Eurovision 2010 Liveblog

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Welcome to my liveblog for the final of Eurovision 2010 taking place in Oslo. Never mind Marty Whelan or Graham Norton, this is the place to be. Here's my song by song opinion...

Azerbaijan: 'Drip Drop' is the song, I think the first half of it may be intended for the UK entry Josh Dubovie. It's a ballad. My gran likes it. No seriously, she does. She's here watching it with me.

Spain: Hey, Daniel Digres, I'mma let you finish, but 'Puppet on a String' is the best marionette song ever.

Norway: Hosting the Eurovision is expensive, so you'd never try to win two years in a row. How else can you explain this travesty?

Moldova: SunStroke Project sounds like a dj, but the resulting ballady nonsense has all the pain implied by the artist's name. (ooooh, burn!)

Cyprus: The only hope the UK have is with this Welsh guy. Surely he could afford to buy a new guitar with all the exposure the Eurovision giv... Oh wait.

Bosnia and Herzegovina: I totally missed this song. Pee break. These things need to be done. Especially since you need to have about twelve whiskeys to actually hear songs in tune.

Belgium: 'Me and My Guitar'. A sitar would've been more interesting, or maybe a pipe, but Ireland already has that down. Wait and see...

Serbia: Unpronouncable title? Tick. A song about vodka? Tick. Bomb under the stage? Tick.

Belarus: 'Butterflies' is the song, and oh wait, they turn into Butterflies half way through. To be honest I prefer the Crazy Town original.

Ireland: Do we actually expect this song to do anything? It needs a crescendo worthy of Westlife. Shane Filan needs to teach someone the art of key change.

Greece: A man dressed entirely in white is never a good idea. Remember the bodybuilder Jason in Big Brother a few years back? This is what he's doing now.

United Kingdom: 'That Sounds Good to Me'. I'm glad Josh, because from where I'm standing you're even more out of tune than your backing singers.

Georgia: 'Shine'. So close. One letter. So close.

Turkey: I just don't get the angle grinder halfway through. Surely she knew after Thursday's semi final that if she put that costume on again she'd have a hell of a time getting it off.

Albania: I don't think there was anything memorable about this tune. Rats. Shoulder pads straight from the 80s. I think Juliana and our own Niamh might be having a shoulder off at the interval.

Iceland: Her surname is Bjork. That's where the comparison ends. Maybe she's channeling the former Sugarcubes singer. She could well be in there. There's definitely something inside so strong.

Ukraine: Fact fans: This song didn't actually win the Song for Ukraine, another one by this same girl did, but it was already under licence. It had to be better than this.

Framce: 'Allez Ola Ole' sounds like a World Cup song. Rub it in you pricks.

Romania: The piano shoots fire halfway through. Woo. Shania Twain's sister barely fits into that leather. Garish.

Russia: He's singing to a "photo"? Is that not a drawing? Translation obviously isn't his strong point. Singing isn't either though...

Armenia: Pervy cameraman really focused on her "necklace" there. The Icelandic volcano is back - as a backing singer. What is with the Big Mommas at this year's Eurovision?

Germany: The favourite, at least it was the other day. Did she just say "dyke"? Her accent doesn't suit singing, sounds like she's got phlegm, a lot of it. We need a doctor over here!

Portugal: According to Marty they've never won before. Nothing's going to change tonight. I'm not sure which sounds more like Harry Nilsson, this or the Irish one.

Israel: Next year's contest may well be like a Glee episode - see who can do the best take on Christina Aguilera. Even the fellas want to be her. Oooh shiny. Lucky I was looking at the shine, the dire tuning problems didn't seem so bad.

Denmark: God that dude is so freaky looking. Love his 1980s Jon Bon Jovi hairdo though. Such a rip off of 'Every Breath You Take'. Ahhh, that's what it is, not Jon Bon Jovi's hair, it's Sting's!

Spain2: We got to hear it all over again. Eurovision has rules for replays. Are you watching Sepp Blatter?

Seriously how many reminders do we need of the songs? Especially as Netherland's earworm 'Shalalie' didn't make it.

The interval was fairly impressive, apart from the repetitiveness of the Norweigan Coolio.

In-House poll, 'How many points will Ireland get?'
N-80
S-75
R-32
C-100
W-300
T-20

Here are the results of the Irish vote: byeeeeeeeeeee!

So after 6 judges/public votes we're in the lead, with 2. No wait, that's not the lead. At least we have more than that poor Welsh fella for Cyprus. They have nothing, along with Belarus.

19 Countries in, Ireland second bottom with 6, UK have 7. Germany way out in front with 122. Marty sounds like he's going to cry. It's amusing. But unless we move Ireland into the Mediterranean or the Black Sea, we won't get any votes.

I can't believe people are shocked we're doing badly. (a) we have one neighbour, and (b) have you heard the song? Total yawnfest.

That's it, it's over, Lena has won for Germany with 'Satellite', It was the favourite, so not that much of a shock. See you all next year...

Live Setlist: U2, Croke Park, 27 July 2009

If there are any delays tonight, it's totally my fault due to a terrible internet connection. Thanks to bngr for the live setlist update tonight. Three songs in, she notes "There's about 500 people around me sitting as I jump up and down!" Sounds like a good good time! Bono also wore a Polish flag thrown on stage from a crowd member, as well as thanking the support acts and the overwhelming response of the last three days. Tonight also saw the return of 'Stay' after a five year hiatus.

Setlist:
Breathe
No Line on the Horizon
Get On Your Boots
Magnificent
Beautiful Day
New Year's Day
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For >
Movin Up (Primal Scream tease)
Stay (Faraway So Close) (Bono and Edge acoustic)
Unknown Caller
The Unforgettable Fire
City of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
Two Tribes (tease) >
I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight
Sunday Bloody Sunday
> Rock the Kasbah (tease)
Pride (In the Name of Love)
Walk On
Where the Streets Have No Name
One
Bad
---
Light My Way
With or Without You
Moment of Surrender

Live Setlist: U2, Croke Park, 25 July 2009

Again, I'm doing a realtime setlist for tonight's U2 gig at Croke Park. Press refresh for updates. Weather isn't as beautiful as last night unfortunately, so you probably won't be able to hear it in Rathmines!

Setlist:
Breathe
No Line on the Horizon
Get on Your Boots
Magnificent
Beautiful Day
Mysterious Ways
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
Angel of Harlem
In A Little While
Unknown Caller
The Unforgettable Fire
City of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Pride (In The Name of Love)
MLK
Walk On
Where the Streets Have No Name
One
---
Ultraviolet (Light My Way)
With or Without You
Moment of Surrender

Live Setlist: U2, Croke Park, 24 July 2009

Up to the second/realtime setlist from U2's first night at Croke Park. Provided by Peter at 2uibestow, who'll be doing a review of the show next week! Remember, keep refreshing or nothing will update!

Setlist:
Breathe
No Line on the Horizon
Get On Your Boots
Magnificent
Beautiful Day
Elevation
Stuck in a Moment That You Can't Get Out Of
Desire (Bono and the Edge acoustic)
The Auld Triangle
One
Until the End of the World
Unforgettable Fire
City of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Pride (In the Name of Love)
MLK
Walk On
Where the Streets Have No Name
Bad >
40 (Tease) >
Fool to Cry (Tease) >
40 (Reprise)
---
Ultraviolet
With or Without You
Moment of Surrender

Photo from the gig by Darragh Doyle:


Loads more photos by Darragh here:
http://pix.ie/darraghdoyle

EDIT: Peter has the review up here:
http://2uibestow.blogspot.com/2009/07/u2-at-croker-friday-24th-july.html