Our night: First semifinal, Club Latter and Euroclub

We attended the first semifinal in Telenor Arena together with Ida Wulff last night. She is the blogger queen of Norway, as she has 40 000 REAL readers each week. Have to say it was a joy meeting some slightly younger glamorous people like her and her fun boyfriend. But later that night we started wondering whether WE actually are threatening her throne, as people kept approaching us, recognizing us,taking our photos and even interviewing us for TV. That's some boost for our already way too high self esteem and a confirmation that prostitution really pays off.

We went to glamorous Latter only to find an amazing vibe and so many cool people at the Eurovision festival. You should all check it out. And then ended up at Euroclub, where we found the people we love. Here are the highlights, check Facebook for more.

Those were the most dedicated and lovely fans we met. Too bad they were in the wrong semi final.

Josh sat next to us looking completely bored the whole time. Forget about the buddies you make in the break and show some respect for your colleagues, Josh. After all, they have much better songs than you.

Our dates for the night were glamorous blogger queen Ida Wulff and her fun boyfriend. We love you, Ida, and well done standing up to your competitors in the blogger scene (meaning Voe the cheater, not us).

Great vibe and lovely Jannicke Abrahamsen on stage at Club Latter

Highlight of the night was of course hanging out with our buddy Marcin from Poland at Euroclub. He's just as shiny and bright even though the grumpy voters kicked him out of the finals. You will always be our winner, Marcin.

And yay, here are our fav bloggers from Iceland, Eyrun and Hildur. Check out their blog Jurovision

Turkish delights, anyone?

If there's one thing we can envy Turkey in this competition it has to be their undivided patriotism. Regardless of the music genre, quality or winning potential of their entry, there's an almost touching consensus from Istanbul to Hamburg that this year Turkey has the best song ever and most definitely deserves to win. After the introduction of the televoting system this voice has been heard and materialized into a landslide of points on the scoreboard.

Good for them, we'd say, cause Turkey has had a lot of great entries in the past that would have deserved a better outcome than the so called expert juries gave them. Those who don't understand the ESC greatness of "Bana Bana" from 89 and "Didai didai dai" from 85, just to mention a few, should not be allowed to vote, in our opinion.

Very well, Turkey has decided to be represented by the rock band maNga this year, and we suppose there's bound to be a few of those every year. Thing is, rock bands rarely win, unless they're dressed as orcs, and the best they can hope for is usually a decent result.

At first we mistook the band's name for being Magma, and thought that was a red hot name for a rock band. However it turned out our perception was just heavily influenced by a certain volcano in Iceland. But by all means, maNga is not such a shabby band name either. The guys in the band look rock chic, however perhaps a bit too groomed to our taste. And "We could be the same" isn't half bad, but to us it just sounds pretty average, main stream and radio friendly. And we have kinda heard it all before. Perhaps not in Eurovision, but lets say around 2001 with the likes of Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park.

We appreciate the fact that Turkey adds to the variety of music genres in this year's competition. MaNga will probably perform well, being a professional and experienced band, and we hope for a spectacular show in Telenor Arena. But this is not a winning act in our eyes.

Aus der reihe…

Now, there’s a substantial difference between the Eurovision Schlager and the good ol’ Deutche Schlager. The single most important difference to us is that we love the first one and detest the latter. In our opinion any German Schlager could be used as torture during interrogations (we’ll give this piece of advice away for free to the CIA), and we cannot for the Love of God understand why we should be bothered with this crap while we sip our glüwein in some glamorous ski resort in the Alps.

This makes us wary of what the German decides to bring to the table in ESC and in all honesty, let’s admit that there has been a lot of weird stuff going on over the years. They just seem so out of sync with the rest of us, and often there’s this “so last year” feeling about it, like last year (lol, pun unintended) when they showed up with Alex Swings Oscar Sings all the while Lou Bega did his thing with Mambo No 5 a decade earlier. We’re sorry to break it to you guys, but Dita did not tease us into unintentionally casting our televotes. And then there’s the language issue. We’re like “Wadde hadde dudde da?” Excuse me? "Man gewöhnt sich so schnell an das Schöne". Hello? It’s just a fact of life that these things sound better in Italian or French or even English for that sake.

Needless to say, our expectations are always at an absolute minimum when it comes to Germany and damn, it sure feels good to be taken so completely off guard. Lena Meyer-Landrut rocks! Who would have thought that Germany had such a cool, natural, quirky, charming, witty and adorable ace up their sleeve? Here’s the Nellie McKay of Hannover, the German Lilly Allen, so fresh and real. And yet, she’s not a copycat, she adds her unique style to the whole thing as she stumbles around the stage and introduces her very own British sounding accent. It just feels like the complete opposite of the fabricated, artificial and calculated Safura machinery that will roll all over us in not too long.

Yes, now we’re talking, Germany, you’re really on to something this year. But will Europe vote for you? We dunno, but you better do so, or else we’re afraid that an obsessive, 18 year old German school girl will hunt you down!

Slovenian contest

Folk music or Slovenian rock, which do you prefer? None, thank you.

15 times Slovenia has participated since that rainy day in 1993. 15 times of everything from pretty cool ethnochic tunes to not so cool bikerdudes, from screaming divas to way too energetic, ecstatic technofreaks. They have also given us some cool things, though. Of course, being royalists and all, we couldn't stop loving the queens of all stewardesses in 2002 with their fantastic outfits and choir of elegant captains. And a pretty nice ballad came our way back in 1998, when long hair was the solution for every man thinning on top. Unfortunately the total impression was totally ruined by some horrible pink disco stuff from that not so warm summer night of 2003 and a duet so bad it actually could have been quite funny if it wasn't for the badbad lyrics in 2004. So much variation in 15 participations without nailing it once. It is actually impressive for such a small country.

This year it seems like the Slovenians have given up ESC and just decided to take their own competition to stage - the war between rock and Slovenian folk. Guess that is some hard battle in Slovenia, but we others really don't understand it. Just like we don't understand why young, beautiful and classy women always end up with trashy old rock stars. The moment you think you have figured out this song, it changes. And it keeps going like that. Thank God only six people are allowed on stage.

We don't know if this is fun or funny or cool or uncool. There is just too much going on on stage for us to make up our minds. Guess it'll get us moving, though, and we do appreciate pretty much everything that is not super slow this year, so welcome you shall be.

Wanna party with these guys?

So do we! As we told earlier we have hooked up with Club Latter for the best partying possible. Now to be more specific we hooked up with successful producers Mads Rogde and Fredrik Havstein - just the right people to make this classy joint your fav hangout throughout ESC week.

Both fans and artists are invited to Club Latter at Aker Brygge, where Norwegian and International stars will entertain you five nights in a row, kicking off what they have named Eurovision Festival on Tuesday 25th. Save your energy for Wednesday, though, because that is the night of our fabulous Good Evening Europe-party.

Some of the artists that are confirmed to perform is Icelandic Euroband, Bobbysocks, Charmed, Queentastic, Birgitte Einarsen and Christine Guldbrandsen.

"These are all artists that have been popular with Eurovision fans the latest couple of years", producer Fredrik Havstein says. "The semi finals and finals will be shown on the large screen, followed by party and entertainment. Then the Good Evening Europe-party on Wednesday and the party of esctoday.com on Friday", he continues, stressing that all of the nights are open to everyone.

Now, party for everyone is something we in Good Evening Europe understand the concept of, and we also feel certain long time artistic director of NRK's MGP (the Norwegian national finals of ESC) knows what he is doing.

"The city will be packed with people ready to have a ball, and we couldn't find a better club to offer our International guests - right in the heart of the city, with excellent service and handsome bartenders", Mads says enthusiastically.

Yup, Mads and Fredrik will rapidly become some of our favorite blokes during this contest. They promise everyone a fair share of fun, extravaganza and surprises, whether being a hardcore fan from Malta or a more relaxed hunk from...let's say...Israel. They invite us all, so don't you miss out.

Now, did we mention the Good Evening Europe-party on Wednesday 26th? Go book your table of champagne!

Hurray for Bobbysocks!

Today it’s exactly 25 years ago since Norway took its first victory in Eurovision. During that glorious night in Gothenburg we went from being the nil points in the bottom to 1-2-3 points on top of the podium. We just couldn’t believe it, our nation exploded with joy! Thank you Bobbysocks for giving us one of our best childhood memories, we love you always and forever.



Ask any Norwegian and he or she can probably tell you a story from the night this happened back in the good old 80s. To celebrate this 25 year anniversary, let’s take a trip down memory lane and share our Bobbysocks moments.

Astrid:
I sat completely mesmerized in front of the telly back at my parents’ house trying to catch every second of the final. It was not easy to concentrate as it was my big brother’s Confirmation the 5th of May and focus was more on trying to get everything ready for the celebration the next day rather than what went on in Gothenburg. That’s why I will always remember Bobbysocks on stage in a big blur mixed with baby blue 80s style napkins, silver cutlery, myrtle flower decorations, china dishware, stressed out parents and one embarrassed brother wishing the whole shabang would just go away all together.

Guri:
I remember Bobbysocks winning when I was only five years old, but even more I remember the day Bobbysocks played in my hometown a while after. That was the day I was just so mad at my dad for not letting me go and see them play live while my mum was actually hanging around then concert venue, on duty as a journalist. When we dropped by to pick up my mum, Bobbysocks were just finishing their set. My dad felt so sorry for poor little me by then, he actually managed to take me backstage to say hello to Hanne and Elisabeth as they were leaving. That was pure bliss, and my friends could just sit there and brag about their concert experience, because I was the only one who actually met them. I loved both Bobbysocks and my dad after that, and have never stopped since.

Where were you when Bobby played everyone’s Socks off?

Thank you for the Finns

In case you haven't noticed, blonde, beautiful and happy Finns that you don't understand, works in most cases. Also in Eurovision.

Finland is the country you never quite get the hold of. Even as Nordics we can't really grasp what the Finns are up to or what they are saying about it. A lot of weird stuff originates from Finland. But we don't care. No, we actually love and cherish their mysteriousness and quirkiness so perfectly portrayed by people like Aki Kauismäki. That is if the Finns don't pollute Eurovision with not so ok reaggae, hard rock or some weirdo rap stuff. We have been much greater fans of Tipi-tiis, Yayayayays, Yamma, Yammas and something we don't catch anything of, but still also love.They all make us realize how Finnish is the funniest language to sing in ever.

Oh yeah, those Finns can make us laugh. And the amusing princesses of 2010 are the most fun of them all. We love, love, love people who party on stage while staying true to their ethnic heritage and singing in their own language. And men that are only hired to switch places and clap their hands ever so often. They build us up into bundles of joy and helps us digest all the boring ballads and self conscious Danes served to us in a never ending first course. This is the best thing on the menu. We will dance with them, laugh with them and party with them. We will tilt our head from side to side, clap our hands and check out if they can ever stop smiling. We certainly can't as long as they are present.

Thank you Finland for feeding this to us. We do hope Europe gets you this time.

Albanian Cougar Town

Albania tends to do best when they send cute, young girls to defend their flag's colors and we like them best when they include ethnic sounds and sing in their native language, like sweet sixteen Olta Boka did with "Zemrën e lamë peng" in 2008. 

From this point of view is this year's entry miles away their usual recipe. Juliana Pasha is an old lady, turning the whopping age of 30 during Eurovision week, she sings in English and there's not one peculiar ethnic string instrument in sight! Still, after listening to it a few times, we have decided to like it. We don't love it, but it's not that bad. Juliana has a cool attitude, a good voice and a groovy song. But is it just us, or doesn't she look a bit ... old for her age? Don't get us wrong, she looks like a million dollars, but we can't help but think in a sort of cougarish way. After all that's a bit early when you have barely turned 30. Oh well, we suppose there's nothing wrong with acting all grown-up and mature when that's in fact what you are, there's enough teenage girls in this year's competition already.  

Albania is always one of the first countries to select their ESC entry and in hindsight it was a really smart move for them to select an up beat party song which will stand out in Balladomania. Should be fairly easy to proceed from Semi Final 1, we predict.

Take a chill pill, Greece!

Greece has really stepped up their game since the turn of the millennium. After the introduction of the semi finals they have consistently been right up there in top 10 and it seems like the sharpening of knifes has done the Greeks the world of good. We dig Greek girl power with lovely ladies such as Anna Vissi (oh, hang on, she's Cypriot), Kalomira (ups, she's American) and of course Helena Paparizou (damn it, she's Swedish!). Nevertheless, "My Number One" from 2005 is one of our all time favorite winners.

So what about the Greek guys? To tell you the truth, we're really not that into grown men buying their t-shirts from Baby Gap and exercising on treadmills placed on top of giant staple machines. It's just not our cup of tea.

And this years entry? Omg, we don't even know where to begin! For a couple of joke cracking funny bunnies like us, this is like leaving your kids alone in a candy store. We're like Opa? Wtf is this? Priceless! There's obviously some major overcompensating going on here, being all masculine, potent and full of testosterone. How ironic, when we all know poor Greece is completely penniless and beg Germany and their other EU big brothers to pick up their bills. Opa, ooooh, we're so scared! Not really.

And moreover, we're far from done yet, someone came up with the bright idea to base the song on the ringtone from our Nokia 3210 from 2001! Yay! If you run out of ideas for next year Greece, we can totally recommend the exquisite sound from the timer on our kitchen stove, and the start-up sequence sound on our MacBook is also cutting edge.

We're amazed by how many elements they've manage to squeeze into this number. They even found room for this super hot guy, playing on something that seems to be a baseball bat. And apparently, Liverpool defender Kyrgiakos has launched a second career as a dancer. Good for him!

Thank you Greece for being so deadly serious in giving us something as hilarious as this. We are confident that Europe will award you with a place in the final and another Top 10 finish. Opa!

Let's not play ball tonight, France

Is it a Eurovision song or is it a football song? Oh, wait, it's both. Welcome to France.

The Eurovision story of France is just one long ballad. Or is it really? People tend to praise France's participation in ESC based on all the nice French ballads they know. But looking closer, what do they see? While Celine Dion sold her soul to Switzerland, most of the other ones decided to be a part of moneymoneyland Monacco or the country we miss most in the whole Eurovision world, Luxembourg. France got stuck with the honor and all kinds of funny stuff, like Jesus looking for the milky way and some funny blokes in Gaultier. Not really a success any of those, that must be admitted. What was a greater success was the bird song in 1977, and the ethno cultural beginning of the 90s. Mind you, we are somewhat divided in our opinion on the woman trying to convince us she's black while being Obama brown. Well, at least Serge Gainsbourg helped her get the message through.

This year France is discovering their ethnic connection again. Guess they were all a bit lazy over there, as the French just decided to send their football song to Oslo. Good for the parties, since Jessy Matador is one hot piece of ass bringing along some fine ladies, but not so good for our heads. Because although we will be happy to shake our hips a little after all those lazy ballads, we are just so tired of the music half way through we can't even listen to the lovely voices that comes along with it. And that's well done for a song that lasts less than three minutes. It also makes us wonder whether there actually is such a thing as a particular Eurovision genre. In that case, France is far from it this year.

Love the man, hate the beatbox, could be the conclusion. We can't imagine this being very popular outside the very west of Europe. And you've got to admit it, that's where the voting powers are.

Romania is back in the game!

Romania was on to something in ESC a few years back, making top 5 two years in a row with "Let Me Try" and "Tornerò" in 2005 and 2006. And we thank them for bringing the Italian language back into Eurovision, we so wish that Italy would return to the competition, but that´s a completely different story. Since then Romania seem to have lost their way a bit, but this year they´re back with a vengeance!

