Terminal 3.... The Eurovision Blog

I have spent the last couple of days listening to all of this years songs which are going to Baku. This is my opinion of Semi Final 1. Now on to the songs:- 1 - Montenegro - Well what an opener. An awful song really which should not go any further. Im still wondering what the Montenegrins were thinking when they agreed to send this song. 2 - Iceland - Thought that in Icelandic the song was brilliant but in English it is awesome and doesn’t lose any of its appeal. This for me is a dark horse for winning the overall contest. 3 - Greece - First impressions were OMG not again. This for me is what is becoming a typical Greek entry......... lots of dancing and no doubt will have a big performance on stage. 4 - Latvia - I was not overly impressed when this was announced as the song to represent Latvia. However this has grown on me and quite strongly. 5 - Albania - When I first heard this I loved it but now when I hear it amongst the other songs in the semi final Im not sure. 6 - Romania...

So, following on from the running order review yesterday, here is how Paul and I think it will go... In no particular order, Paul sees the following as qualifying..... 1. Iceland, 2. Greece, 3. Romania, 4. Israel, 5. Cyprus, 6. Denmark, 7. Russia, 8. Ireland, 9. Belgium and 10. Latvia As for me, here are my qualifiers... 1. Iceland, 2. Greece, 3. Albania, 4. Romania, 5. Cyprus, 6. Belgium, 7. Russia, 8. Moldova, 9. Ireland and 10. Denmark. (I also think that Finland and Hungary could run some of the above close.) So, for the Terminal 3 team, our joint qualifiers are.... Iceland, Greece, Romania, Cyprus, Denmark, Russia, Ireland and Belgium. We then disagree on the chances of Israel, Latvia, Moldova and Albania. Agree? Disagree? Tell us. Keep visiting for our semi-final 2 review.

With the running order draw looking more like a football tournament draw, some countries will be wondering how they came about having such bad luck and some will be loving it. Today, I'll look at the semi final draw and see who will be helped by the songs around them and who won't.... First, the draw:- 1. Montenegro 2. Iceland 3. Greece 4. Latvia 5. Albania 6. Romania 7. Switzerland 8. Belgium 9. Finland (Wildcard) 10.Israel 11.San Marino 12.Cyprus 13.Denmark 14.Russia 15.Hungary 16.Austria 17.Moldova 18.Ireland (Wildcard) Well, the first semi-final and the 2012 contest couldn't have started out on a worse song! Definitely the wrong position for Montenegro, but then I doubt the position will have any effect on their non-qualification anyway. I feel sorry for Iceland having to follow it, but their position could go either two ways... 1. The contrast between their song and the previous one could make Iceland shine; or 2. The viewers could have a h...

Sorry for the delay, but it's now time to round up the song reviews for this year's contest with the final two songs..... Azerbaijan - Sabina Babayeva with When The Music Dies... I have no doubt in my mind that there is no chance of a back to back victory for Azerbaijan this year. The song didn't grip me like some other entries and I was quite happy when it finished. Reminded me of "Drip drop" from 2010, but I don't think it deserves such a high finish as the 2010 song. San Marino - Valentina Monetta with The Social Network Song... San Marino missed out on an opportunity to replace this song when the original title (The Facebook song) was rejected by the EBU. However, amazingly, they have swapped "Facebook" for "Social Network" and all is rosy again in the EBU garden! Another instantly forgettable song! Won't take up an undeserved place in the final and within an hour of the finish of their semi final everyone will have forgo...

We're now one song away from knowing the full line-up, so let's continue with the Terminal3 reviews.... Belgium - Iris with Would you?... I get the same feeling for this as I did for Jade Ewen's 2009 UK entry. Maybe better suited to a Musical than Eurovision. I could quite imagine this song on a London Westend stage. However, Jade had a better voice and even though I don't hate this song, I don't think it has enough to trouble the scoreboard in the final...that's if it qualifies (think it may struggle to qualify.) Bosnia & Herzegovina - Maya Sar with Korake ti znam... I had to listen to this song a number of times when writing this review and still can't really put my finger on why I can't really say whether I like it or not. It's a change from recent Bosnian entries and this is possibly why. I was expecting a usual Bosnian entry, but instead I listened to this which I'm afraid just didn't really inspire me. Greece - Elefther...

Well, the list of performers is getting close to completion with only eight songs left to be chosen or revealed. So, it's time to continue my review of the songs revealed since my last instalment.... Portugal - Filipa Sousa with Vida Minha. This song has then same feel for me as Portugal's 2008 song. Has a good ethnic feel to it, but doesn't seem to inspire as much as 2008. Maybe one that will grow on me in the up and coming weeks! Romania - Mandinga with Zaleilah. A catchy track, but I don't know whether it is just too busy. Seems a lot for six performers to carry off live. I suppose, again, it depends on the performance on the night. It's a bit poppy, it's a bit dancy! Russia - Buranovskiye Babushki with Party for Everyone. The opening is very good... that's until they start singing! I'm sure it will pick up loads of votes... all for the wrong reasons! Laughable choice from the Russians. Serbia - Zeljko Joksimovic with Nije Ljubav St...

Just when you think that countries are choosing some good songs this year.... along comes a selection that takes a baseball bat and beats you around the head until you scream for mercy!!! With most people's focus being on Dima Bilan attempting to qualify for a third time, the Russian people seem to have other ideas! Too much vodka?! Supporting Armenia? Disliking Azerbaijan? Wanting to join the UK in sending a pensioner? Who knows the real reason, but they have decided to send five old people who from the sounds of it can't sing! Simon Cowell would have a field day with them. However, I can see them getting loads of joke votes and protest votes. A winner... I don't really think I need to answer that!!!! I hope Azerbaijan has got loads of stairlifts in the arena. As with the UK entrant and now the Russian granny band, they're going to need them!!! lol Here's the video, but beware, it may cause loss of hearing (don't put your fingers too far down y...

Sad news today that Armenia has withdrawn from this year's Eurovision. Not surprising really considering that both countries are in conflict with each other over the area of Nagorno-Karabakh. Also, Armenians are not allowed to enter Azerbaijan, so it would have been hard to see how they could have entered. Hopefully, Armenia will be returning in 2013 to a more friendly host!

Hi, Since my last review, there has been a further five songs released. They are.... Bulgaria, Estonia, Italy, Lithuania and Spain. So here are my thoughts on the songs:- Bulgaria - Sofia Marinova with Lyubov bez granitsi. Another dance track is chosen, which as with all others, success will depend on presentation. However, it doesn't seem to stand out as much as some of the other dance tracks chosen. Estonia - Ott Lepland with Kuula. I'm afraid this may be a bit to slow and bland to be noticed enough to attract votes. The singer seems to have a decent voice and it takes me back to some of the ballads of the late 80's to early 90's. Could attract jury votes though. Italy - Nina Zilli with Per Sempre. As thought, Italy has chosen to go with Nina's Sanremo song. The recording I listened to was of poor quality, so this may have clouded my views slightly. However, it seems a decent song and may again attract jury votes. I don't know whether it is...

I really do not understand why the BBC are still entering the Eurovision when they are showing such contempt for the contest by making such poor decisions! At a time when we could be using the contest to promote the UK music scene, they dig up such a has-been in Englebert Humperdinck!!!! So after tonight's BBC decision, here are my decisions..... 1. GO JEDWARD!!!! This year I will be supporting a fellow Celt country! 2. Got to buy an Irish tricolour and put the union jack back in the cupboard. Right, I'm off to bed hoping that I wake up in the morning and it's all been a bad dream!