Eurovision in Concert – Thousands of Eurovision fans will gather tonight for the season’s largest preview concert, as the Eurovision in Concert event takes place in Amsterdam. Unfortunately France’s Emilie is ill so SuRie form the UK will be performing the French entry, in English, alongside MadameMonsieur‘s Jean Karl instead.
Another surprise guest was announced yesterday when it was revealed that Kristian Kostov (Bulgaria 2017) will join EQUINOX on stage at Eurovision in Concert.
The hashtag to follow on Twitter and Instagram is #EiC2018
Participants tonight:
Albania – Eugent Bushpepe
Armenia – Sevak Khanagyan
Australia – Jessica Mauboy
Austria – Cesár Sampson
Belarus – ALEKSEEV
Belgium – Sennek
Bulgaria – Equinox
Czech Republic – Mikolas Josef
Denmark – Rasmussen
Finland – Saara Aalto
France – Madame Monsieur
Germany – Michael Schulte
Hungary – AWS
Iceland – Ari Ólafsson
Ireland – Ryan O’Shaughnessy
Israel – Netta
Latvia – Laura Rizzotto
Lithuania – Ieva Zasimauskaitė
Macedonia – Eye Cue
Malta – Christabelle
Moldova – DoReDos
Montenegro – Vanja Radovanović
Poland – Gromee ft. Lukas Meijer
San Marino – Jessika ft. Jenifer Brening
Serbia – Sanja Ilić & Balkanika
Slovenia – Lea Sirk
Spain – Alfred & Amaia
Sweden – Benjamin Ingrosso
Switzerland – ZiBBZ
The Netherlands – Waylon
Ukraine – MELOVIN
United Kingdom – SuRie
Special Guest: Sandra Kim (winner Eurovision Song Contest 1986)
Support Act: Maxine & Franklin Brown (The Netherlands 1996)
Hosts: Edsilia Rombley (The Netherlands 1998 & 2007) and Cornald Maas (ESC TV Commentator)
Venue: AFAS Live, Amsterdam
Date: 14 April 2018
Time: 20.00 (CET)
Tickets: http://www.ticketmaster.nl
The Eurovision Times 
“France’s Emilie is ill so SuRie form the UK will be performing the French entry, in English, alongside MadameMonsieur‘s Jean Karl instead.”
The moment you realize you got a bad song and you should be singing something else….
Spring and cancellations are in the air. It must be ESC time!
Looking forward stellar performances by Sweden #1, Netherlands #2 and Bulgaria #4!
So cool Bulgaria brings my big favourite from -17, Kristian Kostov along, a proper treat for fans.
It might help Italy, if they did some promotion.
I think that these events are great for fans and participants who get the chance to become a family or community but I don’t think that they help when it comes to getting a good result in May. If I remember correctly, Lena, Loreen and Salvador did not go abroad at all.
They seem to have impact on betting odds, at least negatively. Italy surely need some push at the moment. It’s a massive hit in Italy, maybe it’s enough for them. Italian pop music has lots fans all over Europe. They need to machinated now.
If remember correctly Salvador didn’t even participate in rehearsals 😃
Perhaps we’ll have a winner who never went onto ESC stage in a couple of years. ;)
Oh dear, I totally misread your comment about melodrama and Belgium.
INFE | Azerbaycan’ın oyları. #Azerbaijan
12 İsrail 🇮🇱
10 Yunanistan 🇬🇷
8 Bulgaristan 🇧🇬
7 Kıbrıs 🇨🇾
6 Belçika 🇧🇪
5 Estonya 🇪🇪
4 Çek Cumhuriyeti 🇨🇿
3 Finlandiya 🇫🇮
2 Norveç 🇳🇴
1 İsveç 🇸🇪
I really would love to learn new country names in Turkish! Kibris is my biggest favourite so far. Also didn’t know that Bulgaria is actually part of stans. When looking at those eye brows it’s obvious of course.
Hahahah I am copying and pasting from a Turkish site and am too lazy to rewrite them..The flags do help to those who don’t have a clue ;)
LOL
I like Albania’s and Hungary’s names the most. Arnavut and Macaristan!
