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In the distance, the Globe, home of Eurovision 2016<\/p><\/div>If you thought semi-final 1 had a lot of male soloists, just wait. Is it an unimaginative response to M\u00e5ns? I realise there are always lots of female solo artists… and I might be imagining the whole thing.<\/p>\n
Anyway<\/i>… the second final of 2016’s Eurovision Song Contest is wide open. There are plenty of worthy entries but no clear leaders – nothing I absolutely love and nothing I hate.<\/p>\n
Latvia<\/b>
\nAnd here’s our first solo man: Justs. A gentle start segues into a strong chorus.<\/p>\n
Poland<\/b>
\nMiche\u0142 has a proper pair of lungs. There’s a lovely contrast between the verses and chorus. One of the best songs Poland have sent. Obviously I’m ignoring the American spelling of “color” which the staging rather runs in.<\/p>\n
Switzerland<\/b>
\nA few nice moments but bland overall with a weak middle eight and a deadening key change.<\/p>\n
Israel<\/b>
\nSolo man number 3 is the Penguin from Gotham with the forgettable ballad Made of Stars<\/i>. Longtime readers will know my annual frustration with Eurovision entries that take two of their three minutes to come alive. This is one of those.<\/p>\n
Belarus<\/b>
\nSolo man 4. With wolves and nudity. It’s amazing what one can do with video effects these days. Hiding beneath these is an OK song with a traditional Eurovision Eastern European rock touch to it.<\/p>\n
Serbia<\/b>
\nThis has a good chorus. It also pulls off the schlager key change that Switzerland stood on.<\/p>\n
Ireland<\/b>
\nNicky Byrne from Westlife’s first solo single represents Eurovision’s most successful country. It’s *fine*, especially if you’re a fan of the rhyming dictionary. The energy drop between “sun” and “light” offends me somehow. Another song that could live or die in the performance.<\/p>\n
FYR Macedonia<\/b>
\nKaliopi represented her country in the pre-qualifying round in 1996, when Macedonia failed to make its first appearance on the contest. She reached the final in 2012 and is back with a song called Dona<\/i> that will prompt predictable kebab jokes. It’s pleasant and she’s a stronger performer – but you’ll be sick of the title by the end.<\/p>\n
Lithuania<\/b>
\nDonny Love Is Blind<\/i> Montell is back without a blindfold and with worse hair and complete the clean sweep of solo male artists for the Baltic countries. It’s not a million miles from Latvia’s entry – which I marginally prefer. Will there be room for both?<\/p>\n
Australia<\/b>
\nThey’re here again – but this time they have to make it through the semis like everyone else. I get the impression Dami Im’s staging may be simple and relatively static, which could actually help her stand out. It’s a less fun song than last year’s but it’s a big stompy ballad that should serve them well.<\/p>\n
Slovenia<\/b>
\nI don’t know is Blue and Red<\/i> is political or about interior design but it’s up tempo and deserves to take Slovenia to their third final in a row. And I don’t care if key changes are supposed to be death – if Russia can have one, everyone can.<\/p>\n
Bulgaria<\/b>
\nPoli Genova is yet another returning artist: she didn’t get past the semis in 2011. If Love Was A Crim<\/i>e is another upbeat number that’s worthy of a place.<\/p>\n
Denmark<\/b>
\nIt pains me to say it but this boy band effort from Denmark is naff. It’s glassily done and the lads are doing a perfectly cromulent job but it’s factory line pop. It’ll go through but it shouldn’t.<\/p>\n
Ukraine<\/b>
\nThis one is<\/i> political. Sorry, historical. The lyrics recount Crimeans being murdered in 1944 and the music dovetails well with the words.<\/p>\n
Norway<\/b>
\nIs there a name for that syncopated synthy rhythm that screams European dance music? Because we need a shorthand. It was there for Iceland (RIP) and it’s back to support Norway. There’s some messing with time signatures but otherwise this is sub-Euphoria<\/i> stuff.<\/p>\n
Georgia<\/b>
\nI saw these guys do a short set at the Eurovision Village on Tuesday and was suitably impressed. They’re very 90s indie band – very much my oeuvre – and this song is no different. It’s got a nice Chemical Brothers style mid section too. One for fans of alt rock guitar music – so not much hope at Eurovision, sadly.<\/p>\n
Albania<\/b>
\nPlodding. I’m 17 songs in and I don’t
\nhave much more to say. Sorry, Albania.<\/p>\n
Belgium
\nWhat’s The Pressur<\/i>e is, like a few of the songs in this semi-final, a Reasonable Pop Song. That has it competing with Slovenia, Bulgaria and Serbia for me.<\/p>\n
The songs I’d like to see qualify:
\nPoland
\nGeorgia
\nSlovenia
\nLatvia
\nAustralia
\nFYR Macedonia
\nLithuania
\nBelarus
\nUkraine
\nBulgaria
\n…and I wouldn’t be surprised if half of them don’t.<\/p>\n
Close:
\nSerbia
\nSwitzerland
\nNorway
\nIreland
\nBelgium<\/p>\n
Nope:
\nIsrael
\nDenmark
\nAlbania
\n…and they’re all fairly close too. I’m clearly in a positive mood.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you thought semi-final 1 had a lot of male soloists, just wait. Is it an unimaginative response to M\u00e5ns? I realise there are always lots of female solo artists… and I might be imagining the whole thing. Anyway… the second final of 2016’s Eurovision Song Contest is wide open. There are plenty of worthy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,12,11],"tags":[459,949],"class_list":["post-32293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-geeklife","category-music","category-tv","tag-eurovision","tag-eurovision-song-contest"],"yoast_head":"\n
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