4 days until rehearsals start!

Its getting a pretty exciting time for any Eurovision fan this week, as it is the lead up to the rehearsals for this year's contest! On Sunday the rehearsals for the first semi-final will begin, and we can get a sneaky look into the stage production, any changes to the song, outfits and nerves! During the rehearsals I will be doing posts throughout the day, updating you of the latest news and gossip, with clips and photos of the rehearsals.


For any of you that didn't see, here is a basic schedule for the rehearsals.


The First Rehearsals for each song will be as follows -

Getter Jaani, one of the
favourites this year,
will be rehearsing on
the 4th, 8th and 12th
of May!



1st May 2011: Semi-Final 1 - Poland, Norway, Albania, Armenia, Turkey, Serbia, Russia, Switzerland, Georgia and Finland

2nd May 2011: Semi-Final 1 - Malta, San Marino, Croatia, Iceland, Hungary, Portugal, Lithuania, Azerbaijan and Greece

3rd May 2011: Semi-Final 2 - Bosnia-Herzegovina, Austria, The Netherlands, Belgium, Slovakia, Ukraine, Moldova, Sweden and Cyprus 

4th May 2011: Semi-Final 2 - Bulgaria, FYR Macedonia, Israel, Slovenia, Romania, Estonia, Belarus, Latvia, Denmark and Ireland

The Second Rehearsals for each song will be as follows -


5th May 2011: Semi-Final 1 - Poland, Norway, Albania, Armenia, Turkey, Serbia, Russia, Switzerland, Georgia, Finland, Malta, San Marino and Croatia
6th May 2011: Semi-Final 1 & 2 - Iceland, Hungary, Portugal, Lithuania, Azerbaijan, Greece, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Austria, The Netherlands, Belgium, Slovakia, Ukraine and Moldova
7th May 2011: Semi-Final 2 and First rehearsal of Big 5 - Sweden, Cyprus, Bulgaria, FYR Macedonia and Israel. France, Italy, UK, Germany and Spain.
8th May 2011: Semi-Final 2 and Big 5 - Slovenia, Romania, Estonia, Belarus, Latvia, Denmark and Ireland. France, Italy, UK, Germany and Spain.


Dress Rehearsals -


9th & 10th May 2011: Dress rehearsals for Semi-Final 1
11th & 12th May 2011: Dress rehearsals for Semi-Final 2
13th & 14th May 2011: Dress rehearsals for Final and voting


To check out the full schedule visit http://www.eurovision.tv/upload/press-downloads/2011/RehearsalSchedule2011_press.pdf

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan
Artist - Ell & Nikki
Song - Running Scared
Draw - Semi-Final 1, Place 18

Eldar Gasimov was born in in 1989, in Baku. He is the grandson of the famous Azerbaijani couple, Abbas Mirza Sharifzadeh and Marziyya Davudova. From 2001, he has attended professional voice training, as well as learning to play the piano. He graduated from Baku Slavic University with a double major in international relations and regional Geography. He speaks fluent Germany.


Nigar Jamal was born in 1980, in Baku. Since 2005, she has been living in the United Kingdom. In 2001, she majored in economics and management at the Khazar University. Her insperation comes from Christina Aguilera, Alicia Keys and Craig David.


Between the 15th November 2010 and the 11th February 2011, the Azerbaijani National Selection, Milli Seçim Turu, took place. Eldar and Nigar took part, and worked through the heats to the final. At the final, they were both picked to represent Azerbaijan in May.

"Running Scared" was written by Stefan Örn and Sandra Bjurman, and was composed by Stefan Örn, Sandra Bjurman and Iain Farguhanson. They are also the writers of "Drip Drop".


Current Betting Odds (William Hill) - 10/1
My Prediction - Pleasant song, will qualify. Placing in the top ten.

                                   Uğur!

Results of the Last Two Polls!

