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[oti]

We have running orders for the semis.

First Semi-Final

Sweden
Georgia
Australia
Albania
Belgium
Montenegro
Finland
Azerbaijan
Portugal
Greece
Poland
Moldova
Iceland
Czech Republic
Cyprus
Armenia
Slovenia
Latvia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW1TNNwxsq8

Second Semi-Final

Serbia
Austria
Russia
FYR Macedonia
Malta
Romania
The Netherlands
Hungary
Denmark
Ireland
San Marino
Croatia
Norway
Switzerland
Belarus
Bulgaria
Lithuania
Estonia
Israel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kdui3XW3R6M

Time to judge and wonder whether they make the final or not.

First

Sweden - #neverforget #neverforgive, YES
Georgia - NO
Australia - boring, YES
Albania - NO
Belgium - YES
Montenegro - bless your soul, NO
Finland - ZzZzZzZ, NO
Azerbaijan - YES
Portugal - ZZZZZZzzzz, MAYBE?
Greece - YES
Poland - I think it's lame, YES
Moldova - trashy, YES
Iceland - NO
Czech Republic - it's "nice", MAYBE?
Cyprus - generic, but kind of unique generic this year, YES
Armenia - YES
Slovenia - Slovenia should get disqualified for this, NO
Latvia - so confused, NO

Second

Serbia - eh, sure, why not, YES
Austria - seids ihr deppart, NEIN
Russia - if they compete, they will get into the final, song is lame though - YES
FYR Macedonia - this song needed some kind of variation to be in the running for the title, YES
Malta - NOOOOOOOOO
Romania - GO AWAY
The Netherlands - boring but YES
Hungary - YESSSSSSSSS
Denmark - sounds like every radio song ever, YES
Ireland - that voice is something, NO
San Marino - GO AWAY RALPH SIEGEL LAND
Croatia - NO
Norway - ehhhhhhh, YES
Switzerland - offensively mediocre, MAYBE?
Belarus - this is fun, YES
Bulgaria - could get a ton of young girls voting for him, YES
Lithuania - the most confusing song this year, NO
Estonia - NO
Israel - why is this video an ad for Tel Aviv, YES

And the BIG SIX

France - too bad she can't sing this song live and those atrocious English lyrics are painful
Italy - eh, I don't see what the big deal about this song is, it's definitely nice though
Germany - zero points, negative points
Ukraine - it's an ok follow-up
Spain - Catalonia should secede

 

[SecretMoblin]

I mostly agree

the ten finalists from SF1 (not in order)
Sweden
Australia
Belgium
Azerbaijan
Portugal
Greece
Poland
Iceland
Armenia
Cyprus

Latvia could sneak in there with public vote, but juries will hate it. I would LOVE to see Finland or Montenegro make the finals. I want Czech Republic in the finals again not because the song is great (it's not), but because I fear they may pull out again if the result is disappointing


the ten finalists from SF2:
Serbia
Russia***********
Macedonia
Romania
Hungary
Denmark
Norway
Belarus
Bulgaria
Estonia

This one is way more difficult and is dependent upon a lot: Will Russia compete? How is Macedonia live? Juries hate Israel's dance numbers but love their ballads and the public vote is the opposite, will it be enough? Will juries eat up Malta's, Ireland's, or Croatia's nonsense? etc.

The only one I feel strongly about is Hungary, but I feel like it will be an easy qualifier so I'm not worried.


Big Six:
France: Zoë did it better.
Italy: It could win for sure, but I'm still not in love with it. People will love the monkey.
Germany: I like Levina but please, nobody vote for this. Germany needs to fail again for this nonsense.
Ukraine: Second time they send a rock song while hosting the contest. It's fine but it will be on the right side of the scoreboard, probably.
Spain: I dearly hope this comes second to last with 0 points but ahead of Germany due to a tiebreaker.

 

[Red Arremer]

Are we talking about what we want to pass, or what the we think will pass? Also y'all forgot the UK.

