.........................................
review by
"kto"
1999 was an
undeniably good year. This fact can't be
disputed. But as usual, I found some flaws in it.
But truthfully, it was hard to find too much
wrong with it.
To be honest I didn't find the opening sequence
too tedious. The tour of Jerusalem was very nice
(and subtly promotional) as was the computer
animated trip around Europe. Only, I was quite
annoyed when I saw my own country was potrayed a
pub called "MacIrish's". This is
demeaning. I'm not a 'Mac'. Neither are most
Irish people. However, I probably would have been
more annoyed if I was from Estonia, to which it
seemes a signpost was sufficient to display the
Estonian culture.
The Hosts. Sigal looked stunning in a simple
black dress and was probably the best one of the
presenters. Yigal was desperately trying to be
young again, in a black suit, and, although he
did very well, and kept up with the voting. He
had a dry, monotone voice that just bored me.
Dafna, meanwhile was a nice person, but she was
clearly nervous. I don't know why. But, she did
well, like the other 2, and they did well to keep
up with a great contest.
The set was brilliant. Probably, in my opinion
anyway, the best set since 1995, when it
transformed from a huge staircase into a dramatic
backdrop. The little planets that glowed, the sun
and the moving rays, one of which got stuck in
the middle of Maria Magdalena. I was also very
impressed by the false depth created by the
stage, with the screen that looked completely
different for every act. It really really suited
Cyprus, Estonia and Bosnia.
And on to the songs.
1.Lithuania
Im sorry, I can't go on without talking for a
while about the postcards. What were the people
who made them on? Cocaine? Speed? A very tight
deadline? Whatever it was, they were supposed to
mean something subliminally (or metaphorically, I
don't know which) but I just don't know what.
But, Aiste. What a song! 13 points? No way. I
loved the little drumbeat that went through the
whole song. The song was very sweet and
traditional, and it signified the flight of the
thrush (Duh!). I love this song. I think she was
dressed the way she was (single pony tail, black
jumper, black pants and nobody on the stage but
her) because it was supposed to reflect the
humbleness and simplicity of the thrush. That's
what I thought, and it worked for me. 2nd
2.Belgium
I don't understand why so many people like this
song. I admit, it's sweet, and it does the title
justice, but there its charm stops. Vanessa
seemed to be trying to surpress a yawn, which
lasted the whole song; or else she had cotton
balls in her mouth. Costumes were good I suppose,
but the actions were about as full of life a
corpse. The strange man playing the pot was a
thoughtful edition. 18th
3.Spain
I never thought I would see propaganda at
Eurovision, not only that, but it didn't work.
Its fair to say that dress lost her so many
votes. On the other hand, she song was good, a
bit lifeless, but it was moody and emotional and
deserved more than 1 point. Still, it's the dress
that people will talk about, our commentator said
she was wearing a deckchair, which wasn't far
off. 12th
4.Croatia
I never saw Dora '99, so I don't know if it was
better or not, but I do know that it couldn't
have got much better. The synthetic voices were
unfair, but since I'm always going to be biased
when it comes to this song, I have to say, that
it is still no reason for this song to drop down
to 7th place. Had it won, no marks would be
docked. But, the song itself, voices or no, was
excellent. Her dress was excellent, although I
think the Croatians must get very warm, to say
that they keep on disposing of clothes. They did
it in 98, 99, 00 and if ENI had shed any more
clothes in 1997, they could have been at
Woodstock. The song was catchy, ethnic, had a
good beat and had a nice drum addition (sorry,
Noah, I liked it) and the performance was
flawless, it was strong and displayed with a
great voice. 1st
5. United Kingdom
I can't give out about this song until I say that
the single was good. So, that said, here we go.
They all looked dreadful, clothes, make - up,
hair, and I think their dance routine was made up
by a 4 year old girl (who may have written the
song also) or a drunkard (who may have written
the song also). It was the worst performance by
far. 17th
6.Slovenia
Very powerful voice. It reminded me of something
out of one of those old musicals. I loved the
piano intro at the start. Very clever lyrics with
a strong message and a lot of emotion. But what
was Darja thinking when she got the dress? Sleeve
buttons? Yellow? Maybe the UK's choreographer
picked it for her. 8th
7.Turkey
I was led to believe it was a major force to be
reckoned with before the contest. But where did
it go? The female Michael Schumacher
impersonator, Tugba, did her best to save a
flagging song. The backing track was way too
quiet and the backing singers were all off key.
