You were as cold as Arctic ice

I'm still of course very disappointed (but not surprised) that Litesound didn't win Eurofest last night,but I must say,I do feel a bit sorry for Ruslan.Practically every comment I've read about him on the esctoday.com message boards and various other places has been really negative.With an amazing song like Do You Believe in the final,I can't believe how they could have chosen anything other than Litesound,but,as I've said before,Hasta La Vista is a very typical pop song that ticks all the right Eurovision boxes.It really isn't as bad a song as so many people are saying- a bit unoriginal maybe,but when you look at the 'original' things that have been tried in the last few years (Andorra's punk-pop last year,Croatia's Dado Topić and Dragonfly,also last year,and Anžej's theatrical camp disco in 2006),it seems that people don't like it.And to say that Ruslan "can't sing" is ridiculous,he has a nice voice,and he sounds a little bit like Dima,which is always a plus :) And as for the performance,of course it'll be good on the night,Dima's first performance on Eurofest last year was pretty rubbish,but it was all fabulous eventually.
So Ruslan,if you ever happen to come across Work Your Magic (I can always hope :) ),just ignore all the horrible people- Я люблю тебя! (And sorry for saying it was rubbish that you won :/)
Oh,by the way,here's a nice song (apparantly the Eurofest theme song),that all the finalists sung last night.It's good :)

Eurofest...

Is on Monday,which will be the perfect thing to sit and watch after the big anticlimax that Sunday is going to be...Here at Europop Mansions Surrey Branch,we're backing Litesound 100% after realising that although Ruslan's song is eurotastic,Do You Believe is an anthem that must be loved and shared with the rest of Europe :)
Just to get in the Belarussian spirit of things,here's Litesound's 2006 Eurofest attempt- My Faith.It's good,I like it.Although this video is of shocking quality.


Of course,Litesound weren't the only great entrants that year.Everyone's favourite Belarussian,Dima Koldun (must have been just before Fabrika Zvezd) was in it too,singing Maybe,the English version of Bit' Mozhet,the duet with his brother that I assume was recorded later,possibly even after Fabrika.Again,the video's a bit rubbish,but the sound is fine.It's a really good performance,I can't believe Belarus actually sent Polina to Athens instead...

Do you believe that love can last forever?

Here it is,my official favourite Eurovision related song of 2008 so far :)

It's Ruslan!

Some nice Belarussian (probably) has put the video of Ruslan's fabulous Hasta La Vista on youtube.OK,so the performance isn't that great,but whatever,he's in the final now.I think I read somewhere that Ruslan won Russia's Narodniy Artist competition (the same thing Dima was in before Fabrika),don't know when though.Anyway,watch this,it's soooo good!If not slightly catchy,I woke up with it in my head this morning,worryingly.Hopefully they'll hurry up and put Litesound on next.

Results...

Litesound are in the final,hurrah!And Gunesh and Po Glazam.Why I have no idea...Did I hear something about Ruslan as well?He seemed to have an insane amount of points on that scoreboard thing...

Eurofest Semi Final- My thoughts :)

Eurofest is on...Lena,The Champions and Yulia have all already been on,and well,they were instantly forgettable really.
Remember the guy (German Titov),who I said looked like Dima?Well,he doesn't.Not close up.His and Anya's song is fabulous though,bit of an odd and awkward stage setup involving big red sashes,but generally it was really good.They sang it in Russian tonight,and it worked.As Eurovision duets go,this is certainly one of the better ones.I think they've got quite a good chance of getting to the final.

Ruslan has just been on too,singing Hasta La Vista (one of my other favourites from the preview video),the full version is super,I could well imagine it at Eurovision,and I think it could do quite well actually,particularly if he adds some funky kind of dancers in the background.I really want him to go through.Don't know when we actually find out the results...

I said Oksana's song was boring yesterday.It still is.But I like her dress...

Oh god,Pincode are on now.They've gone a bit Zdob si Zdub and got some old people in national dress on.Song reminds me of a really awful version of Tina Karol's Show Me Your Love.

Viktor's song isn't quite as bad as the preview suggested.Still don't like it at all though.

Having second thoughts about Gunesh actually,it's all a bit screechy and repetitive,and although the performance is good,I can't imagine anyone voting for it at Belgrade next year.Then again,I didn't think they'd vote for Molitva...

