Things now hotting up in the arena as the semi 2 finalists strut their stuff on the stage for their 2nd rehearsals. Each entrant will sing their song 3 to 4 times in their allotted half hour of rehearsal time with their respective delegations watching eagerly to iron out any mistakes made! Well, I guess now's the time to do that!! Anyway, Drew & Tam are at arena side and here are our thoughts on some of them so far!
Iceland
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| From Friday Rehearsal 2 |
We loved this!! What more can we say but the guys in Sjoni's friends have great vocals and harmonise really well to the lovely lyrics in this song! They have a colourful back drop on the huge LEDs. Simple and effective! Travesty if this does not qualify.
Hungary
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| From Friday Rehearsal 2 |
Hungary seem to be one of the favourites in the competition and the press area in the arena were certainly full of press! The vocals came across very well in the hall but we have heards it said that they did not come across too well on the tv monitors... we shall see.... Not sure about the backing dancers and what is the obsession of LEDs on clothing? We feel maybe that the dancers distract from Kati, the lead singer. However, this is a definite qualifier.
Portugal
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| From Friday Rehearsal 2 |
Well .... this was a long 3 minutes and I guess this song has a certain meaning to portuguese speakers but as we can't understand the lyrics, it's meaning is a tad lost! However, I guess the beauty of this entry is that one doesn't have to understand the words to see it's about the ordinary struggles of ordinary people in these times of austerity. All in all a bit too shouty and revolutionary for us!
Lithuania
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| From Friday Rehearsal 2 |
Evelina has a lovely voice but the song is the problem. Well, not so much of a problem per se as it is a perfectly nice song but we feel more fitting on the west end stage or for Walt Disney. Evelina signs for the deaf in this song.
Azerbaijan
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| From Friday Rehearsal 2 |
These two look good together and have great vocals but what's with all the walking around the stage? Makes us dizzy! Nice and sweet but not sure about this one.
Greece
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| From Friday Rehearsal 2 |
This is dark and broody, sung very well by Loukas but we are still not too sure about the rap parts! Dancers look good but a lot of break dancing and leaping around the stage, an impromptu example of which I think we saw by the Greek dancers in Euroclub last night!
Bosnia & Herzegovina
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| From Bosnia 2nd Rehearsal |
This was a fantastic performance by Dino Merlin and the gang! We loved this!!! Team Bosnia gave an energetic rendition of Love In Rewind, it was colourful, happy and bright! Still loving the random 'sito's' in the song and the indian love call at the beginning plus the new innovation of random guy running round the stage doing a silly dance! That said, it is a perfect combination! Oh, and there is pyros at the end!
Austria
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| From Austria 2nd rehearsal |
Wow!! Could this do a Yohanna?? Nadine has a fabulous voice and she looked so stunning! The diamonds LED back drop was magnificent and suited the ambience of this power ballad. This was amazing, watch Austria!
The Netherlands
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| From Netherlands 2nd rehearsal |
This was a strong performance from the Netherlands, kind of pop/rock, but we don't think this will qualify this year for the Dutchies! The 3Js sung their socks off and their vocals were great! This was a professional production and staging!
Belgium
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| From Belgium Rehearsal 2, 6th May 2011 |
This group sing without instruments the whole song and in fact imitate the instruments as well!!Thats when we think it gets silly unfortunately, at the beeping rappy bit! Sorry Belgium, this will not qualify!
Slovakia
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| From Slovakia Rehearsal 2, 6th May 2011 |
The twins from Slovakia have great vocals and they looked stunning. We think Josh Dubovie might want his costumes back!! This is a sweet song but it just goes nowhere and plods along. The song was backed by dramatic lighting effects but it may struggle to qualify.
Ukraine
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| From Ukraine Rehearsal 2, 6th may 2011 |
We had mixed feelings about this song before eurovision but we are even more unsure now. The live sand art on the LEDs by a Mystic Meg lookee likey kind of distracts from poor old Mika who should actually be the main show!! That said, Mika has a fantastic voice and there is no doubt that Ukraine will qualify.
Moldova
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| From Moldova rehearsal 2, 6th May 2011 |
I like this song from Moldova, performed by Zdob si Zdub, it reminds me of my punk youth! Tam is not too enamoured of this! Whatever your opinions, this song is certainly fun filled and enjoyable to watch, with the group all donning pointy wizard hats and joined onstage by a woman on a unicycle! This will most definitely qualify!