1st Semi:
Sweden - Cute performance, I like it.
Georgia - I always have a soft spot for power ballads. Yes please.
Australia - The singer is cute, but the song's a bit too whiny.
Albania - Pretty generic rocky pop.
Belgium - I always have a soft spot for electro ballads. Yes please.
Montenegro - Montenegro never disappoints.
Finland - Very pretty. Might have a good shot.
Azerbaijan - Azeri entries always are super high production quality. No surprise it's a great song.
Portugal - Honestly I think this song would've had a fantastic chance in the 1960s or so. And while I like the throwback, I don't think it stands a chance.
Greece - Good shot.
Poland - I like it.
Moldova - They're fully embracing the meme, gives them a good shot I think. I also really like the song.
Iceland - I have a soft spot for electro ballads, as mentioned. Doesn't go well against Belgium in the same semi tho.
Czech Republic - Although I like the blues-ness of it... No way.
Cyprus - lolno.
Armenia - I like it, but there's only 10 spots on my personal list.
Slovenia - Slovenia no. Please no. What are you doing.
Latvia - Strong entry. Latvia has been stepping up their game in the last few years.

Personal selection: Sweden, Georgia, Belgium, Montenegro, Finland, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Iceland, Armenia, Latvia
What I think will go through: Sweden, Australia, Belgium, Finland, Azerbaijan, Greece, Poland, Moldova, Armenia, Latvia

2nd Semi:
Serbia - I like it. And it's Serbia, of course it will go through.
Austria - I think it's inoffensive and appealing enough to be going through but it definitely will be on the lower end.
Russia - If they compete, disability and Russia bonuses. Don't like the song too much, although it's not terrible.
FYR Macedonia - When did Macedonia become good at Eurovision?!
Malta - Decent shot to be a wildcard.
Romania - Ahahaha no. It didn't work for Austria nor Slovenia a few years back.
The Netherlands - Generic pop enough to have a very good shot.
Hungary - It's gypsy so it'll have a super tough time to do well in Eurovision. Would be my 11th pick if I had one.
Denmark - That was a surprise for me, pretty good.
Ireland - I thought the age restriction was 16?

Spoiler

I know I made this joke before.

No chance.
San Marino - It's San Marino so it won't reach the finals even though it's a solid entry.
Croatia - Might be a wildcard.
Norway - I've been warming up to this one, but it has no chance.
Switzerland - Probably.
Belarus - This won't make it, but I'd like it to.
Bulgaria - Will be in the finals, but I'm not very fond of it.
Lithuania - Why? Why can't Lithuania be as good at music as Estonia or Latvia? Their songs almost always are shite.
Estonia - I like it.
Israel - Yep.

Personal selection: Serbia, Austria, Macedonia, Malta, Netherlands, Denmark, San Marino, Norway, Belarus, Estonia, Israel
What I think will go through: Serbia, Austria, Russia*, Macedonia, Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Estonia, Israel
* Malta or Croatia if Russia does not compete, probably Malta

Semi 1 is overall a lot stronger.

Big 5 + Champ:
France - I really like this song.
Italy - Super catchy, I hope this one does well. Italy usually is among my faves.
Germany - Why does oti xero hate this one so much? It's not terrible, not even the worst among the Big 5 lol.
Ukraine - Unique. Not terrible.
UK - Surprisingly decent this year. Don't think it'll do well tho.
Spain - When I first listened to the big 5 recap, I wasn't watching which country's songs it was, and I thought this one was the German one that oti hated so much.

 

[SecretMoblin]

forgetting the UK is intentional, screw the bbc

my ranking is only what I think will qualify, what I want to qualify is typically pretty different


Also I think juries will love Portugal and the dude's performance style is quirky enough that it will pick up public votes.

Spoiler

He's also trending quite well on betting sites at the moment in ~4th-5th place overall.

Germany's getting hate because the base song is bad, the production of the ESC version is a blatant 'Titanium' ripoff, and Germany won't put any money into an interesting performance. I'm fine with them being taught a lesson. Eurovision is better when countries actually start trying (see: Macedonia, Latvia, Belgium)

 

[Red Arremer]

I'll be gladly wrong. Honestly most of the stuff I picked is stuff I consider to be fairly "safe", because that tends to do well in the ESC in the last few years, with only a few unique upsets happening (like Aminata 2 years back).

