Introducing: Belgium 2013

Today, we shall take a look at the Belgian representative and “introduce” him to the fans. Belgium is sending Roberto Bellarosa to sing in Malmö with his song “Love Kills” in the penultimate position of the first semi-final on the 14th of May. Good luck Belgium!!

Roberto is representing Belgium in Sweden

Roberto Bellarosa was internally selected by VRT, and this was confirmed when VRT officialy announced him as the artist on 16th of November. A month later, on the 16th of December, a radio show was broadcast to decide which song would represent Belgium in Eurovision. Two of the songs were in English, the other was in French. A combination of both the public’s vote and the votes from a jury mad up the final result and “Love Kills” was announced the winner.

“Love Kills” is a pop song about a break-up. Bellarosa sings how Cupid’s arrow “shot right through her [the woman in question] heart and rocked her to the core” and how it caused her to “fall like she’s never fell before”. Then Roberto asks us to “give him something he can feel” because he can’t feel anything due to the fact that love has “killed” him. This is repeated several times throughout the song.

“Love Kills” hasn’t been killing fans, receiving good feedback.

Here are some opinions:

It’s bad and I don’t like it, 3/10 – Davið from Iceland

Great and amazing, 10/10 – Nijat from Azerbaijan

I liked it since the first time I listened to it, it sounds amazing in my opinion, 9.5/10 – Joel from Catalonia

It’s nice enough, 7/10 – Wim from the Netherlands

“Love Kills” isn’t killing the fans! Is it killing you? Let me know!!!

Introducing: Belarus 2013

In the fifth installment of the “Introducing” series, we will take a look at Belarus’ entry for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. Belarus is sending Alyona Lanskaya to Malmö. Originally, she was going to sing “Rhythm of Love” in Sweden, but now she will sing the song “Solayoh” in eleventh position on the 14th of May.

 

Alyona celebrating after she won in Eurofest.

After last year’s shock revelation that Alyona (who had won the national final that year) had only won due to vote rigging, she decided to participate in Eurofest again with her song “Rhythm of Love“. Lanskaya won the national final again, but this time, not vote rigging was involved. But a few weeks after she won Eurofest, it was announced that “Rhythm of Love” wouldn’t be sent to Malmö, but a song that she would be recording in London would be instead. The song was revealed on the 4th of March as “Solayoh” and BTRC confirmed this three days later.

 

“Solayoh” is an imaginary planet where people are good and sincere that they believe in miracles, according to Lanskaya in an interview with esctoday.com. The track is a very oriental sounding song, sounding like some past entries of Turkey (e.g. Dum Tek Tek, Shake It Up Sekerim). She explains in the song that she was taken to Solayoh by “a sound that was coming at her like a tsunami”. Then the music was “taking her to new dimensions/ Waking up the devil in her”. In the end, she was a person of Solayoh and now she “can

Lanskaya thanking her fans by giving them a thumbs up!

make it into a cha cha”. Here are some opinions from the fans:

Not bad, but nothing special, 5/10 – Syoma from Armenia

 

It’s a great song, which is perfect for Eurovison. I can see it doing really well in Malmö , 8/10 – Jack from the UK

 

The song is very good, but a little old-fashioned, Alyona will do well this year! 7/10 – Adrian from Spain

 

I don’t like the song, full stop. 4/10 – Shotiko from Georgia

 

You can sing the song too!

So “Solayoh” is like by most fans! Are you a fan of Alyona? Let me know!!

Introducing: Azerbaijan 2013

Today, it’s the turn of Azerbaijan and they will compete in the second semi-final where they will perform in fourth place. Farid Mammadov will be representing the country and he will sing the song “Hold Me” in Malmö.

