Denmark - A Friend in London - New Tomorrow

DENMARK

A Friend in London - New Tomorrow

Following on from last years 4th position, Denmark returns to the Eurovision on the back of another hugely successful MGP in which A Friend in London was selected to perform the track New Tomorrow. An early favourite with ESC Addict!

Denmark has had strong showings in Eurovision in recent years winning in 2000, runners up a year later and a fourth place in 2010, but in amongst that has been some notable failures including DQ failing to make the 2007 final and placings outside the top 10 for heavily tipped songs such as Simon Matthews "All Night Long" in 2008. However, the time could be right for Denmark to triumph and they certainly have a chance with this!

Despite being formed way back in 2005 A Friend in London have yet to release a debut album and have instead spent the years gigging across the globe, primarily in Canada where they have picked up a small following.  After several TV appearances, use of their one of their singles as the theme to as a hit TV show and the recent victory at the MGP (Danish preselection for Eurovision)  the band are on the cusp of breaking through to the mainstream!

Indeed, New Tomorrow could well win them the Eurovision Song Contest 2011. The song kicks off with a sing-along, almost nursery-rhyme esque chant and builds to an almighty crescendo. The song has a classic-pop feel to it, and there is almost a sense of de-ja-vu when you first hear it as it definitely seems very familiar.With a catchy vocal hook,  perfect instrumentals and a feeling of rejoice and hope throughout this song could be what the competition is looking for this year.

The band are, as evidence by the video above, a competent live act and will impress a European audience with which this kind of music is becoming ever more popular. 

This should sail through the Semi Final and given a good draw in the final might well go all the way. Certianly an ESC Addict favourite and we will be supporting A Friend in London all the way to Dusseldorf!

United Kingdom - Blue - I Can

UNITED KINGDOM 

Blue - I Can

For the first time in recent memory the UK decided to have an internal selection for this years contest and the BBC turned to early 00's  boyband Blue to fly the flag in Dusseldorf. Formed back in 2001 the group hit the top of charts notching up a string of top ten hits, selling out arenas across the continent, duetting with Elton John and establishing themselves as mainstream celebrities. Since their initial split in 2004 the four members have worked on various solo projects and been ever present on British TV and across the national press. In 2011 they reunited especially for the Eurovision song contest with the song "I Can" which you can hear above.

The song is a vast improvement on last years entry by Josh Dubovie which limped in a pitiful last and in general is one of the most promising songs the UK has sent to Eurovision for years. Certainly beating any of the woeful entries between 2002-2007. But can the song bring the UK back to the top of the scorecard of will it be another year floundering in the bottom three?

The popularity of the band will surely aid the cause. Blue had huge success all over Europe with number one singles, million selling albums and arena tours. They are a "known" quantity and this will be the first time in a decades that the UK has sent an act to the contest who have some degree of fame outside the native land. In fact, in terms of record sales and chart success there has been no other artist who even comes close to this since maybe Michael Ball flew the flag. In essence therefore, despite the band being past their heyday and being newly reformed they still come to the contest as known faces. How will the voters react to this only time will tell but surely there are enough fans out in Europe who will ensure Blue notch together more points than the 10 Josh managed last year?

The song itself is what you may expect from the group. A mid tempo, anthemic track with a memorable sing a long chorus that sticks in the mind. There does appear to be a lot going on in the song in the background which is kind of distracting but the hooks is obvious and the song follows the traditions of boyband hits closely. The group have stated that they will do a more stripped down version in the final however but how that will work remains to be seen.

The four piece have proven in the past they can perform well live and are compotent vocalists so there can be no worries on that front and they have promised a simple delivery of the song with no big dance numbers or gimmicks which tends to go down well with voters.

ESC Addict will look more into this entry after its official unveiling on the Graham Norton Show tonight but until then we would love to here your thoughts!

Welcome to ESC Addict!

Its that time of year again, all the songs have just about been selected and the next stop is Dusseldorf in May.

After Lena stormed to victory last year what will 2011 bring? With Italy amongst a string of countries returning to the fray for the contest and the new voting system still in ints infancy it could be one of the most unpredictable contests in years and ESC Addict will be there every step of the way with news, opinion, reviews and a whole host of exclusive features so stay tuned and feel free to add opinions of your own throughout Eurovision 2011.