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Bother's Bar Goes to Eurovision 2007!
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Country |
Artiste and Song |
Fascinating opinion |
Betfair SAYS... |
Albania |
Frederick NDOCI Hear My Plea |
Full of Eastern promise, doesn't really deliver although the singer sounds likably angsty. Looks a bit like the Russian host of Fort Boyard. Good. |
470 |
Andorra |
ANONYMOUS Salvem El Món |
It's McFly! Chorus in English, good. Definitely worth a punt at those odds. The band are called Anonymous, it's not just as band who don't have a name. |
60 |
Armenia |
Hayko Anytime You Need |
Heartbreaking ballad with lighters aloft second half. |
280 |
Austria |
Eric PAPILAYA Get A Life, Get Alive |
So that's where Mickey Hutton from Hangar 17 got to. The song is somewhere between Bryan Adams and Kiss. |
130 |
Belarus |
KOLDUN Work Your Magic |
Epic rock. Not bad actually, but I think it lacks a killer instinct necessary for this kind of thing to win. |
12 |
Belgium |
The KMG's LovePower |
Oh this is a bit comedy, there's going for a 70s funk vibe. Not as good as Kate Ryan last year :( Still it's got a feel good factor to it, but I can't see it challenging for the top places. |
250 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina |
Maria ŠESTIĆ Rijeka Bez Imena |
I don't think now is the sort of time where this sort of torch song has a chance of winning to be honest. |
130 |
Bulgaria |
Elitsa TODOROVA & Stoyan YANKOULOV Water |
Tribal drumming! Digereedoos! And now it's turned into the theme from Mortal Kombat! It's Wild Dances meets Ray of Light. This is a complete winner. The only problem is that is doesn't seem to have much of a discernable tune. But if the show is good on the night it might not matter. |
14 |
Croatia |
DRAGONFLY feat. Dado TOPI Vjerujem U Ljubav |
It begins by sounding a bit like I Want It That Way by The Backstreet Boys. Then it turns into rather bland soft rock. Oh, it breaks out into English for a bit. And now Cher has turned up. |
480 |
Cyprus |
EVRIDIKI Comme Ci, Comme Ça |
Electro Goth rock! Bleeping! Excellent. The only problem is that is lacks a killer hook. |
20 |
Czech Republic |
KÁBAT Mála Dáma |
Unfortunately it sounds like the lead singer is growling his way through this, thanks to the clever/stupid use of backing vocal. It's Lordi-esque hard rock, but it's not winning it. |
260 |
Denmark |
DQ Drama Queen |
Oh, it's a man in drag! It's nothing special, how well it will do will depend entirely on how "in" Eurovision camp is this year. It's not looking good. |
48 |
Estonia |
Gerli PADAR Partners In Crime |
There's nothing very interesting about this song really. It's going down the soft rock road, which is slowly becoming about as dull as every song last few years being a bit Eastern. |
200 |
Finland |
Hanna PAKARINEN Leave Me Alone |
This begins as though it's going to sound like something from Marilyn Manson, it's another rocky song from last year's winners. Can't see them repeating the feat in honesty, it's just going to get lost amongst the other RAWK, despite having a female singer. Likely to be left alone in the voting. Do you see? |
80 |
France |
LES FATALS PICARDS L'amour À La Française |
It's a comedy French boyband! Or middle-aged band at any point. Doing ska. This isn't actually that bad and might actually be quirky enough to give France their best chance in years. Think about it at those odds. Oh dear, I've used up four of my six bets and we're not even halfway through. |
90 |
FYR Macedonia |
KAROLINA Mojot Svet |
This sounds like Kate Bush! Kate Bush meets Javine. If Norway couldn't win last year, this won't win this year. |
80 |
Georgia |
SOPHO Visionary Dream |
First time round for Georgia, and they're opening with Dance Enya. Not bad, not interesting enough to stand out. |
90 |
Germany |
Roger CICERO Frauen Regier'n Die Welt |
It's German swing! This might prove a bit of a surprise. |
100 |
Greece |
SARBEL Yassou Maria |
Greece are always there or thereabouts aren't they? It sounds a bit like a rather unashamed ripoff of Ricky Martin's Livin' Da Vida Loca. |
17.5 |
Hungary |
Magdi RÚZSA Unsubstantial Blues |
Doesn't do much for me I'm afraid. Might do well though. The video is quite clever, but that's no good on the night. |
90 |
Iceland |
Eiríkur HAUKSSON Valentine Lost |
It's Meatloaf! And likely to get lost amongst the other rock in honesty. |
75 |
Ireland |
DERVISH They Can't Stop The Spring |
The nineties seem so far away now, don't they? Still, it's nice to see a country do something traditional for a change. |
70 |
Israel |
TEAPACKS Push The Button |
This is controversial comedy gold! I'm not convinced it's actually that great a song, but you WILL be going "PUSH the button! PUSH the button! PUSH the bu-PUSH the bu-PUSH the button!" for weeks afterwards. Also includes a bit in French. Almost certainly worth a punt at those odds. |
48 |
Latvia |
