Marija Serifovic – Bez ljubavi

 

Number of tracks: 13

Duration: 45:32

Best song: Bol do ludila

Molitva & Marija was a magical and unique fusion of magnificent music and an awesome artist.

None of the songs on Marija´s second album from 2006 reach the same wuthering heights as Molitva. But that does not mean that Bez ljubavi is a bad album. Far from it!

The 13 tracks are middle-of-the-road Balkan pop of the kind that first and foremost Vanna has made hugely popular in the former Yugoslav countries. However, several of the songs lack the melodic hooks that have become one of the Croatian superstar´s trademarks.

Although it would be impossible – and perhaps not even something to wish for – to make an album made up entirely of power ballads like Molitva I would have preferred a little less R´n´B influences in the musical arrangements and a little more emotion and drama in songs that make use of and show Marija´s full vocal abilities.

Ironically the best songs on the album are the three bonus tracks. The ballad Bol do ludilo which won Marija the 1st prize at the Budva Festival 2004 can perhaps be seen as an indication of what was to come for Marija, but it does not play in the same league as the Eurovision winning song.

It seems highly unlikely that Marija will be able to conquer Europe with her most recent collection of songs. I think, however, that Marija grew several sizes as an artist on the stage in Helsinki and therefore I am looking very curious to see and hear what Marija will do next. She definately has the voice to make it big but she urgently needs a truly great album in English to make sure that she will not fall into the category of Eurovision winners who were never able to build a solid career after being triumphant in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Grade (0-5):

   

Marija´s website can be visited here 

Marija´s album can be bought at Yu4You.com

Roger Cicero – Männersachen

Number of tracks: 15

Duration: 48:54

Best song: Frauen regier´n die Welt 

Despite finishing in a rather disappointing 19th place in the Eurovision Song Contest I sincerely hope that German Roger Cicero will try to make a name for himself in the rest of Europe.

The album Männersachen (Male matters) is a classy mixture of modern and good old-fashioned swing music. Roger´s style of music makes you think of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Robbie Williams, but he is never just a mere imitation of his idols. Mr Cicero is a great entertainer and singer in his own right and never has the German language sounded more beautiful than when the sweet syllables are flowing from Roger´s mouth. And the lyrics are mostly witty and very clever.

Apart from the smashing Eurovision entry the best songs are the hit single Zieh die Schuh aus, the ballads Ich Atme ein and Fachman in Sachen Anna, the cosy and bossa novaish Wenn sie dich fragt and the bonus track So geil Berlin.

There are, however, a track or two that could have been left in the desk drawer. For instance the I am not a man for one woman-track Kein Mann für eine Frau which, when it comes to the lyrics, is a little too reminiscent of Lou Bega´s Mambo No. 5 and therefore seems a little outdated.

But in all Roger´s album is just outstanding. I warmly recommend it to everybody who liked – or even loved – this year´s German Eurovision entry.

Grade (0-5):

   

Visit Roger´s website here

Männersachen can be purchased on Amazon.de

The Ark – Prayer For The Weekend

Number of tracks: 11 

Duration: 42:53

Best song: Absolutely No Decorum 

It seems pointless (!) to keep on trying to figure out what went wrong for Swedish band The Ark in the Eurovision Song Contest. Maybe it suffices to simply say that Ola Salo and Co. could not deliver what Europe wanted this time around.

When listening to The Ark´s recently released album it becomes more than evident that the band has no reason to feel depressed by the “Eurovision failure”. As always The Ark delivers a briliant mixture of catchy easy-to-so-sing-along-to rock songs and lyrics that make you rethink a lot of things that you have always taken for granted. Title track Prayer For The Weekend and the first hit from the album, Absolutely No Decorum, both show The Ark from the band´s very best side.

And however much I appreciate this year´s Swedish Eurovision entry I cannot help getting the feeling that The Worrying Kind does not really fit the rest of the songs on the album. The rest of the new material seems more genuine and somehow more honest. Just to illustrate what I mean: The Worrying Kind is currently used in a commercial for men´s clothes and in fact it is quite suitable for that purpose. Something which none of the other songs would have been.

Prayer For The Weekend may not be The Ark´s best album but it is undoubtedly the most easily accessible musically and by far the one with the greatest hit potential. Eurovision may not have been ready for The Ark, but I think that Europe is.

