Federer91

I swear people and Eurovision. In the last decade with all the coocky and crazy songs and stages people were saying that Eurovision is a circus and so all. Now the last 3-4 years it is more song oriented with "modern" style graphics and performances and know people bitch that it is not so unique, cheez...

I wish Ira was better vocally, but still should be a qualifier.

Uggg, Bosnia could still a spot, it is actually decent...

"From the inside of the arena Russia feels like the winner with Armenia a close second." Expected.

Montenegro is better than what i expected, but it will be at the bottom nevertheless. Very chaotic camera angles.

Samra still couldn't sing. But it will probably qualify, because it is Azerbaijan...

Gabriela sang the best, deserves to qualify 100%!! Cyprus is awesome too.

Sergey was flawless. If the juries don't screw him, just because it is Russia, he has got this in the bag.

What, Russia has send very different songs over the last 10 years...

Douwe Bob was good, should qualify, for heywoodus reluctance.

3 countries in and neither sing very good. Time for Hungary to change that.

Get lost Mans, Il Volo are the real winners...

Almost time

As for the qualifiers for tonight - Russia, Armenia, Iceland, Malta, Hungary, Cyprus, Czech Rep. and Netherlands are still in my list from the first rehearsal. For those 8 i'm pretty sure, but for the last 2 spots i'm not so confident. I had Greece and Croatia, but they could go either way. Azerbaijan are still bad, but because it is Azerbaijan they will get many televotes and will be a borderline qualifier once again, just like the last 2 years, so i will swap Croatia for them. I'll keep Greece in for the same reason, people will vote Greece no matter the song. Let's see if i'm disproved tonight.

Spain have butchered the staging, which pains me, because the song is one of my favourites and Barei is awesome, but everything else is meh. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x49mgby_barei-say-yay_fun France has kept it fairly simple and Amir has a big personallity and the song is still one of the favourites, but the whole package doesn't scream winner to me. Being in the first half could hurt it also. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x49mgdk_amir-j-ai-cherche_fun

I adore Laura Tesoro, perfect girlfriend material.

Last night Kubrat Pulev beat by a 2:1 split decision Derek Chisora to win the European heavyweight championship for the second time. Kubrat dominated the match, but his performance didn't impress me that much, certainly not on the level when he beat Dimitrenko, Ustinov and Thompson. Either way the win is very important and after one more match by the end of the year, he could get once again a shot at a World title.

