Supernatural s05 episode 05 – Fallen Idols – well, it’s nice to get back to some of the classic meta-comedy SN does so well….even if they had Paris Hilton in it…who admittedly is pretty good. Much better than she was in Veronica Mars (but let’s face it, next to Kristen Bell, she never had a chance….KB is a GODDESS). It was nice to see some follow-up on all the brotherly angst and stuff…but elt’s face it, the only thing that really got us excited was the SOON…….EEE! I want SOON to be NOW!

Grey’s Anatomy – s06 ep04….

Ah. Izzie’s ever-changing hairstyle has gone with the spunky blonde look. Interesting. I like the dynamics of her and Karev’s relationship this seas9on, it seems a little more organic than the ham-fisted great love story of last year.

Interesting to see their technique of getting rid of meredith for a little while – very nicely done, and tying in well with her lonely orphan storyline. Also good to see Yang, although they are ruining her character – she’s going to waste! Come on people, give this amazing woman something to work with! Still…the show is losing my interest again…….well, at least they haven’t brough back more dead ghost sex!

Glee – s1 ep06 – GLEE! Yes – watching this one a little late, but oh glee, you have my heart. Well, Kurt owns me, like a dominatrix owns a slave. (I can totally see it. Kurt, whip in hand, all in shiny black leather and knee-high platforms…errrrr……..let’s move on!) Interesting dynamic bringing Terri in as a nurse, who proceeds to hand out decongestants and get the kids all high on amphetamines *snort*. And loved loved loved Sue’s journal entry. That woman is pure and utter gold. GOLD.

Finn’s still hung up on Rachel, who has called a truce with Quinn…which is an interesting dynamic. There’s still not enough Mercedes, Puck and Kurt! Oh Kurt, they need more Kurt….although, maybe these little bursts of Kurt are better, doling it out in bits and pieces.

I totally <3 this show to death.

Amazing Race – s15 Leg 3 – oh my god! PEOPLE! Zev and Justin, you DUMBNUTS! You ran a brilliantly good leg, coming from last to first, with such joy and goodwill…AND THEN YOU LOSE A PASSPORT AND GET YOURSELVES ELIMINATED.

ACK! Show, you have me, you know you have me by the balls..but dammit, don’t break my heart like this! It kills me.

Oh and Lance? Needs to be off my screen. YESTERDAY. I hate the arsehole. He’s exactly the type of man who should be decastrated and shot.

But thank you for visiting beautiful Cambodia! I seriously love that country and Phnom Pennh is amazing….although, flying there from Ho Chi Minh City? Seriously? It’s a 4-5 hour bus trip – why the hell would production decide to wait 15 hours for a half hour plane flight? That makes no sense to me……More Cambodia, peeps!

House s06, ep02 – Epic Fail. Well, now I see how they’ve mnaged to get rid of the new ducklings and bring the old duckings back into the fold. Meh. I’m kind of over this show…but the draw of Chase keeps pulling me back in, dammit! Really wish 13 had stayed a lesbian..she’s pretty hot.

Gossip Girl – s03, ep03 – meh. The sparkle is gone. There’s something about this show that’s…missing. And I don’t know what it is, but this season has so far been rather lacklustre. I think it may be seeing Blair at the bottom of the pile, and not triumphing like the Queen she is. We don’t want this to see Serena fall into pieces yet again or to see Blair torn to shreds…we watch it to see Blair tear everyone else into shreds! Can she please move out of the college dorms, get Dorota back on our screens and go find the bloody people she should be reigning over instead?

Glee – last week’s episode. Dammit. I’ve had Beyonce’s Single Ladies in my head ever since. I LOVE THIS SHOW. Had to rewatch Kurt’s dance yet again. I LOVE KURT SO MUCH. I’m flailing. I’m fangirl flailing. I haven’t done this since I discovered Torchwood canon. I HEART GLEE SO MUCH, PEEPS.

You know I loved this show from the get-go. 2 hot brothers traipsing around the US in a kick-ass metallicar, hunting down demons and ghosts? Seriously, what isn’t there to like?

But this season…it blew me away. I have episodes in every season which I won’t watch again, out of boredom or sheer annoyance (racist killer truck, anyone?)

And yet season 4 was phenomenal all the way through, if a little myth-arc heavy.

Of course, it would start off with a bang, sending off one of the leads to hell at the end of season 3. It was the awesomeness of the first 3 seasons which led me of course to do a Supernatural marathon in the lead-up to season 4 (an event which will never occur again, let me tell you). So there was a lot of anticipation going into the premiere…

And they delivered.

