Eurovision Song Contest 2014 - Copenhagen, Denmark

[kibo]

This year's ESC will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark. Like pervious years there will be two semifinals, held on the 6th and 8th of May, and the grand final on the 10th of May. 37 countries are participating this year, a relatively low number for this system (only 15 countries in semi 2, and 2/3 will pass into the final). Some countries have withdrawn (including my own ), but some other have come back like Poland and Portugal.

The venue for hosting the contest is B&W Hallerne, an old industrial complex on the island of Refshaleøen. The location will be remade to accommodate the event, with the surrounding area being transformed into "Eurovision Island" which will house the Press Centre and other amenities. It will have a capacity of 10,0000 spectators.



The shows will be presented by Lise Rønne, Nikolaj Koppel and Pilou Asbæk. For the first in the history of the contest, the trio of presenters will comprise of two men and one woman.

[kibo]

The song list

1st semifinal - May 6:

1. [flag=]hy[/flag] Armenia: Aram Mp3 - Not Alone
2. [flag=]lv[/flag] Latvia: Aarzemnieki - Cake To Bake
3. [flag=]et[/flag] Estonia: Tanja - Amazing
4. [flag=]sv[/flag] Sweden: Sanna Nielsen - Undo
5. [flag=]is[/flag] Iceland: Pollapönk - No Prejudice
6. [flag=]sq[/flag] Albania: Hersi Matmuja - One Night's Anger
7. [flag=]ru[/flag] Russia: Tolmachevy Sisters - Shine
8. [flag=]az[/flag] Azerbaijan: Dilara Kazimova - Start A Fire
9. [flag=]uk[/flag] Ukraine: Maria Yaremchuk - Tick-Tock
10. [flag=]nl-be[/flag] Belgium: Axel Hirsoux - Mother
11. [flag=]mo[/flag] Moldova: Cristina Scarlat - Wild Soul
12. San Marino: Valentina Monetta - Maybe (Forse)
13. [flag=]pt[/flag] Portugal: Suzy - Quero ser tua
14. [flag=]nl[/flag] The Netherlands: The Common Linnets - Calm After The Storm
15. Montenegro: Sergej Ćetković - Moj svijet
16. [flag=]hu[/flag] Hungary: András Kállay-Saunders - Running

2nd semifinal - May 8:

1. [flag=]mt[/flag] Malta: Firelight - Coming Home
2. [flag=]he[/flag] Israel: Mei Finegold - Same Heart
3. [flag=]no[/flag] Norway: Carl Espen - Silent Storm
4. [flag=]ka[/flag] Georgia: The Shin & Mariko - Three Minutes to Earth
5. [flag=]pl[/flag] Poland: Donatan & Cleo - My Słowianie (Slavic Girls)
6. [flag=]de-at[/flag] Austria: Conchita Wurst - Rise Like A Phoenix
7. [flag=]lt[/flag] Lithuania: Vilija Matačiūnaitė - Attention
8. [flag=]fi[/flag] Finland: Softengine - Something Better
9. [flag=]en-IE[/flag] Ireland: Can-Linn feat. Kasey Smith - Heartbeat
10. [flag=]be[/flag] Belarus: TEO - Cheesecake
11. [flag=]mk[/flag] Macedonija: Tijana Dapčević - To the Sky
12. [flag=]de-CH[/flag] Switzerland: Sebalter - Hunter of Stars
13. [flag=]el[/flag] Greece: Freaky Fortune feat. Riskykidd - Rise Up
14. [flag=]sl[/flag] Slovenia: Tinkara Kovač - Spet/Round and Round
15. [flag=]ro[/flag] Romania: Paula Seling & Ovi - Miracle

Final - May 10:

23. [flag=]dk[/flag] Denmark: Basim - Cliche Love Song
XX. [flag=]fr[/flag] France: Twin Twin - Moustache
XX. [flag=]de[/flag] Germany: Elaiza - Is It Right
XX. [flag=]it[/flag] Italy: Emma Marrone - La mia città
XX. [flag=]es[/flag] Spain: Ruth Lorenzo - Dancing in the Rain
XX. [flag=]en[/flag] United Kingdom: Molly - Children of the Universe

[loqu]

I am right now dancing to Quero ser tua in my living room.

I've only listened to all songs once this far so I don't have an opinion yet, but I like Portugal, Russia, Lithuania. Also a little France and Romania. But I find this year is quite weird, I don't see any very noticeable song.

[Levike]

Romania is likely to withdraw. Just saying.

[Патрислав Андреевич]

Like I’ve complained several times already – I hate how there are so few songs sung in national languages. There’s still hope though, for example I’ve heard the Polish group had said they’ll sing mostly in Polish on the live shows. Which is good since the Polish version is so much better. Finally they’ve chosen a song I like to represent Poland. It’s not the greatest song but I like it.

[loqu]

Romania is likely to withdraw. Just saying.

Reasons? Sources?

[Levike]

Romania is likely to withdraw. Just saying.

Reasons? Sources?

Money, like always, money.

TVR isn't the richest television we have.
It's currently negotiating if they could pay the amount in rates.

Anyway, we didn't choose a song that I like so I'm like meh whatever.

