When the Cheshire emerges...

10.34pm: So there were a few surprises... but it's sinking in, there is a Eurovision final coming!

And so begins my media blackout, I will try to write tomorrow but there will be no live blog - I'll be too busy enjoying myself at a Eurovision party. Good night!

10.33pm: And of course Conchita was the last announcement. But they're our finalists! So from my picks Israel and Macedonia miss out.

10.32pm: Belarus are in - CHEESECAKE! And the kids from Finland. Yes, they're high schoolers. My bad.

10.31pm: Greece had some bromance there... Malta DOES seem like so long ago but they're in.

10.30pm: Oh wow, Slovenia. Oh no, and Poland too... But Romania and Norway are good.

10.28pm: About time... Switzerland the first to go through.

10.20pm: What just happened there with Macedonia? Should I be confused?

And the host is wearing pants. Since when does a female host not wear a gown?

10.18pm: And we've just seen an octogenarian take centre stage and tear it apart. Great work.

10.16pm: Bring back the hot Norwegian guys...

10.14pm: Oh, I was going to do this video thing, but I ran out of time. Go the girl from Ireland. Aw.

Meanwhile, I just wish Nikolaj could somehow be kept on the screen. He's a little amazing.

10.10pm: My pick of who might go through: Malta, Israel, Norway, Austria, Finland, Belarus, Macedonia, Switzerland, Greece, Romania.

10.02pm: Jessica Mauboy. Strutting her stuff to 180 million. Sounded a bit nervous at first, and it's a hard song to belt out. But she did great. Go girl. Darwin represent.

9.59pm: Bahaha, we knocked the UK out of that graphic of Europe. And we have Swans players and koalas. Excellent.

9.56pm: Alright, Romania are bringing it. THERE'S A CIRCULAR KEYBOARD. But really, Paula Seling and OVI are giving us a great end. Good song!

9.53pm: Slovenia's Round and Round is OK, but again not huge. Tinkara Kovac's shoulder pads are, mean dress.

9.50pm: WOW. Greece brought that - and I'm not biased, we needed something big. Totally sold with Freaky Fortune and RiskyKidd.

9.49pm: YEEEEESSSSS! Rise Up!



9.46pm: Who came up with revealing these records? And how is the most amount of licks even managed to be known? Fuck me, I love Eurovision.

And now I finally get to see Greece. Represent!

9.44pm: Down Under on the flute from Slovenia's entrant. Love.

9.39pm: Need to make violins a key point of note for future contests. As relevant as silver, white and key changes...

9.38pm: Folk again from Switzerland with Sebalter's Hunter Of Stars. But more good-looking males never hurts.

I'm waiting for that standout Eurotrash number though. And Greece's song is finally next.

9.35pm: To The Sky would probably be one to grow on you. But it's not a song that really prompts some boob-shaking, sorry Tijana. FYROM is hit and miss but this is one of their better songs...

9.30pm: OK, so the song's not really about cheesecake. But the beat is good.

9.29pm: Belarus! (Some) hot men in suits dancing. Singing about Cheesecake. Teo, I'm sold.




9.26pm: Ireland always manage to put something about their culture, even when it's a DJing turkey... Celtic motifs are cool, but the song is average. Can-Linn and Kasey Smith don't make my Heartbeat.

9.23pm: OMG. There's a song called Cheesecake. Loving the culinary theme this year.

9.17pm: The only rock band for this year comes from Finland... Something Better by Softengine wasn't too bad a song. But I was slightly distracted.

9.15pm: And finally a good-looking young male. In a shiny suit jacket no less. Swoon.

9.13pm: Glitter. Futuristic ballerinas. Light rapping... and a wink to the camera. Lithuania had it all, Vilija commanding Attention. Could have going a bit harder on the vocal though I reckon.

9.10pm: Well that got our ATTENTION!!!

9.09pm: "If this is your first time watching Eurovision, welcome." Couldn't have said it better Sam Pang.

