Belarus 2011 – Anastasia Vinnikova - I Love Belarus

Belarus had to bin their original effort because of a rules technicality. Boo!

But they've sent this instead. Yay!

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Ukraine 2011 - Maxim Novitskiy - True Love Can Free You

There are some things in Eurovisionland that you just peg down cultural differences that folks from other countries will never really understand. Sometimes it's a time signature or a vocal style or arrangement. But more often than not it relates to their outfit.

That's what we thought when we first saw Maxim Noviskiy. OK, so we think his Cossack Michael Jackson schtick is pretty weird, but to the locals in Ukraine, his dressing up like plasticised member of Laibach must seem completely normal. But then we saw the looks on the faces of the jury members as he stomped around the stage, and they thing he's fecking mental as well.

The song itself starts at around 2:55, but it's almost worth ploughing through the preamble just to see how unhinged Ukrainian telly can be!

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Albania 2011 - Goldi Halili - Ne Krahet E Tua

Watch the video by clicking here.
Back in January when I first saw this I didn't really give it a second thought. Sung by a willowy lass with a thin voice nervously tugging at her frock like a teenager struggling to keep her bath towel up, I felt like I was intruding on the young girl skipping about and singing to herself in her bedroom.

But three months on, and with a lot of musical water under the bridge, it makes a lot more sense. In fact I'd rather this were the official Albanian entry - in the right hands this song could have a chorus to make the boys swoon.

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Russia 2009 - Alex Sparrow - Angel Be

It's not the first time this year's Russian boy has had a stab at entering Eurovision. Last year he had a reasonable pop with an oddity called The New Kalinka - which updated the popular Russian folks song and somehow made it kinda worse. But it was in 2009, and under the name of Alex Sparrow that he gave a performance that will forever go down in National Final history.

His over-mannered pop pomp may be a bit cloying at first, but stick with it, because witnessing the whole thins makes what happens in the final ten seconds all the more entertaining. I hope he attempts that again in Dusseldorf!

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Portugal 2011 - Henrique Feist - Quase a voar

Portugal is a bit like the land time forgot in Eurovision terms. Not for them the perky pop punk and techno tunes that have been littering the national finals of late. Instead they prefer to go for songs of a more timeless nature - and indeed this particular example could have come from any Eurovision years since colour TV came into play. It meanders a bit at the end, but whatever it is that Henrique is telling us, you certainly believe it! Best use of a flat cap this year, too!

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Austria 2011 - Freddy Sahin-Scholl - Butterfly

Click these words to hear this dazzling song - but put away the glasswear first.
Before that handsome Corsican lad popped up for the French there was one vocal performance that stood head and shoulders above all others this year (and I don't mean Jamala) - and if anything it was even more astounding. There's no proper video for this, but you won't be quite expecting what you hear in the clip if you base your preconceptions on the picture above. I wouldn't necessarily say it's good, but it's amazing all the same.

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Portugal 2011 - Sete Saias - Embalo Do Coração

When it boils down to it, this is what Eurovision is all about - regional frocks, wonky folk instruments and some gorgeous squawking in a regional dialect. Yes, one of them does appear to be playing a couple of pine cones! This is what the people want!

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Sweden 2011 - Sara Varga - Spring För Livet

I wasn't all that taken with this delicate little ditty the first couple of times that I heard it. But it's quietly got under my skin and now I reckon it's a right smasher. The understated fragility of Anna's voice recalls Carla Bruni at her best (only without the star shagging tendencies), and her economy of expression makes you hang on her every syllable. It's a thoroughly nice song, to be sure.

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France 2011 - Amaury Vassili - Sognu

Oh my, France are in the contest! A pretty boy opera singer silking out a powerful yet tender belter - the mums are going to go all weak at the knees. Quick, call the bookies - can you still get 66/1 on it?

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Portugal 2011 - Wanda Stuart - Chegar à Tua Voz

Portuguese finals are mainly populated by large women singing mournful ballads about losing their fisherman love at sea, or seedy middle-aged men at pianos rasping out slightly bawdy pimba songs. So it was a nice surprise that this year's selection show was one of the best of the season, with a right old range of decent songs and astounding weirdness.

This song fits into the latter category. How can go go wrong with an old bird with blue hair and quite frightening breasts belting out her song while flanked by backing singers in medieval garb? I never want to find out what this actually means - I think in this case it's better not knowing.

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Russia 2010 - Buranovskie Babushki - Long Long Birch Bark And How To Make Ayshon From It

Russia have just announced that they're sending a handsome young chap called Alexey Vorovyov to Dusseldorf (although they're probably going to anglicise his name to Alex Sparrow, just for us foreigners). He's a nice enough fellow, and I'm sure he'll do very well, but they certainly missed a trick that could have won them a second title in three years.

For a couple of weeks prior to Alex's selection, rumours abounded that the man upstairs in Moscow favoured the candidacy of the fantastic grans of Buranovskie Babushki, who won the hearts of many a fan worldwide when they squeaked a close second in last year's Russian final.

It's not one of this year's possibilities, but it bears another look as it's genuinely one of the most beautiful things you will ever see...

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Sweden 2011 - The Playtones - The King

There was a cracking neo-rockabilly tune in the Norwegian final with The Lucky Bullets' Fire Down Below, so I guess the Swedes thought they'd be neighbourly and have a go too. Unfortunately The Playtones aren't quite in the same league as The Bullets. It all starts off quite well, but turns into little more than schlager in quiffs by the time it gets to the chorus. Is it the law that all Swedish songs have to sound like this?

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Portugal 2011 - Homens da Luta - Luta é Alegria

Click here to see this thing of beauty.

I love it when a national in joke gets to Eurovision. They always storm their home finals and then make the rest of Europe go "Huh?" when they get on the big stage. We suspect that this one has something to do with the Carnation Revolution in 1974, but that might be reading too much into it. What it is though is strange, regional and terribly enjoyable.

It won the Portuguese final in a strange fashion, coming from miles behind on the back of a massive televote, and it's really going to attract the silly little booboys in Dusseldorf. But if it pisses them off it's doing something right by me!

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Serbia 2011 - Briz - Ring Ring Ring

The Serbian final practically slipped under the radar during last Saturday's barrage of selection competitions. So we dang nearly missed this strange little curio that was part of a three-song final, with all the tunes written by different members of the same family. There was a stock ballad, the glow pop winner, and this unlikely sixties pastiche.


They look like The Byrds, play with a Ringo Starr beat and suddenly turn into the Beach Boys half way through - all the while still feeling like an old time Yugo get down. Actually, I'm not even sure that it's a pastiche. They could well be playing it straight!


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Macedonia 2011 - Skipi & Tajzi – Ostavi Politika I Pojacaj Ton

Belligerent Macedonian hip-hop. That's three terms I never thought I'd use in the same sentence - especially in a Eurovision context. They've even got a posse - although I'm not entirely sure that they were fully briefed on what they were supposed to do before they went on.

This one also features some of the most intricate arm dancing you'll have seen for quite some time.

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