Sunday, May 23, 2010

Robin Juhkental met Rufus Wainwright


















Robin Juhkental from Estonia's Malcolm Lincoln was the luckiest Eurovision contestant alive yesterday as he got to interview the great Canadian pop artist Rufus Wainwright for Estonian TV. Have to say we were a bit jealous, but just so happy for our good friend Robin. -I was a bit starstruck, but it was good fun and went really well, Robin told us afterwards.

We learned that not only is Rufus Wainwright a great artist, he has great taste as well. Because it was Rufus who requested to meet Robin, since Malcolm Lincoln's Siren is his favorite Eurovision entry this year.

Yay to two great men hooking up!

Our night: Courting the stars

Yesterday was a busy night for Good Evening Europe. We started off with an amazing party at the Opera House. We really do wonder what made Georgia spend their whole state budget on renting the whole opera house, but definitely not complaining. What amazing hosts they were! Then we moved on to the Greek party, where, surprisingly, drinks weren't free. And ended up at the fabulous club Ballroom.

Here's our highlights for you:















We hooked up with our favorite blogger boy, Stian, for the Georgian party. Everyone should read his fab comments on eurovisionnorway.no

 
 -Hey, you are the blogger girls, Poland's singer Marcin said as he saw us. We will live on that for a long time, because hey, he's the hot Eurovision boy.


Yummy, yummy, yummy. Finally Israel's Harel Skaat got out of bed and into the Opera House. Guess there were rumors his favorite bloggers would be there.


Our favorite man of the night and any other nights, Lithuanian Jurgis Didziulis, looking all suspicious. Don't be afraid, Jurgis, we will only write nice things about you. It is always rewarding to make nice with GEE.



GEE are almost getting into a catfight about whether we like the UK entry or not. But we would bring good times to their sweet singer Josh anytime, no matter what.

 
Jessy from France tried really hard to convince us his song is not a football song. Eh, hello? Thank God he has the looks.

Well, those were only a couple of highlights from our night of courting Eurovision stars. Wanna see more? Become our fan on Facebook and check out our continually updated album.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

GEE's hotlist: Guide to talking Norwegian shit
















If it looks like a tourist and acts like a tourist it probably is a tourist. And no one really wants to be a tourist. Here's a couple of one liners you could pull off to impress Norwegian hipsters with your local belonging. 


"I did have sexual relations with that man"
Norway was just approaching a diplomatic crisis as one of our handball blondies that are not actually a lesbian confessed to dirty business with the Swedish princess' thereafter ex fiancée, Jonas Bergström. Ball chick kissed and told, and she claimed to have done it for Madeleine's sake.We can hardly picture that, but she certainly didn't earn as much money on the message as she could have. Go ahead and give it a better try. Someone is bound to believe you.


"Who the fuck is Askil Holm?"
This question emerged as one not so exposed plus three overexposed Norwegian musicians picked up their guitars at the same time and every breath they drew was Hallelujah. No big surprise who really is the coolest of those guys, but hey, you're not supposed to know him.

"I experimented and tested"
No matter what you've done in your past, no matter what you end up doing while staying in Oslo and no matter where you want to go in your future. This line will get you through everything regardless of all previous expectations, and everyone will love you for it, especially if you shed a couple of tears throughout the utterance. You could even win the Crown Prince and half the kingdom, just ask Mette-Marit.

"Books aren't really culture"
If you are a 22 year old beautiful, newly elected politician of a party no one likes but everyone votes for, mind your words. Mette Hanekamhaug didn't when claiming books and culture were two very separate phenomenons, and by that making all guardians of high culture suffer from grand hysteria. We say go ahead, as long as you know that Eurovision is high culture at it's best.

"There is something wrong with the signals"
Norwegian trains aren't what they used to. Half of them are always running late, and it is always because of some error in the signal system. This sentence is now so worked into the mindset of the train travelers it has become the most accepted excuse in the country. Just remember that when you arrive late for your Eurovision date or rehearsal. Bad signals are always to blame.

"Maybe the king will arrive" 
In April one part of the duo Knudsen & Ludvigsen, largest heroes of everyone who has born after the 60s, passed away way too young while doing orienteering. Only to make sure everyone is in grief and that orienteering is not the most popular of sports at the moment. One of their best songs is translated to "Maybe the king will arrive", so if you want to make a Norwegian cry, ask them that. We think the king should arrive, because he is a cool fellow  - and so was Ludvigsen, God bless.