For us Norwegians there´s so many countries to cheer for this year, and Romania is one of them because of Ovi, the Rumanian/Norwegian guy from the paradise beaches of Jæren, on the southwestern tip of Norway. Surfs up! Ovi has joined forces with the fab Paula Seling and what a team they make. This pair will set Telenor Arena on fire with their sassy bloke vs chick duel, and we love the double black ´n white grand pianos. Whatever you do Ovi and Paula, please keep these grand pianos for your performance in Oslo!

Hurray for Romania, and welcome to the final!

Let Balkan entertain you!

Finally - a group of people that will only make you gay. This is Balkan!

Balkan has a great Eurovision history of bringing the entertainment. From Serbia we've had greatness from Mako Kon last year and the quiet lesbo in 2007, who strangely enough also was kinda entertaining. Not bad for a country in it's fifth year of participation. And is there more yet to come!

You just have to smile from the first glance of lead singer Milan Stankovic.He just looks so strange and cool and sweet and beautiful and happy that we want him to be the most honored guest at every party from here to eternity. The music fits him perfectly. First you think it is a little bit too weird, too much of a circus, too much of a clash of styles. But then it stops and you just want to watch it all over again. And again. And again. In fact you are so hooked on it you just ask yourself how much alcohol was really in the milk you had for breakfast. Just add fantastic dancers that remind you of Rybak's Frikar, and happiness is fulfilled. Oh, what joy that someone puts on their national costumes and do the real show with rapping and singing and crazy dancing and Balkan orchestras and bending of the knees while looking as happy as Sesame Street Big Bird on speed. It only makes us gay in any sense of the word.

This is Balkan. And we love you, Balkan. We just do. Let's go all go to bed and stay there.

Come party with us at Club Latter!

Today, Good Evening, Europe!! has the pleasure of launching some great news! We have hooked up with Club Latter in Oslo to throw the most glamourous and fun party during Eurovision week and you´re invited! So Dear Reader, come join us and get yourself ready for a night of ESC extravaganza on Wednesday 26th of May!

Of course nothing sounds better to us than partying in the most fabulous club at Aker Brygge in Oslo - a house dedicated to champagne, glamour and classy company. We can hardly wait to share the fantastic programme for the night with you, but we will keep it a secret just a tiny tad longer.

Just save the date already and stay tuned on our blog. And in case you are still in doubt - book a ticket for Oslo in May, dig up your finest feathers, your LBD or sharpest suit, and be prepared to say Good Evening to Europe in the most glamorous way possible!

Different strokes for different folks

Moldova introduced themselves to the ESC universe in 2005 with a drumming grandma, and it was love at first sight. Why on earth do we not see more psychedelic, ska funk rock in this competition, we wonder! Since then the Moldovans have been trough an impressive variety of music genres and most importantly given valuable contributions when it comes to costumes and props. They have shown up on stage in bikinis, bridal gowns and thorn up garbage bags, with mohawks, body paint, teddy bears and outfits in the gross color combination orange/purple. You just gotta love it!

This year is no exception, Moldova do not disappoint us. There´s so much action on stage during this number that we could have sworn to have seen at least 50 people there! The lead singer, Olia Tira, shows up in a "skirt" that would probably make even Lady Gaga blush, and there's fiddle and saxophone playing going on like there's no tomorrow. Throw in a couple of b-boys of a rather dubious quality, rotating stage components and a tam-tam gong and you got yourself a smorgosbord to feast on into the wee hours. After scrambling around in an ocean of sulky ballads for quite a while now, this is our party island!

We end up feeling a bit dizzy over the whole shabang, but this is after all one of the symptoms of having sunstroke. Note to self, bring sunscreen and a glamorous sombrero to Telenor Arena, and we should be fine, we recon!

Ik ben versmurfed

Seriously? Like, seriously Netherlands??? The clocks have ringed ding-a-dong more than a couple of times since 1975, but this seems to have gone unnoticed in Tulip Town. The Dutch used to rule in Eurovision during it´s early ages but that was then and this is now and since their last victory in the 70´s they have absolutely nothing to show for. Nada, rien, niente, niets, ingenting!