The results of the last two polls are in! Let's take a look -

Remaining Western Countries
United Kingdom - 46%
Germany - 37%
The Netherlands - 21%
Switzerland - 20%
Belgium - 12%
Ireland - 10%
                                  Total number of votes - 79
So Blue from the United Kingdom and Lena from Germany will go through to our Big Poll!

Remaining Eastern Countries
Poland - 45%
Albania - 31%
Romania - 31%
Slovakia - 22%
Bulgaria - 11%
                          Total number of votes - 70
Magdalena Tul from Poland has qualified for the Big Poll.

*** Due to there being a tie for second place, a poll between Albania and Romania will open for one day. The winner of that poll will take the last place in the Big Poll 2011. ***

Georgia

Georgia
Artist - Eldrine
Song - One More Day
Draw - Semi-Final 1, Place 9

Eldrine is made up of Sophio Toroshelidze - Vocals, Mikheil Chelidze (MIKEN) - Guitar, Irakli Bibilashvili (BIBO) - Bass Guitar, David Changoshvili (Chango) - Drummer and Beso Tsikhelashvili (DJ BE$$). Sophio has had alot to do with music for someone of a young age. In 2006 she won Song Of The Year, with a song that she wrote "Suprised Again". In 2009, she took part in "Star's Academy" (The Georgian Version of Pop Idol/XFactor). As well as this, that year she was also picked to be the vocal coach for participants at the Junior ESC. In 2010, she was at Eurovision, yet as a backing vocalist. On the 19th February, Eldrine won the right to represent Georgia in May.

Their song, "One More Day", was written by DJ Rock and Mikheil Chelidze and was composed by Beso Tsikhelashvili.

Current Betting Odds (William Hill) - 100/1
My Prediction - Since Georgia's debut in Helsinki, the country has had fantastic entries by beautiful singers. Whats gone wrong?!?! For me this song is amongst the worst this year, but I'm sure it'll qualify.

           საუკეთესო სურვილები!

Switzerland

Switzerland
Artist - Anna Rossinelli
Song - In Love For A While
Draw - Semi-Final 1, Place 8

Anna Rossinelli was born in 1987, in Basel, Switzerland. She is of both Swiss and Polish decent. Along with representing Switzerland this year at Eurovision, she is also the vocals for her band "Anne Claire". In December of last year, Anna took part in the Swiss National Selection "Die grosse Entscheidungs Show". Acts such as Todomondo, Miodio and DQ, from Romania 2007, San Marino 2008 and Denmark 2007, applied yet failed to get a spot in the final. After all the acts had performed and voting had closed, it was announced that Anna had received 23.93% of the overall vote, therefore winning the show.

Her song, "In Love For a While", was written and composed by David Klein. The song is a breezy and light performace, which many see as being similar to Lena last year.

Current Betting Odds (William Hill) - 100/1

My Prediction - This could qualify, but its up against many big dominating countries, so I think it will struggle......

  Bonne chance! / Viel Glück! / Buona Fortuna!

Turkey

Turkey
Artist - Yüksek Sadakat
Song - Live It Up
Draw - Semi-Final 1, Place 5

Yüksek Sadakat are a Turkish rock band, that formed in 1997. The band consists of Kenan Vural (vocals), Serkan Özgen (guitar), Kutlu Özmakinacı (bass), Uğur Onatkut (keyboard) and Alpay Şalt (drums). They rose to fame in 2005 with their self entitled album. Their music is a mixture of rock and pop, with a Turkish influence. Their name is Turkish for Hi-Fi.

On the 1st January 2011, it was announced that they had been internally selected to represent Turkey at the Eurovision Song Contest in Germany. Their song, "Live It Up", was written by Ergün Arsal and composed by Kutlu Özmakinacı.

Current Betting Odds (William Hill) - 40/1
My Prediction - Again, dispora will get Turkey through. I personally do not like this song, and I feel Turkey need to find something new for next year.

