UKRAINE 2011 - Angel

Isn't it annoying when some other country ends up choosing the wrong song in their national selections, and there's nothing you can do about it? The Swedes did that in 2007, and I still haven't gotten over it. Now the Ukrainians did it this year. I wanted this song to win in Ukraine this year. Sure, her dress needs a little nip and tuck, the performance is kind of overblown sometimes, and I don't know what the deal is with that thing on her head, but the song ... it's the song that counts. Mostly. :-) And this song is lovely ... and nowhere near as crazy-looking as the one that actually won. o_O

But alas, wishes don't always come true. And I guess there isn't all that much wrong with the entry they did choose. It's just ... I don't know, I can hardly focus on the song, the presentation gets totally in the way for me. Those dancing boys dressed as angels, and carrying mirrors ... and so much body makeup ... I'm sorry, it just messes up the whole thing. And with those lyrics, brrr ... it would have been so much better if they'd have kept them in Russian. At least then I could have hoped they were a little less ... profound ... than they are now revealed to be. Those lyrics + that presentation = bad idea. If I were writing this in Norwegian, I would be using the adjective overtydelig right about now. Oh well. They may end up changing it for all I know. I hope they do.

This song isn't all that bad, it could have been both worse and better, but I think it's too anonymous to do well in Düsseldorf. And the presentation is just completely distracting. Thumbs down for Ukraine.

If you're thinking that this singer has pretty lousy pronunciation considering her name, don't worry. 'Tain't her real name, as Baldrick would say. Wasn't it Baldrick?

Oh well. This is Mika Newton, so-called, performing Angel by Maryna Skomorohova and Ruslan Kvinta. They will be competing for the Ukraine on Thursday, May 12th.

Widescreen here.

Lyrics here.

UKRAINE 2010 - Sweet People

Ah, Ukraine ... perhaps the most schizo participant in the ESC. They send some great entries, some bizarre entries, and some embarrassingly shitty entries ... sorry, but last year was really a low point. Their results have, unsurprisingly, varied greatly. However, they have also won the whole shebang ... and that was only on their second try. So, you never know what to expect from the Ukrainians.

This year ... this year I'm in two minds about their entry. In a way it's good, I like it a lot, but on the other hand there are problems with it too that I think will be a stumbling block for Ukraine this year.

The song is interesting, it's quite original and I applaud their efforts to stand out from the crowd. The theme of the song is good, not just the usual love & heartbreak stuff. The singer is pretty standard ... a pretty blonde with a low-cut dress ... but she gives a good performance, and her voice is unusual, it has a lot of character. The problem with the song is that it's rather unmelodious ... it has a difficult melody that I think may be too ambitious for the ESC audience. It took me a while to like it, I had to listen to it a few times. But, alas, the voters won't have that luxury. I think the majority aren't like me and don't know half the songs by heart weeks before the event. ;-) So although I like the song and I'm impressed with their level of ambition, I'm not sure it'll do very well. I hope it does, fingers crossed ... but I think it's immediate appeal isn't really there. But we'll see. The professional juries will probably react very favorably to this song, and hopefully their input will be enough to push this song into a good score. :-)

This is Alyosha performing Sweet People by Borys Kukoba, Olena Kucher and Vadim Lisitsa. They will be competing for Ukraine on Thursday, May 27th.



Lyrics here.

Albania, Norway, Ukraine

Albania:
OK, there's nothing wrong with this song in and of itself. Although of course it would have been better if she could sing.
But the song doesn't matter, because they're ruining the entire thing with that guy in green sequins and the mimes.
I'll say one thing for it, though: this is the kind of thing that you will only see in the ESC.

Norway:
LOL! We're singing along even before the song has started ... !! :-D
I do still like this song, kind of, even though I've heard it so many times that it's starting to get really annoying.
The presentation's good.
His performance was better in the Norwegian contest. He's done this too many times now, it's starting to get too polished. But here's hoping it'll be good enough. :-)
Good luck, little hobbit!!

Ukraine:
Awful hideous piece of trash.
She looks like such a slut, her dancing is so awful, the costumes, the presentation, everything is just such total crap and shit.
I hate this so much.
If this song wins, it'll prove everything negative that any ESC hater has ever said about this contest.

LOL! KAS is so modest - she says that she doesn't understand who can possibly win this thing but us. :-D

Albania, Ukraine, Estonia, the Netherlands

Albania:
WTF is this?? :-o
As I predicted, they've changed the song a lot since the national final. Well, they've had to, it was way too long. The song is much much better now. But.
WTF is with the guy in green? And the two mimes?? o_O
Bizarre choreography.
Weirdest presentation this year. And especially after the wonderful Moldovan entry, this totally falls on its face.
Bye bye, Albania.

Ukraine:
OK, now, I totally hate this song. The presentation is awful, she's awful, the song sucks and just ... everything is so wrong. Yuck.
What are the backing dancers wearing, and why??
Riddle me this ... if a woman dresses like a whore, dances like a whore and acts like a whore, then ... what ... ? o_O
There is nothing I like about this song.
Anne Ida says she hopes everyone under the age of ten is in bed by now. ;-)
Piece of shit. I cannot comprehend how this can be a favorite. Fingers crossed that it doesn't make it through. Someone have mercy and don't make us sit through this one more time.

