The month of May is upon us and with it comes the annual Eurovision Song Contest. Whilst many of you may think it’s a silly spectacle, others are impatiently waiting for the grand final in Vienna. Either way, it will definitely be all over our social media walls over the next few weeks, and as we count down the last few days, here are a few tips as to what to expect during this year’s contest.
Following Conchita’s victory in Denmark last year, the 60th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest will take place in Vienna’s Wiener Stadhalle this time. The hall has a seating capacity of over 16,000; this falls rather short of the record 35,000 in 2001, but nonetheless, it’s a sizeable audience for the contestants to face! The stage is designed to look like a large eye, supposedly a symbol of mutual respect between cultures, countries and people (or maybe they had us in mind!). This fits in with the theme for this year’s contest — Building Bridges. The first semifinal will take place on 19th of May.
© Roman Zach-Kiesling (ORF)
Here’s a quick overview of some of the songs:
Moldova will be opening the first semifinal with their song "I want your Love’ performed by Ukrainian singer Eduard. This song is performed in English, as are 14 of the 16 songs in the first semifinal. The song is hardly the best opening for the contest. Originally written for the Ukrainian national selection, the pop song was entered into the Moldovan selection as Ukraine withdrew its participation. The song is rather reminiscent of the early 2000s and is not a favourite with the bookies or the fans.
Armenia, Belgium and the Netherlands follow Moldova’s entry. Belgium will be represented this year by Loïc Nottet, who is only 17 years old. Belgium has appeared in the contest 56 times, with only one controversial win in 1986. Loic will have you rap-pap-papping along with his song "Rhythm Inside’. The bookies have him set at 50/1 to win the contest, and he is nearly certain to join the 10 finalists from this round. That said, Belgium’s track record for qualifying leaves much to be desired.
Finland will sing after the Netherlands, and whilst their odds are very good, a quick visit of Youtube will have you realise that they are far from the favourites with the fans. Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät (PKN) will be taking to the stage to sing "Aina mun pitää’ (I always have to). In the words of Sami Helle, one of the members of the band, “The members of our band are four middle-aged, mentally handicapped men. The music is, of course, Finnish punk.” Unfortunately as inspiring as the members’ story may be, it is very difficult to make it through all 3 minutes of the "song’.
Greece and Estonia follow Finland on stage. Estonia is one of the favourites to make it to the final and stands a good shot at the title. Estonia won the contest once in 2001, but could Elina Born & Stig Rästa bring it back to Tallinn with "Goodbye to yesterday’? 79% of the votes cast in Estonia, during the national final, were for this song. No other song in the history of the Estonian song contest has ever won by such a wide margin.
Macedonia, Serbia, Hungary, Belarus, Russia and Denmark take to the stage next. Singing in number 14, Albania will make their 12th appearance in the contest. The music video on Youtube has over 2.5 million views. Elhaida Dani was originally singing "Diell’. Back in February, the songwriters decided to withdraw the song. The following day it was revealed that Dani will perform "I’m Alive’.
Romania and Georgia close the contest. Georgia’s Nina Sublatti will be singing "Warrior’. Nina shows her vocal and personal power and strength in both her song and video clip. Our favorite warrior, Amber, was recently pranked on a local radio station by a fake Nina Sublatti, who phoned in to unleash some attitude. When the real Nina found out, she was far from amused!
Australia, Austria, France and Spain will also vote in this semifinal. A good portion of the participants are from eastern bloc. Northern neighbours Finland, Denmark and Estonia are likely to give each other points, and Belgium and the Netherlands will probably exchange their douze points. It will definitely be a tight scoreboard.