Ripping Dean out of hell, having 10 minutes of pure silence and just seeing the bewilderment on the poor boy’s face, leading up to the joyful reunions, discovering exactly what a bad, bad boy Sammy has been in the 4 months since Dean died and then learning that it was an angel (a very gorgeous angel with bedroom eyes) who pulled Dean out of hell.

And the show got better, bringing back some of our favourite dead characters for a special episode, where we also learn the myth-arc for the season: Lilith is breaking seals in order to release Lucifer.

Then Dean takes a little trip in time and meets daddy with blue eyes, and his sexy mama – and learns his mother was a hunter as well as why she died by ol’ yellow eyes -and how brilliant of them to keep stringing him through the show, even though he died 2 seasons ago? It’s amazing to see a show capable of picking up plot points and continuing to thread them through in such a way. Oh, how I love this show.

There was an homage to old-school horror films in black and white, Halloween (it took them 4 seasons to get to Halloween?), an after school special, a brilliant out-take to the theme Eye of the Tiger, a very meta episode (now with slash!), prophets, and an overdose of angels. It was a very tongue-in-cheek season, but underneath it all, there was beautiful symbolism, as we gradually learn why Dean is so tortured – he started torturing souls himself – and what this meant for the season – this act broke the very first seal to release Lucifer – and why the angels pulled him out – the first man to start it is the only man who can stop Lucifer. EEP!

Meanwhile, Sam gradually fell to the dark side, indulging deeper in demon blood, provided by New Ruby who sucked. Seriously. I was actually a fan of Ruby – she was portrayed brilliantly and you never knew whether you could trust her or not, and begrudgingly started to trust her towards the end of season 3 – but this one just sucked. I did not want to trust her because I hated her so much.

So, we came down to the wire – Sam is not only sleeping with a demon possessing a dead body (ewwww) and gaining in strength, but Dean is yet again in turmoil and carrying the entire world on his shoulders, attempting to save Sammy from his fate. (And attempting to deny his attraction to the lush angel Castiel – come on, we all saw the eyefuckage going on there!)

And then they fight and break up. Dean tends to his wounds with Bobby until the angels put him into a little green room, awaiting the apocalypse, while Sammy makes his own demon road trip to the church where Lilith awaits him.

And here, it all comes full circle. For you see, this has been Ol’ Yellow Eyes goal all along. This was his game plan. The reason he made those kids special, killed several mothers and then got them to pick one another off, was to find the strongest one of them all – the one who would be able to kill the first demon. This is the final seal, and this was Ol Yellow Eye’s game plan all along.

How freaking cool is that???????

Now, Dean discovers the angels want the apocalypse because they want to swipe the slate clean. Luckily, Catsiel breaks him out but he’s too late – Sammy kills Lilith and releases Lucifer.

And now, Ruby reveals she’s also been playing them all along and has secretly been working with both Yellow Eyes and Lilith to lure Sammy to the dark side so this very event can occur.

And then Dean kills her! And I scream ecstatically and dance singing, ding dong, the bitch is dead……

And end season, on the boys grasping each other (together again!), watching the ground break up as Lucifer makes his long-awaited comeback…and leaves wanting more.

This season was pure brilliance, and also improved in the ratings – although that may have something to do with the angels finally coming into play. For a show about the supernatural, they stuck it out with hell and demons for long enough, and I always knew they’d have to bring the other side into it. Of course, I’m not a big fan of the mythology, as I’m not actually a believer, but considering how ridiculous the show is overall, I can overlook it as fiction. After all, I think the Bible is fiction, so it’s not much of a stretch.

I don’t know where to begin with a high point – In the Beginning was the best episode, coming very close to the best episode of the entire show (and yet it still can’t trump Devil’s Trap…I don’t think anything can!). There’s so much that went right this year – Sammy’s descent into darkness, Dean discovering what he really did, breaking out of hell…it’s hard to choose just one.

The weak pint – well besides the overbearing mythology – would have to be Dean’s mopiness. Come on, he spent the entire season crying woe is me! Where’s the tough as nails hunter we first met? Then again, where’s the brainiac normal Sam? He lost the plot too – but at least we can blame his behaviour on losing his brother!

