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Eurovision Insight Podcast: Juke Box Jury 2012 #1 Written by on March 23, 2012 | 9 Comments

The line-up for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 is complete, and as mentioned on Wednesday’s podcast, we have our 42 songs. The contest is about two months away, which can only mean one thing…

It’s time to start this year’s run of Juke Box Jury and analyse every entrant that’s heading to Baku in May!

For those new to the series, two guest judges will join me each week, listen to some of the songs, rate them as hit, miss, or maybe, and then see if we have a potential winner. And when you all disagree with the results, you can argue in the comments!

Eurovision Insight Podcast: Juke Box Jury 2012 #1
with Elaine Dove and David Elder.

Moldova: Lautar, by Pasha Parfeny.
The Netherlands: You and Me, by Joan Franka.
Finland: Nar Jag Blundar, by Pernilla Karlsson.
Albania: Suus, by Rona Nishliu.
Turkey: Love Me Back, by Can Bonomo.

Don’t miss an episode of this year’s Juke Box Jury (or any of The Unofficial Eurovision Podcast episodes) by subscribing to the RSS feed dedicated to the podcasts. iTunes users can find us in the iTunes Store and get the show automatically downloaded to your computer.

About The Author: Ewan Spence

British Academy (BAFTA) nominated broadcaster and writer Ewan Spence is the voice behind The Unofficial Eurovision Song Contest Podcast and one of the driving forces behind ESC Insight. Having had an online presence since 1994, he is a noted commentator around the intersection of the media, internet, technology, mobility and how it affects us all. Based in Edinburgh, Scotland, his work has appeared on the BBC, The Stage, STV, and The Times. You can follow Ewan on Twitter (@ewan) and Facebook (facebook.com/ewanspence).

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Have Your Say

9 responses to “Eurovision Insight Podcast: Juke Box Jury 2012 #1”

  1. Zolan says:

    “You and Me” is a good song, but the visual theme and generic arrangement isn’t supporting it well at this stage.

    I liked “Suus” from the start, but I seem to have a mysterious affinity for Albanian entries.

    So, Turkey found a broken karaoke machine and someone willing to improvise in front of it. Do a little jig so no-one sees how bored you are.

    Jam vs. Marmite.

  2. I agree “You & Me” is a great song but the staging still baffles me. I honestly can’t stand the Albanian entry it just annoys me. Moldova I love, they just have a way of getting the perfect upbeat song. I like the Finnish entry oddly, it’s sweet but the staging with some weird ballet person spinning around in mist confuses me. The Turkish entry I find more annoying than the Albanian, it makes no sense, it’s fustrating to watch the person wear a jumper that does not fit and dance around constantly.

  3. Seán says:

    Netherlands is a good song but I would definitely go for a more country staging. Albania I think is a definite qualifier as it is in a semi-final with very few and rather generic ballads. Finland and has a great song but I can’t see qualifying.

    With an glorious, almost summers day here and Juke Box Jury you’d think that Eurovision could be on in a week. But oh no, another 7 weeks to go *sighs*. But it’s great to have JBJ back.

  4. KW says:

    You guys have underrated Finland a massive deal. If you look up the translated lyrics it’s a very sweet love song, and I happen to like it.

    And if the Netherlands keep that Native American staging they’ve got no chance of qualifying, as much as the song is nice.

  5. Ewan Spence says:

    Quick question, how many voters on the night of the semi-final will translate the lyrics before voting? I suspect not enough. Sweet songs don’t win Eurovision… (Sieneke).

  6. Now I really liked Sieneke’s song from 2010 but the staging did nothing for me, it was a bit scary and as nice and happy as it was we all knew it would never go through. As for translating, I personally could not get over why Iceland this year translated from Icelandic to English to start with however now it has far more of an impact on me that before.

  7. Zolan says:

    I only look up translations if the performance piques my interest. The point of song is musical persuasion.

    “Nar Jag Blundar” has beautiful melody and instrumentation, but no development. That’s appropriate to the sentiment of the lyrics, but not compelling.

    Moldova’s entry is upbeat with English lyrics, but I don’t care what they are because it doesn’t interest me.

    Great opening selection, Ewan. So many ways to split opinion and taste 🙂

  8. howard a says:

    When I heard your praose for The Neterlands, my jaw hit the floor. Hate the song, hate her thin reedy voice, hate her joke of an accent. Just dire. Had this down as a nul-pointer. I must be missing something.

  9. Chad says:

    I love The Netherlands & Moldova. Finland got a raw deal here it’s not THAT bad and Albania is unbelievable – her voice!! Turkey is the worst…. horrible little song.

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