Eurovision Pocket Size Previews #2

In the run up to May's big final we review each song competing in this year's contest - the rules, our team have to do it in just ONE sentence.

BELARUS - IVAN "HELP YOU FLY"

Elliot - Poor vocals, poor song, had so many better options! 2/10

James - Average song, poor vocals. Very weak. 3/10

Noa - I don't think it have a potential in eurovision , very basic song . 3/10

Emily - it's grown on me since the NF but it's still not an amazing song. Very mediocre except the staging from the NF. 5/10

Rob - It's definitely up there with some of the worst this year, out of tune and out dated. 2/10

TOTAL SCORE: 10/50

BELGIUM - LAURA TESORO "WHAT'S THE PRESSURE?"

Elliot - Cute performance, inoffensive but not memorable 5/10

James - Catchy, fun, sassy. Love it! 6/10

Noa - cute , catchy song, abit boring, reminds me alot of pop songs i've heard. 5/10

Emily - LOVE! Really catchy, and hopefully even stronger in May on stage. 8/10

Rob - A solid middle of the road pop song, but I'd be surprised if it qualified. 6/10

TOTAL SCORE: 30/50

Laura won Eurosong 2016 in January

BOSNIA - DALAL & DEAN FT. ANA RUCNER "LJUBAV JE"

Elliot - Good song to return with, but do worry for its chances in it's semi, rap is dire though - 6.5/10

James - This to me is middle of the road and is very forgetful. It has a nice tune but I don't see it even as a qualifier. 4/10

Noa - I really like the fact they sing in their native language, and the mix of the genres! 6/10

Emily- The rap is still a little out of place but the overall song isn't bad. Now we have the other songs though, I feel as though this won't do as well despite being one of few that is in a language that isn't English. 6/10

Rob - Without the rap this song has a lot of potential, with the rap...not so much. 6/10

TOTAL SCORE: 28.5/50

BULGARIA - POLI GENOVA "IF LOVE WAS A CRIME"

Elliot - not was I was expecting but still good! Poli has returned with an improved song and hook 8/10

James - This is a modern song, radio-friendly and quite catchy! However, I don't think it stands out enough and I find it a bit forgetful. It will be nice to listen to on the night, but it isn't an entry that I will be playing in years to come. 7/10

Noa -  Wow , that's a good comeback Bulgaria, very impressed by the song , Good job ! 9/10

Emily - So worth the wait! Very promising: strong singer, modern and memorable song, even some Bulgarian! Love it 8.5/10

Rob - Definitely worth the wait, but I don't see the hype that lots of people do. It should make the final. 7/10

TOTAL SCORE: 39.5/50

Poli Genova hosted Junior Eurovision 2015

CROATIA - NINA KRALJIC "LIGHTHOUSE"

Elliot - Love it love it love it! Major title contender for me, flawless song 10/10

James - Unfortunately I'm not as impressed as a lot of other people. Yes, it's nice, but it's not a winning song. It sounds like a budget version of Only Teardrops to me. 6/10

Noa - This song is so unique and different , I really like this song! Very strong . 8/10

Emily - Really good comeback to the contest! Modern, powerful ballad that I hope will bring Croatia a great result. 8/10

Rob - Well done Croatia, you've done well - but not very well. It's just an average 'Only Teardrops' for me. 7/10

TOTAL SCORE: 39/50

Our current top three...

1) Australia - Dami Im "Sound of Silence,
1) Bulgaria - Poli Genova "If Love was a Crime"
3) Croatia - Nina Kraljic "Lighthouse"

Keep a look out for Eurovision Pocket Size Previews #3 on the way soon, and don't forget you can find us onFacebook, Twitter and Instagram too. 

Eurovision 2016: Honest Reactions #1

We've played some of our favourite Eurovision songs this year to two complete Euro virigins to find out how good this year's contenders really are.

In Part One Tom and Luke tell us what they think of Australia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, France and Iceland.

Don't forget you can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Rob x

Eurovision Pocket Size Previews #1

In the run up to May's big final we review each song competing in this year's contest - the rules, our team have to do it in just ONE sentence.

We start with A...


ALBANIA - ENEDA TARIFA "FAIRYTALE"

James - A strong showing of vocals but the song is very average. It will struggle to qualify. 6/10

Elliot  - Dull, easily forgetable, nothing to hook in the listener, good vocals 3.5/10

Noa- was alot powerful in the Albanian version , though I really like the strong voclas in the song. 6\10

Emily – Certainly not as strong as the Albanian version. I think without the orchestra it isn’t as powerful, and therefore will struggle to qualify. 4/10

Rob - Another typically boring song from Albania, praying it doesn't qualify. 3/10

TOTAL SCORE: 22.5/50

ARMENIA - IVETA MUKUCHYAN "LOVE WAVE"

James - Unique! But may struggle to connect with people since it doesn't really have a hook. 7/10

Elliot  - A bit of a mess in my mind, again good singer bad song - 3.5/10

Noa - not so catchy at first hear , very different , expected for more though . 7/10

