{"id":5141,"date":"2014-04-09T14:25:19","date_gmt":"2014-04-09T21:25:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/wanderlusty\/?p=5141"},"modified":"2014-04-09T14:36:57","modified_gmt":"2014-04-09T21:36:57","slug":"top-picks-eurovision-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/wanderlusty\/2014\/04\/top-picks-eurovision-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"My Top Picks for Eurovision 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_5142\" style=\"width: 394px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/wanderlusty\/files\/2014\/04\/8752525499_62dee6c8f0_z.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5142\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-5142 \" alt=\"Malm\u00f6, 2013\" src=\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/wanderlusty\/files\/2014\/04\/8752525499_62dee6c8f0_z.jpg\" width=\"384\" height=\"288\" srcset=\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/wanderlusty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/\/sites\/48\/2014\/04\/8752525499_62dee6c8f0_z.jpg 640w, http:\/\/first2board.com\/wanderlusty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/\/sites\/48\/2014\/04\/8752525499_62dee6c8f0_z-300x225.jpg 300w, http:\/\/first2board.com\/wanderlusty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/\/sites\/48\/2014\/04\/8752525499_62dee6c8f0_z-400x300.jpg 400w, http:\/\/first2board.com\/wanderlusty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/\/sites\/48\/2014\/04\/8752525499_62dee6c8f0_z-200x150.jpg 200w, http:\/\/first2board.com\/wanderlusty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/\/sites\/48\/2014\/04\/8752525499_62dee6c8f0_z-150x112.jpg 150w, http:\/\/first2board.com\/wanderlusty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/\/sites\/48\/2014\/04\/8752525499_62dee6c8f0_z-386x290.jpg 386w, http:\/\/first2board.com\/wanderlusty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/\/sites\/48\/2014\/04\/8752525499_62dee6c8f0_z-290x218.jpg 290w, http:\/\/first2board.com\/wanderlusty\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/\/sites\/48\/2014\/04\/8752525499_62dee6c8f0_z-193x145.jpg 193w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-5142\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Malm\u00f6, 2013<\/p><\/div>\n<p>it&#8217;s that time of year again when <a href=\"http:\/\/eurovision.tv\">everybody&#8217;s favorite song contest<\/a> is coming &#8217;round the mountain. i finally got a chance to listen to this year&#8217;s contestants via <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLmWYEDTNOGUJpNOiYf0F-yA4wCVV59Iqq\">the official YouTube playlist<\/a>&nbsp;and have come up with my picks.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>a reminder for those unfamiliar with Eurovision &#8212; it&#8217;s an annual <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Eurovision\">Europe (and then some)-wide song contest<\/a> where there are country rounds (think &#8220;Idol&#8221; but it&#8217;s been around for decades before that) that send their best act to a final held in the country of the previous year&#8217;s winner. the big winner is determined by international voting, like on Idol. it&#8217;s campy and fun and something i try to watch every year.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>i <a href=\"https:\/\/storify.com\/jonk\/eurovision-2013\">went last year<\/a> when it was held in Malm\u00f6 (two words: AMAZING TIME) but unfortunately, this year i will be in transit (according to my schedule, i will most likely be at a United Club at Newark Airport) &#8212; i&#8217;ll try my hardest to stream it. i made the decision not to go this year because last year, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=p3f9v8ebuD4\">Denmark won<\/a> and they&#8217;re holding this year&#8217;s contest in Copenhagen, literally <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/%C3%98resund_Bridge\">across the bridge<\/a> from where it was in 2013 and i wanted to go somewhere different. listening to these songs, though, bad decision. i wish i was going! definitely next year.<\/p>\n<p>before we get to this year&#8217;s picks, let&#8217;s revisit my favorite for last year: Cascada&#8217;s &#8220;Glorious&#8221; (<strong>Germany<\/strong>). you probably can&#8217;t see me (heh) but i&#8217;m one of those people screaming at the top of their lungs on the right side of the screen when they pan down to her at the beginning.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3HYTd7WDCPg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>and now on to this year. my top three picks are <strong>Finland<\/strong>&#8216;s Softengine singing &#8220;Something Better&#8221;, <strong>Malta<\/strong>&#8216;s Firelight with &#8220;Coming Home&#8221;, and <strong>Spain<\/strong>&#8216;s Ruth Lorenzo and &#8220;Dancing in the Rain&#8221;. <\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/a-NSVFBKU-4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Qxi5C-lGX2Y?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/P9R96ZoWJBU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>honorable mention goes to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=jVAnopmdJT4&amp;list=PLmWYEDTNOGUJpNOiYf0F-yA4wCVV59Iqq&amp;index=14\">Slovenia<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=hkrF8uC92O4&amp;list=PLmWYEDTNOGUJpNOiYf0F-yA4wCVV59Iqq\">Netherlands<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=o9ixkdkbieU&amp;list=PLmWYEDTNOGUJpNOiYf0F-yA4wCVV59Iqq\">Georgia<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=RYfyMkwTLPg&amp;list=PLmWYEDTNOGUJpNOiYf0F-yA4wCVV59Iqq\">Romania<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>i should mention, though, that i think <strong>Israel<\/strong> has a really strong contender though i&#8217;m not a big fan of the song. *Stefon from SNL voice* it has it all: the English + country&#8217;s language mix, that eurodance beat, and a dramatic song (melody- and lyrics-wise) with a diva-ish singer. add in a bit more camp and you&#8217;ve got a recipe for success.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_uB4JMw4ctc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>well, i wouldn&#8217;t mind if any of these countries won, but given my horrible track record of favorites, i probably just cursed them (*knock on wood*). good luck to all the participants, but especially my top three!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>it&#8217;s that time of year again when everybody&#8217;s favorite song contest is coming &#8217;round the mountain. i finally got a chance to listen to this&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":5142,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"My Top Picks for Eurovision 2014","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[12],"tags":[287],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.13 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>My Top 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