We also had a woman who didn't seem to know how
to play the harp. She sat down and plucked
happily at the horizontal instrument looking
quite confused for the whole performance. The
jury is out on this one. 15th
8.Norway
Oi, oi oi! I take back what I said about UK's
performance, this takes the biscuit. It was so
bad. He pranced around in the most casual clothes
ever at Eurovision and it was like he didn't know
what he was singing. If he did, he would not have
been there. The song was awful. It was
unimaginative, very boring, and just didn't catch
my attention. He could have been wearing leg
warmers, bell-bottoms and a tutu and I wouldn't
have noticed. To make things worse, he got
breathless. O great. This plummeted his
performance to new levels of disgrace, I thought
it couldn't get worse but then, it got
repetitive. At this stage, I was phoning the
Guinness Book Of Records hotline until finally it
ended. He did manage to disgrace himself even
more by sticking his tongue practically into the
green room camera, and if you squint, I think you
can see the Norwegian crew burying their heads in
their hands and wondering if a circus chimp would
have done a better job. Go home Stig. 23rd
9.Denmark
Good song, but nothing special. It had a nice
melody with a sweet message. Simple but effective
lyrics, but this is not 71-point material. I
think Michael lost it for them. I don't know how,
I just think he wasn't suited for the song. Trine
did very well, she has a sweet and light voice
and hadn't an ounce of nervousness and they
blended well. But I think they were more self
absorbed than in love. This song was definitely
flattered a bit, but it is nice. 13th
10.France
Go Nayah! Very different from the French
preselections. The song had a much better
organisation about it, a good drum beat but it
was quite obviously based on that song, you know,
"in the jungle the mighty jungle, the lion
sleeps tonight", well, at least that's what
I think. But her dress sense, with those huge
necklaces, left much to be desired. But, I have
to say it was a huge song that built well and was
sung with a good voice. That last note she hit
was amazing, but she is no Justyna. 7th
11.Netherlands
They never fail me. They are always ahead of
their time in Eurovision. Hemel en aarde
was too good to win, and I think this was too.
Marlayne has a great voice with a great
performance and a great song. She is also very
pretty, which im sure helped her. This song is
hugely underrated and has a very unique charm to
it. But before I go on, I have to comment on the
infatuation of most countries with sliver and
white outfits. Examples : UK, Denmark,
Netherlands, Iceland, Portugal, Ireland, Israel,
Malta, Germany, Bosnia and finally Estonia.
What's the story? 6th
12.Poland
What is so bad about this song? He has a big
voice with a big song that builds well and has
meaningful, beautiful lyrics. He has a strong
sense of stage presence and importance and
carries that through into his song. I think Metek
did a marvellous job with a song that would have
flopped if sung by, let's say, Stig Van Eijk
(there's an image for you). There is a bad
general feeling about this song, but I don't
understand it. I like it. 5th
13.Iceland
Good song, catchy tune and all it needed to win
was 1 more chorus, because it seems, if you sing
a chorus at least 6 times, you are well on your
way to winning Eurovision. Another aspect of the
song was that she got a bit breathless because of
the dancing, but besides that, it was quite good.
However, the song is nothing groundbreaking. I
have to admit I was going for Sweden when it was
clear there were 2 countries in it. I'm sorry,
but I have an awful habit of going for a song
that I end up not liking and then hoping a song
loses, that I later come to love. I really wish I
didn't do that. I always regret it. I can give
examples--Vrede, To nie ja, Sveta
ljubav, Love Shine A Light, The
One That I Love, All Out Of Luck
and finally, My Star. 10th
14.Cyprus
I'm sorry, but there are obvious reasons why this
song didn't win. Not because it was between
Iceland and Sweden, and not for some other really
outrageous explanation. It was bad, it had an
insistent beat, she looked dreadful, her outfit
was putrid, the backing-singers were off key, and
there is no point bringing 2 completely different
songs together, because it simply doesn't work.
