The 2014 Eurovision Song Contest: 2nd Semi-Final.

As I explained in my post about the first semi-final there is no central theme to this years Eurovision Song Contest and in the interests of giving a fair chance to all nations throughout the week long competition I am limited in what I can say. I can though say what I like about the five nations that were knocked out tonight;

Georgia: In 2008 Georgia declared war on Russia in the hope that the inevitable Russian counter-attack would cause the European Union (EU) and NATO to immediately leap to Georgia's aid defeating Russia militarily. Funnily enough this didn't happen and since then Georgia has been isolated by both the EU and NATO although the US have recently taken to trotting out then Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvilli in response to the situation in Ukraine as if Saakashvilli is some sort of expert on Russian/EU relations.

Featuring lyrics like; "Show us the stairway to come back to Earth – sky diver’s space jump! Lead those three minutes longin’ for love" Georgia's entry "Three Minutes to Earth" by "The Shin and Mariko" was all about Georgia pleading to be allowed back from the political wilderness while showcasing Georgian folk music. Perhaps in an effort to highlight the effect this isolation is having on them that is all there was to Georgia's entry. Although there isn't a central theme to this years contest there are a number of trends that are shared between different nations to differing extents. Georgia's entry completely ignored all of these and - it must be said - wasn't particularly good meaning that it simply didn't deserve a place in the final.

Lithuania: Their entry "Attention" by "Vilija Matačiūnaitė" is all about her getting chatted up by a guy in a bar. She performs on stage with a male dancer whom she constantly seems to be battling for dominance. As Lithuania's entry touches on the issue of gender equality that is expanded on by other nations into the trend of sexual violence against women and sex trafficking in particular.

The main thrust of Lithuania's entry though was Rihanna specifically the opening two acts ("Phresh off the Runway" and "Man Down") of the Diamonds World Tour. As a result Matačiūnaitė took to the stage in black outfit featuring a hooped short skirt which was intended to create speculation that she might end up flashing her, erm, 'Birthday Cake.' The song even featured the lyric; "I’m not gonna ask you buy me diamonds" and was originally written in the light reggae-style of "Man Down" and "You da One." As such this was yet another nation pointing out to the US that it wasn't in any way troubled by the Rihanna operation because they can in fact do that sort of thing for themselves. However on this occasion there was no expression of support for Germany.

Rihanna has of course been something of a micro-trend within this years competition but one that seemed to limited only to the Baltic nations. Joining Latvia and Estonia from the first semi-final the elimination of Lithuania means that none of these nations made it through to the final. Sadly for Rihanna the message from Eurovision appears to be that they consider her to be a spent force and yesterday's news. Any nation that failed to work that one out for themselves appears to have been rejected as not being up to the standard of the final.

22:00 on 8/5/14 (UK date). I'll add more tomorrow.

Edited at around 13:35 on 9/5/14 (UK date) to add;

Israel: Every year Israel provide me with an opportunity to explain that although there is a lot of overlap these days the entire Eurovision project of which the Song Contest is simply a part has nothing to do with the European Union (EU). Instead it is part of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) which is much older and much broader including nations as far afield as Morocco, Libya and Jordan. In recent years there has even been serious talk of allowing Australia to join because the song contest is very popular over there despite the fact they have to get up at around 06:00 to watch it live. This year Australia were even granted a sort of official observer status being allowed perform a segment during the voting in this second semi-final.

As I think I've mentioned more then once Israel are currently very angry at the US. Primarily this is because of the ever worsening situation in Syria with which Israel is technically still at war. However unusually in a world where everything is expressed through metaphor or euphemism Israel is also actually furious with the US over the way they are treating Rihanna. Israel's entry expressed that anger through the very dark song "Same Heart." This was performed by Mei Feingold who like the US pop-star "P!nk" has the sort of athletic presence that has you questioning whether she is gay or straight. With lyrics such as; "I'm, skinning you out, No longer a part. We don't beat from the same heart." Israel was making it quite clear that as a predominately Jewish republic it has nothing in common with Europe's predominately Protestant Monarchies that seem to have no problem with the situation in Syria or the US' treatment of Rihanna.


As always Israel's entry suffered in the voting due to a boycott campaign that is officially in protest against Israel's treatment of the Palestinians. However in this context it does also provide an opportunity for discussion about the rising levels of anti-Semitism in Europe.


Ireland: Their song "Heartbeat" was performed by "Cann-Linn" with Kasey Smith on vocals. Amid the backstage publicity efforts much was made of the fact that Smith had spent a year in Nashville, Tennessee, US honing her craft. Now this could have simply been an effort to highlight that there is actually a huge Country & Western/Rockabilly music scene in Ireland. However it seemed more like an effort to push famous Nashville resident Miley Cyrus onto the Eurovision agenda as she began the European portion of her tour in London, UK. This Irish obsession with the US continued with the dark haired Smith at times seeming to resemble Kim Kardashian with her stage costume invoking thoughts of Katy Perry who was performing in Belfast, UK during this second semi-final.


With lyrics all about rising up and trying again and keeping your head above the water Ireland's entry was very much about the nations political future as it exits from its Eurozone bailout and re-emerges rehabilitated into normal society. The lyrics about breaking the border and the wall being paper thin were intended to promote fears that re-energised Ireland's Catholics might try to resume their war of independence from Britain by re-claiming Northern Ireland. However people with a deeper knowledge of Ireland know that due to centuries of British colonisation Ireland actually has quite a substantial Protestant population. Normally this isn't much of an issue within Irish politics but on this occasion it certainly appears as though those Protestants were put in charge of the Eurovision entry.


This elimination represents only the third time that the most successful nation in the contest's history has failed to qualify for the final since the qualification system was introduced in 2004. It is also one of the first occasions in which Ireland has abandoned its famous policy of neutrality in favour of a partisan political position.


Malta: OK technically it was the Former Yugoslav Republic (FYR) of Macedonia who were eliminated. However I think they were robbed as they seemed to be on course for a strong middle of the table finish in the final. So instead I'm going to talk about Malta.


Coming on the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War (WW1) Malta's entry "Coming Home" was officially dedicated to memories of the soldiers who fought in that war - many of whom have still not come home. However in the back stage publicity effort much has been made of the fact that the song's writer and lead singer of the band "Firelight" grew up in Malta before travelling to the UK for work before returning to Malta. As such the song also seemed to be about migration within the EU. Performed very much in the style of the British band "Mumford & Sons" it seemed specifically to be about Britain's attitude towards migration within the EU while perhaps suggesting that Britain would be happier going back to the old Empire dominated Europe of the pre-WW1 era.


Although this is a valid topic for conversation it isn't one that seems to have been picked up by any other competitor at this years contest. As such Malta either seems to be completely oblivious to everything that is going on around it or is bravely ploughing its own furrow depending on how you choose to look at it. Most importantly though it seems as though rather then speaking with its own voice about issues that are important to it Malta has simply been handed a script to read out and that script doesn't seem to be particularly accurate. To my mind that doesn't make them finalist material.




14:40 on 9/5/14 (UK date).