9.08pm: Conchita Wurst. This year's Romania for sheer spectacle? Well, Rise Like A Phoenix has lyrics that are rather fitting for her. She looks great, the song's pretty good and the crowd love it.

9.02pm: It's time. Waiting for the revolution that is Conchita Wurst...



8.58pm: So that was Donatan & Cleo's My Słowianie - We Are Slavic... well, Poland singing about a different culture was one part of it.

8.55pm: Aaaaand we get folk outfits. Fabulous. Ooh, but trying to sex things up a bit. And looking tacky as hell for it. Excellent.

8.53pm: Three Minutes To Earth? Georgia, what is this? The Shin and Mariko are not floating anyone's boat. Or skydiving anyone back to safety...

8.52pm: There is a man playing drums with a parachute. Must have a big balance problem. Oh no, he managed a big jump.

8.50pm: Carl Espen's Silent Storm from Norway - really nice ballad, was wondering if there's a really big key change coming... but it was gradual. Like it.

8.46pm: Song two is Israel's Mei Finegold with Same Heart. Her voice is very... deep. Though I'm not sure if it suits the song, which is actually OK.




8.41pm: Firelight's Coming Home from Malta opens. This is a very Mumford and Sons song, but with traditional instruments. And a female element. It's a good opener.

8.38pm: Oh man, Greece is 13th... bit of a wait. Meanwhile, Pilou and Lisa looked a bit touchy feely. No, she's just hands-on...

8.35pm: A dance act to start us off paying homage to the former shipyard the hall once was and famous Danish compositions. But we're ready now.

8.33pm: I'm doing a live blog again (in Central Standard Time) so if you have something to say during the night say it. I will be voicing my own opinions of course, so there's room for more

The Jessica Mauboy doco was lovely. Looking forward to seeing the performance in full. But first let's hear the rest of this year's contenders!

10.35pm: That's a wrap! Will do my best to make updates for semi-final 2 and Jessica Mauboy's performance tomorrow night.

10.32pm: YES! The Netherlands! Excellent. And Iceland! This is really excellent. Just Latvia and their cake that missed out from my guesses - oh and Portugal. Hm, I think Europe's picked well.

10.32pm: Ukraine's in. And Sweden. Two more.

10.31pm: Armenia was good... knew Azerbaijan, but that means one I like is gone. OH and San Marino gets through! That's pretty awesome.

10.29pm: Montenegro, Hungary and Russia. Three from three... ooh but they're booed...

10.26pm: Alright, previews for the Big Five and previous winner look good, already looking forward to the final. But a whole other semi to go!

And Jon Ola Sand, love to see he's still featured in the broadcast as he looks over the running of the night.

10.23pm: So it's just clear that Eurovision loves Jedward. Australia loves Jedward. They are fair amazing.

10.19pm: So Armenia, Latvia, Sweden, Iceland, Russia, Ukraine, Portugal, The Netherlands, Montenegro and Hungary are my picks for entry into the final. Although Azerbaijan will likely be in there, and likely one or two others instead.

10.10pm: And he pulled out the silver BIG TIME! Ha, and he's still ugly Julia? How mean.

10.08pm: The Ugly Duckling is this semi-final's interval act. How could Denmark not feature something of Hans Christian Andersen? But they've tried to make it modern to say a young guy can't breakdance.


10.05pm: Ooh, good voice to end the semi-final on. For almost all of it, he faltered at the end. But András Kállay-Saunders brought some DNB to Eurovision. Awesome. That was great. And it's over already.


10.02pm: DNB!!!

10pm: Sergej Ćetković is not singing in English. And Moj Svijet sounds like a nice song. I like that I don't understand this.

9.56pm: Calm After The Storm from The Netherlands... sung after a trip to Nashville for The Common Linnets. This is beautiful and not Eurovision-y at all. I am calling this as my favourite so far.



9.52pm: I. Called. It. Lace and sheer, lace and sheer. I like that we're finally hearing a song in the native language. Quero Ser Tua  is alright Suzy.

