Finland decides. Vote Nina!

Tonight Finland chooses its Eurovision entry for Oslo.  The hot favourite is Eläkeläiset with Hulluna humpasta - apparently they're very popular. 

But we're backing Nina Lassander with the brilliant Cider Hill (video below), although we wish the umbrella choreography would be removed from the performance!

We also love Heli Kajo's quirky entry, Annankadun kulmassa, and over the past few days we've become fond of the act that will be performing last, Kuunkuiskaajat  with Työlki ellää.

So who will fill the shoes left by Waldo's People? Unfortunately, if it's Hulluna humpasta, we fear Finland may really struggle to make it out of whichever semi final they are drawn in.

UK chooses The Hitman!

The BBC have announced this year's UK songwriter/producer who will compose their entry for Oslo. After Jade's 5th place success last year with the Andrew Lloyd-Webber / Dianne Warren song "It's My Time" - the BBC will be hoping to replicate a similar success in 2010.

This year the UK has asked songwriter/producer Pete Waterman, who is famous as part of the Stock, Aitken and Waterman team, to produce the entry for 2010.

Details here

Who will make it through the Last Chance round in Norway?

This Saturday sees 8 acts battling it out to take the last 2 spots in the Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix, which takes place on Saturday 6 February.

The 6 acts that came 3rd and 4th in the 3 semi finals will compete with 2 acts that (we think!) got the highest number of votes or pencentage of votes without coming in the Top 4 each week.

To make things even more exciting, Norway will be using a 'duel' system, which will see songs pitted against each other.  Initially 8 songs will be whittled down to 4, and then, finally, 2 will be triumphant.  The chart above illustrates how things will work.

So who do we think will get through? Here are our predictions with the act making it through each round in bold:

First duel:
Skanksters (Life Is Here Today) v  Bjørn Johan Muri (Yes Man)

Second duel:
Gaute Ormåsen (Synk eller svøm) v Heine Totland (The Best Of Me Is You)

Third duel:
Johnny Hide (Rewind Love) v Mira Craig (I'll Take You High)

Fourth duel
Karoline Garfjell (Tokyo Night) v Venke Knutson (Jealous Cause I Love You)

So, we see the 2nd round of duels looking like this:
Bjørn v Gaute and Mira v Venke

This is where it gets much harder to predict what will happen.  On paper it looks like Bjørn will win (Yes Man has done well in the itunes chart and he did well in Norwegian Idol) but Gaute's song is the only entry in the Norwegian language and is pretty good).  But we'll plump for Bjørn (although are just as happy if it's Gaute).

We love Mira because she wrote the fabulous Hold On Be Strong, but I'll Take You High isn't in the same league.  And, more importantly, Jealous Cause I Love You is just fantastic.  We're hoping the Norwegians will go with the better song....so fingers crossed for Venke here.

Whatever happens it's going to be an exciting night!

The Eurovision Night Project!

UK comedian Justin Lee Collins has launched his bid to represent Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo. On RTE's Late Late Show last night Justin said he has always been a fan of the conest and was very serious about entering Eurovision. A camera crew from UK TV Channel FIVE are currently recording his effort for a special documentary to be shown in the UK in 2010. Justin is best know as a co-presenter of the Channel 4 programme "The Sunday Night Project".

The song he will enter to be selected for the Irish National Final on March 5th is called 'All I Ever Want Is You' written by Ronan Keating - singer/songwriter from Boyzone and Paul Barry - songwriter who wrote 'Hero' for Enrique Iglesias and 'Believe' for Cher.

Will Ireland choose a comedian to represent them? Well they choose a turkey not so long ago! We'll wait until we hear the song before we give our verdict.

Our tip for the Norwegian MGP crown!

The third and final set of entries for the Norwegian MGP have just been released. Having now heard the full versions of all 21 songs taking part this year, we predict that the winner will be:

Didrik Solli-Tangen with the excellent My Heart is Yours.

It's a strong ballad that sounds very similar to Cyndi's ballad in the UK final three years ago. Unlike the UK in 2007, Norway in 2010 know a good song when they hear one, and it helps that the co-author is a certain Mr. Fredrik Kempe! The song competes in the 3rd heat on Saturday hoping to make it to the final in Oslo on February 6th.

We confidently predict that Didrik will sail through to Spektrum on Saturday and will win the MGP final and go onto represent his home country in May. We will be in the arena on the night of the MGP final to cheer him on!

You can hear a snippet of the song here.

Be sure to tune in on Saturday night to see and hear the full version!

Getting to know Hera!

Eurovision Express was delighted to meet the wonderful Hera Bjork in Moscow and are equally delighted that she is attempting to represent Iceland in Oslo.

Let's get to know a little about Hera....



and here's the song that we hope will get our favourite Icelandic to Oslo....
we wish you all the best Hera!

Rolf proves he's still got The Touch!

From the sunny climes of Gran Canaria, Eurovision Express has still managed to listen to the full length versions of this week's Norwegian songs.

