Retro Sunday: Belgium 2004

There's been a lot of talk about the Second Chance Contest today, so what better than to shed some light on one of the many fallen favorites in this week's Retro Sunday:



Xandee's "1 Life" was one of the biggest favorites with the fans and the bookies back in 2004, and Belgium seems to have fallen in this category a couple of times over the past few years, God knows why. Perhaps a lack of loyal neighbors voting for them, or perhaps they send songs that simply do not appeal to people outside the hardcore ESC-fan crowd.

We like this upbeat, energetic number. Eurotrash at its very best, and Xandee really scares the shit out us when she nails us with her piercing eyes straight into the camera and wiggles her booty until we blush. Refreshing!

And the winner is...

Sweden! Congratulations! Not exactly a big shocker, Timoteij has been a huge fan favorite all along. We'd much prefer Salem Al-Fakir to represent Sweden, so we suppose we're not in line with the Schlager loving fan boys this time!

Thank you OGAE Denmark for hosting the show! Here's the complete scoreboard:

1 Sweden 267
2 Denmark 223
3 Portugal 203
4 Spain 167
5 Israel 161
6 Norway 138
7 Germany 105
8 Greece 103
9 Finland 87
10 Cyprus 73
11 Serbia 64
12 Slovenia 54
13 Poland 24
14 Lithuania 20
15 Armenia 11
15 Ireland 11
15 FYR Macedonia 11
15 Russia 11
19 Croatia 4
20 Malta 3
21 Rest of the World (Bulgaria) 1
22 Azerbaijan 0

For the 13th time in Second Chance Contest history, Sweden takes the victory:

Second Chance Contest results revealed today!

Remember that we told you about the Second Chance Contest earlier? It's been a while and the results have been delayed for some reason. But today the results will finally be revealed by this year's host OGAE Denmark. You can watch the live stream here from 3 p.m. (15:00) Danish time. How very exiting indeed!

Oh dear Didrik

Aaah, Didrik. Not again. Please don't show up in the media one more time telling us how you know what to do when your brand new album flops. And how you were afraid of winning Eurovision because of the money it would cost Norway and how you don't think you will have a pop music career. What are we supposed to do? Feel sorry for you? Now that won't sell any records.

We are just so tired of all your twaddle. We can't be bothered to hear your whining anymore. And we can't be bothered to make yet another remark about it. We actually find ourselves at the point where we really wish you stood up for yourself, telling us what you are good at, DOING what you are good at. Which certainly isn't blabbering away to journalists.

We are so on the verge here now that we really want you to find yourself. Just do it fast and a little less painful, will you?

Guess who's back, back, back?

We were all sad to see our Eurovision Diva Maria Haukaas Mittet go after an excruciatingly exciting dance duel with the super hunky Åsleik "Knerten" Engmark on Strictly Come Dancing last Saturday.

But, now she's back!

One of the other contestants had to withdraw due to an injury, and it turns out you don't have to ask twice for Maria to get back into the limelight! What a shocker. And hurrah!

But, hang on a minute, will this mean that darling Maria won't have time to participate in MGP 2011 after all? Oh, no! Or yeah, whatever...

Show!

There has been quite a few people up on their feet in Norway today, raising and collecting money for The Norwegian Refugee Council, this year's beneficiary for the annual NRK broadcasted event. The Telethon has taken place every fall since 1974 and has become an institution and a tradition in Norway. A very worthy cause and we hope all our fellow Norwegians have taken the opportunity to dig deep into their well filled pockets.

Former ESC host Haddy N'jie is also hosting the TV-show today and we are yet again super impressed, she does an excellent job! And it seems like we are not quite over the Eurovision fever we caught when hosting the big event earlier this year. Just take a look at this video, made by the comedians Bye & Rønning, in an attempt to get even more people off the couch when one of the over 90 000 volunteers carrying a collection box comes knocking on the door. The Glow parody is right on the money, so to speak, and very funny. And if you look closely you can even spot a few ESC celebs on those couches!

If you wish to give a donation, you can find more information here.

Retro Sunday: Denmark 2000

Inspired by the fact that we are going to watch our first Danish national final live next February, we started digging trough old DMGP material, to see if we could discover some hidden gems for you. And blimey, there's plenty of those to go around!



Like this one, from 10 years back. The Danes decided to send another song to ESC and as we all recall that went pretty well, but we absolutely adore Sanne Gottlieb's "Uden deg" (Without you) which finished third in the national final. What a confident and strong performance, she looks smashing, and don't even get us started on that skirt. She proves that she gets what Eurovision is all about by waltzing around the stage in that totally over the top diva fab outfit! We are seriously considering showing up at Ballerup Super Arena with matching yellow skirts as a homage to this lovely lady.

And the song is lovely too. It's like a dash of the soundtrack from the 80's Danish movie Buster's World mashed up with a tiny bit of the 90's classic Missing by Everything But the Girl, which all brings good memories to mind. And it doesn't at all sound outdated like some many other ESC entries from around the turn of the millennium. How very delightful and well worth a replay!

From love to dirt in Beat for Beat

OK, let us continue writing about the Norwegian tv show Beat for Beat, because it seems to be the place where Eurovision people hang out while waiting for the real action to start. Last night we encountered an a-team and a b-team in its purest form with our not so beloved Didrik representing the latter.

Finally prime time tv gave in to Astrid's continous wish for Jostein Hasselgård on a friday night. 

Didrik Solli-Tangen of course made sure he got to sing the first song as the not so entitled primadonna he is. And we can't really decide whether he reminds us of a spoiled little brat who flipped through his father's LP collection and wanted to sound exactly like one of those 80s' macho men or if he just reminds us of Don Johnson. Nonetheless not good. Definitely not good. We're pretty goddamn embarrassed when Didrik starts up the opera, but would even say there's blasphemy going on as he delivers our beloved Frøken Frantzen in the end. And let's skip the screaming cougar with the jacket of horror and shoes of the porn star next door, who btw suits him pretty well.

The contrast is huge to our all time favorite hunk Jostein Hasselgård paired up with Eurovision choir chick pro Åshild Stensrud. Now this man is just too good to be true, and can do just about any song better than the original. Also just love how he cuts off Didrik when he tries to be something that could sound like a beatbox. Guess he just shares our idea of Beat for Beat, which is having fun with music and singing well, not just clinging to your somewhat vanishing celebrity status.

So in the end nothing changed during this hour of Beat for Beat, except maybe for the fact that Jostein stole A1's Beat for Beat throne. We still have a major crush on mr Hasselgård and still have no respect of Didrik whatsoever. But hey, there's always a reason to spend some time with Jostein. And there's even a Eurovision medley in there for you to decode. Click here to watch the whole show or watch one horrible part of it below.

Retro Sunday: Russia 2003

Really there should have been a lot of reasons not to like Russia back in 2003. There is techno rhythm and screaming and a keyboardist on speed. It's just that from the first few seconds when TaTu screams Hey! we're already kinda charmed:



These are some funky Russian chicks. We do love their quirky hairdos and filthy jeans, their cocky attitude and their schoolgirl charm. Although we're not sure they actually know they are on a Eurovision stage, not just rehearsing in front of the mirror. But these girls really can do and did do everything. Oh, if we only were young like them again.

So let the Russians scream. They sure can do it in style.

Let's paint Copenhagen red in February!

 

According to the latest news on dr.dk, Danish MGP is heading back to the capital after being hosted for several years at various locations in Jutland. Hurrah! The venue for the final on the 26th of February 2011 will be Ballerup Super Arena, located in a suburb just outside Copenhagen. The arena can house an audience of 6500 during DMGP, and GEE will be there covering the event in the most glamourous way possible!

Düsseldorf anno 2011

So, word's finally out and confirmed that we're going to Düsseldorf next year. Leaving the dream of Berlin behind, GEE has now finally learned where this place actually is located, and here's a couple of reasons Düsseldorf anno 2011 will be fun, or not so fun:


Fun facts:

• Düsseldorf has a very large Japanese community, which means loads of good sushi for us.
• It is not so far away from Frankfurt, and there's a lot of cheap flights to Frankfurt if we can't find one to Düsseldorf.
• The name is pretty fun to pronounce. And being Norwegians we're probably better at it than the British and such. Düsseldorf Düsseldorf Düsseldorf.
• We have never been to Düsseldorf before, and we never would have gone there either, if it hadn't been for Eurovision. So lots of new stuff to explore and experience!
• The stadium can house an audience of 54 400 people. Pretty amazing.
• If you remember the Flash Mob, you will remember they can dance there. 
• With just over half a million inhabitants, it is small enough to be entirely marked by Eurovision during the Eurovision weeks. And then we won't lose track of each other either. Nice and cozy.
• The town is famous for fashion fairs. Should be good when we need yet another dress for yet another event.
• It is one of Germany's wealthiest cities with a lot of rich business people to buy poor GEE bloggers a drink or five.
• Rheinuferpromenade is supposedly a street full of cafes along the Rhein. And Mediahafen is filled with contemporary architecture and bars. Now, that's where you'll find us. 
• There's good beer in Germany. So probably there's good beer in Düsseldorf. That's the most important, really. 

Not so fun facts:

• It is not Berlin. And we love Berlin.
• It doesn't exactly scream of fun, does it... It sounds like one of those boring, German cities that we never really knew much about - couldn't even look it up on a map, they all sound like the same to us, sort of. 
• It will probably be a nightmare finding a cheap and decent place to stay, the hotel prices have already sky rocketed.
• We can only tell our friends we're going to... Düsseldorf, not very trendy, nor glamourous.
• Even though the arena can house 54 400 people, it will only be open for 24 000 spectactors during Eurovision. What, do they think Eurovision fans are like twice as big as other people? How very offensive of them.
• It is not Berlin, or yeah, did we already mention that? Oh well, suppose we just need to get over it.

No Rybak for China

OK, so no use for Alexander Rybak to start digging a hole to China. Because China doesn't want him.

You see China is mad at Norway for giving the Nobel Peace Price to Chinese Liu Xiaobo acknowledging his work for the freedom of speech. And of course China doesn't want freedom of speech. Nor do they want freedom of playing a violin and singing like it's your last day on earth.

Yeah, that makes perfectly sense. And we're really happy Eurovision is outside politics. But we guess the real question is: Who is getting punished here, Norway or China? We'd sure opt for the latter. Go spit on your own carpet, grumps.

Retro Sunday: France 1977

Germany's success this year will hopefully inspire the rest of the Big 4 bunch to actually consider choosing a good song for next year's contest. Like France did 33 years ago:



It's been a while since France's last victory, alltough we need to do them justice by mentioning that they have come close many times with amazing songs and stunning performances. However Marie Myriam was the last one to take the victory home and she was indeed a very deserving winner. We love her confident performance where she just trusts her own abilities and the superb quality of the song.

Numerous artists have covered this song in different languages, among them, one of our favorite ESC participants ever, Birthe Kjær from Denmark. We much prefer the original in French, but when the song can sound almost equally good in one of the strangest languages in the world, it tells us that this is one of the true classics. Forget shouty dance routines, bring back the fab Frenchness of the grand ballad!

Andorra will not return to Eurovision 2011

Sadly, according to the group "Andorra to Eurovision Germany 2011" on Facebook, it has now been confirmed that Andorra will not take part in ESC in 2011. If you know Catalan you can read more about the decision in this news-article.

We have previously pointed out the importance of big nations like Italy returning to Eurovision, but we are equally strong supporters of the smaller nations to participate as well. It is such a shame that Andorra for the second year in a row is forced to withdraw due to economical reasons, cause this makes us all poorer. Since their debut in 2004 they have been a breath of fresh air, giving us charming performances from Anonymous and darling Susanne Georgi. They have introduced one more language on stage and added flavor and spice with crazy outfits and erm... interesting choreography. Andorra FTW and please come back soon!

If you are keen on bringing Andorra back to Eurovision and wish to receive news about this matter you can join the above mentioned Facebook group.

Retro Sunday: Spain 1991

ESC 2010 was a long string of more or less forgettable ballads. A few decent ones allright, but when a ballad lacks passion and achy breaky hearts and all that stuff, it sort of just falls flat on the ground. So this week's Retro Sunday is a tribute to one of those truly memorable ballads, that is still standing strong some almost 20 years down the line:



With a song only lasting for about 2:30, this quintessential Latino Lover kept it short and sweet, following one of the most important recipes for success; always leave the crowd wanting more. Cause how can we get enough of his amazing smile and soft, dark brown Bambi eyes, perfectly contrasted by his sexy whiskey voice? Watching this today, it almost feels a bit over the top, but we can tell you one thing, that was not the case back in 91 when we where in junior high, if you catch our drift. So Spain, how about you giving us something similar to drool over in Germany next year, that's actually kind of what we expect of you every year, you know!

Exclusive revelation!

GEE has previously been out hunting for Carola's wind machine.

Hmmm, could this be the one, Guri wonders...

... Only to find out that you can actually get one for the bargain price of 399 SEK at Clas Ohlson!


















 At least if you happen to be in Malmö, where this pic is taken.

 "Fångad av en stormvind!"

DMGP 2011

In ESC history, Denmark is one of our absolute favorite countries. We love their happy go lucky tunes and buckets of charm that puts a big smile on our faces, thinking that life's one big party. There's just something about those Danes that simply appeal to us Norwegians, that makes us want to join them instead of beating them. Sort of. That was until this year when they showed up in Oslo with some trash they picked up in Sweden and a grumpy welder and his Hello Kitty doll. Wtf was that all about?

It's time for Denmark to restore faith in us all, we'll be gracious enough to give them one more shot. And since half of GEE has moved to Copenhagen for the year, we'll have the chance to follow DMGP 2011 closely, covering the events and sharing our thoughts and opinions with you dear readers along the way.

The deadline for submitting songs expired last Monday and according to DR's website 663 contributions came in. A secret jury will pick 6 songs from this bunch and the lineup in the final in February will be completed by DR inviting 4 songwriters on wildcards. This is all very exciting we must say! So far some of the competing songwriters have been revealed, among them Christina Schilling (behind Hera Björk's runner-up hit "Someday" in DMGP 2009 and the Ireland's ESC entry in 2009) and Claus Christensen (the man behind Denmark's ESC entry "Drama Queen" back in 2007).

We won't bore you with too much details and facts, which have all been pretty much covered in a bunch of other blogs and websites already. But when the songs and the artists to perform them have been selected, we'll let you know what we think about it all, don't you worry! We are mirthfully sharpening our pencils as we speak...