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*0002 CET* – Congrats, Serbia!
*0000 CET* – FYR Macedonia: Belgrade it is.
*2358 CET* – Moldova: I don’t believe it’s Chisinau on the background there. Looks like New York.
*2357 CET* – Ukraine can still pull it off. Poland though takes Eurovision a bit too seriously. A tie and all.
*2355 CET* – Latvian guy sounds a bit constipated.
*2354 CET* – Can you trust Russia correctly collect the votes?
*2352 CET* – Russia of course got 10 points from Ukraine.
*2349 CET* – Re: Estonia’s vote. You can always rely on your neighbors.
*2347 CET* – Irish Latvians must have voted.
*2346 CET* -Will Ireland give Britain some points? Please. True, seven points for the UK.
*2344 CET* – Can you say “See you in Belgrade?”
*2342 CET* – That Lithuania voted for us is not surprising. Taht Baltic unity is somewhat close.
*2340 CET* – They cut her off there.
Oh, we’re halfway through. Not everything is lost. England may get a point just yet.
It looks like Serbia is coming on top.
One more point from Croatia.
Thank you Romania for two points.
Ireland, Latvia, and the UK are without points. I could understand Ireland and the UK…
Wow, Serbia is coming ahead. Was Finland girl humming the Jaws theme song?
I don’t understand the Russia’s in top 3. Nothing against Russia, but the girls were not good at all.
Serbia votes – Macedonia is not a surprise.
Spain votes – Still no points for Latvia.
Greece votes – No points for Latvia yet. At all.
Denmark votes – No surprise there. Sweden with 12 points.
France votes – interesting.
Austria votes – Votes are surprising.
Andorra votes — No Russian votes expected here. But Ukraine is a surprise.
Armenia votes – Russia again…
Belarus votes (Slavs) – Moldova, Ukraine, Russia (go figure!)
Montenegro votes (Slav) – Slovenia, Macedonia, Serbia. No politics there… just cultural proximity.
*2315 CET* – OOO, spokesersons….
*2314 CET* – Whose idea was this, I wonder.
*2312 CET* – Is this when the fun starts?
*2308 CET* – Actually right now, it’s not bad at all. It’s just the headbanging cello players are a bit too much.
*2305 CET* – Let’s see how many music styles can we mix together? Hard rock? Check. Ballet? Check. Classical violin? Check. Oh, how about we throw in some circus performers? That’d be fun. This is what the end of the world will look like, thus Apocaliptico.
*2304 CET* – Is this the Finnish version of Swan Lake?
*2300 CET* – Well, the voting is drawing to a close. Although he or she came in a favorite, I’d be surprised if Ukraine wins. And voting is not about songs or performers. It’s about politics. We’ll see who’s right me or that researcher who thinks politics has nothing to do with it.
*2259 CET* – Someone just found this site by looking for a French Eurovision song download.
*2257 CET* – And let us suffer through this one more time.
*2256 CET* – It’s funny: the Eurovision’s Internet feed has no phone numbers posted. Apparently, they add those in countries where it’s being broadcast.
*2254 CET* – We all know the next Eurovision will not be in London.
*2252 CET* – Just saw in one of the sites: “The BBC presenter Terry Wogan likes Latvia, but he’s never picked a winner.”
*2245 CET* – And the voting begins. If you’re in Europe, who are you going to vote for? If I could, I’d vote for Germany.
*Moldova* – I want to be that guy to twirl the baton on the background.Apparently, she couldn’t afford to buy the whole pair of pants. She was 1,000 rubles shy, so they cut out a piece from the top.
*Armenia* – Your soft-rock favorites now come from Armenia. Is that tree on the background meant to be TP’ed? I mean, it looks like someone strategically placed toilet paper all over it.
*Turkey* – He looks like a very well dressed football (soccer) fan with his red coat and tennis shoes. And the surrounding harem still makes me question: gay or not?
*Bulgaria* – My ears are bleeding. So are my eyes. Apart from “More”, which means “Water” the song doesn’t seem to have any significant words to it.
*Romania* – He’s not even playing the guitar. “Even Italy?” Is it because Italy has not been a part of Eurovision for the last 10 years? They don’t even broadcast it there. What’s up with the universe? The French sing in partial English, the Romanians sing in French.
*United Kingdom* – I’d hate to fly with them. I’d chose Ukraine over this any time. “A complimentary drink with your meals” Seriously? I wonder if the British Airways will include it on their flights. Or maybe Ryanair to save money.
*Ukraine* – This is so god-awful much like their parliament. I thought they didn’t allow gays into the Ukrainian military.
*Serbia* – She came. Placed her hand into her pocket. Sang. It must be the communist background that makes her look like a prison warden. Are they performing laying on of hands? It’s a nice song though.
*Germany* – It’s like 1930s are back again. Wasn’t Germany a bad place in the 1930s? German swing. I actually like it if I just listen to the song and don’t have to look…
*Russia* – They’re pretty to look at. But when it comes to singing, it’s not much. They’re flat.
It’s a typical American meal. With phones.
*Latvia* – the chanting began before the song came on. I still don’t get it: why Italian? And the only guy that looks closer to being an Italian is.. well, an Italian.
