Slovenia 2012 - Eva Boto - Verjamem

Finally we've got a top notch ballad in the competition proper. As much as I loved the Prusnik sisters and their delightfully kooky ways, and reckon they'd have lit up Baku like a beacon of fun, Verjamem was clearly the best song in the Slovenian final by a street.

Very much in the tradition of the more successful Balkan buildo ballad of recent years, despite her young age Miss Boto has both the voice and the personality to carry it off, and could well table their best result in years.

I'm not sure if this this song can mount a realistic title challenge, but it's certainly one of the outsiders to watch.

Videos from YouTube. Underlying © lays with the owners of the clips

Netherlands 2012 - Joan Franka - You And Me

What in heaven's name have The Netherlands just sent to Eurovision? Admittedly it's the best thing they've picked in at least a decade, but are we really allowed to dress up like Native Americans in Western Europe any more?

Videos from YouTube. Underlying © lays with the owners of the clips

Finland 2012 - Stig - Laululeija

As the Finnish process ambled along, a bit of a bandwagon began to build behind an enigmatic character known only as Stig. And while there were livelier and better written songs in the competition, the folks from the North gradually came to love the curiously laconic chap.

It's still unclear if he's for real or simply a made up character. After all, he made his name locally with his R'n'B parodies on the internet. But one thing's for sure - his shuffling, understated demeanor is a sad loss for Eurovision.

Let's have a look at what you could have won...

Videos from YouTube. Underlying © lays with the owners of the clips

Estonia 2012 - Tenfold Rabbit - Oblivion

You can always rely on the Eestilaul to throw up a couple of absolutely stunning songs that don't have a cat in hell's chance of winning. But at least Tenfold Rabbit managed to battle their way into the final tonight.

Just sit back and enjoy what is possibly the coolest song of the year so far. It's not winning anything any time soon, but the way that boy sings sends shivers down the spine.

Videos from YouTube. Underlying © lays with the owners of the clips

Finland 2012 - Freeman & Uusi Fantasia - Noitanainen

In all the excitement over both Trackshittaz and Jedward making it through last night, we nearly missed the last elimination in the long and laborious Finnish UMK process. And we're gutted at the result.

Veteran singer Freeman has been around for almost as long as Finland itself, and his collaboration with local prog pop act Uusi Fantasia was one of the few singalong songs in the process. In fact Mrs Hacksaw is prone to shouting out "Noitanainen!"at the top of her lungs at inappropriate moments. Scares the life out of me every time...

Videos from YouTube. Underlying © lays with the owners of the clips

Belarus 2012 - Litesound - We Are The Heroes

In a curious case of sudden about face the kind of which only usually comes from Belarus in this contest, no one less than the country's President, Alexander Lukashenko has come out in support of the narrow losers Litesound, claiming that the result was rigged.

And of course, with such a heavyweight supporter behind them, poor Alena Lanskaya has been stripped of the title, sending the fresh-faced young lads with the curious biker get up to Baku after all.

The boys, are of course, overjoyed, their Jacopo Massa proclaiming: "we were epic winners in any Belarussian poll so far. That's one more reason we should deserve something more." Quite what the exact nature of the previous winner's cheating was has yet to be confirmed, but it seems like Belarus will be sending a far lively song after all.

If they don't decide to change it again, that is...


Videos from YouTube. Underlying © lays with the owners of the clips

Italy 2012 - Nina Zilli - L’amore è Femmina

No sooner did was it announced that Nina Zilli had bagged the ticket to Azerbaijan at Sanremo last weekend, then rumours emerged that her competition song might not necessarily be the one that she'd be singing in Baku.

News emerging from Italy today suggests this to be true, and that she's deciding which of three songs from her current album to sing at the big show. The rather fine Per Sempre you already know from Sanremo; another tune, Per Le Strade, is a little less impactful, preferring a cool purr to a Nina's signature sassy growl.

But our favourite is the title track from her album,  L’amore è Femmina - a gently stompy little number with the faintest whiff of rockabilly punctuating its nether regions. We fancy that it's their best chance of another impressive result in May - so they'll probably go with Per Le Strade, then...

***STOP PRESS***

Thank the lord they went for this one! Huzzah!

Videos from YouTube. Underlying © lays with the owners of the clips

Slovenia 2012 - Eva & Nika Prusnik - Konichiwa

The long hiatus since the Slovenian semis has finally been dented with the release of the six competing songs - three for each finalist. And while we're reasonably sure that the incredibly young Eva Boto is most probably going to win with her uber-ballad Verjamem, we really wouldn't mind if this perky little dose of whimsy earned the nod for Baku.

OK, so it might be slightly hamfisted with its Far Eastern cliches (Chinese musical themes over Japanese words? Hmm...) and perhaps even borderline blasphemous in places to the more religiously sensitive types, its simple, happy-go-lucky refrain is immensely likable, hooking into your brain in an instant, and the girls' quirky sense of fun just about keeps it the right side of irritating.

