Tomoe

Yeah, and I think she also said the winner will be female. :) Kind of true, we never know the true sex of Dima. :D :D :D

Voted for Croatia. :)

Even though my country Bulgaria didn't qualify (due to bad singing!), I'm happy because my top fav this year Croatia qualified! :D Voted for it, will vote on Saturday night as well. This time I was surprised, and that was a good thing. Didn't expect Denmark. Albania and Latvia just shouldn't have been there. Albania's singer was so weak after the amazing powerful voice of Lithuanian singer. And Latvia were off tune whole 3 minutes! Also, I saw another possible winner - Portugal.

Yeah, and last year was the most criticized one, the same I say.

I think it's generally bad for ESC (which stands for European SHOW contest) when there are no surprises and everything is so predictable. Except Finland, we all knew the rest. I don't think there'll be surprises in the second semi, nor in the final. And that is bad. Very BAD. It proves the contest has gone totally wrong with all the bland songs and distorted voting system.

Everyone who thinks that Russia hasn't bought this year's contest is out of his mind. :)

Voting system is c**p. They say Armenia came 2nd or 3rd last night and she sang HORRIBLY. It's all due to diasporra votes.

On the contrary, I do think that east countries will be the winners from now on. I see the future of ESC like that: West countries will withdraw one after another in about 3-4 years time. The contest will still exist and will still be big, but it'll be centered around East Europe and most probably financed by Russia. That's it, if in 1960s and 1970s it was entirely a West Europe contest, now it's going the East way.

Don't lose hope, dear friends! In a recent interview for Portuguese media, the members of Terasbetoni (or whatever the band from Finland was called) said that they've listened to this year's songs and they liked UK song most of all. :D

"Unsubstantial Blues" was a song I thought was highly overrated at first, but then I began to like it. I'm sorry, but I also got to enjoy Verka Serduchka's song.... *shame on me*

Isn't exactly that which makes such contests meaningless and unrealistic then? A good song should be good not only today, but also tomorrow.

That's where I disagree, I'm totally against ethno sound and folklore songs in ESC, that's why I don't think Helena or Sertab should have won, and I don't like Armenia and Cyprus this year for the same reason. It's not that I dislike ethno in general; it's just unfair. Eurovision is not a contest for "my country's traditional style". Moreover, you cannot compare different cultures and their different sound - I find both Irish traditional folk music and Greek one attractive, how can I choose which one is more attractive, when they're so different?... Therefore, in my opinion, countries shouldn't send their ethno stuff - it's probably gonna be liked by other nations, but that's not a fairplay. In fact, I think Eurovision entries shouldn't be so drastically different in their genres. Simply because I can't compare incomparable things - if I like jazz, but also rock, and if there are 2 such songs, which entry should I vote for? If Moldova fails, does it mean the song is bad? No, not according to jazz musicians, I suppose. And how about France, which dared to send something alternative? If it ends last, does it mean that alternative music is internationally disliked? I know that if all songs were the same genre, it'd be boring, but come on, even MTV doesn't nominate r&b singers together with rock singers...

Ok, I voted, but I guess there are few people voting here.

Almost no OGAE club has given points to Bulgaria yet, and then how come Bulgaria is in Top 10 of most fanpolls and betting odds?... However, I like the fact that Russia is not even in Top 5 in OGAE voting chart , hehehe! :D Anyway, I still think Bulgaria doesn't get much from political/diasporra voting, otherwise it would have been be Mariana Popova (2006) to mark the success... That song was pretty much a Balkan ballad, yet neighbours didn't vote for it. The reason for the 5th place of "Water" is simply because it was 90% a Bulgarian folklore song - makes me wonder how it even got in Eurovision, because traditional folklore singing is forbidden, as far as I know - and it was mainly the West fascinated by the sound they don't have. Had it been only the neighbours' votes, that song wouldn't have come 5th. I'm not a fan of "Water" and that traditional sound in particular, but just like a famous music producer here said, there's no other way Bulgaria can fascinate Europe. Unfortunately. I don't think Iceland is in any bad position; it's not about having neighbours or not - otherwise Malta, Cyprus, Iceland and San Marino would never ever qualify. I think Iceland's biggest problem this year is called Charlotte Perelli, rather than Balkans. Both songs are similar, though for me "This is My Life" is much better than "Hero", but well, rest of Europe doesn't seem to think so! And finally, Croatia does have a classy and artistic song, just like Moldova, and just like 4Fun last year, who had to be at least in Top 10. However, Eurovision is not about meaningful music or lyrics, I'm sorry...