Grade (0-5):

   

Prayer For The Weekend can be bought at CDON.

The Ark´s website can be found here.

Måns Zelmerlöw – Stand By For …

Number of tracks: 14 (the acoustic version of Cara Mia is included as a “hidden track”)

Duration: 50:26

Best song: Dreaming 

Melodifestivalen bronze medalist and recent winner of the National Final Song Contest, Måns Zelmerlöw, has released his eagerly anticipated debut album. Among the contributors to the album Henrik Wikström, Fredrik Kempe, Niklas Edberger, Robin Mortensen Lynch, Niklas Olovson and Måns himself can be found.

Apart from the Melodifestivalen entry the best songs on the album are Dreaming which can be described as Cara Mia´s cheery sibling and the upcoming single Work of Art (Da Vinci) which is a contemporary and charming flirt with the musical styles of the 70s.

Unfortunately the rest of the album leaves a lot to be desired, both when it comes to the music and the lyrics. A majority of the songs are the kind that you can easily listen to on the radio but once they end you have as easily forgotten them.

The track The Prayer which was one of the best tracks on Danish ESC participant in 2005 Jakob Sveistrup´s second album Fragments is included here as well, but Måns´ interpretation of this fabulous song is oddly uninteresting - probably because he is not as good a vocalist as Jakob.

Another problem with Stand By For … is that it gives a somewhat unpersonal impression. Some of the songs sound a little like Robbie Williams while others lead the thoughts to Bono/U2, Pet Shop Boys and Alcazar. Hopefully Måns will develop a more personal sound on his next album.

Grade (0-5):

   

Stand By For … can be purchased at CDON.

Måns´ website can be found here.

Serbian superstar Ana Ivanovic congratulates Marija

Photo: Manuela Davies, www.anaivanovic.com

Ana Ivanovic, 19 years old and currently ranked 8th on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Rankings:

“I would like to congratulate Marija. It was a very nice song and she has a great voice. I don´t usually watch the Eurovision Song Contest but I was playing in a final the next day so I was excited and could not sleep so well. I was still awake at midnight when there was a repeat performance of the song. I was obviously very happy to see that Serbia won. Maybe it was a lucky sign for me for my match!”

Indeed it could have been because the day after Marija´s Eurovision victory Ana won the final of the Tier I tournament in Berlin over world No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova and broke into the top 10 in the world rankings for the first time in her career.

Verka Serduchka wins Barbara Dex Award

 

Every year the website The House of Eurovision invites its readers to vote for the artist who they think was the worst dressed. The winner is then presented with a Barbara Dex Award.

The award is named after the Belgian representative in 1993. She finished last with the beautiful Iemand als jij wearing a – to say the very least - less beautiful dress.

This year Ukrainian drag artist Verka Serduchka grabbed the award just a few votes ahead of Marija Serifovic which means that the runner-up in the actual contest got a somewhat dubious revenge. Third place went to Moldova´s Natalia Barbu and her soon-to-be-if-not-already legendary Cher-outfit. You can download the full results of the voting here.

And you can view photos of former Barbara Dex Award winners here.

Måns Zelmerlöw wins the National Final Song Contest 2007

Photo: www.manszelmerlow.se  

Måns Zelmerlöw has won the annual National Final Song Contest arranged by David & Miguel at Eurovision Madrid.

The song Cara Mia, which placed 3rd in Swedish preselection Melodifestivalen, won the hearts of the European voters and finished well ahead of Iceland´s participant in 2004, Jónsi, and the song Segdu mer. Third came Finnish Johanna Kurkela with the song Olet uneni kaunein.

The winner of the National Final Song Contest is found among the songs that competed in a national preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest but did not win in their respective countries. Voters from all over Europe listen to each and every one of the entries and vote for their favourites in a qualifying heat, then in four semi finals and last but by no means least the Grand Final.

This year was the 8th time that the National Final Song Contest was held. These are the songs and artists that have won the contest throughout the years:

2000: Hrvatska rapsodija, Cronika (Magazin). Croatia.

2001: So Much Love, Ebonique. Netherlands 

2002: Se in se, Karmen Stavec. Slovenia 

2003: Not A Sinner, Nor A Saint, Alcazar. Sweden 

2004: Min kärlek, Shirley Clamp. Sweden

2005: Håll om mig, Nanne Grönvall. Sweden

2006: Mandoline, Sasa Lendero. Slovenia

2007: Cara Mia, Måns Zelmerlöw. Sweden

Save The World: Download Madonna´s new song for free

 

Madonna´s new song Hey You can be downloaded for free here for a limited period time.

