Slovenia SLOVENIA 2018 - Lea Sirk - Hvala, ne!

[Carian]

but wheres the lie tho

portugal has always been underrated even when sending amazing songs (reminder that senhora do mar deserved at least top 10 and quero ser tua was robbed)

The best Portuguese entry (ever) in my opinion was 1996 and in the more recent history, I simply adored Ha um mar que nos separa = 2015. I loved that song!

This just my humble opinion.

 

[aef]

[MENTION=14677]aef[/MENTION] Elina got some hate for singing "Toy" and Benjamin for reacting to 43 songs and sharing his honest opinion (the video got deleted)

And i saw the live stream, so i know that Lea didn't mean it in a bad way, but some people are easily offended... anyway, i hope i jinxed it

Ah yes, I already heard about the Ingrosso video!

Concerning Elina: Well I can see why people felt offended by her "performance".... No matter what she really thinks about the song, she shouldn't have done that if she were a professional artist... I'm not an fanboy at all but it's just not respectful...

 

[EscGeek]

Ah yes, I already heard about the Ingrosso video!

Concerning Elina: Well I can see why people felt offended by her "performance".... No matter what she really thinks about the song, she shouldn't have done that if she were a professional artist... I'm not an fanboy at all but it's just not respectful...

yes, the first few seconds are unfortunate, but i don't think it should be a big deal.. i mean it's not like she knows the song by heart like fans do.. for all i know she might have heard it for the first time on a plane ride from Tallinn to Lisbon
(not fanboy, just sayin)

 

[aef]

yes, the first few seconds are unfortunate, but i don't think it should be a big deal.. i mean it's not like she knows the song by heart like fans do.. for all i know she might have heard it for the first time on a plane ride from Tallinn to Lisbon
(not fanboy, just sayin)

Yes, I get your point. In the end you can get offended by anything if you just want.

 

[tuorem]

And Pedro, the host, he said at the end that Lea was his best press conference, he literally huged her!!! Okey, I admit, I find Pedro very attractive. I envy Lea... I surely wouldn't say to Pedro HVALA, NE... My lyrics would be more like: "Hit me baby one more time" Oh, my guddy, I need a Portuguese husband

She's the best at entertaining people she's so funny

I'm not sure which Pedro you're talking about, as both male interviewers are named Pedro if I'm not wrong but the Pedro who interviewed Lea for her first rehearsal is indeed quite charming to say the least

By the way, I don't know if Lea's performances at Eurovillage a few days ago were posted here, she sang "Hvala, Ne!" (with the new choreography) and "Amar Pelos Dois", she's got a beautiful singing voice tbh. She should try to go jazzy at some point in her career.

 

[Carian]

She's the best at entertaining people she's so funny

I'm not sure which Pedro you're talking about, as both male interviewers are named Pedro if I'm not wrong but the Pedro who interviewed Lea for her first rehearsal is indeed quite charming to say the least

By the way, I don't know if Lea's performances at Eurovillage a few days ago were posted here, she sang "Hvala, Ne!" (with the new choreography) and "Amar Pelos Dois", she's got a beautiful singing voice tbh. She should try to go jazzy at some point in her career.

Lea is funny, but I don't think she is actually trying to be funny. I guess, this is the best part. Evidently she is enjoying herself - and I honestly believe her that she will not be devasted if she does not qualify.

On the other hand, come on, of course, I am talking about the Pedero No1. Indeed charming guy! I think he is a bit short for me, but I would not mind to take him out for a drink For starters of course.

As for her live performance, yup, I saw it. She complained later that only few people attended the event, i.e. she was sad that the crowd was not as big as in Madrid, Amsterdam, and Tel Aviv.

Btw, tell me, what do you think? Will Lea qualify or not? And I must comment your national entry, dear. You know I like the song, and I am sure this will do very well in this year's ESC. However! Those outfits.............. I am still silent........................... I have no comment, my silence says it all. Hvala ne!

 

[tuorem]

Btw, tell me, what do you think? Will Lea qualify or not? And I must comment your national entry, dear. You know I like the song, and I am sure this will do very well in this year's ESC. However! Those outfits.............. I am still silent........................... I have no comment, my silence says it all. Hvala ne!

Honestly, I don't know. The odds haven't changed one bit in Lea's favour, the semi isn't the strongest but there's a handful of countries that usually get free passes to the final and thus will take most of the spots available.