I absolutely don't agree about Bulgaria having political votes from neighbours. The truth is that we aren't among the countries with lots of friends, no matter what most people think. We are not part of the ex-Yugo block, we're also not part of the ex-USSR block, and actually most of those countries don't like Bulgaria at all! For various political reasons, the ex-Yugo countries (especially Macedonia) would not vote high for us, the same goes for Romania. We count on votes from Spain and Hungary mainly, from Greece too, but definitely not from most other neighbours. Last year the song "Water" got many votes from almost all European countries, but this year even OGAE clubs don't vote for us. I think Bulgaria will qualify, but not because of neighbours' votes (rather because more than half the countries from each semi are gonna make it actually). I'm quite skeptical about the final, though. Now, as for the song, I'm not personally a fan of it. We had a better entry in the national final here, which everyone expected to win, but it came second with a margin of only 0,1% after Deep Zone. It's a song in Italian called "Sogno", performed by a famous Bulgarian singer and a young Italian pop-star from San Remo. Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ySgI4aLgjo Do you think this one would have had better chances than Deep Zone? Also, don't forget to check the best video made this year - Moldova's Geta Burlacu not only has one of the classiest songs (the other one being Croatia), but the newly released video of her song is absolutely brilliant!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGDVWlHl0N0

Phew, I'm relieved that the line about Terry Wogan's wig is still there. :D :D That's the most hilarious part of the lyrics. :D Does he really wear a wig?

Am I the only one who thinks they sing horribly?

Well, as you know, I disagree about Croatia. ;) I think that their song, just like Moldova's, is too classy for Eurovision. It has too much art and subtle ideas, which are not easy to comprehend at such festivals like ESC, where everything has to be simple and catchy. I don't agree that it's an old folk song; in fact, it's the music style of 1930s/1940s in the entire Eastern Europe. Besides, this song has amazing lyrics, check the translation in youtube.

Here's the Greek forum thread, where the fortune-teller (Odysseia) is discussing the songs and her predictions: http://forum.ertonline.gr/eurovision/viewt...a&start=260 Unfortunately, I don't understand Greek, but if someone does, please help with the translation. :)

And thus, it will be the first time in the history of Eurovision that a song performed second (the most unlucky place) makes success wins. :rolleyes:

The fortune-teller apparently also said that in case it's not Bulgaria, the winner will be the one who performs 2nd or 11th in the second semi-final. These are Sweden and Croatia. Makes sense again, with the prediction about the Tiger (Charlotte) and the rhythmic song. :) Mark my words, it's gonna be Sweden this year. And thus, it will be the first time in the history of Eurovision that a song performed second (the most unlucky place) makes success.

Little off: Last year it was Karolina, right? She's part of a big music TV show in Bulgaria now, called "Let's duet". She's singing with some guy, having concerts every week. :) Very beatiful girl with great talent. :) However, I don't like your song this year, I'm sorry... :/

First thing I can say is, I'm very sorry for Poland. This draw was especially unlucky for them. Norway before them has a strong ballad, so Poland will seem bland afterwards. Then right after Poland is Ireland which makes it even more complicated. Second, there is a very funny thing to happen in semi 2 with the transition between Croatia and Bulgaria - one song is so ancient, the other is so futuristic, it'd be like a time machine swap. :D Moreover, Croatia's one ends with DJ's plate scratching, and that is exactly what Bulgaria's song begins with. :D Also, the combo Moldova-San Marino-Belgium makes no good, since all three songs are unique and interesting, and being performed in a row will hinder their efforts to be outstanding. The same for Armenia-Netherlands, these are two very similar songs in a combo. Not to mention Iceland-Sweden combo, which everyone discusses now. Albania and Switzerland are another example of songs you shouldn't place in a row. I hope Switzerland will benefit from the more experienced singer and the Italian language. Lastly, last place for Portugal, mmmm, how good! :) Wish them luck!~

Geez, am I the only one who actually thought Lordi and Maria deserved their winning places. :) Well, I didn't vote, but if could, my votes would go for them. I'm very satisfied with last 2 years' winners.

Well, I'm more for the unique and different entries. My favorite this year are Croatia and Moldova, I'd be happy to see those winning. I don't mind Bosnia as well. ;)