Posts Tagged ‘Iceland’

Anna Bergendahl is the first Swedish entry in the history of Eurovision to fail to qualify for the final, but y’all are still showing her some love. Wiwi’s readers have named the 18-year old singer and former Swedish Idol finalist their favorite Nordic act at Eurovision.

At a press conference following the second semi-final, Bergendahl tried to stay positive about her historic loss. “I think I did all I could. There’s nothing that I would have changed. I represented Sweden exactly the way I wanted to and could.” She also said she was pleased that Denmark and Georgia made it through, and that she hopes that Israel wins the whole thing. Despite the smiles, she seemed to take a swipe at the Netherlands’ Sieneke, saying that she didn’t want to be the type of artist who has a clown on stage.

Could you pass the tissue? Wiwi is still devastated that Slovakia’s Kristina didn’t make the final. Sure, she was nervous and her vocals weren’t as strong as they normally are. But her routine was among the most original, she managed to make Enya-style music sound cool, and she had a fantastic back-up singer wrapped in white chiffon singing hallelujuh. How could you diss her like this, Europe? How could you?

I point the finger firmly at the former Soviet bloc. Russia’s Peter Naltich does not deserve a place in the final. His song Lost and Forgotten deserves to be both lost and forgotten. It was three minutes of “I want to kill myself” and “Do you have any Prozac?” The cheap staging—what was up with him holding that photograph?—and monotony of it all made me want to jump off a bridge.

Belarus’ 3 + 2, another surprise qualifier, doesn’t deserve to perform on Saturday, either. I’ll be the first to admit that they’re an attractive group of people. But the song is classic cheese with no meaning and really bad English (“Heartfully just wait for it.” WTF?? I’m fairly certain “heartfully” isn’t a word.)

Anyway, hallo Germany! Dobry vecher Moscow! It’s Wiwi calling. I’m here with the results of Wiwi’s voting.

12 points go to…..ICELAND!

Hera Bjork really worked it last night. Let’s face it: she’s a bigger girl so she was never going to do back-flips or splits. But she managed to make simple staging interesting. It was by far the classiest, most professional act of the evening. And that voice—oh that voice! It was like that volcano was erupting again, and it was just as hot.

11 points go to …..SERBIA!

I know Eurovision doesn’t assign 11 points, but I just had to. In an earlier post, I questioned the suitability of this song. But after seeing it on stage, I’m absolutely in love with it. From the pink shoes to the Balkan-style street dance, Milan Stankovic gave his act a ton of personality. LOVE IT.

10 points go to…..SLOVAKIA!

Kristina, I’m still bewildered that Europe snubbed you like this. I think that they’re just afraid of plants that dance and trees that look like muscular back-up dancers. I loved your staging, and I love you. Wiwi got ya back, boo!

8 points go to….MOLDOVA!

Wiwi was a little nervous when the saxophone player had an eruption in his pants—those hips would not stop shaking—and he needs the fiddle player to slow his roll when he runs down the runway. But I was pleasantly surprised with how in-tune Olia and the blond guy were. This was a really memorable performance! So much so that I forgot about all the bad Eurovision English.

7 points go to….GREECE!

I’ve written a lot about how sexual I think this act is. But even with perfectly-sculpted back-up dancers getting down on it, I couldn’t stop focusing on Giorgos Alkaios. He looked so confident on stage, he delivered his lyrics with power, and the bridge—which featured the lyra player, Giorgos beating the drums and a “rewind” sequence—was pure brilliance!

6 points go to….BELGIUM!

In an earlier post I called Tom Dice boring. But now I just think he’s sweet. At times he seems to whisper, but on the whole I was with him from start to finish. He’s a real threat to win this on Saturday. Watch out Safura!

5 points go to….BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA!

Vukasin Brajic, who does a mean impersonation of Kylie Minogue, delivered the darkest performance of the night. And that was spot on given that his song was about the thunder and lightening of a troubled relationship. He did rock with class and his sound really stands out against all these bland ballads. Awesome.

4 points go to….ALBANIA

Juliana was singing about her love of Jesus Christ. Now, Wiwi is not the most religious person, but he was totally feeling something spiritual during her techno him. Loves it!

3 points go to…PORTUGAL! You’re adorable, Felipa.

2 points go to …MALTA! It’s a shame you didn’t qualify. Your voice is better than your placement. I blame the man dressed as a bird. That was kind of scary.

1 point goes to …LATVIA! You remind me of an adorable Chihuahua wearing a blonde wig.

The first ten semi-finalists have gone through and eurovision.tv caught their reactions backstage. Olia Tira, Moldova’s Lady Gaga, was ecstatic. “We have only positive emotion. Ja. Great emotions, yeah. We love you people!” Members of Belarus’ 3 + 2 seem shocked that they advanced—but trust me, they were not as shocked as Wiwi. Iceland’s Hera Bjork—the last contestant to be named a finalist—said she knew officials would call her last. She was a back-up vocalist for Yohanna Jonsdottir last year, and they too were called last. Hera says she was really moved by the audience chanting ‘Iceland’ ahead of her performance. “I nearly started crying on stage. It’s fantastic.” Serbia’s Milan Stankovic was clearly relieved to have advanced. He hopes the public will vote with their hearts—and avoid the sway of bloggers and journalists: “I hope that they won’t think through the press but through the energy when you see something and it puts a smile on your face.”

Wiwi will update this page as more contestants rehearse. Be sure to let Wiwi know what you think of the second rehearsals. Who surprised you? Who improved the most over the first rehearsal? And who was just lame? Dish!

Albania’s Juliana Pasha

Armenia’s Eva Rivas:

Azerbaijan’s Safura:

Belarus’ 3 + 2 (and a whole lot of butterfly wings):

Belgium’s Tom Dice:

Bosnia’s Vukasin Brajic:

Denmark’s Chanée and Tomas N’evergreen:

Estonia’s Malcolm Lincoln:

Iceland’s Hera Bjork:

Israel’s Harel Skaat:

Finland’s Kuunkuiskaajat

F.Y.R. Macedonia’s Gjoko Taneski:

Greee Giorgos Alkaios and Friends:

Latvia’s Aisha:

Lithuania’s InCulto:

Moldova’s SunStroke Project with Olia Tira:

Netherlands’ Sieneke:

Poland’s Marcin Mrzonski:

Portugal’s Filipa Azevedo:

Romania’s Paula Seling & Ovi:

Russia’s Peter Nalitch:

Serbia’s Milan Stankovic:

Slovakia’s Kristina:

Slovenia’s Ansambel Zlindra & Kalamari:

Switzerland’s Michael von der Heide:

Sweden’s Anna Bergendahl:

Ukraine’s Alyosha: