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wild dances

Thanks a lot. It didn't change anything.

For the second year in a row the best song of the competition won the contest. Ruslana Lyzhichko of the Ukraine received 280 points (a record high score as some daft commentators mentioned - with 12 extra countries voting of course it was the highest score ever!). Let's unleash that logic: Sixth place scored enough votes to win last year's contest, so Lisa Andreas can blame the 16 year age minimum on her not winning in 2003. OK, now my head hurts.
Tedious voting system now that 36 countries are voting - with Ukraine breaking free from Serbia & Montenegro by about country 21 and the finish never in doubt by country 32. For the second year the contest was between a traditional sound re-worked in a very modern way (hey there were bull horns in there and they wore leathers and skins) and a folk music song (Serbia's subtle superstar).

highlights of the vote

Joke of the NightTool of the NightCrack up of the Night
SLOVENIA - Peter returns. Hooray! Resplendind in green and red track suit top and a tuxedo jacket, the Peter show featured his breadth of Turkish words 'sheesh kebab' and his awarding 12 points to his own country.
He must read the Slovenian votes every year. 		KORHAN ABAY

See 'The Wisdom of Korhan Abay' to the right.

 "Sertab Erener has lost her shoe," Meltem Cumbal

From announcing Ukraine had won to Ruslana performing her reprise took about 5 minutes. Lord knows what was up, much hugging, costumes left behind in green rooms, Ukrainian officials getting their 15 minutes, etc. It culminated in Sertab (winner 2003) coming on stage to present the trophy and leaving one of her stilletos in the air conditioning grill. A rival to Dana's trip in 1999.

A Star is BornPeace, Love & Mung Bean AwardFashion Faux Pas
CYPRUS / UK - Lisa Andreas. Lisa put everything into her song. The audience was transfixed on her vocal power and intesity. Then she finishes the song and says 'thanks' in a child's voice and waves like the 16 year old kid she that is.

The wow moment of the Qualifying Final and a great controlled performance in the Grand Final. I dont agree with Des Mangan on much, but his call was right - we will see a lot more of her in future.

TURKEY. Last year's contest had an ugly audience, booing everything Russian and hinting at major ethnic troubles brewing in Estonia. Turkey's audience was great. They cheered the Cypriot and Greek entrants louder than everyone but their own. They loved Israel's entrant on the Wednesday too. Given the No Vote in the Cyprus referendum I had suspected the opposite.

Maybe its Turkey needing Europe to see they are really nice and secular and do not hold grudges, but I'd like to think that level of maturity is sincere. Cmon Europe, embrace Turkey - well maybe not Korhan.

So many contenders for biggest fashion faux pas of the night!
  • Anjeza (ALB) - the baby dress based on Albania's flag.
  • Tose (FYROM) - pleated white jacket with tails.
  • Chris Doran (IRE) - oversized jacket made out of curtains.
  • Tatiana (POL) - peek-a-poo skirt
  • Knut (NOR) - the full metal jacket
  • Sanda (ROM) - the end of the strip is the beginning.
And the winner is: Meltem Cumbal
Each outfit was worst than the first. She started out OK in the common pink with strips missing on Wednesday, but bright yellow strips of material, heavy makeup and huge rollered hair. Oh my! Credit to Korhan for the white scarf on the tux.

The Wisdom of Korhan Abay

Turkey's Bert Newton.
'It's like Bela Lugosi has taken acid... and had a stroke.'

Ruslana's taking time to get to stage. Fill...

  • "Yes. Yes. It was a great, great, great evening"
  • "Oh yes, and how many countries voted?"
  • "And two evenings from... you know"
  • "We all agree, aren't we?"
        Sertab Erener has lost her shoe. (Meltem Cumbal)
        "Nevermind!"

Voting completes with the victorious Ukrainians announcing their douze point.
        "Thanks a lot. It didn't change anything."

UKRAINERuslana Lyzhichko ‘Dikiye Tantsy Wild Dances’
Comments:Ruslana got over the line thanks to votes from nations not in the Grand Final – one of several controversial elements of this new system. A great track – like Toya Wilcox fused with primal world beats – and fantastically choreographed. Ruslana has spent the year since acting like a President of Pop Culture, appearing at national finals, assisting the Ukrainian show and supporting the Orange Revolution.
Score:280
Place:1
Douze Point:Serbia
Neighbourhood Watch:Every nation sent votes Ruslana’s way including all the neighbours.
SERBIA & MONTENEGROZeljko Joksimovic‘Lane Moje’
Comments:Zeljko is a Serb super-star and everyone worked out why on the night. Carefully crafted song, with elements from all surrounding nations introduced one at a time, building to an inspiring crescendo.
Score:263
Place:2
Douze Point:FYROM
Neighbourhood Watch:None of their neighbours let them down, but frankly every nation sent votes to Serbia & Montenegro.
GREECESakis Rouvas‘Shake It’
Comments:The song most likely to be used in a chicken advert. Brilliant stage show from one of Greece’s biggest stars. Somersaults, stripping the dancing girls, the dancing girls stripping him. Something for everyone.
Score:252
Place:3
Douze Point:Cyprus
Neighbourhood Watch:Malta, Cyprus* and Albania provided douzes.
TURKEYAthena‘For Real’
Comments:Turkey certainly threatened to host two years running. A great song combining Smashmouth-styled singing with ska and punk roots. Not a belly dancer in sight.
Score:195
Place:4
Douze Point:Ukraine
Neighbourhood Watch:Migrant workers in Belgium, Germany, France and the Netherlands helped Athena to 12 pointers.
SWEDENLena Phillipsson‘It Hurts’
Comments:Lena makes many people wish they were a microphone stand in a stage show that balanced entertainment and sluttiness perfectly. A non-ABBA Swedish song still gets you a spot in the Top 5: please take note future entrants!
Score:170
Place:5
Douze Point:Serbia
Neighbourhood Watch:Denmark, Finland and Norway acted might neighbourly.
CYPRUSLisa Andreas‘Stronger Every Minute’
Comments:Stunning performance from 16-year-old England-based Lisa Andreas at the Qualifying Final was followed up by an excellent try on the Final. The girl has real talent and rung every drop of passion out of a very good song. Likely to have a good career.
Score:170
Place:6
Douze Point:Greece
Neighbourhood Watch:Greece’s 12 as always* and 10 from the UK (Lisa’s a Pom remember)
ALBANIAAnjeza Shahini ‘Imazhi Yt Your Reflection’
Comments:Anjeza did a great job in the semis, showing great confidence and enjoying herself. Her Grand Final performance was almost fatalistic.
Score:106
Place:7
Douze Point:Greece
Neighbourhood Watch:Got big points from FYROM and Greece*
GERMANYMax‘Can’t Wait Until Tonight’
Comments:Max does a damned good impression of Luther Van Dross in a really great entry from Germany (are they getting serious about ESC after all these years of taking the piss?). Max fell foul of a throat bug or something and was off colour for the Final, lacking power and missing a few notes.
Score:93
Place:8
Douze Point:Turkey
Neighbourhood Watch:Austria and Switzerland sent 10 each.
BOSNIADeen ‘In The Disco’
Comments:Written by Vesna Pisarovic (Croatia: 2002) there were two main questions hanging over this performance. 1) How could anyone be confused about Deen’s (homo)sexuality? And 2) Just how much clothing were his back-up singers going to discard in the Grand Final?
Score:91
Place:9
Douze Point:Serbia
Neighbourhood Watch:10 each from Albania, Croatia and Slovenia.
SPAINRamón ‘Para Llenarme De Ti To Be Filled By You’
Comments:Forgettable entry. Among several Enrique Inglesias impersonators (at least Ramon was Spanish!) The crowd responded well to this, but most Enrique fans voted for Sakis.