Azerbaijan was one of the last countries this year to pick his entries, but the process was one of the longest, lasting for nine weeks. Each

Farid beat all other competitors to represent Azerbaijan in Eurovision.

week, there was a heat, where someone would qualify and on the last heat, two acts qualified for the final which was on the 14th of March. Ten songs qualified for the final and Farid was announced as the winner. He will sing in the second semi-final on the 16th

“Hold Me” is a pop ballad concerning a person who is remembering their love with their former lover, and hopefully, try to restart the relationship; in this case, Mammadov’s ex-girlfriend. Farid explains that “If love was a mountain/I’d climb up to the highest of the world”, but as the song goes on, Farid exclaims that  “now you’re running from the past”. Here are fans’ opinions:

I like it a lot more than I thought I would. If he can deliver live I think it might actually win. 7/10 – Wivian from Norway

Ridonkulously overrated. Hope it fails in the semi. 2/10 – James from England

Worse than last year but nice and kind, 7/10 – Honza from the Czech Republic

Love it!  He sings pretty nice, he is hot, the song is great, I just love it, 9.5/10 – Seth from the Netherlands

Farid’s song is well received by fans.

So “Hold Me” has a positive response from fans! What do you think of it? Let me know!!

Introducing: Armenia 2013

Today, it’s the turn of the Armenian entry of this year’s Eurovision we shall be “introducing”. Armenia will be performing eleventh on the 16th of May as the running order was just revealed and the country is sending the band Dorians to Malmö to sing their song “Lonely Planet“!

Dorians are representing Armenia in Malmo

This year, Armenia decided to select internally for their break from the Contest, and they chose the singer Gor Sujyan to sing for them in Sweden, but after the song was chosen, they decided that Sujyan’s band, Dorians, would represent them in Malmö. The song was chosen on the 2nd of March, along with Hungary and Estonia. There were four songs in the competition, all sung by Sujyan and his band. The Armenians chose “Lonely Planet” to go to Sweden and the song will be performed eleventh in the second semi-final on the 16th of May.

“Lonely Planet” is a rock/pop song about wanting peace. Gor questions “Who is the one that starts a war?” and that someday, someone that might “break the wall” and try to get some peace. In the second verse, Gor starts to get frustrated with liars in the line “Who has honesty to show?/Who can tell us? I don’t know” . During the last chorus, after the key change, Sujyan repreats the chorus, be he knows that “We have done it/ We can save you/ We can stop it”. Here are fans’ opinions:

I’m not keen on it in my opinion, the melody is alright but in general its just a forgettable song 2/10 – James from England

It’s awful, comes 37th of 39 for me, 1/10 – Luke from England

Its a nice rock song but not for my ears. Unfortunately only 5/10 – Honza from the Czech Republic

An OK song, but not too fond on it, 7/10 – Jon from Spain

Reaction to “Lonely Planet” has been mixed.

So Armenia is in the middle! What do you think?

The running order has been revealed!

After much waiting, we now know the running orders for both semi-finals of the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest. This year, it was decided that the order wouldn’t be drawn from pots, like in previous year. Instead, the producers we given the job of deciding the running order. Now we know which song will open and which song will close the show! Here are the running orders:

Courtesy of Wikipedia.
Austria will open the show and Serbia will close it.

The running order for the second semi-final. Latvia and open the show and Romania will close it.

The running order for the final will be revealed by at least the day after the second semi-final, but a draw on the 18th of March when the Heads of Delegation revealed that the host country, Sweden, will perform sixteenth in the Final. As for the Big Five (Germany, France, the UK, Italy and Spain), they will draw their running order at their first press conference. Good luck to all!

Introducing: Austria 2013

In the second of the “Introducing:” series, we will take a look at Austria in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. Natália Kelly is representing the country in the first part of the first semi-final, with her song “Shine“.

Natália will “Shine” in Malmo

Natália was chosen by their national selection, “Österreich Rockt den Song Contest” on the 15th of February. To win, she had to win not only the the public vote, but the vote of a five member jury consisting of Eurovision experts, including 2007 winner Marija Šerifović. She was competing again four other acts ranging from light music to dance. But Natália got both the jury’s and the public’s top points and was chosen to represent Austria in the first semi-final on the 14th of May.

