Yes, tonight is the Eurovision Semi Finals, the quiet part of the Eurovision Song Contest where all the good songs get knocked out!!!!!!! I've heard most of the tunes tonight so you don't have to!!!!!!!! So here goes with my preview!!!
- Austria. Pretty decent- cuban folk and yodelling!!!!!
- Lithuania. OK- Texas-tyle rock-dance hybrid...
- Portugal. Reasonably catchy, but nothing special...
- Moldova. This is my favourite!!!! Great catchy rock number, with great "whistle" hook!!!!!
- Latvia. Ballady stuff in the vein of Savage Garden!!!! Not bad actually...
- Monaco. Like one of those orchestra-laden ballads you used to get in 70s Eurovision!!!!!!!! Yawn!!!!!!!!!
- Israel. Sounds like one of those ballads that J-Lo or Christine Aguilera use to fill up their albums!!!!!!!!! Avoid!!!!!
- Belarus. Bit bizzare this one!!!!! Starts off sounding all guitary like an 80s Bonnie Tyler record, then suddenly turns into something like Ronnie Hazelhurst ripping off an old Bobby Orlando record!!!!!! To the tune of "I Will Survive"!!!!!!!! Despite this, it's not particularly good.
- The Netherlands. Really really terrible ballad!!!!!!!!!!
- Iceland. Very well executed pop but not exactly impressive... One of many gazillion entries this year either influenced by Middle Eastern strings and percussion!!!!! Or at the very least ripping off elements of Britney's "Toxic"!!!!!
- Belgium. Hilariously over-the-top kitchen-sink ballad!!!!!!!! I'm surprised they didn't have fireworks exploding at the end of it!!!!!!!!!!
- Estonia. A bit like the Donnas, only not quite as good!!!!!
- Norway. Big Hair 80s rock a la Bon Jovi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And it's a pretty decent tune as well!!!!!
- Romania. Another Ronnie Hazelhurst Does Dance!!!!! (Though a bit better than the Belarus one...)
- Hungary One of those "modern pop with folkie bits thrown in" numbers!!!!!!! This is supposed to be one of the favourites!!!! Despite this, it's not bad.
- Finland. Sounds very much like a 70s folkie-rock number!!!!! You half expect Gerry Rafferty to come in on the chorus!!!!!
- FYR Macedonia. Pop on auto-pilot!!!! Yawn!!!!!!!
- Andorra. More auto-pilot pop!!!! ZZZzzz!!!!!!!!!!
- Switzerland. Crikey, this is a dark tune by Eurovision standards!!!!! One of the lines goes: "Cool vibes, why don't you kill me?" then jumps in a 80s rock arrangement of the type that Cher used to sing along to!!!!!!!!!
- Croatia. The song's a bit meh, but the arrangement's quite nice!!!!!!!
- Bulgaria. Not heard yet!!!!!!!!
- Ireland. I think Ireland's trying to a do a Father Ted here and enter the worst possible song in order to not stand a chance of winning and hosting the thing the following year!!!!!!! The tune really is utter bobbins, the arrangement might as well be done on a Bontempi organ, and it appears to be sung by the Irish equivalent of Cindy and Bert!!!!!!!!
- Slovenia. This is a bit wierd as it appears to be a cross between a standard syrupy pop ballad and one Muse's more dramatic show-stopping numbers!!!!!!!! Doesn't exactly save it though!!!!!!!
- Denmark. Hmmm... Starts off like a ballad then turns into a bit of light reggae for the chorus!!!! Like that's going to lift it up!!!!!
- Poland. Not heard yet, but I'll be interested to see what they'll come up with!!!!
