Je t'adore, Eurovision!

2006 Predictions

Pos	Country & Mini-Review	Artist	Song
1st Place	Turkey I thought the Turkish entry was one of the more deserving entries to qualify to the Final.  Sibel dealt with the song much better than I anticipated, and everything about it was great - the singing, the dancing, the presentation and the very effective key change. Go Turkey!	Sibel Tunzun	SuperStar
2nd Place	Greece One I'm really itching to see.  I think Anna Viss will have no problems at all, and she's a definate contender for victory.	Anna Vissi	Everything
3rd Place	Germany My early personal favourites to win this year, and I'm still not discounting them.  The only thing holding this entry back is the draw.  I'd still love to see this win though!	Texas Lightning	No, No, Never
4th Place	Bosnia & Herzegovina Not my cup of tea at all, but Bosnia and Herzegovina will do well.  The Semi-Final performance was flawless - and was presented in the exact way this song should have been.  It's a beautiful ballad, but I don't want it to win, I'm more of a pop music kinda guy.	Hari Mata Hari	Lejla
5th Place	Sweden Don't discount this - Carola could just work her magic, although I must say that I was slightly disappointed by the performance on Thursday.  I though the music was much louder than the vocal, and Carola did look a bit nervous - she also did a funny thing with her mouth (kind of like a spasm) when she sang and held long, high notes.  I hope she can sort it out :o)	Carola	Invincible
6th Place	Ukraine Another one I was very surprised by on Thursday night.  Don't discount this, it worked for me to a very pleasing effect, and I even ended up voting for it :o) The performance was lively, Tina looked a million dollars - and it all came together very well indeed.	Tina Karol	Show Me Your Love
7th Place	Norway My final potential victor.  No doubt this will be beautifully presented and sung by Christine, I'm just worried about the draw.  This should pick up a good smattering of votes from across Europe though.	Christine Guldbrandsen	Alvedansen
8th Place	Romania I'm no more convinced about this ones victory than I was when I first heard the new version.  I really think what was a great song has been taken down more than a few notches.  Nonetheless, the backbone of the song remains and Mihai should easily make the top ten.	Mihai Tristairiu	Tornero
9th Place	Finland I was surprised when my 77 year old grandmother said she liked this song.  Does this make it universal? This could just be the ticket for Finland, although amongst the competition I think it's likely Europe will go for something more 'Eurovision'.	Lordi	Hard Rock Hallelujah
10th Place	Malta It's catchy, innocent, enjoyable, europop fun.  Initially I wasn't convinced, but now I'd be very surprised to see Malta near the bottom.	Fabrizio Faniello	I Do
11th Place	Ireland OK, maybe I'm not as convinced as I should be... Is the Irish ballad back in town? Or did Europe just appreciate this on one particular night and for that night only?  Either way, Ireland are in the Final, and I can't see them bombing at all - it's hard to say if this will go all the way to the top though.	Brian Kennedy	Every Song Is A Cry For Love
12th Place	Switzerland My personal favourite - I'd love to see this win, but I'd expect to see it just outside the top ten.	Six4One	If We All Give A Little
13th Place	United Kingdom I'm not as enthusiastic about Daz as I was, so I'd expect to see a mid teens result here.  Despite the song being very British, I just don't think it has the big appeal it needs to impress at Eurovision.	Daz Sampson	Teenage Life
14th Place	Russia I wasn't impressed with the performance of this at the Semi-Final, but nevertheless it managed to get through and is one of the big favourites with bookies.  I'd be surprised if this didn't make top 15, it's certainly a contender for top 10.	Dima Bilan	Never Let You Go
15th Place	Macedonia OK, this will follow form won't it? Polls suggest that this could be top ten, but I'm not convinced.  I think we'll see Macedonia back in the Semi next year.	Elena Risteska	Ninanajna
16th Place	Croatia Lots of Balkan votes here and I sincerely hope that's all this gets.	Severina	Moja Stikla
17th Place	Denmark Sorry Denmark! As much as I like this I don't think it's going to strike a chord with the televoters - but by all means please prove me wrong Europe :o)	Sidsel Ben Semmane	Twist Of Love
18th Place	Lithuania I don't like this and I hope I never do.  I think I'm partly worried about this. It could win - if you look at the some 97 votes on the new poll for the Final it's well ahead of Greece.  I just hope it does a Belgium!	LT United	We Are The Winners
19th Place	Latvia Hmmm, another possible top ten, but I'll go for the 'safe' option and stick to what the polls say.	Cosmos	I Hear Your Heart
20th Place	France I'd love to see this do well, but it is France.  Virginie will give a sound performance, so I hope it does well for what it is.	Virginie Pouchain	Il Etait Temps
21st Place	Armenia After watching this on the Semi-Final I was surprised to see it do well.  It really wasn't the fantastic performance I was expecting - especially the vocal.  I think Armenia will really suffer from being on after Sweden and Turkey, so I think we might have the worst Semi-Finalist on our hands here.	Andre	Without Your Love
22nd Place	Israel Boring and insignificant.  I'd be surprised to see Israel pick up mnay votes - despite being a rather nice song.	Eddie Butler	Together We Are One
23rd Place	Spain I still think this will be a big disappointment.  People will be expecting something upbeat and catchy from Las ketchup - and I still think they're going to be very disappointed.	Las Ketchup	Bloody Mary
24th Place	Moldova This is just all wrong - really very much so all wrong!  I don't know who they're trying to appeal to around Europe, but I just don't see it happening.  For coming last place though, I still think this could pick up a fair amount of votes from neighbours such as Romania, so I think whoever ends up last will be looking at at least 12-20 points.	Arsenium ft. Natalie & Connect-R	Loca

