Will the UK go pop?

This time last year Jade had won the UK's Eurovision selection programme and had been half way round Europe in an attempt to get them to vote for her.

It's a little different for 2010. We still have Your Country Needs You, but it's all happening on one night - this Friday at 8.30pm on BBC1.

Six acts are lining up to represent the UK, and it looks like the emphasis is on youth. The 6 hopefuls comprise: Alexis (aged 20), Josh (19), Esma (17), Karen (18), Miss Fitz (a 3 piece all girl group) and Uni5 (which is made up of 3 girls and 2 boys).

It's pretty much impossible for us to say who should win, because we've not really heard any of them sing. From the info available, we quite like the sound of Miss Fitz, who have already given The X Factor a go. Marina is the daughter of none other than Colin Berry (left), who regularly read out the UK's votes, and Maiken hails from Oslo and seems to know plenty about her country's past Eurovision entries.

But what of the song one of these 6 acts will sing?  Well that's in the hands of Pete Waterman and Mike Stock (pictured right).  Eurovision Express normally loves ballads, but this year's Contest is saturated with them, so we're hoping for an uptempo pop classic - something like Banarama's Love In The Third Degree, Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up or Kylie's Better The Devil You Know.

On Friday the six acts will be whittled down to three, who will then each sing the Waterman/Stock composition.  The UK entrant will be decided by a public televote.

Here at Eurovision Express we've got everything crossed for a fantastic UK entry!

Russia snatches defeat from the jaws of victory!

It was looking like St. Petersburg 2011 when song 14 came on during the Russian Final. It was the "Buranovskiye Babushki" and had this made it to Oslo, it could have won ESC.
For some inexplicable reason, Russia chose to send Peter Nalitch with a song called "Lost and forgotten"!!(video on the right-hand side of this page). Judge for yourselves! Here are the "Buranovskiye Babushki"

Russia and Belgium throw the Dice

2 more songs for Oslo will be revealed tonight. First up will be the Russian Final at 7pm (CET) featuring 25 acts.  Early indications were that Dima Bilan was rumoured to be taking part, but he subsequently ruled himself out of the fight. 

And then at 9.15pm (CET) the Belgian entrant, Tom Dice will present his Eurovision song.

Both shows can be watched live on eurovision.tv

Romania's on fire!

After a night of lacklustre selections (Croatia and Moldova), we really like the Romanian entry for Oslo. It's called Playing with Fire and is sung by two people who have tried to enter Eurovision before - Paula Seling who tried to represent Romania on many ocassions in the past and Ovi who tried for Norway! Well, this time they have made it. In a contest of ballads, this really could stand out.

Battling it out in Sweden

It's the 2nd Chance round in Sweden tonight.  Here are our predictions, with the songs that we think will make it through each round in bold:

Pernilla Wahlgren vs. Pain of Salvation
Crucified Barbara vs Pauline
Neo vs Calle Moreaus
Alcazar vs Jessica Andersson

Then
Pain of Salvation vs Pauline
Neo vs Alcazar

So we predict Pain of Salvation and Alcazar to the Final!

Something to Cro about?

In the 1990s Croatia looked like a prime candidate to win the Eurovision, but in the last decade it seems to have lost its way a bit.  Tonight's DORA final boasts a mix of rock, ballads, rap and ska, all with a distinct Croatian feel to them.

The 16 songs are made up of 8 pre-qualified entries, plus another 8 that made it through a semi-final. 

There are a couple of 80s sounding entries that we especially like: Franka Batelić with Na tvojim rukama, and AliBi with Prvi pogled.  They could both be in contention, along with Žiga i Bandisti with Blagdani. 

Our tip for the top though is the ethno pop song Jobrni je jobrni by Frano Krajcar (below).

Five Live!

Tonight no fewer than five countries are selecting their Eurovision entry.  By the end of the evening we'll know which songs will be representing Ukraine, Romania, Croatia, Portugal and Moldova. And Sweden has its 2nd Chance round too!  What a night!

Our thoughts on the runners and riders coming soon.

Ireland - Niamh is for you!

Former ESC winner - Niamh Kavanagh-  is taking part in the Irish selection for Oslo tomorrow night. The song is called "It's for You" and is BY FAR the best song in the selection! Do the right thing Ireland, vote for Niamh! Check out the entry here!