[hide] Preliminary Round May 6th-March 17th, 2016 16 Nations, 2 Groups, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Nation from each Group will qualify for Quarterfinals, 8th Nations from each groups will be relegated to IIHF Men´s Division I Group A World Championships 2017. Group A Date and Venue Team 1 T1 T2 Team 2 May 6th 2016, h. 16:15, VTB Ice Palace, Moscow Sweden 6 Latvia May 6th 2016, h. 20:15, VTB Ice Palace, Moscow Czech Republic 2 Russia May 7h 2016, h. 12:15, VTB Ice Palace, Moscow Switzerland 2 Kazakhstan May 7th 2016, h. 16:15, VTB Ice Palace, Moscow Norway 1 Denmark May 7th 2016, h. 20:15, VTB Ice Palace, Moscow Latvia 5 Czech Republic May 8th 2016, h. 12:15, VTB Ice Palace, Moscow Kazakhstan 5 Russia May 8th 2016, h. 16:15, VTB Ice Palace, Moscow Norway 2 Switzerland May 8th 2016, h. 20:15, VTB Ice Palace, Moscow Sweden 6 Denmark May 9th 2016, h. 16:15, VTB Ice Palace, Moscow Latvia 4 Russia May 9th 2016, h. 20:15, VTB Ice Palace, Moscow Sweden 1 Czech Republic May 10th 2016, h. 16:15, VTB Ice Palace, Moscow Switzerland 2 Denmark May 10th 2016, h. 20:15, VTB Ice Palace, Moscow Kazakhstan 1 Norway May 11th 2016, h. 16:15, VTB Ice Palace, Moscow Switzerland 2 Latvia May 11th 2016, h. 20:15, VTB Ice Palace, Moscow Sweden 4 Kazakhstan May 12th 2016, h. 16:15, VTB Ice Palace, Moscow Czech Republic 3 Norway May 12th 2016, h. 20:15, VTB Ice Palace, Moscow Russia 3 Denmark May 13th 2016, h. 16:15, VTB Ice Palace, Moscow Czech Republic 2 Kazakhstan May 13th 2016, h. 20:15, VTB Ice Palace, Moscow Denmark 1 Latvia May 14th 2016, h. 12:15, VTB Ice Palace, Moscow Norway 3 Sweden May 14th 2016, h. 16:15, VTB Ice Palace, Moscow Russia 3 Switzerland May 14th 2016, h. 20:15, VTB Ice Palace, Moscow Kazakhstan 1 Latvia May 15th 2016, h. 16:15, VTB Ice Palace, Moscow Denmark 2 Czech Republic May 15th 2016, h. 20:15, VTB Ice Palace, Moscow Switzerland 2 Sweden May 16th 2016, h. 16:15, VTB Ice Palace, Moscow Russia 4 Norway May 16th 2016, h. 20:15, VTB Ice Palace, Moscow Denmark 2 Kazakhstan May 17th 2016, h. 12:15, VTB Ice Palace, Moscow Czech Republic 1 Switzerland May 17th 2016, h. 16:15, VTB Ice Palace, Moscow Latvia 2 Norway May 17th 2016, h. 20:15, VTB Ice Palace, Moscow Russia 1 Sweden Group B Date and Venue Team 1 T1 T2 Team 2 May 6th 2016, h. 16:15, Arena Yubileyni, Saint Petersburg United States 2 Canada May 6th 2016, h. 20:15, Arena Yubileyni, Saint Petersburg Finland 3 Belarus May 7th 2016, h. 12:15, Arena Yubileyni, Saint Petersburg Slovakia 5 Hungary May 7th 2016, h. 16:15, Arena Yubileyni, Saint Petersburg France 1 Germany May 7th 2016, h. 20:15, Arena Yubileyni, Saint Petersburg Belarus 5 United States May 8th 2016, h. 12:15, Arena Yubileyni, Saint Petersburg Hungary 7 Canada May 8th 2016, h. 16:15, Arena Yubileyni, Saint Petersburg Finland 3 Germany May 8th 2016, h. 20:15, Arena Yubileyni, Saint Petersburg France 2 Slovakia May 9th 2016, h. 16:15, Arena Yubileyni, Saint Petersburg Belarus 6 Canada May 9th 2016, h. 20:15, Arena Yubileyni, Saint Petersburg Finland 2 United States May 10th 2016, h. 16:15, Arena Yubileyni, Saint Petersburg Slovakia 1 Germany May 10th 2016, h. 20:15, Arena Yubileyni, Saint Petersburg Hungary 1 France May 11th 2016, h. 16:15, Arena Yubileyni, Saint Petersburg Slovakia 2 Belarus May 11th 2016, h. 20:15, Arena Yubileyni, Saint Petersburg Finland 6 Hungary May 12th 2016, h. 16:15, Arena Yubileyni, Saint Petersburg United States 5 France May 12th 2016, h. 20:15, Arena Yubileyni, Saint Petersburg Canada 6 Germany May 13th 2016, h. 16:15, Arena Yubileyni, Saint Petersburg United States 4 Hungary May 13th 2016, h. 20:15, Arena Yubileyni, Saint Petersburg Germany 2 Belarus May 14th 2016, h. 12:15, Arena Yubileyni, Saint Petersburg France 4 Finland May 14th 2016, h. 16:15, Arena Yubileyni, Saint Petersburg Hungary 4 Belarus May 14th 2016, h. 20:15, Arena Yubileyni, Saint Petersburg Canada 3 Slovakia May 15th 2016, h. 16:15, Arena Yubileyni, Saint Petersburg Germany 3 United States May 15th 2016, h. 20:15, Arena Yubileyni, Saint Petersburg Slovakia 2 Finland May 16th 2016, h. 16:15, Arena Yubileyni, Saint Petersburg Canada 5 France May 16th 2016, h. 20:15, Arena Yubileyni, Saint Petersburg Germany 2 Hungary May 17th 2016, h. 12:15, Arena Yubileyni, Saint Petersburg United States 1 Slovakia May 17th 2016, h. 16:15, Arena Yubileyni, Saint Petersburg Belarus 1 France May 17th 2016, h. 20:15, Arena Yubileyni, Saint Petersburg Canada 2 Finland [/hide]

Like 80% of athletes in table tennis.

Okay semi 2 is done with the first rehearsal, so some comments. Sure qulifiers - Ukraine, Australia and Serbia. They were a sure thing before and the staging just solidified it, simple, but strong. I don't see what was so different in Ukraines performance than their national final, as for it to go really fast from 8-10 to third in the bookies. Probable qualifiers - Bulgaria, Latvia, Belgium, Norway - We were the opposite to Ukraine in the betting department today, going from 4th to 10th.. Like i said above, i hope our staging looks better when pieced together on the show, because it has gotten mixed reactions. Poli has said that are going to tweak some bits, as to build the song from the beginning to the end and i really hope they know what they are doing, because we have a history of flopping at Eurovision (many times). I have more reservations than before.. Belgium really benefited today and i would be really surprised if it doesn't qualify, very underated song this year. Going last in the night, an upbeat song, likeable singer, who owns the stage, good choreograpy. There is no way this isn't qualifying. Latvia and Norway have good songs and good singers, so not going overboard with the staging is a real plus. On the fence qualifiers - Poland, Israel, Lithuania, Belarus, Georgia, Denmark - Much more even semi-final than the first in term of countries that can qualify. Anyone of them can qualify, but can also miss out. Poland has a good singer, but the staging seemed boring to me and i have a feeling they will get lost in all the commotion. Israel benefited from the staging, which looked very compatible with the song, so i can see this surpising. Lithuania, Belarus and Denmark were unremarkable, but anyone can squize in at this point. Georgia were the surprise of the day, as their song were in the bottom of every fan poll i have read this year, but the staging got a very good reaction in the press-room, so i don't know what to think about it. Chanceless of qualifying - Switzerland, Macedonia, Albania, Ireland, Slovenia - It will be a miracle of one of these qualify for me, though Slovenia had a good staging, but the song is just so awful. Nicky Byrne is a popular name, but i don't know how familiar the general Eurovision public is with him to qualify solely on his name and there is nothing in his performance that speaks qualifier. Macedonia is too Balkan, Albania is too boring and Switzerland, well they are just Switzerland. I don't know how they manage to send every year the most bland songs (except Seblater, who was amazing), though i've got to say that i'm strangely attracted to Rykka, whenever i see some video with her, but girl can't sing. Qualifiers for me - Ukraine, Australia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Belgium, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Israel and Lithuania.

