Since 2008 the annual Eurovision Song Contest consists of two semi finalists which are responsible to deliver 10 qualifiers each to take part in the grand final where they join Italy, France, Germany, Spain and the host country, this year Azerbaijan. Over the past few weeks we’ve been going through the semi finalists. Today we have a closer look at the remaining semi 2 entries from Bosnia Herzegovina & Lithuania.
Bosnia Herzegovina: Maya Sar – Korake Ti Zname
Bosnia Herzegovina has taken part in the Eurovision Song Contest since 1993, and only skipped the contest twice due to low results. The country is one of the very few who’s managed to qualify for every final since the introduction of the semi final(s) in 2004. Hoping to keep up with the track record is 31 year old singer Maya Sar, who’s not a stranger to the Eurovision audience. She performed in 2004 and 2011 as the backing vocalist for the participants and was announced in December as the candidate for Baku. Her song ‘Korake Ti Zname’ (Engl. I know Your Steps) is a rather charming piano ballad sung in her native language. Lucky in a way that she is miles away from the other balkan start who opens the show as she could have been in a dangerzone, but again it’s a nice refreshment from the Slovakian hard rock and Norwegian pop beats. Bosnia Herzegovina has never won the contest before, but came close in 2006 when it reached a 3rd place.
Lithuania: Donny Montell – Love is Blind
Rounding up the second semi final of the Eurovision Song Contest is Lithuania. The country’s participation in 2012 will be it’s 13th attempt to take the Eurovision crown. Since the introduction of the semi final(s) Lithuania managed to qualify 4 times, reaching its highest score in 2006 where they became 6th with the ‘protest’ song ‘We Are the Winners’. Hoping to qualify once again is 24 year old Donny Montell who will be singing the pop song ‘Love is Blind’. Starting off as a balad, the song progresses into a 90ies dance song. Not really our cup of tea as it has all the typical Eurovision cliches as its ingredients, but Donny can sing. Donny is a not a stranger to the national finals in Lithuania and has appeared in the national final since 2009. The singer will be at the London Eurovision Party this Sunday to perform and we’re looking forward to meet him and ask him a few questions. So watch out for the interview.
Our verdict:
1 Ukraine
2 Estonia
3 Sweden
4 Norway
5 Netherlands
6 FYR Macedonia
7 Turkey
8 Bulgaria
9 Serbia
10 Bosnia Herzegovina
11 Croatia
12 Slovenia
13 Malta
14 Belarus
15 Portugal
16 Slovakia
17 Lithuania
18 Georgia
However… the final verdict
as always the Eurovision Song Contest is more than ranking your favourites, and we have to agree the list above is pretty much our own favourite range, hence why we after our first listen of all 42 songs had highlighted which ones we think might go through. Reason many viewers on the night will have heard the songs only during their performances of the night. So here’s then our prediction based on the very first listen:
Qualifiers: Ukraine – Estonia – Sweden – Norway – Turkey – Serbia – Bosnia Herzegovina – Georgia – FYR Macedonia – Slovenia
Who do you think will qualify this year? Let us know your thoughts!!!
Next in our chapter ESC 2012 are the finalists, starting off with the United Kingdom.
