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All countries

So after our little journey into the Irish wilds for a wedding and a vote......

It's time to predict this Eurovision thing and nail our colours to the mast

Still calling Sweden but hot on Mans tails are Russia, Italy and Azerbaijan

I think Polina Gagarina could still do this, and hoping for a really exciting finish to the show later tonight....

Top ballad may well go to Poland now, but other contenders could well be Cyprus, Greece and Estonia.....

but to be brutally hints we have no idea at this point and would not be surprised to see some random winner like Belgium :-D

And the draw.....

Well three of the big hitters, Russian, Azerbaijan and Italy are all at the end now, but Sweden stands out on it's own in the middle, but being next to Norway and Australia may finish off any chance that Sweden have of victory now

Slovenia starting the show is great, but like Sweden this may hurt their chance of pulling off the win of the century!!!

So can Italy do this now??? Will we be in Roma next year??? Well I for one, simply because it is one of my favourite cities in the world, sincerely hope so, but watch out for Germany who will do much better than predicted, Estonia singing from Sertab's wining slot, and Albania potentially giving some go the big hitters a run for their money!!!!

Happy rehearsal day to all involved

We're off to the a Wedding to forget all about Eurovision for the day and Daniel is going to vote in the Irish referendum.....

See you back in Austria some point tomorrow!

And we're off....semi two is underway....

The Irish Jury is ready we have Daniel, Donal, John, Mairead, Emma and Myself....

The parade starts.......and I am totally missing being in the arena right now......

Go POLAND!!! Love you Monika!

Initial reactions from the Irish jury is "where is the wine" ?
Looks like the audience is having fun there right now....tsk without us there!
Love the Marty Whelan commentary, first for me...
Daniel like the host,.....Mairead wants to know where are the male hosts!!!
Oh voting numbers...yay

Test the pyros and wind machine....whiel we talk more wine1

Lithuania....Irish Jury thinks, we like this, catchy and memorable.....we didn't get to the kiss yet. Ireland is in shock at the kiss!!! Love it:-D 8/10 for this, older ones like it more than this younger ones!

Ireland.....obvs they love it here....but seriously they think it;s all a bit dire to be honest....no connection at all with the camera....not great not working, seems like she's trying to Ellie Golding and Lana del Rey and it's not working at all.....5/10

San Marino....humm wonder what they will think of this.....OMG she's found some new notes there!!! Irish jury are not impressed at all with this....Donal says "like something out of Charlie and the chocolate Factory" Mairead likes the dress, and not much else, Daniel says this is last place.....2/10

Montenegro with Adio!!!! not too sure how the Irish homebirds will take to this....Daniel and I love it totally. No impressions so far....Mariead is not impressed, Donal is in Shock!!! Emma went a shower....opps! Daniel and I are singing along :-D Split votes here, Irish rellies give it 2/10 M+D give it 8/10

Malta.....never won, and sorry but not gonna this year either :-( Amber is in good voice mind you, just gonna get lost in this car crash semi.....and she lost the interest with the Irish jury :-( Shame really 5/10

Oh look first time ever that I have witnessed a break in the TV show.....this is a bit weird to be honest....kill the ads in Eurovision please

Back now....missed Conchita in the Green room...:-(

Norway.....will be very interesting to see this on the screen now....huge fav of mine....please let this be good....and please let the Irish rellies love it too.....Morland's vocal is perfection, Don't let me go!!! Deborah looks a million dollars to be honest....AND YES THE IRISH JURY love's it 10/10

Portugal....well this is going no where fast.....especially after the perfection of Norway before....but she is great vocally....meanwhile the Irish Family Jury lost totally interest here.....definite first non-qualifier....Mariead gives this a big fat NO!!!! Can she sing in English please??? Donal is yawning...oh dear....Daniel os rowing with his sister now.....hilarious I am ROTFLMAO off here, 1/10

Czech Republic now....all very gothic....but I have highly recommend it so they are glued to the screen, watching avidly....there is much silence though....I am hearing this sounds like a James Bond theme form the Irish Jury......never seen that before....Marta and Vaclav giving it their all now....10/10 from me and 7/10 form the Irish.....this is getting all my text votes tonight

Israel was not impressive for the Irish jury.....we think it will sail through but hime crowd here so not impressed

Lativa....this is getting a lot of WTF moments from the Irish Jury.....she has an amazing voice and it looks great on the screen......probably the most current song so far

Big Fav now, Azerbaijan, the Voice of Turkey winner, Elnur.....Mariead is still disappointed Denmark did not make it. Anyway Elnur now. Avid attention now form the Irish at the big fav. OH DEAR the Irish just do not get the dancers here....and I have to agree with them.....is adds nothing to the song at all, in fact takes attention away from it....and Mariead agrees totally with me....real shame cos the song is great....9/10 for the song 0/10 for the dancers :-D

Iceland. the little angel that is Maria Olafs. She has sprayed her feet gold??? WHAT???? The vocal is awful on the TV....this is just not working. Irish lost attention after about 30 seconds....and what's all these new notes she has found??? This is all too way JESC for the adults sipping wine here!!! Next please.....if this was X-Factor she'd be going home for sure :-( 4/10 and that's for Hera Bjork

New break here, Azerbaijan, Lithuania, Norway and Czech Republic are the most impressive so far.....interesting.....

SWEDEN.....could this win??? Lets see what real people think here.....
Well so far this is VERY VERY impressive to the locals gathered round the Irish hearth in Cavan....VERY impressive, and these are folks that would not normally like Swedish songs.....10/10 8/10 9/10 9.5/10 Humm could this really do it now???

