SF2 review

Bos-Her – Dino Merlin takes for the stage with his troupe of singers and (faux) instrumentalists The show looks polished if not looking a bit too staged. Dino’s voice is OK and gets better as the song progresses. A lot if the extra actions (esp, the trumpeter/dancer) is missed by the camera, which may be a bad or good thing. The audience seem to be enjoying this one and is a sure fire qualifier.

Aus – Nadine Beiler starts off her song acapella and as the song progresses the audience seem very appreciative of this girl’s talent. The real punch of this song is the bridge part before the chorus, however will anybody have stayed around long enough to find this bit out. She does look very striking and although the staging is simple it s very effective and conveying the message of the song.

Net – well, the boys really don’t look like they have made and effort. The main singer’s hair is also all over the place. He is also wearing a white double breasted suit which isn’t too flattering, and seems a little to formal for the style of the song. Vocals actually seem quite good from him but the backing singers need to be much quieter. Too many wide shots of the stage too.

Bel – The acapella band pull off a very standard performance. Because there is no backing tack, they need to stay tight, so there can be no real vocal gymnastics or improvisation by any one of them. In this way, the song never really goes anywhere after the first listen. The band is choreographed well and the camera work is well thought out. The beat boxer gets the biggest applause in the middle.

Svk – White dress twin sings first, vaguely in tune. Peach twin doesn’t seem to do a lot of singing at all and when she does they do their very best to drown her out with the other singers. It is a pleasant enough tune but it really doesn’t go anywhere. The performance is also very simple, it looks like they can only just about sing when standing still for three minutes.

Ukr – Mika is backed by a male singer and Ksenia (Mystic Meg), a sand artist whose creations are projected onto the back screen. Unfortunately for Mika we are not really listening an looking at you but however memorised by the art behind you. The camera work tries very hard to balance the two things together but it is not easy. Mika is a bit shouty and she made her dress from plucking a chicken.

Mol – Zdob si Zdub are back. They a dressed in huge black pointy hats, just like the national final. The backdrop is amazing- with cartoon characters also in pointy hats. Then enters the unicyclist. The song is not that complex but the acid brass and bassy parts are really good. They perform relatively well –it is not really a singing song but has a good performance.

Swe – Eric is joined by 3 dancer and 2 singers. As he starts off, his voice does not sound that good. It sound quite and strained. Either the song is too loud or his mic needs pushing up a bit. He is able to complete all the dancing parts fine but this puts more strain on his voice later on. At the end the glass does break but actually does not have as much impact as one might think

Cyp – Christos and his 4 male singers are on stage. The female singer is on the catwalk. The guys have boots which help them do gravity defying tricks. Their voices are not bad but the song really gets going when the woman joins in. She stands swinging a white ball above her head, a motif mirrored in the backdrop. A very difficult song to watch as there is so much going on

Bul – Poly and her band pull off a good performance. It is pretty static apart from the brief moment on the catwalk which works well with the retracting camera. Her voice is very good and sounds modern. It very much suits the style of the song, however I am afraid that singing in Bulgarian will put a lot of people off. Her dress is a bit strange and gets even stranger when she peels the top layer off at the end reveals an even shorter white number.


Mac – I tell you why this song is weird, the fact that Vlatko seem to be surgically attached to his guitar. He doesn’t need it. The dancers add a lot and the backdrop if the revolving thins is just pure genius. He starts the song in English (although it’s so gravelly it could be anything) then starts in the original tongue. The megaphone but doesn’t work though…

Isr – Here comes Dana International dressed as a fish. The shoe-strings up her legs make them look short and stumpy and those shiny tan tights are soooo drag queen. Anyways. She starts singing and it is not sting. She warms up a she goes along but it think the damage is done. She is however one of the very few who uses the catwalk properly and uses it for a good finish.

Slo – Maja is dressed with very, very long boots on with a treacherous heel. She is also dressed I sheet metal (or is it shit metal?) Maja as ever belts out a flawless vocal performance although at times she opens her mouth just a bit too much for my liking. After some early doubts, the backing dancers actually add a fair bit to the sound of the song. Should qualify

Rom – David and the band are dressed quite conservatively, almost like modern tribute act to the Wurzels. The lead singer has a good voice and sings it well but I don’t really rate the song. At times I also find the backing track very dated and a bit too bouncy. The two female dancers are really quite annoying with their trombone antics.

Est – The show is very similar to that for the Estonian final with different costumes and skyline on stage. She looks very pretty, a bit like Alice in Wonderland. There us really good interaction between all on stage. At the start the vocals sound good and during the first chorus the audience really responds. She keeps up a good level especially with all the dancing.

Blr – “I love Belarus”- well if you don’t you are not going to vote for this song a are you? #epicfail Lots of pyros for this one. Anastacia starts singing but it sounds very breathy and totally out of tune. The backing singers seem to be doing the dance routine to “Theater” by Katja Epstein. Too much going on here… all to cover up the non-appearance of a song or decent singer.

Lat – Another identikit performance from a national final. The song is good and modern and had a bit of rap in it. The lead singer has a really good voice and does not look that bad. However the outfits are awful, especially the red bow ties. The staging is simple, possibly too simple and the background lacks impact. The ANGEL at the end is a nice touch but easily missed.

Den – Another very simple performance from A Friend In London. The song sounds like lots of other songs and stays in your head. The lead singer seems to have contracted Lena’s “cockney patter” accent when singing but his singing is very clear and the message gets through. At the end he makes a run for it down the catwalk and you see his backless shirt!!!!!

Ire – Possibly the most anticipated act of the night. Jedward start off with one standing, the other lying down on the floor. The girl’s mics seem to be turned up a little bit too loud and take over. The guys are having a good time, not mater how they sound and everything seems spontaneous, even though it is not. It is that so bad it’s good a la Guildo Horn.

The 10 qualifiers are as follows
The number in brackets is their draw order

ESTONIA (8)
ROMANIA (17)
MOLDOVA (15)
IRELAND (6)
BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA (2)
DENMARK (3)
AUSTRIA (18)
UKRAINE (23)
SLOVENIA (20)
SWEDEN (7)