Favourite

...is a word that I've used (typed) a lot over the past few days - mostly down to the excitement and tension of both Eurovision semi finals however I do feel that I've used it a lot. I'm currently still pretty impressed that all of my favourites (except one) from Eurovision made it through the semi finals. I'm also still convinced that I'm starting to fall in love with Harel (Israeli entry), but that's another story...

I wasn't shocked by the qualifiers (except perhaps Ukraine), it was a pretty tight competition and it was obvious who definitely wouldn't make it through before the show even began. Armenia was an OK song, quite catchy and the first time I heard it, it stuck in my head all day and just refused to leave. I'm also amazed at how anyone can have hair as long as Eva... Everybody on Twitter seemed to think that Harel Skaat's vocals were a bit off, but I only really noticed it at the end. Israel is still my favourite though. My dad summed it up as ''I know why you like the song, nice young man..." - yeah, thanks dad, I wanted to go bright red. I still can't (and won't) get my head around the Danish entry. It's a combination of about fifteen already existing songs and therefore it kind of just annoys me. It was obvious that Azerbaijan would make it through, although Safura's lovely running/singing combination at the end showed how bad her vocals can be. I didn't think it was a particularly strong performance, nor do I think the song is particularly worthy of winning (the Beyonce choreographer thing really doesn't sway me like it does some). Ukraine's entry this year was rather dull in comparison to recent years, and I was shocked that it made it through - I'm now starting to think it's a bit like Greece...it'll get through no matter how bad the song is (though Greece always send good songs). Romania's entry is very forgettable to me, it was OK but the piano arrangement was a bit odd and if you can't remember the song after...it's not THAT good, is it? I was pleased to see that everybody in the arena seemed to be rooting for Niamh Kavanagh for Ireland. Her vocals were a bit off but the song is so good in comparison to last year that I really didn't care. I was almost ecstatic that Cyprus got through. Nobody really seemed to believe in their song but I've loved it from when I first heard it. I'm hoping that it's going to be a bit of a 'dark horse' on Saturday night and really surprise people. I missed most of Georgia's performance as the Sky box decided to just stop working (damn Sky!) but I caught the end and was a bit surprised to see that she was, well, screaming the song. I still like it though. Finally there's Turkey...who were also guaranteed to get through despite the fact that their stage show probably caused several epileptic fits.

Saturday night's competition is looking like the best line up in years, and it seems incredibly tight (like the semi final last night). I've got quite a few favourites that are as follows:
#3 Norway - Didrik Solli-Tangen - My Heart Is Yours
#5 Cyprus - Jon Lilygreen and The Islanders - Life Looks Better in Spring
#7 Belgium - Tom Dice - Me and My Guitar
#9 Belarus - 3+2 feat Robert Wells - Butterflies
#10 Ireland - Niamh Kavanagh - It's For You
#11 Greece - Giorgos Alkaios and Friends - Opa
#12 UK - Josh Dubovie - That Sounds Good To Me (you can't not support your own country, just praying that the performance is vastly improved from the selection show)
#13 Georgia - Sofia Nizharadze - Shine
#18 France - Jessy Matador - Allez Ola Olé
#22 Germany - Lena - Satellite
#24 Israel - Harel Skaat - Milim

And I will get round to blogging about the 'big four' (including Norway) at some point before tomorrow evening, I promise! I'm also quite pleased that my favourites are spread throughout. I was also secretly pleased to know that Azerbaijan are performing first, as it means that their performance is more likely to be forgotten. It sounds horrible, I know, but I really don't think it's anything special or worthy of winning - spending lots and lots of money does not equal a decent song...and in my opinion it's not.

Besos ♥
Rachel