The song is written for the upcoming Live Earth concerts on July 7th when bands like Police, Genesis, Smashing Pumpkins and Red Hot Chili Peppers will play at charity concerts staged all around the world. Madonna will be performing her song at the Live Earth concert in the Wembley Stadium.

For each and every of the first million downloads Microsoft will donate 25 cents to environmental organistion Alliance for Climate Protection. So go and download it now and do the world some good, as Anonymous encouraged us to do in this year´s Andorran entry for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Marija in Stockholm

 

Swedish shopping mall Gallerian was filled to the brim with enthusiatic fans and people with Serbian roots earlier today when Marija Serifovic performed her winning song Molitva as a part of her Winner´s Tour.

After her performance Christer Björkman presented her with the Marcel Becanson Artistic Award that former Eurovision winners voted her the winner of. The award was not officially recieved by her on Saturday night due to the fact that Marija never made it to the official after party because of the Winner´s press conference.

Marija then told all the fans who had gathered to celebrate her victory that she was proud to be a Serb and that she was happy to be there. After that she went on to sign some autographs before she left for the next stop on her hectic tour throughout Europe.

Finland got the most, Malta the least

  

The results of the Swedish televotes have been made public. Nearly half a million people televoted during the final and the votes were distributed like this:

1. Finland: Hanna Pakarinen – Leave Me Alone (86 660)
2. Serbia: Marija Serifovic – Molitva (58 886)
3. Hungary: Magdi Rúzsa – Unsubstantial Blues (33 974)
4. Turkey: Kenan Dogulu – Shake It Up Shekerim (28 650)
5. Bosnia-Herzegovina: Marija Sestic – Rijeka bez imena (27 602)
6. Russia: Serebro – Song #1 (24 945)
7. Greece: Sarbel – Yassou Maria (22 747)
8. Ukraine: Verka Serduchka – Dancing lasha tumbai (22 209)
9. Moldova: Natalia Barbu – Fight (19 787)
10. Germany: Roger Cicero – Frauen regieren die Welt (18 397)
11. Belarus: Dima Koldun – Work Your Magic (14 664)
12. Georgia: Sopho – Visionary Dream (14 535)
13. Bulgaria: Elitsa & Stoyan – Voda (11 019)
14. FYR Macedonia: Karolina Gocheva – Mojot svet (10 046)
15. Latvia: bonaparti.lv – Questa notte (9 784)
16. Armenia: Hayko – Anytime You Need (9 486)
17. France: Les Fatals Picards – L’amour a la francaise (8 054)
18. Romania: Todomondo – Liubi, liubi, I Love You (6 821)
19. Spain: D´Nash – I Love You Mi Vida (6 447)
20. Slovenia: Alenka Gotar – Cvet z juga (6 183)
21. UK: Scooch – Flying The Flag (For You) (4 467)
22. Ireland: Dervish – They Can’t Stop The Spring (4 160)
23. Lithuania: 4Fun – Love Or Leave (3 895)

Total: 453 418 votes                                                                                                                                                                              

During the qualifying heat less people chose to cast their vote, but the total number of calls was still over 100 000:

