Yep, they’ve not caught up with me yet, despite my brazen stroll from Riigi Heights this morning. Â No-one told me it rains sometimes here. Â But nevertheless (I’m gonna push the button, oops, sorry, wrong year) it is still surprisingly pleasant. Â I’ve been avidly looking at some of the runners and riders for the second semi-final, and we’ve had some good stuff today.
Latvia’s PeR were/was first on. Â I’ve always got on with my Baltic brethren but they try your patience sometimes. Â They mean well, but, seriously, who’s going to vote for this? Â They can’t even rely on Phil’s UK of stuff who likes to vote for quirk. Â The highlight was the piano on a stick.
San Marino’s rehearsal drew a massive crowd in the cinema and I don’t think it disappointed. Â She sang it as it’s meant to be sang. Â She stopped part way through one attempt for some unknown reason. Â Her outfit change did the job and it was, all in all, very good. Â I realise that some quarters see this is wanfank. Â Or this year’s Thane erotas. Â But I’m going to stick my perfectly formed neck out and say it will qualify.
I tried to pay attention to Macedonia (FYR), but it’s lost something for me. Â Lozano needs to sing in Macedonian, not English. Â He needs to wear something instead of the red jeans as they do not help at all. Â Esma looks like you’d expect a Balkan woman of a certain age to look, but dressed up. Â Imagine Zdob si Zdub‘s granny but glamorous and you get the picture.
Finally this morning we saw Azerjiban Aberjizan Azerbaijan. Â They don’t want to win again, so they tell us. Â by crikey they do. Â For those of you expecting him standing on a box like in his preview video, you’re in for a bit of a disappointment. Â He sits atop a glass box, that has a man inside. Â His shadow we’re told. Â The box looks like it’s something from a 1990s Saturday night game show in the UK. Â And it has flying rose petals.. Â Farid schmoozes around the stage matching his ‘shadow’ move for move, before the love interest appears. Â She’s in a long long long red frock that has her spine on the outside. Â I’m no expert on anatomy, but it looks pretty realistic to me. Â It’s a cert with a capital CERT for the final. Â Will the EBU ‘place’ it second in the running order perchance?
I’ll be back with more stuff later.
R x