9.48pm: Ha. I've always focused on the white... but they're right. Silver is also a winner.

And I'd have both the judges too Julia, but if they're fighting over Portugal we have no chance.

9.40pm: There are only four more songs? This is going to be harder to pick than I thought...

9.38pm: Third time lucky? Valentina Monetta is ironically trying with a song called Maybe. She is clearly San Marino's only export if she's been selected three years running.

9.35pm: Wild Soul by Cristina Scarlat. Moldova! Finally, something that feels a bit more epic. Mad medieval costume... but struggling to love the vocals.

9.32pm: Nice Paul Potts reference from Julia. Oh, Axel Hirsoux from Belgium has a back-up dancer in the shadows. His mother I take it. OK, bad pun for a song called Mother. Too bad they've already had their Mother's Day and that Australia can't vote.

9.28pm: Ukraine's Mariya Yaremchuk - she is just beautiful! And love the man in the hamster wheel...




9.19pm: Again with the lace... Azerbaijan's ballad Start A Fire sounded beautiful. Wasn't sure if I was meant to understand all the lyrics. But Dilara Kazimova looked enthused.

9.13pm: Russia's Tolmachevy Sisters with Shine.

I thought they were going to go around with their hair intertwined the whole time. Fail. This is an ABBA-esque song and look, which I guess is acceptable given the 40th anniversary of their win this year.

9.10pm: Albania. This year's Shakira. Second lace and sheer dress, could be this year's key trend.

9.05pm: Jedward! I witnessed the act with Eurovision's highest hair in person. Feeling blessed.

9.03pm: "Just stand still and focus on the singing." Sanna Nielsen is beautiful AND clued in. Eurovision, you've changed.

8.56pm: Pollaponk's No Prejudice: Iceland are always entertaining. These guys are suited-up Wiggles with a bit of edge. And some mean beards. Great mix of kitsch and actual singing talent.

8.53pm: Sanna Nielsen from Sweden with Undo, finally on stage after seven attempts to represent her country. She's a stunner. With a really nice voice. Understandably one of the favourites. Do agree with Julia Zemiro that it's Celine Dion-esque. But it's a strong contender so far.





8.47pm: Amazing! The white has ARRIVED! Where's my wine... ah shit. Not tonight. But Tanja from Estonia has my favourite Euro sound with a heavy dance-pop element.

8.45pm: Ask your mother how to bake a cake? Nah, I can make a cake pretty well from scratch, but thanks Aarzemnieki from Latvia. Cake To Bake was sung with a folk sound/look to it.

Mix some dough and add some love. The best lyrics ever?!

8.41pm: You're Not Alone - Armenia's Aram mp3... there we go! The favourite rocking it in a half-military, half-Matrix ensemble. Confusing, but it's alright.

And the stage is epic this year.

8.38pm: Three hosts again. I really think we'll have 10 in another five years... And WOW. Pilou's hair (on left). SO hipster.



8.36pm: Emmelie De Forest is without shoes again. But still looks amazing - and I thought that before Sam Pang. The webcam shots are back.

8.35pm: #JoinUs is a great theme, but the webcam shots seemed a bit... well, I'm not sure really.

8.33pm: Julia's already a bit tiddly getting her facts wrong about Danes voting for Emmelie.

8.28pm: We're getting ready to go, Eurovision 2014 is finally here! I am yet to hear any of the songs so am very curious for what Copenhagen has to show.

I'll be attempting my first live blog tonight, taking you through any quips I have on each song as they come on. Feel free to comment on the blog and make your views known too.
**Please note this is in Central Standard Time**

I'm on the home stretch before my departure for South America. It's very exciting, but I still feel like there's a heck of a lot to do.

I've found out it doesn't always pay to stay up late to send off correspondence though. After having found out I need to pay a 'reciprocity fee' to enter Argentina (hello hidden costs), the same is applicable for Chile. While that fee is payable at the airport on entering through Santiago I wanted to confirm how much it might be or how else I may need to go about it.

This is my response.