Eurovision 2011

Eurovision

Eurovision starts in two weeks! You can watch it live online. You just have to install Octoshape, which we discovered last year might not work with Apple computers.

The dates are:
1st semi-final: May 10th
2nd semi-final: May 12th
Final: May 14th

They start at 21:00 CET or 3pm EST and 1pm MST.

This year, I don't have any stand-out favorites, but I'm much more pleased with this year's entries than last year. Even the UK managed to put together a decent act after finally dispensing with a national competition and going with an internal selection. I firmly hold that the reason the UK has done so poorly lately is because they let Brits choose their entry, so it's nice to see that the BBC has caught on.

Other big news for this year, Italy and Austria are back in the game! While Austria last competed in 2007, Italy hasn't competed in 14 years. Because of Italy's contributions to the EBU, which organizes Eurovision, it gets automatic entry to the final alongside France, Germany, Spain, and the UK.

It was really difficult for me to narrow down my list of the most interesting songs to only 10, so instead here are 11.

11. Portugal Something sorely missing from last year, poorly sung protest songs.
10. Belgium Walloon's turn to pick an entry. Guess what their gimmick is this time.
9. Finland The preachiest Eurovision song ever.
8. Belarus It will be interesting to see if anyone outside Belarus agrees with this singer's sentiments.
7. Romania Starts out strong, but doesn't keep it up.
6. Italy Returns with a great entry.
5. GermanyShe looks familiar...
4. Moldova That's... unique.
3. France Stay classy, France.
2. Ireland Ireland, I love you.
1. Bosnia This song has really grown on me after repeat listenings.

If you want to see more, all entries are on this YouTube playlist.

There are two last things I want to share. First, my favorite song to come out of this year's national competition, sadly, didn't make it to Eurovision, it came in 3rd in Sweden's competition, but here it is for your enjoyment, Oh My God. Second, in case Ireland's entry wasn't ridiculous enough for you, one of the singers hurt his ankle and has been performing in a wheelchair. No word if he'll be better in 2 weeks, but here's a video.