Lithuania: the favourite and our favourite

Lithuania picks its song for Oslo tonight.  Here's the favourite:



and here is our favourite:

Dates for the diary

Eurovision fans have got a busy few days ahead of them  Here are the national finals coming up this week:

Tuesday 2 March - Azerbaijan final
Wednesday 3 March - Turkish entry presented
Thursday 4 March - Lithuanian final
Friday 5 March - French entry presented
Friday 5 March - Irish final
Saturday 6 March - Moldovan final
Saturday 6 March - Croatian final
Saturday 6 March - Ukrainian final
Saturday 6 March - Portuguese final
Saturday 6 March - Romanian final
Sunday 7 March - Russian final
Sunday 7 March - Belgian final

Note to self: watch Bulgaria

Tonight, Miro, the Bulgarian representative at this year's Eurovision, will present the 5 songs competing in the national final.

We suspect that the winner will be Angel Si Ti.  Why? Well it probably is the best song, and it's the one entry that the singer himself has composed.  Take a listen below:

Slovakia sneaks in one day early

We had anticipated the Slovakian final to take place on Sunday, but apparently the national ice hockey team is doing well in the Winter Olympics and a live match will be shown on Sunday. So the national final is now on Saturday.

We've not really paid much attention to the selection process, but 12 songs have made it through a number of knock-out rounds.  The favourite to win is Kristina with Horehronie.  In her semi final she won both the jury and televote.

We have to say we can't see anything beating this either.  Take a listen above.

Will Sopho Shine for Georgia?

Last year Georgia got their fingers burned, and the song they selected to represent them wasn't allowed into the competition.

This year things look a lot brighter for Georgia, as Sofia Nizharadze performs all six songs in their national final (taking place this Saturday).  The half dozen entries are all very well produced, and are written by a number of composers well known to Eurovision fans, including the likes of Svika Pick (Diva, 1998) and Andrej Babic, whose written numerous entries. 

Listen to snippets of the six entries below. Our tip for the top is Shine, co-composed by Hanne Sorvaag, who is half of the team behind this year's Norwegian song, My Heart is Yours.

A look at Latvia

Latvia is one of two countries choosing its song for Oslo this Saturday (the other is Georgia).  10 acts are competing, and our two favourites are placed 9th (Ivo Grisnins-Grislis singing Because I love you)
and 10th (Kristine Zaharova with Snow in July) in the running order. 
 
Songs that performed in the penultimate position in the Slovenian and Spanish national final both won, and we reckon Ivo's got a really good chance of being the Latvian entrant in Norway.  It's another simple, slightly old-fashioned song, but that's no bad thing!
 
Take a listen to the 2 songs below:

Spain goes for Daniel!

Well Spain has chosen its entrant for Oslo and, no it's not Coral!  She came 2nd with both the jury and in the televote.  The resounding winner is Leo Sayer lookalike, Daniel Diges (pictured below) with Algo pequeñito. 

Here at Eurovision Express we feel very sorry for Coral who had a fantastic song, but we have to admit that Daniel just felt like the winner on the night.  The song seems more authentic, and Daniel is a great performer. 

We think Spain could do very well with this song, especially with juries.  It's certainly their best entry since 2003, if not 1995. 

Coral Por Favor!

Spain choose their Eurovision entry tonight for Oslo. The song we want to win is the excellent "En Una Vida" by Coral who is performing last in the final. It is a very strong ballad which could turn around the fortunes of Spain at Eurovision, after a disappointing placing last year. The full line-up is as follows:

1. VENUS - Perfecta
2. AINHOA CANTALAPIEDRA - Volveré
3. FRAN DIELI - Cuando se trata de ti
4. LORENA - Amor mágico
5. SAMUEL Y PATRICIA - Recuérdame
6. JOSÉ GALISTEO - Beautiful life
7. JOHN COBRA - Carol
8. ANABEL CONDE - Sin miedos
9. DANIEL DIGES - Algo pequeñito
10. CORAL - En una vida  

You can (hopefully) follow the action online here, but it may only be available within Spain.
It all kicks off at 22:15 CET.
 
Buena Suerte Coral!

Back to the 80s with Slovenia!