Emily - I don’t see the hype with this entry. Not as good as past Armenian entries. Lacks catchiness and is a

bit of a mess. 3/10

Rob - Loving the ethnic sounds on this, it's pretty infectious to be honest! 7/10

TOTAL SCORE: 27.7/50

Iveta Mukuchyan will represent Armenia with the song "Love Wave"

AUSTRIA - ZOE "LOIN D'ICI"

James - A cute song, different. But potentially will get swallowed up by the bigger and better songs. 6/10

Elliot - Sweet song, good singer, love the outfit and backdrop, works well with song 7/10

Noa- Such a sweet song and singer !! And it's in french as well which makes it even better! 8/10

Emily – Well, I love this song. Pros: French language, sweet, cute staging and cute girl. Cons: None. 8/10

Rob - Singing in French while unique, has never proven to be a good idea. 6/10

TOTAL SCORE: 35/50


AUSTRALIA - DAMI IM "SOUND OF SILENCE"

James - Slightly underwhelming since Dami Im has some very nice songs. But, this is still a very strong song and very nice to listen to. 7/10

Elliot  - Good song, but expected better when look at Dami Im discography 7/10

Noa - Such a strong and powerful song, Dami's vocals are incredible. Would like to see it in the top 5. 9/10

Emily – Very strong, will do very well no doubt. I find it a little bit repetitive though. 7.5/10

Rob - This is fantastic! The build to the chorus is incredible, and I really hope this is challenging for the win in Stockholm. 9/10

TOTAL SCORE: 39.5/50

Dami Im won the Australian X Factor in 2013

AZERBAIJAN - SAMRA "MIRACLE"

James - Very strong and nice to see such an upbeat choice from Azerbaijan! 8/10

Elliot - Powerful vocals, powerful, maybe not a contendor but a high finisher come the final 7.5/10

Noa - not sure how well it will do , but the song is very catchy . 8/10

Emily – Another powerful ballad. Again, will qualify and do well with the right staging and performance. 7.5/10

Rob - A good quality ballad, it'll do well but also get slightly lost in Saturday's big final. 7/10

TOTAL SCORE: 38/10

Keep a look out for Eurovision Pocket Size Previews #2 on the way soon, and don't forget you can find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram too. 

ISRAEL: Noa looks at Israel's Eurovision Selection

After last year  and the big success of Nadav Guedj with the song Golden Boy (finished 9th place) , Israel stayed with the format of "Rising Star To Eurovision " to choose an act for the Eurovision song contest 2016. 

After a long  season , 4 candidates for the win reached the final :Hovi Star , Nofar Salman , Ella Daniel and Gil Hadash .

The national final was alright , pretty long and personally I think the format didn't work as well as last year. 

The format worked as a battles format : a battle to determine who will compete in the superfinal and another one to determine who is  the winner.

First battle was Hovi aganist Ella - Hovi won and qualified to the superfinal.

Hovi Star will represent Israel in Stockholm this year.

Second battle was Gil aganist Nofar - Nofar won and qualified to the superfinal.

This year the superfinal cotained  3 candidates , so the jury had to pick between Ella and Gil and they picked Ella to continue to the superfinal . 

So after a pretty long show the winner was Hovi star with his song  "Made of Stars ".Hovi is an Israeli singer , who has participated before in the "Rising Star" but didn't make it through the final .

My thoughts and Rating of the songs , by their ranking :

 1st - Hovi Star -  "Made Of Stars" - Hovi has powerful voice skills and the staging looked very nice although the song isn't the best. 6\10

2nd- Nofar Salman - "Made Of Stars"( Hovi and Nofar shared the same song with different musical arrangement ) - very special voice  and powerful vocals , I liked this one better , it was more oriental and unique. 8\10

3rd - Ella Daniel - "Somebody Out There" - Very Catchy song and it would fit to Eurovision more the Hovi's song , although I wasn't impressed from the vocals in that performance but by following the season I can tell she is an amazing singer ! 7\10 

4th -Gil Hadash - "Follow The Sun"- She didn't got to sing it since she didn't qualifie the superfinal but anyway my thoughts on the song : the song has a pretty unique style although not sure it would fit to Eurovision . 5/10

if you got more more thoughts please tweet me and follow me for more Eurovision updates! @Noag99  

SLOVENIA: James looks back at EMA 2016

This year, Slovenia stuck to EMA and brought us 10 songs, all which were different to one another.

This was a very entertaining national final due to the diversity of music and performances. I particularly liked the staging and the audience really seemed involved. This certainly was a very nice national final, so my congratulations, Slovenia! The winner was ManuElla – Blue and Red. You'll be able to find my thoughts on the song below as I take you through my thoughts and ratings on each
competing song in this year’s national final in Slovenia.

