Ernman takes Sweden to Eurovision finals
Published: 13 May 09 13:51 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/19430/20090513/
Swedish opera star Malena Ernman took another step toward solidifying her pop-music credentials on Tuesday night by sailing through the first semifinal of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest.
- Eurovision: The final word from Malmö (20 May 13)
- Denmark wins Eurovision 2013 in Malmö (19 May 13)
- Live Blog: Eurovision Song Contest final (18 May 13)
The 38-year-old mezzo-soprano did little to hide her excitement when she learned she’d advanced to the finals, hopping up on the green room sofa and hugging those around her after hearing the news.
“I’m very, very relieved, everything else that happens now is just icing on the cake. I was really surprised that we were called so early,” Ernman told the Expressen newspaper.
While it’s still too early to say just how far Ernman’s operatic voice will carry beyond Sweden’s borders and the world’s opera houses, the semifinal results indicate that European music fans may be ready for Ernman’s unique mix of high- and low-brow styles.
Despite her success in the semifinals, Ernman explained that she harboured doubts ahead of Tuesday night’s contest and the importance of others in Sweden’s Eurovision delegation.
“God, I didn’t think this would work,” she told Expressen.
“You fight the fear by telling yourself everything will be fine. The others in the team supported me as well.”
So far, 15 the 25 Eurovision final slots have been filled, with the remaining ten acts set to be chosen in the second semifinal on Thursday night.
Ernman expressed her happiness again during the post-event press conference, performing a pirouette in front of the throngs of journalists, and hinting she has confidence heading into the next stage of the contest.
“It was an emotional whirlwind. Even if I’m not dependent on this, I’m a competitive person and very much want to win and perform well,” she said, according to Expressen.
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Anyhoo: Tonight is the 2nd Eurovision Semi-Final and the running order and participants are as follows:
1. Croatia
2. Ireland
3. Latvia
4. Serbia
5. Poland
6. Norway
7. Cyprus
8. Slovakia
9. Denmark
10. Slovenia
11. Hungary
12. Azerbaijan
13. Greece
14. Lithuania
15. Moldova
16. Albania
17. Ukraine
18. Estonia
19. The Netherlands
The odds as of now are:
2ND SEMI FINAL BETTING: 5/6 Norway, 3/1 Greece, 6/1 Ukraine 8/1 Azerbaijan, 14/1 Estonia, 25/1 Lithuania, 25/1 Serbia, 33/1 Denmark 40/1 Moldova, 40/1 Hungary, 50/1 Ireland, 66/1 Cyprus, 66/1 Albania, 100/1 Slovenia, 100/1 Netherlands, 125/1 Slovakia, 125/1 Croatia, 125/1 Latvia, 125/1 Poland.
Odds Courtesy Of William Hill and you can click William Hill and text ripped from http://www.eurovisionodds.co.uk/semi-finals.
I don't mind Denmark's entry...
The presenters are hillarious. One half of Siegfried and Roy and a tarted up crack whore is my visual assessment.
In fact IMO they're a slight more 'done' version of this pair of ne'er do wells from the parody Eurobeat: The Musical which I highly recommend should it roll up near you.
(attached image not shown)
A big boned Asian girl with a CD mixing deck teetering on her tits is what we all need of an evening.
Anyhoo I want the following to get through:
Ireland, Norway, Denmark, Greece, Albania, Ukraine, Estonia, plus both Hungary & the Netherlands for teh lulz.
I have a question about funding too. Who pays for it? I want to know as I quite like Iceland's entry but don't want next years to be held in the local village hall, filmed on camcorder and broadcast on youtube.
Sir Elton John as part of Gay HQ's drive to make moar gheys.
Don't worry about Iceland, they still have top seekrit reserves of shipwrecked Nazi gold to go through.
Sweden could not vote last night as televoting was split between two groups of countries, one group could vote one night, the other the next. This was introduced as a further attempt to stop partisanship. U.K also could not vote last night.The host country pays the lion's share, with 'The Big Four': U.K, France, Germany & Spain paying about €100,000 into the pot each year.Apparently Russia's fighting corps sold enough arse this year to raise the £30,000,000, to stage the event, it's hardly likely that Iceland could do the same.
- the former soviet states were split up
- eastern europe was split up
- the Nordic countries
- Britain and Ireland etc etc
Done know if it worked perfectly but at least a lot of north and west european countries went through this year - all 5 Nordic countries
I think that the host country has to pay quite a bit - but there is also money from the 4 big financing countries which is why these 5 don't have to qualify (UK, France, Germany, Spain + host country)
I think that the host country decides the ambition of the contest - I remember Finland being very small scale with a minut stage whereas Russia is the opposite...The BBC said last night that Russia is "the Beijing of Eurovision" with its lavish set and arena - they have spent £30million !!!
I get the feeling that there are some countries that don't actually want to win in these credit crunch times - I can't think of any other way to describe Serbia's man with poodle hair or Slovenia's entry where the girl stood behind a screen in a box for 3/4 of the song and had no words at all for the first minute - it looked more like one of Adam Klaus's illusions on Jonathan Creek performed to the Bond Girls in the background ...
Eurovision - the organisation, not the contest - is a bit of a sham and a money spinner now. It was set up to standardise broadcast technology and transmission across europe (mainly the French attempting to force their SECAM standard across the continent), which is now an obsolete quest. It exists purely to spin money - see all the Eurovision conferences and lectures and so on - and does so very effectively.