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Greece_

Shoddy on Wed, 05/06/2009 - 09:05

Another upbeat entry in this pack. With the very same screen layout as we've seen before, Sakis starts his performance on a catwalk surrounded by few dancers. The first impression: it's vocally awful and in fact it can be a car crush after not-so-bad Azerbaijain. Loads of drama during the preparations, like "oh, this stage is slippery", loads of mic checks etc. can't compensate the unsufficiency of Sakis' and his back vocalists' voices, who literally go gasping after second refrain and rather scream then sing. I have a thought that second time is a flop for him.
And yes, he does Bilan jumps at "Fly to the top" line, someone should tell Dima that they call it flying in Greece.
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Greece

Chuvi on Wed, 05/06/2009 - 08:55

I dont quite understand what's going on with his vocal - during the vocal run it seemed weak to me.
Where are his armpits??? No armpits now?? Chuvi is disappointed:(
There is a shiny platform, dicso graphics on the backdrops. Sakis starts on this platform, the dancers are behind him. In the first refrain Sakis jumps to the stage, the platform is turned around, then he jumps from it during all the refrains. Looks extremely sexy, but in the end Sakis is almost out of breath.

Azerbaijan (yeah, you spell it right)

Shoddy on Wed, 05/06/2009 - 08:43

Ok, I see now. After a pile on boredom I've missed yesterday (and will also probably miss on Friday), here comes a bunch of powerful entries. Made of top ingridients, land of fires strikes out impressively. Taking whole stage into flames, Arash and Aysel go up and down some sort of platform, making it perfect for a camera capture.
This is a sure finalist and probably an ex-USSR votes collector. Everything work for Azerbaijani chances and Regardless the song's overpowered banality, "Always" is extremely camera-friendly will all these fiery backdrops and even pyroshow that has been added during the third run.
Second pair of shiny armpits is about to start their sound check now.
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Azerbaijan (do i spell it right?)

Chuvi on Wed, 05/06/2009 - 08:26

Well, a sure finalist, even top10, im almost sure. There are three dancers, Arash and Aysel start on those tablelike things, sing, then get to the stage, dance a bit. The backdrops show flame sparks, during the refrain there are national drums beating. Looks perfect, but there is a slight chance that Hungary, Azerbaijan, Greece and Ukraine will extinguish each other, but i dont think it will happen to Azerbaijan - there is Arash and there is diaspora.

Azersomething first run

Chuvi on Wed, 05/06/2009 - 08:15

First vocal run - sounds very good, didnt kow Arash can actually sing)) But he does extremely well.
On the stage there is something that looks like tables, i suppose they are going to climb on it during the preformance. The graphics are red-black.

Hungary 09

Shoddy on Wed, 05/06/2009 - 08:00

Proud successor of Deen and Sakis Rouvas (yes, I know) in the point of lame vocals, silly dance routine and pack of female dances will probably face no problems with qualifying (except being facerolled by Azerbaijan and, especially, Sakisland), that's for sure, just because "Dance with me" is catchiness on its biggest extend. There's nothing much to say about it, to be honest, and poor vocals should be the least problem for Zoli.
Oh and yes, five times failed final note and a huge breath after it tells everything about his singing abilities... However, who cares? :)
Azeri rehearsal is next and it's finally a time for me to realize why I just can't get the fuss around it.
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Slovenia 6/05

Andy on Wed, 05/06/2009 - 07:06

Well, the only new thing there is that they start in Slovenian and continue in English. Backing vocalist is well hidden in the corner of stage and hardly be heard. Otherwise it is same at EMA.
Photos and video under cut

Euroclub opening

Andy on Tue, 05/05/2009 - 20:15

Well, we've lost 2 hоurs of our precious lives on Euroclub opening ceremony and press-conference. One hour we had to stand on our feets.

From what was said:
- Hosts will be revealed in 3 days. Two days ago they said in two days. One week ago they have been saying same. Naomi Campbell and Vodyanova have been mentioned by press, but not confirmed, nor denied by organizers.
- At the legends of Eurovision concert on 10th will perform Lis Assia, Dana Int, Ghenghis Khan, Ruslana, Teach-In, Marija Serifovic, Dima Bilan, Tatu and Alsou. At today's concert in Euroclub were due to perform Bilan, Serebro, Lorak and Sakis. We're skipping it.
- Aksyuta rejected to reveal the list of members of Russian jury, we only know that it will be chaired by Philip Kirkorov (don't forget, he is big friend of Sakis). Apparently, if they would say the jury list now, they could have been disqualified. Press guide says differently though. "The names of the jury members must be revealed by the respective participating broadcasters before or during the Final"
- Kirkorov got more applauds than any of organizers.

That's it. Photos under more