Eurovision 2014: Australia Votes

Photo by DAVID ILIFF. License: CC-BY-SA 3.0

Sydney calling! These are the votes from Australia - with the official placings in brackets:

1. Austria 74,434 votes  (1)
2. Sweden 53,562  (3)
3. The Netherlands 33,990  (2)
4. Finland 29,702  (11)
5. Iceland 24,106  (15)
6. Poland 23,928  (14)
7. UK 23,154  (17)
8. Switzerland 18,934  (13)
9. Malta 18,884  (23)
10. Ukraine 18,392  (6)
11. Spain 15,116  (10)
12. Greece 14,936  (20)
13. Hungary 12,034  (5)
14. Norway 11,594  (8)
15. Denmark 10,430  (9)
16. Romania 10,044  (12)
17. Belarus 10,042  (16)
18. France 9,176  (26)
19. Armenia 7,614  (4)
20. Germany 6,316  (18)
21. Slovenia 5,912  (25)
22. Russia 5,824  (7)
23. Montenegro 5,346  (19)
24. Italy 4,968  (21)
25. Azerbaijan 4,724  (22)
26. San Marino 4,698  (24)

Eurovision was even more popular with Australians this year, with just shy of a million viewers tuning in at one point during the final. As usual, the television station transmitting the show permitted people to vote for their favourite song and in line with the official result Austria took first place.

Some surprising differences can be seen between the official standings and how Australia placed the songs, though. Probably, the most notable positive changes are the fortunes of those countries filling positions four to nine, all of which ranked outside the official Top 10.

Not even getting a sniff of the Top 20, let alone the 10, was France. However, in a year when most everybody seemed to vote for the 'beard', Australia also gave much more love to the Moustache of the French, placing it 18th and relegating San Marino into their last position.

Valentina Monetta was not the only loser. Both Russia (22) and Armenia (19) fared much worse Down Under, fuelling yet more speculation about political voting in the northern hemisphere.

That aside, one of my personal favourites this year also went running in the wrong direction too, as Hungary could only manage 13th as opposed to its much better official showing of 5th.

What do you think of the Australian vote?

Image by David Iliff (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons

The Common Linnets Win UK Chart Race

The Netherlands : The Common Linnets

Conchita Wurst may have won the 59th Eurovision Song Contest, but there was a reversal of fortunes when the UK Top 40 was revealed yesterday. Runners-up The Common Linnets from The Netherlands calmly stormed into the Top 10 at Number 9, leaving Austria's entry something of a damp squib at Number 17.

The midweek chart update promised a different outcome, with three Eurovision songs figuring in the Top 10. However, sales began to decline later in the week and Molly's Children of the Universe suffered along with Rise Like A Phoenix. The good news, though, is that the Contest has produced thirteen chart entries on this week's Top 100:

• 9 Calm After The Storm 
• 17 Rise Like A Phoenix 
• 23 Children Of The Universe 
• 40 Undo 
• 46 Cliche Love Song 
• 70 No Prejudice 
• 73 Rainmaker 
• 82 Coming Home 
• 85 Hunter Of Stars 
• 88 Not Alone 
• 89 Moustache 
• 93 Something Better 
• 97 Silent Storm

The fact now is that The Common Linnets have become the highest placed non-winners on the British charts for many years - not including previous UK entries. Of course, this assumes that one of the other Eurovision tracks cannot better its current placing.

From memory, this is the first time that this has happened in exactly forty years. When ABBA took the Eurovision crown in 1974, it was also among four of the songs from that year's Contest that were popular enough with the British public to register within the Top 20.

Naturally, ABBA reigned supreme at Number 1 with Waterloo and the UK's Long Live Love managed a Number 11 peak, but more impressively, the songs that finished second and third both figured in the Top 10. Italy's Gigliola Cinquetti took the English language version of Si (Go) to Number 8 and, ironically, the Dutch entry called I See A Star by Mouth and MacNeal also reached a high position of Number 8.



