Hello, welcome to the second part of my reviews. I hope you enjoy them and feel free to leave your comment.

Norway

It’s been almost 20 years since a country managed to do a back to back… actually, they did a back to back to back, and it was Ireland, early in the 1990’s. No other country has managed to do so ever since, although some were close. So, can this be the year when the host manages to win the contest again?

Melodi Grand Prix, the Norwegian selection process is one of the most exciting shows of the season. They really do take it seriously, and the production is amazing. This year was highly competitive and in the end the honoured to represent the host country in May was Didrik Solli-Tangen, with ‘My Heart is Yours’.

The guy has really got everything… the voice, the song, the staging, the looks. He sang almost to perfection during MGP, with a very powerful voice which is hard to forget. The lyrics of the song are beautiful and simple. The overall stage production was remarkable… and it is quite likely that Norway will, as usual, put their best effort to present the audience with a quality act. This is all the more evident since they are the host country, so it should be expected that they will do their best effort to live up to the expectations.

What could work against this entry is that a lot of people feel that it is a lab-song specifically created with the purpose of picking up points for the contest. While this may be true, I don’t really see what’s wrong with that. After all, it is the country which manages to get the most points (how’s this revelation!!!) who wins ESC.

So, all in all, I do see Norway as a potential candidate to hold the crown and accomplish what no country has done in quite a while… have the contest on their ground for two consecutive years. It will surely pick up a lot of points from fans, and I don’t see why the jury wouldn’t give it at least some points. Probably not the strongest candidate, but it can’t be discarded as a contender.

Iceland

The Icelandic selection process was one of the ones I followed completely this year. The reason is quite simple, and it’s that I’m a big fan of Iceland in ESC. Almost every year I cheer for them, and so I like to see how everything goes from the beginning. Last year we saw a show with a lot of quality (song-wise), which produced my 2009 favourite entry, and one of my favourite ESC songs ever. This year, however, the songs were average, to be optimistic. The one song which really stood out was, in fact, the winning song which now has the honour of representing the isle in Oslo. From the moment I heard ‘Je ne sais quoi’ in the semifinal I had absolutely no doubt it would fly the Icelandic flag in the 2010 edition.

Hera Björk surely fills the stage with her presence. She is a polished performer and has a powerful voice and is unlikely to make mistakes, which she proved during both her live performances in the selection. The lyrics of the song are good, nothing remarkable, but good enough for that kind of dance song (although I’m not particularly a fan of songs which are entirely in one language and use a different one just for a line or two in the chorus).

The problems Iceland will probably face this year are of very different nature. Firstly, and probably the least of Hera’s worries, is to be the heir of Johanna’s Eurovision glory. We always tend to compare things, and I’m certain that a lot of people (probably myself included, I admit it) will say ‘well yes, this is good, but last year was so much better’, and probably won’t pick up the phone to vote for her. Then comes the staging. ‘Je ne sais quoi’ is a dance song, and Hera won’t be able (as happened in the Icelandic selection) to come up with an elaborated choreography. In contest in which not only the song, but also the staging are of the greatest importance, this might hurt Iceland’s chances to move forward. Finally, being drawn only with Finland, it’s not possible to rely on a lot of friendly vote; on the other hand, having the superb voice that she has, she’ll probably be able to rely on the juries to level things and probably launch her to the final.

In a year which has been called by many the Ballad-vision, it’s an advantage to come with a dance entry. It will be one of the few in the first semifinal, and so that might definitely work in their advantage, although I don’t think it’s at all the best up-beat song of its semi. However, being in which I consider to be the weakest of both semis, and that only 7 countries will be left out, I don’t think this is going to be a bad year for Iceland in qualifying terms… the final will be a whole other story.

All in all, this song has a special something which makes me like it… what it is, je ne sais quoi!

Denmark

2000 saw Denmark’s last victory with the amazing ‘Fly on the Wings of Love’ by the Olsen Brothers. Then in 2001 they almost pulled a back-to-back when Rollo & King came second in Copenhagen. And then a series of mixed results. The truth is that Denmark hasn’t had such a good chance of winning eurovision like this year.

‘In a Moment Like This’ has placed really well with the bookies, who consider it to be among the 5 favourites to take the crown back to Denmark. The hardest test for Chanée and N’evergreen is that they have been placed in the semifinal which I consider (and the bookies and a lot of fans together with me) the “death” semifinal. Moving forward to the final from there would surely guarantee them a top placing in the final, and without a doubt make them candidates to win the whole thing.

Dansk Melodi Grand Prix 2010 was indeed a great show, and one of a very high quality both in songs and performances. Chanée and N’evergreen did not at all arrive to the big night as favourites, and yet managed to win the privilege to represent Denmark in Oslo. The formula, as I see it, was quite simple. An amazing song, with rather beautiful lyrics, good chemistry between both performers, good singing, and amazing (probably the best of all the national selection entries I saw) staging. The whole act put together worked perfectly, and in the end, the Danish public rewarded them and sent them to ESC.

‘In a Moment Like This’ is a very easy song to listen, one that is likely to catch the public’s ear and win its heart on the first listen. This is very important considering that a great deal of the voting public during the actual contest will be hearing all the songs for the very first time. Therefore, the ability to impress in just one try is of course an invaluable weapon for those who want to move forward from the semis to the big night, and be contenders to take the contest to their countries. I think this is Denmark’s case this year, and therefore I don’t doubt to place them as really strong candidates to win the whole thing and bring the contest back to Copenhagen… 10 years later!!!