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The Eurovision circus is arriving in Malmo, and the ESC Insight team are flyng in from the four corners of the globe to cover the world’s greatest Song Contest. But before then, we have two more episodes of Juke Box Jury.
Next week we’ll look at our hosts, Sweden, and the Big Five entries that go straight through to the Saturday night final, but for now let’s finish off the roster of semi final songs. And yes that means we have the issue of what to do about Estonia and the complete lack of Winny Puuh.
Eurovision Insight Podcast: Juke Box Jury #7
with Keith Mills and Monty Moncrieff (and Juha Repo, just for a little bit)Moldova: O Mie, by Aliona Moon
Croatia: Mizerja, by Klapa S Mora
Georgia: Waterfall, by Nodi Tatishvili and Sophie Gelovani
Estonia: Et uus saaks Alguse, by Birgit Oigemeel
Azerbaijan: Hold Me, by Farid Mammadov
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Sadly I also have a horrible gut instinct that Georgia could potentially win it this year. I normally hate being wrong, but I really hope that I am on this occasion. There’s so many better songs this year.
Croatia also falls into the “songs I like but will most likely flop” category with me, unfortunately
I loved Moldova’s entry from the moment I’ve heard it. This is the first review on Moldova that I really like or agree with.
Croatia – not fond of the boys’ choir…Yes, I’m no mother in law…Sort of for old people…
Georgia – I don’t like it. I agree that it apparently looks good, but I would hate to see it in top 5…
Estonia – not bad, but a bit boring – nevertheless I don’t mind if it qualifies.
Azerbaijan – loved it when the official video was released. Meantime I watched the original performance in the final – quite weak singer – maybe too many emotions? If he performs good enough, this is a song I like. He obviously is no Marco Mengoni material though!
MOLDOVA – I like it and I think it will qualify, but I don’t think it will get near the top 10.
CROATIA – I’m starting to like it and I expect to just miss the final.
GEORGIA – I love this song, but I don’t think it will win. 6-10 in the final is my prediction.
ESTONIA – I don’t think this has no chance to qualify, but it will be difficult. I MUCH prefer it to Winny Puuh though, although that would have given us some diversity.
AZERBAIJAN – I don’t like this and I expect this will be the first time Azerbaijan fails to finish in the top 10. 15-20 I think.
Moldova – it’s a grower and I am starting to love it. It benefits immensely from being sung in Romanian. Aliona sounds very good live. It’s a maybe for me 🙁
Croatia – very original to my ears and it sounds great live. I like it. It’s a miss though. 🙁
Georgia – oh dear, more of this stale stuff coming from Sweden. Go away and stay away please. Great vocals. It’s a hit, unfortunately.
Estonia – I like it, but I understand and agree with what the commentators said. I would have sent Üle vee by Liisi Koikson. It’s a miss.
Azerbaijan – one of the most boring songs of 2013. It never leaves the ground and it defines the meaning of dull. It’s a hit, because it comes from Azerbaijan. 🙁
P.S.: go back to the 100% draw. This is not MF. It involves countries.
This is a rather middling buch of songs imo.
Moldova – I like it but it isn’t anything special – hit
Croatia – I like the harmonies but the soupy orchestration severely damages what could have been a great entry – maybe
Georgia – I utterly detest the song … and how is anyone supposed to take such a bombastic and melodramatic ballad seriously if the singers have such a poor command of English (“blees” …)? I want this one to rot in ESC hell but it is a hit of course …
Estonia – sweet, simple and well sung … there is nothing wrong with it except the fact that it is terribly dated – miss
Azerbaijan – dull song, average singer but hey, this is Azerbaijan – hit
Moldova – I quite like it! Alino’s hair is pretty weird, but she has a great voice, and the song is even better in Romanian than in English. I think it will qualify, but then end up somewhere in the middle.
Croatia – quite boring. You can tell where it’s from and that’s a plus, and the boys really can sing, but I’ve dozed off before they come to the end of the song … might qualify because it’s different, but might just as well not because it’s dull.
Georgia – just way too formulaic. And I didn’t like “In a Moment like This” either, for the same reasons. It will do really well though, I suspect, but I don’t want to see it winning.
Estonia – I’m so tired of people talking this one down because they would have preferred Winny Puuh. It’s not Birgit’s fault she was chosen, so give it a rest. That said, her song is awfully dull, and unless she gets some pregnancy votes, I don’t see this one making it to the grand final.
Azerbaijan – hmmm, I can’t make up my mind about this song. It’s not really my kind of music, but there’s still something there I like. But Farid’s vocal abilitiies seem to be very on/off, so I don’t know if he can pull it off. I personally don’t need this in the top ten, but it will probably end up there. And I’ll be surprised if they don’t get 12 points from Malta …
Moldova – hit, though, it seems to be losing steam as time goes on, being looked over by more popular entries. I think with a good place in the running order at the Grand Final, it can be this year’s dark horse candidate and make a run for the top.
Croatia – I like this song. I am of the belief that people all over Europe will love this – except, all those people will be senior citizens who may or may not understand how to vote for it. It may get a lot of votes from fans who want a more “artistic” song through. My question is, what will the juries think? It’s possible that with the new system, it could split the vote and sneak into the Final.
Georgia – agree. The song is decent, but it’s most definitely formulaic. It was written to win the jury vote (like Georgia nearly did in 2010) and pull just enough fan favor to win. Especially with the fact that it will likely steal votes from the weaker entries from Azerbaijan and Armenia, I expect this song to be Denmark’s biggest challenge to win.
Estonia – yes, this song is boring. Winnie Puhh, though, would have resulted in a nul points for Estonia. This song, at least, has the chance to garner some points, at least.
Azerbaijan – I liked it initially, but his voice has grown a bit annoying the more and more I listen to it. Also, I don’t think Azerbaijan wants to host again anytime soon, hence why this song is not getting the full publicity blitz we’re used to from Azerbaijan. Though, with Turkey sitting on the sidelines, this song is likely to score higher than it otherwise would. And while I don’t think Marco Mengoni’s voice is all that great, either, he’s definitely a better singer than Farid Mammadov; though, with producers deciding the running order, I doubt they’ll be anywhere near one another.
Monty sounds exactly like Russell T Davis
Moldova – tough song to sing live, and it’s on the verge of sounding screechy. MAYBE
Croatia – very nice, but I agree with Keith about its chances. Nevertheless, HIT
Georgia – contrived, lacking chemistry, could bomb unexpectedly. MISS
Estonia – really lovely old-school Euro ballad. Winny Puuh would have been enormous fun, but this is classy. HIT
AZERBAIJAN – not sure about his voice, but I have liked other Azeri entries less. MAYBE
Also, I forgot to add that as a punk rocker at heart, I would’ve LOVED to have seen Winny Puuh at Eurovision. Oh well…
I totally agree with Estonia, it’s a nice song and I can’t help but like it, but even Grete Paia would have been a better choice. But Winny Puuh would have stormed it, assuming Christer and his bunch of evil manipulative pixies didn’t deliberately put it first in the running order to try and kill it off.
Can you imagine Eurovision opening with Meiecunde? Would have been FAB!