ScottyEm

A trciky one. Semi 1 was consistently "ok" (apart from Cyprus... a blindin' track! Very HedKandi circa 2005) and even San Marino was immense fun. Semi 2, while a lot of dirge, had more highlights for me hence why I prefer 2. Also, this might be just me, but Semi 1 from a TV watcher point of view felt a little "unofficial" when watching. It didn't seem as slick as Semi 2.... something I cant place my finger on.

I voted for Sweden (a redundant vote sort-of... but if we all thought that...) and Ukraine. Ukraine is an odd one. The song, fundamentally, is dire... but the vocals and trumpets are laid on so thick, it ends up being just a little bit wonderful! Not sure if I'm missing a gene, but The Netherlands' song was and is shite. MOR folk song with toe-curling vocal doesn't cut it for me,

My 4 faves are in the final so I'm happy....... VERY shocked at Slovenia, not that I'm into power ballads, but I thought this would do well in the FINAL! OOOPS!

I put a tenner on Italy. Not that I think it will win, but if it does, the £80 return will soften the blow after Sweden limps in 2nd place. I also put a few quid in Serbia, but I regret it now coz I think it has no chance! Just decent odds.

Agreed, but I wouldn't object Lithuania either... it means one less horrendous song going through!

01. Serbia: Željko Joksimović - Nije Ljubav Stvar 02. Macedonia: Kaliopi - Crno I Belo 03. The Netherlands: Joan Franka - You and Me 04. Malta: Kurt Calleja - This Is The Night 05. Belarus: Litesound - We Are The Heroes 06. Portugal: Filipa Sousa - Vida Minha 07. Ukraine: Gaitana - Be My Guest 08. Bulgaria: Sofi Marinova - Love Unlimited 09. Slovenia: Eva Boto - Verjamem 10. Croatia: Nina Badric - Nebo 11. Sweden: Loreen - Eurphoria 12. Georgia: Anri Jokhadze - I'm a Joker 13. Turkey: Can Bonomo - Love Me Back 14. Estonia: Ott Lepland - Kuula 15. Slovakia: Max Jason Mai - Don't Close Your Eyes 16. Norway: Tooji - Stay 17. Bosnia & Herzegovina: Maya Sar - Korake Ti Znam 18. Lithuania: Donny Montell - Love Is Blind I have a horrible, horrible feeling Belarus will qualify... the worse entry this year IMO. Toe-curlingly bad sung by a Chad Kroeger sound-a-like.... Lithuania should go trough instead, but it's a little on the ordinary side.

Sweden are, IMO, a relatively safe winner for this year. I'm cautious to say by a landslide, but there is a decent chance it will too. Italy and Romania will battle it out for the 2nd place. Russia might jussssssst about seal a top 5 position, a fair few jury votes and some televotes who will not be convinced by the whole joke and will keep it well away from the prize. I also think (hope!) Cyprus will do very well on the night, a top 10 placing is not unreasonable. I'm also predicting a surprise flop for Serbia. No particular science, just gut feeling. I also think France will tank on the night, bottom 5 placing is not unlikely.

I would've voted for Cyprus, if the UK could've voted. My second vote would've gone to Hungary, so pleased it went through... defo down to the wire I reckon,

Latvia?? Oh christ...

I predicted 9/10... didn't consider myself an expert. Hungary is a nice surprise. Vocally I thought he was perfectly fine (doesn't look bad either!), I predicted it to qualify by the bare skin of its teeth. The only one I got wrong was Albania (I picked Finland). Both relatively piss poor songs. Albania is 3 minutes of "look at how long I can hold a dodgy note for". I think it was more of a televote that got them through... surely a panal of music "experts" would realise the song was a mess. Oh and one more thing... THANK f*** FOR CYPRUS!!!

What I think will qualify 01. Montenegro: Rambo Amadeus - Euro Neuro 02. Iceland: Gréta Salóme & Jónsi - Never Forget 03. Greece: Eleftheria Eleftheriou - Aphrodisiac 04. Latvia: Anmary - Beautiful Song 05. Albania: Rona Nishliu - Suus 06. Romania: Mandinga - Zaleilah[/b] 07. Switzerland: Sinplus - Unbreakable 08. Belgium: Iris - Would You? 09. Finland: Pernilla Karlsson - När jag blundar 10. Israel: Izabo - Time 11. San Marino: Valentina Monetta - The Social Network Song 12. Cyprus: Ivi Adamou - La La Love 13. Denmark: Soluna Samay - Should've Known Better 14. Russia: Buranovskiye Babushki - Party For Everybody 15. Hungary: Compact Disco - Sound of our Hearts 16. Austria: Trackshittaz - Woki mit deim Popo 17. Moldova: Pasha Parfeny - Lăutar 18. Ireland: Jedward - Waterline I want Ireland to tank and miss out completely, but I think they'll get in by the skin of their teeth. A little mistified by the love for Latvia... It's not a Beautiful Song, it's bloody dire! I hope Hungary will be the surprise qualifier (and I think seeing San Marino qualify would be hideously marvellous, but it ain't gonna happen!

Is it just me then that thinks Semi 2 is a LOT better than Semi 1. Norway and Ukraine are my 2nd and 3rd faves, so it's a no brainer which Semi I'm looking forward to more. Though I do think Ukraine need to pull a belter of a performance to ensure at least a place in the final. It doesn't seem to be well received which is a shame...

I always wonder how Westlife do arena tours... all their songs sound exactly the same, god knows how they can distinguish one song to the next! It's pretty disturbing how many songs they have racked up!

I love a bit of DC... but "Survivor" is a stinker of a song. One of the most annoying and chaotic things I've ever heard. Infact, I didn't think they were much cop once they dropped down to a 3 piece. "The Writings On the Wall" remains a great album though!

I am VERY VERY pleased with the winner!!! I had Ukraine 2008 as my 15 pointer, but I could've easily swapped with my 18 pointer (who was Eric Sade). I don't dislike Leaa 2010 by any means (I gave it a few points), but it's no winner.

Would like to watch this as it unfolds but off to my neighbours for dinner... look forward to watching it later though!

This, along with En Vogues relatively brief back cat, capture the style of RnB I worship in droves. That chunky 90s-style RnB, together with those knockout vocals, are fab!

Now, I like a bit of Girls Aloud (who doesn't??!) but this is one of THE worse cover versions ever. Sounds like it was done through lunch along with their equally as bad cover of Tiffany. Yuck! :puke2:

My beef with All Saints was they thought they were the absolute dogs bollocks. IMO, they were little more than a well-packaged girl group with supposedly an "edge". Though I will hold my hands up and say "Pure Shores" was a blindin track (thanks mainly due to Williams Orbits lush production). Their pathetic "comeback" in 2006-ish stunk. They thought they could just comeback with minimal promotion... their arrogance sure blew up in their face eh?! :P

"The Writings On The Wall" is one hell of an album, but "Bills Bills Bills" is barely nothing more than a load of moaning over a limp/half-arsed production. Even at the time is was "meh". Luckily the follow up singles would blow this right out of the water!

Dane Bowers used to make me go weak... embarrassing thought now in 2012!

Fair enough (though I loved it at the time and still do) though a song like this could go as far as number 2 would very briefly restore your faith in the buying public. That aside, very typical of the uppety dance music if this era (see iio and DB Boulevard).

I struggled with Semi 1 - in that there was a lot of tat that I even had to start giving points to towards the end! Semi 2 is a better round, manage to give points to songs I thought were all at least tolerable!

Agreed. This can be easily regarded as a classic.

I was only fussed about Albania 2009 and she got through! Yippee!