Arnavutluk…Arnavut is Albanian
Sounds like a name of a recipe.
Yiaourtlu. They make it in Greece but it must be Turkish.
Like yoğurtlu? Something made out of yogurt or with yogurt
Lamb kebab with yogurt!
Yes it means “with yoghurt” in Turkish….
Yummy 😋
Macaristan is drop dead cool, I have to admit!
Ιn Greek ”makaristos” means ”someone dead who is now in Paradise” :p
Hah, that if anything is drop dead cool 😃
Hungary is destined for the Greek Paradise :)
How many European countries end with “istan” in Turkish? :D
Hmm not many🤔 Sırbistan(Serbia),Macaristan(Hungary),Yunanistan(Greece),Bulgaristan(Bulgaria)
We have also Gürcistan (Georgia) and Ermenistan (Armenia) if you add them in Europe
Macaristan… Funny. Is it from Magyar?
Yes from Magyar..I don’t know why we did not call them “Hunistan” though😁
“c” in Macar is pronounced like “g” in ginger ;)
I thought so. Thank you. Don’t know of any other country using the Magyar base.
Probably we are the only ones as they are considered our distant relatives
Maybe the -stan ending has to do with the fact they’re countries that were under Ottoman rule or it’s irrelevant?
Hmmm good point but there are other countries that were under Ottoman rules but they don’t end in -stan🤔 Arnavutluk (Albania),Cezayir ( Algeria), Kıbrıs (Cyprus)f.i..
Doesn’t the Stan ending mean land? As in Finland, Island…
Yes…it is a sanscrit word for place but Persians also used it…our language had a lot of Persian influence in Ottoman times…
I forgot Hırvatistan (Croatia)
When I’m told that Sennek has taken seven weeks unpaid leave from her day job, I’m not surprised at all. After all she has a charisma of supermarket cashier. But. I would love to see Belgium get desparate enough to send a professional singer next time just for change. Let’s see how she will do drunken after hour karaoke of her song tonight.
And yeah, stidio is good. Everything can be faked there.
You mean like all the other “professional” singers taking part this year?
No, not this time. This was just about Belgium. The problem with amateur singers in the begining of their careers is of course bigger in ESC. However, it’s Belgium that combines them with excellent songs.
Dont pay attention. Not worth it.
I read that she does the floor plans for IKEA. That should come handy when deciding about the staging :-P
I was about to ask the same question. Will Ikea sponsor her staging?
They did not even give her paid leave!
Hope she doesn’t pile it ip with crap, then.
LOL at the cashier charisma 😂
Whenever I see her,I want to comb her hair..weird!
And I’m thinking she should have thick moustache to spice up things a bit 😃
That was too much (cashier) lol. Is she still sick?
Surie singing the French entry because Emilie is sick:
I think she sings it better. :P
I got tired of French song long ago…and yes surie sings it better
I really like SuRie. It is such a shame that she did not find a better song than “Storm”, which will come bottom 5 imo. :(
She radiates a very comforting warmth as a performer.
Snippet of Bulgaria.Vlado is a reason to root for Bulgaria this year. :P
The Botox guy?😬
What?Hell,no.lol
Ahhh you mean the bearded rocker type of guy…how did you notice him😁
Well,my talent in discovering things doesn’t apply only to news.lol Haven’t you seen their London interview with William?He was hitting on him. :P
No,I didn’t…I wonder if William got laid with any of ESC contestants🤔he should…
Well,it’s likely but i don’t think it would be Vlado.lol
He must be doing his dream job…lucky guy!
No bodysuit for Alekseev in Lisbon.The performance will be emotional.He’s so sweet during his interviews:
@Morgan,William is all over Melovin.lol
Alekseev and Melovin kinda look alike
Contender off the radar ;)
Contender to win?I hope not but i may be prejudiced.lol
Nah, but close to the top :)
If the live is very good then i can see them making it to the top-10.I believe there’s enough jury and public support for that scenario.