Ooh Skandal are on.Weirdest stage setup of the night,they're wearing white (very D'Nash...) and have just been joined by some people with guitars and scary monster masks,and the half naked guy in the tutu is back as well.Oh,and the lead singer has a bit of a mullet which is always a winner.I quite like this actually.Ah,now they're waving Belarussian flags...Magic!

The girl from Po Glazam is wearing a silver dress with lots of European flags on it.That's about the most interesting thing about the song.

Palats are next...wonder when Litesound will be on?They're probably saving the best for last :) Oh god,Palats are scary.This has absolutely no chance!
Dali next...oh his microphone stopped working for a few seconds,that was nice.
Katrin looks fabulous,and she sounds it too.I said this was boring yesterday but I think I've changed my mind,I could see this at Eurovision.Ooh,there's guitars too,wasn't expecting that.Good performance,involving backing dancers dressed like Bonaparti.lv without shirts.

Aagh,Litesound next!Told you they'd save the best for last :) Great performance,and this guy has such a good voice...Oh I love them,they have to win!

So it's all finished now...my votes go to Litesound obviously,Ruslan and mmm,either Katrin or Skandal,I'm not sure.I shall be back with the results as soon as I know them!

Eurofest tomorrow

So it's the semi final of Belarus's Eurofest tomorrow.There are 15 songs of which 3 go through to the final (21st January) by means of what looks like quite a complex voting system.From what I've seen of the semi finalists,this is what I think...

Ruslan Alekhno- Hasta La Vista: I like it,it's a nice (dramatic sounding) pop song.Has your typical Eurovision lyrics: "Hasta la vista...baby,I'm gonna miss you...maybe".Reminds me of something,I can't quite think what.Maybe a bit of I Love You Mi Vida?I'm not sure.Anyway,it's good.

Palats- Wheel of Windmill: Didn't have the English version on the video,and what they did have on there was only a few bars.Sounds quite folky and has guitars.Probably wouldn't do very well at ESC I don't think.

Litesound- Do You Believe: Ah,seems like your token song about a lost love or something.One that you could potentially wave your lighter or glowsticks to :) Very good though from what I've heard,the lead singer has a great voice.

Pincode- You Can: "Hey boy you can touch me,hey boy you can kiss me" Yawn.

Anya Sharkunova & German Titov - We are to be the first: From the angle and distance this video is at,the guy looks like Dima.Sounds a bit like him too.Again,it wasn't the English version,but I have a feeling it will probably be better in Russian anyway.Although it's not very Eurovisiony anyway.Too slow.

Gunesh- I Can't Live Without You: She's been in Eurofest before apparantly.The song reminds me a bit of Polina's 'Mama' a few years ago (I think that's the one).It's quite good.In the little interview thingy after,Gunesh said "Ya ochen lyublyu rok" I really love rock.Well that's all very well,but it doesnt tend to do to well at Eurovision.Think I like this one though.And Gunesh is pretty cool.

Lena Voloshina - That's all I feel: Mmm.Boring.

Yulia Guseva - Maybe: Moody and rocky.It's alright,but nothing special.

The Champions- Drive Me Crazy: Nyet.Bolshoi nyet.

Scandal- Everybody: No chance.I could imagine it at Eurovision though,although not for Belarus.It's very catchy I think.In the video there was a half naked man dancing around the stage in a tutu.And why not!

Victor Pshenichny - Baby blue: A man with a guitar who thinks he's it's still the 60s.Doesn't really do it for me.

Po Glazam - Girl of three thousand years: It's shockingly bad.

Oksana Kovalevskaya - Always alone: She has a nice voice,but the song sounds a bit boring to be honest.

Katrin - Follow me: As above

Dali - Silver sky: Completely unEurovision.Apparantly they've been in Eurofest before too.Probably will be next year as well.

So there you go.I won't predict anything because I'm pretty bad at that,but if I was on the jury I would definitely definitely choose Litesound and Gunesh.And probably Ruslan as well,although I don't think that'll actually happen.I don't think any of the songs are as strong as Work Your Magic,but then again,I would think that.But we shall see...If the computer is free and this link actually works,I shall be watching the semi final online tomorrow night.