Chicken Kiev - Part 4
18 May 2005
Well, last night's party hosted by the UK, French and
Spanish delegations was fab! Over 20 of this year's
artists perfomed their songs "unplugged" and we had a
jolly old time dancing along and joining in with them.
I was interviewed on Lithuanian TV at one point. This
girl with her camera crew came and escorted me to a
room with a big red leather bed to do the piece!... Oh
My! I wondered what sort of "interview" I was doing.
Anyway, we had a great laugh talking about the
contest, the fact that this is my 16th consecutive
time here and my thoughts on the songs. She asked
what I thought of their song by Laura & The Lovers - I
was honest and said I really liked it but doubted it
would qualify. Then I mentioned how fab thier press
bag was this year, with the CD, a t shirt, hat, flags,
badges, lighter, and most importantly special "Lovers"
condoms!!!
The party went on in the club until the wee small
hours, and they only played Eurovision songs from past
and present. The dancefloor was packed ALL night!
Ruslana also did a spectacular open air concert last
night beforehand and we caught the last 20 minutes of
that. Lots of Fire, Whips and little leather outfits!
It was broadcast live across the country, so we're
probably somewhere on that too!
This morning Robin and I walked along the main street
to Independence Square. The street is closed to
traffic now and is lined with hundereds and hundereds
of little stalls selling Ukrainian souvenirs and nic
naks. There are also lots of beer tents everywhere
(remember, 25p for a big beer!). It is scorching
today, must be mid to high 20's. Glorious sunshine
for days now!
So, we've just sat through the first full run through
of the Semi Final and I suppose I need to give short
opinions on each of them now, along with an indication
of those I think will qualify, those that might bomb
and the ones that might just miss out on a Final
placing. So here we go:
Austria - Fun performance, well regarded (Qualify)
Lithuania - I like it, but there's something lacking
(Near Miss)
Portugal - Love this OTT performance to bits, but
sadly it'll bomb (Out)
Moldova - HATE it with a complete vengence and hope
it's not there on saturday (Near Miss)
Latvia - Dull, despite the international sign language
gimmick (Out)
Monaco - Love it, but it's not going to make it (Out)
Israel - Wonderful performance, half in very good
english, but I can't see it making the Ten (Out)
Belarus - Campest thing EVER (Qualify)
Netherlands - Came over VERY strongly today (Qualify)
Iceland - Horrible outfit, which put me off a bit.
Still love the song but many others are now doubtful
of it's chances to even qualify - It Will. (Qualify)
Belgium - Fab voice, but song is too old fashioned
(Out)
Estonia - Dreadful perfromance. Shouty and horrid
(Out)
Norway - This is SO going to be up there on Saturday
(Qualify)
Romania - Very "busy" and bangy performance, which
should get them through (Qualify)
Hungary - Very slick and professional. Top 3 on
Saturday (Qualify)
Finland - Well sung, but goes nowhere (Out)
Macedonia - Just plain horrible! (Out)
Andorra - Hmm, "interesting" backing, but the song is
pants, so... (Out)
Switzerland - Very "Rock Chic" performance, which will
easily get through (Qualify)
Croatia - Excellent performance. Love this to bits
(Qualify)
Bulgaria - Banal in the extreme. Last place contender
(Out)
Ireland - Oh dear... It's just SO weak, even if it is
a bit funny for the wrong reasons (Out)
Slovenia - Very strong performance, would love it to
get through, but... (Near Miss)
Denmark - Good, solid perfromance. Pleasant to watch
(Near miss)
Poland - This is the dark horse for me. Well worth an
each way bet, I'd say (Qualify)
So. Let's see how close I got to the real ten
qualifiers I get when the results come in on Thursday
evening. The general concensus amongst all the
journalists and fans (and the artists themeselves) is
that the top two in the semi will be Norway and
Hungary - putting them in a strong position for
winning in the actual final.
Bosnia was FAB last night in rehearsal and is still my
fave, but Malta has now shot up to my No 2 slot. Her
performance yesterday almost had me in tears. The
power in her voice just blew me away - it's just SO
moving and uplifting.
OK, Parties for Albania, Macedonia and Russia tonight
- so I need to go and have a bit of a snooze and
prepare myself.