*France* – Now I know their songs have a lot of play on words, but it’s not an excuse to wear that red thingy around your neck. I’m surprised that some English words entered this French song. And what’s up with the angel on the drums? He looks evil.
Eurovision – ‘Tis the only time we’re one Europe. And we’re halfway through the contest.
*Sweden* – It’s a man. It’s a woman. It’s … I don’t know. Sounds like a man. Looks like a woman. Baby, I’m a worrying kind. Would he have taken off his pants if the song had gone on a bit longer?
*Georgia* – Tooooo maaaanyeeee looong voooowels. As someone else said, “Georgia… I hope your music is better than your Parliament.”
*Greece* – A lotta hip action there. First off, she’s a lady/This is a lady’s world? Hmm. Well, if not the singing talent, then at least the Marias around him dress in short skirts ought to get some votes. This *is* a lady’s world after all.
Someone was holding the sign “Where is Andorra?” Yeah.
*Lithuania* – Sounds more like Cyprus than Lithuania.
*Hungary* – They spent money on props. That suitcase must have cost an arm and a leg. And the bus stop. That was a drinking song. As is most of blues.
Hm, they must have a lot of snow in Finland. It’s a national treasure.
*Slovenia* – Another ballad? At least this time without any backup dancers, just some folks pretending to sing. Terry Wogan translated the title as “Talk to the Hand’.
*FYR Macedonia* – How long are they going to stay FYR? How long are they going to remain “former Yugoslav Republic”? The backup dancers seem to enjoy the interpretive dance.
*Finland* – How flashy! It’s Lordi without the mask. Nice tattoo on the right arm, though.
*Ireland* Thank you for mentioning Latvia. Ireland, as you may know, is now a home for many, many, I’d say too many, Latvians. But the song may be too good and too Irish for the ESC. It’s not surprising that Ireland’s odds of winning are 101:1. But hey, I hear Irish are loved everywhere.
*Belarus* – WoRk YouR Magic… Sounds more like a signer from the Country Music Hall of Fame than from the last remaining dictatorship in Europe. Weeling? Unbuttoned shirt, white teeth, why this guy is full of himself indeed. Is the song like filled with double entandre? You’ve got the magic power/I keep the key to your tower. Hmm. Next year, let’s all go to the last remaining dictatorship for the Eurovision Song Contest.
*Spain* The Backstreet Boys speak Spanish?
*Bosnia Herzegovina* Marija Sestic I zoned out of it for a while during this performance. It was either that or resisting the desire to weep. I don’t think there’s much traction for Balkan ballads. The back up women looked like constipated hula dancers.
*2106 CET*- At least, Mikko Leppilampi changed out of his “winter clothes” he wore during the semi-finals.
*2102 CET* – Lordi, look, whos’ back?
*2059 CET* – Shh! The show’s about to start.
*2050 CET* – “Performance and lyrics, not politics and diplomacy, will decide this weekend’s Eurovision Song Contest, according to one university researcher,” reports BBC. What’s the researcher smoking? What’s lyrics got to do with it? It can’t be lyrics when the contest’s favorite sings “Sieben, sieben ai lu lu, sieben, sieben, ein zwei! Sieben, sieben, ai lu lu, EIN, ZWEI, DREI!” And what’s up with “English, nicht ferschtein”?
*2045 CET* – I’ll be biased and will say I’d like Latvia to win. I think they have a potential to do that after Thursday’s performance. At the same time, six men signing in Italian wearing top hats with jeans and quirky medals may not be everyone’s cup of tea. But neither is for some reason everyone’s favorite the Ukrainian drag act.
*1900 CET* – Unfortunately, some interesting songs and contestants were eliminated in the semi-final Thursday.
Apparently, the European audience preferred the drag acts from Ukraine compared to the drag act from Denmark. Ukraine’s Verka Serduchka apparently is one of the favorites tonight. Denmark’s DQ (Dairy Queen?) didn’t advance to the finals. So sad.
I mourn the loss of Gerli Padar, Estonia’s entry to ESC. Our northern neighbors are out of it for the second year in a row. Her looks didn’t match her live signing abilities, but one would have liked to see her again.
A relatively decent entry from Andorra, a punk rock group Anonymous went home as well. Maybe they were too good for Eurovision.
Belgium with a decent disco song (if you can put those two words next to each other) “Can you feel the love power?” didn’t advance either.
Oh well.
Also I thought I was the only one crazy enough to transform for one day from a political junkie into a crazed Eurovision fan. Okay, maybe fan was too strong of a word. A distant admirer for all its glitz and glamor.
Just to update you, since you’re linking to me: my liveblogging’s actually on my Twitter site. I’ve linked you as well. Hope you enjoy the contest as much or more than I do.
Thanks. I’ve updated the link…
I abosolutly loved this song. It made my eyes water and gave me goosebumps. I wanted to fall in love all over again. It’s one of the most beautiful love songs, sung by the 6 most beautiful voices that I have heard in a very long time. I have two sons and this song has made them appreciate quality music. To us, YOU ARE NUMBER ONE111