It’s a critical point now for the show – where do they go after this? I hope it can only continue to improve, although it seems we’re moving into the final season. So I’ll be enjoying every single moment there is left and waiting impatiently for the DVD.

i do love her. gossip girl, that is. And while I initially was drawn into this show because it was narrated by the delightful Veronica Mars, the drama, frivolity and pure guilty nastiness of the characters just kept me there.

There is always a fear with the sophomore season for any show with such a brilliant premier season. And although GG did lose the plot from time to time, overall the season held together beautifully and kept the twists coming.

Although we all fell in love with Serena and Dan to begin with, the Blair and Chuck relationship hd crept out of the woodwork throughout the first seson, very similar to Veronica and Logan from VM, the best teen show I have ever seen.

After the fallout at the end of the season, this one was all about Blair and Chuck denying how much they love each other.I will admit to squeeing with glee when Chuck finally comes forward and tells her he loves her.

Wecontinue the back-and-forth see-saw with Serena and Dan, and Rufus and Lily, throwing in Lily’s shock secret – she had Rufus’ child back in the day and put him up for adoption. Well. That could throw a spanner into the works. When they go and find the parents, they are dismayed to find their son died…only for it to be revealed to the audience the parents only said that in order to keep Lily and Rufus away from their child – which is actually an awesome little twist.

Dan had an affair with the teacher who took away Blair’s dream of Yale and while many did not like the storyline, I actually did – anything to pull Serena and Dan apart, plus with people like them, I’m surprised there weren’t more illicit trysts with teachers going on. Of course, now that both Dan and Nate have slept with odler women maybe it’s time for one of the ladies to pick up an older gentleman?

Vanessa lost her morals along the way, but has become more likeable, Nate seemed to disappear for episodes at a time, and then eye-fucked Dan with smouldering looks whenever possible. Yum. Jenny lsot the plot, gave up school, became a designer, and then went back to school, and inevitably became Queen Bee, in some weird surmountable way – and I never realised B’s little fashionistas were a year below.

Eric was sorely under-utilised – I love him. More Eric, please! Chuck’s father died, leaving him the sole heir and to be screwed over by his uncle (Who screwed his girlfriend, but now we’re just getting complicated), and Georgina came back after Serena’s deightful boyfriend screwed everyone over and they needed a way to make her ex-friend pay. Which of course didn’t work, leaving Serena in jail and an opportunity for a terrific flashback episode to Lily’s younger days, a spin-off which will now never happen as the CW prefers to throw money at crappy remakes of awesome 90’s shows.

Oh, and our gangly crew graduated.

High point? So many. But the final episode was jsut brilliant – Gossip Girl’s final gift to the graduating class is to reveal all of their secrets, as she reveals one clue – she is graduating with them. And how can we forget Chuck’s admission of love to Blair? Oh, we all squeeed at that one, didn’t we?

Low point would have to be the plodding mid point, before Chuck’s dad died and everything kind of exploded into a frenzy of drama. It got a little dull. Not to mention Nate and Blair getting back together momentarily. WTF?

This show is my guilty little pleasure. There is no way I can miss an episode of this frivolous little show with its explitative drama and naughty teens. But shh…I’ll never tell.

Gossip Girl, never leave us. And don’t reveal yourself at all – after all, we know you who you are, V.

Betty, Betty, where did it all go wrong?

Probably when they got rid of Gio.

My love affair with this show is over, taking a beating throughout the season. Somehow, the enthusiasm I used to have for Betty dwindled until I was merely watching it out of habit.

It’s hard to say what exactly happened, but I think it may have come from the lack of character development for Betty. We finally had some developments with her deciding to be her own person, move out of home and live in the city and..well, grow up (unfortunately this didn’t extend to her fashion taste, but whatever. Obviously the show has no concept of how people actually do evolve over time – and when are those damn braces coming off?).

And then they slam on the brakes and reverse wildly back to the firsts eason, throwing Betty back into the family home and just not letting her mature. It really frustrated me. We see all these people around her growing, expanding their roles and becoming more than the 2 dimensional characters we were first introduced to, and yet our titular character remins exactly the same. There is no need to re-invent her overnight but for god’s sake – by now maybe she could have tried contacts once or twice, decided ponchos aren’t the best idea in the world, experienced with heels and TAKEN IFF THOSE GODDAMNED BRACES.

We saw Daniel maturing with a child of his own, and then a splendid twist, where he discovers it’s not his biological son – but his brother/sisters. Ouch. And while he broods, he meets Molly, his best friend’s fiancé, and the perfect woman for him. Wilhemina softens with a relationship with said best friend of Daniel, and also has a new baby to tend to. We have growth with her, as her hard metal shell crackens occasionally to reveal how deeply she cares about her status in life and does everything within her power to hold onto it.

