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It’s Tuesday evening, so it’s time to carry on with Juke Box Jury and our discussions of all the entries for the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest.
In today’s episode we have Eurovision reporter at large Ross Tillbrook, and Eurovision Ireland’s Andrew Main joining host Ewan Spence in the Edinburgh Insight studio to discuss, deliberate, and decide if our collection of – wonders deserve a Hit, a Miss, or a Maybe.
Eurovision Insight Podcast: Juke Box Jury #2
with Ross Tillbrook and Andrew MainNorway: Silent Storm, by Carl Espen.
Slovenia: Round and Round (Spet), by Tinkara Kovač
Lithuania: Attention, by Vilija Matačiünaitè
Ireland: Heartbeat, by Can-Linn ft. Kasey Smith.
Switzerland: Hunter of Stars, by Sebalter.
Don’t miss an episode of the Eurovision Insight podcast 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.
its either norway or slovenia, thats just how it goes.
Wow, terrible jbj for Ireland. It is nothing like Ryan Dolan’s song last year. His was crap. I believe you guys will be surprised when this easily qualifies and finishes top 10 in the final.
ireland last? thats a joke.
laura o neil would be good, if we were trying to come last in the semi.
heartbeat is the only song that would qualify for the final
For the record, JBJ#2 was recorded on Sunday before the kerfuffle with the winners and losers. As for the final result, this Contest never ceases to amaze and delight me. I would love Ireland to qualify, but they have to do so on merit, and the honest answer is that I don’t think any song in the National was an automatic qualifier.
Norway – has slowly grown on me too, but it’s not a winner in my book. Good song in a mass of mediocre ones, but not the best. And I agree about the performance, Carl Espen needs to work on that a lot (and buy a new shirt because the jeans one is awful). By the way, Carl Espen is a double first name (his last name is Thorbjørnsen), so just calling him Carl is kind of wrong. 😉
Slovenia – I’m suprised how much I like it, but it’s Slovenia. Poor Slovenia, they never had much support from their neighbours even when they were all taking part which they aren’t this time around. I think it will have a hard time qualifying, just because it’s Slovenia.
Lithuania – will probably qualify because it’s Lithuania, and they have a massive diaspora all over Europe. And the song’s even better than last year’s entry, even though I personally like it a little less. Not my cup of tea, but nothing horrible.
Ireland – I don’t really see your point, Ewan. I hated Ryan’s song, I quite like this one. Not that it’s one of my favourites, but it’s pleasant enough to probably qualify.
Switzerland – are lucky to have Austria and Germany in their semi (or at least voting in their semi), but I’m not sure that will be enough. I do like the song, the whistling is something different and Sebalter has charisma, but then again, it’s Switzerland (see Slovenia).
ewen, how does belarus get a maybe and ireland gets a miss? your saying belarus have abetter chance of qualifying than ireland does, thats crazy.
Ewan : It has nothing to do with “wanting” them to qualify. I’m also Scottish and feel a certain affinity with my Celtic cousins, but this is the first time since 2010 that I’ve actually liked the Irish entry. So no bias from me. I agree that they must qualify on merit, and this song merits easy qualification.
i don’t see 10 songs beating irelands song, consideing it has a good chance of making the final you have to give it a maybe, and miss is for a song that will likely miss out and i really don’t see how ireland is going to be one of the 5 worst songs in the semi.
Norway: My #1 of 2014. I loved it instantly on the first listen and it has on occasion brought me to tears. I actually think that his first performance in the MGP final was near perfect for such a fragile song. I do agree that he needs to work on his nerves, but hopefully he’ll have built his confidence in time for May. I do agree that EVERYTHING will have to be perfectly in place (peak performance, 2nd half in final with the other male ballads in 1st half) to win, but I can hope!
Slovenia: I like it too, such a shame that it has such an uphill struggle to qualify.
Lithuania: I like the bridge and the chorus but the verses are so rubbish. Got plenty of friends voting (UK, Ireland, Poland) voting so they could qualify
Ireland: I actually think this is a nice entry, like Stephen this is the first Irish entry I’ve liked since 2010, and I’m Welsh!
Switzerland: I wanted this to win the NF when I first heard it in Dec and was so glad it did. This should qualify and I would be so upset if it didn’t.
People, calm down. The jury is made up of 3 Scotsmen. Given the current climate in their country they begrudge Ireland’s sovereignty. They are all confused with regards to the independence issue and are transferring their frustrations onto the Irish entry accordingly. Unfortunately this has blinded them to the terribleness of Lithuania. Thankfully these 3 have next to no sway over the final result, so there’s no need to get upset.
carola : he even gave belarus a maybe, and ireland gets a miss??? thats a joke.
he probably picked them for the jury as he knew they would bash the irish entry.
kpurple@ with poland in the semi it might take a lot of there votes from lithuania, plus as you saw last year a poor jury performance from either lithuania or poland will detract a lot of the vote (ireland gave only 1point to lithuania last year) due to the jury
I’m struggling to see what’s so special with the Irish entry this year, and also can’t see it qualifying as easily as some people seem to think (and no, I’m not Scottish before people try hanging that “biased lol” nonsense on me as well!)
While I don’t agree with them that it’s the same song as Ryan’s, I do think the forced “Irish-ness” in it will harm the song because it screams desperation to me: “We have fiddles and Riverdance, everyone loves fiddles and Riverdance! Please vote for us! Please?”