 

[oti]

If Germany wants to be crap, they should do it with attitude. Like the UK did with their stewardess song. This song is nothing.

 

[SecretMoblin]

After seeing the live performance videos from the London event, I get Bulgaria's entry now. Yikes that kid's voice is good. Good-looking dude, ok-ish song, part Russian, speaks Kazakh/Russian/Bulgarian/English and his English is *really* good which helps on media tours, etc. He may not be a front-runner but matching or doing better than Poli is totally possible. It's nice to see Bulgaria finally in the mix.

 

[Red Arremer]

To be honest Bulgaria always was an underdog to me. They usually have some good stuff, Poli even had been at the contest before last year (and that also was a great song!), but it never had been recognized until then, except for Water in 2007, which I personally found baffling cause that was a bizarre song that I never would've expected to do well in ESC. They sent the same duo that performed Water in 2013 but that was a little more... exotic lol.
Even their debut was incredibly strong, it just wasn't a good Eurovision song at the time, though it would probably do well today.

Honestly, there's only one Bulgarian entry up until now that I don't like and that's 2010's Angel Si Ti by Miro.

 

[oti]

I'm getting the feeling Bulgaria could win this.

 

[SecretMoblin]

After seeing both of the live performances I'm certain Belgium is overrated now with oddsmakers... unless the stage show is incredible there's no way Blanche is a serious threat.

I'd be very ok with Kristian winning and a Sofia Eurovision.

 

[Spyware]

Oh, thanks for bumping the thread. I had completely forgotten that it was time for De Eurovisa! (it's in swedish with finnish subs, if anyone else is interested in this type of program)
I went to check now and they have put up all three episodes on the site already, yaaay! I can finally check out all the contestants.

 

[jcjimher]

Honestly, there's only one Bulgarian entry up until now that I don't like and that's 2010's Angel Si Ti by Miro.

Do you honestly like Bulgaria 2009? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxVlCPowmjw). I would say it's the most cringeworthy entry of the last decade from any country LOL...

 

[Red Arremer]

Do you honestly like Bulgaria 2009? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxVlCPowmjw). I would say it's the most cringeworthy entry of the last decade from any country LOL...

I missed that one, but it's definitely Eurovision trash, so I like it by proxy.

 

[Erebus]

Anyone from GayGAF here? I just wanted to chime in and say that the Israeli guy is damn hot. 😍

 

[evilpigking]

Looks like Russia is officially out of this year. Won't be participating or broadcasting. I guess their plan payed off?

 

[oti]

Looks like Russia is officially out of this year. Won't be participating or broadcasting. I guess their plan payed off?

Sucks for the contest but it was the right thing from Ukraine to not buckle down. Russia knew the laws and they provoked Ukraine deliberately. I get that some fans won't be happy how political Eurovision 2017 is but every Eurovision is political.

 

[SecretMoblin]

It sucks for the potential implications in future contests, but that pandora's box had already been opened with the controversies over Franco's Spain, the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, the Baku contest, etc.

More surprising to me is the declaration that they aren't even going to broadcast the show in Russia, which is a massive letdown to the (many) Russian fans. That suggests an entirely new level of contempt for Ukraine -- even Armenia broadcast the 2012 contest.

 

[KraftyKrankins]

After seeing the live performance videos from the London event, I get Bulgaria's entry now.

I'm getting the feeling Bulgaria could win this.

Love the attention my country's entry is getting, and yeah, you're right, he's actually talented, not like most of the trash we've sent before. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, we actually have some pretty good chance this year.

except for Water in 2007, which I personally found baffling cause that was a bizarre song that I never would've expected to do well in ESC. They sent the same duo that performed Water in 2013 but that was a little more... exotic lol.

