ESC 2012, Second semifinale

Again in English as I'm again doing this last minute.

About the previous semifinale: I made my gestimation of who will go through to the finale after all the performances and got 7/10 (Russia, Ireland, Iceland, Greece, Romania, Moldova and Hungary) right. I think that's an ok result. I was sorry to see that Israel didn't make it there, but in the other hand happy that Hungary got through despite many saying it wouldn't. And THAN GOD Latvia has such a boring performance that they didn't get enough votes.

If we talk about the show in general, I felt it was set back several years (even something like a decade) due to the not so good camera work, hosts that tasted like cardboard and super huge and boring stage where the performers were mostly just lost. The show has looked so great during the last 5-7 years that the contrast was quite big.

And then to the songs we'll hear tonight!

1. Serbia - Željko Joksimović : Nije ljubav stvar
 Željko is an old favorite and the ballad is a nice one with that special Balkan flavor. I'm pretty sure it'll get to the finale and rightfully so.

2. F.Y.R. Macedonia - Kaliopi : Crno i belo
I'm not a big fan of the fact that this song turns into a rock song in the middle. I like the melody and her unique voice, but I'd enjoyed it better if it had followed more the style it had in the first verse. And the screaming - I'm not a fan of that.

3. Netherlands - Joan Franka : You And Me
I like the song but I bloody hate her Indian outfit. Too bad it seems she'll have that headpiece also on the stage in Baku. When you don't see that I really enjoy the song.

4. Malta - Kurt Calleja : This Is the Night
Kurt seems really sweet on the video, but the song is just very boring pop song that really doesn't stand out from the mass.

5. Belarus - Litesound : We Are the Heroes
Belarus has one of the wost songs this year. The guys can't even really sing can they? I don't really care to hear this song ever again and don't really think it'll make it to the finale.

6. Portugal - Filipa Sousa : Vida minha
The fado flavor in this song is very nice and I think it's always nice when a country picks a song in their own language and with some national character. For that I hope we'll see Filipa also in the finale even tough she's not one of my own favorites.

7. Ukraine - Gaitana : Be My Guest
This is the mother of all football songs and she has all the moves of a diva. I mean, can't you just see this playing on one of those "best goals" things and performed on a football arena? And I do think this is a good song in that "genre". We'll see how it'll do tonight but if they pull of a great show I'll be happy to welcome her to the finale.

8. Bulgaria - Sofi Marinova : Love Unlimited
I can't really wrap my head around this song. It's not really catchy and I apparently can't quite decide what type of music it is either. She has a nice smile tough.

9. Slovenia - Eva Boto : Verjamem
The singers with the ridiculously huge shower caps. That and the fact that this was some kind of a ballad were literally the only two things I as able to remember from this song before re-listening it just now. So no, I don't think it'll make it even tough it's not a bad ballad.

10. Croatia - Nina Badrić : Nebo
Lovely strong ballad that has an unfortunate spot just after another ballad and just before Sweden. Nina is much better than Eva from Slovenia tough. Let's hope she'll go through to the finale.

11. Sweden - Loreen : Euphoria
I don't know if it's because I've heard Euphoria so many times, but I love this song. It's so strong and beautiful. And Loreen has a great voice and I really hope they don't mess her performance with that shady camera work... And I'm curious to see what the performance will be like as there's definitely going to be no such snowflakes and probably some screen action going on. Euphoria is a definite favorite for me personally and in general in the competition.

12. Georgia - Anri Jokhadze : I'm a Joker
He is so slimy, the is no way round it. The song isn't even quite so bad that I'd wish it to be (in a party it would definitely make me dance), but he makes at least the whole video just unbearable.

13. Turkey - Can Bonomo : Love Me Back
This just makes me happy, especially the traditional Turkish instruments and his smile. It's no winner song but as always Turkey won't miss the finale due to the migration, but that's ok.

14. Estonia - Ott Lepland : Kuula
Estonian is such a beautiful language when it's sung. And it's no exception in this song. Other than that Kuula is a beautiful ballad that gives me goosebumps and a perfect show case of how you can understand the emotions even tough you don't know a word of the language sung if it's the mother tongue of the singer. Ott would deserve his spot in the finale. (By the way, he has a perfect spot just after the energetic song from Turkey and the heavy song Slovakia.)

15. Slovakia - Max Jason Mai : Don't Close Your Eyes
If you know anything of my taste in music you'll know I'm no heavy fan. And this song makes no exception. This just isn't for me.

16. Norway - Tooji : Stay
This is such a trademark Swedish Eurovision song even tough it's presenting Norway and it has some eastern sound in it too. There is nothing wrong with it or with Tooji, but I just feel like I have heard this too many times before (and that Eric Saade just did it better). It'll probably make it to the finale anyway.

17. Bosnia & Herzegovina - Maya Sar : Korake ti znam
This is not a bad ballad but as there is so many ballads in this semifinale, it doesn't really stand out. I'm pretty indifferent about this song.

18. Lithuania - Donny Montell : Love Is Blind
ARE YOU SERIOUS? You sing "love is blind" and then decide to wear a blind fold through half of the song. Not that I'd like this song otherwise either: I've never been a fan of chancing the style of the song completely in the middle of it. I hope being the last song on the stage doesn't guarantee a spot in the finale for him.

In general this semifinale seems to me to be slightly weaker than the first one. Not much but a tad bit. It might be the overflow of ballades tough because they have never been my special favorites in this competition.

As always it's hard to guess who'll do well in the semi before seeing the live performances. But for now I'll guess the ones going further are: Sweden (Loreen is just divine), Norway (boring for me but this definitely has it's fans), Turkey (migration to other countries will assure this), Serbia (Željko already has fans around Europe), Estonia (the best ballad tonight by far), Netherlands (doing its own thing tonight), Ukraine (big, bold, beautiful), Portugal (people love fado), Croatia (or some other of these ballads, I can't really predict which one) and Georgia (because some shit like this always gets through and unlike Belarus he can actually sing).