Score:87
Place:10
Douze Point:Germany
Neighbourhood Watch:Douze from Portugal and Andorra
RUSSIAYulia Savicheva‘Believe Me’
Comments:Her Dad and Manager are big movers in the Russian music industry – why were we reminded of Citizen Kane building the opera house for his bimbo? Funniest moment of the night was the paint coming off the muscle men and all over Yulia’s arms.
Score:67
Place:11
Douze Point:Ukraine
Neighbourhood Watch:10s from Ukraine* and Latvia and a 12 from Belarus (gee I wonder where large Russian minorities might be found)
CROATIAIvan Mikulic‘Dajes mi Krila’
Comments:Huge boo-boo made between DORA and ESC with this track. For whatever reason the lyrics were changed to make this tragic ballad about lost love (which we love) an up-beat track about falling in love. The music and lyrics clearly didn’t gel and the song didn’t touch anyone.
Score:50
Place:12
Douze Point:Serbia
Neighbourhood Watch:Bosnia’s 10 stands out.
MALTAJulie & Ludwig‘On Again...Off Again ’
Comments:Oh, how much did we hate this song? Muppets Wayne and Wonda come to life. She sings pop, he sings opera, and then they swap, all the while Julie points to Ludwig like he is going to forget his cues.
Score:50
Place:13
Douze Point:Greece
Neighbourhood Watch:-
FYR MACEDONIATose Proeski‘Angel Si Ti Life Is A Book’
Comments:Well the music nerds were excited about this one. 7/8 time. Very strange sound indeed, a driving asymmetrical folk-based song with a total twit out front in one of the worst white suits ever.
Score:47
Place:14
Douze Point:Albania
Neighbourhood Watch:Serbia sent a douze
FRANCEJonatan Cerrada ‘Laissez Moi Le Temps Give Me Time’
Comments:An all-white attired stage act, including female stilt walker who made Jonatan (a short arse) look like a hobbit. Intensely dull French ballad.
Score:40
Place:15
Douze Point:Turkey
Neighbourhood Watch:12 from Monaco and 10 from Belgium.
UKJames Fox‘Hold Onto Your Love’
Comments:Wins the prize for most lines starting with conjunctions in an ESC song. Sounds like Lerlene singing to Homer in the Simpsons, but even that is an improvement on Jemini.
Score:29
Place:16
Douze Point:Greece
Neighbourhood Watch:-
POLANDBlue Cafe‘Love Song’
Comments:Cruelly overlooked in 2003 at the national finals, Blue Café sent a dull, repettive song to ESC in 2004 and thought liberal amounts of skank would cover the bad smell.
Score:27
Place:17
Douze Point:Ukraine
Neighbourhood Watch:-
ROMANIASanda Ladosi‘I Admit’
Comments:Another victim of the anti-skank movement. Sanda started with the strip and then just hollered her way through a song that could have been a contender.
Score:18
Place:18
Douze Point:Greece
Neighbourhood Watch:-
ICELANDJón Jósep Snjæbjörnsson (Jónsi)‘Heaven ’
Comments:Jonsi’s appeal to “paint your pain with my blue” left no one moved. Birgitta Haukdal got Iceland the spot in the Grand Final by finishing high in 2003; Jonsi denied Denmark a shot at the prize.
Score:16
Place:19
Douze Point:Ukraine
Neighbourhood Watch:-
NETHERLANDSRe-Union‘Without You’
Comments:What becomes of a boy band when they re-unite but only half of them show up? They call themselves Re-Union and sing a song about the rest of the old band. Next.
Score:11
Place:20
Douze Point:Turkey
Neighbourhood Watch:-
AUSTRIATie-Break‘Du Bist’
Comments:Boyzvoice should not be taken a serious template on which to base a Eurovision entry.
Score:9
Place:21
Douze Point:Serbia
Neighbourhood Watch:-
IRELANDChris Doran‘If the World Stops Turning’
Comments:The $64,000 question of ESC is when Ireland will cease going back to this well? Enough with the big lads with borderline singing voices doing ballads about whatever.
Score:7
Place:22
Douze Point:Ukraine