Toggie’s darlings.Some of them are very cute.That i fialedto notice before.lol
<3
Oyyyy that costume has to be burned! I like this,actually this is just a teaser as she said and sounds good to me..with dancers and right camera shots this will look like on stage music video :)
I think chicken sounds and other ouch,la,la kind of sounds will be pre-recorded
Yes,the outfit is unfortunate but the live vocals were excellent and the crowd adores her.
She is very adorable😍
Excellent vocals. GOOOO Netta. :)
She has no sense of style. At all. Moran Mazor did the same mistake in 2013 unfortunately.
What do you think on Belgium?
I still don’t find her high register charming but she sounds improved a bit:
Still sounds very bad at the most vital part of the song imo..maybe she shuts up and back vocals do that part in Lisbon!
That did not work for Demy, it won’t work for her…It’s obvious those notes are outside her vocal range because she sounds fine in the rest of the song.
Exactly! she should tone down that part…maybe she should hire Alex panayi…he is pretty patient with screamers😊
She was excellent, even the 2-3 rough notes from Tel Aviv (due to sickness) have been smoothed.
This is very close to studio version. I am not surprised by overall reactions in the esc fandom though, I predicted them a while ago. Its a pity the fandom has become so agenda driven. Its becoming more and more obvious Barzilai is not a winner and curiously enough the ones who threaten her (Belgium, Bulgaria, Sweden, Czech Republic) get the most negativity and dislikes on youtube. Deppresingly predictable and naive imo.
Although Belgian song is good, it is not a contender imo….Bulgaria,Sweden and Estonia are….and except Estonia I love them all and wouldnt mind them winning!
Thats your view and I respect it. Imo it is a leading contender. And I am extremely dissapointed in you out of all people for participating in the bullying against Sennek based on her every day job and hair and image etc tbh. I thought higher of youand I bet you wouldnt appreciate it if anyone started bullying Netta on her body and weight.
I am off for today. The situation is getting way too toxic for me again.
Sennek is not reading what we write don’t worry🤗and asking someone to comb his/her hair is not a bullying but a friendly advice
Alright then. I will start making comments Netta needing to lose weight cause she honestly looks bad – just friendly advice and she does not read them – plus what is her every day job as I dont think she (or 90 % of esc artists) sustains themselves just from music – got to crack a few jokes about it as well. I hope no one will compain :-)
😒
I agree that Belgium isn’t a contender for victory but imo it is a contender for top 10 if Sennek improves a bit live.
Remember that we haven’t heard Bulgaria and Sweden live yet. It might still all go pear-shaped …
I agree that she can make a top10 despite her screeching vocals because the song is really good…As for Sweden,I count on Sweden as much as I count on my father…so I have no worries LOL
Bulgaria is a big question mark…although they can all sing well I don’t know how they will sound and look in Lisbon
I don’t think that Sennek is screeching. In fact, I think that people are quite melodramatic when it comes to Belgium this year …
Last year people mostly criticized her confidence on stage…nobody had a problem with the song.Sennek is screeching at the most vital part of the song,how come you can’t hear that?
I do hear that she has some issues but I wouldn’t call it screeching. :)
Ok..my English is not perfect
At least we agree that there are vocal issues that need to be addressed. :) :(
”Echo! Echo!” is cut from pieces and it probably would be impossible to sing for prominent singer. This girl is struggling and screeching.
People getting melodramatic over Belgium here? Not really, I can tell couple of entries ET regulars are getting overtly melodramatic. No, Belgium is surely not one of them.
It’s just bad. The verses are just a bit too low for her and chorus is too high. The song is too big not only for her personality and presence but also for her voice.
Her singing during verses is very good imo
I can sing verses pretty well too…I think what makes you a good singer is to be able to sing the parts most people can’t sing😝
I agree unfortunately but at least she sounds warm during verses
And she sings those perfectly, almost identical to the studio version in yesterday’s performance.
I think it’s good only in the bridge.
The problem in the verses are the lowest notes.
michelle pfeiffer wants her cat costume back!😜she sounds better!
She is getting better all the time. I do hope she is dealing with any issues she had with anxiety etc. She must be under a lot of pressure. She should enjoy the experience, do her best and just let things evolve.