Ok, we got it wrong with Slovenia, but who cares?  Slovenia is sending a real fun song.  Sure to divide opinion, Narodnozabavni rock, performed by Ansambel Roka Žlindre & Kalamari, is a 'mash up' of a rock and folk song, and not dissimilar to what Yugoslavia sent in the late 80s. Think Rock Me and Mangup and you'll have a pretty good idea of what it sounds like.

Check out the video, along with all the other songs so far selected, on the right hand side of the screen.

Slovenia: Langa v Manca

EMA - the contest used to choose Slovenia's entry to Eurovision - takes place tonight, and we think it's between Langa with Roko mi daj, and Manca Spik and Tukaj sem doma, written by Eurovision veteran, Andrej Babic.  Which is best? Choose for yourself below:

This weekend: FYR Macedonia, Malta and Slovenia

This weekend another 3 countries will choose their entries for Oslo.  On Saturday, after two semi-finals, FYR Macedonia host Skopje Fest. We'll be taking a listen to the finalists and picking our winner tomorrow.

Saturday is also the night for Malta EuroSong 2010.  We've been dipping in and out of the numerous weekly heats, but don't see a clear winner amongst the 20 finalists.  It seems to be between Claudia Faniello (who should have represented Malta a couple of years back with Caravaggio) and Lawrence Gray, but our favourite is Foxy Federation with Fired Up (below).  Unfortunately they are performing in the dreaded 2nd place....



The Slovenian final is set for Sunday.  There's a semi-final on Saturday so we'll see which songs emerge from that before making any predictions.

More updates over the weekend!

A word on Armenia

Armenia chooses its Eurovision entry for 2010 today.  For us it's a 2 horse race between Razmik Amyan with My Love and Eva Rivas with Apricot Stone.  Razmik's song is perhaps a little more formulaic, with Eva's entry being slightly more original, but they are both of a high standard.  Choosing between them will be quite difficult!

Judge which you think has more chance of doing well in Oslo below.

In 'Pole' Position

After the excitement of last weekend's national finals, this Sunday sees Armenia and Poland choose their songs for Oslo. 

10 songs are battling it out in Poland, and amongst the favourites are Aneta Figiel with the catchy Mysl o tobie, Anna Cyzon with the rocky Love me, and Marcin Mrozinski with the Balkan sounding Legenda.

However our favourites here at Eurovision Express are Iwona Wegrowska with the mid-tempo ballad, Uwiezionais, and the girl duo Dziewczyny (pictured) with the laid-back, jazzy Cash box.  With cheeky lyrics like "Do you wanna be my cashbox? Do you wanna be my boy?" it seems this is a quirky song about the girls wanting to find Mr Rich.  Enjoy the song below.

Norway - 12 points!

Eurovision Express has now just about recovered from its very first trip to the Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix.  And what a great time we had!

We arrived in Oslo on Friday afternoon, and made our way to the Hard Rock Cafe, where the Norwegian Fan Club were holding a get-together.  And what a friendly bunch of people they are!  Of course, everyone was chatting about who was going to win, with most thinking it was a battle between Keep of Kalessin and Didrik Solli-Tangen. 

The highlight of the evening was when MGP hosts Per Sundnes and Marte Stokstad arrived with the MGP competitors (although, alas, Alexander Stenerud couldn't make it) in tow!  Venke Knutson, our favourite, was the life and soul of the party, but we also managed a quick chat with Maria Haukaas Storeng too.

Saturday meant meeting up with the guys who run the Schlagerblog.  After a bit of sight-seeing and a bite to eat, we made our way to the Spektrum, where we'd been kindly granted access to the dress rehearsal by NRK.

All eight acts appeared calm and gave great performances, and, although we still thought Didrik was going to win, we knew it was going to be a fantastic evening's entertainment.  It became even more exciting when we, together with the Schlagerblog boys, were asked to take part in the show in a quick interview after Venke's song.  Per was keen to know what we thought about the MGP as visitors from outside Norway.

So, after a few drinks, the final came.  The atmosphere in the hall was electric. Just after the second song we were ushered backstage to meet with Per and get ready for the 'interview'.  Ben from A1 introduced himself and we wished him luck.

The 'interview' was good fun, especially as we were slightly 'naughty boys' and revealed that Venke was our favourite (not that it did her much good!)

