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These are reviews
of 1999 entries posted by members of Alan
Stuart's allKinds of Everything Mailing list.
1. Lithuania:
I think that this is a good opening to the
Contest. The song has a bit of an Aava
with feeling behind it. The arrangement is great
and I'm impressed.
2. Belgium: When I saw the 3 pre-Nationals
I liked this song but maybe I've head it too much
now. Vanessa's diction is terrible in places and
I lose complete sentances. Nice song but no more.
3. Spain: On the RA file this didn't come
across as anything much, but I love this song
now. One of Spain's best for ages. Good voice and
emotive song.
4. Croatia: I've only heard the 'original'
version both from the Preview and CD. I like the
deeper, dark side to this song but am not raving
about it. It's well sung and suits the voice and
image.
5. UK: Again I haven't heard the re-mixed
version. This was the song that I chose from the
original 8 UK entries. I hope that this version
is the one used in the ESC.
6. Slovenia: The EBU site indicates that
they are singing in Slovenian but the video is in
English????? The English version is weird 'cause
the words (like palm, if I heard it correctly)
just don't fit - and nothing rhymes, assuming
that it's supposed to. Not a great song in either
language.
7. Turkey: This doesn't do anything for
me. It's repitious and trying too hard to be
another Dinle.
8. Norway: Again a repetitious song. I
quite liked this when I hadn't heard many others,
but now I'm skipping past this one rather than
playing it.
9. Denmark: English or Danish??? I like
both versions. Thank goodness the song that came
2nd didn't win! I like the simplicity of this
song and hope that it will be a dark horse.
10. France: Again the best song in the
French Contest but I don't feel anything when I
am listening to it. I just wait until her voice
cracks at the end!
11. Netherlands: This is one of the best
songs. It's infectious and gets my foot a
tapping. This will probably do another Edsilia
and do well but not quite win.
12. Poland: I love this song. Again it's
simple. The arrangement is superb and it gives me
a warm feeling (no, not that way!).
13. Iceland: Well, what else can I add?
This is one of the best Eurovision songs that I
have ever heard. I will be hoping to visit
Iceland next year when they win.
14. Cyprus: I can't understand why people
like this song. It was the 2nd best in their
National and I find it extremely boring to listen
to. Another one that I have given up even trying
to listen to.
15. Sweden: Call me old fashioned, but I
really like this song. The words have stuck in my
brain and it becomes a 'duet' when I play it.
It's not going to win, but I think that it will
do well.
16. Portugal: Not one of their best (which
was in 1994). A pleasant song but way down my
list.
17. Ireland: Let's hope that the
re-arranged version is better than the one in the
Eurosong. Their voices don't appeal to me. Mind
you Dawn's song was improved out of all
recognition and I'm sure that RTE will give it
every
tweak possible.
18. Austria: Modern but too repitious, it
is one of Austria's best since
Zussammen geh'n but, sorry, not my cup of
tea.
19. Israel: I've played the CD single
quite a few times. Initially I thought of the
song as too manufactured, but now I think that it
is a real contender. Catchy and memorable, and
that's the name of the game.
20. Malta: A song that sounds 200% better
than in the National Contest. I now really like
this song and think that it will do very well.
21. Germany: A totally plastic song. The
Turks will probably vote it 12 points and the
German's Turks will do the same for Turkey. I am
so disappointed that Corinna's song didn't get
through. I believe that another song would have
won if Corinna's song hadn't been there.
22. Bosnia: The original song was just
dreadful, the replacement is so silly. "We
are, you are, the house"????? Goodbye
Bosnia.Come back "7 Up."
23. Estonia: Good video, pleasant song but
it will be lost in the crowd. maybe singing last
will help.
Robin Scott
1. Lithuania:
Interesting song, wasted so early in the contest
but I live in hope that it might pick up a few
votes nevertheless... the way it builds with the
rock guitar coming in halfway through makes for a
very effective opener to the contest but it's
probably just "too strange" to make any
headway on the scoreboard. My score: 18.
Prediction: 16th-20th.
2. Belgium: Initially comes over as a
cross between House of the Rising Sun and Seninle
bir dakika but proves itself to have a little
more substance. A ballad sung in English so early
in the contest will rely on the vocal performance
and visual aspect to convince televoters, and
whether Vanessa is quite the right person to
provide either, I don't know. My score: 15.
Prediction: 16th-20th.
3. Spain: One of those curiousities which
come along every so often: a song that is
probably "too good for Eurovision".
Certainly it's a very classy modern song which
again may suffer from being performed too early.
My score: 16. Prediction: 11th-15th.
4. Croatia: Don't see what the fuss is
about here. If HRT are doing something to improve
the song then I can't blame them, because as it
stands, there seems to be a distinct lack of
melody in the verses, and the chorus is far too
simplistic and unmemorable to stick in the mind
of your average Saturday night TV viewer. My
score: 12. Prediction: 16th-20th.
5. United Kingdom: Well, it's almost
destined to get big marks simply by virtue of
being a UK entry, isn't it? Hmm... perhaps not.