Even Amanda and Marc have growth, with Marc’s relationship going through the wringer as he becomes uncomfortable being with only one man, a man he loves but doesn’t fit the ideal world he is desperately trying to throw himself into. And then after breaking his heart, he throws himself into becoming a junior editor, which he obviously excels at…but which is cruelly stolen away from him at the end. Gah. I love you Marc.

Even Christina, who has Wilhemina’s devil spawn, gets her husband back, tried to help him with his disease, and then finds herself attached to the child, only to find out it actually is her child and waltzes back to Scotland – see? Some..semblance of…

Screw it. Betty just annoys me.

They keep flinging around the editor-in-chief role like it’s the holy grail, now it’s Alexis, now it’s Daniel, now it’s Willy, now it’s I don’t give a toss. We see Betty develop and then regress again. They bring bloody Harry back to destroy her new relationship with the rich boy, who I was growing to like (although he will never replace the joy which is Gio in my heart –Bring Back Gio!) – and then at the end of it, the new guy’s dad is now in charge of the whole shebang, and brings in the newly heartbroken boy to be Betty’s boss – and I find myself not caring. I honestly don’t care. I want to see Amanda, Marc, Wilhemina, Daniel’s heartbreak over losing Molly to cancer, hell, Hilda and Justin. I don’t care about Betty anymore.

Which is why this show is being relegated off the schedule. I’ll see what the first few episodes bring – and if they don’t entice me, it’s off to E4 with the show. I’ll see it when they finally show the new season next year.

Grey’s took after its own subject material in its most recent season: started off alright, took a turn for the worse, flatlined, and then miraculously recovered, finishing strong.

GA has definitely peaked, which isn’t surprising as it would have been immensely difficult to keep up those numbers. Even so, the show seemed to fall into precarious waters and all over a dead ghost.

Complaining seems to work well on this show; that or being a Grey. As it is, while we still had our 5 beloved interns to follow around, after 2 seasons we still only know one of their subordinates and that’s solely because she’s little Grey. The others remain nameless characters (although they do manage to have a few beautiful scenes where their own personal dramas bled into the lives of our own doctors, without the back-story: pretty much what we’ve been watching from our famous five, but how everyone else would have seen it. Cute)

The season was mainly dogged by controversy. After disastrously ruining Callie’s strong embodiment femininity, they gave her a lesbian relationship with Dr Hahn (even though Callie continued sleeping with mark) and then spectacularly wrote Hahn off the show a mere 2 episodes later, in what became affectionately known as Hahn-Gate. After Isaiah Washington was kicked off for homophobic slurs, Hahn was kicked off for fear of scaring off the advertisers and network execs. Ouch. And then Hahn was replaced with another blonde doctor- a younger, prettier and more hyper version. May the live happily ever after (or at least however long any relationship seems to last on this show).

Our beloved George had no storyline this year, quite often just popping in to make his single line in each episode. It’s no wonder he asked to be off the show. But what makes this sadder for me is the last episode: Yes, George goes out a hero for throwing himself under a bus – but I never made the connection. Because I was so used to not seeing George on the show anymore, I didn’t even realise it could be him, just disappointed they were treating him so badly as to not even give him a proper farewell.

Christina stayed quiet this year and was in the background for a large chunk of the season, albeit the one shining moment in all the muck Her storyline with PTSD-stricken doctor Owen was pure genius. It’s so old-school romance and perfect and I’m just grateful she’s getting a storyline again.

After pulling out of the Emmy nominations last year due to lack of a storyline, Katherine Heigl was rewarded with a season-long story-arc –inevitably leading to the single incident which broke the show. Yes, it’s the infamous ghost sex incident. Izzie has sex with a ghost, even though the man we all know she belongs with is right there. We waited 4 years for her and Alex to get it on, and when they do, Izzie is sleeping with a ghost.

And then they have to go and fix it by giving Izzie brain cancer which has grown to such proportions it’s taken over her entire body.

And poor Alex, who has obviously had a crappy life, who’s recovered from his crappy exes, who is finally making something of himself (here is an amazing character arc they’ve been driving since season 1) only for it to fall apart when the woman he loves is dying. BAD SHOW.