Personally, I love the song and the performance Lea will give us in Lisbon. The song has the potential to do well and be impactful, and the draw isn't too bad if you ask me. The big question marks to me are: will the juries sink the song despite being contemporary, different and well sung? if so, will it get enough support from viewers to get through?

I like to believe she'll make it because you know Slovenija is my baby and I want you to succeed. I'm crossing my fingers for you, even though I'm not sure of anything at this point.

As for Madame Monsieur, I still remain on the unpopular side of the opinions: I don't quite get the support the song receives but I like their final outfits Shoot me now!

 

[Carian]

Honestly, I don't know. The odds haven't changed one bit in Lea's favour, the semi isn't the strongest but there's a handful of countries that usually get free passes to the final and thus will take most of the spots available.

Personally, I love the song and the performance Lea will give us in Lisbon. The song has the potential to do well and be impactful, and the draw isn't too bad if you ask me. The big question marks to me are: will the juries sink the song despite being contemporary, different and well sung? if so, will it get enough support from viewers to get through?

I like to believe she'll make it because you know Slovenija is my baby and I want you to succeed. I'm crossing my fingers for you, even though I'm not sure of anything at this point.

As for Madame Monsieur, I still remain on the unpopular side of the opinions: I don't quite get the support the song receives but I like their final outfits Shoot me now!

Okay, tuorem, this is probably the longest and the most polite answer in this forum from anyone, which finally says that one sincerely doubts Lea's chances to qualify 2 Look, I really don't care if she does or does not qualify, because I am really pleased with the job Lea has done so far. I think that Slovenia/Lea's team has for the first time put not only a lot of, but actually also decent effort into the act. Even if she does not qualify, respect for Lea. But if she does, I would not be surprised.

Somewhere down deep in my guts I have this feeling that a lot of surprises are awaiting us in the 2nd semifinal. In fact, I believe that even the first semifinal isn't locked yet and clear who will qualify. For instance, Macedonia, who were my sure qualifiers after all entries have been submitted in March, is in my opinion slowly losing their spot in finals. Bad vocals, bad camera work thus far. I love the song, I think the singer is superbly beautiful, however, Macedonia is probably the first country that has sent top musical material and did not manage to qualify for two years in a row.

As for the 2nd semifinals, I must say first that while people claim that it is the weaker of the semifinals, I am not so convinced nor necessarily agree with them. Namely, the fact is that the 1st semifinal is very much composed of real Eurovision schlager songs, while the second semifinal has musical diversity. Even Estonia, despite Elina's superb performance and astonishing beauty, is not doing anything what we haven't seen in ESC. And by WE I do not mean only ESC fans, but the entire ESC audience. Next, Finland, which already you pronounced that it is overhypped for no obvious reason, is de facto a generic pop schlager that in my opinion could fall really really flat already in semifinals despite the singer's vocal capabilities.

So, if I try to focus now on the 2nd semifinals, and make my predictions, I must say that unfortunately I think only Russia is out. I really like the song, you know it, but the staging is simply horrible. I could live with shaky vocals by Yulia, who seems to be genuinely sweet girl, but the whole package is simply off. As for the rest, I cannot find one utterly bad song that we can proclaim as a sure non-qualifier. Yes, I have not written off even San Marino and Georgia at this point, even though their songs are perhaps not the most radio friendly, their staging and live performances seem to be quite decent/good/fun, so I consider them still as decent contenders for the finals. In fact, I am so excited about the 2nd semifinals announcement of finalists as never before, to be honest. I think it will be nerve-wreacking 3-5 minutes that will be followed with an explosion of surprised comments about a couple surprising non-qualifiers.

For instance, I think that Norway is high in bets only because of the fact that the singer is the past ESC winner. But people who make bets forget one thing. Common, casual voters do not have only short-term memory. I think they will compare Alexander's song this year with his winning song, and honestly, I am sure that his winning song will pull him down, as we all know that his entry this year is not even close to Fairytale. Then, Benjamin Ingrosso and his dance and his lisp... I mean, I admit, I am sometimes sick and tired of this continous fandom hype of every Swedish entry, but I must say that Sweden this year is not as strong as some people predict/say it is. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if Sweden stays behind or it will be only a borderline qualifier. Australia? Well, we have seen that the last year Australia was saved twice by juries. I think that people/audience is getting bored with Australian entries - they basically sounds almost all the same - Eurovision kitsch songs - and the staging is not really impressive this year.

