Pre-rehearsal ranking

Today is Saturday 28th April and rehearsals for this year's Eurovision start tomorrow - so it was time to get down to brass tacks and nail my colours to the mast!
Using Mr Gerbear's magnificent song sorter I was able to make a reasonable ranking (I had to move one song because it was quite a lot higher than I thought it would be but that was the only noticeable anomaly) My tastes are still changing and I know that once footage comes from rehearsals, tastes - and the songs' chances of winning- will change drastically but this is it for now.

Also, for an interesting comparison, the ranking numbers are highlighted to signify its path to the final:
yellow means the song is in semi final 1, blue means it is in semi final 2 and green means it is automatic qualifier.

As you can see semi final 1 (at least for me) is going to be BRUTAL with most of my personal favourites in that show. But only the top 10 from each semi getting into the Saturday night final, I get the feeling many of my favorites are not going to make it!!!! If you fancy dipping your toes into who this year's eurovision has to offer, have a watch and listen to clips of  all the songs here.

I will predict my semi final qualifiers next weekend!

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SOA 2018 episode 6

We start, unusually, with a discussion about the phenomenon that is… Ross Anthony and whether he is actually as British he purports to be (Google “Ross Anthony British” to see the amazing* music video)

Points of order discussed include:

1 – well dodgy pyramid schemes involving Bobby Davro (or not as it turned out)
2 – needing to be ‘a bit more Sopho’
3 – letting off wind
4 – Runrig – and their apparent lack of successors
5 – Eastern European stage schools

The songs pulled apart on this show are from – in alphabetical order:
Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Germany, Moldova and San Marino

* Sorry,  I lied. Soz.


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or like our facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ESCarmchair to find get the latest information about blogposts and podcasts or even have a look back at our old ones :o)

You can download or listen to it here https://archive.org/details/SOA1806

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SOA 2018 episode 5

Just by chance we have a lovely intro by a local celebrity !

Quite a bit of bickering on today’s episode but mainly about each other – not the songs!

Points of order discussed include:

1 – Let Loose

2 – a weird Apprentice buying task

3 – knowing the cast of BBC’s Fame Academy series 1 without really thinking

4 – the surprise return of the Austrian tourist board

5 – a song with an ironic title

The songs pulled apart on this show are from – in alphabetical order:

Croatia, Czechia, Hungary, Lithuania, Norway, Russia and Spain

Follow us on twitter at https://www.twitter.com/ESCarmchair
or like our facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ESCarmchair to find get the latest information about blogposts and podcasts or even have a look back at our old ones :o)

You can download or listen to it here https://archive.org/details/SOA1805

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SOA 2018 episode 4

We are more than half way through our Eurovision odyssey and we’re both feeling a bit of cabin fever and what a day to do the longest episode of the run :/

Notes on this episode include:

1 – cost of video production v cost of song production

2 – ginger and proud!

3 – forgetting that you like something

4 – Goodness Gracious Me

5 – getting rid of the band!

The entries looked at on this show are – in alphabetical order:

Australia, Belarus, Denmark, France, Malta, Montenegro, Romania and United Kingdom

Follow us on twitter at https://www.twitter.com/ESCarmchair
or like our facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ESCarmchair to find get the latest information about blogposts and podcasts or even have a look back at our old ones :o)

You can download or listen to it here https://archive.org/details/SOA1804

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SOA 2018 episode 3

The good news is that we are half way through the podcasts.

The bad news is we’re ONLY half way through the podcasts.

On today’s podcast there seems to be a lot to talk about, and most of it leaves us quite puzzled.

1 – accidental Partridge

2 – Andy Day from Cbeebies

3 – sudden cravings for pineapples

4 – frozen food stores of the past and present

5 – Limmy’s Homemade show as seen on Thursday 5^th April BBC 2 Scotland 10pm (or on BBC iPlayer)

The songs pulled apart on show 3 are – in alphabetical order:

Belgium, Cyprus, Iceland Italy, Israel, Netherlands and Serbia

Follow us on twitter at https://www.twitter.com/ESCarmchair
or like our facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ESCarmchair to find get the latest information about blogposts and podcasts or even have a look back at our old ones :o)

You can download or listen to it here https://archive.org/details/SOA1803

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SOA 2018 epsiode 2

We make a lot of sacrifices to create this podcast and we bypassed a major UK cultural event in order to make this for you… not. We didn’t record this anywhere near as late so we were both in a much better mood.

Mentions on the podcast today for:
1 – chicken dancing and chicken noises (and it not even about Netta!)
2 – when videos are better than the song
3 – over-armography
4 – Bohemian Rhapsody
5 – tuning the vertical hold on your telly (you either understand that or you don’t)

The songs discussed on the show are – in alphabetical order:
Georgia, Ireland, Latvia, Macedonia, Portugal, Slovenia and Sweden.

Follow us on twitter at https://www.twitter.com/ESCarmchair
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You can download or listen to it here https://archive.org/details/SOA1802

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SOA 2018 episode 1

It's April..... so it's time for SHITE OR ALRGHT!!!!!

It’s the first of 6 review shows with a slight difference in make up but shouldn't affect your enjoyment! 
Due to one reason or another we started recording this faaaaaaaar too late so by about half way through I think I’d actually lost the will to live… Don't worry, as I write this episode 2 has already been recorded and is much, much better - so please come back for more !!!!!

Things to look out for that might (or might not) crop up again: 
1 – too many mentions of pork 
2 – the bullshit bell 
3 – songs that sound like other songs 
4 – singers that look like other singers 
5 – the Austrian tourist board 


The songs analysed on the show are – in alphabetical order –
Austria, Bulgaria, Finland, Greece, Poland, Switzerland and Ukraine.


Follow us on twitter at https://www.twitter.com/ESCarmchair
or like our facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ESCarmchair to find get the latest information about blogposts and podcasts or even have a look back at our old ones :o)

You can download or listen to it here https://archive.org/details/SOA1801

Click here to listen to this podcast in your usual music player (M3U Playlist)