Sweden was superior – Norway ended up at the last place. According to Aftonbladet, the Norwegian entry came last. Yesterday, I wrote that Tooji were a potential challenger to ‘Euphoria.’ Yet, ‘Stay’ did not win the praises from either the jury or the viewers. Tooji only got seven points. And Peter Boström wrote both songs.
“I just laughed as the results came in,” Tooji says to Norwegian VG. Ahead of the final, he mocked Sweden. He was to beat Loreen. No doubt about it. As the countries’ representatives had spoken Sweden got loads of points. And Norway got seven. In total. He has worked hard to get where he is, and that makes him a winner. “Europe didn’t want me, yet I appreciate all this people surrounding me. They’ve helped me get this far, to the final. And that’s more than great.”
It was exciting to experience Loreen winning the Eurovision Song Contest in Baku with ‘Euphoria.’ According to Aftonbladet, our victory beats Lordi’s previous record yet 15 points shy of Alexander Rybak’s ‘Fairytale’. Rybak earned 387 points in 2009, while Loreen got 387 points in Baku. According to DN, Loreen earned no less than 18 12-points and beat Russia with 123 points.
SvD’s Harry Amster says that “she crushed the competitors with one 12-pointer after the other. Loreen did what I was hoping for. She just didn’t go through the TV screen, she blasted it with her energy. A massacre of the competitors. Europe embraces her and I believe that this is the start of an international career.”
On the back of Loreen’s Twitter success in an earlier blog post, Gavagi’s research showed a great interest in ‘Euphoria.’ Add to that, the 12-points verdict from Great Britain last night (ahead of Irelandd’s Jedward). Even my blog experienced a surge in interest from UK visitors following the victory.
Could this be the verge of a UK breakthrough and even an international? Surely, we all remember Céline Dion’s ‘Ne partez pas sans moi’ 1988 win.
Written by Thomas G:son and Peter Boström, ‘Euphoria’ has already topped the Swedish singles chart. The track has already, however, drops 6-8 on the digital downloads chart (Digilistan).
I’m really hoping that we’ll see ‘Euphoria’ on top of the singles chart in the UK anytime soon!
Please find below Loreen’s positions on the international iTunes download charts per 27-05-2012:
Denmark: 10
Finland: 1
Greece: 1
Netherlands: 8
Norway: 2
Sweden: 5
(Loreen actually beats Tooji on the Norwegian iTunes download chart who sits at No.7.)
Yesterday, I wrote about how the odds favor Loreen’s ‘Euphoria’ in tonight’s final. Today, Svenska Dagbladet announces another study saying that ‘Euphoria’ is entry receiving most emotionally positive tweets.
Sweden’s fascination with the Eurovision Contest was recently covered in an article on CNN and DN concludes that it’s our equivalent to Superbowl.
A quick search on HMV’s online store and it appears as if ‘Euphoria’ is still shy of a UK release. ESC entries aren’t the typical UK singles hits, yet Gavagai’s research shows that 25 percent of all positive tweets about Loreen is originated from the UK.
“It’s a sure thing. Sweden is the greatest favorite and an obvious winner in tonight’s ESC final,” Magnus Sahlgren, Head of Research at Gavagai (a company originated from Swedish Institute of Computer Science). For many weeks, Loreen has been a favorite across Europe, an exceptional position that was reinforced during the semi final this Thursday. When Loreen entered the stage in Baku, the measuring instruments went to the roof and Sweden became the country that was exceptional as Gavagai analyzed all tweets about the ESC entries.
“These analyses are referred to as ‘social media monitoring.’ In this case, we register the occurrence of positive tweets correlated to artist from around the world. There is no question that Loreen has most positive tweets,” Magnus Sahlgren says to Svenska Dagbladet.
In line with Google Insights for Search, results are weighed as not to give countries with may Twitter accounts more influence on the results. Expect a ‘Twitter euphoria’ to explode when Loreen enters the stage at 22.00 tonight as she’s No.17 in the final.
Former ESC entrant Malena Ernman represented Sweden in Moscow back in 2009. She claims that being a favorite is purely positive. “The hardest part is the very moment you’re on stage competing, but as a favorite you do not have as much to conquer,” she says. On a less positive note, you will be the centre of attention for tough questions. Malena Ernman’s support for gay rights in Russia led to threats during the competition.
Can ‘Stay’ challenge Loreen’s ‘Euphoria’ in tonight’s final. Congratulations to Tooji on his 25th birthday today. Née Touraj Keshtkar (Persian: تورج کشتکار), Tooji has a career as singer, model and television host. Born in Iranian Shiraz, Tooji moved to Norway at the tender age of one. His model career took off at 16, and he has also worked as a presenter at MTV Norway hosting shows such as ‘Super Saturday’ and ‘Tooji’s Top 10.’ His first single was released in 2008 – ‘Swan Song’ unfortunately didn’t chart.
Tooji won the Melodi Grand Prix 2012 with ‘Stay,’ a song co-written by Peter Boström who also wrote ‘Euphoria.’ As it happens, ‘Stay’ actually didn’t win its semi final. It was the runner-up after Petter Øien & Bobby Bare and their song ‘Things Change.’ Tooji’s ‘Stay’ peaked at No.2 on the official singles chart, following his victory.
In a recent press conference, Tooji was informed that a South African group of fans have recorded their own version of ‘Stay’ in Afrikaans according to SvD.
According to Svenska Dagbladet, a pact has been initiated by the Danish commentator. He promises 12 points to Norway in order to create a Nordic alliance against Loreen and ‘Euphoria.’ According to him, we will not get any help from our neighboring countries. Instead, Ole Tøpholm believes in Tooji as the real winner. “I believe that Norway has a great chance. It is a pop song with oriental rhythms, a concept that work in the Eurovision Song Contest nowadays,” he told NRK.