OK, I am conflicting with a lot of Eurovision
fans after what I just said, but freedom of
speech, as Noah said; maybe I'm taking it a bit
too far, but I can't deny that I hated this. 22nd
15.Sweden
Again, a few simple reasons why she won. The song
was catchy, it had a repetitive chorus, and she
looked great and sang flawlessly. There shouldn't
be too much complaining, especially on my part,
because who I want to win, never wins, so I just
take it for granted that I will be either
disappointed or surprised. Another reason, it was
ABBA-esque and it was between 2 very bad songs,
in fact, people were probably so bored during Todo
cumo comecou, that they kept on singing Take
Me To Your Heaven. It's a good theory, don't
you think? 9th
16.Portugal
I can't understand why Portugal never seems to
know which type of music to go with. They go from
ballad (94) to gospel (95) to traditional (96) to
boring (97) to traditional type pop (98) to this
year, which was kind of a depressed Alessandro
Abad, meets a masculine Sara McLoughlan type
thing. Whatever it was I didn't like it, because
it was sleepy and boring and droned on until you
were finally woken up by the crowd
"applauding". 21st
17.Ireland
Finally, the Mullans came on. I knew they hadn't
a chance ever since the Irish Eurosong
preselections. The Carter Twins, a very popular
duo from Ireland were hot favourites to win,
especially with Televoting, and another famous
act called the; Oh I cant remember had a lovely
song called Seól, which was also quite likely to
win. It was sung by a famous operatic trio of
sisters who had an album stay in the top 10 for
weeks while The Carter Twins had had a few hits
in the top 20 singles. It was between them. But
the voting was extremely suspicious. Every jury
gave the EXACT same amount of votes every time.
If R.T.É were going to rig it, they might as
well have tried to do it well. Anyway, the song.
The Mullans, so called because that's their
name--Bronagh Mullan and the other one
Mullan--didn't do a bad job. They sang well, and
the song was much better than in Eurosong, but
still hadn't enough appeal to get even a top 10
placing. They stole Marlayne's outfit and
duplicated it. 16th
18.Austria
There was a huge Irish reaction to this song.
Anyone I met said they loved it and voted for it,
but if there is one place where granny power is
prominent, its Ireland. We tend to give televotes
to "nice" songs, like ballads, not the
fast paced ones. And this year was no different;
we gave 12 to Slovenia. But Austria had that
catchy feel to it, and the chorus was very very
repetitive. Now, I know I said repetition works,
but there is no need to say it so often that the
words lose all meaning. Still, a cute song and
deserving of 10th place. 11th
19.Israel
When I hear the word boy-band, I think 18/19
years old. Not 30. It was mildly catchy, I'll
admit, but not 4th place material. It was just at
home and the crowd loved it and that's why it did
well, actually, that's a good explanation, but it
still doesn't deserve 93 points. I really don't
know what to make of this song. 19th
20.Malta
This was really awful. I'm not into this annual
Maltese "let's save the world" stuff.
It had the least inventive dance routine ever,
now UK's was inventive, but it was bad, whereas
Malta's was just bad. I can see their
choreographer now: "Just wave your arms
around a bit and try not to use any muscles at
all". They were all off key too. Towards the
end, in the middle of the chorus, the main
"singer" made a hocking noise as if
trying to clear her throat of a half-pint of
phlegm. I'm sure Moira told her to do that,
because she tried it herself in 1994. 20th
21.Germany
This was the widest use of the new rule I had
ever seen. German, Turkish, English was Hebrew
was not the best mixture, but I'm not arguing, I
liked it. It was fun, like Stemmen i mit liv
in 1997. But again, there is no way it should
have been as high up as this. Not even Germany's
sinister tactical voting helped. I didn't
understand the organisation of the performers.
The weird, scary beansaí standing in the front,
Elvis, a tellytubbie and another dazed looking
misfortune in the back, with a strange man who
looks like he could tell your future at any
moment forgotten about in the corner. Very
unusual. 14th
22.Bosnia-Herzegovina
Finally, a good song that broke a string of very
mediocre tunes. I love this. It had a really
ethnic sound, and the rap actually sounds really
good in Bosnian. I loved the opening bit and the
part after the first chorus. The guitar type
thing and the violin sounded excellent. Beatrice
looked great and sounded wonderful, as did Dino,
who had stolen Lars Frederickson's sweater. It
was a very mysterious song and although I didn't
have a clue what it was about, I loved it, even
the "Nous sommes, Vous êtes" part.
