The second semi final - predictions!

Holá

Well, it's finally D-Day for our very own Indiana Joan!!!  The general feeling amongst everyone here in Baku is that she will make it through this evening, and secure a place for The Netherlands in the final for the first time since 2004.  The charm of her performance and simple catchy melody should help it.


I'll be sitting in the hall with my Dutch flag, and wearing my Native American Headdress, biting my nails to the quick until their name is read out!

There are some obvious qualifiers tonight in the shape of Ukraine, Serbia and Sweden.


I also think Tooji's place in the final for Norway is assured, after some superb rehearsals.  His song stands out as a masterpiece of modern, fresh pop in a ballad-heavy semi.


I was indifferent to Turkey's song before I came out here, but Can's performance (you pronounce it "Djan", by the way) is quirky and fun, and I've changed my mind about it.  This should qualify, and pretty much needs to, to ensure we don't have a replay of last year's sorry state of affairs with "you-know-who" winning by default...


The jury seems to be out on Estonia... I think it's a certainty to go through, but many are predicting an early exit for Hot Ott, due to the excessive "vocal stylings" which he has introduced to his performance.  I'm hoping he'll just stick to the original (perfect) arrangement of his big ballad.


Another of my fave quotes from the last 10 days was during the second Estonian press conference, when a naughty Irish journalist began his question to Hot Ott by saying, "you have the song, you have the voice and you have the looks... you've certainly got the complete package!"....Saucy!!!

Then we head into the "difficult to predict" range of songs...

I think Mr Bonkers Georgia is going to qualify.  A camp old queen backed by four "ladies" who appear to have escaped from a local brothel can never fail to impress...

Slovenia - God Bless her - she's still in that frock!  Nonetheless, she deserves to qualify on the strength of her fantastic voice and brilliant song.

My final pick is very difficult.  Five Balkan countries all voting for each other could really spoil the party for the rest...  Macedonia may qualify due to her popularity in the Balkans.  I love the Bosnian song, but she has the stage presence of a plank...  and Croatia is just plain dull.

I'm going to stick my neck out and go with the vibrant and energetic performance of Kurt from Malta.  He has a nifty little soft-shoe-shuffle which is going to win him fans, plus he's not exactly unpleasing on the eye...


So, in order of performance, these are my predictions for tonight:

Serbia
Netherlands
Malta
Ukraine
Slovenia
Sweden
Georgia
Turkey
Estonia
Norway

I'm off to interview the gorgeous Nina Zilli from Italy this afternoon.  Looking forward to that!  She's still second favourite with the bookies after Sweden.

Finally, can I ask ALL of you in the UK to ring in a vote for The Netherlands this evening!

Indiana Joan to the final!!! (please!)

Comments

  1. We'll be voting for Norway, Netherlands, Malta and Sweden tonight!!

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  2. May well give a Netherlands nudge from Turkey too....hope you having fun David.

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  3. I like the Netherland song but the Balkan blokus got the geopolitical vote. Sweden is in alliance with Baltic block. The turkish diaspora will launch their country to the final. Hope the jury will make justice.

    Regards from Romania

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  4. We'll be watching and cheering in Dutch all they way through and hope to see you in your resplendant outfit! Beware the Balkan Block though - it could knock out some seriously good songs for some local crap. Hope the juries see it this way too and help this, ahem, Song Contest retain some balance.

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  5. Hhhmmm.. See what u mean about Estonia having the complete package!!! Lol

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