Malmö 2013 - final

OMG OMG OMG ... !!!

IT'S ON ... !!! :-D

This caterpillar thing they're doing in the opening is brilliant. We love it. Cute and fun and clever. Promising. :-)

Now on to the arena. Beautiful music - Björn & Benny, that's a coup - and the copy bridge, we're thinking Loreen will come across that at some point. :-) But no! It's all the performers! With flag bearers! It's the Olympics! :-D Wow, this is so cool. Seriously, this is fantastic. We love this. Brilliant idea.

Petra's dress is so much prettier tonight. Much better choice. But tonight she probably will change out of it. :-D

France. I hope she'll be wearing her little black flame dress. I really like this song, but it's not very accessible.  And she's wearing a different dress. :-( The song is so good though. I like her voice, it has character. And she's certainly putting a lot of energy into her performance. It's far from a standard ballad. She really has the arena going. This is a good way to open the show, certainly. I like this a lot, we all do, but like I said it's not all that accessible. Another song that would have benefited from going through the semis. Fingers crossed for France. Ooh, and plus points for singing in French.

Lithuania. We're not overwhelmed by this. But it is growing on us. It's kind of catchy while you're listening to it. He's not much of a singer but I can see how a lot of teenyboppers would find him physically appealing. I myself am put off by his bad pronunciaton though. Totally OK song, but totally bland. So not the winner by any stretch of the imagination.

Moldova! I'm rooting for them now, after Tuesday's semi. I love this song!! It's so beautiful and she performs it so beautifully. That melody ... !! She could have done without the dancers though. That dress is enough of a show in itself. :-) I love this! I'm totally going to vote for Moldova. Chisinau 2014!!!

Finland. My original favorite. Still like this a lot, but beautiful isn't the word that comes to mind first. A lot of fun though. Her performance is better than on Thursday. Hope they'll do well, but this isn't a winner. Good presentation, good song, fun entry, but not a winner.

Spain. Also not a winner. Pretty girl, OK voice, eye-catching dress, OK presentation and pretty good performance. This is also the best I've heard this entry performed. But it's nowhere near enough to take them anywhere. OK to listen to but nothing more than that. Same old same old from Spain, I'm afraid.

Belgium. Oh, it's the baby serial killer ... !! Eek. He's slightly less creepy tonight. Although that may be because I'm expecting it. o_O But the song is catchy, definitely. And I'm sure the teenyboppers go for this, big time. But we firmly oppose his way of smiling during the chorus! "Love kills", so what are you grinning about?? A pretty good voice. This could do OK, I guess, but it's no winner. I certainly hope not, then he'll never stop smiling.

Estonia. Maybe the most standardized entry tonight. Pretty girl, pretty voice, pretty dress, pretty ballad, good performance ... a somewhat evocative presentation, I'll give them that. But there's absolutely no hook to this in any way, shape or form. You can't hum this even when you're listening to it. Sorry, Estonia. Nothing wrong with this, but nothing to remember either. Ooh, except that the lyrics are in Estonian, kudos for that.

Belarus. A lot better than 2011, at least. ;-) Very catchy, not to mention very eye-catching, but I'm sure we've all heard this a hundred times before. Not that that's going to matter. It's super catchy. The presentation is a bit OTT, but who cares, it's the ESC. This is the kind of entry that I'm a little bit ashamed of enjoying so much. ;-) A serious contender. But of course the Belarusians can't be allowed to win ... !! :-o

Malta. Oh, if they could only win one time ... !! But they probably won't manage that this year. :-) This is a really cute entry though. Totally charming. And how could anyone dislike their singer?? I like this entry more every time I hear it. It's adorable. Precious. :-) Not the winner, but only because there's no award given for cuteness and charm. :-)

Russia. Beautiful singer with a beautiful voice. Maybe the best singer tonight. Her pronunciaton could be better, but you can't have everything. Striking presentation. Absolutely beautiful entry. Although I'm having to work a bit to suppress the irony of this message coming from Russia. This song isn't catchy, but it's beautiful. A serious contender.

