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Vana Tallinn

Shoddy on Wed, 05/06/2009 - 13:55

Here in Russia we have a saying "like if my soul was filled with balsam" ("kak balzam na dušu") meaning that something is a great recreation. It's breathtaking and clearily goes to the final.
Estonian performance starts with Sandra standing in haze and screen animations show miriads of stars and constellations, while small round screens go to the lowest level possible, hiding the rest of the band from cameras. When song advances to the first refrain they rapidly rise to their usual position, while backdrops change to greenish blue northern lights. After messy horror from Ukraine "Rändajad" is even more a charming masterpiece then it actually is.
We agree that this is going to be Top-5 with some chances of victory. Everything about Estonia on stage is simply beautiful. No need to mention, vocally it's perfect. Hopefully, Sandra will block Ukraine.
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Ukraine '09

Shoddy on Wed, 05/06/2009 - 13:08

You thought Verka was a freak? Go check Svitlana's rehearsal video below.
They did everything to make it pathetic and kitchy. Ridiculous "hell machines" appeared to be casing for topeless dancers we've seen already during her tours. Vocals? Forget it, she screams out her "sessi-bo" during sound checks together with hard breathing, yawning, sighing and yeah-ing. Even Serduchka didn't ride on the stage behind the fake drum set covered in Ukrainian flag with "Anticrisis girl" written on it.
i don't know if Svetlana manages to fool everyone and distract audience from the fact that she can't sing and remember song's lyrics. At least if Europe votes for that, stage performance is 95% of what matters. The other 5% goes to naked men. I left speechless.
Update: the descending Infernal Machine has been prohibited for Loboda. So the wheels will be only on stage and not in the air.
Photo and video under cut

Shqiperia

Shoddy on Wed, 05/06/2009 - 11:54

Julia Savicheva made a comeback. Kejsi's voice is everything but strong and professional, unfortunately. With the dance routine probably approved by ministry of silly walks, Albanian performance turns out to be blind and doomed to be forgotten even before Ukrainian postcard appears on TV.
I know that Kejsi does her best, but unfortunately there's absolutely no potential for qualifying and she's just another contender for zero points of the night.
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Moldouze points

Shoddy on Wed, 05/06/2009 - 11:15

It has emotion, it has power, it's vocally faultless and it's way too ethnic. "Hora din Moldova" stands out so differently that it's either zero points (due to lack of Romania in this semi) or certain finalist. I'm greatly confused. Ethnic tunes, ethnic dances, ethnic-inspired creepy backdrops - that's perfect for the folk-music based contests like Slavic Bazaar but audience of Eurovision is likely to see just some kitchy Eastern European weirdo. Well, if we are going to see a surprising result at May 14, it will be Moldova. Everything is perfect, but Nelly does something we don't do at Eurovision.
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Liettuce

Shoddy on Wed, 05/06/2009 - 10:52

So here comes the chilling pill, standing inbetween of upbeats that could be an advantage on the first sight. However, it looks raher boring then refreshing. Vocally perfect, Sasha Son wears a hat and plays piano - a conception we've seen so many times already - and all its users remained forgotten. Slightly above being moveless, Lithuanian act is the most static since Malta. Even considering that, Lithuania still has strong chances to make it to the final being a perfect jury pick if votes from all Baltics and rest of ex-USSR aren't going to be enough.
Moldova is next an I'm a bit afraid of them.

Lithuania

Chuvi on Wed, 05/06/2009 - 10:41

Wow! Sakis signed his photo for me! How kind of him)
Sasha (Dima?) starts at the piano, three backvocs in the right part of the stage. Then he walks to centre of the stage and finishes with a flame in his palm . The backdrops show different kinds of black-and-white things, including piano keyboard. Vocally good, The only thing is that the backvocs are a bit too loud. Looks cute, strongly want him in the final.
Performs 100% English version.
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