Uggggg, Polis outfit Hope it does look better in motion, than on pictures. Mixed reactions i've read so far. The press there seem very optimistic with the whole performance, but the fans who loved the song seem to think that the staging is gone overboard.

Okay, semi-final 1 is done with their first rehearsals, so i'll give my thoughts from the short clips. 100% qualifying - Russia, Armenia, definately first and second in this semi-final. Iceland and Malta are also going through, though Ira could go down a few notches from pre-rehearsals, but she will have no problem qualifying. Big improvements that put countries in contention - Greece, Netherlands and Czech Republic. Greece has a bad song, but their staging is a vast improvement and they are surrounded by duds, so with them being very popular country i think they will squeak in, which i didn't think before. Netherlands and CR have a simple, but classy staging and with the good singing performance it will make an impression surrounded with all the visual stuff from others. I think juries will rank them pretty high. Countries that lose positions - Croatia and Azerbaijan. Croatia was a front-runner in the beginning of the campaign, but Ninas weird space video first and now that weird asian dress and very bland staging has it losing positions fast. It can qualify, but i won't be surprised if it is this years big flop from pre-season favouritism. As for Azerbaijan, just Samra looking amazingly beautiful () won't cut it, she needs to sing properly too. I read that she has the flu, but that rehearsal was dead awful. Could we see Azerbaijan not qualifying for the first time? Countries with no change - Hungary, Cyprus, Estonia. I was very optimistic that these three would qualify, but now i'm not so sure that all three will make it. Nothing drastical happened, but they didn't struck me that much. 100 not qualifying - San Marino, Montenegro, Moldova (though i liked the nice routine they have, but that won't be enough), Finnland, Bosnia and Austria. If i had to pick the 10 finalists - Russia, Armenia, Iceland, Malta, Hungary, Cyprus, Greece, Croatia, Czech Rep. and Netherlands. I'm reserving to make changes after the second rehearsals.

Our team is pretty much the same in the mens side with the exception of Daniel Aleksandrov who retunrs from injury. FS - Borislav Novachkov (65), Dragomir Stoichev (97), Luiben Iliev (125) GR - Ivo Angelov (59), Konstantin Stas (66), Daniel Alexandrov (75), Miloslav Metodiev (130) The women are all new and i don't except much from them bar Evelina Nikolova in 53. The other two are Gabriela Peicheva in 75 and Victoria Bobeva in 69. So far we have 8 quotas and 10 is the bar minimum for me. I hope for 12, but that would be hard and anything above that would be a miracle. Angelov and Novachkov are probably the strongest from our team, but Novachkov already lost twice, so i don't know what is going in his head and Angelov is in the toughest weight class of them all, so i'm preparing myself for bad news. Our two heavyweights were closer, but anything is possible in their categories. Aleksandrov after the injury and in a new class is a big mystery, but i hope he finds his form from last year. Like i said, i will be happy with 4 quotas and anything more will be bonus.

The Giro starting in a couple of days and some teams have announced their rosters. Astana looking to be the strongest again, but i have my doubts about Nibalis form. He was dead awful in the last couple of weeks and i'm not so confident in his win, unlike i was in the beginning of the season. Landa will make a strong push, but with 3 time-trials, he will need to be full on in the mountains to make up time. Plus SKY have a weaker team, for their standards, so that won't help him either. Valverde is also here and he is the most consistent rider in the world. There is not a single race he performs badly, so he is a pretty solid bet for a podium. The big three aside the rest of the top 10 should be a mix of old faces Uran, Majka, Pozzovivo with new upcomers Chavez, Dumoulin if he isn't a one GT wonder. There are always some surprising top 10 finishers and i could see Atapuma and Geniez sneaking in. I hope Ulissi and Cunego to do something, because they haven't been on the map too long for my liking, but that is in the whishful thinking department. Also i'm surprised to see so many of the best sprinters starting, should be interesting for those stage hunters. Overall should be a good GT.

First rehearsals today. So far i've read that Armenia has got an awesome staging and that their odds have increased significantly.