BONAPARTI.LV Questa Notte |
Some men in top hats forget to do magic. Oh hang on, it's gone all operatic. More lighters aloft. Oh it's all gone a bit Il Divo. Actually might pull off a bit of a surprise. |
65 |
Lithuania |
4FUN Love Or Leave |
This is a bit boring really. It sounds a bit like Sade with a guitar. |
250 |
Malta |
Olivia LEWIS Vertigo |
What Riverdance would have sounded like if it was Maltese rather than Irish. Dramatic. I have literally no idea what's going on in the video. I like it but it's not a winner. |
60 |
Moldova |
Natalia BARBU Fight |
It's violiny. I keep wanting this to break out ito Touch My Fire. |
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Montenegro |
Stevan FADDY Ajde Kroči |
Hey, it's like eighties rock never happened! Bodacious! |
470 |
Netherlands |
Edsilia ROMBLEY On Top Of The World |
Unremarkable. |
250 |
Norway |
Guri SCHANKE Ven A Bailar Conmigo |
It's another song that soulds a little bit like Livin' La Vida Loca, but this time it's a female! |
100 |
Poland |
THE JET SET Time To Party |
Hey, it looks like The Black Eyed Peas DID qualify for Eurovision after all! |
190 |
Portugal |
SABRINA Dança Comigo (Vem Ser Feliz) |
Hmm, another one that sounds a bit Sade-esque. Well we're getting to the end now. |
670 |
Romania |
TODOMONDO Liubi, Liubi, I Love You |
Nice enough, lacks presence though really. Actually it is quite catchy. |
30 |
Russia |
SEREBRO Song #1 |
This is quite a good slice of pop actually. Don't discount it. |
14.5 |
Serbia |
Marija ŠERIFOVIĆ Molitva |
This is the favourite as it stands. It sounds quite similar to the Norwegian entry last year which I really liked but didn't do anything, therefore I can't see this doing anything either. |
9.4 |
Slovenia |
Alenka GOTAR Cvet Z Juga |
More opera. |
55 |
Spain |
D'NASH I Love You Mi Vida |
No. Only five to go! |
65 |
Sweden |
THE ARK The Worrying Kind |
The most seventies song Sweden have done since 1999's Take Me To Your Heaven, but this is more Slade than ABBA. Never discount the Swedes. I don't think it's as strong as the odds suggest. |
9.6 |
Switzerland |
DJ Bobo Vampires Are Alive |
This is actually quite good, and given the swing towards rock, something a bit dancy like this might do quite well. |
11 |
Turkey |
Kenan DOĞULU Shake It Up Shekerim |
This sounds a bit like something Liberty X would have come up with. Not bad, not great. |
75 |
Ukraine |
Verka SERDUCHKA Dancing Lasha Tumbai |
This one's a bit wacky and dare we say it, rave influenced. Despite ourselves, we quite like it and have put a bet on it. |
16.5 |
United Kingdom |
SCOOCH Flying The Flag (For You) |
We just don't see what this has to offer above anyone else really, although the lack of camp elsewhere this year might go in its favour. |
50 |
The running order for the semi-final and final can be found on the Eurovision site.
So what have you bet on Brig?
I've done six small bets rather than one big one, and the countries I have bet on ARE...
So there we are.
This country.
Anyway, that was quite a good Eurovision last night wasn't it? Certainly more songs worth acquiring than in recent years, to my mind anyway.
And now as is traditional, how does Europe stand up to the Bother's Bar jury and the Bother's Party jury? The scoring systems:
The Eurovision Song Contest |
Bother's Bar Jury |
Bother's Party Jury |
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So basically it looks like we can't agree on anything. There was an above average level of homosexuality at the party last night which might explain some of our choices, but I absolutely stand by most of our top five - Russia was a absolutely brilliant slice of pop which really worked on the night (which reminds me of the Girls Aloud song "Money") and won six of the bonus votes out of fourteen (i.e. someone had to leave early). The UK was a grower. The Ukraine's techno dance beats would have won me over even without the wackiness, ditto Bulgaria ("MORTAL KOMBAT!") and I thought it was a massive shame France didn't do better seeing as it was their best and catchiest song in absolutely years.
Thanks to the commentary team who did a brilliant job as always, the scores and commentaries will be kept in the Eurovision 2007 page for posterity. And yes, I'll set up a Eurovision Dance Contest commentary if there's enough call for it.
Well done to Helsinki, you put on a brilliant show. Next year: To Belgrade
Commentary archive
OK! Here's the deal, we're going to listen to all 42 songs from this year's competition so you don't have to. We're coming at this almost completely cold, so they are our reactions to one listen, just as most people will be getting when the shows go out live on Thursday and Saturday. We will also list the current Betfair odds at the time of writing, which is Saturday afternoon of the week before. Semi-finalists will be listed in italics, and the songs are here in alphabetical order of country.