Although the UK hasn't missed out on votes from a
country since 1996, this should be the year when
it happens, and I'm not 100% convinced about
Precious standing up to the pressure of a live
performance in front of x-million people,
although this applied equally to all the GBSC
entrants. Still, the modern style of the song and
the "UK factor" should help it squeeze
into the top 10. My score: 14. Prediction:
6th-10th.
6. Slovenia: A song with "class"
written all over it, and you just know that Darja
will sell it to the audience. I can see it
equalling her 1995 placing - could be the
surprise of the night. My score: 19. Prediction:
6th-10th.
7. Turkey: Straight from the shores of
Ethnicia, but much more deserving of votes than
the Siegel-version... doubt it'll get anything
more than mid-table security, though the visuals
might hook a few people. My score: 14.
Prediction: 11th-15th.
8. Norway: Opinion is rightly divided over
whether this one will challenge for the lead or
end up with no points. It's just that kind of
song, and if pressed I'd say it'll be up there at
the end. After all, he's the first man (boy?) of
the night, and this kind of formulaic "boy
band groove" seems to have its fans in
almost every country of Europe. My score: 14.
Prediction: 2nd-5th.
9. Denmark: The song grows on me with
every listen, and with English lyrics could pick
up a few points, but it should get lost among the
crowd. My score: 12. Prediction: 21st-23rd.
10. France: It probably goes without
saying that France's score is entirely dependent
on the performance of Nayah... a repeat of the
French final, particularly the last note, and she
might be doomed, but on the other hand it's the
only song of its type in this year's ESC (for
better or for worse...) and, purely on this
count, might surprise a few people and challenge
the top ten. My score: 10. Prediction:
11th-15th.
11. Netherlands: In the absence of an
obvious winner, this song, whose chorus contains
distinct elements of the last obvious winner
('97), seems like a good one to bet on. Of
course, the Dutch have had songs in the past
which everyone thought would/should win, and have
been disappointed, but this might just be their
year. My score: 16. Prediction: 1st.
12. Poland: A nice song, once you give it
a try and get into it. Of course, it hasn't got a
snowball's chance in hell of getting anything
more than a scattering of eastern European
points. My score: 14. Prediction:
21st-23rd.
13. Iceland: I'm going to say this loud
and proud: what's so special about this song?
Cheap Europop with no redeeming features other
than a performer with "personality"
(tell that to Charlie!), I've heard the song half
a dozen times and still can't remember the tune
so I'll be amazed if anyone can pick it out of a
crowd after just one hearing. Still, everyone
else seems to love it so I'll be generous and
predict a top 10 finish. My score: 8. Prediction:
6th-10th.
14. Cyprus: Obviously a contender, but
probably a little too uncommercial and disjointed
for the necessary across-the-board success. No
complaints from me if it wins, though. My score:
15. Prediction: 2nd-5th.
15. Sweden: Can I just ask: is it possible
for a Swedish composer to write a song WITHOUT
the words "eld och vatten"? Is there
some ancient Swedish law which commands the use
of this concept? Or, hey, maybe it's just because
this is a tired old re-hash of every single
dansband-inspired piece of 80's Scando-pop in the
book... whatever, if Charlotte wins on May 29th,
as many are predicting, then the ESC needs to
take a long hard look at its continued existence.
My score: 6. Prediction: 11th-15th.
16. Portugal: Pleasant song with a bit of
guitar and a bit of long hair, and therefore
impossible for me to dislike. It'll get no
points. My score: 13. Prediction:
21st-23rd.
17. Ireland: The news, indirectly from
RTE, that the song has been "improved"
and now "sounds like the Corrs" should
strike terror into the hearts of all Europeans.
It's an understated, underestimated song and will
challenge for the lead without a doubt. But then,
I've always been a pessimist. My score: 10.
Prediction: 2nd-5th.
18. Austria: I'd love to see it win, even
if it's not my favourite song, because it has
widespread commercial potential and realistically
that's what we need for the future of the ESC. It
won't do it, but it should guarantee Austria a
better result than they've been used to recently.
My score: 15. Prediction: 6th-10th.
19. Israel: The cheese factor, the boy
band factor, the "host votes" factor...
it can't fail to do well, even if the one factor
it lacks is any real songwriting quality... My
score: 11. Prediction: 2nd-5th.
20. Malta: Utterly, utterly tedious excuse
for a song. My score: 5. Prediction:
16th-20th.
21. Germany: I should hate this. It's
clearly manufactured and an obvious attempt to
cover all bases with a combination of
"ethnic" and "Euro" elements.
So why can't I stop singing the damn thing? My
score: 12. Prediction: 11th-15th.
22. Bosnia: OK, so I haven't actually
heard this yet, but in a fit of bitterness
because I loved Starac i more, I'm going
to condemn it to relative failure anyway. It'll
probably get a few telephone votes from people
who think that the war in Kosovo involves Bosnia
somehow. Prediction: 16th-20th.
23. Estonia: As the saying goes, this is
something of a "dark horse". It all
depends whether the massed audience agrees with
popular sentiment that ethnicity is "SO
three years ago, dahling". Then again, they
could equally say that attractive females are
"SO 1999" and vote for it in their
thousands. My score: 13. Prediction: 6th-10th.
Martin Faulkner
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