But I do have BIG problem with that dancing act, not Eva’s, but the male dancer on the background. It was extremely distracting, and out of place. It was bad. Eva could do perfectly without any background dancer.
During her performance I was like: please-please, cameraman, do not show the dancer, just focus on Eva. OK, Jivan was great too.
Eva’s moves improved a lot, she was more confident on the stage, you could see she feels the stage, and she did not do that belly dancing stuff which I was referring to and criticising in my previous post. And the result was really good.
She seemed a bit nervous, though, and vocally not as good as she could be. I hope she would rest her voice till the finals, because she can sing much better.
Safura: Yes, she looks pretty, and the song is nice enough, but vocally she was not good. That back singers were awful and out of tunes. Although I prefer her dancer to Eva’s, still, the dancing act looked out of place. Safura could not move on the stage at all. It was as if she was placed on the stage without knowing what to do with it. And that glove she was wearing was simply horrific. Worse than I expected.
Re Georgia: OK performance, but nothing remarkable. The main thing I did not like about Georgia was the abundance of crosses. It’s not a Georgian church, Sofia, it’s Eurovision.
I absolutely loved Turkey’s performance. I can now confidently say that my second favourite from this semi-final is Turkey with maNga rock band. I was singing along, and after. Thumbs up.
Overall, I have to confess, it feels great that South Caucasus (+ Turkey) made it through to the final. They all deserved it, especially when you compare with other participants of the 2nd semi.
Here is my top 3 for the final:
1. Armenia
2. Belgium
3. Turkey, Iceland (can’t decide between these two, they are very different, but I like them)
The OKs are the following countries (in no particular order): Greece, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Albania, Moldova. Romania made me smile a lot tonight, the same way as Moldova did during the 1st semi. It was something :) Re automatic finalists: Germany is very cute and charming, albeit overrated. I actually like Spain too. It’s sweet. UK is decent but nothing special.
Eva Rivas will be performing at No. 21 on 29 May (final). When asked after the draw "Who do you think is the hardest competition for you in the final?", she replied: "You are a provocateur, you know that? (laughs) We who are competing in the Eurovision Song Contest are all friends and it would not be fair [to] say who is my hardest competition."
P.S. Btw, was nice to see so many Armenians right next to the stage. Also, good to spot a mixture of Turkish and Armenian flags waving when it was announced that Turkey went through to the final. That’s a kind of spirit - competitive but friendly - I like to see during Eurovision song contest.
*pictures - via Eurovision.tv
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11 comments:
Did you see the first shot of Eva was that of her breasts? The focus of the dress to draw attention to her cleavage really turned me off actually. I agree with you, Mika, the back-up dancer was distracting. And the literal display of an "apricot stone" on stage didn't really add anything to the song. I can't say that Armenia is one of my top choices, to tell you the truth. My partner and I liked Iceland from the first semi-final and Sweden in the second, but unfortunately, she didn't make the cut :( I quite liked Georgia's performance, though I noticed the shiny cross Sofia was wearing right away and that too was a turn-off. The other crosses (on the male dancers' collars) were the same crosses on the Georgian flag, so I don't know if it's fair to comment on the large amount of crosses on their outfits. You liked Belgium, eh? What about Israel and Cyprus? Those were also cute boys (one of whom had a guitar just like your Belgium boy ;)
Yes, that was of her breasts. I am sure it had an impact on certain sections of the audience :)
I would not probably get so pissed off with the crosses had I not saw an interview with Sofia a day or two ago (don't remember the site) where she was very passionate in describing and stressing the crosses part. That was a turn off for me.
Cyprus and Israel might be cute, agree, but I actually liked Belgium song and performance too!! It was a great combination of cuteness, hotness and talent, and instantly clicked with me ;)
Mika, tend to think you're taking it very seriously. Biggest wow factor here in Yerevan where I watched it was from Safura. Yes, it was flawed in many ways, but it grabbed the most attention for looks and performance.
As for crosses, sorry, that's their flag and just tragically too close to resembling something religious. However, given the power of the Georgian Church, it is a point to ponder although I suspect as Georgians can't vote for their entry, it's unlikely.
In fact, looking at it from a design point of view, the colors of their costumes simply made up the Georgian flag. Nice idea. Anyway, it was Georgia's number that probably deserves to win in terms of actual vocal talent.
Second, for me (out of the contestants vocally) was Safura. However, strikes me that she's going to win and it's still all down to a showdown between her and Germany's Lena. Then again, this is all pretty subjective and opinions will vary. :)
Adrineh, re. Eva Rivas' cleavage, yes, I noticed this seemed to be center to most of her act in the photos I saw yesterday and I tweeted as much. During the actual performance, that seemed to be tweeted a lot by many others too. Have to be honest, it seemed to be like that by design.
Was just thinking, maybe the cleavage was meant to represent two apricot stones? ;)
Actually, I take that back. Safura's vocals are very flawed, but not as much as Sirusho's shouting in 2008. Still, I suspect it will result in a loss of marks from a jury although I don't think it will influence the audience vote. Meanwhile, Sofia's vocals the best of the three with Eva Rivas somewhere inbetween.
Meanwhile, on Eva Rivas' cleavages, after looking at the performance again, I suspect the camera was on what was in her hand. However,either the cameraman got distracted, the auto-focusing prioritizes the largest object/s or a combination of both.
Either way, unforgettable... :)
Definitely, one of the most talked about, "hit of the day" :))) And according to the first indications of Esctoday poll, Armenia is emerging as a front runner to win Eurovision. Too close to call, I suppose, but interesting and exciting Saturday ahead of us :)
Not convinced. One online poll does not a victory make. Don't see much activity surrounding any of the Caucasus acts in general on Twitter either.
Still, it's very open for the three countries, but I would change my opinion when I see more Eva Rivas' centered blog posts, tweets and polls.
Meanwhile, Google's Eurovision prediction tool based on actual Internet searches keeps Germany at #1. Interestingly, no Safura in the top ten, but Georgia at #5 and Armenia at #7. Still, that could change too although I suspect Germany will win.
http://www.google.com/landing/eurovision/index.html
Meanwhile, it's probably just as well as especially Armenia and Georgia could not afford to host Eurovision next year. International media reports even wonder if oil-rich Azerbaijan could...
I would not worry about money. It will be there. The problem will be in infrastructure to support such a massive event.
Right, $20-40+ million for a music competion. I think you're dreaming, especially when many European countries reckon they can't.
And if such money could be raised, I'd really question what people's priorities are.
Really, if anything, I'd suggest a boycott of Eurovision on this point alone, especially when normal citizens would be unable to afford tickets.
Basically, I think you dream too much about Eurovision... :)
Great. Both escdaily and oikotimes report on strong performance by Eva Rivas during jury voted rehearsal before Eurovision final.
Eurovision: It’s Berlin 2011
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