Neighbourhood Watch:7 from the UK – the entirety of Chris’ votes.
BELGIUMXandee ‘1 Life’
Comments:A refreshing pattern for 2004 – acting like a skank lost votes. Xandee was an early favourite but no one wanted what she was selling on the night (see Poland and Romania)
Score:7
Place:23
Douze Point:Turkey
Neighbourhood Watch:-
NORWAYKnut Anders‘High’
Comments:Jostein Hasselgård got Norway this spot due to the 2003 result – Knut really calls the new system into question. This song had no place in the Grand Final, and was clearly poorer than the 4 or 5 nations who just missed on qualifying.
Score:3
Place:24
Douze Point:Sweden
Neighbourhood Watch:-
ISRAELDavid D'Or‘Le'ha'amin To Believe’
Comments:Is it a man? Is it a woman? Is it a castrato, perhaps!? An amazing range from David – but best recalled for his urging the crowd to sing along with the lyrics “Na na na na.”
Score:FTQ
Place:25
Douze Point:Ukraine
Neighbourhood Watch:-
ESTONIANeiokõsõ ‘Tii’
Comments:Ripping off Urban Trad, the girls wear sackcloth and warble in a southern Estonian language (Vôru). Star of the act was Pete who looked more than a little like Shrek and uses his hands and head as percussion instruments.
Score:FTQ
Place:26
Douze Point:Ukraine
Neighbourhood Watch:-
DENMARKTomas Thordarson ‘Si' Det' Løgn. Shame On You’
Comments:Tomas was resplendid in red and shoes with hidden roller skates in them. Dodging voting results denied him his rightful place in the Grand Final. One of the better songs for 2004.
Score:FTQ
Place:27
Douze Point:Sweden
Neighbourhood Watch:-
FINLAND Jari Sillanpää ‘Takes 2 To Tango’
Comments:A weird song about angels and devils getting it on upon the dancefloor sung by a very camp Matt Munro impersonator.
Score:FTQ
Place:28
Douze Point:Sweden
Neighbourhood Watch:-
PORTUGALSofia‘Foi Magia’
Comments:A good entry in terms of Portugal’s track record – but still quite poor in comparison to the rest of the field.
Score:FTQ
Place:29
Douze Point:Spain
Neighbourhood Watch:-
LITHUANIA Linas & Simona‘What's Happened To Our Love?’
Comments:Too many duos this year – the limited votes they would pull were thus split, Malta got through to the Final, and these guys didn’t.
Score:FTQ
Place:30
Douze Point:Ukraine
Neighbourhood Watch:-
LATVIAFomins & Kleins‘Dziesma par Laimi’
Comments:Ageing rockers having a fair crack at it.
Score:FTQ
Place:31
Douze Point:Ukraine
Neighbourhood Watch:-
ANDORRAMarta Roure‘Jugarem a estimar-nos’
Comments:Unusual song which failed to engage the audience, but an impressive feat from a cutely dressed Marta who dances non-stop while delivering an essay of lyrics at machine gun speed!
Score:FTQ
Place:32
Douze Point:Spain
Neighbourhood Watch:-
BELARUSAleksandra Kirsanova & Konstantin Drapezo‘Moy Galiley’
Comments:A lovely though strange song about centripetal forces, which was dreadfully performed on the night due to Aleksandra suffering a voice problem.
Score:FTQ
Place:33
Douze Point:Russia
Neighbourhood Watch:-
MONACOMaryon Gargiulo‘Notre Planete’
Comments:Prince Albert of Monaco said this song had an important message about the environment. They have been away from Eurovision for a long time. What were they thinking?
Score:FTQ
Place:34
Douze Point:France
Neighbourhood Watch:
SLOVENIAPlatin‘Stay Forever’
Comments:Media whores who got engaged during the Slovenia Finals and married while at Istanbul. No one fell for it. Dead average song and zero personality.
Score:FTQ
Place:35
Douze Point:Serbia
Neighbourhood Watch:-
SWITZERLANDPiero Esteriore‘Celebrate’
Comments:The first entry to ever get no points from over 25 nations. This song would embarrass as a B-side from The Wiggles. Switzerland’s Pop Idol clearly did not find any talent in 2003.
Score:FTQ
Place:36
Douze Point:Serbia
Neighbourhood Watch:-