@TStael That would be ambitious indeed. Today was the first time team Finland met a challenge, and to be honest I am not too impressed. Of course, only results matter in the end.
This song was crazy a few years back
I thought first goal was the goalie being "cold" after two relatively easy matches, should have been stopped - and clearly FI cannot hand over long periods of domination (I thought there was one that was six minutes long) to win gold. However, last 14 minutes to go, I was quite sure we'd make it - it was more the can-do-conviction of converting opportunities to goals where it mattered than brilliance. But it was there, I thought. And you must admit that Laine promising two goals on Sun to mom to celebrate Mothers' Day, and delivering was quite sweet?
Please don't judge me, but I really loved Cezar! If Margaret Berger could not win 2013, then it had to be Cezar.
It is one of the most unique Eurovision numbers I ever remember seeing, and the reason I like it so much is the fact that I am fully convinced only ESC could have produced it!
Like with the aria of the Queen of the Night of Magic Flute opera by Mozart, not everyone loves very high classic voices, and Cezar would be 2-3 octaves above 99.5% of most male singers I think. "Ultra-tenor" as he defines it. The fact that it's still a controlled voice and not a falsetto makes the technique quite masterly, though - like it or not.
And 1:35-2:10 - that break.
The bass-drop, the "dirty" bass sound, the syncopation - only wobble was missing. Trying to figure out what I had heard, I actually discovered "dub-step" of electronic genre, which I really like when well done. No other Eurovision song has ever achieved that for me.
It was a song that I both danced and laughed to in my living room, with my ESC-skeptic friend having a delightful "WTF?!?" look on his face. (It's a shared pleasure, still, obviously, watching it together)
Out of the ordinary, you say? Here's a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine.
No guilt needed Montresor, rest assured - hey, I love Cezar quite openly for that hermetic "eurovision" quality. Since Finneous stole my thunder (saying most amiably and playfully), it only means I must look back to find another fine example I can present. Just watch this space...
The costumes imply this has a nice medieval troubadour folk quality - only I was disappointed that no more "flûte à travers" was on display. I was quite hyped for that, in fact, from the screen caputure!
@TStael I don't really like the song that much but I adore Cezar's technique and range for sure. It's amazing.
And that break? Not good enough, buhahaa Finneous - you are suffering a terrible triple Footie (WC/EC)-Hockey-Eurovision fan here! Imagine end-game spoiler concerning Orsino of DA2 and you get the hyperbole. ;-)
Just being playful of course.
I do appreciate you seeing the mastery of his vocal technique, even if it's not yer cup of tea. Much is gimmickey about ESC today, but so few gimmicks have musical substance behind it - Cezar had, for sure.
Just a quick peek-a-boo awaiting what normally is the most frustrating part of ESC - meaning voting results.
Sandjha would in my view deserve place in final, and cheers to her for the patriotic reindeer leather catsuit!
Others I'd be disappointed not to see in final: Austria, Montenegro, Iceland and Bosnia-Herzegovina. I've really overlooked Montenegro, I must say! I really liked the contrast of heavy metal guitars juxtaposed to quite subtle and complex vocal overlays.
And bit gutted at the thought that the finger-wagging "thunder and lightning, it's getting exciting" boy is supposed to be a great favorite!
Also thought the female presenter seemed to be a bit one-sided in her promotion of the acts from the "green room" - finding pretty boys and men to kiss seemed to be her criterion... No other complaints really, except this was quite a tame semi-final with no outlandish performances what so ever!
The countries that are qualified to the final contest:
Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Hungary Malta Russia The Netherlands
the contenders were: Finland: Sing It Away sung by Sandhja (Sorry @TStael , i hope you share your further insight here, despite the unfortunate lack of Finland in the final) Greece: Utopian Land sung by Argo Moldova: Falling Stars sung by Lidia Isac Hungary: Pioneer sung by Freddie Croatia: Lighthouse sung by Nina Kraljić Netherlands: Slow Down sung by Douwe Bob Armenia: LoveWave sung by Iveta Mukuchyan San Marino: I Didn't Know sung by Serhat Russia: You Are The Only One sung by Sergey Lazarev Czech Republic: I Stand sung by Gabriela Gunčíková Cyprus: Alter Ego sung by Minus One Austria: Loin d'ici sung by ZOË Estonia: Play sung by Jüri Pootsmann Azerbaijan: Miracle sung by Samra Montenegro: The Real Thing sung by Highway Iceland: Hear Them Calling sung by Greta Salóme Bosnia & Herzegovina: Ljubav Je sung by Dalal, Deen, Ana & Jala Malta: Walk on Water sung by Ira Losco
I will miss Bosnia & Herzegovina in the final - I kinda liked their song. Greece's song was different and not all that bad in my opinion but they didn't do well live.