About sympathy votes--I hadn't even heard until I
read Noah's review. That explanation is even more
pathetic than people's explanations about Tha
'nai erotas. It got 86 points because it was
a great song. 3rd
23.Estonia
Another great one. I don't know why Camille had
to be mentioned she didn't do that much. I loved
the harp intro and the drum beat in the second
chorus and the lyrics were great. However, the
pronunciation wasn't the best. "Birds of
desire" instead of "Words of
desire". Anyway, her voice was excellently
suited to the song, and it deserved every one of
90 points. 4th
This is an old
review of ESC 1998 entries. To see the new
one, click on the appropriate link above.
1. Croatia: No-one
can argue that this song isn't one of the best
ballads of ESC ever! It's beautifully arranged
and Croatian fascination with dawn and mornings
prevailed again. A very, very deserving of the
position it received, however spot 5 wasn't good
enough for this song. I wish it was sung at the
end of the night, as it probably would have
gained some additional points, but 131 points
while singing first is amazing. One of the
greatest openings ever, also.
2. Greece:Mia krifi evesthisia was
one of my favorites since the first time I heard
it. I generally do not like ballads, but Mia
krifi evesthisia (along with Neka mi ne
svane and some other ballads further down)
made me over. It wasn't the usual Greek ethnic
song which I adore, by the way, but it was very
unique nevertheless. ESC fans' brains sometimes
confuse me, as they did with not voting for this
song. I can't believe only Cyprus voted for
Greece and I can assure you it wasn't because
they thought the song was good. A very big
disappointment at the end of the night.
3. Spain: Another favorite song to hate
among ESC fans. The lyrics are very touching.
They remind me of my life and what I would do
without my love M.M. I love you baby! Anyways, a
very nice, slow song and a guy who can sing. As
it is the case with many songs of 1999, Que
voy hacer sin ti had to be listened to a few
times before one actually started liking it, if
he/she did anyways. I, for once, found it
appealing as soon as I heard it. BTW, Spanish
sounds very good when sung slowly.
4. Portugal: Well, I can say this: I
listen to Se eu te pudesse abracar even
now on an almost daily basis. I can't help it. I
love the beat and those Scottish bagpipes. Funny,
this song contained the Scottish influences, but,
overall, it really sounded like a typical Greek
entry. Maybe because of that tamburine. Anyways,
this is an R&B-meets-dance-meets-ethno song
and nothing beats a combination like that
(nothing except the three ballads above,
anyways).
5. Finland: What is wrong with ESC
fans???? Do they have something against Finland
or what? This was an excellent example of a
winning song. It's just horrible that Marika did
not feel good, because if she had been alright,
she would have sung the song better, Finland
would have gotten more points and we would have
Finland in this year. But, it's only wishful
thinking on my part. The melody of the song is
great and her voice rocks, on the CD at least.
ESC fans, you better watch what you're doing in
2000 when Finland comes back! We need to reward
them with a first place people. They've got great
songs!
6. Norway: Cool! A very happy-sounding
song. And another reminder of my love M.M.
"All I ever wanted was you..." I'm
going to cry. I love the English lyrics, but
could not understand a line of the Norwegian
version. Anyways, the song was good, but could
have been better if they added some genuine drum
beats and/or bass, as it would have sounded like
an R&B song.
7. Macedonia: Well, you now probably think
I am out of my fricken mind. But, no, people, I
am not. I just loved this song. I especially
liked the chorus, which was a bit Folky, the type
of music most popular in the Balkans. BTW, who
the hell translated the song into "Somebody
Stop the Dawn"? Ne zori, zoro means
"Dawn, Don't Come" or "Dawn, Don't
Dawn." And also the English lyrics of the
song have nothing to do with the original
Macedonian lyrics. Anyways, 19th place was just
too low for this good a song, people! Wake up!
I'm eager to see Macedonia back in 2000 (if they
accept the inivitation).
