Eurovision Song Contest - The Grand Final

[Corki]

Now, with just under 10 minutes to go until we head back of to Belgrade for the 53rd installment of the European Song Contest, I hope everybody is getting cosy in front of the TV (or laptop like me once I've installed something). After the panic on Tuesday when I realised I might not have been able to watch the final online (blame broken laptops), the problem has been fixed.

 

Tuesday and Thursday produced some shockers (thankfully Europe stuffed Ireland's turkey, Dustin), a few shocks (Switzerland and Malta not getting through), a few debuts at Eurovision (San Marino and success for Azerbaijan) and the expected (Sweden, Russia, Greece) all qualifying.

 

Now attention turns to the Final. In my eyes, it will be a 5 horse race between current champions Serbia, Greece, Sweden (who I think will win), Iceland and Ukraine. However, I feel Albania will be dark horses.

 

So let's get comfortable and let the fun begin!

[Corki]

Huzzah! It's working! And less than 2 minutes to go!

 

As usual, I'll put my comments up about each song as soon as I can. And why not join in the Eurovision voting here as we at DM determine the winner in our eyes using the Eurovision voting system.

 

30 seconds now...

[Corki]

Well, as always, we have had the previous winner start the show with their winning song. Molitva was performed with a dance remix feel to it, which I didn't like that much. I much prefered the ballad of last year. And what on earth were the robotic dances in the next song? Most strange...

 

1. ROMANIA

- starting with a ballad

- I prefer his voice to her's --> I feel he has better vocals

- a solid performance to start proceedings

 

2. UNITED KINGDOM

- a nice upbeat tune

- I'm trying to put my fingers on what song it sounds similar to

- I think his vocals are good --> maybe need to be stronger in places

- I like it --> glad crowd did as well

 

3. ALBANIA

- my dark horses

- really love her husky voice

- very good performance

- commanding prescense by the 16 year old --> full of passion again

- good control of her vocals

 

4. GERMANY

- nice catchy tune

- one of the girls does have a more dominating voice than the others

- simple stage work

- all have good vocals --> suits song

- a strong performance

 

5. AMRENIA

- a lively little number

- good vocals, but not as good as Albania

- a bit skeptical of her singing of "Qele"

- she is enjoying her performance

- probably a top 10 song

- crowd enjoyed it

[Corki]

6. BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

- still no idea on the washing line

- don't like his vocals at all

- he looks like he is high on something

- an ok song, but doesn't win me over

 

7. ISRAEL

- quite a guttural and throaty song

- has good control of the song

- nice and simple --> not out of this world

- solid

 

8. FINLAND

- my liking of metal says I like this

- but it is relying on the Lordi effect of 2 years ago

- won't win as Lordi was different and new

- maybe missing a trick by singing in Finnish...

- loved by the crowd --> biggest cheer so far

 

9. CROATIA

- hate the rapper --> spoils the song

- like the other guy

- interesting to mix a jazzy number with rap

- like the dancer --> very lively

 

10. POLAND

- love her vocals still --> nice and rounded

- a simple ballad

- sang her heart out --> top performance

[Corki]

11. ICELAND

- catchy beat, chorus and lyrics

- showed Jemini how it should be done

- both have good vocals

- good dance tune

- I will be surprised if it isn't in the Top 5

- very well received by crowd

 

12. TURKEY

- untraditional Turkish entry

- very like Muse

- solid performance

- want to say it feels out of place in Eurovision...

 

Can we shoot the two reporters in the Green Room?

 

13. PORTUGAL

- big cheer to greet her

- similar in style to Molitva, last year's winner

- big strong voice

- good range with her vocals

- really strong performance

 

14. LATVIA

- a few boos for the pirates

- lively with a catchy beat

- energetci --> gets you singing along

- novelty factor could make it a surprise

 

15. SWEDEN

- Corki's predicted winner

- fantastic song --> very Eurovision-like

- great beat and chorus

- easy to sing along to

- extremely confident performance

[Corki]

16. DENMARK

- don't like this at all --> I swear it is a copy

- meant to be upbeat and lifting, but I don't feel it at all

 

17. GEORGIA

- I lost sound! Stupid internet!

- However, I liked her performance from the semi-final

 

18. UKRAINE

- my technical problems continued and I missed the song

- but I caught the huge cheer at the end of the song

 

19. FRANCE

- it's Sebastian Chabal, the French rugby player!

- can see the Daft Punk influence

- interesting voice

- hasn't won me over

 

20. AZERBAIJAN

- don't like the screechy voice at all

- but I do like the song --> it has grown on me

- like the good vs. evil idea

- remove the screehiness and it is a good tune

- good debut

[Corki]

21. GREECE

- traditional Greek flavours in music

- feel it is something Beyonce might do --> booty shaking near end of song

- lively EuroPop tune --> another song that is easy to sing along to

- like her voice

- Top 5 finish

 

22. SPAIN

- another joke entry...

