::Drumroll please?::

And the winner is...Azerbaijan?!?!?



It's not a bad song by any stretch, but in my opinion, it benefited from a pretty good draw and the fact that Turkey wasn't competing in the Final that night.  It's too early to tell if I'm going to Baku next year or not; I might need a few days to decompress!  (Lucky for me, I fly to Israel tomorrow to board a cruise with my parents!  If you don't hear much from me over the next few days, that's why!)

On the happier side of the coin, I'm absolutely THRILLED that Italy's Raphael Gualazzi came in an incredibly respectable runner-up position.  It wasn't because of the fact that Eurovision fans missed Italy, and it wasn't because of some hyped-up production...I like to think that it was because the music was real, heartfelt, and well-performed.  I've met with Raphael a few times over these past two weeks, and, bar none, nobody else that I had met with here in Germany feels the music running through his veins as much as he does.  If someone asks him to sing acapella, he closes his eyes and moves his fingers as if a piano were in front of him.  He's fantastic, and he has an amazing career ahead of him.

Sweden came in 3rd, which is a pretty remarkable contrast from the train-wreck that his first few rehearsals displayed.  Early fan favorites Hungary and Estonia came in 22nd and 24th, respectively, and Jedward beat Blue in the scoreboard.

I don't know about you guys, but I'm exhausted, and I've got an early flight to catch.  My voice is gone, and my feet hurt from the three-inch stilettos I'm rocking tonight.  But I've never been happier.

I'll catch you guys soon!

New Videos from Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Latvia (plus, new versions for France and Croatia!)

Over the past week, a number of new videos have been released for this year's Eurovision hopefuls.  Let's have a look, shall we?

First up, Armenia has revealed the official clip for Emmy's "Boom Boom", featuring German-Armenian boxer Arthur Abraham:

Well, at least the Armenians are probably realizing just how kitschy their song is...having Emmy and her pals dance around in a ring, wearing bedazzled boxing gloves and randomly turning into comic book characters is a pretty decent sign that they're taking "Boom Boom" with a grain of salt (and I, for one, could use a margarita after watching it.  Oy...)

Next up, we've got Armenia's cross-Caucasus neighbors (and perpetual rivals) Azerbaijan, who released a second clip for Eldar and Nigar's "Running Scared":

Compared to previous years' entries from Baku, "Running Scared" is elegant, subtle, and sweet.  The video is visually beautiful (not only because of the landscapes, but also for the copious shots of Eldar and Nigar!).  I'm not quite sure why Azerbaijan insisted on recording a second video for "Running Scared", as their first version was definitely not unpleasant, but considering the country's penchant for Eurovision excess, they probably just figured that any money spent was money well spent.

Ell & Nikki - "Running Scared" for Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan has been competing in Eurovision since 2008, when the over-the-top "Day After Day" came in a respectable 8th place.  The next year, the fiery, uptempo "Always" snagged the bronze in Moscow, with Safura's diva-licious "Drip Drop" coming in 5th place the year after that.  Ever since entering the contest, Azerbaijan has made a considerable effort to make a splash, using everything in the traditional ESC arsenal: pretty girls, costume changes, explosions, gowns with LED lights, ear-splitting high notes, million-dollar promotional campaigns, Beyoncé's choreographer, even going so far as to have the police question people voting for rival Armenia (I'm not kidding!).  After such a series of entries, I was bracing myself for an equally epic spectacle from Eldar Gasimov and Nigar Jamal, who had won Ictimai TV's preselection a few months ago.  And boy, was I wrong...


Never in a million years would I have expected to write "Azerbaijan" and "subtle" in the same sentence, but Baku has completely proven me wrong.  Eldar and Nigar (who will be going by "Ell and Nikki" for the purposes of this competition) really pull off this sweet R&B-kissed duet.  It's got a nice hook, and they don't seem to have the same issues with English pronunciation that some of their predecessors struggled with at times (I still can't understand half of the lyrics in "Day After Day, even three years after the fact...).  This is also the only romantic duet in the competition, and it offers a nice bit of eye candy for everybody.  All in all, this should be a pretty solid lock for the finals, especially considering that constant allies Turkey are in their semi.

