I'll make a video on my top 43 soon, however at the moment my top 5 is...
1
Serbia
2
Sweden
3
Norway
4
Belgium
5
Bulgaria
My favourites are very different to who I think could win, despite the fact I believe my top 5 will all get a top 10 placing in the final. I also say that Italy is a favourite, especially now that the video has over 70m views on YouTube. I also have a weird feeling that Hungary will really surprise us on the night of the final, especially in the jury vote because his voice is next level. I think Serbia will be exceptional during ESC this year, the could win the 2nd semi-final. Serbia know how to stage a song, this song is also very marketable and chart-friendly. Sweden of course has to be a favourite also, a catchy chorus with a captivating stage show which elevates the song to new heights.
As rehearsals start in Kyiv, the suspense is high in the Eurovision fandom as new bookies' favourites rise and fall. THe live shows start next week (9th May) and Italy comes into them as the runaway favourite with the song 'Occidentali's Karma'. THe battle for the rest of the top 5 seems far more wide open with Bulgaria, Sweden, Portugal and Belgium in the mix. Here are my picks to get top 5 in the jury and televote...
JURY
1
Sweden
2
Portugal
3
Italy
4
Bulgaria
5
France
TELEVOTE
1
Italy
2
Bulgaria
3
Sweden
4
Azerbaijan
5
Serbia
I'd also look out for a country like Hungary to get a sneaky top 5 and Azerbaijan if they get a good slot in the running order.
Italy drawn in the first half of the final...this could make things interesting. Let's see what happens to their odds during the day because that could hinder their chances at victory which before looked very clear.
1. UK
2. Armenia
3. Romania
4. Netherlands
5. France
6. Albania
7. Croatia
8. Azerbaijan
9. Bulgaria
10. Austria
Worst rehearsals:
1. Slovenia
2. San Marino
3. Czech Republic
4. Malta
5. Lithuania
6. Estonia
7. Serbia
8. Belgium
9. Greece
10. Italy
Just my opinion of course after watching first and second rehearsals for all countries. Really hope Belgium, Serbia, Greece and Italy can improve their performances as I really like those songs.
Having listened to most of the songs, I think Macedonia have come in as an incredibly underrated entry. The song is hip, catchy and the rehearsal looked good.
I like Italy too- but I'm still not convinced Francesco can sing live.
Disclaimer- Most of my posts are me thinking aloud. And most of what I think is rubbish.
Winner of a FIFA Prediction Fair Play Award (a phrase becoming increasingly ironic) "... Because he (me) has a sound tactical mind in general..." jandal7, at 9:30 am GMT on 12th May 2016
Underwhelming show to be honest, so many songs didn't live up to their studio versions - especially Latvia. Moldova and Cyprus were great live and worked exceptionally well, Moldova could get top 5 in the televote.
Moldova were excellent, as were the Czechs, Iceland , Finland and the juggernaut of Slavko. How Greece, Poland, Armenia and Belgium got in is beyond me.
Disclaimer- Most of my posts are me thinking aloud. And most of what I think is rubbish.
Winner of a FIFA Prediction Fair Play Award (a phrase becoming increasingly ironic) "... Because he (me) has a sound tactical mind in general..." jandal7, at 9:30 am GMT on 12th May 2016
weirdskyfan64 wrote:
Moldova were excellent, as were the Czechs, Iceland , Finland and the juggernaut of Slavko. How Greece, Poland, Armenia and Belgium got in is beyond me.
I agree with several of your judgements...personally liked Poland for her energy, but Greece, Armenia and Sweden most likely only came through due to their nation names. Performances, as the Belgian was, have been awful of all of those. Instead, the beutiful song of Finland surely should've made the final.
Sadly a very predictable 1st Semifinal, eventhough I took no looks at favourites/videos/odds and stuff, guessed 9/10 right (thought Finland would come through instead of Greece)...I guess Iceland, Georgia and Finland were close to qualify while Cyprus (eventhough I liked them really), Armenia (god hopefully, that was just a garbage refrain) and Greece might be in trouble of scoring well in the final
winner of today surely were Poland, Moldova and Portugal in terms of performance, but I fear that by the names Sweden (wtf was this?, can't hit any high notes and probably the most horrible songtext of this ESC, even beating Montenegro), Belgium (again can't sing live, but the most modern beat) and Australia (that make-up pretender with a shivering but okay voice and a pan-flat message) will be the contenders out of these...
I dunno how Albania didnt get through, Lindita nailed the performance, felt that maybe Moldova shouldnt have gone through.
Armenia has that Persian background which I loved and came through well in the performance, Finland was a bit flat and where it was in the running order maybe was the reason it didnt make it and because of Portugal being in the same semi final and the two songs are very similar.
I would ask all the people from the Balkan to contact me so that we can create our community.
List of Balkan countries:
- Albania
- Bosnia & Herzegovina
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Greece
- Kosovo
- Macedonia
- Montenegro
- Romania
- Serbia
- Slovenia
- Turkey
I had Belgium last by quite a margin. I didn't like Portugal either, just put 'meh' for Poland and Slovenia and forgot about Armenia completely. Moreover, even Slavko could hold a note better than the Swede, and I felt a bit underwhelmed by the treadmills.
Disclaimer- Most of my posts are me thinking aloud. And most of what I think is rubbish.
Winner of a FIFA Prediction Fair Play Award (a phrase becoming increasingly ironic) "... Because he (me) has a sound tactical mind in general..." jandal7, at 9:30 am GMT on 12th May 2016
The problem is that the jury doesn't base their votes on the semifinal purely, but instead in what happens before. The tests, which is very much okay, but they are surely also influenced by media and music videos, which I absolutely hate. I haven't heard to studio versions yet because I don't want to kill my tension on the ESC and the surprise factor before, but I guess that both Sweden and Belgium have some spicy video and only came through due to that. Because their vocal performances where AWFUL.
Serbia
Sweden
Norway
Belgium
Bulgaria
Portugal
Italy
France
Azerbaijan
Denmark (Anja <3)
Estonia
3. GB
6. NL
7. AR