More soon...
Dx
Well, last night's party hosted by the UK, French and
Spanish delegations was fab! Over 20 of this year's
artists perfomed their songs "unplugged" and we had a
jolly old time dancing along and joining in with them.
I was interviewed on Lithuanian TV at one point. This
girl with her camera crew came and escorted me to a
room with a big red leather bed to do the piece!... Oh
My! I wondered what sort of "interview" I was doing.
Anyway, we had a great laugh talking about the
contest, the fact that this is my 16th consecutive
time here and my thoughts on the songs. She asked
what I thought of their song by Laura & The Lovers - I
was honest and said I really liked it but doubted it
would qualify. Then I mentioned how fab thier press
bag was this year, with the CD, a t shirt, hat, flags,
badges, lighter, and most importantly special "Lovers"
condoms!!!
The party went on in the club until the wee small
hours, and they only played Eurovision songs from past
and present. The dancefloor was packed ALL night!
Ruslana also did a spectacular open air concert last
night beforehand and we caught the last 20 minutes of
that. Lots of Fire, Whips and little leather outfits!
It was broadcast live across the country, so we're
probably somewhere on that too!
This morning Robin and I walked along the main street
to Independence Square. The street is closed to
traffic now and is lined with hundereds and hundereds
of little stalls selling Ukrainian souvenirs and nic
naks. There are also lots of beer tents everywhere
(remember, 25p for a big beer!). It is scorching
today, must be mid to high 20's. Glorious sunshine
for days now!
So, we've just sat through the first full run through
of the Semi Final and I suppose I need to give short
opinions on each of them now, along with an indication
of those I think will qualify, those that might bomb
and the ones that might just miss out on a Final
placing. So here we go:
Austria - Fun performance, well regarded (Qualify)
Lithuania - I like it, but there's something lacking
(Near Miss)
Portugal - Love this OTT performance to bits, but
sadly it'll bomb (Out)
Moldova - HATE it with a complete vengence and hope
it's not there on saturday (Near Miss)
Latvia - Dull, despite the international sign language
gimmick (Out)
Monaco - Love it, but it's not going to make it (Out)
Israel - Wonderful performance, half in very good
english, but I can't see it making the Ten (Out)
Belarus - Campest thing EVER (Qualify)
Netherlands - Came over VERY strongly today (Qualify)
Iceland - Horrible outfit, which put me off a bit.
Still love the song but many others are now doubtful
of it's chances to even qualify - It Will. (Qualify)
Belgium - Fab voice, but song is too old fashioned
(Out)
Estonia - Dreadful perfromance. Shouty and horrid
(Out)
Norway - This is SO going to be up there on Saturday
(Qualify)
Romania - Very "busy" and bangy performance, which
should get them through (Qualify)
Hungary - Very slick and professional. Top 3 on
Saturday (Qualify)
Finland - Well sung, but goes nowhere (Out)
Macedonia - Just plain horrible! (Out)
Andorra - Hmm, "interesting" backing, but the song is
pants, so... (Out)
Switzerland - Very "Rock Chic" performance, which will
easily get through (Qualify)
Croatia - Excellent performance. Love this to bits
(Qualify)
Bulgaria - Banal in the extreme. Last place contender
(Out)
Ireland - Oh dear... It's just SO weak, even if it is
a bit funny for the wrong reasons (Out)
Slovenia - Very strong performance, would love it to
get through, but... (Near Miss)
Denmark - Good, solid perfromance. Pleasant to watch
(Near miss)
Poland - This is the dark horse for me. Well worth an
each way bet, I'd say (Qualify)
So. Let's see how close I got to the real ten
qualifiers I get when the results come in on Thursday
evening. The general concensus amongst all the
journalists and fans (and the artists themeselves) is
that the top two in the semi will be Norway and
Hungary - putting them in a strong position for
winning in the actual final.
Bosnia was FAB last night in rehearsal and is still my
fave, but Malta has now shot up to my No 2 slot. Her
performance yesterday almost had me in tears. The
power in her voice just blew me away - it's just SO
moving and uplifting.
OK, Parties for Albania, Macedonia and Russia tonight
- so I need to go and have a bit of a snooze and
prepare myself.
More soon...
Dx
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