And we're pleased to say that the full version of The Touch, written by Rolf Lovland and performed by Maria Arredondo, is very good: if anything the verse outshines the chorus. It builds to a suitably arresting climax, and we're pretty convinced it will qualify directly to the Final in Oslo.

We still love Venke's Jealous Cause I Love You, although the verse here is decidedly weaker than the chorus. The full version of Alexander Stenerud's Give It To Me didn't live up to our initial expectations; that said we're sure Alexander will give a fantastic performance on Saturday, and there's no denying the power of the song's ending.

So our thoughts are: Maria and Venke to the Final, with Alexander and Tomine Harket to 2nd Chance round.

It just proves you can't rely on 30 seconds, but have to hear a song in full.

Waiting until this weekend comes...

Eurovision Express is currently getting away from all the snow, and has headed South to the Canary Islands for some sun. But, of course, we're still keeping our ear to the ground on the Eurovision front.

We're looking forward to the semi-finals taking place this weekend in Finland, Norway and Iceland.

Here are our tips:

Finland
The best song this Friday evening is the irresistibly quirky Annankadun kulmassa sung by Heli Kajo. It makes us think of something that could be used as part of the soundtrack in a Charlie Chaplin film, and is like something Finland might have sent in the 1970s. It's great!

Norway
Our favourite this week is Venke Knutson with the very catchy Jealous Cause I Love You. We also think Alexander Stenerud is in with a chance of going directly into the Final with Give It To Me. We're a tad disappointed with the entry penned by Rolf Lovland, The Touch, sung by Maria Arredondo. But to be fair we've only heard snippets so far, so things could change!

Iceland
The song that stands out this week is I Believe In Angels, performed by Sigrun Vala, which should sail into the Final.

Switzerland Eurovision 2010: Michael von der Heide

Hot off the press, here's the Swiss entry for Eurovision 2010: Michael von der Heide with Il Pleut De l'Or.

Ice Ice Baby

Tonight Iceland begins its quest to find a successor to Yohanna, who came 2nd in last year's Contest.

Eurovision Express is backing Íris Hólm with The One, a big, heart-breaking ballad. You can hear the song here, and find out more about Íris below.

In her interview she reveals that her favourite Eurovision moment is Selma's 2nd place in 1999. Apparently she kept watching that contest again and again, hoping Selma might win! She's also keen to be a hairdresser....well here at Eurovision Express we reckon you should keep to singing good songs, just like The One.

Who will represent Norway on home turf?

The search to find out who will follow in Alexander Rybak's footsteps and represent Norway at this year's Eurovision begins this evening. The first 'semi' final comes from Ørland. Seven acts are competing for 2 spaces in the Final, with the songs coming 3rd and 4th going through to a Second Chance Round.

Having listened to the seven songs, we think Norway is easing us in gently, as all of the entries are reasonably good, but none really sounds like a song that will actually make it to May's Eurovision. Big hitters, like A1, Mira Craig and Maria Arredondo, are coming up in the next two 'semis'.

The name that stands out tonight is Maria Haukaas Storeng (pictured below), but unfortunately You Make My Day is not a patch on Hold On Be Strong, Norway's entry in 2008. It's pleasant, but not a winner. That said, it has a good chance of going straight to the Final.


Our favourites this evening are probably Bjørn Johan Muri's Yes man, Elisabeth Carew's Rocketfuel and we think Gaute Ormåsen could surprise people and qualify with the only song in the Norwegian language, Synk eller svøm which has a strong oom-pah-pah feel to it.


But if we had to stake our mortgage on which song will definitely get through to the Norwegian Final, we'd have to plump for rock/thrash/metal group Keep of Kalessin (pictured above) with The Dragontower. It's not our cup of tea, but we're sure the stage act will be spectacular, and it's likely to stand out amongst the six other more laid back entries.

You can watch the show from 19.40 (CET) here

Will Nina finnish on top with some vintage cider?

This weekend sees a number of countries kicking off their Eurovision selections. Alongside Norway and Iceland, Finland begin their search for a song.

Here at Eurovision Express our fingers are firmly crossed for Nina Lassander and the fabulous Cider Hill. This is a beautiful, arresting song. We're just hoping that Finland, better known of late for sending rock songs, will realise just how good this song is.

So Nina, sock it to 'em, and let's hope everyone gets drunk on your vintage cider.

You can hear the song below.

Norwegian Semi 1 snippets online

Snippets of the seven songs in the first Norwegian semi final (taking place this Friday) can be heard here.

Is it true....? Dana is a granny!

A very happy new year to all our readers.

Two news stories to start 2010.



First off, we attended a very lavish do indeed last night at a secret location to select the best ESC song of the previous decade -or the "noughties" as they have become known. It was a close run thing but in the end, the Shady Lady - Ani Lorak - was pipped at the post (quite rightly in our view) by the excellent "Is it true?" by Johanna from Iceland ,which came 2nd in 2009. Congratulations to Johanna!



On another note, Congratulations go to Ireland's first ever Eurovision winner - Dana - who has just become a grandmother. Details here