It seems that Eurovision 2014 has turned out to be a more impressive year than I first thought it would be. 

Image by Albin Olsson (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Eurovision 2014: The Final Review

Winner: Austria: Conchita Wurst: Rise Like A Phoenix

I was hoping that Rise Like A Phoenix would not win this year's Eurovision Song Contest. That hope had nothing to do with beards, drag acts or equality, but more to do with a desire to see the Contest progress musically.

With Eurovision, my passion for change has always been an uphill struggle. After all, apart from its reputation for disposable plastic pop, it has now become even more of a tele-visual (and social media) event than ever before: its 21st-century incarnation seemingly relying more heavily than ever on catching one's eye as well as one's ear. The songs are still important of course, because well, it is a song contest. The problem for me is that it has become - this year particularly - a triumph of presentation above everything else.

For instance, if the UK telephone vote is the British barometer of quality music, then we would be celebrating the Polish version of Carry On Eurovision as the winner. Admittedly, there's a large Polish expatriate population here, but all the performance really needed was to have Sid James and Kenneth Williams lasciviously ogling those mildly lewd and very buxom Slavic girls. Oh yes, a triumph for progress!

Equally, it was not the song that won the title for Austria. Strip away the drag act, and particularly the beard, and all you have left is a composition that would not have been out of place on a Shirley Bassey album 45 years ago. The most daring thing about the whole package was the "bearded lady" headline and that is what most of the world's press concentrated on. Outside of the tabloid histrionics all that remains is an average ballad, hyped on stage by a stimulating light display.

Lest anyone forget, David Bowie and others were experimenting with sexual identity through popular music around the time Dame Shirley was recording Diamonds Are Forever. It's no wonder I have the feeling that Conchita has set Eurovision back four decades, rather than add credibility to the whole event and contribute to it advancing musically.

There was a glimmer of hope on Saturday, though. The Netherlands have decided to try harder after years out in the Eurovision wilderness. Anouk and her Birds led the way in 2013, while those other songbirds The Common Linnets rose like a phoenix out of Dutch despair and very nearly captured Eurovision glory after 39 years.



Thankfully, their runners-up position was due to a reliability on musical substance rather than glittering visuals. While the song Calm After the Storm is not necessarily cutting edge, it does reflect a professional attempt to present something that you might hear outside of the bubble of the Contest. For Eurovision, that's more powerful than any kind of "message" that an individual might want to send to other parts of the world.

That's the kind of progress this competition needs. While equality in all spheres of life is desirable, The Eurovision Song Contest should be about the music. Both Anouk and The Common Linnets have proved that this can be done without the flashy gimmicks.

The Slavic Girls may have titillated British viewers to spend money on votes, but as I write, the Polish entry is nowhere to be seen on the real-time iTunes charts. Conchita Wurst is struggling to make her point at Number 18, but there is a small victory for music as Calm After the Storm currently ranks at Number 5.

Forty years ago, ABBA managed to top the charts across Europe and in the process changed perceptions and attitudes. For a while, Eurovision was cool and a musical career was a possibility because of it. The Swedes demonstrated there was a life after the Contest. While The Common Linnets may not make such an impressive impact, I believe that this will not be the last that we'll hear from them.

I suspect a different outcome for Conchita. As much as I enjoy indulging in my passion for music from my youth, I wish that Ms. Wurst had not dragged me and Eurovision back into the past. She has only helped to strengthen the argument among naysayers that it continues to be irrelevant and banal. For that, I cannot thank her.

Winners: Composer and Artistic Award: The Common Linnets

Photos courtesy of EBU Eurovision

Eurovision Semi Final 2: Cheers and Tears

Greece; Malta; Belarus; Finland; Austria

If Eurovision semi-final one was somewhat bland and dreary, things changed last night as semi-final two brought us most everything that you would expect from the competition.

