Entry #1: Ovi Martin, Johanna Demker and Björn Djupström - I'll Be Yours, performed by Pernille Svensen Øiestad and Marius Barhaugen. Umm ... they seem confident, but I'm not sure that's warranted. This song is strangely unmelodious. Like the lyrics are on a different beat from the music. o_O Really strange, and I'm not at all sure that I like it. And I can't stand their outfits - she is all dressed up and he's in a white tee and jeans. That is soo typical. You never see the guy in a suit and the girl in ordinary boring clothes. Boo. I'm surprised that this is Martin's entry. He's a pro at this and last year his song just rocked. He came third internationally, even. This song's got nothing on Playing With Fire.
Entry #2: Halvor Holter and Tarjei Van Ravens - Depend On Me, performed by Babel Fish. Meh. Anne Ida says that she thinks she's heard it before, even though she knows she hasn't. Now that's not a good sign. :-) I'm not a fan of this ... it's a pretty enough song, but too slow and with no real hook to it. They'll probably get through to the semi if nothing else, just because of who they are, but I don't think they'd do that well in Düsseldorf. This is just too bland. It'll drown in all the other shit, I mean songs. ;-) But kudos for writing their own entry, although I would have been very surprised if they hadn't.
Entry #3: Marika Lejon - Hungry For You (Gipsydance), performed by Marika Lejon. Again, points for performing her own entry. But minus points for calling it 'gypsy dance' (and misspelling it). I'm not a gypsy fan, call me a racist if you want. And, wahey, what's with the costume! LOL! Crazy outfit on her and on all the others ... but kind of fun, I guess, if you like that kind of thing. What I do like is the song. It's catchy and funny and with a great eastern European kind of beat to it ... I can think of some people who might like this a lot. :-) She's cute and funny and has a good stage presence ... I do wonder at her voice, though, I can't imagine she sings like that normally. o_O But it matches the song. A good entry, my favorite so far.
Entry #4: Isabella Leroy - Sand, performed by Isabella Leroy. Huh. This could hardly be more different from the previous entry. :-) Which is a good thing and part of what makes the contest so much fun, of course. But kind of a jolt all the same, it's pretty extreme in this case. As for the song, it's good, but it's not going to go anywhere. I can't really explain why ... it just isn't ESC material. She's got an interesting voice and the song is really pretty good - we like it - but it just doesn't fit here. Although Ukraine did pretty well with an entry that was reminiscent of this. But still, this isn't going anywhere. Kind of sad.
Marika backstage is getting a great reaction from the audience during her little interview there ... she's going to do well tonight, I think. I hope. :-)
Entry #5: Samsaya Sharma and Jarl Aanestad - Oh Oh (Puppy Love), performed by Endre Nordvik. I tend to expect good things from Samsaya, but, I don't know. Not sure about this one. Good thing it has a very young singer, but it might have been better with a girl. Kind of tacky choreography. The outfits the backing dancers are wearing, at least. IMO. The song is ... I don't know, kind of bland. The singer's voice isn't very strong, I don't think he does the song justice. I have a hard time judging the merits of this song ... it's rather forgettable now, but who knows what it could have been with a stronger singer. This may be this year's Yes Man, though. :-)
Entry #6: Hanne Sørvaag and Martin Hansen - You're Like A Melody, performed by Hanne Sørvaag. Now this is interesting - Sørvaag is such an ESC vet, but she's never performed before, she's only competed. So I've kind of got my fingers crossed for her, actually. But her dress ... !! The first words out of Anne Ida's mouth was That dress is not becoming!! LOL! I couldn't agree more. And the guitar, sheesh. They could at least have put some strings on it, just for show. But I digress. The song is ... not bad, not that good either, but not at all bad. Perfectly alright. She's good. She could have looked soo much better though. Change the dress, please ... ! The audience is really into her though. She may well get through. I kind of hope she does.
Entry #7: Merethe La Verdi and Kjetil Schei - Allergic, performed by Mimi Blix. A supermodel on stage? I'd never heard about her before she was announced as a performed this year, so I think I'll just stick with model. ;-) Much nicer dress. Would have looked better with a longer skirt, but again, that's just me. The song is ... catchy right now, but will probably get annoying really soon. The singer's good though, pretty and self-confident and with a really good stage presence. Weird choreography. Overall a good entry BUT would probably really get on our nerves if this were to win. But it probably won't. :-)
Fun interval entertainment ... not so much the hunt for Mr Florø, although I do like firemen, but I love Alexander Stenerud. So glad they chose one of his songs and not the entry Schanke bombed with ... :-)
The results! Two to the semi and two to the final. My guess ... or at least my hope is the gipsy dance to the semi, along with probably Mimi Blix. Sørvaag and Babel Fish to the final. No question about the latter. Let's see.
Semifinalists:
Endre - Oh Oh (Puppy Love)
Mimi Blix - Allergic
Finalists:
Hanne Sørvaag - You're Like A Melody
Babel Fish - Depend On Me
Well, no real surprises. Just too bad with the puppy love. But that's how the cookie crumbles. I'm relatively happy with these results, as far as that goes, but I hope that none of these songs ends up as our actual entry on February 12th. If one of them does, it'll be Depend On Me, but only because it's Babel Fish. And that's not going to cut it in Düsseldorf.
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