Retro Sunday: Armenia 2008

We have soon healed our wounds of Armenia not winning this year, so let's take a look at another glorious entrance from the queens of Eurovision. Everything from the pumping drums to Shirusho's sensous moves, shiny heels and short fringy dress was very, very right in the Quele Quele act from Armenia in 2008. If it weren't for Dima Bilan making us believe in everything good, we would have been just as disappointed back then.

Never mind the crawling men around Shirusho's legs. It probably is intimidating being around her. And this is how enthnic influences should be presented the Eurovision way - like only Armenians could. Fire up your pyros and get dancing - after all, autumn is not entirely upon us yet.

Barbara Dex Award; Moldova and Russia

There are plenty of guys deserving a decent bashing in this year's ESC as well! Let's start with Moldova. And forget about the female tin foil cupcake. We didn't exactly expect Chişinău to be the fashion capitol of Europe, but to get reacquainted with the vest our old uncle John donated to aid Romanian orphans years ago, we did not see that one coming. We suppose it found its way to an overpriced ultra hip vintage shop in the above mentioned capitol somehow. As mentioned earlier, we praise Moldova for giving us valuable and hilarious contributions when it comes to costumes and props on stage, so it's nice to see that this tradition is being kept alive.

There is just so much material here, starting with the bloke in the front. Blimey...










Russian Peter Nalitch just couldn't be bothered to dress up at all. He and his friends showed up in Oslo dressed as a bunch of middle aged biology teachers on a field trip. But even tired and grumpy biology teachers shave and brush their hair when going to a party. So, it would have been nice if these lads had made the slightest effort. You don't need to go berserk with sequins and feathers to look presentable, you know.

"I'm looooooking at her photo!" Look what the cat dragged in, we'd say.









Yup, we could go on and on forever. We should of course have mentioned the lovely Eva Rivas and reported her to the fashion police for severe crime against humanity with that dress over jeans combo. And the Nevermind from Denmark probably had some serious welding work cut out for him while trying to weld on Eva Rivas' artificial hair.

And our very own car mechanic Didrik, trying to convince us that he had launched a new career as an accountant with that boring suit. What happened to the white waiter jacket he wore in the national final, not good enough for him? Come to think of it we have trashed poor Didrik at so many occasions by now, we're actually starting to bore ourselves. So he's off the hook. For now.

Enough about the Barbara Dex contenders, which outfits did we actually like? Watch out for follow-up blogposts!

Armenian entry tattooed on our minds

One of Good Evening Europe's favorites to win this year is Armenia. In fact, we have loved the Armenian entries from the very moment they first entered the competition in 2006. That's why it was pretty cool to meet up with a bunch of crazy Armenians on their way to Telenor Arena yesterday, to cheer for our favorite Eva Rivas. They have traveled to Oslo from Sweden, Ireland and other cities in Norway to share this moment, and they sure came well prepared dressed up in T-shirts and caps in the Armenian colors while of course waving their flags and praising the apricot stone.

"I have always been a huge ESC fan", Sevak Khachatryan tells us. He has traveled from Dublin to join the party in Eurovision Town and to cheer for his home country. "Before Armenia entered the competition, I used to cheer for Russia. They always send big stars with high quality songs, like Dima Bilan both in 2006 and 2008 and t.A.T.u in 2003", he continues. And according to the Armenians we met yesterday, ESC is also taken very seriously in their homeland. For example the lyrics for this years entry is written by Karen Kavaleryan, a famous and accomplished lyricist which has participated numerous times with different countries in ESC earlier with great success.

"Almost everybody watch the show on TV back in Armenia, it's very popular", Sevak's friend Ema Khachatryan adds, and we're thinking this is similar to Norway and probably all other countries in Europe. Friends and families gathering in front of the telly, having a party and rooting for their favorites. This is what we love about Eurovision, we really are sharing the moment in all this silliness.

The crowd is nervous on behalf of tall and terrific Eva, they are crossing their fingers for her and will of course use the same fingers to vote like maniacs later. That's the beauty of watching the finals outside your home country, you can vote for your own participant! It turned out that qualifying was a walk in the park for Armenia, so now our friends can fully focus on the big event tomorrow and stock up on newly charged phone cards.

Yes, they really are crazy about their apricot stone. And by crazy, we mean big time. One of them, Sato Movsesian, could proudly announce that he just got Eva Rivas' autograph tattooed on his arm. Talk about diehard fans! And this might very well prove to be a smart move, perhaps Eva will be the first winner in history for Armenia? GEE wish her the best of luck for tomorrow and think she is really lucky to have fans like we met yesterday!

Semi-Final 2

All righty then, it's time to reveal our pick for the second semi-final!

• Armenia
• Azerbaijan
• Cyprus
• Georgia
• Ireland
• Israel
• Lithuania
• Romania
• Sweden
• Switzerland

This list might be as far off as it gets when comparing it with the final list Thursday night. Like, there's not much hope for Europe to ignore Turkey with their polished, family friendly rock show, is there? And don't get us started on those pretentious Danes. Croatia has more than a fair chance with the lovely femidoms, and Bulgarian Miro is so kitchy we're almost starting to like him.

And Sieneke! She scares the shit out of us...

Woha, this will be so exciting, we can hardly wait!

And you guys, beg to differ anyone?

The Motherland is calling

Armenia´s Eurovision history is short and sweet, the country has finished in the Top 10 every year since they first competed in 2006. Europe seems to love their etno inspired entries and who can blame us? We simply couldn't live without André´s love back in 2006 and the sweethearts Inga and Anush made us dance with joy last year!

This year´s entry is a dark horse which can easily turn into a big favourite. Beautiful Eva Rivas is calling upon the Diasporas around Europe, homesick Armenians will vote like maniacs! We love ”Apricot Stone” because Armenia is staying true to their own style, and for celebrating their roots even tough they are one of the youngest members of the Eurovision family.

Another Top 10 finish is well within reach.