1. Iceland: Eiríkur Hauksson – Valentine Lost (20 981)
2. Serbia: Marija Serifovic – Molitva (18 929)
3. Hungary: Magdi Rúzsa – Unsubstantial Blues (11 414)
4. Turkey: Kenan Dogulu – Shake It Up Shekerim (11 063)
5. Norway: Guri Schanke – Ven a bailar conmigo (6 382)
6 FYR Macedonia: Karolina Gocheva – Mojot svet (4 566)
7. Denmark: DQ – Drama Queen (4 356)
8. Belarus: Dima Koldun – Work Your Magic (4 348)
9. Andorra: Anonymous – Salvem el món (4 219)
10. Latvia: bonaparti.lv – Questa Notte (3 911)
11. Cyprus: Evridiki – Comme ci, Comme ca (3 196)
12. Albania: Frederik Ndoci – Hear My Plea (3 178)
13. Moldova: Natalia Barbu – Fight (2 815)
14. Estonia: Gerli Padar – Partners In Crime (2 789)
15. Poland: The Jet Set – Time To Party (2 709)
16. Georgia: Sopho – Visionary Dream (2 593)
17. Switzerland: DJ BoBo – Vampires Are Alive (2 448)
18. Netherlands: Edsilia Rombley – On Top Of The World (2 051)
19. Slovenia: Alenka Gotar – Cvet z juga (2 043)
20. Israel: Teapacks – Push the Button (1 983)
21. Austria: Eric Papilaya – Get A Life – Get Alive (1 886)
22. Bulgaria: Elitsa & Stoyan – Voda (1 866)
23. Portugal: Sabrina – Danca Comigo (1 485)
24. Croatia: Dragonfly feat. Dado Topic – Vjerujem u ljubav (1 377)
25. Belgium: The KMGs – Love Power (1 261)
26. Montenegro: Stevan Faddy – Adje kroci (1 241)
27. Czech Republic: Kabát – Malá dáma (1 224)
28. Malta: Oliva Lewis – Vertigo (965)

Total: 127 279 votes

Verka Serduchka goes Teletubbies

This hilarious parody of Verka Serduchka´s Danzing lasha tumbai was found on YouTube.

Marie Lindberg – Trying To Recall

Number of tracks: 11

Duration: 33:49

Best song: Trying To Recall

The 31-year-old school teacher Marie Lindberg came out of nowhere and sang her way into our hearts with the haunting Trying To Recall in this year´s edition of Melodifestivalen. It was a fairy tale come true for the shy and inexperienced singer. But the big question in everybody´s minds was whether she would be able to build a long lasting career on her Melodifestivalen performance that truly touched people to tears.

Based on the debut album which bears the same name as her Melodifestivalen entry I would say that the answer to that question is definately yes. Trying To Recall is a great collection of eleven melodic and melancolic songs in the true singer-songwriter spirit. Marie has clearly been inspired by artists like Lisa Loeb and The Corrs and her music is a great illustration of the saying that less is more. She refrains from wailing and overproducing and in fact the simplicity is also the beauty of Trying To Recall.

Apart from the title song the best tracks on the album is the kind but catchy Revolt, the beautiful Bound To Die and the uptempo opening track Leona (Under Her Skin).

A strong melody never goes out of style and this is probably the reason why Trying to Recall gives a timeless impression. But although the album has no expiration date I still hope to hear more and new material from the musically gifted Marie Lindberg soon. I believe that her fairy tale will continue in many, many years to come.

 Grade (0-5):

    

Trying To Recall can be purchased here: http://www.cdon.com/

Marie´s website is to be found here: http://www.marielindberg.com/

Sonja Aldén – Till dig

 

Number of tracks: 13

Duration: 46:56

Best song: För att du finns

Multitalented artist and songwriter Sonja Aldén follows up her success in this year´s Melodifestivalen with one of the most beautiful and popular albums in Sweden this spring.

The fact that Sonja is one of Sweden´s most interesting and versatile artists became obvious to a lot of Eurovision fans already last year when she performed fan favourite Etymon in the second Melodifestivalen heat in Karlstad. On that occassion Sonja failed to qualify for the final, but this year she got her big – and well deserved - breakthrough with the beautiful ballad För att du finns.

Sonja´s entry for this year´s Melodifestivalen is included on the album, in both the original and an acoustic version, alongside eleven other melodic and well-composed songs written by Sonja, Bobby Ljunggren, Henrik Wikström and Ingela “Pling” Forsman.

Sonja´s personal and expressive voice fits the ballads that she so obviously loves to sing like hand in glove. And when she performs the wedding favourite Du är allt in a duet with best friend Shirley Clamp I for one get the chills. Other favourites include the folk music flirt Vila tryggt and the cosy and soulish Egen tid.

For all Eurovision fans it would have been a big bonus if Etymon and Sonja´s version of Invincible had both been included. But in fairness it should be said that the songs that did make it onto the album are all of the very highest quality so there is actually no need to complain. 

Till dig is an absolute must for everybody who loved För att du finns and for those of you who adore schlager goddesses Jill Johnson and Shirley Clamp.