                         Iyi şanslar!

Another New Top Ten!!

William Hill have announced yet another top ten!! A few countries have swapped position, and we have one newcomer! Let's take a look -

9/2 France
6/1 United Kingdom
6/1 Estonia
10/1 Azerbaijan
10/1 Sweden
12/1 Hungary
12/1 Germany
14/1 Norway
14/1 Bosnia-Herzegovina
20/1 Ireland

Just missing out on a top ten place this time, is Denmark (knocked out of 10th place), Russia and Italy.

After browsing through nearly every ESC site on the web, I have noticed a few trends -

France appear to be top with nearly all bookmakers, yet only rank at about 4th/5th with public polls.
Hungary do not seem to get in the top five with any bookmaker, although on public polls they are 1st in most.
Italy and Ireland seem to be making the best improvement in terms of public opinions. As each day passes, they move up a little on the leader boards.
Germany seems to be losing popularity, with most people feeling it is a bit of a let down after "Satellite".

Note - These are not my personal opinions, they are trends which are happening on many ESC sites!

Armenia

Armenia
Artist - Emmy
Song - Boom Boom
Draw - Semi-Final 1, Place 4

Emma Banjanyan, better known as Emmy, was born in Yerevan in 1984. She rose to fame in 1993, when she released her first single "Hayastan". She won award after award at competitions in Armenia, Russia, Turkey and other countries within Europe. From 1994 to 2000, she was part of a female quartet called Hayer. Emmy also runs a music-production company, called Emmy-B Production Centre, in search for new talent within Armenia. In 2010, Emmy, partnered with Mihran, took part in the Armenian National Selection with their song "Hey!(Let Me Hear You Say)". Although scoring top points with the jury, they came third with the public. Overall they placed second, just losing to Eva Rivas.

On the 11th December 2010, it was announced that Emmy had been internally selected to represent Armenia. Her song was decided on the 5th March, with "Boom Boom" being the winner with 3,219 votes from the public and 12 points from the jury. The song was written by Sosi Khanikyan and composed by Hayk Harutyunyan and Hayk Hovhannisyan.

Current Betting Odds (William Hill) - 100/1
My Prediction - Armenia will obviously qualify due to dispora. It has a catchy tune, but I feel the quality of the song, is far less than previous Armenian entries.

                         Հաջողություն:

Changes in the Voting Procedure??

When the draw for the running order took place in March, something that was expected, didn't happen....
The draw for the voting order. Usually the countries are drawn at random, to determine the order that they will announce their votes. The EBU have announced that there will be a change to this year, but what could it be??

Some theories include -

The order will be decided on the night of the final, to try and make it a more exciting show. By doing this, they can make it a race for the top, rather than previous years, where it has been fairly obvious who will win by the 10th country announcing.

Another theory is that only the countries in the final will vote, thus making it more thorough. Or the countries that didn't qualify, will give their votes as one.

To me, these seem rather radical, although the first theory could work. I suspect that the changes will only be minor, but as soon as its announced i'll let you know!!

Check back later today for the Romanian profile!!

Finland

Finland
Artist - Paradise Oskar
Song - Da Da Dam
Draw - Semi-Final 1, Place 10

Axel Ehnström, born in 1990, is better known to the Finnish population as Paradise Oskar. His name comes from the childrens book "Rasmus and the Vagabond". He studies pop and jazz at the Helsinki Music Institute. This year, he took part in the Finnish National Selection, "Euroviisut 2011". The contest took place from the 14th January to the 12th February. In the final he came first, and in the super-final he won the show with 46.7% of the vote. Only 6% more than the artist in second place.

His song, "Da Da Dam", tells a story of a boy who makes a stand, and tries to save the planet, although he is ignored by everyone. The song was written and composed by Axel Ehnström.

Current Betting Odds (William Hill) - 50/1

My Prediction - I don't think this will qualify. Its a sweet song, with a good story to tell, but its too similar to Tom Dice.