- interesting is about all I can say...

- Lots of boos amongst the clapping

 

23. SERBIA

- large cheer for the host's song

- very nice ballad with a fiddle

- song allows singer to show off her vocals

- easily recognisable tune

- huge cheer at the end

- Top 5 finish

 

24. RUSSIA

- another ballad

- good vocals with lots of passion

- a Timbaland produced song

- quite a sight with the ice skater

- didn't like the screechy "Believe" at the end

- popular with the crowd

 

25. NORWAY

- finishing with a ballady pop song

- good vocals --> I still think she sounds like Pink in places

- a solid performance

[Corki]

As we get a recap, here is my predicted Top 10:

 

1. Sweden

2. Serbia

3. Albania

4. Greece

5. Iceland

6. Russia

7. Ukraine

8. Portugal

9. Poland

10. Norway

 

Let's see how wrong I am...

[Majsju]

My prediction...

 

1. Ukraine

2. Albania

3. Iceland

4. Serbia

5. Russia

6. Sweden

7. Georgia

9. Germany

10. Greece

[Corki]

Am I missing something with the entertainment before the the announcing of the results? It's absolute rubbish!

[Graendals favourite]

I can't make a prediction other than my choice of points, but if I must I just say Finland will win ;) !!!

[Corki]

And the voting has began...

 

And the U.K. gave 10 points to Latvia!?!?!?!?!?

[Majsju]

Very strange that Turkey gets so many votes. It is not a bad song, but it did not seem to quite fit in Eurovision.

[Corki]

It seems like it will be between Greece, Russia and Turkey...

 

Oh, and the bloc voting is very much evident...

 

And Turkey got a lot of votes from the large Turkish community in the UK.

[Corki]

Not sure how many votes have been made, but the top 3 is as follows:

 

1. Russia - 130

2. Greece - 123

3. Armenia - 92

[MsDanya]

I'm a little surprised about Sweden actually. I was sure they would get more points.

 

And i'm surprised about Greece, I Thought that song was sooo boring.

[Corki]

Well...it looks like Russia is going to win...I can't see Greece overhauling the difference with not many countries left.

[Majsju]

It is settled now, so congratulations to Russia.

[Corki]

And Moscow will be the destination for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest. No one can catch Russia.

[Graendals favourite]

Yea, congrats to Russia!

[Corki]

Well, I got that totally wrong. And it seems ballads are still what Europe wants to win Eurovision. I'm not sure it is a record, but Russia won with 272 points.

 

 

[Majsju]

I am not really surprised that a ballad won. Last year was the first time in about a decade or so that a ballad won, and these things do tend to become trends for a couple of years.

[Corki]

Below are the final scores on the doors:

 

1. Russia - 272

2. Ukraine - 230

3. Greece - 218

4. Armenia - 199

5. Norway - 182

6. Serbia - 160

7. Turkey - 138

8. Azerbaijan - 132

9. Israel - 124

10. Bosnia & Herzegovena - 110

11. Georgia - 83

12. Latvia - 83

13. Portugal - 69

14. Iceland - 64

15. Denmark - 60

16. Spain - 55

17. Albania - 55

18. Sweden - 47

19. France - 47

20. Romania - 45

21. Croatia - 44

22. Finland - 35

23. Germany - 14

24. Poland - 14

25. U.K. - 14

 

And out of the last 8 performed songs, 6 were in the top 10. Just an interesting fact I saw.

[Taymist]

Bit disappointed that Finland was so low down, I liked that lol.

 

Only watched the first hour of it this year I'm afraid. (What the heck was that washing line and knitting brides all about??) Had to turn over to watch CSI: NY  :P Anyway had a quick listen to the remaining links and posted my votes on the other thread. Totally agree with you about those Green Room presenters Corki lol. Oh and Terry rocked as usual!!  ;D

[Corki]

Well, I just read on the BBC Terry could be stepping down. That would be a shame. Sadly, I missed out on his commentary this year as I was streaming live from the ESC channel from the ESC website.

 

Now, the whole political/bloc voting issue will no doubt raise its ugly head again. Of course, with such evidence as about 7 former Soviet countries all giving Russia 12 points won't help. And did anyone notice that Azerbaijan and Turkey swapped 12 points as well? I think it does spoil the show, as some good songs don't get the recognition they deserve. And agreeing with Tay on the washing line and knitting brides comment, how on earth could the Bosnian song be so high up? Those points should have gone to Albania. Yet Greece and Norway did well to get in high amongst all the point swapping. But it is the joys of Eurovision...