8. United Kingdom: This is a typical MTV
song. It doesn't mean it's bad, it's just the
type of song most people will listen to, and they
did. I applaude the UK for sending these modern
entries, because they are the ones that will
adjust the ESC for the 21st century. A bit
repetitive at times, but the lyrics were very
extensive and long, which I like, by the way.
This was a song that stood out and obviously
gained some good points as a result of that.
9. The Netherlands: A very good intro, but
when she starts singing, it just sounds weird.
However, the song was very deserving of its 4th
position. And, just like UK, I applaude the
Lowlands for sending modern songs (interpret
"modern" whichever way you want). The
chorus was a bit disappointing also. Very much Vrede-like,
but Vrede was so much better. Hemel en
aarde should have happened this year, when
the free-language is employed, because it would
have sounded much better in English( or anything
else besides Dutch, for that matter).
10. France: So few a point! Wow! We was
robbed! A very good rhythmic song. Perfect for
dancing the dirty dance! Actually, La ou aller
sounded a lot like Hemel en Aarde, but I
just cannot understand why the heck they ended up
so far apart in the end. I don't remember the
performance, but that may have been the cause of
ESC fans' not voting for this song. Or maybe it's
those men singing two-third of the way into the
song. They sounded awful. I would have loved to
hear this song with a bit of Reggae. It would
have been awesome.
11. Israel: Too much damn hype about this
fricken song! ARGH! Dana couldn't get a single
tune right on the Big Night, but then again she
sounded badly on the CD too. It was definitely
all the publicity (for whatever reason that was)
that influenced the people of Europe who voted
for Dana. But, hold on, maybe it was all the gay
people who voted for Dana? After all, we are
everywhere and we will rule the world! Oops, got
a bit carried away. Back to the song: not a bad
tune, a nice rhythm, but it doesn't deserve 1
point from me, much less 12 points.
12. Slovenia: At first, I did not find
this song to be good. With time, I learned to
appreciate it and like it, also. I especially
like the chorus and its easy-to-listen melody.
The singer has a great voice, too. But why does
Slovenia keep sending all these ballads? There
isn't a single up-beat song in their ESC
repertoire. I have to admit, though, that their
ballads are quite good, including Zbudi se
which is one of my favorite ESC ballads ever.
13. Cyprus: Quite a setback from Mana
mou and Sti fotia, but still a good
entry. The sound file we, the Internet users,
were exposed to was quite bad and that may have
alienated many potential fans who would have
liked this song otherwise. Again, I liked the
melody. Those storm effects sounded cool, also.
However, Cypriots ought to stick to their
specialty: ethnic dance songs.
14. Malta: What a surprise was this!
No-one seriously anticipated this to win. At
least, it wasn't obvious looking at the various
charts around the 'Net which all placed The
One That I Love around position 10. I,
personally, do not like these kind of songs;
these dreadful, blood-sucking ballads. This was
overly rated and did not deserve the third
position. However, since the song has quite nice
lyrics and Chiara can sing, 14 is the highest I
can go.
15. Slovakia: This is a nice little song,
but definitely not a top 10 song. It sounds so
Eastern European. I mean, there's nothing wrong
with that. but too many Hungarian, Slovakian,
Romanian and what-not songs sound alike. They all
have the trace of Communism in them. Also, they
are really old-sounding, which is not a fave
among the fans.
16. Ireland: Very Irish, though I find it
to be much better than The Voice, Rock'n'Roll
Kids and those other Irish winners. The
chorus is a bit weak, but it can be listened to
over and over again. I don't know what's
happening with the Irish. It must be that the
televoters don't think their songs are as good as
the juries thought. Well, it's true in my case.,
anyway.
17. Sweden: This sounds like such a
typical ESC ballad, whatever that may be. I just
cannot see this song being in charts, other than
those ESC-related. I liked the bridge of the
song, and that's basically the only part that I
could stand.
18. Switzerland: If just this song were a
bit faster. I don't see what was the use of
having those drum beats when the song was as slow
as anything! Nice melody, especially the chorus.
Not deserving of the nil points it got. However
Switzerland did deserve to be relegated. They
ought to be ashamed of themselves for sending
such mediocre entries. Four official languages
and they can't come up with another Celine Dion!