Switzerland is going down very well with the Irish rellies, much more accessible than the Latvian song, they think she is beautiful and the sing is pretty fantastic too. Mairead in particular likes this a lot…..Donal is very quite I think he’s in awe :-) 9/10

Cyprus…..c’mon John you can do this for them, Lisa Andreas might lose here top place slot for Cyprus in the final on Saturday…..Emma came back from the shower just in time, and she likes this….breathtaking even :-D Donal….is just taking all in….Daniel is singing along and swaying. This is getting a 9/10 too.

Pizza is coming….we need food!!!

Slovenia….last of the nights big favs….Mariead is still talking about Cyprus….this is bombing with the Irish….OH NOES!!!!n Daniel and I are sad now :-( Donal piped up and said she’s got a fantastic voice though……don’t think this will win now but should get through to the final easily…..7/10 seems to be the summation here

Poland…..sadly the song is not good enough for me, but Monika I will always love you, so give this all you have…..not going down too well the Irish jury either, but they are full of love for her now they know the back story…..and Mariead now just said this is not a bad song at all….and should go through tbh! 8/10

Re-runs;

Round table summary;

Lithuania HIT
Ireland MISS
San Marino MISS
Montenegro HIT/MISS
Malta MISS
Norway HIT
Portugal MISS

Czech Republic HIT
Israel HIT/MISS
Latvia HIT/MISS
Azerbaijan HIT (lose the dancers)
Iceland MISS
Sweden HIT

Switzerland HIT
Cyprus HIT
Slovenia HIT/MISS
Poland HIT (surprise)

Now the interval act, filled before the votes is on it's time for a ciggie break

Finally results...
Missing out the finals are:
Ireland
San Marino
Malta
Portugal
Czech Republic
Iceland
Switzerland

Prediction- 2nd semi!

CostasP on Thu, 05/21/2015 - 07:21

Good morning!Semi Final Two is on today and this is my prediction on who goes through...Just like Keith,my dilemma was between Ireland and Switzerland,i found the other nine to be able to distinguish themselves from the others in different grades.

So...here it goes:
Lithuania
Montenegro
Norway
Israel
Latvia
Azerbaijan
Sweden
Cyprus
Slovenia

and...

Ireland ( hope this isn't just wishful thinking)

Enjoy the Semi Final tonight!

Semi Final Two- First Dress Rehearsal

CostasP on Wed, 05/20/2015 - 15:49

The song performances in the First Dress Rehearsal of Semi Two came to an End. I have to say that I enjoyed them a lot, much better than Semi One. Here are some short comments on all the songs:

Lithuania- Perfect opener, charming, a bit camp, a kiss! Vocals could have been better, still ok.

Ireland- Very good backdrop, love the voice, a bit static, not sure if it will stand out.

San Marino- Shaky vocals, comes across amateur, even if the stage work is professional.

Montenegro- Zeljko school of staging, looks really dramatic, flawless vocals, sailing through.

Malta-Conchita backdrop meets Paparizou outfit. Vocally good enough, seems a bit "empty" and not special in my opinion.

Norway-Simple, more chemistry than previous rehearsals, some awkward moments (walking around the stage!), amazed by the voices.

Portugal- Did the best out of it, still forgettable. The kind of "decent" that's rarely appreciated.

Czech Republic- Amazing voices, over-dramatic performance, not a televoting grabber, will the jury vote be enough?

Israel- Stands out by a mile, lifts up the mood, choreography a bit disjoined, vocals decent enough. Don't think the juries will prevent it from qualifying.

Latvia-Performance lifts it up even if a bit odd, some fantastic camera angles with the dress and the floor.

Azerbaijan-The mix of the vocals isn't really good, comes across shouty. Awful choreography. Probably the best backdrop.

Iceland-Really off tune, worst vocals so far. Unspectacular performance. Doesn't look good for Iceland.

Sweden-Mans nails the whole thing visually and vocally from the first rehearsal. Still looks impressive. Obvious winner imo.

Switzerland-Really like the way it comes across on camera, good voice, still not sure about its chances.

Cyprus-Some camera angles look magical, lights in the crowd, great vocals, simplicity.

Slovenia-Doesn't come across powerful enough, lights get better towards the end. Song itself stands out.

Poland- The bright colors are a wise choice, holds back vocally, borderliner.

Semi One is History, time for Semi Two!

CostasP on Wed, 05/20/2015 - 14:05

Greetings from me as well from the After-Day of Semi One! I have to say I wasn't really surprised by the result which was generally fair . Got 9 qualifiers right yesterday, had Denmark to go through and Albania to miss out. I guess Denmark was punished for following the same recipe this year, hope that that may shake things up and see a more interesting selection from them next year...As for Albania...well, there's always place for surprises.

So...Semi One is history,now it's time for Semi Two...the first Dress Rehearsal is starting as we speak and watching it from the Press Centre. I won't be making long threads with descriptions today, after all you've watched and read about the performances many times...i'll try to give a very short review at the end of the Rehearsal about the impression and the feeling I got from each entry.

Let Semi Two begin!

Golden Microphone for our Golden boy Mike

Andy on Wed, 05/20/2015 - 09:30

ESCKAZ.com team has awarded the best Eurovision interviewer and our precious team member Mike with the Golden Microphone (with ESCKAZ.com engravering on it). Have a nice trip back, Mike and see you back on Saturday.

From Press-r
From Press-r

Mike says his best interview this year was:

But we think this 40 minutes one was outstanding: