Semi Final 2 Review - How'd My Favourites Go?

It's great ESC is back to normal, where my favourites typically stink with their results. Holland and Slovenia gone. Holland were my #1 this year and sadly failed to progress. It was a brutally tough final and had fears they were gone. With Slovenia, of the 5 Balkans in this semi (Srb, FYRM, Slo, Cro, Bos), I figured Slovenia and Croatia would be the two, not FYRM and Bosnia&H. Serbia was a bit iffy, and no doubt helped simply for the profile of the artist.


These were my SF1 top 10 before the show - as they appeared:
Srb, FYRM, Ned, Mal, Por, Slo, Cro, Swe, Est, Bos

Favourites on the night, with score out of 10.
Srb 6, FYRM 7, Ned 8, Mal 7, Por 7, Slo 8, Cro 7, Swe 6, Est 8, Bos 7

Unlike SF1 where there were two swaps in my top 10, here there were none.

My pre-ESC favourites that missed the final were Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Croatia. In SF1, 5 missed.

The Dutch song had two key issues: the Indian headdress, and the song took some "warming" to fully appreciate. My first experience with Joan was the NF performance and I was confused by the outfit. By the end, I began to warm a little to the song and it wasn't that bad. Then it was only after listening again that I began to be hooked and the quirky nature of the song shined through. Credit to Joan that the presentation was altered with the bad. That made it more professional. Also congrats for overcoming the obvious nerves from early in the performance. Unfortunately the potential vices against it no doubt held it back - as evidenced by 25% approval rating by viewers on SBS, Australia's telecaster. It would be interesting to see the official voting results. Also a struggle would be the 5 Balkan nations, all of whom would have traded votes, leaving little for the rest.

Portugal - a really nice and well performed song - was simply swamped. Slovenia's presentation wasn't quite there. Eva seem to hold the mic too close - maybe nerves. Croatia's song was only marginally in my top 10 and only after so many listens. Her performance was great and should have elevated the song. One issue with so many Balkans that ultimately the voting will gravitate one way - to Serbia, Bos & FYRM - leaving Slovenia and Croatia out.

Of the official qualifiers, my only real complaint was Turkey. I rated that 0 and it's easily one of the worst ESC songs ever. Ukraine was a small surprise simply because the song is not that good. Gaitana's singing ability helped. Malta put on a slick performance to match a reasonable song. While Lithania was an immediate shock, I had it my 11th best, rating it 6/10 along with Serbia, Sweden and Norway. Donny sung the hell of it and performed well. With his handstand and general weird vibe, endeared him more to fans rather than alienate them. You just never know. If Joan could have presented better, maybe better fortunes for her.

For the final, as I mentioned in my SF1 review, I have a sneaking suspicion Spain will do well. Links are below to my previous blogs for ESC 2012. Of my personal favourites, I still have Estonia alive. They were my second favourite after Netherlands. I was a bit disappointed that Ott went suddenly crazy on a few of the notes, notably the first big "kuula". Restrain yourself, old chap!

My Preview
http://www.eurovisionfamily.tv/user/MrEurovision/blog/?id=156542

Semi Final 1 Review
http://www.eurovisionfamily.tv/user/MrEurovision/blog/?id=164562