OGAE Rest of the World has presented Mans with a specially made South African jacket because of his work with some schools in South Africa. Keep up the good work Mans.
All posts by Roy van der Merwe
SASCHA REVIEWS VIENNA…SEMI 2.2
In 1 week, we will have a new Eurovision winner and if you are a true Eurovision fan, you will already have a list of your favourites for this year. If you haven’t made up your mind yet, you can have a look at the videos of the songs (you can find them all here).
I’ve been taking a look at all the songs in this years contest and providing some brief thoughts. If you agree or disagree, why not add your comments at the bottom of the page.
Today is the final instalment, we’re looking at the second half of Semi-Final 2 (plus the last 2 songs already qualified for the Grand Final which I haven’t covered in the previous articles).
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Latvia | Aminata – Love Injected | Score | |||||
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| This is definitely one of Latvia’s best entries, although their are a number of fans who don’t seem to like it very much. I think that is because this is a performance song, best seen performed instead of listened to on a cd. Aminata has a very strong voice and should have no problem pulling this off on the night. I personally quite like it, however I do need to be in the right mood to listen to it. Could this be Latvia’s ticket to the final? |  |
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Azerbaijan | Elnur Huseynov – Hour of the wolf | Score | |||||
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| One of my absolute favourite songs this year. Azerbaijan always chooses the right song and their past stagings have been spectacular. If Elnur can pull off a flawless vocal along with attention grabbing staging, not only will they easily qualify for the final, but I think they have a very strong chance of their second win this year. |  |
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Iceland | Maria Olafs – Unbroken | Score | |||||
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| This song has grown on me more than any other in the contest. When I first heard it during their National Final, I wasn’t blown away. On listening to the final version on the cd however I think Iceland have changed it just enough to turn it into a very strong entry this year. Maria is very young though, so I am not sure if she can pull off the vocals live, but hopefully she will prove me wrong. I would love Iceland to finally win, but she has some strong competition. |  |
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Sweden | Måns Zelmerlöw – Heroes | Score | |||||
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| Sweden knows how to do Eurovision. This year they have entered a very strong pop song with spectacular staging. It is the type of entry that forces you to watch, even if it is not your style of music. Måns is a very good performer and should pull off a flawless performance. This will easily qualify for the final. I also think they will be very difficult to beat this year, so it may very well be Sweden’s 6th win. |  |
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Switzerland | Mélanie René – Time to Shine | Score | |||||
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| A great entry from Switzerland this year. Mélanie performs very well live and has a beautiful voice. Her position in the second semi-final might work in her favour, give a very different music style to both Sweden and Cyprus, but people watching at home may also be a bit distracted by the previous Swedish entrant as it is always difficult following one of the favourites. I wish Switzerland all the best though and hope they will qualify for the final because they certainly deserve to with this song. |  |
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Cyprus | John Karayiannis – One Thing I Should Have Done | Score | |||||
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| This is a lovely soft ballad sung by a very competent performer with a great voice. It is going to stand out in the show because it is surrounded by much bigger numbers, but will it be the kind of song to make people vote for it? Hopefully Cyprus will be able to provide some memorable staging though for the audience to really take notice. |  |
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Slovenia | Maraaya – Here for you | Score | |||||
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| I’ve loved this song since first hearing it at their national finals. It is different, quirky and enjoyable. Maraaya has a great personality of stage and I love the headphones which she never seems to be without. I really hope this will qualify (and am sure it will). | |
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Poland | In The Name Of Love | Score | |||||
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| When you first hear this song, it comes across as a great ballad and ticks a lot of boxes for Eurovision. However I feel that when you compare it to the other songs in the same genre, it doesn’t really stand out for me. I do sometimes forget who it is when the song comes on, which is not a great sign. I hope Poland pulls it off with some great staging, particularly as they are closing the show. The have come 11th in the semi’s so many times they do deserve to make it to the final. | |
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Germany | Ann Sophie – Black Smoke | Score | |||||
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| I’m not in love with this song and I don’t really know why. It is the kind of music I most tend to listen to, yet there is something about it that just doesn’t appeal to me. I think if maybe it was a softer song, with just a piano and gentler vocal it would make it more enjoyable to listen to. But Ann Sophie is a great performer (I have seen her perform the song live) and I am sure she will do Germany proud. |  |
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Italy | Il Volo – Grande Amore | Score | |||||
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| My favourite in the contest. Italy was the only entry that when I first heard it, caused a little shiver up my spine with excitement. I think the song is beautiful and it builds perfectly for a Eurovision winner. It has the soft and the dramatic. The performers are phenomenal themselves and should easily pull off a fantastic performer. Italy has been doing very well most years since they returned to the contest and I do think this could be their year. | |
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PROMO BAGS
More good news – like the t-shirts, I also got promo bags from some countries – 4 in total so far.