Grade (0-5): 

    

Till dig can be purchased here: http://www.cdon.com/

Sonja´s website is located here: http://www.sonjaalden.se/

Sonja even has a Myspace page at: http://www.myspace.com/sonjaalden

You can listen to excerpts of all the songs on the album on Sonja´s record company Lionheart International´s website: http://www.lionheart-int.com/sonya(2).asp

Meet Marija

This year the European Broadcasting Union organizes a Winner´s Tour for the very first time. The aim of the tour is to increase the winning artist´s chances of having an international career after the Eurovision victory. In previous years several Eurovision winners have failed to get their winning entry released in many participating countries, let alone to make it to the top of the charts.

The tour starts tomorrow and ends May 21st. In each country Marija Serifovic will promote her winning entry Molitva at free public performances and in television and radio shows. She will also chat with fans and meet the press.

The tour plan:

May 16th: Denmark – Copenhagen and Århus

May 17th: Spain – Madrid and Barcelona

May 18th: Sweden – Stockholm and Malmö

May 19th: Netherlands – Amsterdam and Almere

May 20th: Greece – Athens

May 21st: Germany – Hamburg

Vote & win

Cast your vote in the Queerovision Chart and be in with a chance of winning a copy of the compilation CD containing all 42 entries from this year´s Eurovision Song Contest.

 See the songs you can vote for here.

The dates for next year´s ESC

  

Next year the qualifying heat will be held on the 22nd of May and the grand final on the 24th of May. The contest will most probably be hosted by Serbian capital Belgrade thanks to Marija Serifovic and her winning song Molitva.

Listen to Molitva all day

I would like to remind you that you – thanks to OGAE Serbia - can download all nine versions of the winning song in this year´s Eurovision Song Contest here.

The versions available are:

The original version

An English version

A Russian version

A dance remix

An English dance remix

A Russian dance remix

Jovan Radomir remix

A Finnish version (which is, however, not sung by Marija herself)

An instrumental version

Enjoy!

The Marcel Becanson Awards 2007

 

According to the composers Hungarian Magdi Rúzsa had the best song of the year.

Photo: Alain Douit, Eurovision.tv

Since 2002 Marcel Becanson Awards are presented in three categories. This year´s winners are:

The Composers´ Award: Unsubstantial Blues, Magdi Rúzsa

The Press Award: Danzing lasha tumbai, Verka Serduchka

The Artists´ Award: Molitva, Marija Serifovic

The award is named after the man who created the contest way back in 1956 and was established by Eurovision winner Richard Herrey and Christer Björkman.

Congratulations Serbia

Serbia´s Marija Serifovic won a well deserved victory in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 with her Molitva. Ukraine´s Verka Serduchka came 2nd and Russia´s Serebro placed 3rd. 4th place went to Turkey´s Kenan Dogulu whilst Bulgaria´s Elitsa and Stoyan came 5th. The full results of the final can be found here.

Serbia even won the semifinal ahead of Hungary and Turkey. The last country to qualify was Moldova, just a few points ahead of Portugal. You can read the full results of the semifinal here. 

Tonight´s the night

 

 Will her piercing gaze get Finnish Hanna Pakarinen the upper hand in this year´s wide open field? Photo: Alain Douit, Eurovision.tv 

The final in the Eurovision Song Contest is only hours away. Who will be victorious tonight and where will the Eurovision circus make its next stop in 2008?

Below you can read a short comment and my prediction for each of the finalists.

1. Bosnia & Herzegovina: Rijeka bez imena, Marija Sestic

One of this year´s most beautiful songs, but it will not be the winner in the Balkan region and therefore not the overall winner either.

Prediction: 11-15

2. Spain: I Love You Mi Vida, D´Nash

This song is pretty nice and so are the performers, but it is not going to be enough in the tough competition.

Prediction: 16-20

3. Belarus: Work Your Magic, Dima Koldun

The qualifying heat performance did not offer answers to all the questions surrounding this great song. But if Dima performs decently tonight he will be up there fighting for victory.

Prediction: 3

4. Ireland: They Can´t Stop The Spring, Dervish

Although spring can´t be stopped I think that Irish band Dervish probably will be in tonight´s voting.

Prediction: 21-24

5. Finland: Leave Me Alone, Hanna Pakarinen

A strong melody combined with a great performance ought to secure Finland another top 5 finish.

Prediction: 5

6. FYR Macedonia: Mojot svet, Karolina Gocheva

If Karolina starts looking into the right cameras she could be in the top 10, if not she will finish somewhere in the middle.

