Eurovision Semi Final 2

Less than a week to go! Eurovision Season is starting…

The second semi final for the Eurovision will be on Thursday 24th May.

Here are the entries (in order) for the second semi final.  I have said a little about each one. In bold are the ones I hope to qualify.

Serbia: 7/10 – This man knows how to do well in Eurovision. He represented Serbia-Montenegro in 2004, coming 2nd and then wrote the Serbian entry in 2008, coming 6th – as well as hosting it in Belgrade. Watch out…

Macedonia (FYROM): 8/10 – This lady has a voice. What a belter! Effortlessly sung. I think it will get a LOT of Balkan votes.

The Netherlands: 8/10 – The Dutch have a terrible record in qualifying – 2004 was the last time they made the final. I hope this gentle song about childhood memories takes them through. You’ll remember the Indian headdress – that’s for sure.

Malta: 6/10 – 1980s throw back. This is performed by a guy who needs to wear looser clothing.

Belarus: 6/10 -  Their 9^th entry and one which won’t do particularly well. I liked it to start with, but have gone off it.

Portugal: 8/10 – Typical Portugal – anthemic and possibly not gonna make it through the semi.

Ukraine: 8/10 – This has grown on me. It’s very West End ‘Lion King’…

Bulgaria: Zzzzzzz. Possibly the second worst entry.

Slovenia: 10/10 – My personal favourite! This gentle ballad builds to a fantastic finish. The 16-year-old has a great voice. I LOVE it!

Croatia: 4/10 – A dull Balkan ballad. Zzzzzzz.

Sweden: 10/10 – Whoah! Time to wake up. Something different in Eurovision. Loreen does some contemporary dance with martial arts moves in this attention grabbing number. Brilliant. I won’t be surprised if we’re in Stockholm next year.

Georgia: 5/10 -  They qualify every year – I don’t know how. This probably will – but it’s not great.

Turkey: 8/10 – Another grower. After seeing this guy in Amsterdam, I love it. Ahoy there Turkey. See you in the final…

Estonia: 10/10 – A gentle ballad, sung by a handsome chappy. Estonia deserve to do well with this. But, there are a LOT of ballads in this semi.

Slovakia: 5/10 -  It’s a bit Bon Jovi – which is a little odd.

Norway: 9/10 -  Sung in English; written by a Swede and sung by an Iranian/Norwegian. Recipe for Top 5. They are recreating Sweden’s 2011 entry though…. blatantly.

Bosnia-Herzegovina: 6/10 -  And again – another Balkan ballad. Zzzzzz.

Lithuania: 5/10 – A dull end to the night.  Not great. This won’t be bringing the prize back to Lithuania. Sounds like Wham!

Which 10 do you think will make the final?

Watch the songs from Semi Final 1 and read my comments here.

Those Russian Grannies

Russia could be on the brink of winning the Eurovision Song Contest.

This year it was not a 20-something girl in a short, sparkly skirt who won over the Russian voters – but a group of six gorgeous little grannies, Buranovskiye Babushki - and I love them!

This is my favourite one! She is the star of the show… (Just so cute).

To make them even more amazing, they beat off fierce competition from the Russian superstars, Dima Bilan and Yulia Volkova . Dima had previously achieved 2nd in the Eurovision in 2006 and then went on to win it in 2008. Yulia was no stranger to Eurovision either, having competed as half of t.A.T.u in 2003, coming 3rd. They were the act to beat…

And boy those Russian grans beat them to a pulp.

I don’t know what I enjoyed more – Watching the grannies sing and dance on stage or seeing the facial expressions of Dima and Yulia as the cameras swung past them as the winning song was performed. TV classic!

So, now Russia are second favourites to win the whole contest in just over two weeks in Baku.

Do they have what it takes?

Take a look at their performance in the Russian National Final.

Star Wars Day: May the 4th Be With You

“May the fourth be with you!” (get it? fourth – force – hahahaha)

People say it every year – but why?

Star Wars fans have claimed it as their own saying, but it was actually coined way back in 1979 when the UK Conservative Party put an advertisement in The London Evening News on May 4th that said “May the Fourth Be with You, Maggie. Congratulations.” This was after Margaret Thatcher’s famous victory in the UK general election, which saw her become the UK’s first and only female prime minister (to date).

Happy Star Wars Day!

More about it on Wikipedia here.

REVIEW: Eurovision in Concert 2012

This year, for the fourth time, Amsterdam was the host city for the biggest pre-Eurovision concert. It has become quite an extraordinary event  with more than half of the contestants coming to showcase their entries. There are only a few weeks before the contest goes to Baku in Azerbaijan. The countdown is on…

This year the event was held on Saturday 21st April 2012 in the Melkweg, a popular venue for bands when playing in Amsterdam. The organisation was much better than last year, which had a series of sound problems which created endless issues for the evening. The Melkweg was fantastic and the evening went without a hitch! Perfect!

The hosts for the evening were Cornald Maas and Ruth Jacott, the Dutch performer in the 1993 Eurovision. She strutted her stuff in Millstreet and belted out Vrede coming a very respectable 6th for The Netherlands.

BEST PERFORMANCE: Spain. Pastora blew away the crowd with her live performance of Quédate Conmigo. What a pair of lungs she has on her! I expect (and hope) Spain to do very well this year in Baku.

MOST ENTERTAINING: Ireland. Jedward really know how to entertain a crowd. I really didn’t like them last year in Düsseldorf, but with Waterline as their comeback I love them.

MOST EMBARASSING WARDROBE MALFUNCTION: France. Poor, poor Anggun wore a lovely red dress, which for those on the first 6 rows of audience (me included), got a perfect view up… I rather feel that someone should have advised her against white pants with a red dress… oh la la…

HOTTEST PERFORMER: Moldova. Hello, Pasha! That’s all I have to say on the matter.