Cheers for Conchita Wurst who, predictably, stole the show. This was mostly due to her drama queen stance, rather than the drag queen one that we have all become accustomed to over the past couple of months. Singing in the middle of the pack of fifteen did not seem to faze her, giving what was the best vocal of the evening in her rendition of a mediocre Bond-style theme. The crowd lapped it all up and gave her a resounding cheer as she pouted her thanks to the mainly gay contingent in the crowd.

The drama was not over though. After a delayed announcement of the qualifiers for Saturday, the "random" reading of the countries was left to just one of the final six. Austria was one of them and, as I shouted Israel at the TV, Conchita was announced as the tenth qualifier. There was much Miss Piggy-style hand gesturing and hair flicking from the Austrian as the audience erupted in a wave of self-satisfied relief.

Well done, Conchita. But what of the rest? As I implied, tears for Israel. Mei Finegold put on a wonderful performance of her song, but it was obviously not quirky or showy enough for the voters. It was definitely one of the best songs on the night and outshone the likes of Greece, whose rap-influenced party song had been sung much, much better on previous occasions.

No real surprises as far as Georgia, Latvia and Macedonia were concerned. Georgia just baffled everyone and Latvia's act looked and sounded like a couple of reject aliens from the 1980s Dr. Who era. Macedonia's Tijana was more entertaining when she spoke to Scott Mills on Tuesday than she was on stage. Some tears for Ireland, though. Kasey Smith could not replicate with her frock what the Slavic girls did for Poland. A shame really because Ireland's song was better, even if the vocals were a tad weak and off key.

Unlike Slovenia's performance, which turned out to be one of the best of the evening. I may be a little bias here because Round and Round is a particular favourite of mine and I was willing it through to the final. Tinkara may be your perception of the evil queen in Snow White, but she knows how to handle a flute and a killer chorus. She's also bagged a peachy place in the Final (17th - see the Grand Final running order here), so that will do her chances no harm.

Most of the other qualifiers were as expected although Belarus and, to some extent, Switzerland were a surprise. Having some of your near neighbours in your half of the draw can help, as we know.

And so to the Final, where Malta, Belarus, Norway, Poland, Austria, Finland, Switzerland, Greece, Slovenia and Romania join the 10 qualifiers from Tuesday.

Who will win? One of these four: The Netherlands, Austria, The UK or Sweden.

Romania; Poland; Switzerland; Norway; Slovenia

Photos courtesy of Eurovision EBU

Eurovision Semi-Final 1: The Day After

Netherlands; Hungary; Azerbaijan; Iceland; San Marino

The dust is settling after a busy, and somewhat surprising, evening of Eurovision highs and lows.

Unfortunately, there seemed to be more lows than highs in this section of the draw, with the whole semi-final having a somewhat dull and dreary feel to it. There were (continuing the meteorological metaphors) some sunny periods, but in general, it was grey and overcast.

Our trio of presenters did not help much, seemingly pre-programmed automatons who brought very little humour or joie de vivre to the proceedings. One or two lively presenters is normally enough, but these three bores added nothing to the evening.

Many of the songs were in the same vein. Some of the favourites flopped badly. Armenia's Aram MP3's vocals resembled the proverbial pancake, while the pretty Dilara Kazimova from Azerbaijan mumbled her way through what was meant to be an English lyric. On those performances, neither should have qualified. However, being told constantly that these songs are amongst those expected to score highly obviously continues to resonate with voters.

Talking of favourites, Sanna Neilsen from Sweden did what was expected of her and provided one of the nights best vocals while one of my tips, Hungary, could have been better.

However, the true stars of the night were divided by genre, but united in vocal quality and superior presentation. The Icelandic band, Pollapönk, pulled off a lively, colourful staging of its song No Prejudice, while The Netherlands gave a brooding and intimate rendition of their country track, Calm After the Storm. The Common Linnets appear in my personal Top 10 this year and I would not be surprised to see them in the official one (or higher) come Saturday evening.

