The Eurovision KnockOut 2013: Starts Now!

/ hulluna

TEKO2013THE Eurovision KnockOut 2013 – The national final season has come to an end, but our pre-Eurovision competition “The Eurovision Knockout 2013” starts today! In its first stage, 13 heats will be held. Three entries will compete in each heat and one of them will qualify for the second round to determine who Eurovision Times readers think should win. To find out more about the TEKO competition go here. Today you can start voting in the first heat where Who See from Montenegro, Andrius Pojavis from Lithuania and Koza Mostra & Agathonas Iakovidis from Greece will fight for a place in the second round!

EUROVISION KNOCKOUT 2013 – HEAT 01

The Entries:

Please listen to the three competing entries:

Song 01 – montenegro Montenegro  Who See – ‘Igranka‘

Song 02 – Lithuania Lithuania Andrius Pojavis – ‘Something‘

Song 03 – Greece Greece Koza Mostra & Agathonas Iakovidis – ‘Alcohol is free‘

To watch the performance click on the respective flag!

The Voting:

As you have now listened to all three songs, let’s go on with the voting. Please vote for your personal favourite out of the three songs.

Europe… start voting now! (and visitors from the rest of the world of course!)

Unlike other polls on this website you will not see the current standings of the voting! The qualifiers of the Heats will be revealed on this blog every few days, so stay tuned! Come back tomorrow for Heat 2!

*The voting periods for the following heats might vary and you might be able to vote for several heats at a time.

Feel free to promote this game by liking it on Facebook or tweeting about it (our twitter is @eurovisiontime) and telling your friends about it, please  :)

164 thoughts on “The Eurovision KnockOut 2013: Starts Now!”

  2. My top 10;

    01. GREECE: Koza mostra feat. Agathonas – alcohol is free – 10/10
    02. ICELAND: Eyþór Ingi Gunnlaugsson – ég á líf – 9/10
    03. MONTENEGRO: Who see feat. Nina Žižić – igranka – 9/10
    04. DENMARK: Emmelie de Forest – only teardrops – 9/10
    05. (ITALY: Marco Mengoni – l’essenziale – 8/10) (if they pick this one)
    06. ARMENIA: Gor Sujyan – lonely planet – 8/10 (this one is so underrated. Granted, the lyrics are weak, but the song and his voice is nice and he’s good live. I want the studio version NOW!)
    07. CROATIA: Klapa s mora – mižerja – 8/10
    08. SWITZERLAND: Takasa – you and me – 8/10
    09. HUNGARY: ByeAlex – kedvesem – 8/10
    10. BULGARIA: Elitsa Todorova & Stoyan Yankulov – samo shampioni – 8/10
    —
    11. SWEDEN: Robin Stjernberg – you – 8/10

    Full rank is in my profile.

    Average score overall: 5.34 (Italy excluded)
    Average score SF 1: 4.56
    Average score SF 2: 5.94

    For now I think these will qualify from;

    SF 1: Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, Moldova, Russia, Serbia, The Netherlands, Ukraine and either Belarus/Montenegro (only if they’re acceptable live)

    SF 2: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Greece, Iceland, Israel, Malta, Norway and either Bulgaria/Macedonia/Romania. Romania usually qualifies, but this year they are freakish like Georgia was last year so I think they might not qualify this year. Switzerland couldqualify instead of these, but this semi is East-heavy and they were flat live, so I think they won’t. Armenia could fail because of juries.

    Semi 2 is the strongest this year and it is definitely the toughest to qualify from and also the hardest to guess.

    • I have already said to Marko what do I wish to happen with Dorians and Gor but for Justice I have to admit couple things:
      1, Entery has couple of components : Lyrics, Live performance and music. Well when Messi plays investing 50% of own possibilities he will be bashed by fans while he still plays better then weaker player XY of the club who inputs 80% of his forces and is not bashed ( mass psychology). Lonely Planet has by far better music component and good live possibilities then 80% of the dated, stupid and boring ballads of this year and we have still listened to demo version of the song prepared nearly in 5 day and performed in awful studio where studio sound deeply sucked.
      2. According to their new manager a lot of changes were made in it and it will still be available on YouTube tommorow so you have to wait for it 1 day! I have no hopes that video will shine with its scenario since author of the lyrics shut it himself in 4-5 days! As always AMPTV don’t want to waste money on the video!
      3, If among jurors there are people who don’t live in their “ESC BOXES” will pay attention on the name of the author of the song (Black Sabbath is a legend, rock Legend) and it will help this entry to grab some points from jurors as well.
      4, This entry is most spocken about by the press abroad, and its PR still is going on.

