More Melting, Gooey Fromage

We watched the second night of Eurovision semifinals this afternoon. We'd spent the day pounding the pavement in search of souvenirs with mixed results (uh...some of you may get stuff from Georgia), so we collapsed on the sofa and flipped on Russia's Kanal Odin (channel one).

This was a much tougher set for us to judge- fewer throwaway sopranos. It did give us some laughs (the Albanian metal band, shooting sparks out of its guitars), some genuinely okay tunes, and some eye-raisers.

Let's get the eye-raiser over with: Romania sent a contra tenor (think Communards), who sang a dance hit. He had an amazing voice and spectacular range...still, your eyebrows will reach for the ceiling on this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV3xp5ZXSYA&feature=player_embedded

I think there were women in the contest who couldn't reach those notes!

Macedonia sent a well-known gypsy queen to sing a duet- I loved it! (Unfortunately, it did not make the finals)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi1VYsOUCsY

I am happy to report that Greece did. They had one of those traditional meets punk bands (referred to in the press as "Balkan Ska") fronted by a guy in his (lets go with) 50s. The young men wore traditional pleated skirts. We were pretty sure they'd make it to the finals, though, with a title and chorus of: Alcohol is Free!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocFhFNxu5Jg&feature=player_embedded

What else should I report? the blond Viking-in-a-suit from Iceland had a nice voice (made it). The Bulgarians were fun- they were professional percussionists, so it was pretty high energy (didn't make it). Hungary had a nice, quiet pop tune (made it).

(ASIDE: I told Jason that when I think of Hungary that I think of (besides paprika) everyone being good looking. It's one of those societies where you stand out if you're not... So, unsurprisingly, despite the lead singers efforts to hide behind a hipster disguise, you could tell he was good looking. Even the less handsome guitar player was still handsome. I guess my advice is, don't go there unless you are really secure. Well, I haven't been there in 20 years, so maybe all the good looking people are old and grey now... we can hope they didn't win the genetic jackpot and age well, too.)

Let me end with my surprise choice to take the top prize: Malta. It is such a catchy pop hit- quiet and not too over the top, and the lead singer is a pediatrician by profession. So, I'm going with the guy who wasn't groomed and packaged for public consumption by his country of origin :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoBNfVgZdo4&feature=player_embedded

Well, that's enough of Eurovision! We'll watch the finals and let you know who wins :o) If this hasn't been enough cheese for you, there is an official Eurovision website with information about all of the acts: http://www.eurovision.tv/page/timeline