So either David Cook or David Archuleta is going to be the next American Idol, who really, who cares when Eurovision is happening the same week?!

Dustin The Turkey didn’t make it to the finals, which is total bullshit. Neither did those cute Belgian folksingers or that jokey Estonian song about cake and onions. Crappy Polish Isis Gee and that glittery Azerbaijani angel-wing nonsense made it through, though.

After the jump, a preview of today’s semi-final, which I may or may not liveblog depending on my work schedule and whether or not I can figure out when it actually starts. The first batch of songs were definitely better, so be warned, especially when it comes to clicking on the Lithuanian entry.

Euroband
This Is My Life
Iceland
Terrible gay club music.

Charlotte Perrelli
Hero
Sweden
She’s the favorite to win this thing, which wouldn’t be that surprising, I guess, because she’s win it before (in 1999.) It’s totally dull to me, though, which is saying a lot because there’s so much awesome Swedish pop music out there.

Mor Ve Otesi
Deli
Turkey
Searching for “deli turkey” in Youtube surprisingly actually finds this song, which is boring rock with the sort of cheesy edge that only your great-great-grandmother might be threatened by.

Ani Lorak
Shady Lady
Ukraine
Flames and devils should be more exciting than this.

Jeronimas Milius
Nomads in the Night
Lithuania
A hideous ballad with pirate sleeves; it’s even worse than Poland.

Olta Boka
Zemrën e Lamë Peng
Albania
A terrible ballad of the 1990 variety, but the video is very Diane Keaton-era Belinda Carlisle, which is a good thing.

Paulo Meneguzzi
Era Stupendo
Switzerland
Ridiculously overwrought, despite the myseriously happy-looking dancers. I guess he’s also expected to do really well.

Tereza Kerndlová
Have Some Fun
Czech Republic
Silly, innocuous dance-pop that sounds like early *Nsync but with a lady singing; I like it.

Ruslan Alehno
Hasta la Vista
Belarus
Foolish dance-pop. Round 1 was sure better, wasn’t it? I like how everybody in the audience has braids, though.

Pirates of the Sea
Wolves of the Sea
Latvia
This could be awesome. It isn’t, but it could be. At least they’re trying.

Kraljevi Ulice & 75 Cents
Romanca
Croatia
Street performers doing a tango-y Balkan ditty with the help of an old man named 75 Cents. I dig it.

Deep Zone & Balthazar
DJ, Take Me Away
Bulgaria
I actually like the DJ parts in a “Holy 1993!” sort of way; I’m not so into this Balthazar lady, but it’s definitely one of the livelier songs of the second semi-final, isn’t it?

Simon Mathew
All Night Long
Denmark
Kinda lame pop anthem; the song’s a little too perky and he’s a little too pretty for my liking, but he does have handsome eyebrows. But I’d rather be watching, say, the Oliver North Boy Choir.

Diana Gurtskaya
Peace Will Come
Georgia

I actually like her voice, but the song is atrocious in a way where it might be okay if Trevor Horn had produced it for tAtU. But she’s blind and the song is about peace so, you know, people will probably go for it.

Csezy
Candlelight
Hungary
Another dramatic ballad; I don’t like it. Also, it seems too long for Eurovision, where the songs are never more than three minutes long. And what’s the deal with videos showing ladies running their hands along walls? Is that like the world’s biggest fetish that no one’s ever acknowledged?

Morena
Vodka
Malta
I’m not sure why she’s singing this in someone’s living room, or what tacky tacky person decided to decorate that particular room in that particular way, but she’s got the diva thing down, if on a small scale, and the song’s got kind of a zip to it. Plus it’s about the Cold War, which is always a good topic for a pop song. I like it!

Evdokia Kadi
Femme Fatale
Cyprus
This girl’s really pretty, and I like the way even the guy with the guitar gets incorporated into the Material Girl choreography. It’s one of my favorites.

Tamara, Vrčak & Adrijan
Let Me Love You
Macedonia
Who is that man in the back? Who is he? And, also, how does one pronounce Vrčak?

Vânia Fernandes
Senhora Do Mar (Negras Águas)
Portugal
Whatta hairdo! It’s certainly dramatic. And while I generally think that a terrible ballad is worse than a terrible fast song, for some reason I can’t bring myself to really dislike this. Is it because it’s the thirty-eighth one of these that I’ve watched, or is it actually a decent song? My mind says no but my heart says yes yes yes!!

So, here’s my picks for the 10 that should make it into the finals. Not that I actually liked ten of them, but still:

1. Malta
2. Croatia
3. Cyprus
4. Czech Republic
5. Portugal
6 . Bulgaria
7. Turkey
8. Latvia
9. Macedonia
10. Belarus

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, a number of European countries aren’t participating in the contest these days, which is why there aren’t any entries from Monaco, Austria, Luxembourg or, surprisingly, Italy.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 21st, 2008 at 1:47 pm and is filed under Music, VideoDose. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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