2011: An Overview
"FEEL YOUR HEART BEAT!" IN DÜSSELDORF, GERMANY
Germany's first time hosting as a unified nation, they proved that a major European power could still win the contest. With their win, Italy finally returned to the contest after 14 years away. While still maintaining a humble budget, the German put on a slickly produced and one of the most professionally well hosted contests yet.
There wasn't a huge entrance for the German shows, the three hosts came on stage and merely introduced us to the songs. Germany wasn't ready to do a huge showing of German culture for Europe, which seems smart. The country swept it's past behind them and showed Europe what Germany is today. A modern, multinational, funny country. Yes, the Germans provided the most humor than any other country yet, sorry Finland. The semi finals in 2011 went by fast, with most of the finalists easy to predict. In fact, 2011 I predicted a perfect 10 out of 10 for each semi-final.
The Grand Final actually did have a real opener. With a strange, but cool, rockabilly version of last years winning song. They dressed up 42 girls like Germany's Lena. Then they paraded across the stage flying all the flags of the countries represented that year. Lena herself eventually joined the stage before the hosts returned to introduce the entries. The postcards this year were especially interesting. To celebrate the welcoming German culture, they each featured a story in the day of the life of a person from each country who now works in Germany. It really was a great concept, so much so that they made a compilation of all them and played against a really nice song from English songwriter Gary Go.
The competition in the final was tough. The stage was simple but the backdrop was a technological marvel. The first time the backdrop was the real star, because of it's ability to transform the arena to match each entry. From Finland to Georgia, the complex backdrop saved even the most boring songs by creating something amazing to watch on the giant screen. There was no clear winner from the songs and even the crowds reactions didn't seem to yield any clues to who could win. The songs were especially good and varied in 2011, which made it harder to pick a favorite. This was the last year that votes opened at the beginning of the show, so Europe had plenty of time to choose. Once voting closed, the Germans presented a rather lacklustre interval act. It's good enough but nothing compared to the years before.
The voting was a mixed bag of results. Nothing seemed like the outright winner for a majority of the voting. Azerbaijan didn't begin to take a lead until the very end. There were times it seemed Italy could win, which would've been huge for the returning country. The Italian entry was good but it was never getting good betting odds. The song was projected to come near last, so for the song to do so well was unprecedented. In the end it was Azerbaijan, the first win for the country which, as the BBC commentator said two years running, was "desperate to the win the contest."
The Picks of 2011
2011: The Best (Bosnia & Herzergovina)
2011: The Worst (Armenia)
2011: The Guilty (Sweden)
2011: The Weird (Moldova)
2011: The Hilarious (Belarus)
2011: The Honorable (Serbia)
2011: The Winner (Azerbaijan)
Semi-Final One Song Recap May 10, 2011:
Semi-Final Two Song Recap May 12, 2011:
Grand Final Song Recap May 14, 2011: