My top 43…for now
I wouldn’t call myself a trendsetter (not by any means) but nor would I label myself a sheep. Still, there’s one thing that every Eurovision fan is doing right now that I can’t resist doing also…
That’s right, ladies and gentlemen; it’s time for me to do a Top 43 for 2011! I’ve decided to do about 3 of these, as I change my mind about the songs every year, from when they are initially chosen, to around the time of the contest itself, all the way to a month or so afterwards. Right here and right now is number one – the pre-contest countdown.
I’ve separated the countries into points in traditional ESC style, so you can gauge exactly what I’m thinking. I’m betting a heap of you will shake your heads with concern for my sanity at numbers 1, 3 and 4 among others…but remember, we all have different taste. Still, I’ve provided a little reasoning as to why I heart my top 3, and hate no. 43. If you disagree with me on anything (or by some miracle, happen to feel the same) I’d love to hear why, so comment or Facebook EBJ ASAP!
So, without further frivolous ado, douze points go to:
1. Latvia – There’s something about Angel In Disguise that just gets me. I love the whole pop/R & B contemporary vibe it gives off; I love the combination of singer (ultra sexy vocals) and rapper (Latvia got it right. Greece got it wrong); I love the guitar work…I love it all. It looks particularly good when compared to the dreadfulness of their 2010 entry, but on its own, it’s still a winner in my book.
2. United Kingdom – Speaking of songs that look amazing when compared to others…we all know what went down with the UK last year, and so we were all aware that their next effort couldn’t POSSIBLY be worse. To my pleasant surprise, it hasn’t just improved on The Dreadful Song That Shall Not Be Named; it’s blown it out of the water and sent it catapulting into outer space (hopefully) to never be heard again.
3. Ukraine – I don’t expect ANYONE to understand why I love this song so much. In fact, not even I understand. I’m just into it! I love a good ballad, and I feel like Angels falls into that category. It reminds me of one of my all time favourite songs, Dyshi, by Russia’s wannabe schoolgirls Serebro (who we met in Helsinki four years ago). The whole thing, from start to finish, gives me goose bumps.
4. Iceland
5. Poland
6. Ireland
7. Israel
8. Norway
9. Bosnia and Herzegovina
10. Sweden
10 points go to:
11. Netherlands
12. Croatia
13. Slovakia
14. Denmark
15. Cyprus
16. Estonia
17. Italy
8 points go to:
18. Turkey
19. Albania
20. Serbia
21. Bulgaria
22. Belarus
23. France
24. Hungary
7 points go to:
25. Romania
26. Greece
27. Germany
28. Azerbaijan
29. Spain
6 points go to:
30. Slovenia
31. Austria
32. Georgia
33. Russia
34. Moldova
35. FYR Macedonia
5 and under points go to:
36. Finland
37. Switzerland
38. Armenia
39. Malta
40. Belgium
41. Portugal
42. San Marino
The “Easter Egg” goes to:
43. Lithuania – If you think this song is amazing, then you’ll know how I feel about Ukraine as I go on and say that I think it is dreadful. The chorus makes me cringe and the rest sends me to sleep, and cringing/being bored enough for my eyelids to droop and me to start dribbling (er, well maybe not dribbling) are not things that I like to do on a regular basis.
So there you have it: another top to bottom. I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope you come back to see Round 2 and 3, as my taste will no doubt have drastically changed in a month or so. But why not drop by again sooner? As we get closer and closer to the big D (I’ll give you a clue: it rhymes with Strusselwharf) I plan to be blogging as often as possible…expect, among other things, a Eurovision fan haul in the near future!
PS – Check back through my archives to read my ‘first impression’ reviews of all 43 songs (44 if you count Belarus 1 and 2…this year’s obligatory “We messed up so we’re pretending we want to keep you all in suspense for as long as possible as to what our song will be” country).
PPS – I’d be so grateful for some more support on my Facebook and/or Twitter. No pressure! It’d be great to have some chats with everyone about our favourite topic, The Development of Shower Heads Over the 20th Century. I kid, I mean Eurovision of COURSE. Follow the links in the sidebar (over there…to the right. Up a bit. A bit more. There you go!) to Like or Follow me.
eurovisionbyjaz.com 
4 Responses to “My top 43…for now”
I don’t have Ukraine so high up, but i definitelly understand why you like it. There is something about the ballad that draws you in… and the singer seems very nice and is cute.
And yay at having Israel in the top category. I was starting to feel like oddity for loving Dana’s song.
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I think my top 10 is a lot different to everyone elses, but we all have different taste =) I’m happy to hear you like Ding Dong, I was hooked from the first listen. Love Dana, love the song!
What are your favourites, out of interest???
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My top three are Israel, Germany and Bosnia.
among my faves are also Slovakia (eventhough the song is pretty simple, it’s a very nice “classic” ballad), Poland (nice energy), Portugal (I like the “ravelushun!” tone of it), Hungary, FYROM (a funny song), Ukraine, Norway, Estonia and Albania (I find the singer intriguing… she seems to have scary edge to her and I like shouty vocals in general).
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It’s good to hear that your favourites aren’t the same as a lot of other peoples! I do like Rockefeller Street, but all I’ve been hearing for fan favourites is “Estonia!” “Denmark!” “Estonia!” “Denmark!” over and over and OVER again – no offence to those songs, I just don’t see them as winners (well, maybe Estonia. But we went to Tallinn in 2002, I want an ESC somewhere different!).
My top 43 has already changed since I did it last week , but I always planned to do 2 or 3 over the next few months. Germany’s grown on me, but the one song that I can’t believe I really like is Italy. The first time I heard it I hated it, then I thought it was ok, now I’m pretty into it! And believe me, it’s not my usual type of music =)
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