      I’m very dissapointed with the choice of the song since I think Toy Planet was by far better option musically and author of the music was Gor, but AMPTV did what it did. I don’t wish them best of luck since author is foreigner and I don’t care that he is a Rock Legend (though better then G:son I guess). Also I have couple of personal reasons to loose my respect towards this band but I predict that they will be in TOP 10 on may and taking under consideration all the craps of the year I think it will be welldeserved!

      • It does have much more interesting music than many of the safe, boring and usual pop entries, but that’s exactly why I don’t think it will do so well. The masses are boring and vote for safe pop. That’s why rock doesn’t often do well in Eurovision or win in NF’s at all. :(

        • It is the rock equivalent to Boom boom…Such lyrics…
          I hope for a better revamped version which I will like ( doubt it ) otherwise Armenia is staying in semis…
          And I don’t agree at all.Armenia is very low this year ( quality-wise ) and almost every single ballad is more credible in music terms and better performed imo. ( Israel , Iceland , Netherlands , Estonia , Ukraine , Moldova , Austria to name a few )
          Sorry Avat ( says me who liked Armenia in 07 , 08 , 10 ! )
          Wish you trully good luck !

          • Without sorries :
            a. Everyone has own taste
            b. I have already said my opinon about songs from abroad, so please without sorries:
            c. Rock is a comlicated genre: Metal, Hardcore, Soft and PopRock! You must be an alien who to make ESC with hard stuff hoping not to fail or you must have good costumes for that (2006)! Like in case so much bashed Armenia 2009 which had heavy folk influence and I remember some fans calling sisters screaming witches while assshake of lovely Sirusho with softer one was loved!

            Prefer Ballads? listen to them! I just can’t stand them here (cheap ones)! As for me nearly 85% of this years entries are biggest craps which have no life out of ESC! Lonely Planet musically is not “Wind of change” or “Aerials” of Systeme of a down. After listening to it gets clear that people working on it tried to make it softer since this is ESC where people preffer ballads or dance easy folk entries like “Alkohol is free” or shlagers.
            People speaking about music and saying WOW to Hungary must pay attention that that song has no begining-coulmination-end. The same goes and repeats over and over! That music itself is Boom Boom! while it has nice lyrics ;) Alcohol is free is nothing but an avarage entry in a good genre and a year where there are 1,000 of ballads. But nothing that shines is a diamond for me. I’m sure a lot of stuff like that would do well on ESC, for example this avarage Armenian version which even wasn’t a hit in Armenia outside ESC:

            It is just safe ticket for doing well ;)
            As for Boom Boom it is cheap catchy pop like I always said I hate it! Some songs like it fail some of them get adored (Selena Gomez’s “Love song”)! But this are totaly different Planets ! “Lonely Planet” for me is well-done pop-rock with weak lyrics but still more listenable then a lot of ballads about nothing ;)
            Goodnight!

            • You might find Hungary’s weird musical structure weak , but that adds mostly the charm in the song , along with the very ggod lyrics ( same as with Greece 2013 ).
              The problem with Armenia , this year is that they weren’t bold , they just compromised with what they think is good for esc , when in most of these similar cases of compromise , results are bad ( quality-wise ).
              On the other hand , Netherlands did make a step forward this year and will stand out for being alternative and bold IMO !

            • Armenia 2009 was lovely, now that sort of folk and ethno I adore :) not silly stuff like Alcohol is free and Can Bonomo last year. I liked Armenia 2009, as it reminded me of bollywood music, its a pitty India can’t participate in Eurovision lol, I hope Armenia send something in the future similar to their 2009 entry, the muisc was so rythmic.

    • Thanks, Dimitri. I am starting to love this song. I do hope they keep this orchestration.

      I’ve just read your comment on the possibility of Moldavia 13 being performed in Romanian. It would grow immensley on me.

      • You prefer this orchestration to the original one?
        As for Moldova,that’s what i read but i doubt they will opt for the Romanian one.Fingers crossed!

            • I remember it now. I can live with both versions, but this one does seem to be closer to the spirit of the song. Thanks.

            • Yes! They’ve realised how much worse the song sound in English. Well done! :)

              P.S.: lose the dress, the hairdo and those annoying dancers, please!

            • This is great news. Now make this entry perfect by announcing that the dancers, costumes, and hairstyle will be changed into something less carnival like.

            • It gets better and better! It would be a shame for the viewer to miss out on how great the song/vocals are because they are distracted by the horrible stage antics. This entry does not need smoke and mirrors to make it memorable.

            • Good decision. Up into my like category. Now please change the staging. Keep it simple yet dramatic.

