Lopez Blogs

With just over two hours to go till the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest in Helsinki, here goes...
Hopes: Sweden to win! The Ark are a great band, Ola Salo is a compelling and charismatic frontman and "The Worrying Kind" is soooooo catchy!
If Sweden don't win, I'd be quite happy if Belarus won. "Work Your Magic" was one of the first songs chosen in national finals season and it immediately screamed "Winner" - however Dima Koldun can sometimes struggle with the high notes. If he gets it right tonight, this is a major contender.
Spain's "I Love You Mi Vida" is again one of the catchiest songs in the final, and D'Nash are a rather appealing boyband. However their vocals can be a bit ropey and might let them down. Also singing 2nd, which is a cursed place at ESC.
Ukraine is bookies' favourite of course. Yes, Verka is a freakshow, but I'd rather have her and her lasha tumbai any day before some of the wailing screaming tuneless 'songs' which are in tonight's line-up.
Russia have the most contemporary sound in the final and should do very well indeed - but we haven't heard the Serebro girls sing live yet so it could all go wrong.

I fear the worst: Serbia is now looking like a cert to win. Having watched Marija Serifovic's semi-final performance, I find the whole thing rather creepy and sinister. She is admittedly a very good singer, but this is just a great big waily ballad with Balkan mass appeal, but it would not make a classic winner.
Latvia: Six men in top hats and jeans singing a cheesy, swaying opera tune in the style of G4/Il Divo in very bad Italian. Rather rubbish but a milion times better than...
Slovenia: Don't get me wrong, I have liked Slovenia in the past and they've always had a raw deal (especially last year's failure to qualify) but this one really stinks. Disco-opera (and that's flattering it) sung by a soprano with bizarre facial expressions.
Bulgaria: It's a song contest remember. Not a drumming contest with occasional yelping. Two years out of date - the 2005 contest was full of this type of nonsense.

Predictions: I think any of the following have a real chance - it's between Serbia, Latvia, Ukraine, Belarus, Sweden and Slovenia. Who said "sitting on the fence"???? OK then - Ukraine!