BGR : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5v_jaQIDcY
Where is my guy?🤔
Playback. Again.
What do you mean? Don’t they sing live?
A very big part was not live…just like Benjamin.
He is in the US according to his bandmates, for a gig. Kristian just came to fill in the gap :)
BLR : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05a4yhKnHn0
#Foreeeeevaaaaar
Sleek!
He is a great performer imo… confident, sexy…just like MJ😍
No team Melovin? :P https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftou7ZtDsVU
I like him and his song too but not as much as Benji’s 🤗
he’s mine sorry
Tastes differ. He might make me turn straight. LOL
I like the song though. :)
Or are you talking about Mélovin and not Benjamin? It it is Mélovin, we might get into a cat fight. :)
He’s a star but i hate how his body figure looks because of that horrendous outfit.
80s baby 😉
This whole act is so well thought out its stunning imo. From the groovy dance moves to those 80s outfits this is an opinionated act and Benjamin just keeps delivering. Of course dislikes on YT are pouring in again which was expected.
Very sleek!
And seems that high waist is gaining momentum too at the moment, not just in thus performance 😃
and I said show me some biceps…
He also hangs well.
Horrible outfit this time…but great voice.
Loose pants can be fun ;)
Whoever thought of that top?
Is Cezar also a top?
Reviewing yesterday’s performances and I have no particular complaints about anyone at this point. Those we haven’t seen in parties like Hungary and Albania were very good in their delivery even if Eugent’s high register is still super enervating to me. AWS did their thing, singer dropped in the crowd, connected with the audience etc. Everyone else was much improved which was expected if we account for all the technical issues in Tel Aviv.
I loved those little surprises from Bulgaria and France (even if the second was unintentional). Kristian provided such a smooth calm quality to the song with his velvet-y vocals. He would make a great overall addition to the act. And Surie was so charismatic in her delivery of the french entry. Extremely charismatic performer.
On Belgium : a close to flawless performance with Sennek recovering health-wise and delivering smoothly the 2-3 bump notes in Tel Aviv. As I already said, the rest is an obvious agenda driven fandom that sees Barzilai seeming less and less like a winner. A very dissapointing couple of years for the esc fandom overall. At least the bullying against Blanche started at rehearsals last year. Did not hinder her top 5 potential last year and wont hinder Sennek’s winning potential this year either imo.
P.S. If we can make fun of a girl because of her job and hair lets start making fun of Barzilai for her body and weight as well then why not right ?
You forgot Alekseev’s teeth😬
Hell yeah if we go down that way let’ start making fun of everyone’s physical features. Lets make fun of Samoylova’s condition as well ! And of course we have to get that list of every day jobs of every artist and shame them a bit as well :-) And lets not just restrict ourselves to this year : Sobral’s heart condition is very funny as well :-D
But you did make fun of Salvador’s behavior by calling him autistic last year, no?
A behaviour is something a person is responsible of and can change it and it influences other people (negatively in his case). The equivalent would be me making fun of his heart condition and hernia surgery. But I will consider it from now on.
Also how many esc artists sustain themselves just by singing and performing ? My guess is not many. I dont consider it shameful or something worth of mockery for a person to work as a cashier, waiter etc. Few people sustain themselves only through music. But I guess I am old fashioned in thinking like that..
That is not an answer to my comment
Well you should carry your complaints to the administration then. This was my second additional answer to your comment. Mail them to get the first which apparently was offensive for some reason they know.
We’ve approved everything today, I have no idea why people are not seeing comments in the right order. WordPress is a mess at the moment, they are clearly making changes again, but I have no idea what or why it’s affecting posts
I will just add that what you mentioned (behaviour) is not comparable to mocking and bullying a person based on their job, hair, weight etc – I am sorry if I cannot elaborate further, I am disallowed for arguing my position if it involves Sobral, anything slightly negative about him that can offend certain sensitivies of his fan base is apparently against the unwritten rules of this forum.
You won’t even see this comment most probably.
Never mind it was posted after all. Positively surprised I have to say.
Can we have a time out before things get heated please? People have had their say, let’s now call a close on this discussion.