              Good luck!

            • Very good news indeed. It sounds much better in Romanian. It doesn’t really matter to me if I understand the words or not; the sound of the language is part of the musical expression itself.

              Now I have upgraded it to 7/12.

            • Dissapointed :( I was ready to give Moldova my favourite lyrics of the year award..She could have worked on her accent instead..I am afraid I’ll have to downgrade Moldova a bit..Lyrics were a huge plus for me here..

            • I knew that! :) But i’ll upgrade it instead.Her atrocious accent was killing the song for me.

            • Is it certain ? That she will sing in Romanian ? Not even a bilingual version ? :( I hope they’ll reconsider.. The song loses a lot imo without the lyrics..!

            • Just read the translation of the romanian lyrics..So much worse compared to the english ones..I will wait for this to be confirmed and Moldova is seriously downgraded on my list, sorry. They just ditched one of the songs strongest aspects imo.

            • @ Donnie

              I have Moldova on 16th place currently with a 7.6/10..If I give it a minus 2 (which will be either that or a minus 1.5) due to the lyrics it automatically goes to 5.6/10 and 33rd place on my personal rankings..It is a crush..

            • The lyrics haven’t changed because you don’t understand them … It is our deficit entirely, not being fluent in Romanian …

            • That’s why I said I read the translation of the romanian lyrics and they are far from being the same.. One of the biggest virtues here were the lyrics for me at least despite the accent. In the romanian version the song loses more than half of its charm for me. I hope they will opt at least for a billingual version or else Moldova will get crushed in my list :( I am very frustrated with this decision actually, I am addicted to this song since the final last night can’t stop listening to the english version..!

            • It will “crush” simply because they changed the lyrics?
              I can understand minus 1 , 2 points. But “crush”?

            • First time since Norway 1998 where a song is changed from English in the NF to the native language in ESC?

              Good decision, anyhow.

            • I like both versions and love this clip because it portrays a loving gaze, not a voyeuristic one. :)

              Btw, I have done the 2001 and 2005 contests now with my new system and only 3 acts (TR 01, MT 05, SL 05) got 12/12 for live vocals from me. :(

            • I agree on the video.It’s very sweet and minimalistic.It leaves a lot to the watcher’s imagination unlike this Greek video i’m watching atm but i love it too.It’s the band Melisses(N.F 2010) and their new single.It reminds me of Molitva at some parts.

            • The 2013 song is good enough. They could have sent this one last year though…

              Still no news on Italy. Moldova has seen the light. See you all tomorrow!

            • I am telling this 3 years now. Melisses would be a great option for esc!
              Great song and clip !

            • @shevek the song is good, but iliadi and her song were great. Potential winner for sure. All of Europe would have fallen under her spell and her backstory would have been unlike anything eurovision has ever heard.

            • Thanks for posting that. I was looking for a HD version of it. I prefer the video to the new one
              Looking for more HD videos without the annoying EUROVISION.TV on it. Got just 16 so far

            • Thanks for posting that. I was looking for a HD version of it. I prefer the video to the new one
              Looking for more HD videos without the annoying EUROVISION.TV on it. Got just 16 so far

    • Nice video ! It may be their weakest entry in the last three years but the video is very creative..!
      The only countries that have not delivered an official video yet on the eurovision channel are Moldova, Armenia, Belarus and of course Italy.

  5. Isn’t it pretty obvious anyway who will qualify from this heat considering the majority of this site’s tastes, it’ll be greece all the way, regardless of how current Montenegro is, dont need a vote to determine it lol, Greece is the winner of heat 1.

    • I wouldn’t be that sure, Scott. There are many sleepers who do not comment but vote on this site. If the taste of the people commenting on a regular basis was an indication, Rona would have won TEKO last year but she didn’t. Nina Zilli did! :)

      • I thought Nina was quite sophisticated to be honest, I’d have thought some of the commenters might have liked it, I did. If Greece qualifys thats allright I suppose, its better than Lithuania qualifying. I didnt participate in TEKO, last year, this is my first :) aw and toggie o’ve abbandoned my new socring system till I see the live performances in May, so its more fairer and valid then. But without the system, I think I’ve got a fairly sophisticated and quality slection in my top 10, but theres a few countries in there though which are non-sophisticated. My top 10 is this: 1st Norway, 2nd France, 3rd The Netherlands, 4th Italy (Potentially), 5th Isreal, 6th Russia, 7th Iceland, 8th Denmark, 9th San Marino, 10th Malta. (Germany just scrapes into 11th place)

        • Both Rona and Nina are 12/12 acts on my list. :)

          I have abolished my rankings for now and will come up with a final pre-contest ranking once we know all ESC versions. But I have made pots/categories (love – like – indifferent – don’t like – don’t like at all). You can find those on my gravatar page. :)

            • Where has Hulluna posted the detials of whats in the heats, I’d go with Isreal anyday over most entries its oozing with quality and emotion, but its just forgetful for the typical ESC viewer unfortunatly, but if I got round to rememvering Cyprus, I’m sure I’ll start to remember Isreal.