“Shine” is a song about picking yourself up and about hope. The song is a pop/indie song that has a big beat beat along with some percussion. The lyrics of the song describing how you can get up after get kicked down, and that you’re “still alive and breathing” afterwards. They also describe how you have the determination to overcome these people and be the best

Fans’ reaction to “Shine” has been positive.

you can be, as we can see in they line “You will shine and fight the shadows in the sky”. Here are some fans’ opinions:

Elnur from Azerbaijan likes the song and gives it 5/10. Lee from Malta thinks that the song is “average” and gives it 4/10. Joel from Catalonia admits that “its an interesting song […] i like it so much […] mysterious and sweet at the same time.” and gives it a 9/10. Sergio from Paris says that he loves it and would give it either 8/10 or 9/10. Daniel from the UK says tat the song is “a grower […] The hook isn’t instant enough but hopefully the quality of the song will “shine” through!” and he’d give the song 7/10. Rigmo from Estonia thinks it’s good, but according to him, “the chorus lacks the power it needs. Good start, but a weak chorus” and he’s also rating it 7/10.

So “Shine” is well received among fans, what your opinion?? Let me know!

Introducing: Albania 2013

From today until further notice, I will be “introducing” each of this year’s artists and I will try to give an interpretation of the song and tell you what some fans think of the song. Today, we’ll start in the south-east of Europe and begin in Albania, who will be represented by Adrian Lulgjuraj & Bledar Sejko with their song “Identitet” which is Albanian for “Identity”.

The duo performing in the National Selection

The duo were selected through the fifty-first edition of their national selection, Festival i Këngës. In the competition, they had to qualify from their semi-final, which they did, along with seven other songs. In the final, they were up against competition such as Anjeza Shahini who represented Albania when they débuted in Istanbul in 2004 and Kejsi Tola who represented the country in Moscow in 2009 with her song “Carry Me In Your Dreams”. By the end of the show, Lulgjuraj and Sejko beaten all other sixteen singers to represent Albania in the Eurovision in May.

The song, “Identitet”, is sung in Albanian and describes how someone wants an “identity” and how someone reacts to changes to the place where

The song they will sing has mixed reviews from fans.

they are from. In some ways, this could be interpreted as a patriotic rock song, and that is probably what it is. Here some fans’ opinions:

Xabier from Mexico doesn’t like the song at all and gives it a rating of 0/10. Joel from Catalonia also thinks that the song isn’t good, calling it the “worst Albanian entry ever”, and also gives it 0/10 Adrián from Spain says that he doesn’t like the song, but admits that it’s not bad and gives it a rate of 3/10.. Honza from the Czech Republic has admitted that he doesn’t like the song but he’d give it 4 out of 10. Yakup from Turkey has said that the song is “below average” and gives the song 5/10. But other fans like the song! Wivian from Norway says that she likes rock songs and so she’d give it a 6/10. Jon from Spain  has said that at first, the song wasn’t too appealing for him, but now it’s starting to grow on him, saying that “[…]it’s starting to sound amazing  &  nostalgic[…]” and he would give it 6/10.  Jack from the UK also admits he likes the song and gives it 7/10.

So, the fans have mixed reviews about the song! What do you think? Let me know!!

Marco Mengoni will sing “L’essenziale” in Malmö!

After waiting for so long, Eurofans now know that Marco Mengoni will sing the song “L’essenziale” in Malmö! Fans had to wait just over a month before Italy’s national broadcaster, RAI, would reveal the song.

 

“L’essenziale” was the song that Mengoni sang at the Sanremo Festival, where he won the Big Artists section of the competition and then being revealed as the Italian representative for Eurovision. According to eurofestival.ws, they described the decision as a; “Surprise decision. But then, not so much.” Mengoni’s record label, Sony Italia, has decided to focus entirely on the song from his album “#prontoacorrere” .Written by Mengoni, along with Roberto Casalino and Francesco De Benedictis, “L’essenziale” or “The Essentials” was decided to be left in Italian and for the Eurovision in particular, the song will be cut down to be three minutes in length.

 

After 16 years, the representative of Italy will not only be represented by the main winner, but also the winning song of the festival.

The sleeve for L’essenziale

This hasn’t happened since Jalisse’s “Fiumi di parole” was represented in Dublin for the 1997 Contest. It should be made clear that the song selection has yet to be made official by the EBU, and it is the same with the video below. This is similar to what happened last year, when the UK revealed their artist and song a few days after the deadline for artist selections. Well below is the unofficial video of “L’essenziale”. Enjoy!!

 

Aliona Moon goes to Sweden for Moldova!

Yesterday, Moldova’s national final took place on Chișinău and now, we have a representative for Moldova!! Aliona Moon will represent the Eastern European country in Malmö on the 14th of May. Congratulations Aliona!!

 

The final in Chișinău consisted of fourteen songs who were battling it out to win the honour of representing Moldova in the first semi-final of Eurovision. This was tonight’s line up:

1. Christina V & Glam Girls – Celebrate
2. Boris Covali – Runaways
3. Cristina Croitoru & Karizma – Never Fall Again
4. Svetlana Bogdanova – Conquer My Heart
5. Nicoleta Gavriliţă – Freaky Thong
6. Aurel Chirtocă – Iartă-mă
7. Irina Kitoroagă – L.o.v.e. Love
8. Anna Gulko – Somebody Else
9. Vitalie Negruţă –  You’ll Be Mine
10. Cristina Scarlat – I Pray
11. Doniţa Gherman – Planta e un rai
12. Tatiana Heghea – A Brighter Day
13. Felicia Dunaf – Codename Felice
14. Aliona Moon – A Million

For the interval act, Alyona Lanskaya, who will represent Belarus this year, sang her song that will compete in the first semi final;

Aliona will represent Moldova in Eurovision

entitled “Solayoh”. After Lanskaya had performed, the candidates of the national final sang songs from previous Contests, ranging from Dima Bilan’s winning song “Believe” to ABBA’s “Waterloo”. Then, the voting began. In the televoting, Covali came in first place and, therefore, getting 12 points. Moon came in second place and received 10 points and Cristina and Karizma coming in third and getting 8 points. Then the jury points came in and Aliona was declared the winner. Aliona will represent Moldova in the second half of the first semi-final of ESC, but Moon is no stranger to the Contest, as she was a backing singer for Pasha Parfeny last year in Baku. Good luck Aliona!

Moldova decides tonight!

Tonight, the Moldovan national final will take place in Chișinău, with fourteen songs battling it out to win the chance of representing Moldova in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö, Sweden. Moldova is the last country to choose its representative and the penultimate country to reveal its song, the last being Italy.

Tatiana has the biggest following on Facebook.

This is tonight’s line-up:

1. Christina V & Glam Girls – Celebrate
2. Boris Covali – Runaways
3. Cristina Croitoru & Karizma – Never Fall Again
4. Svetlana Bogdanova – Conquer My Heart
5. Nicoleta Gavriliţă – Freaky Thong
6. Aurel Chirtocă – Iartă-mă
7. Irina Kitoroagă – L.o.v.e. Love
8. Anna Gulko – Somebody Else
9. Vitalie Negruţă –  You’ll Be Mine
10. Cristina Scarlat – I Pray
11. Doniţa Gherman – Planta e un rai
12. Tatiana Heghea – A Brighter Day
13. Felicia Dunaf – Codename Felice
14. Aliona Moon – A Million

To many fans, Tatiana is the favourite to win, as she has a very big following on pages on Facebook, but we won’t know until 19:00 CET. You can watch the final here. Whoever wins in Chișinău tonight will represent Moldova in the first semi-final on the 14th of May in Sweden. Good luck Moldova!