Playlist: My Favourite French Songs

And, of course, no list of Kaija's favourite French music would be complete with Notre Dame de Paris.

Eurovision Review: France with N'obliez Pas

First Thoughts: I really like the beginning of this song, but most of it is disappointingly forgettable. It's soft, and it's sweet, and maybe it'd go over well on anyone still awake on the Easy Listening Station, but I can't see it capturing many hearts in Vienna. It does pick up a bit towards the end, but that point I'm already half asleep.

Best Lyric: N’oubliez pas/ Effacée des cartes et des mémoires/ Je me souviens du rire des enfants/ La voix des hommes quand ils partaient aux champs/ Les fêtes des moissons/ L’odeur dans les maisons/ Les éclats d’amour et de joie/ Mais je suis là/ N’oubliez pas. As a poem, this is brilliant. As a song, less so.

Worst Lyric: There aren't any, really. The song isn't bad, it's just.... Boring.

Finalist? Yup.

Final Thoughts: I would really like to see France send an established artist like TAL or Shy'm to Eurovision. One day, far, far, far in the future, they're going to surprise us all by sending an English entry. Our great-great-grandchildren will be long dead by that point, but it's the thought that counts.

Score out of 12: I really love you, France, so I'm going to give you three loyalty points in addition to the pity point you're going to get from Angleterre this year. Four points!

Music Shuffle Challenge

1. Describe yourself: 

The Uncomfortable Truth - Nneka

(How true.)


2. What do people feel when they’re around you?: 

Weighty Ghost - Wintersleep 

(I guess because I look like a ghost?)


3. Describe your current relationship 

Tu No Eres Para Mi - Fanny Lu

(This does describe all of my past relationships.)


4. Where would you like to be right now?: 

Porque Aun Te Amo - Dima Bilan

(Perhaps it wants me to be in Russia?)


5. How do you feel about love?: 

Bluebird - Christina Peri

(Kinda, I guess.)


6. What is your life like?: 

I'm Afraid - Royal Wood

(OMG this is so freakin' true it's creepy.)


7. What would you wish for if you only had one wish?: 

Bedroom Eyes - Dum Dum Girls

(That would so not be my one wish, lol.)


8. Say something wise: 

For the First Time - The Script

(Now, that's not nice.)


9. How would you describe yourself? 

Горе-Зима - Dima Bilan

(Translates to Winter Grief, which is the truest thing yet.)


10. What do you look for in a girl? 

Make me Over - Lifehouse

(Ummm, no.)


11. How do you feel today?

Tu Vas Me Detruire - Frollo

(So true.) 


12. What’s your life’s purpose? 

Fri - Ramsus Seebach

(I suppose so.)


13. What is your motto? 

You Can Shake the Mountains - Lifehouse


14. What do your friends think of you? 

Christmas Coming Home - Nashville Cast

(That'd be nice if I had any friends besides my panda, lol)


15. What do your parents think of you?

Til dig - Rasmus Seebach

(I guess this means they love me a lot. Lol, at least I didn't get Spiel Mit Mir.)


16. What do you think about very often? 

The Glory - Royal Wood

(Yaaas.)


17. What do you think of your best friend? 

Remember When it Rained - Josh Groban

(I don't have a best friend, so it got confused. Either that, or it's trying to tell me my panda needs a bath. WHICH HE DOESN'T.)


18. What do you think of the person you like? 

Берега / Небеса - Dima Bilan

(Translates to Heaven. And, yes, that is what I think of Megan Fox, thanks for asking.)


19. What is your life story? 

Criminal - Britney Spears

(I hate you right now, Music Shuffle Challenge.)


20. What do you want to be when you grow up? 

Ain't that a Kick in the Head - Dean Martin

(Ain't that a kick in the head?)


21. What do you think of when you see the person you like? 

Believe - Dima Bilan

(Yes, I believe I will one day marry Megan Fox. *eye roll.*)


22. What will you dance to at your wedding? 

Lady Flame - Dima Bilan

(This isn't so bad.)


23. What will play at your funeral? 

Running up that Hill - Placebo

(Yup.)


24. Biggest fear? 

A Horse With No Name - America 

(Yes, being lost in a desert with no water is one of my biggest fears.)


25. Biggest secret? 

Chapter One - Lifehouse

(Yeah, my secret's safe!!!!)

Kaija's Themesong: Le Sens de la Vie

J'aime cet chanson.

J'ai trouvé le sens de la raison qui m'entraîne, 

A chaque pas sur le devant de la scène. 

J'ai trouvé le sens de la vie que je mène 

Et je l'aime.

Lessons in Sophistication: Coffee

Picture this: You, in the castle library, elegantly draped over the velvet upholstered armchair, slowly perusing a leather-bound copy of Paradise Lost. There is a record player in the corner, gently skipping over the graceful notes of Für Elise. As sophisticated as you may look in the library's reading room turning the pages of one of the greatest works ever penned by human hands, something crucial is missing. A true sophisticate will look on, elegantly aghast, quietly and invisibly appalled by your choice, or lack of, beverage.

A Briton will tell you that nothing but the finest Earl Grey fits such an occasion, but we're continental and we're made of stronger stuff. We need a strong coffee in our delicate porcelain cup, but first we are going to have to decide our preferences in coffee. One simply cannot have a sophisticated fika without knowing what one's favorite coffee is. Before we begin, let us establish two things: There are no Starbucks or any other such establishment in or near our isolated castle, and (ahem brand that will go unmentioned) is simply a crime against good taste.

Any blue-blooded member of the royal court has doubtless made many journeys around the globe to sample coffees from every fertile continent, and can easily ramble off a list of top notes, textures, and flavours in any given coffee from nearly anyplace in the world. Unfortunately, we, as imaginative beings existing primarily in a mentally constructed landscape of infinite splendor and endless wonder, are limited to our castle, the courtyard, and the forest beyond.

It doesn't have to be that way, though. If we open our eyes and return to the horrors of the real world, we can find something on the list of the best things I have encountered in this life. That something is fancy coffee, and I buy mine here so that when I return to my castle wonderland I can proudly declare that I am drinking Ethiopia Yirgacheffe sailed in all the way from the newly discovered African continent as I, with untold poise and timeless beauty, go back to reading the greatest story known to man.


Notes, warnings, and post-scripts: Please do not try any of Kaija's fantastic ideas outside of the controlled environment of your mindscape. Please note that Kaija is not a member of any royal court on Earth and that she knows little of sophistication in her day to day life. She is but a humble farmer's daughter, milking cows and ploughing fields from sunrise to sundow- oh, wait, wrong mindscape. Ahem. In any case, please take any advice and/or coffee with a heaping teaspoon of sugar. If you are British and have been in any way offended by my Frenchness, please leave a message with my secretary Francis at 1-800-1-10v3-F4ANC3.

Playlist: Notre Dame de Paris

My favorite musical is Notre Dame de Paris - the original 1998 live in Paris version with Bruno Pelletier, Garou, and Helene Segara. Here is a selection of my favorite songs from the musical.

Belle

Lune

Les Oiseaux Qu'on Met En Cage

Florence

Le Temps de Catedrali

Dechire

Playlist: Kaija's Favorite Singers

Royal Wood (Canada)

Mads Langer (Denmark)

Rasmus Walter (Denmark)

Say Lou Lou (Sweden/Australia)

                                         

Alexander Rybak (Norway)

Mikko Pohjola (Finland)

Rasmus Seebach (Denmark)

TAL (France)

Hurts (UK)

Lifehouse (America)