clucking bell 'popking'...Finland is a song...Moldova is a circus act...is this europes got talent or a phuck!ng song contest!

'5' with Moldova #1...he also likes the ugly spanish duckling and the loon from Albania...you need a break fella.

Finand is a beautifully soothing song.

have you actually made a prediction Milan. All I see is what you wish to happen?

i posted first fyi...have you ever actually posted a topic or do you just leech ?

From Twitter, I get a hunch that the Irish twins might be able to mobilize their 500.000 Twitter followers to launch a televoting campaign to lift their dismal song with its desperate over the top performance to the finals.

I'd be very surprised, however, if this more gimmicky but overall poorer rendition of last year would score a top 10 among juries.

Popking, last year the gimmick looked fresh. And the performance and the backdrop tied in neatly with the song. This year it looks old, worn and contrived. These boys haven't progressed, they're regressing... I don't see that as a winning formula but they do have a fanbase. So I'm changing my prediction to them not landing in the top 10 with the juries. In my opinion, they might still make it by virtue of the televote although that may well be a heavy lift...

Yes, I do rate Italy highly BUT I haven't seen the camera work. Based on the You Tube clips which don't give us the full picture, I'm now inclined to see Romania as a strong contender for the televote. It would not surprise my if they top it. I still see Italy as getting a good jury score but I cant judge if it will be enough...

I wish we could see the closeups of the camera work that the guys in the press room get... Then I'd feel more certain about Italy.

I'd be surprised if they top the jury vote. It would not surprise me if they win the televote. Overall, I think they can win. So far, I've only had this feeling with Italy who have the class but may just miss the oomph in their performance to captivate a broad audience.

Lonnegan,
I like your 10 - pretty much a couple of flip flops and we're on exactly the same page mate!
Hope it works out like that

wow Hungary is seriously underated amongst this tosh imo.

Before I post my selections (which are pretty much the same with most, it might be the order that changes only), I have a question. It seems that the 'Big 5' plus Azerbaijan won't be voting in any semi. I remember last year those countries would be drawn to vote in one or the other semi. Has that changed this year (I guess it should), or have I just screwed up and those countries will be voting tonight (some of them) and on Thursday (the rest of them)???

Romania 1st
Denmark 2nd
Russia 3rd
Greece 4th
Iceland 5th
Moldova 6th
Albania 7th
Ireland 8th
Hungary 9th
Belguim or Israel.

Agree with the lays on Cyprus might sneak in but an easy lay to finish top 3 in this. 6/4 Denmark and Romania dutched strikes me as infinitely better value than Sweden in the outright, and Romania in paricular looks a place lock. Most of the qualification value has gone but Albania should make it through ay 4/6 the 8/14 Romania top3 makes more appeal.

i marked them all out of 10, after much deliberation:

1.Denmark 8
2.Romania 8
3.Iceland 8
4.Cyprus 7
5.Greece 7
6.Ireland 7
7.Russia 7
8.Hungary 6
9.Moldova 6
10.Switzerland 5

11.Albania 4
12.Israel 4
13.San Marin 2
14.Finland 2
15.Belgium 2
16.Latvia 1
17.Austria 0
18.Montenegro 0

Here are the 10 qualifiers from the hemsby family jury

Romania 26
Russia 25
Ireland 23
Iceland 23
Greece 20
Hungary 20
Austria 19
Moldova 19
Finland 18
Denmark 17
--------------------
Cyprus 17
Belgium 14
Switzerland 13
Albania 13
Latvia 13
Israel 13
San Marino 9
Montenegro 8

Sure somebody will have got 10 cba checking maybe more than one

Got 9 I think bloody Albania