ManuElla performing "Blue and Red"

Here are my thoughts and ratings on each of the songs, in the order of where I rank them:

1st – Regina - Alive in Every WayI really do not know why, but I LOVED it. Her voice, the music, the staging, the cool effects and the dress change! It just would have been perfect for ESC! Also something different. What a shame that it didn't get chosen! Rating: 8/10

2nd – D Base – Spet Živ - I actually really liked this! It's definitely one of them songs that you would either love or hate, and I loved it! At this point of the show, when it performed, I thought it was going to be chosen as the representative for Slovenia and it's a shame it wasn't chosen as I absolutely loved it. Rating: 8/10

3rd – Sebastijan Lukovnjak - Tales of Tomorrow - This song was different, it was catchy and I enjoyed listening to it! It would have been a decent choice for Slovenia! Rating: 8/10

4th – Žan Serčič - Summer Story - A really nice song! I love the tune. Vocals are a bit shaky but if he was chosen, I think he would have really worked on it. This could have been a dark horse to do well in Stockholm if it was given the chance. Rating: 7/10

5th – Raiven - Črno Bel - It was not bad, but I think it received a lot hype that I didn't really understand. But, it was strangely nice to listen to. But it was right not to send this as it wouldn't have got very far. Rating: 6/10

6th – Nuša Derenda - Tip Top - I don't like the fact that I actually really liked this one! It's not a good song at all, but it's catchy and a guilty pleasure! It was probably best it wasn't chosen though. Wise move Slovenia. Rating: 6/10

7th – San Di Ego Band - Brez Tebe - It reminded me a bit of Albania 2013 and Albania 2014 combined into one, which isn't a great sign. First of all, I loved the guitar in this song, it worked very well with the lead singer's vocals, which were not bad, however, he had some pitch iWhats at time. Overall, it was a decent showcase. Rating: 6/10

8th – ManuElla - Blue and Red - I am not a huge fan of the song, but it is not bad at all. It isn't the WORST choice, it could qualify and actually do surprisingly well. Rating: 6/10

9th – Anja Kotar - Too Cool - The song is strange but I quite liked the sass it had, it would have been a grower if it was chosen I think. I liked the staging and felt it was a professional stage presence from Anja Kota. Rating: 5/10

10th – Anja Baš - What If - I got bored too easily, vocals could have been better and the song could have been more exciting. Rating: 5/10

Overall, a very impressive show! What did you think? Share this article and send me your thoughts! You can follow me on Twitter @JimmyE99. 

NEW PODCAST: The Euro Trip head to UK: You Decide

This Friday The Euro Trip's Rob and Elliot were lucky enough to attend Eurovision: You Decide at London's O2 Kentish Forum. Find out what they got up to in our latest podcast!

Find us on Facebook and Twitter too. x

James and Noa review Moldova and Hungary...

O Melodi Pentru Europa - James

Tonight, one of the seven, and the longest National Final in ‘O Melodi Pentru Europa’ reached it’s climax, with Lidia Isac winning the Moldovian right to participate in Stockholm with her song ‘Falling Stars’. This national final overall was very disappointing, and it demonstrated where Moldova has been going wrong in previous years; the national final just simply does not come across appealing enough.

If it wasn't for Lidia, Moldova would have without doubt had occupied spot number 43 in this year’s contest. ‘Falling Stars’ was the worthy winner. The song is upbeat, fun and a song that has the potential to be very appealing in Stockholm. However, there is work that needs to be done. First of all, the song itself needs tightening up, by perhaps adding more of a dance beat and club feel to it, since this year's standard is incredibly high. 

Lidia Isac will represent Moldova

If you're going to send dance, you need to send it with modernity and catchiness, and I feel only the latter exists right now. Some tightening up could really bring it into line with other upbeat and club tunes which we can expect in May. Vocally, Lidia slightly disappointed me; she really struggled to hit the high notes at times, which may be due to the studio in which the final was hosted in, even so, there is room for improvement.

There is three months to get things right, but I am one for optimism and trust Moldova will ensure that they can improve this song however they can. I'm excited to see what happens, and congratulations to the worthy winner of Lidia Isac. Rating: 6/10

A Dal - Noa

The winner Freddie is an Hungarian singer  who won the Hungarian “Rising Star”. He was a quite leader in the predictions to win .

He won with the song Pioneer and he is going to represent Hungary in The Eurovision song contest

Freddie is off to Stockholm!

in Stockholm. (good luck!)

The acts that compete and my rating :

1- MUSHU- uncle tom : 4\10 – The staging was very cool and the song was quite catchy however nothing special.

2- Parno Graszt - Már nem szédülök: 5\10 – I liked the fact it was in Hungarian , but more then that nothing special in the song.

3- Berkes Olivér & Tóth Andi - Seven Seas : 6\10 – the song was kind of nice but the vocals were pretty weak .

4- Petruska – Trouble in my mind : 7\10 – weak vocals but the song was great and I liked it !

5- Oláh Gergő - Győz a jó : 6\10 – It was different from all the songs but pretty simple and basic.

Winner :6- Freddie – Pioneer – 8/10 : strong song and vocals ! totally stood out from the rest of the songs.

7- Kállay Saunders Band – 4/10- Who We Are: The song was okay but the vocals were out of tune and totally ruined  the song .
8- Vásáry André – why : 3/10- was pretty basic and boring.