So,if I leave aside all other entries and not going into too much details, my summary/point of this long post is that I really do not see sure and unsure qualifiers. 2nd semis are an open battle, and one small slip or mistake could mean for any of the entries that it is out. And does Lea has chances to qualify? Absolutely she has, but she is like the rest - still with a huge question mark beside her name. But this question mark must be placed next to every entry in this semi - except for Russia. Yulia is out. So, do you agree with my assessment or not?

 

[tuorem]

[MENTION=14374]Carian[/MENTION] No, I agree with what you say. Almost no one is safe, even though juries do have a habit of voting for certain countries/styles more than others, and as we saw with Australia, Austria and Denmark last year, having next to zero televoting support isn't a hindrance for qualification. My point is that I hope the songs will prevail over nations' popularity and so-called fair voting, because it seems like the underrated countries are once again more interesting this year than the usual "safe qualifiers".

This year is such a puzzle in terms of predictions, most favourites gave underwhelming performances while some dark horses emerged. It's very difficult to guess what will happen.

I would love some "safe qualifiers" to fail, not for the sake of it, but because they happen to have below par acts. That would leave room for more deserving songs indeed.

 

[Ana Raquel]

The best Portuguese entry (ever) in my opinion was 1996 and in the more recent history, I simply adored Ha um mar que nos separa = 2015. I loved that song!

This just my humble opinion.

o meu coração não tem cor is among my top 3 portuguese entries!!! no wonder it was Portugal's best result before Salvador. Há um mar que nos separa deserved final imo

 

[Carian]

[MENTION=14374]Carian[/MENTION] No, I agree with what you say. Almost no one is safe, even though juries do have a habit of voting for certain countries/styles more than others, and as we saw with Australia, Austria and Denmark last year, having next to zero televoting support isn't a hindrance for qualification. My point is that I hope the songs will prevail over nations' popularity and so-called fair voting, because it seems like the underrated countries are once again more interesting this year than the usual "safe qualifiers".

This year is such a puzzle in terms of predictions, most favourites gave underwhelming performances while some dark horses emerged. It's very difficult to guess what will happen.

I would love some "safe qualifiers" to fail, not for the sake of it, but because they happen to have below par acts. That would leave room for more deserving songs indeed.

Yes, I think you have highlighted one very important fact - national popularity! Indeed you hit the nail this time, because I do agree with you that certain countries enjoy some advantages over others only because of their "name". However, this brings us to another problem/question. Is it fair to deny to these countries these "advantages" that come sometimes only from their "reputation" they enjoy? After all, if we take Sweden as the most obvious example, Sweden has invested a lot in ESC, they are sending constantly quality, radio-friendly songs. They have build their reputation slowly, but with hard work! So, these advantages which they get from their reputation are not totally undeserved. Another example, a more recent, is Bulgaria. They are sending a serious contender for the third year in a row! ESC fans were shocked by Poli Genova in 2016, but this year ESC fans were impatiently waiting for Bulgaria's entry to be announced because they knew that Bulgaria wouldn't disappoint. And they did not. Bulgaria is slowly building/has already built a good name for themselves. Their story reminds me a bit of Serbia between 2004-2008.

On the other hand, however, look at Great Britain on the other end of this spectrum. Once a serial winner or runner-up is barely getting into top 15. Why? It's not only BBC, it's not only that they are sending their 3rd class singers (some of whom actually sing better than British world-wide celebs), but also their bad reputation. The same goes for Ireland. Dustin the Turkey and those twins did a lot of damage to the Irish reputation. Finally, let's be honest. The same goes for Slovenia. People probably do not know what to think about us. One year we can send perls, yet the next year we will submit Into the Love, Blue and Red, On My Way, or worse, Narodnozabavni rock!!! You know, Round and Round were a good start to improve our reputation, and this was upgraded the next year with Maraaya, who were rewarded with reaching the 14th place. However, Blue and Red was a huge step back...

Finally, to make one final argument in building this hypothesis, let's remember of Netherlands. Non-qualifier for years!!! And then one year changed it all for them. Anouk showed it was possible, and their 2013 entry cemented their good reputation for years to follow. Also Belgium has stepped up their game. For the last three years they are putting a lot of effort. And the same goes for France. This year France can count on third top 10 result in a row. Tell me, when was the last time that France was for three consecutive years in top10?

However, don't get me wrong. I am not claiming that good reputation is the only thing needed to win ESC. First of all, one has to have a good song. Nonetheless, the good reputation can play major role as to whether one country will qualify or not, if it reaches top 10 or not etc. I think you have again enlightened me with your comment. I have never thought about these things I was just telling you. And the funny thing is that it all makes sense to me right now. Let me know what you think.

 

[Milos-BC]

I didn't like it at first but right now it's one of the songs that I am replaying on (almost) a daily basis Regardless of what the odds say, I believe she could qualify and she definitely deserves it. She will have my vote as well on Thursday.

6 points.

 

[Carian]

I didn't like it at first but right now it's one of the songs that I am replaying on (almost) a daily basis Regardless of what the odds say, I believe she could qualify and she definitely deserves it. She will have my vote as well on Thursday.

6 points.

Preach, good Sir, preach!!! May Lord hear our prayers!

 

[Ana Raquel]

i'm more hopeful after this semi! go lea gooooo

 

[Gordon_Shumway]

Lea sings Hvala ne unplugged:

This woman has real charisma and she's an excellent performer.
Everybody is invited to keep laughing at me, but Hvala ne is still my favourite song from semi 2.
And I know: all odds are against Slovenia. I will vote for her anyway, maybe there's still a little glimpse of hope.

 

[tuorem]

"Euros... Euros, please!" She NEVER stops.

 

[Ana Raquel]

i'm afraid again lmao the ~barei moment~ seemed to have mixed reactions. I'm watching lives about the rehearsals today and there was confusion about whether it was intentional or it was a technical failure. It may not translate well

 

[musicfan]

Yes, I think you have highlighted one very important fact - national popularity! Indeed you hit the nail this time, because I do agree with you that certain countries enjoy some advantages over others only because of their "name". However, this brings us to another problem/question. Is it fair to deny to these countries these "advantages" that come sometimes only from their "reputation" they enjoy? After all, if we take Sweden as the most obvious example, Sweden has invested a lot in ESC, they are sending constantly quality, radio-friendly songs. They have build their reputation slowly, but with hard work! So, these advantages which they get from their reputation are not totally undeserved. Another example, a more recent, is Bulgaria. They are sending a serious contender for the third year in a row! ESC fans were shocked by Poli Genova in 2016, but this year ESC fans were impatiently waiting for Bulgaria's entry to be announced because they knew that Bulgaria wouldn't disappoint. And they did not. Bulgaria is slowly building/has already built a good name for themselves. Their story reminds me a bit of Serbia between 2004-2008.

On the other hand, however, look at Great Britain on the other end of this spectrum. Once a serial winner or runner-up is barely getting into top 15. Why? It's not only BBC, it's not only that they are sending their 3rd class singers (some of whom actually sing better than British world-wide celebs), but also their bad reputation. The same goes for Ireland. Dustin the Turkey and those twins did a lot of damage to the Irish reputation. Finally, let's be honest. The same goes for Slovenia. People probably do not know what to think about us. One year we can send perls, yet the next year we will submit Into the Love, Blue and Red, On My Way, or worse, Narodnozabavni rock!!! You know, Round and Round were a good start to improve our reputation, and this was upgraded the next year with Maraaya, who were rewarded with reaching the 14th place. However, Blue and Red was a huge step back...

Finally, to make one final argument in building this hypothesis, let's remember of Netherlands. Non-qualifier for years!!! And then one year changed it all for them. Anouk showed it was possible, and their 2013 entry cemented their good reputation for years to follow. Also Belgium has stepped up their game. For the last three years they are putting a lot of effort. And the same goes for France. This year France can count on third top 10 result in a row. Tell me, when was the last time that France was for three consecutive years in top10?

However, don't get me wrong. I am not claiming that good reputation is the only thing needed to win ESC. First of all, one has to have a good song. Nonetheless, the good reputation can play major role as to whether one country will qualify or not, if it reaches top 10 or not etc. I think you have again enlightened me with your comment. I have never thought about these things I was just telling you. And the funny thing is that it all makes sense to me right now. Let me know what you think.

Reputation does matter, that also feeds hype at times. Sanremo has been going since before Eurovision, so that is likely to have some effect on juries. Melodifesten has been going for many years also, and for whatever reason has had a big profile in modern times.

 

[Storm]

OMG watched the jury show tonight and was so confused about that fake break Don't think that was necessary at all. Still going to vote for this tomorrow because it's just such a crazy entry.

 

[Ana Raquel]

OMG watched the jury show tonight and was so confused about that fake break Don't think that was necessary at all. Still going to vote for this tomorrow because it's just such a crazy entry.

how was she though??? how did people react tho???? i'm curioussss