Maybe I should have put this in my ten instead? It certainly looks dramatic and she can belt 'em out. That's not sweat on her neck - it's glitter. "It's just shouting," says Nina, next to me.

Qualifying? Borderline.

Labels: Albania, Eurovision 2011

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When we're planning our activities for the 25th of December, who can honestly say that they haven't thought; 'What would really make my Christmas night is for us to hold the final of our national song contest and decide what we're sending to Eurovision'? Admit it, you've often thought that, while flicking through the Christmas Radio Times and considering watching Doctor Who, Strictly Come Dancing and The Royle Family. Again.

Ladies and gentlemen, in Albania, dreams can come true. As there's nothing else on, tonight they picked this 'song' (in the loosest sense) for Düsseldorf. It's not making any impression with me, apart from her looking like a P!nk fan 'stroke' dominatrix from Lesbania, but let's not rush to judgement. Knowing Albania's recent Eurovision history, this will be revamped, remixed and relinguified (a word I just made up, but which seems entirely appropriate) before it appears as some disco stomper in English on the Eurovision stage. We can but hope.

Eurovision 2011 - Song #2

Albania - 'Kënga Ime' - Aurela Gaçe



Me, I'm just hoping that her surname might be pronounced 'gash' in Albanian. That's how puerile I am.

Labels: Albania, Eurovision 2011

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He's on stage with Albania!

Photo (c) All Kinds Of Everything 2009

Labels: Albania, Eurovision 2009, Leigh Bowery

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I think it's fair to say we've passed all the songs which anyone might describe as 'awful' in this year's contest. No, scrap that, it's completely contentious. I have lifted Spain, Finland and Azerbaijan above that threshold, but there will be detractors. I'm only representing myself here. All the rest of you are wrong. Please remember that. [Smiley face.]

This Albanian song is another one (as every year) which, to 8 million UK viewers (except those Albanians amongst us) will sound like three minutes of silence, followed by an invisible reprise. You might as well pencil in the zero on the scoreboard now under 'UK'. (We get to vote in the second semi-final, in which this appears. Well, I say 'we'. I mean you. I'll be in Belgrade.) We just don't get this type of song. After years of exposure, I come to this with a more open mind, but I still wasn't massively impressed when this was revealed as the winner back in December. Yes, December! I thought this performance was a big weak and shaky.

Albania - 'Zemrën e lamë peng' - Olta Boka



However, this has risen slightly in my list due to this video, which has beefed up and improved the song greatly. It's still my #28 though.

Labels: Albania, Eurovision 2008

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We mentioned it once (back in November) but I think we got away with it. However, the self-imposed moratorium on mentioning it has now ended, so I would now like to declare the Eurovision season officially open! Some of you may now wish to look away until about 26th May.

We had our first gathering of the season on Saturday, to watch the Cypriot final and the first Danish semi-final. The good people of Cyprus decided that, even with only three countries’ songs for this year chosen and in the public domain so far, there is clearly not enough unintentional comedy heading for Belgrade, so they decided to make Cyprus this year’s laughing stock. To this end, they have chosen well. The song they picked on Saturday is destined to end up a long way short of qualifying for the final. The song, Femme Fatale, is the second in a row from Cyprus with a French title. However, unlike last year’s Comme Ci, Comme Ca from Evridiki, it’s not in French. It was, in fact, the only song in the Cypriot final in Greek, which probably had a lot to do with it being picked, and the fact that it's in a musical style which is very obviously going to appeal to a domestic audience. That's the problem though; its appeal won't travel much further afield than Cyprus and Greece.

There was a very interesting song called Moments of Madness, but unfortunately Cyprus had some and picked the wrong song. 'Femme Fatale' is a dog's dinner of a song/cabaret act, which can't make its mind up what song it wants to be and will end up near the bottom of the pile, no matter where it is drawn in one of the new semi-finals.

Watching the Cypriot final at B+K's, I wrote these notes on my scoresheet after watching 'Femme Fatale':

"Slow start, then v. Greek + v. gay. A mess. 4/10"

But when it came to our voting, I was laughing out loud, as I found myself giving a song that I'd described as "a mess" eight points, because the selection was so poor that only two were better. (Moments of Madness was by far the best choice, I thought.)

Here is the Cypriot winner. Please bear in mind that this is not a medley of former Cypriot favourites. It's just the one song, apparently.



Here are the other three songs destined for Beograd which have been revealed (Switzerland and half of Andorra's) or chosen (Albania) so far.

Do we already have the winner, from Switzerland? Or is a song in Italian never going to break through again? It's certainly damn good and he's not ugly either. Your comments are welcome.

Switzerland - 'Era Stupendo' - Paolo Meneguzzi



Albania - 'Zemren e lame peng' - Olta Boka



Andorra - 'Casanova' (audio only) - Gisela

Labels: Albania, Andorra, Cyprus, Eurovision 2008, Switzerland

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