                               Onnea Suomi!!

Poland

Poland
Artist - Magdalena Tul
Song - Jestem
Draw - Semi-Final 1, Place 1

Magdalena Tul was born in 1980, in Gdansk, Poland. From the age of 19, Magdalena has been heavily envolved in music. In 2000, she started working in theatre, performing in musicals such as Grease and Cats. In late 2005, she recorded a song for the Polish version of the Walt Disney movie "The Emperor's New Groove". In June of 2006, she came 3rd in an international songwriting competition called "Unisong", in the USA. Her first album was entitled "The Victory of Heart". Her first two singles were "Nie ma Jej" and "Jestem".

"Jestem" was both written and composed by Magdalena Tul. In the Polish National Final, she got 44.47% of the overall vote, which was double the amount of the artist in second place. An English version of the song was made, entitled "First Class Ticket To Heaven", although at Eurovision the song shall be performed in Polish.

Current Betting Odds (William Hill) - 66/1
My Prediction - I think that Poland deserve to qualify with this song. Placing between 16 and 25.

                              Powodzenia!

Lithuania

Lithuania
Artist - Evelina Sašenko
Song - C'est ma vie
Draw - Semi-Final 1, Place 17

Evelina Sašenko was born in 1987. She is of both Lithuanian and Polish decent. In 2009, Evelina took part in the opera contest, "Triumfo arka", which gained her both fame and recognition. She also took part in the 2010 Lithuanian National Final for Eurovision, with her song "For This I'll Pray". She eventually placed 3rd. Once again in 2011, Evelina participated in the Lithuanian selection. She placed first in her semi-final, winning her a place in the final. In the final, she recieved 12 points from both the jury and the televote, giving her the honour to represent Lithuania in Germany.

Although having a french title, "C'est ma vie" has only two lines in french, with the rest being sung in english. The song was written by Andrius Kairys and composed by Paulius Zdanavičius.

Current Betting Odds (William Hill) - 200/1
My Prediction - This song would be better suited in a musical. I don't think this will qualify.

                                  Sėkmės!

Albania

Albania

Artist - Aurela Gace

Song - Feel The Passion

Draw - Semi-Final 1, Place 3

Aurela Gace was born in 1974 in Albania. She has won "Festivali i Këngës" three times, including this year, where she won the honour to represent her country at the ESC. "Origjinale" was her most successful song, reaching 4.5 million views on Youtube.

In late 2010, she took part in the Albanian selection. After making it through the semi final, she won the show with "Kënga ime" (My Song), 16 points ahead of the artist in second place. It was announced that she will sing the song in English at Eurovision, under the title "Feel The Passion".

The Song was written by Sokol Marsi and composed by Shpëtim Saraçi.

Current Betting Odds (William Hill) - 150/1

My Prediction - I can't make my mind up with this song. I think the song itself is quite good, but could be better with a different singer. I still think it will qualify.

                               Paç fat!

What do the Statistics predict??

As any Eurovision fan would know, it is thought that if you are drawn to sing nearer to the end of the contest, you are more likely to qualify for the final, or win the show. ESC fan site, ESCNation, recently released the odds of each country getting through, in terms of their draw. Lets have a look (the percentage shows the chance of qualification) -  

1. 50% (Poland / Bosnia-Herzegovina)
2. 50% (Norway / Austria)
3. 25% (Albania / Netherlands)
4. 25% (Armenia / Belgium)
5. 13% (Turkey / Slovakia)
6. 38% (Serbia / Ukraine)
7. 38% (Russia / Moldova)
8. 50% (Switzerland / Sweden)
9. 38% (Georgia / Cyprus)
10. 75% (Finland / Bulgaria)
11. 38% (Malta / FYR-Macedonia)
12. 50% (San Marino / Israel)
13. 75% (Croatia / Slovenia)
14. 100% (Iceland / Romania)
15. 50% (Hungary / Estonia)
16. 75% (Portugal / Belarus)
17. 50% (Lithuania / Latvia)
18. 88% (Azerbaijan / Denmark)
19. 75% (Greece / Ireland)

So it seems that place number 14 is the most likely to qualify, with place number 5 the least likely. But with Turkey at place 5 this year, do you think that could change?

Check back later today, when the profile of the United Kingdom will be added!

Hungary

Hungary
Artist - Kati Wolf
Song - What About My Dreams?
Draw - Semi-Final 1, Place 15

Kati Wolf was born in 1974 in Szentendre, Hungary. In 2010, Kati took part in the Hungarian version of the X Factor, making it to the final. At the beginning of 2011, she began working on her solo album. On the 9th March 2011, it was announced that Kati would represent Hungary in this years Eurovision. Her first single, "Szerelem, Miért Múlsz?", which is also the Hungarian version of her song for the ESC, became a huge success immediately.

The song was written by Viktor Rakonczai and Gergő Rácz. It was announced that the song would be sung in english at Eurovision, under the title "What About My Dreams?". Although the song isn't ranked to highly with the bookmakers, it seems to be a very strong favourite with the European public.

Current Betting Odds (William Hill) - 14/1
My Prediction - I think that this is the dark horse of 2011. Definitely top 8.

                  Sok szerencsét!

Full Rehearsal Schedule is Released!

In preparation for Europe's biggest show, the full rehearsal schedule has been released!


The First Rehearsals for each song will be as follows -


1st May 2011: Semi-Final 1 - Poland, Norway, Albania, Armenia, Turkey, Serbia, Russia, Switzerland, Georgia and Finland
2nd May 2011: Semi-Final 1 - Malta, San Marino, Croatia, Iceland, Hungary, Portugal, Lithuania, Azerbaijan and Greece
3rd May 2011: Semi-Final 2 - Bosnia-Herzegovina, Austria, The Netherlands, Belgium, Slovakia, Ukraine, Moldova, Sweden and Cyprus 
4th May 2011: Semi-Final 2 - Bulgaria, FYR Macedonia, Israel, Slovenia, Romania, Estonia, Belarus, Latvia, Denmark and Ireland


The Second Rehearsals for each song will be as follows -


5th May 2011: Semi-Final 1 - Poland, Norway, Albania, Armenia, Turkey, Serbia, Russia, Switzerland, Georgia, Finland, Malta, San Marino and Croatia
6th May 2011: Semi-Final 1 & 2 - Iceland, Hungary, Portugal, Lithuania, Azerbaijan, Greece, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Austria, The Netherlands, Belgium, Slovakia, Ukraine and Moldova
7th May 2011: Semi-Final 2 and First rehearsal of Big 5 - Sweden, Cyprus, Bulgaria, FYR Macedonia and Israel. France, Italy, UK, Germany and Spain.
8th May 2011: Semi-Final 2 and Big 5 - Slovenia, Romania, Estonia, Belarus, Latvia, Denmark and Ireland. France, Italy, UK, Germany and Spain.


Dress Rehearsals -


9th & 10th May 2011: Dress rehearsals for Semi-Final 1
11th & 12th May 2011: Dress rehearsals for Semi-Final 2
13th & 14th May 2011: Dress rehearsals for Final and voting


To check out the full schedule visit http://www.eurovision.tv/upload/press-downloads/2011/RehearsalSchedule2011_press.pdf

Iceland

Iceland

Artist - Sigurjón's Friends

Song - Coming Home

Draw - Semi-Final 1, Place 14

Sigurjón's friends are made up of Gunnar Ólafsson, Vignir Snær Vigfússon, Pálmi Sigurhjartarson, Matthías Matthíasson, Hreimur Örn Heimisson and Benedikt Brynleifsson. Sadly at the beginning of 2011, Sigurjón Brink passed away, whilst he was only in his early 30s. He was due to perform a song he composed, "Aftur Heim" at the Icelandic National Selection, but due to his death, it was decided by his family that his friends should perform the song in his place. They made it through to the final, and eventually won, beating the strong favourite of the show, Yohanna.

At Eurovision, the group will perform the song in english, under the title "Coming Home". The song was written by Thorunn Clausen and Sigurjón Brink, and composed by Sigurjón Brink. Aftur Heim reached number one in the Icelandic charts.

Current Betting Odds (William Hill) - 150/1
My Prediction - The song clearly has a touching story, yet I don't think that will help carry it through to the final........



                                   Gangi þér vel!

Later today we shall be looking at the Austrian entry!!

San Marino

San Marino
Artist - Senit
Song - Stand By
Draw - Semi-Final 1, Place 12

Senhit Zadik Zadik (more commonly known as Senit), born in 1979, was internally selected to represent the microstate at Eurovision. Senit was born in Bologna, Italy, to her Eritrean parents. She started to rise to fame in the late 1990s/early 2000s, when performing in musicals such as the Lion King, Hair and Fame, in Switzerland and Germany. In 2006 she relased her debut, self entitled album and in 2007 her second album "Un tesoro é necessariamente nascosto". In May of 2009, she released her first english ablum "So High". This album was her first taste of international success for hiphop and pop.

The song that she will represent San Marino with, is "Stand By". It was both written and composed by Radiosa Romani.

Current Betting Odds (William Hill) - 150/1

My Prediction - Well its definitely not what I expected from San Marino, but I don't think it'll be enough to get through to the final.

                                 Buona fortuna!

Later today we will be looking at the Slovenian entry!!

Qualifiers of the first two polls!!

After 7 days of voting on the Scandanavian and Newcomer Polls, the results are in!


Scandanavian
1. Sweden - 32 votes - 37%
2. Denmark - 21 votes - 24%
3. Norway - 17 votes - 20%
4. Iceland - 9 votes - 10%
5. Finland - 6 votes - 7%


So the qualifiers are Eric Saade from Sweden and A Friend in London from Denmark!


Newcomer
1. Hungary - 43 votes - 56%
2. Italy - 17 votes - 22%
3. Austria - 11 votes - 14%
4. San Marino - 5 votes - 6%


The qualifiers of the Newcomer group are Kati Wolf from Hungary and Raphael Gualazzi from Italy!


So here is how the big final is looking now -


Denmark, Hungary, Italy, Sweden.


The ex-Yugoslavian results will be announced in the next couple of days.


The next two polls have now also opened! They are the former Soviet States (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine) and the Mediterranean Nations (Cyprus, France, Greece, Israel, Malta, Portugal, Spain and Turkey).


Be sure to vote for your favourite!!

Portugal

Portugal
Artist - Homens da Luta
Song - A luta é alegria
Draw - Semi-Final 1, Place 16

Homens da Luta are a comedy and improvisational group, who generally peform on the streets of Portugal. Many of their songs are based around the carnation revolution of 1974. Their songs are composed by brothers, Vasco Duarte (Falâncio) and Nuno Duarte "Jel" (Neto).

In 2011, they participated in the Portuguese National Selection, with their song "A luta é alegria" (The Struggle is Joy". The juries only ranked them at sixth, but they were a clear favourite with the public from day one, and once the public votes had been announced, they were boosted to first place, and won the show.

The song was written by Nuno Duarte and composed by Vasco Duarte. It talks about how people must sing against reaction, and the struggle people have to go through to have their voices heard. This song has sparked many controversies due to the nature of the lyrics, but the EBU approved the song.

Current Betting Odds (William Hill) - 250/1
My Prediction - Well.......this is not my type of song. I don't feel this will get into the final, but many people love the song!

                              Boa Sorte!

Check back later today, when the German profile will be put up!!