Germany, with their entry Euphoria Light. Sorry, I mean Glorious. Honest mistake - this song is such a total ripoff that it's hard to avoid. Totally catchy though, a wonderful song. For obvious reasons. Not a very good singer. Kind of boring performance, but OK, I guess. Obviously not a winner. But I'm sure they don't want to win either. ;-)

Armenia. My biggest disappointment of the year. :-( Totally boring song. Incredibly boring presentation. And that guy is Armenia's best singer?? Seriously?? I'd like to see a list of who voted for him. They must all have been fourteen years old. That is really the only explanation. Awful performance. Annoying song. BLECH!

The postcards are good though. I've been forgetting to mention that. :-)

I'm the only one in the room who likes Lynda Woodruff. But I like her a lot. :-D

The Netherlands. I'm the only one in the room who likes this too ... ! But to make up for the others' lack of enthusiasm, I love it. Her voice has so much character. And the melody is soo beautiful. A really original entry, unlike so many of the others this year. I love it. It's not a winner, but I hope they do well. I think they have the potential to manage that this year. :-)

Romania. Sheesh. Did I call the Belgian kid creepy? I almost take that back. I mean, we all already know that Dracula was from Romania. Do they really have to rub it in? This is so totally messed up. At the same time though, it's fun to see something really totally out there. I don't know what to say about this. I would LOVE for Romania to win one day, but ... not right now. :-)

UK. A fantastic song that I love more every time I hear it. And I've heard it a lot of times already. :-) Please note that I really like Bonnie Tyler, though. However, I am worried that she will ruin this with a performance that was outdated 20 years ago. I kind of shuddered to see her on The Graham Norton Show. But so far this is much better. Yeah, she managed it pretty well actually. She did not at all disgrace herself. Yay. :-) They won't win with this, but it is a quality entry, they can hold their heads up this year.

Sweden. Our gracious host. OMG, their singer is so douchy. OK voice, I guess, but nothing special. The song is catchy while you're listening to it, but ... nothing special. And the performance is so pointless. Of course SVT doesn't want to win again this year. God forbid it. Fortunately the odds are very good that they won't. :-)

Hungary. Now this we like. Especially since the Swedish entry is so hysterically active, it's so great to just wind down with this. Another charming entry. Totally simple performance, which is perfect for this song. This is very good. It's music, not a circus act. And huge kudos for singing in Hungarian.

Denmark! One of the really massive favorites. I like this a lot ... and I like it more every time I hear it. Good singer, strong melody, great opening. Good performance and interesting presentation. But again, I'm the only fan in the room. :-) KAS and trilltrall are hoping it won't win. trilltrall is hoping for Bucharest 2014, so his opinion can probably be disregarded. ;-) I do agree with KAS though that this is kind of the ultimate ESC entry. I'd be happy to see this win, and it very well might.

Iceland. I LOVE that they're singing in Icelandic. Icelandic is the funnest language in the world. Icelandic FTW!! The melody though is way too bland to get very far. It's quite beautiful to listen too, but two minutes after it's over you couldn't hum it to save your life. And I can't stop thinking how much better this guy would look with short hair. Oh well. Awesome that they're finally singing in their own language. Nice and simple presentation. Good luck to the Icelanders. :-)

Azerbaijan. Another favorite. I LOVE their presentation. So original and clever. But Farid's kind of a douche. He's a pretty good singer though, so I guess it evens out. And the song's good too - again, rather bland, and five minutes from now I won't be able to hum this to save my life. But I like it a lot. V. good entry. Awesomely cool presentation.

Greece. The dark horse of the evening, if you ask me. They can, and probably will, do really well. A fun entry, catchy, with some ethnic elements. A fun performance. Europe's going to dig this. We love Greece. :-) And like I've said before, that title could prove to be a stroke of genius. We'll see. :-)

Ukraine. Another song that's so beautiful while you're listening to it, and then as soon as it's over you can't remember a thing. The singer's pretty good though. The presentation is striking, very evocative. But the song is soo bland. Beautiful but bland. It'll probably do well. Potentially very well indeed. But it's like almost everything else this year. Meh.

Italy. My second biggest disappointment this year. Boring. I expect soo much better from the Italians. :-( There's nothing wrong with this song, and the singer's pretty good, except his suit, but there's absolutely nothing to this entry. Nothing. Boo, Italy! Come back stronger next year.