Just about...

Videos from YouTube. Underlying © lays with the owners of the clips

Turkey 2012 - Can Bonomo - Love Me Back

So Turkey did their traditional reveal during a micro-gig in the middle of the national news. The boy Bonomo began the show with somewhat of a difficult tune in a very unfamiliar time signature, and the Eurovision forums lit up in fear that this was actually the song. Hold hard, young folk, you've got some waiting to do yet.

Next came a short chat with that Azeri woman who's been cropping in finals all over the place, before a nice little films about Can himself. then came the moment. All was poised, the song began, and... oh...

His folksy little sea shanty is kind of OK, but sounds as though he's specifically written a song for Eurovision, rather than treating us to some of his more energetic usual schtick. I sense though it might be a grower. Which is alright for we fan types, but not much cop for a televised competition.. Hmm, the jury's out on this one at the mopment.

Videos from YouTube. Underlying © lays with the owners of the clips

Albania 2012 - Dr Flori - Personale

That awkward moment when someone forgets to cue the orchestra...

Actually, when the song does eventually kick in, the good Doctor offers up some pretty decent Eminem-gone-Balkan hip hop stylings - even if he does look like the bloke who came to mend my fridge last week.

Videos from YouTube. Underlying © lays with the owners of the clips

Ukraine 2012 - Vitaly Halay - I Want To Love

Sometimes it's not the a complete song that's worthy of note, but the odd small passage within. Even the biggest duffer of a tune can harbour a dynamite sequence that'll thoroughly knock your socks off.

Likewise, an otherwise untoward little ditty can hide something of such ear-popping splendor that you just have to share the joy. Which is what I'm doing here.

Poor Vitaly. His unremarkable little mid tempo trawl is plodding along nicely, minding his own business, when at around the 2:15 mark he begins to go feral, and for a few short seconds reaches a peach of true screeching fabulosity that even his own nan was probably shaking her head in dismay.

See if you've got the bottle to watch it twice!

Videos from YouTube. Underlying © lays with the owners of the clips

Latvia 2012 - Anmary - Beautiful Song

There were quite a few interesting songs in the Latvian final. One of them had a really smart and thoughtful self-parodying post-modern lyric. Unfortunately it wasn’t this one.

Instead, the song that won was cloyingly smug and terribly pleased with itself at how clever clever it was. Just listen to the words and cringe. Then cringe again.

If science could work out a way to actually punch a song, I’d certainly help with the fundraising.

Videos from YouTube. Underlying © lays with the owners of the clips

Israel 2012 - Izabo - Time

(This video is prone to disappearing occasionally, so keep checking back if it's popped off for a bit.)

In a week of rumour and disinformation, a number of songs purporting to be this year's Israeli entries have popped up on the internet, only to be proved as fakes. However, the latest one is causing a bit more consternation and has yet to be either confirmed or denied.

Sounding like an middle eastern disco take on a recent Flaming Lips offcut, it's got the kind of fun and quirky bounce to it that might just sneak it into a decent place on the final scoreboard.

But is it the actual real song? We can't be sure, but we kinda hope it is!

Videos from YouTube. Underlying © lays with the owners of the clips

Armenia 2012 - Sankil Jones - Fire

They're doing it a funny old way in Armenia this year. No one's quite sure if they're commissioning the perfect song to rub their neighbour's nose in it, or accepting submissions from the country's top artists and songwriters. But that's not stopped Sankil Jones's people promoting this little song to the hilt in a bit to will it onto that Baku stage.

They might well be onto something, too, because this big, beaty number has got enough regional flavour to go down well East of Vienna, but enough dancy appeal to crossover to the cloth-eared Westerners. On top of all that, you suspect the Jones lad has got a pretty impressive dance routine tucked somewhere within his furry jerkin.

We still suspect they've got something else in mind, and we're not entirely sure how that distinctive voice would sound in a massive arena, but if they are looking for existing songs to represent them in May, they could do a lot worse than choose this one.

Videos from YouTube. Underlying © lays with the owners of the clips

Georgia 2012 - Anri Jokhadze - I'm A Jocker

So, I was watching the Georgian final, like you do, and when it came to the final song, I had a little chuckle to myself. "Wouldn't it be funny," I thought, "if they sent this ludicrous little bag of shouty disco garble."

Then suddenly I saw the result and wasn't laughing any more.

It would appear that Anri's just been through the rhyming English dictionary and looked for all the words he could find that ended in "...ocker". It beggars belief - "I'm a jocker, I'm a rocker, I'm a smoker, I'm a broker..." ad infinitum. I'm even convinced he manages to get the bad F word in there too!

I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry.

***STOP PRESS***

Here's the official, polished up, Eurovision version of the Georgian song. And somehow it's, well... more!

Videos from YouTube. Underlying © lays with the owners of the clips