Euroviisut, second semi

In a state filled of fever and exhaustion, I watched last nights Finnish semi number two and was slightly underwhelmed by what I saw. I knew the songs in advance, I knew what I was getting. But I keep getting surprised at how little thought goes into making this show.

I won't comment further on the lack of dynamics in the TV-show (but still: how can you make 50 minutes feel like an entire life???) and go straight for the songs:



Mikael Konttinen - Milloin - Finland 2008 NF QF
Clearly the best song in the line-up, but even the staging underlines the fact that this is a washed out recycled version of "Shanghain valot". Mikael sells the song really well, and comes across as a charming young man, but when your backing singers are intended to do synchronised movements in the background, the least one could expect is for them to be synchronised.



Kristian Meurman - Jos en sua saa - Finland 2008 NF QF
There is nothing to add about this song that I wouldn't have written the other night. Except, perhaps, that Kristian had let his hair out of the pigtail, which was, style wise, even more dubious than what he is normally up to.



Ninja - Battlefield Of Love - Finland 2008 NF - Second Chance
The lack of a chorus in combination with a lack of singing voice turns out to be a very unfortunate mix. Add a most viewer-unfriendly choreography (mixed with a camera work that may not be the hottest around) and the failure is imminent and irreversible. Too bad, this number could have turned into something good.



Jippu - Kanna minut - Finland 2008 NF - Second Chance
Wonderful Jippu managed to turn my mind around completely concerning this song. She totally sold it to me on stage. Not that it helped. Chanceless in the voting, and very likely that stunt will be repeated in the Second Chance round. But if there is any justice in the world, this will help Jippu sell a few more albums to the people out there with taste.

My prediction so far:
The final will be a private dingdong between Kari Tapio and Mikael Konttinen, given the fact they had almost the same share of percentage winning their respective semis. Neither of which would make Finland a sure qualifyer in Belgrade, I'm afraid...