PragueBuzz!

I watched in disbelief as Serbia started racking up high points (8, 10, 12), competing neck-to-neck the first slot with Ukraine before solidifying the number one spot. It was Eurovision history all over again. In 2004, Ukrainian Rustlana’s exotic and electrifying Wild Dancer inched above talented Serbian Zeljko Joksimovic’s beautiful ballads “Lane Moje” to snatch the first prize. Only three years later, the Serbs got their revenge. Sweet!

I guess Marija Serifovic’s “Molitva” was a song about homosexuals or promoting homosexuals because in the end, the Marija held hand with one of her female backup singers, completing a full red heart from each’s half. Coincidentally, Ukraine’s entry exploded the stage and cracked the audience up with its silly act and the singer’s transvestite costume.

Serbia “Molitva”

I’ve re-watched Marija’s performance and think her win was deserving. However, I think the song, the voice and the music though excellent would not guarantee the 1st place without the dramatic stage performance with the additional female backup singers.

Ukraine’s “Dancing Lasha Tumbai”

The two top winners prompted me to think if this year voters wanted to send a message to the world.

Once again, my Eurovision taste seemed to be out-of-sync with the rest. My favorites are not even in the top ten:

1. France’s “L’amour À La Française” - A ear-catching atypical French song.
2. Romania’s “Liubi, Liubi, I Love You” - This vote-buying romantic ballad is simple but very sweet. It’s sung in five or six language (to attract voters).
3. Slovenia’s “Cvet Z Juga” - A mixed of classical and pop vocals. Very interesting.
4. Latvia’s “Questa Notte” - This performance resembles Italian’s Four Tenors Concert.

However, I voted for Bulgaria’s folk entry Water. I did not like the song much; I simply voted because I thought that it was the freshest and unique entry in the entire cheesy, pop-oriented competition. This Bulgarian sorceress sang some sort of a chant and impressed me with her percussion’s playing skills.

As for the Czech Republic. It sent the country’s BEST rock group and couldn’t fare worse than its 28th place. (Out of 28 participants in the semi-final.)

Once again, this year voting flagrantly reflected political and geographical connections among countries. I will do another analysis of the voting pattern once the result available on the Eurovision’s website.

For more scoop, visit Eurovision’s official website.