Unbelievable!
19. Poland: I expected a dance, up-beat
number from the group Sixteen. It would
have been more appropriate that way. The song
sounded like it was from one of those American
college movies. You know, that new breed of
movies. This is a pretty nice song, but just not
something that appeals to me.
20. Belgium:Well, this was the biggest
injustice of them all. To award Dis Oui
with position 6 is just outrageous! This was not
that good a song at all. I have to say that 1998
was full of surprises, including this one,
Malta's high placing and Finnish placing 15th.
21. Romania: I am tired of these countries
that show up every few years and bore us to death
with their entries! Why don't they get the idea
that it ain't going to work like that!
22. Turkey: A big disappointment after
that superb song Dinle. What were the
Turks thinking when they chose Unutamaszin
(spl?)? I mean, it's such a non-Turkish
song that it could have easily been Norwegian or
Swedish or whatever. All in all, not a good year
for the Turks.
23. Hungary: Is this, like, the
worst-sounding language in the world or what? And
was that the worst-sounding voice or what? And
was that the worst-sounding song or what? This
was a doom combination! Hey Hungary, I hope you
realize that you CAN send some fresh meat to ESC.
ESC is 40+ years old, but that doesn't mean it's
only for 40+ singers or for 40-year-old
songs!
24. Estonia: Boring! Really boring. Even
though the guy was pretty cute, I must say that I
am not here to judge the songs by how good or bad
the singers looked. These type of songs might
appeal to some people, but not to me!
25. Germany: Who told this guy he can
sing? Who? Who? This was awful, man! It's a shame
it actually was part of an ESC! Yuck! Probably
the worst entry EVER! And that's out of how many
hundred? Some people say he had a stage presence,
but who the heck cares about that? If he were the
lord of Riverdance it would not have mattered,
because this old lad made my ear drums bleed!
Noah Bajric
EURObosnia webmaster
These are revised
comments on all 23 entries of 1999,
including the new Bosnian entry Putnici.
1. Croatia:
Marija Magdalena is a very easily likeable
song and a very easily dislikeable song. I loved
it since the moment I first heard it at Dora
99, where I found it to be a good wake-up
alarm after all those dreadful ballads (20+ in
all!). It needs a little bit work on the lyrics,
because the two-word chorus isn't doing it for
me, even though it is performed exceptionally
good. (100/100)
2. Turkey: Well, I did not expect anything
good from Turkey, after that dreadful piece of
want-to-be-but-it-is-so-not-good song last year.
Many equate it with Dinle, but other than
the drums and the easily recognizable Turkish
sounds, I can't really decipher any more
similarities. A very good entry, possibly one of
the best from Turkey. I loved the techno-dance
intro, which, for a moment, got me scared that
Turkey isn't going to send an ethnic song. But,
by the time 3-4 seconds passed, the drums broke
out. A very possible winner, I hope. (93/100)
3. Bosnia-Herzegovina: OH MY GOD! This
song is awesome!!!! Definitely the best entry
from Bosnia so far! It sounds so exotic, so
weird, yet so refreshing! I love the fact that
the chorus is in French and I love the Arabic
melody. I cannot get this song out of my head. I
am so glad I was able to hear it. I am so happy
now that Bosnia will be represented by something
as good as this. Dino rocks! But, even though I
love the song and adore the chorus, I am a little
disappointed with Dino's rapping. I mean, there
was no need to be rapping and he sounds so
amateurish doing it. Plus, it does not fit the
song at all. But, it's a point-gatherer! (92/100)
4. Germany: Well, Corrina's song just was
not destined to represent Germany. And I was
flabbergasted when I heard Reise nach
Jerusalam was invited to take its place. It
was my favorite in the German Final and I was
very disappointed when it lost to Corrina's
rather below-average song (but with nice lyrics
and a strong voice). We are making history here:
two Turkish songs in one year. It must be dreams.
Moreover, both are clearly ethnically influenced.