Surprises of the night? San Marino and Montenegro, of course. Valentina Monetta possibly received the sympathy vote, but nevertheless, she has finally qualified. As for Sergej Ćetković, this was no real surprise for me as he provided one of the best vocals of the evening.

Among those that did not qualify, the most startling results possibly belonged to Belgium and Estonia. Tanja was simply not Amazing enough, despite an entertaining routine and Axel Hirsoux's voice seemed to suffer from nervous tension.

The evening was rounded off with a very good natured late press conference, where all the qualifiers chose in which half of the final they would appear. Sanna Neilsen gritted her teeth through a smile when she discovered that she had selected the first half. The luck of the draw, as they say!

And so on to Thursday when we will find out which other countries will join Armenia, The Netherlands, Sweden, Russia, Montenegro, San Marino, Hungary, Iceland, Azerbaijan and Ukraine in the Grand Final.

Armenia; Ukraine; Montenegro; Russia; Sweden

Photos courtesy of EBU Eurovision

Eurovision 2014: A Personal Top 10

Over the past few months, I have been among many voices expressing an opinion about the various songs that have been brought to this year's 59th Eurovision Song Contest. It's been a long and busy ride for this one man band, only finishing and publishing my last review this past weekend.

Thirty-seven songs later, I thought I would gather my thoughts together and construct a countdown of my own favourite tracks from among them. I always find it difficult to create these kind of lists, so to make my life easier, I have decided upon just a Top 10. I would never be able to choose who I think should be placed at, for example, Number 28 and Number 29. That just seems a pointless exercise.

The only criteria I have allowed myself is: Which songs do I like enough to make me part with my hard-earned cash?

So, with the first semi-final just hours away, here's my own personal Top 10 of 2014.

1. United Kingdom: Children of the Universe: Molly
2. Hungary: Running: András Kállay-Saunders
3. Slovenia: Spet (Round and Round): Tinkara Kovač
4. Sweden: Undo: Sanna Nielsen
5. Greece: Rise Up: Freaky Fortune ft. RiskyKidd
6. Israel: Same Heart: Mei Finegold
7. Italy: La mia città: Emma Marrone
8. Ireland: Heartbeat: Can-Linn ft. Kasey Smith
9. Netherlands: Calm After the Storm: The Common Linnets
10. Denmark: Cliché Love Song: Basim

This is a very fluid list, but none of the selected countries would change. Of course, under normal circumstances, as a Brit I would not be able to vote for the United Kingdom. So, my substitute would be: Norway.

It will be interesting to see how these songs fare over the next five days and to discover just how bad my skills are at predicting the rankings at The Eurovision Song Contest! Good luck, Molly!

How about you? Do you have your favourite songs?

Eurovision 2014: Sweden: Undo

Sweden: Sanna Nielsen

Melodifestivalen, the Swedish national Eurovision event, usually creates a buzz of anticipation and this year it was no different.

In a tough final battle with Ace Wilder and her (now) hit song, Busy Doin' Nothin', seven-time participant Sanna Nielsen finally took the crown by a slim two points and will represent Sweden in Copenhagen with Undo.

It's a testament to Sweden's commitment to Eurovision that (at least) two quality songs were in the running for the event. In the end, the ballad beat out the pop dance tune, but either could easily have been contenders at this year's event.

Rightly, Undo has become one of the favourites to win the competition, already topping the poll undertaken by OGAE, a network of 40 Eurovision Song Contest fan clubs. While this is organised by a group of committed fans, it can quite often become the barometer for the public vote.

So, it's all sounding good for Sanna Nielsen whose amazing voice pushes this superior ballad to places very few other ballads go this year. It's power is in its heartbreaking lyrics which, although tinged with sadness, give the impression that no-one should mess with Sanna.

Because of this, I anticipate a commanding performance from the Swedish singer. Finally, she has the perfect song to match her talent as an exceptional chanteuse. I have no doubt it will bring the house down in the B&W Hallerna.

