semi 2 – 1st/2nd rehearsal notes

May 7, 2014 by

semi 2 – 1st/2nd rehearsal notes

Brief notes on this 1st rehearsal of semi 2. Malta is what it always has been. A lame Mumford & Sons copy that will very likely sail through to the final.

Mei in fine form for Israel. This is the tightest it has looked and sounded. You have to admire her for singing this active, uptempo tune unassisted.

Norway’s Carl is as ready as he will ever be. This looks and sounds like a quality entry.

Just misheard Georgian lyric as, ‘Stair master to heaven’. Fatigue properly setting in here. Mariko not note perfect.

Poland will be trending on Twitter tomorrow night. Nap. Superb Slavic smut set to music. The lady with the curdling stick is certainly ready, and the washer woman gets ready for scrubbing duties by seductively unbuttoning her blouse. Lead singer Cleo is ready too. Are jury members?

Break after Poland. Conchita stronger this afternoon compared to her previous rehearsal. She cannot afford to have an off night this evening as most are raising their game.

Lithuania certainly has impact. The right kind of impact? Vilija’s male dancer pokes his hands up through her chimney brush skirt at one point. ‘Everything’s a little bit weird now,’ as Getter Jaani once sang.

Finland might wish this was their performance this evening. The best it has looked and sounded.

Kasey sounding extremely flat and off-key for Ireland pretty much throughout this. If this is nerves, what will she be like tonight? After Finland this feels extremely limp, and SO dated.

Teo going through his paces very stylishly after Kasey. Tijana for FYR Macedonia starts much like Ireland’s Kasey – vocally suspect – and is sub-standard throughout this rehearsal.

Sebastiano all together more convincing for Switzerland today. His fiddling has improved as has his entire demeanour in selling this song. Break after Switzerland.

Greece not at their best this afternoon. There is a lot the guys are doing during this and this makes Nikolas especially drop a few notes.

Slovenia’s Tinkara, as usual, loses her way in places. If this song was sung well you might feel confident in its qualification chance. Trouble is, there hasn’t been a single rehearsal Tinkara has got through vocally unscathed.

Teething trouble at the start of Paula & Ovi’s ‘Miracle’. The presentation of this… it is far from miraculous. In fact, it is hilarious, for all the wrong reasons.

Once again, will be Tweeting thoughts on the key semi 2 jury performance later tonight. Further thoughts on that jury performance will be expanded on below. Any questions, thoughts, please feel free to comment.

5 Comments

  1. Guildo Horn Forever

    Hi Rob,

    Awesome tipping re the Netherlands! Wow! I’d love to say I hopped on, but I didn’t closely follow the rehearsal stages and relied instead on my initial (and continued) disregard for the song.

    The Netherlands is the staging-led springer of this year’s ESC I guess. This year’s Azerbaijan.

    Have backed Romania at 10s to be a non-qualifier. I’ve ripped the p*** out of that song and those performers for so long that I just had to put my money where my mouth was.

    Happy enough with my EW 50s and 66s for Switzerland on the Semi outright, too. Am mildly surprised there’s been little price contraction over the weeks for the Swiss entry. It’s got such charm and potential.

    I too have been v intrigued by Teo and the Belarusian package for a long while now. Finally took the plunge last week on it finishing Top 10 at 16/1.

    • Rob

      Hi Guildo. Have also been eyeing Romania as it is such a cheap lay & the staging is dire. Also had high hopes for the Swiss entry coming here but based on what I’ve seen in rehearsals my confidence in it doing well has waned somewhat.

      He was better this afternoon, it has a charm all of its own, and who knows, if it qualifies and then lands 2nd half draw it might yet come with a run. Teo has been looking good in rehearsals – very professional in all aspects.

      • Guildo Horn Forever

        Yeah, I’ve always had a soft spot for the quirky, self-deprecating, funny charm of Teo, and the laid-back catchy fun of his bouncy song.

        I read a number of negative comments about the Cheesecake video on YouTube, with it being dismissed as a Blurred Line’s clone – which seemed to me to be a lazy reading of the singer, song-story theme and the video representation.

        It’s an opposite message to the sleaze-factor of Robin Thicke’s track.

        Loving this so much…

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3twwafch4g

        • Guildo Horn Forever

          My! That video embed is a King sized beast! Sorry, Rob!

          • Rob

            It’s fine, Guildo. Must figure out finding the plug-in required to reduce size, but I don’t mind random videos being pasted in Comments.

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