The countries that are qualified to the final contest: Hungary
Well, thx, and congrats Iolien for HU going fwd! And all the others too, of course.
I at least always am happy when our representative goes forward wethre it's my personal favorite or not, and have also bit of neighborly rooting for Scandis, EE and HU! (Though never vote political, i was for example a bit creeped out by the Estonian boy's passive-aggressive beckoning!)
Truth be told, Sandhja's vocals were not quite perfect, but I thought it was still nice and uptempo number, and poor gal has received a lot of criticism for not being glitzy enough which I think is very unfair.
Glad of Austria, at least that went through - nice it was in French!
Anyways, I'm getting over it, and already look fwd to tomorrow... Gotta dash to get my moral uplift from hockey, and fear the balm might come from Hungary's expense... It's FI-HU tonite, good luck though - was nice to get you back at top level!
My goodness, indeed! Again one of those BE footie WC supporting cases - not boring, but bit in a stressful way... I really liked the game, and well, after disappointment yesterday it was bit of consolation, and fans all around were great.
I thought the very aggressive, mobile, proactive defensive game by HU in front of their goal that frustrated lateral movement / passes was impressive indeed - but as it is very consuming gameplay, I was again pretty confident that by sheer attrition there would be a break-through.
Lateral movement = dispel magic, even from most magical goalies, lol.
I think I need to start building up my stoic nature, because if tomorrow's voting results follow a pattern, all my favorites par one will be eliminated... I have not been able to shake Belarus, damn it, so final without the wolf boy would be a disappointment for me! Good luck to all tomorrow's semi-finalists.
I wish I could tell you that Denmark will win both the IIHF World Championship and the Eurovision but this isn't the "Did you *Actually* know" thread...
Anyway, I vote they make this classic the new Eurovision theme song!
I wish I could tell you that Denmark will win both the IIHF World Championship and the Eurovision but this isn't the "Did you *Actually* know" thread...
Anyway, I vote they make this classic the new Eurovision theme song!
Montresor, already Finneous frustrate me with Cezar, and there you go... I can only see this as scandi-love of the unusual! And of course I like it. ;-)
As to the eventual DK double victory - the advancement of DK with hockey has been to me, perso, the best pleasure of late word-cup hockey. Any all of Finland wanted to know if Jesper Jensen was ok.
@TStael I will try to watch it if my son lets me He's usually on the Xbox playing Fifa with his friends.
I've watched it many times in the past but it's not something that I have to watch every year and no one else will watch it with me because they think the voting is fixed and it's all too political also really bad... which it is but that's what's made it fun to watch over the years
The UK entry is not too bad this year and I have high hopes for it, it should get through to the final at least...I hope
@TStael I will try to watch it if my son lets me He's usually on the Xbox playing Fifa with his friends.
The UK entry is not too bad this year and I have high hopes for it, it should get through to the final at least...I hope
It is curious how your son lives such a different existence from, say, Scandi Eurovision mad one. It is a handsome symbolism - "Te Deum" at start of Eurovision just feels deeply.
Xbox plays any time, ESC is rare. But both likes are fine.
So, Sweden will be the only Nordic nation in the final.
Lighthouse X disappointed me. They had a good and catchy tune but the vocals weren't all that great tonight. And to top it off, Team Denmark was crushed by Russia by 10-1. Ah well...
I'll miss F.Y.R. Macedonia in the final but my two favorites tonight, Serbia and Australia, went through.
So, Sweden will be the only Nordic nation in the final.
Lighthouse X disappointed me. They had a good and catchy tune but the vocals weren't all that great tonight. And to top it off, Team Denmark was crushed by Russia by 10-1. Ah well...
Actually, the penny dropped to me only on Fri that damn, this will be hugely disappointing year ESC for us in the North - no-one voted for us! Listening to Frans right now, and unfortunately I am not so huge on that song.
YLE producers said that per Sandhja the earphone that feeds singers back their vocals was rather quiet - she was not at her best either. Azerbaijan's singer actually had two earphones, in case you noted, but I thought it was awkward because it felt she was not even performing to the crowd present. And I have not forgotten the voting scam they pulled either!
Actually, DK has been the one to watch for me in hockey for few past years, I've been happy to see their progress so much! Every team, except maybe Canada, has off-nights, so take heart!
My impression though is that DK should work on reducing penalty minutes, which boils down to that boring basic defensive grind in the corners... With Latvia it could have been fatal, even if the second Danish goal in that match really made me smile; such crafy, in-the-moment number! And what bad luck with those head-tackles.
FR & UK are my favorites from "Big 5." From funk to harder rock, maybe it's not such a bad final after all!
PS. Hahaa - that's a classic, "Tipitii" - it's about birds nesting in spring, in case that was not patently obvious!