I am done. Not worth my time anyway. The “cashier” comment thread is there for everyone to judge, I don’t need to add anything more.
Meanwhile, in the real Arena:
Exciting!
Just for the record because apples and pears are mixing again…Making fun of things people don’t have any control over is wrong(body shapes,health issues etc) but we should be able to write whatever we want regarding voice,clothing,staging etc…So I will go on writing about that stuff,sorry!
I am here mostly to have fun…life is serious enough!All witty jokers are welcomed!
Does someone’s job fall into this category as well then ?
P.S. We do have control over our weight in the overwhelming majority of situations. And I will end this here.
Fun has gone out the window in this forum years ago unfortunately – the moment rules stopped being applied at least equally… :(
I say what are offlimits for me…I am not responsible for what others write Guitar!People brought up her real job because she is not much of a singer
She has proven on many occassions what a singer she is :)
I couldn’t agree more. Btw, can’t wait for tye rehearsals! 😃
Eurovision: every 2018 act, ranked from worst to best
LOL
Oh my. I still believe that it is back to bottom 5 for the UK.
But I am surprised that an anti-Europe/Brexit paper like The Telegraph has nice things to say about ESC. :)
If Italy, Israel and Hungary are still to come, I will applaud their taste. :)
We’ll see :)
ooops… sorry :-) LOL
I always wonder. Do the English really drink tea while watching ESC?
LOL, I don’t know… Maybe every moment is a good occasion for a tea. :-)
I don’t like tea. People are always surprised an English person does not like tea.
It is quite shocking indeed. My ex (a “scouser” as you’d say lol), used to come visit me in Paris with loads of teabags he brought coz he didn’t like what was on offer here lol
Most ex-pats have to have Yorkshire Tea or PJ Tips exported to them. I’m a coffee girl.
LOL Mariage Frères is one of the best tea houses in the world. Then again if you travel with tea bags you really couldn’t tell, could you?
my current French bf only drinks Frères Mariage, but alas I don’t drink tea at all so I wouldn’t know. I think it’s just an odd patriotism from brits to think their tea is the best in the world (which is weird since they brought it from their colonies anyway)
I’m a coffee drinker with some knowledge of teas as I have some tea afficinado friends. As for Brits, in some issues the sun never seem to be setting 😃
I have a pot of tea every morning and when I am home, I have another one while watching the 8 pm news.
However, whenever I am on holiday, I miraculously turn into a coffee boy.
I am now craving a flat white…
It’s Telegraph, so it’s die hard Tory euphemism for ESC toilet break 😃
Bulgaria, Italy and Norway outside their Top 10 is surprising, the rest (besides UK but it’s a british newspaper) makes sorta sense, though I personally dislike the Lithuanian entry
I would not mind this Top10 :) But I miss Italy here too. As for Bulgaria and Norway, I wouldn’t even qualify them :)
@hulluna I am sorry, I did not know about the additional wordpress issues. Apologies.
It’s driving me mad :( It’s still putting some in spam and for no apparent reason too. Grrrr.
Oh it’s the same issue persisting ? And even getting worse ? Gosh. Really causes loads of problems along with miscommunication..I hope it’s fixed as the esc period kicks in.
It doesn’t seem to be as bad as it was, not so many links and emojis are now caught, but the random stuff that does just seems to have no pattern, so that is obviously causing them problems too as they can’t work out what it is either. There are lots of complaints on the wordpress support forum about the latest update. Some people can’t even log in to their accounts any more, and some plugins have had to be reinstalled. So we haven’t had it too bad really!
I had issues logging in as well when I got my new laptop a couple of days ago. I thought my account had issues.
LOL monologue is new dialogue!
With some people it’s the best solution! :)
It is! 😃
I wonder if you’re going to read this, because I think the original comment has been removed…
Your comment about FDLC? Really?
Yes, I think so.
I think so too as I can’t see it anymore.
I guess we’re talking in some sort of vacuum here… Echoes, echoes… Do you understand the criteria for removing comments?
No, not today at least, but remember we really don’t get to see most of the shit. FDLC might be pretty lame compared to that 😃