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Drew & Tam's Count Down to Dusseldorf: An Introduction & Our Review of Semi 1

From Dusseldorf

Hi everyone and welcome to Drew & Tam's Eurovision Blog on ESCKaz.com! We are two avid eurovision fans since ever we can remember and we will be part of a live correspondent team for ESCKaz.com, reporting directly to you all from the rehearsals, parties and Press Conferences on the latest, up to date news from all the eurovision action in Dusseldorf. We hope you enjoy our reporting!

Okay, here are our views and predictions for the Semi-Final One participants:

1 Poland
We haven't been that impressed with recent polish entries but this one isn't bad and wouldn't be out of place in a Melodifestivalen final. Good singer, good voice. They got the wild card and chose to start which was probably a wise idea. Its good and may go through but it's not a winner as there are better songs in this genre.

2 Norway
Singing from the dreaded 2nd place (probably not so important in a semi) this early fan fave has slipped a bit in many fan polls. However, do not rule this out. It has instant appeal, a catchy chorus, a charismatic performer, albeit slightly vocally challenged, and influences of Africa. It’s a happy, clappy, dance along song and is a certain to qualify and we suspect she'll be well up there in the final.

3 Albania
We normally like the Albanian entries but we’re struggling with this one. Despite Aurela exhorting us to feel the passion we’re left feeling very underwhelmed. That said, it may qualify but it’s nowhere near as good as their last entry!

4 Armenia
Now Tam didn't originally take to this partly because of the boom boom title but he’s now finding it disturbingly catchy and wouldn't mind if this went through. Drew, on the other hand has always enjoyed this happy little song. It has a latino, summery, happy feel to it even though it is a bit of a clichéd cheesefest. However, it is not a winner and we don't think we'll be off to Yerevan in 2012.

5 Turkey
Another rock effort from Turkey following internal selection. We have loved some of the previous Turkish rock songs but this falls a bit short, although Drew likes this more. Founded in 1997 by songwriter and bass guitarist Kutlu Özmakinacı, Yüksek Sadakat released their self-titled debut album in January 2006 and its second album ‘Katil & Maktûl’ (the Killer and the Victim)’ in March 2008 under the DMC label. The band, which quickly developed a large fan base, brought together elements from different periods and sub-categories of rock music and musical motifs native to the Turkish geography without losing the energy of rock music while doing so. Towards the end of 2010, the group was selected by EBU member TRT to represent Turkey at the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest the 56th of which will be held in Düsseldorf, Germany. Yüksek Sadakat continues its preparations for the contest to be held in May 2011 as well as reaching out to its listeners through various concerts. There is no way this will not qualify as its Turkey and it isn't awful.

6 Serbia
Serbia has left their comfort zone of Balkan ballads and quirky efforts like last year with this extremely interesting little number. Nina looks fab, has a great voice and her backing singers are wonderful. We both love the whole retro feel and while we would love it to qualify and think it will, it does not have wide enough appeal to be a serious contender to win.

7 Russia
The Sparrow boy certainly loves himself and thinks the whole world does too but we do quite like this. He is pleasing on the eye and the song itself has a catchy chorus. He's a cert to qualify because it's Russia .... He and Eric Saade seem to be hyping their rivalry up and it somewhat comes across as a little contrived at times. This song is a powerful club dance song which will go down well at Euroclub. It is sung well and performed well and we would not underestimate the Russians at Eurovision.

8 Switzerland
This was the 1st country to choose and perhaps fans have heard it so often that's it's slipped down the polls in popularity. But, we love it. It's simple, effective and it really deserves to go through but we’re not certain that it will. Not sure whether being stuck between 2 energetic songs is a good or bad thing for it.

9 Georgia
They dumped their original lead singer for lack of vocal abilities. Poor soul, I'd be raging!! This is reasonably good and has grown on us a bit but growers don't win. For its genre it's good but we don't think it has wide enough appeal beyond those that like this rock chick genre. However, it could go through.

10 Finland
We've loved this song from the 1st time we heard it. Paradise Oskar is a wee cutey and it has a simple if slightly cheesy message about saving the planet. We hope and think this will go through and given a good draw in the final and depending on what is around it. This could be a dark horse of a contender. Or, it could plough and poor wee Oskar could be heading back to Helsinki for an early steam bath. This may do very well or fail miserably, nothing in between.

11 Malta
Despite very few admitting to liking this (we suspect there are a few lurking in the closet) we’ve always loved this hi energy camp fest with its fab key change. And Glen is such a euro fan and enthusiastic about the whole adventure. It's his birthday on the 14th May and we'd love to see him getting to celebrate it by being in the final but suspect this will not happen.

12 San Marino
This is a pleasant, inoffensive song and Senit seems to be a very nice lady but we’re struggling to say much more about it which isn't a good sign. We don't think this is strong enough to qualify.

13 Croatia
Having realised their original title of "Break a leg" sounded plain daft to native English ears they changed it to Celebrate. It reminds us of the stuff Steps used to do and in that respect is a tad dated. It's reasonably catchy and not awful but could struggle to qualify.

14 Iceland
This is one of our favourites and has been all along even before we heard the English version. The lyrics are wonderful and we have shed a tear or 3 whilst doing the cleaning to this. They harmonise very well together and even though Yohanna is alleged to have had a hissy fit when they beat her in the national final I think they chose the right song. However, unfortunately it may not be a cert to qualify which would be a complete travesty. We would have no problem with this winning the whole shebang.

15 Hungary
This is another one of our faves. It's a powerful up tempo song and we just love the build up towards the end. We haven't seen a proper live version and think the key to its success or otherwise will depend on how she performs it on stage. This is also a fan fave and is a cert to go through but we all remember what happened to another huge fan fave in the form of kate Ryan who flopped on the night though undeservedly.

16 Portugal
Well, we'll keep this short and to the point. This is nonsense. A song about the economic crisis that only Portuguese can understand does not deserve to go through. We'll leave it at that as we can feel a rant coming on.

17 Lithuania
They've never quite managed to compete with their Baltic cousins ... poor old Lithuania, and we’re afraid this year is no exception. Lithuania has had some fab songs in the past from LT United and InCulto but this is a mess of a song and although she has a nice voice it's just wrong on so many levels. This will not qualify.

18 Azerbaijan
I haven't disliked an Azeri entrant yet though Drew isn’t too keen on the early ones, and this is another very good song. We find this quite hypnotic and think this is a real contender. It's a cert to go through and deservedly so. It's easily going to make top 10 and we wouldn't rule out a trip to Baku next year.

19 Greece
Well, Tam has really shocked himself with Greece this year. Having started off thinking it was a total mess (not helped by the awful national final staging) he has done a complete u turn and now finds this a very haunting and strong song from Greece. He has little doubt that this will qualify and thinks it deserves to. However, it doesn’t have the potential to win overall. Drew, on the other hand, usually likes Greek songs but finds this song too dark and messy, particularly the rap bits. Drew thinks this could be a rare occasion that Greece does not qualify, especially without Cyprus in this semi to vote for it.

Drew & Tam’s own top 10 from semi 1

1. Iceland
2. Hungary
3. Azerbaijan
4. Finland
5. Serbia
6. Russia
7 .Malta
8. Switzerland
9. Norway
10.San Marino

Our predicted top 10 in no order. We found this difficult.

Azerbaijan
Turkey
Greece
Russia
Hungary
Norway
Serbia
Finland
Armenia
Georgia

Boo hoo think iceland may not make it :(