| May. 15th, 2005 @ 07:30 pm Ireland, Slovenia, Denmark and Poland |
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IRELAND
On the positive side, it is better than it was on Thursday. We're still not seeing their performance outfits, but the routine now seems to be established. Donna & Joe are only doing the most basic moves while the four girls are doing all the choreography including the Irish dancing. Donna & Joe sound great and look relaxed but the backing dancers are not singers and even the little bit that they are being asked to do sounds off key. The stage looks fine, if a little bland compared to others, but the camerawork is really good. I no longer have this in the bottom 5. There are at least 7 songs with far worse performances in the semi. I don't however see it making the final cut. I have two consolations that might give me comfort. Both Bulgaria (before us) and Slovenia (after us) are going down the toilet faster than last night's chicken curry. The other consolation is that this could well be this year's Malta 2004 ("On Again,Off Again") which I didn't like because it was far too cheesey. I don't like cheesy stuff and I'm hopong that "Love?" falls into the same category; a performance I don't like but that a lot of people vote for.
The On_Europe team (see our "Friends" button above) love it, mind you they've been on the beer all day and people's opinion of how good Ireland is seems to have a direct link to how drunk you are. Needless to say no alcohol has passed my lips since I came to Kyiv ;-)
At least two thirds of the people I have spoken to, think that this is either a certain qualifier or is in with a great chhance. I really hope that they are right and I am wrong.
Chances of qualifying : 25% (my opinion)
SLOVENIA
Omar is STILL having problems with the performance, and the crescendo is a cacophony of noise; Omar singing, there's loud rock guitars and an operatic woman, all at top volume. The ending is sweet (Omar walks over and hugs his female backing vocalist), the staging (in red and blue) is magnificent but this is going nowhere.
DENMARK
Jacob is in a pink paisley shirt and grey suit (as are his four backing singers) and clashing brown shoes (that look completly out of place). Jacob, is really singing his socks off. He now starts on one of the elevated side stages and walks down when the chorus kicks in. The routine involves a lot of walking around and with some nice camera work it really looks well. I like this a lot, but I still have a reservation on it getting through, as it is a tad empty. Chances of qualifying : 30%
POLAND
As lively as a bag of cats, well performed but very one dimensional. The performance is exactly as it was on Friday. It's still a contender, and I would rate its chances at 45%.
There seems to be a general agreement that its MUCH easier to choose 10 non-qualifers than choosing 10 that will make it through, and that there are only two or three certain qualifiers. The dress rehersals on Wednesday and Thursday will tell a tale, but at the moment, none of the following are getting through unless there's a HUGE improvement; Lithuania, Portugal, Latvia, Belgium, Estonia, Macedonia, Andorra, Bulgaria, Slovenia. That leaves 16 in contention for 10 places. And I would rank them as follows;
Virtually certain; Iceland, Switzerland, Belarus
Great chances; Israel, Hungary, Croatia
Better than average chance; Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Poland
Likely to just miss out; Austria, Monaco, Romania
Still (just about) at the races; Moldova, Ireland, Denmark
But it's still all he play for!. |
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akoe's journal
Thanks again to Dermot Manning. Anyone is free to use these, but please give credit.