The fact that it’s also a fairly generic pop-dance number with nothing distinctive about it (apart from the fiddles and Riverdance) doesn’t help, and lifts it to a “maybe” at best for me. While I hate entries like Poland or Belarus with all my being, at least they have a song that you’re going to remember more than 30 seconds after it ends!
peter, they are remembered for all the wrong reasons, and ireland is memorable when your not trying to hate it. it will qualify with ease. there isn’t a fiddle and the irish dancers are being removed.
a miss is for a song that hasn’t a hope of qualifying, ireland at the least have a chance of making it which means it should get a maybe,
Matt, I remembered there being a fiddle on The Late Show performance, but do admit I haven’t heard the final mix yet. If they’ve removed these, then it can only be an improvement, and a “maybe” would sound reasonable.
Yes, I agree that Poland and Belarus will likely be remembered for the wrong reasons. The problem is when you have a lot of songs played back-to-back like this, that can be the thing that makes all the difference when voting opens, and people remember Belarus but forget the more “unremarkable” song that came just before it.
At the end of the day though, no one knows what will happen until the semi final itself, Eurovision is always full of surprises. I personally thought Ryan would do much better last year, despite the bizarre staging he got lumbered with!
And now the site is back so I can finish listening to the podcast:
Norway: Easy hit. I will be totally shocked if this doesn’t finish top 10 in the final. I also think that when it does well, Finland will be kicking themselves for not sending Mikael Saari last year, who had a song and performance that was much superior to Silent Storm.
Slovenia: Maybe. I really like the song, but I seriously hope they change the staging from the national final, because it was a complete mess that could turn people off.
Lithuania: Easy qualifier because it’s Lithuania, that’s what they do. However, once it gets to the final, it will be a complete miss that will make Andrius look successful.
Ireland: Maybe. See previous posts.
Switzerland: Hit. It’s a great song that is fun and catchy. It might invoke too many memories of Alex Rybak though to win, but I feel it should still connect with enough people to do well.
peter, you forget that the jurys will kill poland and belarus, plus with ireland right before belarus will help it, plus i think ireland is quite memorable, especially the chorus. belarus as imo the worst song in its own NF and i think the fact its between finland and ireland, and followed by macedonia and with no neighbours it will not pick up even close to the total they will need to qualify and likely will be bottom in the semi.
btw peter the fiddle was a violin. i think the fiddle is just the recording of the song and not being done live
Cathal, last comment was over the line, unless you have proof (in which case, it goes to the EBU, not a comment). Also, would you mind NOT switching names in the comments?
matt is my nick name, and i was just pointing it out and didn’t realise that it was over the line as you can clearly see that there is no fiddle
Norway : Maybe : its a high maybe because so many thing need to go in its favour for it to be a hit, needs to improve his live performance and needs a good draw in the final, definatly qualifying.
Slovenia : Miss : i’d personally give it a hit but with it being in between greece and romania i think its dead in the water sadly and this will result in it finishing around 13th in the semi which is sad because it deserves to qualify.
Lithuania : Maybe : This is my least favourite of the 37 songs selected, but due to there being such a little amount countries for it to beat and good voting strength it should just get through at around 8th, but I’m pretty sure this will bomb in the final.
Ireland : Maybe : i love our entry this year, loved it the first time i herd it in the presentation, but i think we will defiantly be in the top 10 in the semis somewhere depends if everything goes according to plan, and in the final i predict top 15.
Switzerland : Maybe : I love this song, i didn’t like it in the NF but now i have changed my opinion about it. as we know switzerland is cursed in this competition so nothing is certain, but i still think it will get in at around 9th or 10th and in the final if it gets a good draw with not to much big guns around it then you never know but i still don’t see it as top 10
Count back winner : Norway
Can Norway win? : Long shot but wouldn’t rule it out.
Prediction : if they fix everything thats wrong with it (which isn’t much) 5-10
Norway – HIT. Great vocals will put this through to the Final, no problem. Agree with all the jury that he needs to connect more with the camera if he wants than a top 10 finish…
Slovenia – MAYBE. Quirky singer, good vocals, playing an instrument always goes down well. I hope it does get to the Final – can’t see it doing much in the Final though.
Lithuania – MISS. What were you guys listening too, Andrius again? This is poor and will only get out of its SF if other performers have a real mare.
Ireland – MISS. It’s nice enough but not distinctive enough so it might be that Ireland will have to watch something else on May 10th. Maybe Linda could wander around the stage shouting ‘gobshite’ and ‘odious’ to make voters remember it…
Switzerland – MAYBE. Whistling a Eurovision hit does not make! The lyrics are bizarre but his stage presence may be enough to put Switzerland through – it will end being 20-26 on Saturday though…
Carl won’t win – the days of pure ballads winning Eurovision are long gone.
Lithuania isn’t accessible or instant: she going DOWN. Ireland’s OK, nothing more or less–she’s better than the song, however. Slovenia’s gold and deserves to qualify–and I think it will. The staging at EMA was marvellous.
one question, what is with all the hype for norway, its instantly forgettable and is 3rd in the running order, and ith the madness of poland and greece following it there is no way for it to stand out, plus his live performance is worrying.
I love JBJ. I wouldn’t change a thing. There are always folk ready to complain and moan about every little thing. This is the internet after all. 😉
So I just wanted to send some love, appreciation and GRATITUDE your way for this lovingly put-together audio treat. It brightens up my week. I love to hear passionate ESC fans chatting about the contest we all enjoy so much… even if I often don’t agree with their opinions. That’s part of the fun.
I can only imagine how much hard work it is to get guests coordinated, structure the season, edit the podcasts etc.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU x 100000. 🙂