MOST CRINGEWORTHY: San Marino. Deranged doesn’t even begin to describe this. San Marino decided to ‘test’ the rules of Eurovision. A song all about ‘Facebook’ although it’s not allowed to be called that now. I think Facebook should sue!

MY FAVOURITE: Slovenia. Eva’s song is my far my favourite for Baku, although on the night it didn’t come across well. Unfortunately, her backing singers weren’t there and they play a vital role in the performance as one sings the gentle aaaah bits.

THE ONES I MISSED: Sweden and Russia. Oh how I would have loved them to be there. Sweden has the song of the year and a great performance (but will it win?) and Russia have the grannies who I adore.

I predict a close one between Sweden and Russia.

Enjoy my photos from the night.

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Humperdinck sings a classic ballad for UK… 12 points?

After all my years of watching the Eurovision Song Contest I don’t remember the UK sending an entry to match this. The first time you hear it you may dismiss it, but ‘The Hump’, Engelbert, has got an amazing voice. At 75 years you cannot discount him. Age has nothing to do with his very obvious talent. He can carry a tune – very well. The song is a gentle ballad with a big finish. The lyrics are beautiful too…

In May he will be first up in the final, hoping to bring the contest back to the United Kingdom: It’s a possibility. He is currently 4th favourite to win  - after Sweden, Russia and Denmark (however the betting odds will surely change between now and May).

Engelbert had so much negative press after his name was announced as the UK representative. People joked that the BBC were mocking Europe by sending him. I think quite the opposite this year. If the British public are left to make the choice then they send ‘something Eurovisiony’ – Scooch, Andy Abraham, Daz Sampson and Jemini…. all of which prove to be disasters in Europe. The British public do not ‘get it’ when it comes to Eurovision. They still harp on about the bloc voting; they claim that ‘nobody likes the UK’… It’s pretty untrue. The last time the UK actually made an effort they came 5th, in 2009.

This year the UK will do well. Mark my words. Here is the video of the UK’s 2012 Eurovision entry.

Fireworks for Fawkes

I’ve just got home from a wonderful evening watching fireworks. I love firework displays.

The school that I work for held an annual event to commemorate Guy Fawkes Night. Ah yes - “Remember, remember the 5th of November”.

Okay – some of you are probably wondering why I’ve been watching fireworks tonight – it’s not New Year’s Eve – it’s not Chinese New Year – it’s not my birthday… Well it’s all about something which happened in 1605. The King of England didn’t get blown up – phew – how lucky he was.

The evening tonight didn’t actually mention Guy Fawkes (the guy who was caught as part of the plot to kill King James I of England). That would be too politically ‘provoking‘. However, the fireworks were brilliant – the children and parents were thoroughly entertained – and I had a great time.

History Part – If you actually want to know more about the whole Guy Fawkes story, you can check here.

 

It’s getting a bit crowded

When I woke up this morning I thought it was just another normal day.

I got dressed and ready for my first day back at work. I’ve just enjoyed a week holiday (yay).

In no time at all it was time to go. I stepped outside…

My my – hello busy world.

7 billion people in the world?

I thought the roads looked a little busy…

On a serious note though… With a world population like that, how are we all going to fit on Earth? This planet is only so big.

The rate at which the human race is multiplying is quite scary. Look at the projections below.

Mexican teacher protects class during gun battle.

An amazing teacher posted a video onto Facebook showing the scenes when she calmly protected her class whilst a drug cartel gun battle went on nearby.

The video, posted below, has taken the internet by storm after it was discovered by local news.

Class teacher, Martha Rivera Alanis can be heard asking the children to lie on the floor and stay down. “No, my love, nothing is going to happen, just put your little face on the floor,” she tells one girl.

During the shoot out there were 5 people shot and killed at a nearby taxi stand in Monterrey.

The teacher has since received an award for her bravery by the state’s governor.

What an amazing teacher!

Momentous Historial Occasions.

The hairs on the back of my arms have been standing on end over the last couple of weeks. The news coverage of political change sweeping through Tunisia and Egypt has been amazing to watch. There are some fantastic images here. It is refreshing and uplifting to see the power of people changing their futures. There is definitely strength in numbers. Now, in domino effect the people of Bahrain, Yemen, Iran and Algeria are coming together to change the political movement in their respective countries. For many people living in democratic countries it can often be challenging to truly understand what it must be like for the people we see daily on our TV screens.

How the times have changed too. It was astounding to read online that Facebook and Twitter had been used to bring people together. Social networking is increasingly useful in the 21st Century. I wonder how events in history would have been different if social networking has been around for the last 100 years.

The images of the protests in Egypt will make the beginning of 2011. I will remember them for many years to come and I think that many of you will too. I am sure that you could name a couple of major historical times in the last century that have stayed with you. When I think of stories similar to the amazing scenes in Egypt I think of stories that truly shocked me. The list I have made are stories which I feel have really made a world-wide impact on people:

• The Berlin Wall being brought to the ground.
• The capture of Saddam Hussein.
• The Gulf War.
• 9/11.
• The Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami of 2004.

Related Articles

• Resistance spreads in Iran, Yemen, Bahrain, Algeria, Libya (alternet.org)

What better way to get revenge and have your say than to do it on LIVE TV.

Kim Clijsters has always been at the top of my list when it comes to tennis players. The current #3 (and former #1) from Belgium is great to watch (her come back in 2009 was unbelievable).

During the Australian Open in 2011 Klijsters had just played her way into the third round when this video was made. Todd Woodbridge, a former doubles champion, was interviewing her when Klijsters took her opportunity to get revenge for comments Woodbridge had made about her looking pregnant! The video is a classic! Good on you Kim! 

That lady knows how to make a point and make it public!