            • Just click the link in the article in the sentence “To find out more about the TEKO competition go here.”..It has the details about all the heats.

            • It’s my guilty pleasure too. :( In my always half completed list,she is currently my number 8.I expect Natalie to come in the final right after 3 ballads and rock the house.Tonight we can be glorious! :)

            • Well she is a hell of a live performer for sure..If the line up in the final benefits Germany (and based on thr new rules I believe it will), Cascada are going to do very well at least with televoting. And they deserve it imo. I have seen very few live performers in that genre be able to pull out a live performance like Natalie does.

          • I’ve found it hard to lower Belarus and Serbia further down my list :( and I felt under pressure not to lower Serbia, becuase I didnt want to disapoint Marko. Belarus has dropt to 23rd from been up in the high teens, so probably droped down 10 spaces.

            • Probably a wise decision concerning Belarus although I haven’t listened to Belarus 2013 and won’t do so until after the final because of cheating. Just be courageous, Scott, and rank Germany where it belongs. ;) :) And don’t be afraid of Marko. I have known him for years and he is a very nice chap at the end of the day. :)

            • Yeap let him rank Germany where it belongs…straight in the top 10 ;) :P !
              Go Scott..! :)

  7. On another off topic post, I don’t know how and I don’t know why, but I have become hooked on Adelen’s “Bombo.”

    Yes, the vocals are not great, and yes she isn’t the best singer, but the song is so catchy I’m willing to ignore all that. With almost 40 songs going to eurovision, is there not room for the vapid europop song that when you hear it you get transported to a summer club by the beach, Amstel in hand, just dancing the night away?

    The song is the equivalent of eating a pint of ice cream for dinner. Sure its bad for you, but sometimes you need to live a little.

    Sometimes music should but about fun, technical aspects and analysis be damned!
    The night is young and it feels so right. I’m hooked!

    • Haha..I agree..”Bombo” is a good, catchy song written just to offer pure fun. I would be all about having “Bombo” this year in esc for the sake of diversity if it was sang by someone who can actually sing just a few decent notes..I listen to it a lot as well trying not to pay much attention to Adelen..But her vocals are there all the time unfortunately..It’s a pity since they are horrendous truly..Some of the worst in this national final season..

      • This would have been perfect to kick off the ballad heavy final this year. And yes, this would have made the final without a doubt. They could have had a backup vocalists to try to cover as much as possible and played the music way loud to drown out the vocals.

        Then, it finishes low but becomes a commercial hit and Europe spends their holidays on an island dancing the night away with this.

        Everybody wins.

    • Great! Finally the studio version is available and I still like the song! :D I don’t understand the hate for this entry. The lyrics are banal and cliché, sure, but if you ignore that it is a decent song. I like the music and he has a great voice! The video is pretty good too for a “peace/love/save the world/we are one” type of song. If only the lyrics were better…

        • Yeah! this should be next song about holding each or about a boy who wants to be popular to be nominated for Literal Nobel Prize or atleast about Cheap Alcohol! LOL :) Never thought 90% of ESC entries were shining with their lyrics!

        • That depends on the person listening. I am capable of ignoring the lyrics to music I like, and if this is “blandness” in rock genre, then the rock genre is just far easier for me to like than pop, simple as that really.

            • Not really, because I don’t agree with you that this is “blandness” in the rock genre. I think it is an OK song regardless of genre with some faults, hence why it gets an 8/10 and not 9 or 10. It’s not bland in my ears. I am capable of rating rock songs low too, you know. Albania is a 7…

              And lol at the gender bias mistake. I’ve been close to making that one several times myself. :) :P

            • I guess,it all comes down to personal taste.I feel like i’ve listened to this melody a thousand times before so i get bored even before the first chorus is through.However,while Russia’s melodic structure is very common melody too,i find it more pleasant and easy to listen to.

    • Masters of Unreality?

      No, the song is actually ok. It’s more Nickelback than Black Sabbath, but then I’ve never liked Nickelback. There’s not much substance in it.

    • Hi Igor. :)

      Sorry for being such a faithless friend but I have been terribly busy for the last 9 months. That is no excuse for vanishing, I know … I hope that you are fine.

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