(90/100)
5. Iceland: This song threw me off! I did
not think Iceland could send anything this good
and this modern, as their entries have been
rather poor recently. Selma sings English
beautifully and has a rather good voice. The
lyrics are cheery, as is the entire song. The
rhythm is awesome, especially the introduction
part. I was a bit disappointed with the chorus,
but I guess there's always got to be something
wrong with a song. Nevertheless, a top 5
definitely. (87/100)
6. Israel: I did not like this song at
first too much. Originally it was at the spot 14
of my top list I decided to play the song a few
more times, after I haven't done so in quite a
while and I actually like how it sounded. How's
that for a change of taste? I still believe Change
It would have been a better choice, but
hopefully Yom huledeth will not let us
down. I just wish I could hear the studio version
of the song. (84/100)
7. Slovenia: Wow! What an improvement the
English version is! I mean, I am no fan of this
free-language rule, but English is so much better
for this song, that is has potential to win now!
Quite a jump for Slovenia--It climbed from spot
22 to 13 and now to 8! It's a perfect example of
those
have-to-hear-it-a-few-times-before-you-notice-it
songs, but that's not how televoters' brains
work! BTW, I wish they'd change this televoters
rule too. They ought to use a combination of the
jury and televoting. I think that way, the winner
would be chosen much more fairly. (83/100)
8. Estonia: I think it was clear on the
first listen that Diamond of Night was an
excepetionally good song with a nice melody to
it. However, the English is utmost inaudible and
that may hurt the song if the singer does not
shape up. It reminds me a lot of Aava and Nocturne.
It will undoubtedly do very well. (83/100)
9. Lithuania: Here it goes again! I keep
messing with my list. I can't help it. I love Strazdas.
I cannot stop myself from listening to it, just
as I can't stop listening to Another Thousand
Years. Those are really ballads that rock
this year. I am not a fan of ballads, but when
something like Strazdas coems along, I
have to like it. It's just too special not to be
liked. Go Lithuania, get those 50+ points you
need to come back in 2000. Aiste sings
beautifully. She has that screechy voice Dolores
of Cranberries has. BTW, Dolores is my favorite
singer, so that should tell you something about
Aiste. (80/100).
10. Malta: Finally, something lively from
Malta! I really good entry. Many, many people
dislike it very much, but I find it to be very
soothing. It's the type of music I listen to
sometimes--Eurodance. It might need some
arrangement improvements, but it I like it enough
as it is. BTW, what's with the new title: Believe
'n Peace? Does this actually stand for
believe and peace, or is it believe in peace,
afterall? (79/100)
11. Belgium: Initally, I was not
particularly impressed with this song, but when I
heard it a few times, I loved it. I adore the
melodic sounds and the singress' deep voice. The
song deserves its title, Like the Wind,
because I can genuinely think of wind when I
listen to it. It is very appropriate. Certain
parts remind me of Molidtba, but Like
the Wind is far off better, because
Slovakia's 1998 entry was somewhere on the bottom
of my list. A very, very possible winner.(76/100)
12. Norway: First off, the guy has a
superb voice. I loved him. He reminds me of the
last year's Norwegian entry, which was also a
very good one. I love the beat of this song and
the R&B influence. Living in USA, you mostly
hear R&B and Hip-Hop, so in a (weird) way,
Norway represents USA. These kind of music might
revitalize the ailing ESC (unlike some
thousand-year-old entries). (75/100)
13. United Kingdom: After being in my top
10 for a while, this slipped a couple of places
down, due to Iceland, Bosnia, and Slovenia's
higher placings. It's a nice, up-beat song, but
there is absolutely nothing special about it. Any
band in Europe that plays these kind of music
could have easily won the UK Final. I was a bit
(actually, more than a bit) disappointed that So
Strange did not get selected. I really rooted
for Alberta for most of the time, as the song and
the performer left a huge impression on me. If
So Strange had won, UK would be at position 5
on my list, but--who cares about what I think?
(74/100)
14. Austria: And, here's another
representative of the US. It's very
Sheryl-Crow-like type of song, which I adore.