That’s the problem with this show – the cast is too big (and their egos even bigger) and they just don’t know what to do with them all. It’s difficult juggling so many storylines, but it can be done – something which they proved the first couple of seasons. And yet, lately they’ve really stuffed it up. Characters fade into the background for a whole season before finally demanding they have something to do, while others are being constantly thrown through the exact same ringer time and time again. Yes, morose Meredith and McDreamy. Ugh. I’m so over this relationship. I don’t care. I don’t. And it was so obvious on their “very special” episode it would be Izzie and Alex walking down the aisle and not Meredith and McDreamy. We’re not stupid.

So, while it managed to keep me for the beginning of the season, it spiralled. Callie was still ruined, I didn’t care about Lexie and McSteamy, nor Meredith and McDreamy, and really didn’t care about the serial killer storyline and the tones of grey. Heh.

I wanted beautiful, strong Calliope back (and may that happen next season). I wanted Miranda to stride down the hall like she was the Lion Queen, and this was her kingdom. And then they brought Denny back yet again (intoning once more how he was the great love of Izzie and yes, he was amazingly wonderful and all, but they didn’t even date!) and I came every close to throwing it all in.

And then Izzie’s story came together, and she and Alex grew stronger together, showing how couple can come up against adversity and make it through. They had beautiful scenes between Christina and Owen and actually gave Christina a soul, and it made the show watchable again. Dr Roberts brought out the Callie we all love, and Miranda came back as well. I found the show creeping back up my favourites list.

And then we come down to the final moments with both Izzie and George’s lives on the line. We see the infamous elevator and Izzie in that damn pink prom dress (and when I saw that at the beginning of the season I had a feeling they’d  be killing Izzie off) – the doors open and there’s George. Not Denny. No, because Izzie has finally moved on and actually wants to be with Alex.

Who dies? Well, those who read the spoilers will know the answer. But after all the crap, they managed to pull the show back to its previous standards. Question is, can they keep it up?

Highest point definitely had to be the finale because that was amazing. Realising it was George on the table, realising the lengths Alex would go to, both of them flatlining and that damn scene in the elevator to tide us over…it’s just sad it took them over 22 episodes to get to that level. On the other hand, the scene a couple of episodes earlier where Christina and Owen slowly brush past each other in the corridor was damn HOT.

Lowest point: do I have to spell it out? They ruined a beloved character on this show by bringing him back to have ghosts ex. And who didn’t work out his words, I came for you, meant she was dying? Show, stop treating us all like 5 year olds. Please.

I will be back. But this is your last shot GA – any more shambolic shenanigans like last season, and I’m audi.

Wow – I didn’t think it could get worse than the 3^rd season finale.

Not that any particular episode was worse – but the entire season overall was unimpressive, limp and slightly boring. It became my scrapbooking show, so I no longer actually paid 100% attention to it.

It is a procedural show, and I never really understand the immense popularity of these shows. Nothing ever changes in them (except the cast, the victim and the murder weapon) – but this year Bones really felt stale. I hated what they did with Zack, and although I’ve always enjoyed the chemistry between Bones and Booth, I just wasn’t too pleased with the direction they were taking the show this season.

The first 2 episodes in London were pretty cool, if only because I actually live in London, but even then it was a case of the same old tired stereotypes of the British people and the Americans. The season didn’t improve until the wonderful Cesar came along to work his magic – and then it plodded on.

I did like the twist towards the end: firstly with Booth getting knocked out and dreaming about a hockey player, and then being captured by the gravedigger and hallucinating about an old army buddy who died. And as apprehensive as I was about the appearance of Stewie (Yes, from Family Guy) – it actually worked, particularly when they reveal Booth has a brain tumour. That was probably the best plot point the entire season and beautifully played out throughout the season.

I didn’t even mind the revolving door of interns, even though they apparently promised it would be resovled and it actually never was. There were a few good ones in there who I wouldn’t mind seeing again (unless Zack comes back).

I actually enjoyed the final episode, set inside Booth’s head (and boy, maybe we should change the name of the show to Booth) because it was terrific seeing the characters in a different set-up (and hopefully Zack’s mysterious words mean he’ll be released and allowed back into the fold – I miss him).

The low point – gee where do I begin? The stale familiar routine began to really grate this season and it just lost its spark. No Zack. See, show? You need the wonderfulness of Zack to survive.

The high point might have to be Stewie, and the plot behind him. Because that was crack!tastic.

I’m tentatively closing the book on this one this season. Unless we end up totally snowed in for months on end, I just don’t have the heart to get involved anymore – unless they bring Zack back. Bring the fun back. The show needs it.

La-la-la-la-la…..la-la-la-la-la… This show was a surprise hit in an understated way. And I’m grateful for the free newspaper delivered to our hotel room every morning while on holidays over the New Year; otherwise I would never have even known this show existed. I was curious by the premise, as it seemed to be mixing light hearted chick drama with a bit of a sci-fi fix and decided to give it a shot. And I enjoyed it from the first – they showed how every trip back in time made her grow up a little but without changing her past too greatly (as in the first episode where she went back to fix an embarrassing high school moment, it was replaced with another embarrassing moment, so same result, but different outcome…does that make sense?) For such a frothy show, it delved into some really great concepts of how our actions create the person we are, and how selfish we can really be, in only thinking about ourselves and how we respond to the people around us. We all think everyone is affected by our actions, and they are, but not in the way we think they are. This show grew on me, and it became a highlight amongst the drivel the US networks were offering. An earnest young woman whose life is in the shit and how she changes her own character and the way she does things in order to boost her life and move it forward…and while they use the sci-fi element here of letting her go back to the future to change her regrets, the show also works in a way to remind us all we can move on ourselves – because the lessons she learns are so varied in how they shape her character you can see how sometimes it’s not the journey which helps her, but just the knowledge she’s empowered herself which has thrust her forward. And it helps when the guys are so damn cute. I hope Dr Tom is coming back for a second season, but it looks like they’re throwing us for a twist, one I’m not sure will be an enjoyable ride. Ultimately, the relationship between Erica Strange and Dr Tom was one of the main focal points of the show; I hope it survives without it. Because I love this little unassuming show about a nondescript girl struggling to make her way in that little city called Toronto (I’ve been there!) It’s also been amazing to the layers unfolding with her family; how her close relationship with her sister became estranged only for Sam to subconsciously realise her sister’s been right all along, her strained relationship with her mother changes once she learns exactly how much she gave up and kept secret from the girls, and then to lose the faith she once had in her father. It all displays a normal/dysfunctional family in such a brilliant way, slowly revealing all these 3 dimensional characters, and you can actually see yourself in them, see your own family members. It really grips you – surprisingly, considering its light-hearted banter with a sci-fi twist. The lowest point had to be the second or third episodes, when the show was still finding its feet and occasionally clunky, although earnest to the ninth degree. The highest point? The episode where Erica goes back to the 70s and meets her parents when they were hippies: it is one of the most comical scenes I’ve seen on TV in a long time and features one of my all time favourite songs, FTW. I;m very eagerly awaiting season 2 – even if there is no Dr Tom, even if they fluff the storyline now with the new stark and cold “doctor!” I want more Erica Strange.

ooh i’ve neglected you. i apologise! what with holidays and work taking over, life…just moved on.

i’ll be doing overall reviews of each of the seasons in the coming weeks, try and finish a few shows, decide what to watch in the coming season (trust me, the list has narrowed) and go back to the beginning of torchwood (because i need to remind myself why i loved it in the first place and forget the depression of season 3).

so stick around – i’m back!

And here we are! Good evening and welcome….and it’s Graham Norton commenting… Gah, already this show sucks. I miss Terry Wogan!

Ok, he’s not too bad.

We’re starting with an act from Cirque Du Soleil, who are apparently launching their very first season in Russia – any opportunity to plug your show! But it is a very good show.

And now last year’s Dima decides to use a running treadmill thing before starting the winning song from last year….which I wasn’t all that impressed with the first time around – eastern bloc voting for sure!

My money is on Azerbajain – Putin was photographed with this entry and this entry only – a very subtle hint for which country to vote for!

Right – new voting system this year – public vote is 50/50 with a jury of profesional musicians who have already voted. Hmm…We’re in Russia with half the vote already counted…oh yeah, this is rigged.

And we’re jumping straight in -

Lithuania
Sasha Son, Love

guy with a piano , bit ballad-y but actualu music talent. i want his trilby.
Look, it’s a nice song, but nothing special. It sounds like anything you might hear on the radio – ooh, he has a flame in his hand!

Israel
Noa & Mira Awad, There Must be another way

Nice, political song about peace and hope, sung in arabic, hebrew and english. A jew and an arab singing together – not likely to win, but again, nice song about hope. (Although it would be nice if Israel would actually consider it). and they’re on the drums again.