Norway. Yay us!! Everyone who follows this blog, or who has watched my Youtube reviews, knows that I never praise our own entry unless we deserve it. And we really do this year. This is one of the very best entries this year, no question. Maybe the very best. We are a serious contender. Margaret's performance is great, she doesn't seem nervous at all, although she did claim to be. The presentation is cool, and suits the song very well. Just like her voice. We can be very proud this year, no matter how this turns out. But we could actually really win. :-o Calyx thinks we will win, because everyone will vote for us because we're the only ones who can afford to host. :-D Well, we'll see. Fingers crossed!!!

For everyone on Twitter who's wondering why she doesn't have dragons: Reptiles are illegal as pets in Norway.

Georgia. KAS soo doesn't get this. But trilltrall and I like it a lot. The singers are very good, and it's nice to see a duet. Beautiful melody. Again, pretty bland, but beautiful to listen to. Nothing wrong with this. I can see it getting a lot of votes.

Ireland. The last song already! Unbelievable. Almost as unbelievable as the fact that Ireland has sent a pretty good song. o_O The song's not bad, and his performance is fine, but the presentation is just way way too much. They're going totally overboard with the Celtic knots and everything. I can guarantee that it isn't helping them. And the song gets kind of enervating after a while. But that may be because of the total overkill on the presentation. Sheesh, Ireland, you always mess up.

It's done! :-( I'm nervous on Margaret's behalf already ... ! :-o

The first runthrough. Who to vote for?? Moldova!!! :-D

The interval entertainment. What can it be?? Something that involves Loreen. :-)

Yup. But not Euphoria. Huh. But on the other hand, she is flying. What weird costumes they all have. But here comes Euphoria ... !! Yay!

Second runthrough.

OK, I voted. Once each for Finland, the UK, Hungary, Denmark and the Netherlands. I also accidentally voted twice for Lithuania! I went off to pee during the first runthrough and I got the numbers mixed up. I'm sorry! If Lithuania gets any votes from us, it'll be my fault. :-( But of course I did manage to vote about seven times for Moldova. Good luck to them, fingers crossed ... !!! :-)

The voting's closed. Back to the interval entertainment. Petra's changed her dress! Into a very Swedish one. What will they do. Something ... funny! Hah! This is what you call toning it down. To those of us who know the Swedes, this is hysterical. Hahaha!!

Ooh, Sarah Dawn Finer. Wonder how many of the viewers are recognizing Lynda Woodruff. ;-) Good choice of song, if they have to have ABBA. Which of course they do.

The votes are in! And counted! Eek! Petra's changed her dress again. Well, she had to.

**************

OK, the votes are being called in, and we're watching, but my computer's died twice and I've had to restart. Halfway through now and we're in the top five. I'd be thrilled with that. :-) Denmark's leading the field, unsurprisingly. It's very even though, an exciting vote. Which is the best kind and exactly what we were hoping for. :-)

Of course I was planning a running commentary on the voting, but now I've lost track of what I was going to say. :-) Iceland voting now as #27. A pattern is starting to show ... I think I'm ready to call it - we'll be tuning in to Copenhagen next year. Azerbaijan isn't that far behind, but their problem is that every time they get points, Denmark also get points from the same country. So now that the Danes are about 30 points ahead, well ... you do the math. :-) I'd be very happy to see them win. I like the song a lot too. Plus Azerbaijan only just won ... !!

As long as we're in the top five we should be happy. We only just won too. :-) Plus it warmed our hearts that the Swedes gave us their twelve - they almost never give us their twelve, that is so touching. Aw.

I think the Danes just won with Macedonia's twelve. Good for them! But WTF? They're calling the winner after Macedonia's votes, OK, but we want to hear the rest of the votes too ... !!! WTF?? OK, they are showing them. Good.

I'm very happy for the Moldovans. Of course they never had a chance to actually win, but I'm so happy that they did so well with their beautiful song. Yay. :-)

Denmark's the winner and we came 4th. Not bad, not bad at all. Good for them and good for us. Congratulations Denmark - see you in Copenhagen next year!!! :-D