(Picture from nataliedee.com)

Our night: Friday of Belarus and Romania















The day started off with a quick stroll through the parade street of Oslo, Karl Johan, dressed up in Eurovision banners. Thank God for ice coffees and sunglasses to make early mornings a little easier to handle.














Pimp our ride! There's always a car waiting for us to take us to yet another fabulous party and our agent just waits around. Eh... well, not really.




















Oslo welcomes its Eurovision guests to town and guarantees them a good stay.
















Look, there's one of the 3, or the 2 from Belarus! Well at least he was relatively sober, which was not the case with his four other band members. The Butterflies from Belarus had to cancel their performance at Ballroom cause they were too drunk to sing! Nil points from GEE. And cute guy in photo, perhaps you should consider going solo next year?
















Yay, the fab Paula from Romania! Looking wicked in her sexy catsuit. Man, this lady can sing! Go Romania!

 














Paula has hooked up with Ovi from Norway, and the pair of them look fantastic together.






























Can this be the winners of ESC 2010? Ovi & Paula set Ballroom on fire with their performance. Call the fire department!

Friday, May 21, 2010

How hard is it really? Part 6, in which we attend an Estonian Birthday Bash

My hard is yours. That's the grand message from Norway this year. But how hard is it really? Follow us as we check up on some of the hottest men of Eurovision and give you our hard verdict.


 















There's something about those Estonians. They don't make much ado about themselves, but when they go ahead and put Robin Juhkental on the ESC stage, they are bound to get attention whether they like it or not. We happily accepted the invitation to come and celebrate what turned out to be Robin's 22nd birthday with the Estonian embassy.

"It is really a coincidence that I am standing here now as Estonia's participant in ESC, I'm not that into the Eurovision stuff at all", Robin tells us. "5 months ago, no one knew who I was and I was just a road engineering student", he continues. Our background check up on him reveals that he has participated in various talent shows back in Estonia, so we suspect he is being a bit modest with us, but his big break is definitely connected with forming the duo Malcolm Lincoln with bassist Madis Kubu. The duo hooked up with the vocal group Manpower 4 (the Estonian version of Backstreet Boys according to their publicist), and together they went ahead winning the Eesti Laul 2010 earning them the right to represent Estonia in ESC.

From Eurolaul to Eesti Laul
After doing badly for many years in a row, the public interest for ESC was declining in Estonia. That's why they decided to change the format of the national selection process and the Eesti Laul was introduced, Robin tells us. They set out finding new talents, but unlike other comparable concepts like Idol and X-Factor it was not about finding a pretty face being good at sounding almost as good as some other pop star. The Estonians went ahead and swam against the stream searching for new and fresh music. A brave choice we think, but so far it has paid off. Last year they succeeded with Urban Symphony and the song "Rändajad".

"I have no idea how Europe will judge our song. We can end up in the bottom 5 or perhaps even the top 5", Robin answers when we ask him how he thinks he will do as the Estonian participant this year. "At least I hope I don't get beaten up in a bar, like Estonia's contestant in 2003 did", he mentions casually. Excuse me, come again? Apparently that actually happened with Vaiko Eplik after having entered the ESC as a joke and doing horribly bad. This didn't go down well with the at the time spoiled Estonians. We can't imagine this ever happening to Robin, who looks so innocent, honest and lovable that we would trust him with our lives and no questions asked.

We really do have a taste for this birthday boy. His style, his looks and his unpretentious attitude suit each other perfectly. And Estonia should be proud having chosen such a strong and different song for Eurovision this year, regardless of what happens in the semi final next Tuesday. According to Robin, "Siren" is a very simple song. "The lyrics are kind of surreal, anyone who listens to it can give it a new meaning", he states. As for his stage performance he stresses that he likes to be unpredictable. "I don't plan my moves on stage, I like to be impulsive. You should see me when I do electronic music. Then I am really crazy", he adds. So prepare yourselves for movement you have never seen before. During the mini concert we attended at the reception yesterday we saw something similar to an Estonian moonwalk, as well as a variation over the Norwegian ESC King Jahn Teigen's split jump and Robin trowing the microphone cord around like any other cowboy.

Our hard verdict
When seeing how polite and modest Robin is in person, it's actually quite surprising to see how outgoing, silly, quirky and funny he is on stage. We love his mod rocker style and the fact he don´t seem to take himself so seriously, has a great sense of humor and just tries to be a regular down to earth guy in the ESC craziness he has gotten himself into. And we are of course suckers for talented men like him who writes his own music and has a voice which gives us goosebumps when he hits the highest notes.