The SWISS bag, TIME TO SHINE is lovely and one of the volunteers loved it, so I gave it to her.
But there are 3 more and this I am making available to our members.
Again write to Marcus at marcus@esccovers.com and express your interest in one of them
They are from
GEORGIA
ARMENIA
MOLDOVA
T-SHIRTS
Two countries gave me t-shirts – GEORGIA and RUSSIA.
As I do not collect t-shirts, they are available to two fans.
What you have to do is write to Marcus as marcus@esccovers.com and express an interest in one of them if you want them.
By next Wednesday we will pick the winners
The RUSSIAN t-shirt is a MEDIUM, the GEORGIAN t-shirt is a LARGE but to me the Russian one looks bigger.
Both are white with the faces of their singers, NINA and POLINA
EUROVISION DAY 1
I will also in the morning do a short review of the previous day. Richard and Andrew will capture the entire day and Jeff publishes that but here is more general news.
The day started off a horror when my accreditation card was not working at the entrance to the press center and I had to go back and have a new card done. What happened was that on Sunday just before my card was printed, the system broke down and we waited 20 minutes and then suddenly it printed 6 cards for me. They cancelled 5 and said this is my card. I went in just quickly Sunday to register my pigeonhole and then went out, but it refused to open the turn-stall for me and after 11 attempts, they said crawl underneath to go out. So it never showed I had left the press center and so they cancelled it for Monday. Hope it does not happen again.
The biggest highlight was getting my own flag at the pigeonhole – they did a lot of effort to do this for me and it is highly appreciated.
The press center was the fullest I had seen it in my 23 years on day one – what will happen during the second week when the real proper TV journalists are coming, I have no idea because there is already hardly room for a mouse.
As usual, the same faces. I think for newcomers like Richard and Andrew this is so overwhelming but they already after a few hours handled it like they had been there many years.
There are free stuff for the press and FANS – coffee, tea, sweets, fruit, chips – and the waterbottels – I am sure some will disappear as people take them for souvenirs.
I can honestly say the AUSTRIAN VOLUNTEERS are just fantastic and I have experience of many. They are so professional and our own waiter/cleaner – I told him we had barely finished something when he is there to take the cut of empty package away.
The fan stand looks huge and pretty and Richard did take a photo of me and Marcos, president of OGAE Austria at it,
It opens Friday and I know I will enjoy my time there. It is next door to the interview rooms, the photocopy machines, the printers and the free food.
One of the moderators, RIEM is one of the best also, she is such a sparkling person and spoke to me like she had known me her entire life. She just gets on with people so easily.
Of the 8 performances, we;l Greece was great, Macedonia – just love the leaves falling. Armenia, love it but their clothes are a little grey, I would have liked more colour. And Netherlands – I saw a post LOST AND FOUND at Schipol airport, the part of her dress that is missing. Moldova – well they clearly took a page from Poland last year. The Belgium singer has as striking eyes as Robert 2 years ago.
All 8 songs grew a little on me seeing them rehearsed, even FINLAND.
MACEDONIAN WINNER OF A 60th COMPILATION CD
Milanka Rasic of the Macedonian delegation is a winner of one of the CDs. We will try and announce them once we receive photos of the people holding it.
SASCHA REVIEWS VIENNA…SEMI 2.1
The rehearsals of the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 are scheduled to start in a matter of days and this year’s Eurovision artists are hard at work perfecting their performances for the live shows. You’ll have seen the videos or heard the songs (you can find them all here) and I am sure you all have your own personal favourites.
I’ve been taking a look at all the songs in this years contest and providing some brief thoughts. If you agree or disagree, why not add your comments at the bottom of the page.
Today in part 3, we’re looking at the first half of Semi-Final 2 (plus 1 of the songs already qualified for the Grand Final).