Prediction: 11-15

7. Slovenia: Cvet z juga, Alenka Gotar

I hope that Alenka will be able to give Slovenia the best finishing position ever with her haunting and breathtaking operapop.

Prediction: 6-10

8. Hungary: Unsubstantial Blues, Magdi Rúzsa

The fact that Magdi Rúzsa made it into the final with her blues song was a pleasant surprise, but I am afraid that the Hungarians may be out of surprise potential by now.

Prediction: 16-20

9. Lithuania: Love or Leave, 4Fun

Boredom incarnated. Next song, please!

Prediction: 21-24

10. Greece: Yassou Maria, Sarbel

This outdated entry could place basically anywhere on the scoreboard tonight, but I think it will be considered too light and forgettable by the televoters tonight.

Prediction: 16-20

11. Georgia: Visionary Dream, Sopho

One of the most positive surprises this year. Sopho is a radiant artist on stage and although I am still not a big fan of the song, I think the Georgians could place very well thanks to their vastly gifted performer.

Prediction: 11-15

12. Sweden: The Worrying Kind, The Ark

The entry that people either seem to love or hate. It seems almost impossible to predict the Swedish finishing position tonight, but I think The Ark will get their fair share of votes. Partly for standing put and partly for being one of the best of the so called “Western European entries”.

Prediction: 6-10

13. France: L´amour à la francaise, Les Fatals Picards

Funny and fresh but rather chanceless in this competition.

Prediction: 21-24

14. Latvia: Questa notte, bonaparti.lv

The Latvians made it to the final and now they are suddenly mentioned as one of the favourites for victory. I, however,  do not think that the Latvian threat is to be taken too seriously. They performed last on Thursday night, tonight they will be in the middle of the running order and probably in the rankings as well. 

Prediction: 11-15

15. Russia: Song #1, Serebro

The three Russian girls have done well at the rehearsals and have the choreography that seems to be on everybody´s lips.  Definately a top 10 finish but I do not think that the song is good enough to actually win.

Prediction: 6-10

16. Germany: Frauen Regier´n Die Welt, Roger Cicero

One of my personal favourites, but I am terrified that talented Roger will not be able to gather enough votes to break into the upper half of the scoreboard.

Prediction: 16-20

17. Serbia: Molitva, Marija Serifovic

I think it is safe to say that the Serbians hit bullseye with their less than (or lesbian) minimalistic stage act. Everybody talked about it – and voted for it - Thursday night and they will probably be doing it again tonight. 

Prediciton: 2

18. Ukraine: Danzing lasha tumbai, Verka Serduchka

This crazy entry has caused an unprecedented hype among the press and fans in Helsinki. Everybody says it is going to be the runaway winner.  I hope I am wrong, but based on the evidence presented to me I have to predict this song as tonight´s winner.

Prediction: 1

19. United Kingdom: Flying The Flag (For You), Scooch

This is the worst entry of the year. It makes my ears bleed and my nose too, because this really stinks.

Prediction: 21-24

20. Romania: Liubi, Liubi, I Love You, Todomondo

Almost every year the songs from the qualifying heat place high so I think that the Romanian entry will probably be one of the prequalified finalists that could have finished higher if the circumstances had been different.

Prediction: 16-20

21. Bulgaria: Voda, Elitsa & Stoyan

Despite Elitsa not performing very well vocally – to say the least – in the qualifying heat the Bulgarians made it to the final for the very first time. Performing as number 21 tonight will make the Bulgarian entry a very serious contender for a top 5 finish.

Prediction: 4

22. Turkey: Shake It Up Sherkerim, Kenan Dogulu

I cannot listen to this, let alone watch it. Kenan´s lyrics and stage act are nothing less than sexist and I really hope that this will not be in the top 10 tonight.

Prediction: 11-15

23. Armenia: Anytime You Need, Hayko

Another strong and well-performed ballad which in contrast to the other beautiful ballads this year is not about a broken heart but a promise to always be there.  

Prediciton: 6-10

24. Moldova: Fight, Natalia Barbu

Despite not winning any fashion awards in the qualifying heat Natalia Barbu did win a place in tonight´s final. Performing last is generally considered an advantage and if Natalia performs as perfectly vocally as she did on Thursday night she could place very high. If she changes her clothes she could even be a contender for victory.

Prediction: 6-10