MACEDONIA - Whatever I am, I am NOT a rock fan. So why do I find that I rather like this song? There is some semblance of a tune with a strong chorus, interesting bridge and an unpretentious performance. In fact it is everything that monstrosity ‘Rum Dum Dum’ isn’t. Of course, that why I like this song. Next Time, you are great.
MALTA - Very much following the pattern of the law of diminishing returns. Chiara can only go so far in getting a good song before we all decide this is pretty poor. This is such a nothing song, it wouldn’t be the usual pleasure to savage it. I am very disappointed as I really like Chiara.
MOLDOVA - Avoid at all costs! This is a disaster of epic proportions. When you realise that its sheer lousiness is its main attraction, you might as well give up now. Moldova is just about my least favourite ESC country and this horrendous rip-off of ‘Wild Dances’ isn’t going to make me change my mind.
MONTENEGRO - Much to my surprise I find that I greatly enjoy this song that finally sounds like something that should be in Eurovision and not a form of audio torture that they’ve previously foisted on us. It has absolutely no pretensions and whilst I realise that there is a large contingent on the Mb who loathe it because of the writers, I don’t care. This is ace.
NETHERLANDS - It’s a sad state of affairs when one of the backing dancers/singers is more interesting than the song out front. The lyric is about as cheesy as they come but I’ve heard worse. This is pretty bad, but not deliciously bad enough to become a cult classic.
NORWAY - It was so obvious that this was going to win in Norway that it was barely worth listening to the others. I’m not a fan at all of scrapy fiddle music, but I can tolerate this because the rest of it so fab! Could this be the one that brings the victory back to the west? I hope so because it seems to have everything going for it. Woo-hooh, Norway!
From this bunch, the ones in the middle of the alphabet, you have to hand it plucky little Malta and much larger and colder Norway. I really believe the west is fighting back this year and I wouldn't be surprised if one of these two did it. It's so obvious Norway is going to do well, but something in my water tells me they will be thwarted. Whether Chiara sits on Alex and renders him unable to play the fiddle in order to secure glory for Malta GC remains to be seen. But if he goes missing shortly before his performance, I think we might find him bound in cat gut and secreted under Chiara's dress / tent.