It makes you wonder why they even bother to participate, surely it must be better to be spared the humiliation. It´s just outright embarrassing to watch poor Sieneke on stage. She looks completely lost in the fairground and judging by her singing she has taken a ride on the merry go round at least a couple of times too many. Whoever came up with the bright idea of asking Vader "Smurf Song" Abraham to write the Dutch entry should seriously be sacked. Perhaps you need to smoke something to dig this shit?

It´s like the Dutch are in the process of refining the recipe for failure to perfection. We thought rock bottom had been reached by far with the granddads last year, but somehow they manage to top The Toppers, this year´s entry is even worse!

Seriously Netherlands, take a long, hard look at yourselves. To smurf or not to smurf, that´s the question. The answer is no.

It's our kind of funk!

Finally Lithuania defines their eastbound position in the ESC. It's the Eastern European kind of funk, baby!

Lithuania have really delievered some horrible power ballads and Eurotrash pop since they started participating in 1994, but they did also give us fun stuff like "We are the winners" and "Happy You", so we never gave up hoping for better days yet to come.

And boy, did the better day come. If you don't love five hunky men in tight, checkered pants doing their partydance, you are just not made for Eurovision. This is all we need in Telenor Arena: Someone to dance with, sing along with and drool over at the same time. It's catchy, funny and crazy. Playing the kazoo and bright colored instruments while claiming to like it rough is an excellent idea.

So be it that they are not really in sync with their moves or singing. They change from pants to disco hotpants for Christ's sake! This is the Chippendales and the Village People of Eastern Europe. And it is the Eastern European kind of funk. Yay! Why didn't anyone teach us that before?

Can`t see the forest for the trees?

Congratulations Slovakia, this year you have nailed it! We had almost given up on the Slovaks, cause the four times they have managed to participate since 1994, they have given us nothing but rubbish. But with a dash of ethnic beats and a hint of traditional folk song elements, mixed with a couple of hotties on stage doing a rather peculiar dance routine, they’re suddenly on top of their game!

So, where do you go in Slovakia to see the most beautiful trees? Horehronie apparently. We have no idea what Kristina is singing about, but that’s the beauty of it, she sings in her own native language and we like it! The song does however lack a build up towards the end, it sort of just goes on and on while we wait for the non existing grand finale. Kristina looks good in her foresty outfit, but her singing is at best mediocre, she sounds very nervous. We have also grown a bit tired of the rope sequence, it has been done before, more than a couple of times. It looks cool when it’s done well, but it should be possible to come up with something new and refreshing.

For the time being we have a hard time seeing anything else but the trees in this entry. We think they really want us to see the whole forest, they’re just not quite there yet. But we have a strong feeling that Kristina and her crew will work hard to improve this number’s weaknesses. That’s why we predict that we will see Slovakia, complete with their full blown and fabulous forest, in the final for the first time in ages.

Hello sweetness!

Switzerland hasn't really given us much Eurovision history recently. That is, if you don't love the cheesy ballads Celine Dion and her kindred spirits deliver. Safe to say, we don't.
 

The very first Eurovision Song Contest was actually held in Switzerland in 1956, and they even won themselves. The winner was the very cute Lys Assia. Not really ESC like we know today, but such a lady of the 50s and such a romantic, lovely and dreamy song. It just makes you want to watch the sunset and sip cocktails with Don Draper. Lys Assia continued to be cute for a couple more years until other, more annoying women replaced her. Horrible entries from Annie Cotton and Vanilla Ninja have managed to grasp surprisingly good scores, and Celine Dion was a bit quirky and sweet, but still no good winner in 1988. Then DJ Bobo’s vampire flirt and Lovebugs’ rock disaster last year made us think the country had lost it completely.

That’s why we are so happy that Swiss cuteness again will enter Eurovision this year. Michael Von Der Heide is the male equivalent of Lys Assia, and his golden jacket and adoring ears really makes you wanna take him home for dessert. His energy, the song reminding you of Shagma and the fantastic Balalaika-player just adds to the menu. This is Eurovision like it should be. And it is welcome back to the chocolatiers of Europe.