It adds to the hardiness that Robin likes our favorite Lithuanian men in InCulto, and German Lena, which shares the same indie touch as this fellow. Minus for missing his girlfriend, which is kind of sweet, but also a bit on the soft side while being surrounded by all the Eurovision divas in Oslo right now. Just show up on any party, and we'll take very good care of you, Robin.

Our night: Thursday of Estonia and Norway

Today we have been to a reception with the Estonian embassy and the Estonian participants Malcolm Lincoln, followed by a Norwegian party at Ballroom. Here's a couple of hightlights:

















Malcolm Lincoln had a small selection of people, among them us, over for a concert. How lucky were we to see glorious Robin Juhkental swing the microphone over his head and even another couple of hotties in the back there. We now love the Estonian song even more.

























-I wanna be a fool, not cool, Robin said as this picture was taken. We thought it was a tremendous idea. Check out our interview tomorrow.


At the Norwegian party, Alexander Rybak did an amazing performance and swung his fiddle like only he could do it. Whatta man he is.


And here's another fantastic fiddler, Moa Meinich. Even though Alexander sings about loving her in his new single, he claims they are not a couple. But won't you look at that connection? We think Alexander should get around to this very sweet girl if he hasn't already. Because we love you Moa.



Not bad connection here either, as buddies Alexander Rybak and Didrik Solli-Tangen dreams away the Everly brothers way.



Didrik did the final version of My hard is yours - with choir for the first time. It did wonders to the song, and we are starting to believe Norway might have a good chance in the final.
















And yay, there's Michael von der Heide, the Swiss Sweetheart! He told us that Switzerland might consider withdrawing from ESC if the country fails to qualify for the final again. Now we can't have that happening, can we. We will cast a vote for the Golden Boy next Thursday!

















Posing effortlessly with our buddies from Eurovisionnorway.com.  Lookin pretty fly with their glasses on!

Thursday, May 20, 2010

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?

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Semi-Final 1

The rehearsals for the semi-finals have kicked off and with this, the speculations around which countries will proceed to the big final. We find the prediction game rather mind wrenching, and with the 50/50 jury and televote system it makes it even harder to guess the lucky 10 in each semi-final.

That's why we will settle for choosing our personal favorites which according to our opinion, in a perfect world without war, global warming and Dutch schlagers, would snatch a ticket to the final. Amazingly we agree on most entries. We suppose we have brainwashed each other and have pretty much morphed into one person by now. Ok, nuff said, here’s our pick for Semi-Final 1!
  • Albania 
  • Belgium
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • Greece
  • Latvia
  • Moldova
  • Poland
  • Serbia
  • Slovakia
And yeah, we know, it probably won't be these ten. Besides, we are in agony since we’re actually starting to like Russia. And who can resist Belarus’ butterflies? And omg Iceland, we love you and we so wish we could like Hera Björk’s eurotrash. But we don’t.

Which are your favorites from semi-final 1?

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

How hard is it really? Part 5, in which we get a few nice words out of Israel

My hard is yours. That's the grand message from Norway this year. But how hard is it really? Follow us as we check up on some of the hottest men of Eurovision and give you our hard verdict. 













Harel Skaat is the prettiest looking boy coming out of Israel, and perhaps even in Eurovision, for quite some time. But is he really that interesting? We did a check up on the singer everyone would like to have on their lips.

We don’t really know who we were most jealous of – Anne-Marie David or Harel Skaat, when those two held hands and sang “Tu te reconnaîtres” during Miss Israel recently. “It is a beautiful, great and classical song. A classic that was written and performed as one”, mr Israel Harel says, and our Eurovision hearts, holding a special place for Luxembourg, start melting. This is some nice person, and it doesn’t help that he loves very many of this year’s entries and try not to think of them as competitors. How very sympathetic of him!

The good boy from Israel
With a voice of an angel and the looks of a God, what other country could Harel descend from but Israel? He tells us everyone in his country is very excited about ESC and that it gives him great strength. This is what he loves the most about participating. “The honor and the knowledge that an entire country is crossing their fingers and hoping you bring this great competition back to Jerusalem. Also knowing that so many people are exposed to you and your music, it's a molding experience, which I hope never to forget”, Harel states. 

Well, nicely put, but still very sweet, innocent boy this. We’re happy we have received some sweaty pics and a steamy video, because if not, we would have been a bit sickened by now. But let’s go on to his role as an artist. The deep brown eyes of Harel hopes his participation in Eurovision will have a positive impact on his career in Israel as well as abroad. “I dream of performing and singing in different countries and different languages, in front of a large and diverse audience around the world”, his soft smile adds.  