Honestly curious here, what exactly did you find about Water that was weird to you? The overall sound of it? I'd love to hear how someone outside of the region sees it. The song is a mixture of traditional Balkan folklore music and Pop and everyone in Bul. thinks it's amazing, and we usually criticize our own a lot. (Here's a random folklore song of ours by the way https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVqrW-fPOQ0 most of them sound this way.)

Honestly, there's only one Bulgarian entry up until now that I don't like and that's 2010's Angel Si Ti by Miro.

Yeah, uh, this one was a misstep to say the least. What's weirder is that he's usually way better.

 

[Red Arremer]

Honestly curious here, what exactly did you find about Water that was weird to you? The overall sound of it? I'd love to hear how someone outside of the region sees it. The song is a mixture of traditional Balkan folklore music and Pop and everyone in Bul. thinks it's amazing, and we usually criticize our own a lot. (Here's a random folklore song of ours by the way https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVqrW-fPOQ0 most of them sound this way.)

Not weird in the bad sense, weird in the "this is odd" kind of sense. Kind of like Armenia's song this year is weird, and I absolutely love it.
It just was a song I didn't expect to do well in Eurovision because it was basically a percussion-only song with some synth in the background.

That said, the live performance of Elitsa's singing was quite off I thought - the studio version certainly is a lot better.

 

[Apzu]

Well, all this Russia issue sucks, but I don't think Ukraine did something absurd here, the rules were always there. It also sucks because Russia could have won this year easily if they sent a competitive song like 2015 and 2016, nothing we have this year could win against that.

Anyway, I'm starting to like Portugal entry a bit more, though I still think it's not Eurovision material.

 

[SecretMoblin]

Bulgaria's entries from best to worst:

1. Poli Genova - На инат
2. Elitsa & Stoyan - Water
3. Poli Genova - If Love Was A Crime
4. Sofi Marinova - Love Unlimited
5. Kristian Kostov - Beautiful Mess
6. Miro - Ангел си ти
7. Mariana Popova - Let Me Cry
8. Elitsa & Stoyan - Само шампиони
9. Kaffe - Lorraine
10. Deep Zone & Balthazar - DJ, Take Me Away
11. Krassimir Avramov - Illusion


I'd be very down for a Sofia ESC next year.

 

[KraftyKrankins]

I'd put DJ take me away at the very bottom. It's like a 90s eurotrash x 1000

 

[Red Arremer]

I actually really liked DJ, Take me Away.

Anyway, I have the 2017 OT ready to post, but I don't want to plop it down too early. Maybe next weekend?
In the meantime, we could discuss the OT title as well. I was thinking of something like "San Marino 2050: Spirit of Valentina Monetta" in a wordplay at their song's title, but I already did a San Marino joke last year.

Any other ideas?

 

[Red Arremer]

Sorry for the double-post, but just as a heads up, I will post the OT tomorrow. I think 2 weeks before the week of the event is a good leadup. If anybody has some suggestions for the OT title, let me know, otherwise I'll think of something myself, possibly poking fun at Slovenia, Montenegro or Lithuania, just to spare San Marino the joke again.

 

[Apzu]

Sorry for the double-post, but just as a heads up, I will post the OT tomorrow. I think 2 weeks before the week of the event is a good leadup. If anybody has some suggestions for the OT title, let me know, otherwise I'll think of something myself, possibly poking fun at Slovenia, Montenegro or Lithuania, just to spare San Marino the joke again.

You can always poke fun at last year's entries, like "if Eurovision was a crime..." or go with the songs we have this year like "Eurovision 2017: European's Karma". I'm not really good at this, so I'm just givind ideas.

 

[tomtom94]

Sorry for the double-post, but just as a heads up, I will post the OT tomorrow. I think 2 weeks before the week of the event is a good leadup. If anybody has some suggestions for the OT title, let me know, otherwise I'll think of something myself, possibly poking fun at Slovenia, Montenegro or Lithuania, just to spare San Marino the joke again.

Eurovision 2017 |OT| Remember, No Russian

Eurovision 2017 |OT| Britain is Still In This

 

[Red Arremer]

OT is HERE.