Denmark, Iceland, Cyprus and The Netherlands

It's been the busiest weekend of the national final season so far.  Eurovision Express was in Norway for MGP, and there will be a full report on our time there posted soon.

Saturday night also saw Iceland and Denmark pick its songs, and we're delighted that the wonderful Hera Björk (pictured with Örlyg Smára, with whom Hera wrote the song) will be in Oslo with Je Ne Sais Pourquoi.  Having met Hera last year in Moscow we can't wait for the fun to begin in a few months time.

We haven't had time to watch the Danish Final yet, but reports say that national broadcaster DR put on a great show.  Chanée and N'evergreen (pictured above) will fly the flag for Denmark with In A Moment Like This, a catchy song that's really grown on us.  We can't claim to have picked it as the winner, although we did list it on this blog as one of three songs to keep an eye on.

The first heat of the Swedish Melodifestivalen began on Saturday, with Ola and Sakim Al Fakir making it through to the Final. 

Sunday saw two national finals.  Our web connection to the Cypriot Final wasn't the best, but it was clear for us there was only one song to send to Norway, and thankfully it was the one chosen! Welsh singer, Jon Lilygreen will perform as Jon Lilygree and The Islanders with the excellent Life Looks Better in the Spring.  It's our favourite Cypriot entry for a long time. 

The weekend closed with the Dutch National Final.  5 acts sang their own versions of Ik ben verliefd (Shalalie), written by Pierre Kartner. 

The voting was incredibly dramatic.  The 4 person panel each voted for one act, and, combined made up a staggering 80% of the vote, with the public vote being worth a mere 20%.  2 members of the jury picked girl group, Loekz, and 2 picked 17 year old Sieneke.  The public preferred Vinzzent.  So there was a tie between Loekz and Sieneke, and the composer had the unenviable choice of choosing between them.  Initially he refused, but after much pressing, he eventually plumped for Sieneke (pictured above). 

It will be very interesting to see how the Dutch song does this year, as it's very obviously an old-fashioned.  It makes us feel nostalgic for Eurovisions of old, but our fear is that, unfortunately, the Netherlands may struggle to qualify for the final yet again.