Will she get votes, though? Of course. It will quite easily qualify from the first semi-final and there will be something very wrong if the public don't send this to the left hand side of the scoreboard on May 10.

Don't be surprised to see Sanna Nielsen in the Top 3 - or indeed enjoying another win for Sweden.

Eurovision 2014: Slovenia: Spet/Round & Round

Slovenia: Tinkara Kovač

Since the introduction of the semi-finals in 2004, Slovenia has not had a great record in qualifying for the main event. However, Tinkara Kovač hopes to change all that with her Eurovision entry Round and Round.

Tinkara is no stranger to the contest, having tried to represent her country on three other occasions - finishing second in the national final of 1999. This year she was up against six other competitors, winning out in a Super Final versus a delightfully named group called Muff. She was aided in her win with a song that is partly composed by Eurovision veteran and last year's Slovenian entrant, Hannah Mancini.

I think she's given Tinkara a winning tune. Not winning in the sense that it will top the scoreboard on May 10, but one that has become something of a personal addiction. There's always one or two songs each year that become my guilty pleasure(s), but which are seemingly overlooked by the majority of Eurovision fans. Last year, it was Hungary. This year, it's Slovenia.

Round and Round is a proper pop song. By that, I mean it is among only a few tracks included in this year's Contest that you are likely to hear on the radio because it deserves to be there. It's not an overwrought ballad or an overly familiar Eurodance track which Eurovision tends to produce ad nauseum.

It's contemporary, yet ethnic in its stance, blending Slovenian and English lyrics with ease. Its impact may not be immediate, but after a couple of listens, the song's chorus hooks you and drags you in. Tinkara's vocals help it along nicely too and what a treat to see the return of the flute centre stage.

Will it win votes, though? It's got my head in a spin and you can probably tell that I hope it will do the same for others. Given great staging and the best of performances on the night, I would imagine that we will see Slovenia in the final for the first time since 2011. It also benefits from a plum position in the semis: the penultimate performance in the second half of the second semi-final.

It's not the winner, but it's good enough to be Top 12.


Image by Andraž Blaznik (email) [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Eurovision 2014: San Marino: Maybe (Forse)

San Marino: Valentina Monetta

We've known since last June that Valentina Monetta would be returning to represent San Marino at Eurovision.

What we didn't know, until last March, was that the song which she will take to Copenhagen will be a track that's included on her latest album: Maybe (Forse).

You have to hand it to Valentina, taking on Eurovision three years in a row is no mean feat. Many other singers would have given up after the first attempt, so she must be made of stern stuff.

Perhaps there's a little determination in the decision too. Not only is this her third attempt, but it's her third attempt at trying to qualify.

In fact, ever since its first participation in 2008, San Marino has failed to qualify for the Grand Final. Last year, it only just lost out when Crisalide (Vola) finished eleventh in its semi-final.

For this reason, I was expecting something spectacular from Valentina this year. A song powerful and memorable enough to allow her to qualify. Unfortunately, I am totally underwhelmed with Maybe.

Some have said that it's another James Bond styled movie theme, but that's not what I'm hearing. It does not have that depth or drama. Admittedly, you can't deny that it's sung exceptionally well, even if Valentina's accent is more obvious than in the past.

What she is singing about is a matter for debate. The lyrics seem to make no real sense. Is this a love song or is there a hidden statement trying to escape? Talk of oysters and pearls and dreams and peace produce no real synergy and leave the whole experience meaningless.

But, will viewers vote for it? I'd really like to think the song will garner enough interest to at least push it through to the Final. That would be a vindication of Valentina's efforts, if nothing else. That's what my heart tells me.

My head tells me that it's unlikely to happen, though. The song is just too bland and does not have a memorable enough hook to draw people in. A good stage presentation may make a difference, but with six songs failing to make the cut in San Marino's semi-final, I've a feeling that Maybe will be one of them.