After having reviewed an initial first listen to all the songs and giving them an initial judgement based on musical observations alone the following judgement has been made. I am lifetime member and follower of Eurovision Song Contest, but my tastes don’t always align with how things actually happen. I make my final judgements based on the actual presentation of the song with it’s musicality, costumes, presence on stage etc. The following results are based on my initial listening only. Note that these songs are ranked in alphabetical order by country of representation:
***** Five (5) Stars
(Hungary) Kati Wolf – What about my dreams
(Israel) Dana International – Ding dong
**** Four (4) Stars
(Azerbaijan) Eldar & Nigar – Running scared
(Bosnia & Herzegovina) Dino Merlin – Lov in rewind
(Croatia) Daria Kinzer – Celebrate
(Denmark) A Friend In London – New tomorrow
(Estonia) Getter Jaani – Rokefeller street
(Finland) Paradise Oskar – Da da dam
(Norway) Stella Mwangi – Haba haba
(Romania) Hotel FM – Change
(Sweden) Eric Saade – Popular
(United Kingdom) Blue – I can
(Latvia) Muisqq – Angel in disguise
How does this translate into qualification in the two semi-finals?
Whom I want to qualify in Semi-Final 1 according to my rankings (in alphabetical order by country name):
***** Five (5) Stars
(Hungary) Kati Wolf – What about my dreams
**** Four (4) Stars
(Azerbaijan) Eldar & Nigar – Running scared
(Croatia) Daria Kinzer – Celebrate
(Finland) Paradise Oskar – Da da dam
(Norway) Stella Mwangi – Haba haba
*** Three (3) Stars
(Armenia) Emmy – Boom boom
(Iceland) Sjonni’s Friends – Coming home
(Russia) Alex Sparrow – Get you
(Serbia) Nina – Čaroban
(Switzerland) Anna Rossinelli – In love for a while
Non-qualifiers:
*** Three (3) Stars
(Lithuania) Evelina Saenko – C’est ma vie
(Malta) Glen Vella – One life
** Two (2) Stars
(Albania) Aurela Gaçe – Feel the passion
(Greece) Loukas Giorkas feat. Stereo Mike – Watch my dance
(Poland) Magdalena Tul – Jestem
(San Marino) Senit – Stand by
* One (1) Star
(Georgia) Eldrine – One more day
(Portugal) Homens da Luta – A lute é alegria
(Turkey) Yüksek Sadakat – Live it up
Whom I want to qualify in Semi-Final 2 according to my rankings (in alphabetical order by country name):
***** Five (5) Stars
(Israel) Dana International – Ding dong
**** Four (4) Stars
(Bosnia & Herzegovina) Dino Merlin – Love in rewind
(Denmark) A Friend in London – New tomorrow
(Estonia) Getter Jaani – Rockefeller Street
(Latvia) Musiqq – Angel in disguise
(Romania) Hotel FM – Change
(Sweden) Eric Saade – Popular
*** Three (3) Stars
(Ireland) Jedward – Lipstick
(Slovakia) TWiiNS – I’m still alive
(Slovenia) Maja Keuc – No one
Non-qualifiers:
** Two (2) Stars
(Austria) Nadine Beiler – The secret is love
(Belgium) Witloof Bay – With love baby
(Belarus) Anastasiya Vinnikova – I love Belarus
(Bulgaria) Poly Genova – Na inat
(Cyprus) Christos Mylordos – San angelos s’agapisa
(F.Y.R. Macedonia) Vlatko Ilievski – Rusinka
(Moldova) Zdob şi Zdub – So lucky
(Netherlands) 3JS – Never alone
* One (1) Star
(Ukraine) Mika Newton – Angel
I in no way warrant that this is how it’s gonna go down, but if it went my way, this is how it would be. I do foresee actual qualification to be quite different, with several dark-horses within the lists. Good luck to all the participants!