Finnish Success at Eurovision Song Contest

The world’s biggest music show took off Tuesday night in the German city Düsseldorf. 19 countries competed in the first semi-final in Eurovision Song Contest for a place in the grand final this Saturday. Norway was represented by Stella Mwangi who sang “Haba Haba” in English as well as Swahili. She was a favourite among fans and bookmakers but surprisingly she didn’t make it to the final. Out of the 10 countries continuing to the final, the red-white-blue colours of the Norwegian flag were missing.
While Norway missed the crucial points, Finland made it to the final. The 20 year-old Paradise Oskar sang and played the slow tune “Da Da Dam”. It tells story of a boy who decides to make a stand to try and save the planet, gets universally ignored, but continues to persevere. Apparently Europe preferred this tune to Norway’s afro-fusion pop song about when Stella Mwangi was a young girl.

The other songs who made it to the final are Serbia, Russia, Switzerland, Georgia, Iceland, Hungary, Lithuania, Azerbaijan and Greece.
Denmark and Sweden will compete Thursday night
Thursday night European television viewers will decide if Denmark and Sweden will make it to the final as well. Denmark is represented by the indie pop-rock band A Friend In London and their song “New Tomorrow”. The Swedish-Palestinian Eric Saade represents Sweden with the up-tempo entry “Popular”.
In the national finals A Friend In London was accompanied by huge balloons and Eric Saade got famous for breaking glass screens on stage – both acts will be adjusted Thursday night (European time). Both songs are tipped to continue to the grand final, but in Eurovision Song Contest you never know. The votes from the countries participating in Eurovision Song Contest – this year it’s 43 – often end up showing results no one could predict.

Watch the finals on Saturday 14 May 2011 here:
http://www.eurovision.tv/esctv/future/?program=24953

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