head straight to Eurovision Village to get our merchandise! Copenhagen’s main pedestrian shopping strip, Strøget has been transformed into ‘Eurovision Fan Mile’ with purple banners representing previous winners and their songs, apparently at random. The #JoinUs newsletter advises that these banners represent 10 Eurovision classics to pay tribute to. Yes, they include Waterloo. The newsletter also cheerily informs us that Eurovision Village is located on the former site for public executions.

Purchasing merchandise is much more streamlined this year as we have already agonised over the gear on line. So we really just have to remember what we wanted and pick it up. It’s always best to secure the goods early, before the queues and, most importantly, before they start running out of stock! This year we get a nice, PVC bag free with our purchases. We can now breathe a sigh of relief. We managed to get everything we wanted.

We pick up our Village timetable and Eurovision map of Copenhagen and now we’re all set. After checking out the Village which, apart from the merchandise van contains food vans, an activity centre for children and the stage for day time performances and for the public outdoor broadcasts of the televised shows, we head down to the Town Hall square to see the clock counting down to the grand final.

Walking via the back streets, we discover loads of gorgeous, old buildings, many dating from the 1700’s, and find a quiet square with a cute cafe for coffee and cake.

Then it’s back to the Village. The free entertainment is excellent this year, with appearances by many of the finalists. Conchita Wurst from Austria fills the square with her routine of three songs, including her Eurovision entry. She has such an amazing voice and is truly moved by the positive audience reaction. Romania cancels, but their fans stay around to enjoy Slovenia’s acapella version of “Round and Round”. Happily, no acts have died in the square tonight.

“One Night’s Anger” is a title that promises a powerful, passionate song. Yet the classically-trained Hersi from Albania sounds remarkably subdued, like a cross between Kate Bush and Enya. Perhaps she will deliver a stronger live performance?

One artist who does deliver on a powerful performance is the Italian, Emma Marrone with “La Mia Citta” or To My City. While songs written in languages other than English tend to be generally less popular, this is one tune that will move the dance floor. Will Copenhagen be the lucky city for Emma?

Although it grabs your “Attention” from the very beginning, Lithuania’s entry by Vilija Matačiūnaitė is a fairly average pop song. It is, however, begging for some cheesy choreography in that classic jazz ballet style that Eurovision is famous for. Add in some gold sequins, and I’ll be a happy girl! Will this song gain the attention of the voting public?

Azerbaijan is like the Venezuela of Eurovision, they like to win and they select their songs carefully. Yet this year’s entry by Dilara Kazimova is a disappointment. It lacks the infectious melody or lyrics of Ell & Nikki’s winning number back in 2011, “Running Scared”. Will she have people dancing in a Perspex box? Success will all depend on the strength of her voice. Will this song “Start a Fire” with the voters?

At first, this edgy tune by Pollapönk, reminiscent of Brit-pop bands like The Kinks seemed to be a radical departure from last year’s more traditional entry from Iceland. But then the “No Prejudice” lyrics begin. This is a song with meaningful, yet catchy lyrics. The members of this band are trained pre-school teachers with a penchant for suits in bright, primary colours, like a dressier version of The Wiggles. How discriminating will the European voters be?

“Coming Home” by Malta’s Firelight is a rousing foot stomping, hand clapping, folk-pop number. If the Seekers were still going today, this is the kind of song they would record, with its stirring harmonies. It’s also probably the only Eurovision number this year featuring the Appalachian mountain dulcimer.

While the band is new, the lead singer is no stranger to Eurovision, having performed twice with a pervious band and also as a solo singer. In 2011 he managed to come in as runner up. So is this his chance for the number one spot? Can Malta take out both the Junior ESC and the main competition?

If they perform this well live it could really get the audience going and singing along. It’s certainly one of my favourites. But will it light the fire for Europe?

While many Eurovision acts may seem to have come from outer space – or at least that would provide them with a reasonable explanation, this year’s entrants seem to have been looking to the heavens for inspiration.

The Swiss entry by Sebalter , “Hunter of Stars” is a catchy, folky pop tune featuring whistling, banjo, fiddle and one of those wind keyboards last seen when used by 80’s pop band, The Hooters. It also features the interesting line, “I am so wet I feel dirty”. But can it reach the heights?

The UK entry by Molly, “Children of the Universe” is a radical departure from the recent British trend of using Eurovision as a vehicle for attempting to revive the careers of ageing rockers, with Molly Smitten-Downes just starting out in her songwriting career. This song, co-written by Swede, Anders Hansson, features an interesting mix of strings and heavy percussion. There is something vaguely Pat Benatar about this song, but this is Eurovision and that’s not a bad thing. The theme of unity is also very ESC. Will it launch Molly’s career?

Just when you may have feared that Eurovision was becoming terribly mainstream, “Three Minutes to Earth” by The Shin and Mariko from Georgia (although the band, The Shin is based in Germany) does appear to have fallen to Earth from somewhere. Although this song does seem to lack a melody, it is apparently based on traditional, Georgian folk songs and allegedly describes the last three minutes of a long walk back to earth. Which could explain why the singer appears to be in pain.

“To the Sky” by Tijana from F.Y.R Macedonia has positive, catchy lyrics and a great dance beat. I’m looking forward to shaking my booty in the mosh pit to this tune. It could be a contender, but will Europe phone home votes for Tijana?

“Not Alone” by Aram MP3 from Armenia starts out as a soulful piano-based ballad Billy Field style with strong vocals, building with the usual strings and horns, yet it manages to morph into intelligent synth-pop. I’m hoping for lots of lasers and robot-style dancing for the stage production. Will Europe alienate Aram, or will they vote for this song?