World of Chig   

11.5.04
Reports from the first dress rehearsal

Cyprus and Serbia & Montenegro will be the two songs that stroll casually into the final on Saturday, if the reaction of us and the crowd is anything to go by. I always thought Lisa Andreas would do well IF she could cut the mustard live, and my God she can. Absolutely captivating, it sent a shiver right through me. I can see this winning on Saturday too.

Of the others, Greece should get through. It's a great show, but a highly over-rated song. In the hall, the vocal mix wasn't right, so we could hear more backing singers than Sakis on some lines. Consequently, I think we were hearing the harmonies rather than the tune and it sounded wrong, but I don't think it was his fault and that kind of thing can always sound better on TV.

We were amused at the end when they revealed a phoney list of ten countries who qualified for Saturday night. They read out the name 'Portugal' and I can assure you that you won't be hearing the announcers saying that word at the end. In fact, you'll be seeing Portugal at the very bottom of the scoresheet. They have managed the impossible. They've taken the worst song of the 36, and they've made it appear even worse on stage. Poor old Sofia has been down to her local carpet warehouse and snapped up a few offcuts of a revolting cerise floor covering. Then someone has made a dress out of it and slung the offcuts in a heap over one shoulder. It's not so much a crime against fashion, but a crime against humanity. I hear she's really nice as well, and speaks good English. Such a shame.

Ruslana for the Ukraine is a spectacular performance, and will get through to Saturday, where she's worth an each way bet. Our worry is that the song didn't come thorough clearly enough. But hey, this is the Eurovision Performance Contest now, isn't it?

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