(UPDATE: Due to EBU restrictions, Eldar and Nigar will be using their real names for this year's ESC.  It's possible that the same restriction will apply for Russia's Alexey Vorobyov/Alex Sparrow, but as "Sparrow" is the actual translation for "Vorobyov", the final decision is still unclear.)

Azerbaijan has decided...

...and in a sudden twist, the Land of Fire has decided to send not one, but two singers to Germany in May!  After months of semifinals, winnowing 77 contestants down to only five, broadcaster İctimai Television made the executive decision to send both Eldar Gasimov (the only remaining male contestant) with Nigar Camal (an Azeri-born singer now living in London) to sing a duet, which will be announced hopefully sometime in the near future. 

Here's the baby-faced Eldar:


...And here's Nigar:


Remember, last year Azerbaijan put literally millions of dollars behind Safura's entry to Oslo, hiring world-class choreographers, producing a high-end music video, and even advertising their entry on ESC blogs in order to gain more momentum.  It resulted in a somewhat disappointing 5th place for "Drip Drop", considering the effort they put into it.  What do you think will happen this year?

The Weekend Preview, 2/10

We've got another busy weekend ahead of us, so let's dive right into what we can expect from all over the Eurovision world over the next few days!

On Friday, Azerbaijan will finally make their decision on who they'll send to Germany this year.  Their preselection process started back in mid-November with 77 candidates, and they've finally been narrowed down to five final performers: Aynishan Qulieva, Ilgara Ibrahimova, Eldar Gasimov, Ilhama Gasimova, and Nigar Camal.  It's still a bit unclear how the song will be selected; last year, the top three candidates sang three different songs, and while the winning performer was selected the night of the finals, the winning song wasn't confirmed until over two weeks later.  Considering Azerbaijan's penchant for flexibility on their preselection processes (their dates have been moved around many times, for example), who knows what answers we may find tomorrow night, or what questions will remain!

Also on Friday, Ireland will pick the artist and song that they hope will bring the nation to the top of the Eurovision heap for an eight year.  Brief snippets of the songs were released last week, but they were heard in their entirety for the first time just today.

Don Mescall - Talking with Jennifer (written by Ronan Hardiman, Don Mescall)
Nikki Kavanaugh - Falling (written by Christina Schilling, Camilla Gottschalck, Jonas Gladnikoff, and Hanif Sabzevari)
Bling - Shine On (written by Patrick Mahoney)
The Vard Sisters - Send Me an Angel (written by Liam Lawton)
Jedward - Lipstick (written by Dan Priddy, Lars Jensen, and Martin Larson)

Ironically, "Lipstick" is the only song that has been removed from YouTube for copyright reasons.  Why ironically?  Well, first, as its considered the frontrunner in tomorrow's competition, and second, as a portion of the song was "accidentally" released on Amazon.com too early, prompting RTÉ to make the decision only one third in the hands of the audience's vote, rather than fifty percent.  The remaining part of the decision will be in the hands of regional juries throughout Ireland.

The Weekend Update, 1/23

Another day, another update...Semifinals have continued this weekend in Finland, Iceland, and Norway, and Croatia's preselection has kicked off, as well.  There are also further updates from Azerbaijan, Portugal, Moldova, and Malta!  And away we go...

Finland:
Three more acts have moved on to the Finnish Final after this Friday's semi.  After a public vote, this week's winners are:
Paradise Oskar - "Da Da Dam" (Reminds me a bit of Belgium's Tom Dice from last year, don't you think?  If Tom were a member of Greenpeace Suomi, this might have been the result.)
Milana Misic - "Sydämeni kaksi maata (Two Countries of my Heart)" (Milana is the daughter of a Croatian father and a Finnish mother who actually represented her nation fifty years ago in Finland's debut ESC entry.)
Father McKenzie - "Good Enough" (Yes, they're named for the character in "Eleanor Rigby"!)