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Lithuania | Monika & Vaidas – This Time | Score | |||||
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| A very strong entry from Lithuania this year. “This Time” is a very traditional Eurovision duet but with a more contemporary twist to it. From the video, and other live performances I have seen of this song though, I don’t feel the chemistry between Monika and Vaidas is quite there though – probably because they were both solo artists who were forced together for the final. If they can get us to believe that they are a couple on the night, and look at each other a bit more while performing, this should do well. | |
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Ireland | Molly Sterling – Playing with Numbers | Score | |||||
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| Unfortunately I think this is another year Ireland is not going to do very well. Although it is a competent song with a good singer, in my opinion, it is lacking something to make it stand out. Molly has the voice to stand out on the night, however the song does not. And the fact that it is in the dreaded #2 spot in the semi, will already count against it. I doubt it will qualify for the final, but hopefully Ireland can pull some magic in the staging and performance to prove me wrong. |  |
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San Marino | Anita Simoncini & Michele Perniola – Chain of Lights | Score | |||||
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| I really want to like this song. It seems to have a lot going for it….performers from the Junior contest as well as a seasoned Eurovision composer in Ralph Siegel, and I probably do “like” it, but I definitely don’t love it and feel there is a lot of room for improvement. I find the heavy strings from the orchestra at the beginning distracting for what should be a gentle opening to the song, and feel Anita repeating Michele’s vocals in that whispered voice at about 2:25 into the song really unnecessary. But these are issues that can easily be fixed and hopefully the stage performance will come across a lot better. |  |
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Montenegro | Knez – Adio | Score | |||||
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| I am a big fan of the ethnic ballad, and no-one writes them quite like Željko Joksimović. This song has the great soft opening with the gradual build up to the wonderful key and tempo change. I love everything about it. I just wish it was Željko performing it again this year. What will work heavily in Montenegro’s favour is that no other country is doing anything this traditional and it should therefore stand out. I think that not only will this sail through to the final, but it will fare very well on the 23rd too. |  |
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Malta | Amber – Warrior | Score | |||||
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| This is a bit of a departure for Malta following their upbeat entries from the last few years. It is a good song and Amber sings it very well live. Is it distinct enough though? There are a lot of entries this year filling the same space and Malta is going to need to come up with something to make people take notice if they want their place in the final, although I think their position in the semi should work in their favour. | |
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Norway | Mørland & Debrah Scarlett – A Monster Like Me | Score | |||||
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| This song is the one that has slowly creeped up my favourites list and is now firmly perched in the top 5 or 6. The song seems to like it is too slow, yet it really keeps your interest going throughout. Add to that the perfect harmonising from the performers, despite having such contrasting voices. It is one of the few songs this year I look for when playing the cd in the car and I am nearing my destination. This will no doubt make it to the final, and with a good position on the night, should do extremely well. | |
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Portugal | Leonor Andrade – Há Um Mar Que Nos Separa | Score | |||||
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| When I first saw this performance I thought I was going to really enjoy it. It had a good start and I quite like Leonor’s look and voice. But the song is just missing something for me, although I don’t know what that something is. Hopefully the version given to us on the night will change a bit from this current version. Something with a little more variety in the performance. And Leonor will have to make sure she nails the key-change in her performance. |  |
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Czech Republic | Marta Jandová & Václav Noid Bárta – Hope never dies | Score | |||||
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| This is the kind of Eurovision duet that the Scandinavians have done so well for a number of years, but with a Czech influence from Václav’s gruff masculine vocals that Eastern Europe tends to prefer. They are excellent performers live and work very well together. I think this should go down well on the night with the right staging and performance. But it is a strong semi-final, so I simply cannot predict whether this will make it though. I hope so… | |
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Israel | Nadav Guedj – Golden Boy | Score | |||||
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| Israel regularly comes up with one of my favourites every year and this year is no exception. In a contest filled with slower ballad-style songs, Israel has sent something modern and upbeat. The switch from the slow ethnic ballad start to the song to the uptempo Bruno Mars style R&B with a Middle-Eastern flavour added in should really make people take notice. It should make it through to the semi’s without any problems. Despite only being 16, Nadav seems to be a very confident performer and I really look forward to the live performance. |  |
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Spain | Edurne – Amanecer | Score | |||||
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| Spain definitely won the award for the most anticipation thanks to the buildup from first announcing the performer as Edurne (who has been one of my favourite Spanish artists for years) to their slow leaks of studio clips and bits of information about the song and video. And they didn’t disappoint. Edurne will take to the stage singing a very confident power ballad. Amanecer means dusk, so expect at least one beautiful sunset to appear on the stage during their 3 minutes. Edurne is an extremely competent performer with an amazing voice, so I am sure she will do Spain proud on the night. | |
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NORWEGIAN NOVELTIES
One of the last compilations for Vienna is now finished,NORWEGIAN NOVELTIES. Again Gerry of the USA did a stunning cover design.