Bungee jumping and spending time in bed 
Yumm, we are starting to like the taste of a good boy from Israel. He agrees with us looks are important in the competition, but his good consciousness of course has to add that “many beautiful people still feel much less good looking than some of the less beautiful people”. Yeah, yeah, whatever, we think. Harel certainly knows how to get his look right with his tight, but relaxed suits and sharp shoes. It is stylist Gal Apple who helps him, he reveals, but stresses the fact that by the end of the day he makes his own decisions. Well, that ought to count for something. We will look forward to seeing him at the finals in what he classifies as an amazing suit, designed by Yossi Katzaw.

As the sweet, innocent boy Harel turns out to be, there is not much dirt to get out of him. He gives us the regular interests of recording, performing, writing, working in the studio and occasionally going out with friends. But spending time in bed, now that is something he appreciates. He likes to sleep. A lot, he tells us. We can only picture that.

As we wrap up the interview we suddenly remember Harel’s promise of bungee jumping from the Tel Aviv tower if he wins the ESC. Shoot, we forgot to ask him about that. It could have spiced it up a little. Oh, well, at least we remember it for our verdict. And we’ll have something to ask him about in Oslo, where we surely will be looking out for some Israeli hot stuff. Because we do get that sweet tooth ever so often in GEE.

Our hard verdict
What’s the deal with all innocent boys this year? We’re somewhat disappointed by the hardness of this fellow. Expectations were great, but now we are not putting him at the top of our list for party invites - he'll be asleep by then. Still, he does look amazing and kind is never completely wrong. Maybe we’ll see other sides of him later? 

Plus for sweaty pictures, tight suits, spending a lot of time in bed and planning bungee jumping. Minus for being a little reserved and way too sweet. After all, one does get sick of eating too much cake. That we learnt from Marie Antoinette. 

So off with his head? Nope, not yet. It's worth too much and we’d like to see this man up close in Oslo.

Whatever happened to our judgment?

Sometimes, listening to a song many times can make it better, while other times it just burns an irreplaceable hole in your head. So, after giving you our honest opinion about the entries, and then listening to them for like a million times more, has anything changed? A little for some of the entries. Here's the latest news from our changing minds, after the rehearsals have kicked off in Oslo.













Russia

We hated Russia. Kinda still do. But then we've hated it so much it has reached the level of something similar of a cult status with us. "What are you doing, man?" will certainly be a party one liner for the next couple of weeks and we will almost remember it when looking at a photo. At least this song has something quirky and funny about it, and that's more than we can say about the other boring stuff.

Cyprus
There is something about Jon Lillygreen. He is really sweet and his voice sticks with us. We think this can be a popular song in the finals. Because after all, now it's spring and everything looks a little better.

Serbia
Disappointment from here to eternity after watching Milan Stankovic's first rehearsal in Norway. The man is still glorious, but what happened to his glorious dancers? Looks like he switched two of the women for boring men. And the fantastic ethnic show gone as well? Shame, shame, shame, Serbia. You are in vain. We hope you're fooling us, and will reveal the most ethnotastic show ever in the later rehearsals to come.

Sweden
Sweden's entry is working a little bit like their H&M clothing - nice, but wears out really quickly. Anna is still lovely, the song isn't.

Estonia
We're loving the Siren of Estonia even more each day. Robin Juhkental is just so fine and dandy standing there bending his knees, moving in interesting ways and pointing his microphone everywhere. The song is a pearl that grows on you. Too bad the majority of the televoters don't have time for that.

Poland
We're so easily charmed it's embarrassing some times. Poland's happy joy joy singer running around loving his family and making video blogs is just so super charming we're actually reconsidering the song and liking it a little bit more. So much for being tough critics.

France
Oh, God. We wish we didn't like this tiring song. But there's something about it that makes us want to play it every once in a while. We need music like this from time to time. And Jessy is still lovely. Really looking forward to seeing how this works live at least.

Israel
When we reviewed this song, we thought it was a little bit too forgettable and nice. But as we are approaching the finals and taking closer and closer looks at Harel, we realize this is some fine song we will never forget. We've tested it on 2 year olds and mother-in-laws and rock stars and they all like it, so we figure it suits many and is one tough challenge for the rest of the countries this year.

Denmark
We just have to tell you: This song will always remain as horrible as the first time we heard it. For every breath you take, we will despise you even more. It's pretentious, calculating and soulless. Sorry, neighbors. You're a bore.