The rest of the show passed by at top speed.  We thought all the acts came across really well, and were especially impressed with Alexander Stenerud, and Venke of course!

Didrik's win came as no surprise, and we're convinved Norway is in with a good chance of claiming a second victory.  After the show we mingled with some of the contestants before heading off to the Latter Club, where former MGP hopefuls Jenny Jensen, Queentastic and Birgitte Einarsen entertained us with some of the songs they had sung in the Norwegian finals.  A good few hours later we staggered back to our hotel after a brilliant evening.

We had a fab time in Oslo.  Yes, it is expensive and we're going to need to save our pennies for our return trip in May, but the welcome is incredibly warm.  We can't wait to go back!

Denmark, Iceland, Cyprus and The Netherlands

It's been the busiest weekend of the national final season so far.  Eurovision Express was in Norway for MGP, and there will be a full report on our time there posted soon.

Saturday night also saw Iceland and Denmark pick its songs, and we're delighted that the wonderful Hera Björk (pictured with Örlyg Smára, with whom Hera wrote the song) will be in Oslo with Je Ne Sais Pourquoi.  Having met Hera last year in Moscow we can't wait for the fun to begin in a few months time.

We haven't had time to watch the Danish Final yet, but reports say that national broadcaster DR put on a great show.  Chanée and N'evergreen (pictured above) will fly the flag for Denmark with In A Moment Like This, a catchy song that's really grown on us.  We can't claim to have picked it as the winner, although we did list it on this blog as one of three songs to keep an eye on.

The first heat of the Swedish Melodifestivalen began on Saturday, with Ola and Sakim Al Fakir making it through to the Final. 

Sunday saw two national finals.  Our web connection to the Cypriot Final wasn't the best, but it was clear for us there was only one song to send to Norway, and thankfully it was the one chosen! Welsh singer, Jon Lilygreen will perform as Jon Lilygree and The Islanders with the excellent Life Looks Better in the Spring.  It's our favourite Cypriot entry for a long time. 

The weekend closed with the Dutch National Final.  5 acts sang their own versions of Ik ben verliefd (Shalalie), written by Pierre Kartner. 

The voting was incredibly dramatic.  The 4 person panel each voted for one act, and, combined made up a staggering 80% of the vote, with the public vote being worth a mere 20%.  2 members of the jury picked girl group, Loekz, and 2 picked 17 year old Sieneke.  The public preferred Vinzzent.  So there was a tie between Loekz and Sieneke, and the composer had the unenviable choice of choosing between them.  Initially he refused, but after much pressing, he eventually plumped for Sieneke (pictured above). 

It will be very interesting to see how the Dutch song does this year, as it's very obviously an old-fashioned.  It makes us feel nostalgic for Eurovisions of old, but our fear is that, unfortunately, the Netherlands may struggle to qualify for the final yet again.

Weekend Roundup

Eurovision Express is back from Oslo, and we had a great time.  We'll be posting a full report on our Norwegian activities tomorrow, and will also be taking a look at what's been happening at the weekend's other national finals.

Meanwhile you can enjoy the 8 songs selected so far on the right-hand side of this page.

Stay tuned!

Greetings from Oslo

Eurovision Express is reporting from Oslo this weekend as we attend the final of the Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix. And what a final it promises to be! We've seen our favourite songs get through each week during the heats and today it's time to choose the song that will represent the host country in May.

The running order for tonight's final is:
1. A1 - Don't Want To Lose You Again
2. Maria Haukaas Storeng - Make My Day
3. Venke Knutson - Jealous Cause I Love You
4. Bjørn Johan Muri - Yes Man
5. Maria Arredondo - The Touch
6. Alexander Stenerud - Give It To Me
7. Didrik Solli-Tangen - My Heart Is Yours
8. Keep Of Kalessin - The Dragontower

The standard is very high this year, and we really like most of the songs on offer.  Our favourite is Venke Knutson's Jealous Cause I Love You, a catchy and quirky entry, but we think it will end up being a battle between Didrik, A1 and Keep Of Kalessin. 

And, surprise surprise, we're tipping Didrik to win.  In fact if he wins, he may well go on to come very close to securing a 2nd Norwegian victory just down the road at the Fornebu Arena in May.

For those of you who can't be in Oslo tonight, you can watch the excitement unfold here