Pos	Country & Mini-Review	Artist	Song
1st Place	Sweden Sweden are top contenders for victory and should have no problems reaching the final with their perfect draw	Carola	Invincible
2nd Place	Bosnia & Herzegovina This beautiful Balkan ballad should have no problems with such a good draw and an enthusiastic East European audience.	Hari Mata Hari	Lejla
3rd Place	Belgium Up 7th in the running, this has been a popular one among fans.  It's the first truly uptempo song of the night and a very good one at that.	Kate Ryan	Je t'adore
4th Place	Estonia I don't get what there's not to like about this song.  With a really good place in the running order, catchy chorus and pretty lady onstage, I would be very surprised if Estonia didn't make the final.	Sandra Oxenryd	Through My Window
5th Place	Iceland This has to be the most zaniest entry of the contest.  The fantastic Silvia Night is sure to give a performance to remember, and being last up means she'll definately stick in the audience's mind.	Sylvia Night	Congratulations Iceland!
6th Place	Russia Handsome guy with a good voice.  Dima's one to watch this year.  The song is a catchy ballad, in my opinion the best in the semi.  Again, with so many neighbours and a genuinely good song it would be a surprise if this didn't make the final.	Dima Bilan	Never Let Your Go
7th Place	Turkey Another popular one among the fans, but certainly not one of my faves.  Sibel is bound to pull off a good performance, and screaky as the song may sound, it never caused Sertab any problems in 2003.	Sibel Tunzun	Superstar
8th Place	Armenia Strong eastern flavoured number here which is bound to go down well with the Balkans as well as the Turkish.  Political votes should pull this through, not to mention the fact that it is a really good song.	Andre	Without Your Love
9th Place	Macenonia I think this is the best attempt Macedonia has entered since the new format of the contest started 2 years ago - and even with mediocre and, in one case, a horrific (2004) entry, they still managed to qualify.  So I see no reason why they won't this time, especially with a better song.	Elena Risteska	Ninanajna
10th Place	Finland Finland stand a strong chance for qualification this year with their definately memorable performance.  The song's good but the performance is one you'll either love or hate.  I think a niche market will pull them through - whether or not this 'nich market' watches Eurovision is yet to be seen.	Lordi	Hard Rock Hallelujah
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