[kibo]

My favourites are Armenia and Norway. I actually like most of the songs (like always).

"Quero ser tua" is very catchy, indeed.

And yes, there so many songs in English, I don't know if it's actually a record number, but it certainly looks like it

[Luís]

I am right now dancing to Quero ser tua in my living room.

"Quero ser tua" is very catchy, indeed.

Are you guys even serious?

I was rooting for Catarina, I think her song was much better (she ended up 2nd)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fpp8hZFa7Yo

[kibo]

Totally, it's trashy, but still catchy.

[loqu]

Wow, I didn't know that song. It's quite cool, but the stanzas are a bit boring, and the song is overall a bit too Melodifestivalen-like

Quero ser tua is great in a trashy way, as kibo says. In fact if it weren't for the language, I could totally believe it's a Spanish summer party song.

[Multiturquoise]

My favourites are:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFqYbibLh8k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChkJpnOgIwQ

I'll be very happy if Molly wins the contest!
Aram Mp3 is good as well.

[IpseDixit]

I'm very torn between [flag=]fr[/flag] and [flag=]en[/flag].
The French one is closer to my usual tastes and is quite catchy, but the English one has by far a better voice and the song has a very good rhythm.

As for the other songs, I find them mediocre. There are many beautiful voices (e.g: [flag=]sq[/flag] and [flag=]sl[/flag]) but the songs are very uncacthy. The other songs that come a bit close (not that much though) to my definition of catchiness are: [flag=]he[/flag][flag=]el[/flag][flag=]mk[/flag] (the Macedonian girl should practice at playback singing).

Btw: Poland, seriously?

Finally, I have to say that I don't know much about Eurovision (here in Italy it's not really a big thing, in fact people don't give a hoot about it and I'm not sure it's even aired on TV) but I have to say that it's quite depressing to see that 90% of the songs are sung in English. I thought that since it's Eurovision and not Anglovision, it could've been a good way to celebrate diversity and make people know other European languages. Instead the result is pretty much a bunch of bland pop songs sung in the same language.

[Varislintu]

So Russia got booed when they made it to the finals. Did they get booed after their performance, too? I didn't catch anything then.

I loved the Netherlands' entry. I hadn't heard it before, but it's the kind of song that I would like to listen to on the radio. If it was on, I'd stop and listen and have a fiilistely moment. I'm surprised and glad it went forward to the finals.

[loqu]

I'm not sure it's even aired on TV

It is, otherwise Italy wouldn't be allowed to take part. Italy was lots of years out of the contest because RAI demanded some conditions that the EBU wasn't willing to accept (like many more commercial breaks, for example, or being able to broadcast it delayed during the night). Now they broadcast it live in order to take part (it is mandatory for them to broadcast the final and one of the semi-finals, the one where Italians can vote).

I'm very disappointed for Portugal, I really thought they were going to make it into the final. People on the arena did sing along with the chorus, and I'm sure on Sunday we will know that they got lots of points from Spain (and I guess only from Spain ). I also really loved Albania, I'm sad for them.

So Russia got booed when they made it to the finals. Did they get booed after their performance, too? I didn't catch anything then.

I didn't hear anything after their performance either!

[kibo]

I loved the Netherlands' entry. I hadn't heard it before, but it's the kind of song that I would like to listen to on the radio. If it was on, I'd stop and listen and have a fiilistely moment. I'm surprised and glad it went forward to the finals.

I came to say the same thing, they were my second favourite up until last night and now they are my first

A historical moment for Montenegro and San Marino, it's their first time in the final.

I'm sorry for Portugal, even though it was expected.
Estonia not passing was a shock though.

I'm glad for Iceland, they were entertaining

I guessed 8/10 finalists. Let's see how the other semifinal goes out, that one is a bit more tricky.

I think the UK will win, though I would prefer Hungary.

[Levike]

I hope Poland passes, the video is really funny.

And I also like Montenegro.

[Hoogstwaarschijnlijk]

I couldn't watch on Tuesday, so I'm very glad we're in the final! I absolutely love Ilse, though the song is said to be boring they have done well so I'm curious now!

From tonight I liked Georgia and Switzerland most

Oh, and I really disliked Poland.

[Патрислав Андреевич]

[flag=]pl[/flag] Poland’s in the finals! The song was great, I liked it, especially comparing to some other songs/artists that are participating. Other than that I don’t think I had any favourites today.. maybe Georgia, theirs was cool too.

[Reveuse]

[flag=]pl[/flag] Poland’s in the finals! The song was great, I liked it, especially comparing to some other songs/artists that are participating. Other than that I don’t think I had any favourites today.. maybe Georgia, theirs was cool too.

You're just saying that because you're from Poland right? That was one of the most awful songs of this year. Seriously, can those Polish women take themselves serious like that? It's quite pathetic.

Tonight I liked Norway most.

I couldn't watch on Tuesday, so I'm very glad we're in the final! I absolutely love Ilse, though the song is said to be boring they have done well so I'm curious now!

You really should watch the performance on Saturday, the visual aspect is really great and I'm convinced it changed the song from "boring" into "special" (although I liked it since I heared it for the first time, but it's more a song to listen to in the car or so).