Kalomoira's Secret Combination gets her to Belgrade

"I predict Kostas Martakis will win the Greek selection with 'Always And Forever." Famous last words eh?

Greece staged a gruelling show lasting over 2 hours but featuring only 3 finalists! The extra time was filled by the 2 host that looked like the Greek answer to the Cheeky Girls and live performances of some of this year's worst entries (Azerbaijan, Slovenia and Cyprus).

Kostas Martakis' Always And Forever had undergone a transformation with a terrible dance backing track that totally ruined it. In the end Kalomoira's slick dance moves, good vocals and catchy song ensured 'Secret Combination' won the vote and goes forward to perform third in the first semi final in Belgrade in May.

UK not quite so bad after all?

I think I was a little too harsh in my initial reactions to the UK songs. Rob Mc Veigh and The Revelations are relatively good songs that, although they won't win, won't shame us as much as Scooch did last year.

The BBC have gone for a very odd format for 'Eurovision:Your Decision' this Saturday. There are three categories; Joseph vs Maria, The Soloists and The Girl Groups. A panel will choose one act from each category as well as a wildcard to go through to the public vote. From what I've heard I'd choose Rob McVeigh, Andy Abraham, The Revelations and LoveShy as the wildcard.

None of these entries stands a chance of winning Eurovision but I think Rob McVeigh is probably the least bad of the six. LoveShy's Mr Gorgeous sounds too much like Jamelia's Beware Of The Dog.

Rob McVeigh - I Owe It All To You

The Revelations - It's You

LoveShy - Mr Gorgeous

http://www.bbc.co.uk/eurovision/

Israel brings number of confirmed entries to 25

Ireland went for a turkey, Ukraine chose a Shady Lady and Poland chose an American lady. This Saturday also saw Romania, Croatia, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Iceland choose their entries, however none of these countries made as big an impact as Ireland, Ukraine and Poland. It remains to be seen if anyone outside of Ireland will get Dustin The Turkey. It's utterly bizarre but there's actually something quite good about the song, it's definitely entertaining. Isis Gee sings a powerful ballad for Poland. I see it being in the top 10 but I don't see it winning. Ukraine have once again delivered the total package with Shady Lady. It's a good song, the vocals are good and the dancing is good. It's definitely up there with Switzerland as one of my two tips to win this year.

Israel have chosen a rather boring song.

This is how the running order currently stands:

SEMI FINAL 1

1. Finland - TBA
2. Montenegro - Stefan Filipovic - TBA
3. Greece - TBA
4. Ireland - Dustin The Turkey - Irlande Douze Pointe *1
5. Israel - Boaz Mauda - As If Here *2
6. Poland - Isis Gee - For Life *3
7. Bosnia & Herzegovina - Elvir Lakovic Laka - Pokusaj
8. Estonia - Kreisiraadio - Leto Svet *4
9. The Netherlands - TBA
10. Romania - Nico & Vlad Mirita - Pe-o Margine De Lume *5
11. Moldova - Geta Burlacu - A Century Of Love *6
12. San Morino - TBA
13. Slovenia - Rebeka Dremelj - Vrag naj vzame *7
14. Norway - Maria Haukaas Storeng - Hold On Be Strong *8
15. Belgium - TBA
16. Andorra - Gisella - Casanova *9
17. Armenia - TBA
18. Azerbaijan - Elnur Gusseinov feat. Samir Javadzadeh - Day After Day *10
19. Russia - TBA

SEMI FINAL 2

1. Denmark - Simon Matthews - All Night Long *11
2. Croatia - Kraljevi Ulice En 75 Cents -- Romanca *12
3. Bulgaria - Deep Zone & Balthazar - DJ, Take Me Away *13
4. Portugal - TBA
5. Ukraine - Ani Lorak - Shady Lady *14
6. Switzerland - Paolo Meneguzzi - Era Stupendo *15
7. FYR Macedonia - Tamara Feat. Vrcak And Adrian Gaxha - Vo Ime Na Ljubovta *16
8. Iceland - # Eurobandið - This is my life *17
9. Cyprus - Evdokia Kadi - Femme Fatale *18
10. Latvia - TBA
11. Belarus - Ruslan Alehno - Hasta la vista *19
12. Hungary - Csézy - Szívverés *20
13. Albania - Olta Boka - Zemren Lame Peng *21
14. Sweden - TBA
15. Turkey - Mor ve Ötesi - Deli *22
16. Lithuania - Jeronimas Milius - Nomads In the Night *23
17. Georgia - TBA
18. Czech Republic - Tereza Kerndlova - Have Some Fun *24
19. Malta - Morena - Vodka *25

Serbia, Spain, Germany, United Kingdom - all TBA

You can watch all the entries on the Youtube playlist below.


More videos of the national finals and previous Eurovision entries can be found at
http://www.youtube.com/user/LoveEurovision

If you are having trouble viewing embedded videos you can access the playlist direct here