Our reporter Fred Medeiros and cameraman Liam Eaton were busy at the after party for Melodifestivalen Andra Chansen. They caught up with the qualifiers and sent us through some happy snapshots and a couple of videos they shot on the spot. Thanks Fred and Liam for letting us all share the fun.
Check out the videos that place you in the scene.
http://youtu.be/oXtEz2cCbyQ
http://youtu.be/sdODZJXY9HU
The local broadcaster, RTP, held the final of the 2015 Festival da Canção this evening. The song that will represent Portugal at the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest will be Há um Mar que nos Separa (There is a sea that separates us) and performed by Leonor Andrade. It is composed by Miguel Gameiro.
Six acts appeared in the final –
Three acts then progressed to a superfinal via jury and televoting – Leonor Andrade, Teresa Radamanto and Gonçalo Tavares. Then after televoting decided Leonor would take the Portuguese ticket for Vienna.
You can see Leonor perform her winning song below. Leonor was also a contestant on The Voice of Portugal in 2014.
Source: RTP, www.esccovers.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNfPYukrIpo
Tonight Sweden will chose their last 4 songs for the final next Saturday. Helsingborg is this year’s hosts and are getting into the spirit all of things schlager.
Watch it tonight at SVT Play at 8:00 pm CET – Click Here!
| 1 | Andreas Weise | “Bring Out the Fire” | |
| 2 | Linus Svenning | “Forever Starts Today” | |
| 1 | Hasse Andersson | “Guld och gröna skogar” (Gold and green forests) | |
| 2 | Kristin Amparo | “I See You” | |
| 1 | Dolly Style | “Hello Hi” | |
| 2 | Dinah Nah | “Make Me (La La La)” | |
| 1 | Behrang Miri feat. Victor Crone and Malena Ernman | “Det rår vi inte för” (We can’t help it) | |
| 2 | Samir & Viktor | “Groupie” | |
Duel 1 – Predict Linus Svenning
Andreas Weise reminds me of a cocky egotistical used car salesman but there are some Swedish that obviously like it. The song is not horrendous actually but I believe that it is good enough for Eurovision or to win Melodifestivalen due to the lack of like-ability. Linus Svenning’s song and performance feels much more genuine and the quality is much higher. With Svenning being a finalist last year as well he is clearly in with a great chance of going through to the final.
Duel 2 – Predict Hasse Andersson
Hasse Andersson is like that old friend you have seen it a long while and comes in a springtime happy song that just makes you smile. Even if you don’t care for danseband music, it is almost impossible not to smile at least once during his performance. The Swedish love Andersson and the audience participation in the arena is electric. Kristin Amparo is an Adele-like songstress and her performance is flawless. The setting and lighting just add to this atmospheric song. This is my favourite song of the evening and it slightly kills me to predict anyone to win against it but I believe Andersson’s popularity is win over Amparo moving performance.
Duel 3 – Predict Dinah Nah
Dolly Style is the saccharin sweet trio of wannabe children presenters performing one of those songs you can’t get out of your head. The song is instantly catchy and will be a favourite of anyone under 12. The battle is arguably the closest to call but it will depend on how much the parents drink this evening. Dinah Nah is a summer-drenched club anthem with a great chorus. What makes this song stand out is the simple special effect of shaking the camera during the all male dance performances given that earthquake effect.
Duel 4 – Predict Samir & Victor
Behrang Miri has been to the second chance round before and lost out previously to proceed to the final. The song is a bit lost amongst the other songs this evening due to the lack of sparkle. There has been a sneaky change here as Malena Ernman has been added as backing vocalist. I still don’t think Ernman’s addition will change the popularity behind Samir & Victor. Samir & Viktor are easily the most popular song of the evening. Unfortunately, the song and vocals aren’t up to the popularity of this novelty song. This won’t stop the Swedish kids and teens voting for the rather good looking duo.