Knocked out at this round of the competition were Jimi Constantine's "Party to Party" and Soma Manuchar's "Strong".  An interesting point of trivia, courtesy of reader Stefanos in Finland: Soma's outfit was designed by Mert Otsamo, a finalist on the first season of "Muodin huipulle", the Finnish version of "Project Runway".  According to Stefanos, "I liked his work on Muodin Huipulle more than I did Soma's outfit."  I haven't seen any of Otsamo's work, but after seeing Soma's outfit, I'd be hard-pressed to imagine I'd disagree.

Next, we move on to Iceland:
It's been a week of highs and lows for Iceland this week.  On Tuesday, we heard the sad and sudden news of the passing of Sigurjón Brink at the age of only 36.  He was supposed to sing in the third semifinal next week, and it has been decided by both the network and his family that his entry, "Aftur Heim (Back Home)" would be performed as a tribute by a group of his friends and fellow musicians, and will therefore remain in the competition.  Next week's semifinal heat is sure to be an emotional one.

In the second semifinal, which aired last night, we had five songs competing for two slots in the final.  The victorious tunes were:
Yohanna - "Nótt (Night)" (As I mentioned last week, Yohanna came in second place back in the 2009 competition with "Is It True?"  I try to stay as neutral and impartial as I can, especially during the preselection phase of the Eurovision year, but I honestly think that Yohanna might, in fact, be the personification of a Disney princess.)
Matthías Matthíasson & Erla Björg Káradóttir - "Eldgos (Eruption)" (I speak no Icelandic, but I'm pretty sure I recognized the word "Eyjafjallajökull" at the start of the song...is this a tribute to the epic volcano that covered half of Europe in ash last year?  Any Icelandic readers wish to comment?)

We've got more news after the break!

ESC 2010 Reviews: Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan is the most recently-debuting nation competing in this year's ESC. The Land of Fire made a splashy entrance in 2008 along with San Marino, who sadly haven't returned since. Their first entry, "Day After Day" by Elnur Hüseynov and Samir Cavadzadə (And no, that's not a typo...the Azeri alphabet includes the letter "ə". Jealous?) blended rock, opera, and traditional Azeri mugham, resulting in a cacophony of sound, dancers dressed as angels and demons, rapid costume changes, and enough high notes to melt off Adam Lambert's face. They ended up in an incredibly respectable 8th place, beating bookmaker's favorites from Israel, Iceland, and Portugal, and winning maximum points from Turkey and Hungary.

After such a massive debut, both in score and in spectacle, Baku either had to go big or go home in 2009, and they more than delivered. Sponsoring broadcaster İTV invited the acclaimed Iranian-Swedish DJ Arash Labaf and up-and-coming singer Aysel Teymurzadə to sing "Always", an upbeat ethnopop number that landed the duo in 3rd place.

This year, Azerbaijan selected 17-year old singer Safura Əlizadə (Alizadeh) to take the nation even higher. Their song, "Drip Drop", is a R&B-influenced ballad that if in placed in the proper hands of production, wouldn't sound too out of place on a lot of American Top 40 radio stations. However, in the videos I've seen of Safura's live performance, her youth and inexperience with the English language sadly seem to get to her. She appears to suffer from pitch problems at times, and sometimes her accent muddles her lyrics to the point of intelligibility (Just to contrast, last year's Azeri eye-candy, Aysel, had spent a year as an exchange student in Texas as the recipient of a FLEX scholarship, so her English ability was basically top-notch.) Don't get me wrong, though; Safura looks beautiful, and Azerbaijan's currently riding a wave of popularity in Eurovision, so she will likely pass through to the finals. Furthermore, Azerbaijan's sharing their semifinal with ally Turkey, so votes from one will likely go to the other, and vice versa. However, I don't see this gaining the universal appeal of "Always", so I think that Baku 2011 might be out of the question.



What do you think of "Drip Drop"? Am I being too harsh on Safura? I love reading your comments and opinions, so feel free to bounce your ideas off of me!

Until next time! (Coming attractions: Belarus, Belgium, and Bosnia-Herzegovina!)