It's not overly superb, it's not bad at all, but
it is not a winner. It might score well, though;
all depends on the live performance. I am just
happy that countries like Austria, Germany and
Malta, who have been sending very mediocre,
boring, dreadful entries (in my opinion) have
finally come to their senses. It was a very nice
surprise from Austria. I don't condemn that it is
an English song though, but the rules are changed
and there's nothing we can do (for now). (67/100)
15. The Netherlands: Give me One Good
Reason why this song should do any better
than 15? I've seen many comments from people
stating that this should win, but I say
decisively "No!" It's rather an average
song; no sparks went off while I was listenting
to it. I liked Positivity better, but it
itself was not all that good. All in all, a
position around 10-15 will suffice, but we will
probably see One Good Reason go a few
positions higher (unfortunately). (60/100)
16. Sweden: Hello ABBA! This song totally
sounds like it's stolen from a former ABBA track.
ABBA's being one of my favorite groups really had
an impact on me, otherwise Take Me To Your
Heaven would have been listed many positions
down my list. The singer has a good voice, but
nothing peculiar about it. Recently, I have found
this song too be a bit annoying, that is why it
has moved down my list.(60/100)
17. Spain: I love how this song sounds!
It's beatifully performed and the Spanish
language is superb. No quiero escuchar is
not really Vuelve conmigo, but it is the
closest match since 1995. Even the singer sounds
a bit like Anabel Conde. Last year's Spanish
entry, Que voy hacer sin ti was also a
very good song, especially lyrics-wise, so I am
glad the Spaniards are continuing with their
tradition. Tele-voters will not be able to single
this song out. Though I found this song to be
initially good, I am tired of it! With all the
good songs this year Spain just had to end up
this low (57/100)
18. Portugal: Is this song sung in German?
It sure sounds like it. Again, a very
nothing-special-about-it song, but good enough
for a position around 15. Portuguese should have
been more careful this year, after almost being
relegated until 2000 (which would have been a
great misfortune). Se eu te pudesse abraçar
was my top three last year (along with Mia
krifi evesthisia and Neka mi ne svane,
of course, so I don't really see why Portugal did
so poorly last year. (44/100)
19. Poland: Yawn! A typical Eastern song!
When are those countries going to realize that
crap like this will not stop them from being
relegated. I mean, all those countries (Hungary,
Slovakia, Romania) keep sending rubbish, even
though they know that they can easily be
relegated. I am afraid Bosnia has been going down
that road, too. But, back to Poland: the singer's
voice is great, the lyrics are awesome, but the
song is just bad. A boring lullyby. (39/100)
20. Ireland: A very Irish song! Indeed, it
is of the standard of most of Irish songs of the
'90's. I really never understood the juries'
fascination with In Your Eyes, Rock'N'Roll
Kids, The Voice, because I did not even
notice those songs when I watched the contests.
However, Mysterious Woman is a very
honorable exception, because it is one of my
favorites of 1997--the greatest ESC year of them
all. It was very deserving of the second
position, unlike the aforementioned winners. And
this year, Ireland goes back ot its roots:
painful ballads. (38/100)
21. France: Hey lady, get some singing
lessons, for God's sake and get some real
clothes. She sounded very off-tune at the French
Final, but can she do any better in Jerusalem? I
hope so, but she does not have to, since France
will be in 2000 irregardless of the outcome. And
what a pitty is that! But, I do not want to get
off on that subject, it is too painful.:-)
(31/100)
22. Denmark: No! The guy is hot, but the
song is, hmmm.... flat! Wasn't that a nice rhyme?
Seriously though, the song did not do anything
for me. It was just too plain and too
I-have-heard-this-somewhere-else. It really did
sound like it was a copy of something else. But
then again, don't all ESC songs sound like
they've been remastered? Well, good luck Denmark.
(23/100)
23. Cyprus: I love this song totally. It
used to be my top 2 song, but because there has
been way too much annoying support (!) for Tha
'nai erotas at EuroNet messageboard and
allKinds mailing list, I was forced to protest. I
really don't like when people tell me what to do;
which song to vote for. This way I'm proving that
this pseudo support ain't helping the Cypriot
entry. (95/100)
|
page.one
page.two
page.three
page.four
noah.90
noah.95
noah.97
noah.98
noah.99
noah.00
vanja.90
vanja.93
vanja.95
vanja.97
vanja.99
goran.90
goran.93
goran.95
goran.97
goran.98
goran.00
darren.98
|