My biggest problem with Eurovision is that every other country entering seems to take it more seriously than the UK, even Ireland.
I like the UKs entry this year, very 'Eurovisiony' but it lacks something, perhaps an epic chorus that most other entries have or a cool video to go with the song lol. I don't know, I just don't think it's good enough but it shouldn't come last or near the bottom like the UK usually does
In response to bit of hockey balm to my ESC wounds (FI 3: FR 1) here is a number I thought quite ahead of its time, Sébastien Tellier's "Divine" in 2008 final, very underrated IMO. 19/26, imagine!!
Hey, they even did the conchita-dinge five times over almost a decade ago! ;-)
As to hockey, it started off fine but I was seriously displeased by third set. And what quite exceptional video-refereeing fest! Auvitu's assistant-goalie feat on first one will not be surpassed in these championships, I wager.
I expect FI to show proper attitude winning or losing; favorite and underdog, and lateral stick to anyone's back is never acceptable. I was so irked to see flippant - I'd say even arrogant - lateral passes in mid-area. Finland is somewhat ahead in puck-handling: that 3rd goal from a bouncy puck, the pass was brilliant tactically thou! However, I would have found it appropriate if FR had intercepted one of those, broken through and scored a nice goal.
@sparkleav I dare your boys to pull "belgiums" in defense of ESC, and deliver amazing live rendition storming to top spots! ;-)
Comments
Please don't judge me, but I really loved Cezar! If Margaret Berger could not win 2013, then it had to be Cezar.
It is one of the most unique Eurovision numbers I ever remember seeing, and the reason I like it so much is the fact that I am fully convinced only ESC could have produced it!
Like with the aria of the Queen of the Night of Magic Flute opera by Mozart, not everyone loves very high classic voices, and Cezar would be 2-3 octaves above 99.5% of most male singers I think. "Ultra-tenor" as he defines it. The fact that it's still a controlled voice and not a falsetto makes the technique quite masterly, though - like it or not.
And 1:35-2:10 - that break.
The bass-drop, the "dirty" bass sound, the syncopation - only wobble was missing. Trying to figure out what I had heard, I actually discovered "dub-step" of electronic genre, which I really like when well done. No other Eurovision song has ever achieved that for me.
It was a song that I both danced and laughed to in my living room, with my ESC-skeptic friend having a delightful "WTF?!?" look on his face. (It's a shared pleasure, still, obviously, watching it together)
The costumes imply this has a nice medieval troubadour folk quality - only I was disappointed that no more "flûte à travers" was on display. I was quite hyped for that, in fact, from the screen caputure!
Just being playful of course.
I do appreciate you seeing the mastery of his vocal technique, even if it's not yer cup of tea. Much is gimmickey about ESC today, but so few gimmicks have musical substance behind it - Cezar had, for sure.
Sandjha would in my view deserve place in final, and cheers to her for the patriotic reindeer leather catsuit!
Others I'd be disappointed not to see in final: Austria, Montenegro, Iceland and Bosnia-Herzegovina. I've really overlooked Montenegro, I must say! I really liked the contrast of heavy metal guitars juxtaposed to quite subtle and complex vocal overlays.
And bit gutted at the thought that the finger-wagging "thunder and lightning, it's getting exciting" boy is supposed to be a great favorite!
Also thought the female presenter seemed to be a bit one-sided in her promotion of the acts from the "green room" - finding pretty boys and men to kiss seemed to be her criterion... No other complaints really, except this was quite a tame semi-final with no outlandish performances what so ever!
The countries that are qualified to the final contest:
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Hungary
Malta
Russia
The Netherlands
the contenders were:
Finland: Sing It Away sung by Sandhja (Sorry @TStael , i hope you share your further insight here, despite the unfortunate lack of Finland in the final)
Greece: Utopian Land sung by Argo
Moldova: Falling Stars sung by Lidia Isac
Hungary: Pioneer sung by Freddie
Croatia: Lighthouse sung by Nina Kraljić
Netherlands: Slow Down sung by Douwe Bob
Armenia: LoveWave sung by Iveta Mukuchyan
San Marino: I Didn't Know sung by Serhat
Russia: You Are The Only One sung by Sergey Lazarev
Czech Republic: I Stand sung by Gabriela Gunčíková
Cyprus: Alter Ego sung by Minus One
Austria: Loin d'ici sung by ZOË
Estonia: Play sung by Jüri Pootsmann
Azerbaijan: Miracle sung by Samra
Montenegro: The Real Thing sung by Highway
Iceland: Hear Them Calling sung by Greta Salóme
Bosnia & Herzegovina: Ljubav Je sung by Dalal, Deen, Ana & Jala
Malta: Walk on Water sung by Ira Losco
*back!* to be fair, it was pretty poor
Russia and Cyprus in particular is very different for them.
I at least always am happy when our representative goes forward wethre it's my personal favorite or not, and have also bit of neighborly rooting for Scandis, EE and HU! (Though never vote political, i was for example a bit creeped out by the Estonian boy's passive-aggressive beckoning!)
Truth be told, Sandhja's vocals were not quite perfect, but I thought it was still nice and uptempo number, and poor gal has received a lot of criticism for not being glitzy enough which I think is very unfair.
Glad of Austria, at least that went through - nice it was in French!
Anyways, I'm getting over it, and already look fwd to tomorrow... Gotta dash to get my moral uplift from hockey, and fear the balm might come from Hungary's expense... It's FI-HU tonite, good luck though - was nice to get you back at top level!
I thought the very aggressive, mobile, proactive defensive game by HU in front of their goal that frustrated lateral movement / passes was impressive indeed - but as it is very consuming gameplay, I was again pretty confident that by sheer attrition there would be a break-through.
Lateral movement = dispel magic, even from most magical goalies, lol.
I think I need to start building up my stoic nature, because if tomorrow's voting results follow a pattern, all my favorites par one will be eliminated... I have not been able to shake Belarus, damn it, so final without the wolf boy would be a disappointment for me! Good luck to all tomorrow's semi-finalists.
Anyway, I vote they make this classic the new Eurovision theme song!
As to the eventual DK double victory - the advancement of DK with hockey has been to me, perso, the best pleasure of late word-cup hockey. Any all of Finland wanted to know if Jesper Jensen was ok.
If you do not like ESC easily, just find good company. It'll be lovely, I suggest.
UK should be in top five, this year I find - but I should not say. What I like generally admire loses!
I've watched it many times in the past but it's not something that I have to watch every year and no one else will watch it with me because they think the voting is fixed and it's all too political also really bad... which it is but that's what's made it fun to watch over the years
The UK entry is not too bad this year and I have high hopes for it, it should get through to the final at least...I hope
Xbox plays any time, ESC is rare. But both likes are fine.
Besides, Georgia. And Norway of course.
PS.
I just think Belgium was meant for a live performance - it was not "Let's Groove" by Earth, Wind and Fire - but it was so well done live, I find!
But I still must promote BE some more - very rarely will a live performance surpass, to my opinion, as Belgium did tonite.
Lighthouse X disappointed me. They had a good and catchy tune but the vocals weren't all that great tonight. And to top it off, Team Denmark was crushed by Russia by 10-1. Ah well...
I'll miss F.Y.R. Macedonia in the final but my two favorites tonight, Serbia and Australia, went through.
@TStael Here is an older favorite of mine.
YLE producers said that per Sandhja the earphone that feeds singers back their vocals was rather quiet - she was not at her best either. Azerbaijan's singer actually had two earphones, in case you noted, but I thought it was awkward because it felt she was not even performing to the crowd present. And I have not forgotten the voting scam they pulled either!
Actually, DK has been the one to watch for me in hockey for few past years, I've been happy to see their progress so much! Every team, except maybe Canada, has off-nights, so take heart!
My impression though is that DK should work on reducing penalty minutes, which boils down to that boring basic defensive grind in the corners... With Latvia it could have been fatal, even if the second Danish goal in that match really made me smile; such crafy, in-the-moment number! And what bad luck with those head-tackles.
FR & UK are my favorites from "Big 5." From funk to harder rock, maybe it's not such a bad final after all!
PS. Hahaa - that's a classic, "Tipitii" - it's about birds nesting in spring, in case that was not patently obvious!
I'm guessing my rank would be BE-GE-FR-AT-UK, but with missed vocal performances (damn u, Ivan!) this can change.
Good luck to everyone tonite!
I like the UKs entry this year, very 'Eurovisiony' but it lacks something, perhaps an epic chorus that most other entries have or a cool video to go with the song lol. I don't know, I just don't think it's good enough but it shouldn't come last or near the bottom like the UK usually does
Hey, they even did the conchita-dinge five times over almost a decade ago! ;-)
As to hockey, it started off fine but I was seriously displeased by third set. And what quite exceptional video-refereeing fest! Auvitu's assistant-goalie feat on first one will not be surpassed in these championships, I wager.
I expect FI to show proper attitude winning or losing; favorite and underdog, and lateral stick to anyone's back is never acceptable. I was so irked to see flippant - I'd say even arrogant - lateral passes in mid-area. Finland is somewhat ahead in puck-handling: that 3rd goal from a bouncy puck, the pass was brilliant tactically thou! However, I would have found it appropriate if FR had intercepted one of those, broken through and scored a nice goal.
@sparkleav I dare your boys to pull "belgiums" in defense of ESC, and deliver amazing live rendition storming to top spots! ;-)