OGAE R O W CD’s in VIENNA
We have decided to list the CD’s we are bringing to Vienna and some will be added before Friday – after that day nothing new can be added as it will be too late
60th ANNIVERSARY COMPILATION CD’s (6 different compilations and in total 60 covers) and 30 copies of each – total 180
(plus minus 67 will be handed to the individual artists in Vienna)
DANISH DELIGHTS (12 Danish covers) – 10 copies
LOSE CONTROL OVER FINLAND (9 Finnish covers) – 10 copies
ICELAND IDOLS (14 Icelandic covers) – 5 copies
(one for Hera Bjork and one for Selma, and 3 others for fans)
NORWEGIAN NOVELTIES (12 Norwegian covers) – 5 copies
A MUSICAL BRIDGE FROM SWEDEN ( 18 euro covers by Swedish covers) – 10 copies
BEST OF MELODIFESTIVAL IN AFRIKAANS (18 covers of Melodi festival songs) – 5 copies
RALPH SIEGEL IN SOUTH AFRICA volume 1 (20 of his songs covered in South Africa) – 1 copy – for Ralph
RALPH SIEGEL IN SOUTH AFRICA volume 2 (21 of his songs covered in South Africa) – 1 copy – for Ralph
WONDERFUL DREAM WITH ANNE MARIE DAVID (5 covers of her 1973 winner) – 1 copy – for Anne Marie
ANOTHER NIGHT WITH JAN JOHANSEN (7 covers of his songs) – 1 copy – for Jan
ITS FOR YOUR WITH NIAMH KAVANAGH (covers of both her euro entries) 1 copy – for Niamh
EK VOEL STOUT (cover of HOPE AND GLORY) – 1 copy – for Mans
KAN EK JOU WYS (cover of CARA MIA) – 1 copy – for Mans
DINGE DONG (Afrikaans/Latvian cover) – 5 copies – 1 for Getty Kaspers
WIE WIL BY MY BLY (cover of a song by Fame) – 1 copy
BAD BOY (cover of Manboy of Eric Saade) – 1 copy
EK SAL VIR ALTYD LEWE (cover of Live forever of Magnus Carlsson) – 1 copy
EK EN MY KITAAR (cover of Tom Dice 2010) – 3 copies
OGAE CLUB FAVOURITES
Hopefully all 42 clubs will vote in the OGAE CLUB voting, but we will list each club’s winner. And it will be updates as more clubs reveal their voting
OGAE ALBANIA – ITALY
OGAE ARMENIA – ESTONIA
OGAE LUXEMBOURG -SWEDEN
OGAE SWITZERLAND – ITALY
OGAE ESTONIA – SWEDEN
OGAE RUSSIA – ITALY
OGAE DENMARK – SWEDEN
OGAE R O W – SWEDEN
OGAE POLAND – AZERBAIJAN
OGAE NORWAY – ITALY
OGAE LITHUANIA – NORWAY
OGAE SERBIA – SLOVENIA
OGAE MACEDONIA – ITALY
OGAE FRANCE – SWEDEN
OGAE ITALY – NORWAY
OGAE UNITED KINGDOM – SWEDEN
OGAE ROMANIA – ITALY
OGAE MONTENEGRO – SERBIA
OGAE MALTA – ITALY
OGAE ANDORRA – SWEDEN
OGAE SPAIN – ITALY
OGAE SWEDEN – ESTONIA
OGAE FINLAND – ITALY
OGAE GERMANY – ESTONIA
OGAE LATVIA – SWEDEN
OGAE SLOVAKIA – SWEDEN
OGAE BELGIUM – NORWAY
OGAE PORTUGAL – ITALY