Friday, February 18, 2011

The Weekend Preview, 2/18

And another big weekend kicks off for Eurofans everywhere!

First, we've got the Finals of "Unser Song Für Deutschland", Germany's national final.  Lena will sing the six remaining songs from the two semifinals, and within the next few hours we should know the song that will represent the home country this year.  And the finalists are:
Maybe (Daniel Schaub, Pär Lammers) 
Taken by a Stranger (Gus Seyffert, Nicole Morier, Monica Birkenes) 
What happened to me (Lena Meyer-Landrut, Stefan Raab) 
A million and one (Errol Rennalls, Stavros Ioannou) 
Push forward (Daniel Schaub, Pär Lammers) 
Mama told me (Lena Meyer-Landrut, Stefan Raab)

Also tonight, Spain will select their Song/Singer combination.  Last week, the performers were narrowed down to Lucía Pérez, Melissa, or boy-band Auryn.  Each act will perform three unique songs each, and after a 50/50 jury/audience vote, we will know who will carry the Spanish flag to Düsseldorf!
Auryn:
El sol brillará (Rafael de Alba)
Evangelyne (Kjell Jennstig, Dejan Belgrenius & Kristin Molin)
Volver (Primoz Poglajen, Jonas Gladnikoff, Camilla Gottschalck & Christina Schilling)
Lucía Pérez:
Abrázame (Antonio Sánchez-Ohlsson & Thomas G.son)
C’est la vie! It’s allright (W&M, Nestor Geli, Susie Päivärinta, P. Andersson & M. Lindberg)
Que me quiten lo bailao (Rafael Artesero Herrero)
Melissa:
Diamonds (Nestor Geli, Susie Päivärinta, Pär Lönn)
Eos (Jesús Cañadilla & Alejandro de Pinedo)
Sueños rotos (Primoz Poglajen, Jonas Gladnikoff, Camilla Gottschalck, Christina Schilling)

On Saturday, Georgia will select their entry.  From seven entries,  only one will have the honor of becoming their nation's fourth official Eurovision entry (fifth, if you count their withdrawn 2009 entry!).  You can listen to the songs here.
Temo Sajaia - Soldier song
Salome Korkotashvili – Love
Sweet Pills – Face to face
Dito Lagvilava and November – New day
Nini Shermadini – Rejected
The Georgians –  Loved, seen, dreaming
Eldrine – One more day


The Final official selection this weekend is expected from Italy, as the annual San Remo Festival will wrap up.  Now, rather than simply having the winner go on to compete at Eurovision, a special jury made up of local dignitaries, network officials, and one of the festival's hosts will select the nation's first representative in fourteen yearsSan Remo this year includes two competitions under one umbrella: one contest for up-and-coming artists and another for established stars.  It's still unclear if the jury will select a new name or a well-known entity for their representative, but hopefully we'll find out soon.
Anna Tatangelo - Bastardo
Anna Oxa -  La mia anima d'uomo
Luca Madonia with Franco Battiato - L'Alieno
Max Pezzali - Il mio secondo tempo
Roberto Vecchioni - Chiamami ancora amore
Tricarico -  3 colori
Albano Carrisi - Amanda è libera
Nathalie - Vivo sospesa
Modá with Emma Marrone - Arriverá
Davide Van De Sfroos - Yanez
Patty Pravo - Il vento e le rose
Giusy Ferreri - Il mare immenso
La Crus - Io confesso
Luca Barbarossa and Raquel del Rosario - Fino in fondo

(Just for the record, my favorites are Modà feat. Emma, Nathalie Giannitrapani, Giusi Ferreri, and Anna Tatangelo!)

We can also expect semifinals from Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Sweden...phew!

4 comments:

  1. STOP THE ESTONIAN NATIONAL FINALS!!! YOU HAVE YOUR WINNER, ALREADY! HOPA'PA-REI!!!

    RUSLANA + APOCALYPTA = HOPA'PA-REI!!!

    Seriously, cut costs from the production of the Final and semi-finals, and use the money to fund Ithaka Maria's massive (yet extremely tasteful) entry to Düsseldorf!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6eIFYJwoWc

    Getter Jaani has a pretty good song, too, and I like Sven Löhmus' electro-pop sound a lot, but Hopa'pa-rei is not something to be missed!

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  2. I LOVE Hopa'Pa-Rei! Normally, I'd agree with you and say to just give Ithaka Maria the trophy, but Eestilaul has become my favorite of the National Selections, so I want to keep it going for as long as possible. ;-)

    Out of the already-qualified songs from last week, I really like "Rockefeller Street", "Don't Want Anything", and "I Wanna Meet Bob Dylan"..."Unemati" was sweet, and I really liked the studio version of "Veel on Aega", but the live rendition was really off-key, sadly.. :-(

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  3. I like Jana Kask's entry a lot, too. I like that semi-aggressive, semi-innocent way of singing she has in this song. Also, the lyrics are quite pretty (breathe me out, I'll breathe you in). What is up with the Elaine Benes hair, though?

    Where did a title like "I Wanna Meet Bob Dylan" come from? I will tell you where! You know that camp-fire question "If you could go back in time, who would want to meet an why?"? While we get answers like "Abraham Lincoln", "Andy Warhol", "Queen Elizabeth", one answer stood out amongst them all! Therefore, "I Wanna Meet Bob Dylan" became the name of their new song!

    I actually do not like "Rockefeller Street" that much, anymore. The lyrics sound awkward live, and the less-than-eventful chorus, compared to the rest of it, make it feel incomplete. I also did not like the concept behind her live performance.

    "Don't Want Anything" and "Hopa'pa-rei" are the two best, and out of these two, I would have to go with "Hopa'pa-rei". Firstly, we already have a video for it (a beautiful one, too.), so no more expenses for a preview video will need to be incurred if Ithaka Maria is chosen. Secondly, people will be happy it is in Estonian. Finally, the song is so well crafted, so well differentiated throughout, yet not too complex. It has such a compelling through-line and such vocal prowess, this has to be it! It just has to be!

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  4. Once again, the Estonian preselection has truly impressed me...once I get through the pile of homework that's waiting for me, I plan on writing a full editorial on Eestilaul 2011. :-)

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