Eurovision Song Contest - Baku 2012 [Soundtrack]

The latest in the annual collection of Eurovision song contest cd's, this one containing all forty two songs that were entered into the 2012 contest, which took place in Azerbaijan.

As ever completists and fans will want this.

And if you don't fall into the above two categories there's no point in reading further.

Hearing them on cd is an interestingly different experience from seeing them on tv because you can judge them as songs rather than on the quality of the performance and the staging. And there's no strobe lighting to bother those who have trouble with that kind of thing.

This follows the usual format for these. With the songs spread over two cd's. And the booklet containing a brief introduction plus photos of all the entrants and the copyright and running time details of each song.

Which were as follows:

Disc one:

Albania: A powerful ballad from a lady who can hit very very high notes and hold them.
Austria: funky disco pop that is quite catchy but doesn't live long in the memory.
Azerbaijan: A good powerful song from a good singer.
Bosnia and Herzegovenia: like many it's a strong bit of music sung in the singer's native tongue, which is quite good whilst heard but doesn't stick in the mind too long afterwards.
Belgium: A bittersweet love song from a very good singer.
Bulgaria: another quite strong native tongue song that won't stick in the mind long.
Belarus: Strong and excellent pop music.
Switzerland: Also strong pop but not quite as memorable as the above.
Crypus: A nice and catchy tune with a decent song.
Germany: A very good romantic tune.
Denmark: An excellent and melodious little song from a very good singer.
Estonia: Good powerful ballad. In estonian. But it does linger.
Spain: A good strong song in spanish that will linger for more than some.
Finland: another decent one in native tongue that doesn't stick in the mind for too long.
France: A good but ultimately a bit forgettable bit of pop.
United Kingdom: a bittersweet and melodious love song superbly sung.
Georgia: somewhat forgettable pop.
Greece: Amazingly catchy dance.
Crotia: Another decent native tongue song that doesnt stick in the mind.
Hungary: Okay but ultimately not too memorable pop.
Ireland: Capable pop music but not quite as good as their entry from last year.

Disc two:

Israel: a somewhat off the wall and esoteric tune that does rather grow on you but was a little too different to stand a chance of doing well.
Iceland: Strong and excellent duet.
Italy: Superb pop in the Amy Winehouse style.
Lithuania: Excellent love song.
Latvia: called beautiful song. It isn't quite but it's pretty good.
Moldova: a decent little number with trumpets in a circus style.
Montenegro: rather odd freestyle rapping poetry. Which does have a line about not expecting to do well in the contest. An accurate prediction.
F.Y.R Macedonia: More powerful singing in a native tongue. With a jarring change of style in the middle. That you may not remember for long.
Malta: superb and very catchy pop music.
The Netherlands: A nice little romantic song but the singing takes a lot of getting used to.
Norway; Funky disco song that is quite good for what it is. But won't be to all tastes.
Portugal: a capable power ballad. But another that doesn't linger.
Romania: Another off the wall bit of music but it's very catchy and it's great fun.
Serbia; more powerful music with native tongue signing. That is pretty good. And a little more memorable than some.
Russia; novelty act with old ladies singing a party song. It's not a great song but the tune is rather good, with a nice ethnic flavour and it builds to a very good finale.
Sweden: Very strong Kate Bush style pop.
Slovenia: Another powerful bit of music in the native tongue. You know the rest by now.
Slovakia: Very hard and loud rock music. In English. If you like this kind of thing it may appeal.
San Marino: A novelty record about social networking. Nothing very special.
Turkey: a novelty sea shanty song and tune. It grows on you.
Ukraine: Pop music with some great use of trumpets but a rather repetitive lot of lyrics.

And that's Eurovision for another year. A perfect way to remember it for fans and completists.

The "Eurovision Song Contest: Baku 2012" is a two cd set that contains 21 songs on each set. Most of the songs represent different countries in both Western and Eastern Europe. "Euphoria" by Loreen, "Beautiful Song" by Anmary, and "Stay" by Tooji are some of my favorite songs in this collection. However, there are also so many other good songs that are included in this compilation.
At the time of this writing, Amazon US does not yet have the full track listing to this compilation. However, the United Kingdom Amazon, Germany Amazon, and France Amazon all have complete track listings to both cds. The "Eurovision Song Contest: Baku 2012" is best for those who are curious to hear a sampling of pop songs from Continental Europe.

Wonderful songs from Serbia, Italy, Spain, Russia, Portugal and so on.

This year's design is very imaginative.

I miss Andorra, Luxembourg, Czech Republic, Poland, Monaco, Armenia and Morocco. A contest with all the 49 countries would be the greatest of all times!