Last night the local broadcaster, ORF, staged the penultimate show of the 2015 Wer singt für Österreich? Six acts had already been chosen and now it was time time find the six final songs. Each act performed two songs each. The mentor coaches decided which song would progress to the final.
The six acts and songs for the final to be held on Friday 13 March are –
Source: www.eurovision.tv; ORF; www.esccovers.com
The second semi-final of the 2015 Festival da Canção took place yesterday. Six acts competed and three made it to the final to be held on 7 March.
The three acts to progress were –
Source: www.eurovision.tv
Germany held the final of the 2015 Unser Song für Österreich last night and there was drama right to the end. Andreas Kümmert was declared the winner. However, he declined the chance to represent Germany in Vienna. Therefore, the runner up Ann Sophie with her song Black Smoke will represent Germany at the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest.
Eight acts competed in the first phase last night –
Four acts progressed to round two where they performed a second song –
Then two acts made it to the super final with their own choice of song –
Then we had the drama where Andreas was announced as winner and he handed the opportunity over to Ann Sophie to represent Germany in Vienna. Ann Sophie was the recent winner of the German Wild Card show.
You can see Ann Sophie perform Black Smoke below.
Source: ARD/NDR; www.esccovers.com
This morning sitting having breakfast and messaging with Eurovision friends I became aware the German final was on. Little did I know when I zapped across to Safari and typed in eurovision.tv that I was about to experience, first hand, a piece of Eurovision history. I had been told two acts were fighting it out and so while we chatted and made observations I started to watch the final contestant. Andreas Kummert instantly won me with Heart of Stone. Finally, after what had been shaping as a very lack lustre year, here was a great meaty rock ballad with a touch of soul. For us in Australia it would be like a facially forested and balding Jimmy Barnes.
As I listened and messaged I felt this was not only the winner for Germany but would offer such a nice contrast on the Eurovision stage in Vienna. Could this be the overall winner? Why Not? I loved it. What song had I heard this year and instantly loved? O. So as he concluded I was rapt to find it and a Euro friend was messaging his disappointments with Germany last year and Unhelig and now hopefully all was well with the world. We waited. We watched the countdown. We saw what many are unfortunately describing as Lena 2. And then the moment. The announcement. I sat there willing, crossing my fingers, hoping that the balding, well forested face would appear on the big screen….. and…..there it was!!!
I was over the moon. The future looked rosy. Eurovision 2015 had been saved and I thought I was so lucky to turn to it and see this moment. But hang on. My schoolyear’s German kicked in. I didn’t like the look on his face. The look on the announcer’s face. She actually looked like ” Tell me this isn’t true, not me, not now, what the hell do we do, where is that hole I can crawl into?”
I think he was saying NO? Surely not? Ann Sophie looked upset. She looked like she was a rabbit in the spotlight. No idea what was happening. How to react. And yes in that instant I saw the joy of Eurovision turn to sour cream. They embraced, with Ann still not sure what had happened. Had there been a death in the family? No and Andreas just slowly slinked off the stage having handed his title to her. So the best song in Germany by a mile disappears in a puff of Black Smoke and we are given leftovers. I feel for Ann, for the many who spent their hard earned coin on the voting only to find they didn’t get that song or artist, for my friend who was already dudded by Unhelig last year and sat like a stunned mullet trying to work out, what is it that these Germans torture him every year, and me. I only turned it on near the end. I heard a song I instantly loved. I felt euphoric when it won. I still don’t know what I feel 12 hours later…..
Last night, the Greek broadcaster Nerit, held the 2015 EuroSong final to choose the Greek entry for Vienna. After an hour of performances by past Greek Eurovision entries, including the 2005 winner Helena Paparizou reprising her entry My Number One, 5 contestants took to the stage.
After a round of televoting, the winner was revealed as Maria Helena Kyriakou with her entry One Last Breath and will be performing in the first half of the first Semi-Final.
Good luck Greece!