France
Patricia Kaas, El S’Il laffail la fait or something like that

how surprising, the french singing in french. and it’s ballady.
Kat’s response – it’s french. not that there’s anything wrong with that, but…well, can we stereotype much? *I’m agreeing with Kat, by the way.
meh.

Sweden
La voix – Malena Ernman

it’s discopera. and the dress cost EUR 36,000. In a recession? Nice, though. typical blonde girl – verses are slow pop, chorus is operatic. it’s not bad, i quite like it – might make a good music vid. and man, she’s really, really excited about being there – or maybe just happy she made the notes? love the glittery masks.

Croatia
Igor and Andrea, Lepja Tena

oh god the song starts and i’m back in my childhood – mama, what did you do to me? what are the back-up dancers doing? and he has knee-high boots? WTF?
It’s a little too Iglesias-y for me…and now there’s a blonde singer, wailing nicely.
Croatia always has…interesting entries * last year’s was better.

Portugal
Flor-de-lis, todas as ruas do amor

MY FAVOURITE! VOTE FOR PORTUGAL!
it’s oh so bright and happy with flowers, and bright colours and it’s…just happy, folksy, simple and simply beautiful. I think, best way to explain it is…very now. eh i can’t explain it. just vote for it! aww i think she cried again.

Iceland
Yohanna, Is it true?
Another favourite. she’s 18, and looks icelandic. like the top half of the dress, kat likes the satin.
it’s a gorgeous song – you can imagine it on the radio, on a soundtrack, having a cry to it, it’s just beautiful, melodic, very non-eurovision like.
Unfortunately, Iceland can’t win – they can’t afford it.
Graham pointed out no one has ever won wering only blue.

Greece
Sakis Rouvas, this is our night

Gah. I know too many greek people. one of the favourites to win. Greec econtinuing their trend of eurodance. And he’s thrusting. and body popping. upturned collar. this is a favourite to win? It’s…meh. not special. the treadmill is going again.he ripped his top. Um. And there’s a greek flag on stage now. Meh. Graham thinks it’ll do well, Kat mutters, not if there;s any justice in the world.

Armenia
Inga & Janush, Jan Jan
Ooh, I quite like this one, if it weird. Has a brilliant track to it, with a very eastern flavour to it, before adding a basic beat. and they actually have traditional outfits, keeping a bit ot of euro *er, eastern* flavour. I’m not sure why, but I really like this *Kat says that’s because it’s actually a good song*.

Russia
Anastacia Prikhodko, Mamo
ah, the host country. Kat – she looks like a demon. Black eyes, you know!*
she’s aging on the screens…..weird effect.
Kat – what is she singing? Looks like she’s singing for her mummy. and now she’s having a tanty!!!

I’m…yeah. no way they’ll win.it sucked.

Azerbaijan
Aysel & Arash ,Always
if this is rigged, they’ll win.
eastern influence again. very euro-poppy.
not too bad, catchy. i can ehar it playing in the clubs – and on Oxygen. ooh, we have a ukelele!
she’s trying to dance, and well, beyond swinging hips, she ain’t that good. like her dress.
ooh..sparklies!
Apparently biggest cheer so far. see? Putin’s influence

Bosnia & Herzegovina
Regina, Bistra Voda
ah, the weird guy, with the drumming singers! And the awesome group stance towards the end. he’s the guy i wouldn’t kick out of bed, but he has to change his hair first. Cos, ick.
it’s got a bit of balkan folk flavour, which I really like, but overall the song is a little strange. i still like it. And here comes the group stand, in the face of danger! Or wind fans….

Moldova
Nelly Ciobanu, Hora di Moldova
very interesting outfit. it looks like something a girl hidden in the alps would wear.It’s the strange dancing and yelling and…

I like it. So does Kat. Although “looks like the dancers are having spasms”.
it of Irish dancing, Morris dancing, hill dancing….and back to the fun chorus with scremaing and yelping. I like it. lot. Eeep.
Still think her outfit looks wacked out.

You know…Graham isn’t half bad. Terry Wogan, your rep is in trouble.

Malta
Chiara, What if we
To me, this song is very 90’s movie soundtrack ballad. it’s nice, I do like it…but not to win. Although it would be brilliant for music vids. I already have ideas in my head. Like the glittery blue lights. so purdy.

Estonia
Urban Sympony, Radajan
what is she wearing?
there’s a mini-orchestra on stage, it’s nice and melodic but I just….i can’t get my head around their outfits. they’re weird.
the song is alright. Estonia always has such strange songs!

