Safura to perform at Stockholm gay pride festival

According to local media, Azerbaijan representative at Eurovision 2010 Safura is "set for departure to Sweden, where she will be living for 5 upcoming years. As Safura told the journalists, she will remain in Sweden, where she is expected to record a new music album with a live orchestra. Safura also said, that a European tour is also in the plans."

Oikotimes reports that Safura will be performing at Sweden's gay pride event:

"Today it was announced that Safura from Azerbaijan will perform during the “Schlager evening” at Stockholm Gay Pride Festival. In the press release Safura says that she loves Stockholm. It is her favorite city and she is honored to perform at the Stockholm Pride.

The company behind Safura, Zaphire Group, is partly owned by Anders Bagge who is the Swedish composer of “Drip Drop”. The company has been asked to compose the official song for Stockholm Pride 2010.

“Schlager evening” is one of the most popular events during the festival and will take place on the 29th July in the Pride Park. It is an evening filled with Eurovision and Melodifestivalen artists. Most of the artists are kept as a secret but today three of this year’s MF artists were confirmed: NEO, Jenny Silver and Hanna Lindblad."

*picture - via Eurovision.tv

Eurovision 2010 2nd semi: Eva Rivas, South Caucasus and Turkey

I said it before, and will repeat it here: Eva, you look stunning, although I do not agree with her fashion director re dress.

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

Eurovision 2010: Armenia Eva Rivas and Azerbaijan Safura - my subjective comparisons

based on impressions from first rehearsals

Music and Lyrics: Music-wise, I prefer Apricot Stone by Eva Rivas, but not sure about the lyrics. While objectively it [the lyrics] may be better than Safura’s, I think “Drip Drop” is more appropriate for the type of contest Eurovision is. I am not convinced that singing about “motherland” fits well with the Eurovision. As to the music of Safura’s song, I find it boring.

Dress: I know, we have not seen the final version of dresses yet, so difficult to judge what will be on the menu, but so far I was pretty disappointed fashion-wise for Eva Rivas. Even if it’s a rehearsal, wearing a tracksuit is a big no. During the second rehearsal she changed it into a more appropriate trendy one (see picture above), still... not impressive. I can’t say I am particularly happy with Safura’s dresses, but they are classier.

Moves: Eva Rivas progressed quite a lot since her first performance of Apricot Stone for the national final. She now moves and feels the stage much better. However, there is big room for improvement both for Eva and Safura. Frequently, Safura’s moves are somewhat awkward, and Eva Rivas should minimise or stop at all belly-dancing bit.

Show: Overall, I find Armenia’s show more interesting. Azerbaijan’s was a quality one but too predictable. However, that dancer guy is definitely much better (and hotter) in Safura’s show.

Look: Eva Rivas is beautiful in a stunning Angelina Jolie way, while Safura is beautiful in a cute teenager kind of way.

Vocals: Here where Eva Rivas is a clear winner. Her vocals were pretty good, especially during the first rehearsal. This is perhaps Safura’s ‘weakest link’, although she improved on vocals lately.

Overall impression:

I do not think Armenia will win, although with a good performance during the night, Eva Rivas might end up pretty OK. The chances for Azerbaijan win are much higher, if we trust bookies too. But it will all depend on other countries’ performances during the night too. Have not had time to closely follow other performances as yet, but will catch up during the coming days.

I am going to vote for Eva Rivas. I will most probably vote for a second choice too, both during the semi-final and final. I do not think it will be Safura, as I can’t say I am her fan, well, unless she does something extraordinarily amazing during the night. But she is lovely girl, and I wish her good luck. My second preference in voting will depend on me watching all other performances and how well they will do it during the day.

P.S. I am worried that due to last year KGB-style interference in voting by Azerbaijan officials, local Eurovision fans might be scared to vote for Armenia, even if they’d like to. Thankfully, we did not have anything similar in Armenia. I am sure Safura has already had fans in Armenia who will vote for her, if indications on Armenian Facebook are anything to go by.

*pictures - by Eurovision.tv (here and here)