The local broadcaster, RTP, held the first of two semi-finals yesterday in the 2015 Festival da Canção. Six acts competed and three were selected to progress to the final to be held on Saturday 7 March.
Two songs were selected by televoting and one by expert jury. The three acts and songs to qualify for the final were –
Leonor Andrade – Há um Mar que nos Separa (TELEVOTING)
Yola Dinis – Outra Vez Primavera (TELEVOTING)
Gonçalo Tavares – Tu Tens uma Mágica (JURY)
Source: www.eurovision.tv
On Saturday, Sweden hosted its last semi-final in Örebro. In my opinion, it was the best show of the four. With Måns Zelmerlöw and JTR securing places in the final on the 14th March.
Midnight Boy – Don’t say no – Eliminated (7th Place)
A popular song writer in his own right, Midnight Boy has produced a typical 80’s gay anthem that wouldn’t be out of place in any retro discotheque. His performance is very good only noticed one off note. Unfortunately the Swedish public didn’t agree placing it last.
Caroline Wennergren – Black swan – Eliminated (5th Place)
This is Wennergren’s second attempt in Melodifestivalen she qualified previously to the final and finished 5th overall with “A Different Kind of Love.” I found this song a bit boring actually Wennergren’s raspy voice was the only character I noticed in the performance.
JTR – Building it up – Advances direct to the final
JTR are a Swedish boy band made up of three brothers that actually rose to fame by participating in X Factor Australia. They finished in 7th place but have subsequently released an album that has charted in both Sweden and Australia. I honestly didn’t think much of this song and found it to be the most boring of the evening. The song wasn’t interesting enough and has a fairly weak hook. I believe popularity and good looks possibly haven’t hurt their result. I was shocked that the qualified directly for the final.
Hasse Andersson – Guld och gröna skogar (Gold and green forests) – Advances to the second chance
For 35 years, Hasse Andersson has been performing his Swedish country music achieving chart success mostly in the 80’s. This jolly traditional country number was refreshing and sweet. The dancers and staging just brought together the sense of spring. Andersson’s overall performance was fairly solid for the 67 year old and with a catchy hook I easily hummed along to the melody. It clearly won’t win any awards but still welcome to see and hear some happy, well written music.
Dinah Nah – Make me (La la la) – Advances to the second chance
This is Nah’s first Melodifestivalen entry with the simple but effective staging she has managed a ticket to the second chance. The song isn’t as strong as Midnight Boy’s but it is repetitive and the dance sequences with the earthquake effects works very well. Definitely another club style song, “Make Me (La la la)” lacks that super strong chorus that a club track needs. Still an impressive first outing.
Annika Herlitz – Ett andetag (One breath) – Eliminated (6th Place)
Herlitz is a singer and voiceover actress, most famous for being Elsa in the Swedish version of Disney’s Frozen. She has perform the Swedish version of “Let it Go”, “Slå Dig Fri” for the film and countless times to the Swedish public. With such a powerful song, I was expecting a WOW from Herlitz which she delivered a lovely performance but wasn’t quite the diva power of “Let it Go”. Arguably this was my favourite song of the evening. It built well and had all of the traditional touches of a classic Swedish Schlager hit. I think it was missing that overly dramatic big note that these songs are built on.
Måns Zelmerlöw – Heroes – Advances direct to the final
This is Zelmerlöw’s third entry to Melodifestivalen, finishing 3rd with “Cara Mia” and 4th with “Hope & Glory.” He also co-hosted the contest in 2010 which he gained lots more popularity. This was clearly the favourite to win the semi-final and SVT often put the hot favourite to win the crown in the last place of the 4th semi-final. Being named Sweden’s sexiest man several years in a row probably doesn’t hurt your chances either. Honestly the song is OK, it’s growing on me. The first 30 seconds is dreadful, sounding something like an old fashioned folk singer. What makes this amazing is the staging and special effects of the performance. This could well win but I still think that the Semi orphan might walk away with the victory.