Estonia:
Ooh, Rändajad ... !!
I like it, I love it!! A beautiful song, wonderfully performed. She has such a lovely voice.
A beautiful presentation.
A fantastic entry. Estonia, you've got my vote.

The Netherlands:
Anne Ida can't stand the guy in the middle ... :-D
She's right though, there's something seriously weird about his voice.
Kind of overkill to call the song Shine, and then wear those sparkly suits ... ? OK, we get it.
I like the backing singers' dresses, though. V. nice.
I stand by what I said before - this is a song that could have been in the contest ten years ago. And probably would have done better then.
It's a catchy song with a good beat, but I don't think it has what it takes to go all the way. Not anymore.

UKRAINE 2009: Svetlana Loboda - Be My Valentine

Ick.

Now, last year the contest was chock full of piece of shit entries - Latvia, Ireland and Estonia especially, but also Sweden, Germany and the Czech Republic ... and above all Lithuania. I mean, that guy's mother must have been ashamed to see that shit. This year things are better, there are very few of those completely hopeless entries. But of course, there is always one. Enter Ukraine.

Ukraine has been competing since 2003 and they've normally sent pretty good stuff. Of course they won in 2004 (and their entry this year seems to be some kind of subtle ripoff of Wild Dances) and they've generally submitted good songs otherwise too. Well, they had a senior moment in 2007. ;-) But then again, Verka Serduchka is very popular, and they did come second ... so it obviously wasn't that bad a decision. ;-) Anyway. How the mighty have fallen. >:-(

The Ukrainian song this year is a total piece of shit. Utter crapola. An embarrassing performance of a stupid song with idiotic lyrics. The melody, as I mentioned, sounds painfully familiar. The song itself is really, really bad ... and the presentation is incredibly bad. Embarrassing, that's all I can say. Watch for yourselves, but don't say I didn't warn you.

This is Svetana Loboda performing Be My Valentine - her own composition with lyrics by Yevgeny Matyushenko. This depressingly untalented duo will be competing for Ukraine as #17 on May 14th. I obviously will not be voting for them ;-) but I'm glad that they're in our semi, because I think they will be voting for us. :-)



Lyrics here.

Georgia, Ukraine, France

Georgia:
This song is either very catchy or very repetitive.
Not one of my personal favorites, but it's probably going to do pretty well.
The presentation would have been better if it hadn't been so obvious.

Ukraine:
The song is almost the same as Sweden's, so since it has much more charm and spirit I hope it will steal all of Sweden's votes. >:-)
The presentation is almost the same as Armenia's ... for my money the Armenian song is better. But this will do very well. Another potential winner.

France:
ROTFL!!! OMG, fantastic!!!!
12 points for humor!! Brilliant!!
One of the best presentations of the night. Certainly the cleverest. :-)
France deserves to do so well this year. I so hope they will.
But they would have benefited from being heard more than once.
France should do better this year than they have for a long time.

Ukraine, Lithuania, Albania, Switzerland

Ukraine:
This is a shoe-in. Dodgy lyrics and not the best diction, but hey, English is difficult. :-) Seriously cool presentation. This song doesn't start off too well but it gets better very quickly. Me like ... and the rest of Europe will no doubt like it too.

Lithuania:
BURN ... !!!!!!!!
This is the one song in this year's contest that I cannot for the life of me understand how anyone at all can see anything in. Or hear. All the other shitty entries, Ireland, Latvia, even Estonia, and, yes, Sweden, I can see how people may like something about them. They don't do anything for me, but I have no problem accepting that others may. But this? Seriously: This guy's mother must be ashamed to see this. This is so far beyond bad that I have no words to describe it.

Albania:
A lovely ballad, with some elements of rock. Their best ever, definitely. She has a wonderful voice. This is a good entry, well presented. This definitely has a chance for a slot in the finals. I think it's a song that may appeal to a lot of different demographics (argh, that word) in the audience.
Good luck, Albania! They deserve to do well this year.

Switzerland:
Even better than I remembered!! A great presentation! :-) Wow! :-)
They should definitely be in the final. Good song, good singer, good presentation, what more can we ask for. And certainly he got them going in the Arena.
I'm optimistic about Switzerland. :-)

UKRAINE 2008: Ani Lorak - Shady Lady

Before hearing this song I disliked it a bit because of the title. Dumbass title.

Charlotte Perrelli thinks this is her most serious competition. (Dream on.) I would a THOUSAND times rather see this as the winner than 'Hero' ... title issues notwithstanding.

And this really is a good song. Creative pop, an unusual melody. Would have been better if she'd sung in her own language though ... I won't go into the reasons, but, well. Draw your own conclusions. A very professionally done entry. Good-looking singer, pretty good voice. The video is kind of cool, though that's less helpful ... presumably she will not be able to defy gravity on stage in Belgrade. Impossible to tell from the video how this will be presented on stage. It'll be interesting to see how they do it.

This is a good entry, will probably do really well. We'll definitely be seeing this in the final.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxQQXG0AIgw