ESC 2012 - Norway, round three

I watched this, but wasn't able to blog it, because board game night. :-) I made notes though, while we played Mystery of the Abbey. :-D

This was the last round before the final, three of the final ten were to be selected. Then the jury's wild card would be 'drawn' a few days later. Oh, the excitement. ;-) I really liked Stokstad's dress.

Entry #1: Stay by Peter Boström, Figge Boström and Tooji, performed by Tooji. SO American. Could have been catchy, but just doesn't have the personality. He doesn't have much of a singing voice, very weak. An OK entry, but very forgettable. We forgot it before we were even done watching it. The performance is professional, but the song has no character, and the singer is ... bad. Sorry. I would never vote for this and I don't think many other Europeans would either.

Entry #2: Si by Marthe Valle, Bjarte Ludvigsen, Jens Kristian Rimau and Anders Bjelland, performed by Marthe Valle. Great that she's singing in Norwegian. Also always good to have had the singer contributing to their own entry. (I may forget to mention this sometimes, but you can take it as given that this is always my opinion on the issue. :-) Good theme for an entry, and I love that she's using her own dialect. But this just isn't catchy enough. The melody is too even, there's no hook to it. The audience won't remember this ... not in Baku, but not in Florø either, so that won't be a problem.

Entry #3: Things Change by Bobby Bare, performed by Petter Øien and Bobby Bare. NRK must have changed the rules without telling us, because last time I checked, each entry had to be at least 50% Norwegian. Ie, no foreigner could compete without having collaborated with a Norwegian citizen. (And remember, with this entry, only Bare is competing. It's the composers and songwriters that are the competitors, so Øien is not taking part in the actual competition, only in the performence.) I liked the old rule. >:-( What I also don't like is this song. Sheesh! It is WAY too American. Catchy as far as this genre goes, but it is not an ESC song. Germany sent something like this in 2006 and it went ... OK. They came 14th. I question whether we would do as well with this. This is too ... there's no English word for it, in Norwegian we would call it traust. The kids won't like this. And generally down east it won't go down well. Nothing wrong with the song, but it's inappropriate for this setting, IMO. I thought it might do well here though since I suspect that it's to a large extent the older generations who vote in this country.

Entry #4: Sammen by Sigve Bull and El Axel, performed by Yaseen and Julie Maria. These teenyboppers will probably do well since they have a big built-in fan base among the segment that is too young to be out partying on Saturday nights. ;-) The song though ... it's in Norwegian, which is good, but it's rap, which is not good. Enough with the rap already, it doesn't work! Too American. And I'm sorry, but it's not too clever to send an immigrant. The performance is OK, but the entry as a whole isn't a winner. It's too immature. The theme is unoriginal, although who would notice that. :-D And there are way way too many people on stage. NRK need to stop doing this, they're tricking the audience. >:-(

Entry #5: The Greatest Day by Håvard Lothe, performed by Håvard Lothe Band. A love song from a different angle, I kind of like that. But that's mostly all I like too. Again pretty American, not too smart. This is a very generic song. Not very catchy. A standard pop song, definitely not a winner. No real hook, no personality. Meh. Forgot it while I was listening.

Entry #6: Euphoria by Silya Nymoen, performed by Silya Nymoen. OK, so, she's performing her own entry, that's good. I also like the title. Otheriwse ... catchy but slutty. Gets pretty enervating pretty soon. It's an eye-catching act, but it's not what you would call classy. She's got a lot of energy on stage but she's not a very good singer. So ... middling, I guess. But yeah, it catches your eye. Maybe enough to get through.

Entry #7: Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time by Chris Barron, Erik Røe, Arne Hovda and Hans Petter Aaserud, performed by the Canoes. Now here's something that's original but not slutty. That's more my kind of combo. This would stand out. The title is really good and the lyrics are cool. I like this. They had some problems with their performance, just technical difficulties beyond their control, but once those were worked out they gave a good show. It's low key but good entertainment. Latvia sent something in 2007 that this reminds me of, they did OK. These guys would be cool to see again, I like this. So of course assumed it wouldn't get through. ;-)

Entry #8: Sailors by Lise Karlsnes and Thomas Eriksen, performed by Lise Karlsnes. The night's big name. The kind that everyone is so sure will get through that nobody bothers to vote. ;-) I was pretty sure from the start that she would get through. The performance is professional but the outfit is tacky. It would actually have been better with Karlsnes alone on stage, IMO. She should definitely have the confidence to carry that off. The presentation of the song is cool but would have been better without the backing. Decisions, decisions ...

I voted twice for the Canoes. Hardly had time to guess who'd make it what with the murderer running loose and all our desperate attempts to catch him. I was kind of surprised by the results - entries 4, 1 and 3 got through. None of which would stand even a fighting chance in Baku, alas. Entry #8 didn't make it, that was a surprise. But later she turned up as the wild card. That was less of a surprise. :-)