Denmark
Brinck, Believe Again
The Ronan Keating. sounds and looks like him. he wrote it too. has potential?
I’ve never been the biggest Ronan fan, so not sure. Very pop-tastic.
Mmm. I like the guitarist.
Song is very Ronan-esque, so yeah, has strong potential to win if it captures the teenie vote. I like it, but it’s radio stuff.
Can I have the guitarist? The long-haired one? Please?

Germany
Alex Swings Oscar Swing, Miss Kiss Kiss Bang
Dita von Teese is appearing. Well, it worked for Russia.
he really overplucks his eyebrows.
But I like the song.
Hmm, barely seen Dita. I’m sure once she starts stripping, they’ll show her more.
and now there’s tapdancing.
and DITA IS IN A ITY-BITTY CORSET, AND LOOKING HOT. SHE HAS A WHIP, PEOPLE.
I really liked the song, but the performance was not that great and badly taken care of.

Turkey
Hadise, Dum Tek Tek
well, it’s turkish so immediate eastern feel and music, and the belly-dancing. well, kind of belly dancing. as kat says, the ones with the back-up dancers doing the beter singing.
so eurovision. well, recent eurovision-y.
and now we have the acrobat leaping onto stage wearing only silky harem pants.
he’s too skinny.

Albania
Kejsi Tola, Carry me in your dreams
why are there mimes on stage?
and…a man…in a full on green condom body suit? WTF?
and she’s in a tutu.
I like her hair.
another typical europop track. it’s alright, she has a good voice at least. and the eastern bit, with the teensy belly dance bit…and the wind machine on gale force.
That was weird.

Norway
Alexander Rybak, Fairytale
The favourite to win. The one to beat. We have a fiddler on the stage!!
He’s cute.
i don’t know how to describe the dancers.  and now we have girls in pretty dresses.
It’s a different song…not poppy, not really folky *Alexander composed it himself*
I like it…but…i had high hopes and I just can’t see why it’s favourite to win. Until he starts fiddling, that’s pretty good actually! i don’t want it to win. If he fiddled the entire way through…

i like the song, but not as much as i love others.

Ukraine
Svetlana Loboda, Be My Valentine
the one with the hamster wheels!
Th outfit, the stage…I’m seeing Lady Gaga in my head. And the dancers are gladiators!
all I have to say is the Ukraine must have an amazing clubbing scene, considering what they bring to Eurovision each year.
gladiators dancing, thrusting and headbanging. Hee. and she’s probably dizzy from all the twirling.
Did she just say he has a sexy bum? Ooh and drumming! And she broke the stick!
In kat’s words, I’m voting for her…she’s fucking nuts!

Romania
Elena, The Balkan Girls
this one starts off really well, lots of drums…and then flatlines. i like the outfits. I had really high hopes initially but i’m not a big fan of it, it’s too iffy.
hmm graham seems to say the back up singer is the main singer. I don’t know.

UK
Jade Ewen, It’s my time
Ok, can we get over the fact Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote this? His stuff isn’t that great, you know.
she has a sparkly mic.
and violinsts.
At least she can sing. and sing well.
Oh look, the man himself is on stage performing – now I see! He’s using this as his opportunity to perform at eurovision!
Ooh near miss – Jade was nearly taken out by a violin…but recovered.
It’s alright – it’s very…Idol winner-y to me, which are the type of songs I’ve never liked.
But she can belt it out.

Finland
Waldo’s People, Lose Control
Oh, I like this song! I can so see this in the clubs. It’s the rapper, with the girls in gold..and FIRE! Fire twirlers! Anyone with fire twirlers gets my vote. Such a far cry from Lordi.
as Kat says, bit fucking odd, but I quite like this one.
mmm…fire twirlers are hot.
Gah. I really like this.

Spain
Soraya Arnelas, El Noche es para mi
The spaniards have decided to go eastern? Or south american?
what is she wearing? Short and sparkly!
it’s eurodancy.
she’s disappeared. how will she re-appear? somewhere else, apparently. i was expecting more from that. you disappointed me, espana!
It’s a nice song..not good enough to vote for.

And that’s it – we have all 25 songs…and now it’s time to choose!!
It will take some time for the results to come through. Hmm..who will win?  Where will I attempt to go see the final next?

ppst…hopefully Portugal!!!!!

Ack…they’re opening the voting…via space station.
I don’t think Russia has moved on from the cold war.

Europe, start voting! *grabs phone*

Good luck to all the entrants!