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This is a tough competition especially this year. First semifinal will kill many good performances and the second one the rest. And unfortunately not all will agree with me anyway on the songs I like. So here are some I love and keep loving but which I believe there’s a high risk of them not going through to the Final.
AZERBAIJAN - AISEL - x my heart (1st semifinal)
DENMARK - RASMUSSEN - Higher ground (2nd semifinal)
F.Y.R. MACEDONIA - EYE CUE - Lost and found (1st semifinal)
IRELAND -RYAN O’SHAUGHNESSY - Together (1st semifinal)
LITHUANIA - IEVA ZASIMAUSKAITÉ - When we’re old (1st semifinal)
POLAND -GROMEE -feat. LUKAS MEIJER - Light me up (2nd semifinal)
ROMANIA - THE HUMANS - Goodbye (2nd semifinal)
SLOVENIA - LEA SIRK - Hvala ne (2nd semifinal)
Not every song hits you on a first listen. Multiple songs this year didn’t give the best first impressions but along with these spring months my opinion of them is changing and probably keeps on changing as the rehearsals start.
ALBANIA - Eugent Bushpepa - Mall
AUSTRIA - César Sampson - Nobody but you
ARMENIA - Sevak Khangyan - Qami
BULGARIA - EQUINOX - Bones
ESTONIA - Elina Nechayeva - La forza
F.Y.R. MACEDONIA - Eye Cue - Lost and found
GREECE - Yianna Terzi - Oniro mou
ITALY - Ermal Meta e Fabrizio Moro - Non mi avete fatto niente
THE NETHERLANDS - Waylon - Outaw in ‘em
SWITZERLAND - ZIBBZ - Stones
UKRAINE - Melovin - Under the ladder
This year we can feel Salvado’s affect since we have over double amount of original languages compared to last year. Some have released English versions such as France, Greece but still kept their Eurovision performance in an original language. The songs offer more authentic sounds, they all bring so much diversity, color to this year’s competition! People have really digged up their past and cultural heritage. Hope this will continue next year also!
ALBANIA - EUGENT BUSHPEPA - MALL (1st Semifinal)
ARMENIA - SEVAK KHANAGYAN - QAMI (1st semifinal)
ESTONIA - ELINA NECHAYEVA - LA FORZA (1st semifinal)
FRANCE - MADAMEMONSIEUR - MERCY
GEORGIA - ETHNO / JAZZ BAND IRIAO - FOR YOU (2nd semifinal)
GREECE - YIANNA TERZI - ONIRO MOU (1st semifinal)
HUNGARY - AWS - VISLÁT NYÁR (2nd semifinal)
ITALY - ERMAL META E FABRIZIO MORO - NON MI AVETE FATTO NIENTE
MONTENEGRO - VANJA RADOVANOVIC - INJE (2nd semifinal)
PORTUGAL - CLÁUDIA PASCOAL - O JARDIM
SERBIA - SANJA LLIC & BALKANIKA - NOVA DECA (2nd semifinal)
SLOVENIA - LEA SIRK - HVALA, NE (2nd semifinal)
Who said that Eurovision is just a pop song contest?
HUNGARY - AWS - Vislát Nyár (heavy metal) - Semifinal II
Hungary’s heavy metal entry is not the one I’d vote for but I’m glad they’re in this year bringing diversity to the competition. Hoping it will do well so it would encourage similar acts coming to ESC in the future. This is how the event will grow.
THE NETHERLANDS - WAYLON - Outlaw in ‘em (country) - Semifinal II
The Netherlands’ country entry is not bad at all. The song works and he’s got a nice charisma. It’s not my top favorites but not my lowest of the low either.
ESTONIA - ELINA NECHAYEVA - La forza (opera) - Semifinal I
The first time I heard/ saw this I was only blown away with the dress and visual performance. I was impressed by her singing of course but was unable to like it without seeing the performance as well. Now I’m warming up to the studio version and just listening to it also. This is one of my top favorites this year and what I wouldn’t do for Estonia winning the whole damn thing! But I’m super worried about the news of financial difficulties and bringing the dress to Lisbon. Keeping my fingers and toes crossed so that we’d get to see this in Lisbon as it was in Estonia!
SLOVENIA - LEA SIRK - Hvala, ne (rap) - Semifinal II
I don’t usually like rap/hip hop but the energy of Slovenian entry just gets me every time! Fine, this is still quite “poppy” but it does stand out! I feel like it’s underrated and I hope more people would find it. She’s performed well at the pre-parties so expectations are high for her Lisbon performance. I’m really, really hoping that this would make it to Grand Final!
Another entries which I don’t find as traditional pop songs are:
BELGIUM - SENNEK - A matter of time (art pop)
ISRAEL - NETTA - Toy (so much personality in this one)
Also POLAND - GROMEE FEAT LUKAS MEIJER - Light me up doesn’t stand for me as a traditional upbeat pop song. It has some nice dance, elektronic sounds in it.
+ several jazzy, soul-spirited entries from LATVIA, AUSTRIA, BULGARIA (see my previous post about ESC.
This year, besides the up-beat tracks and ballads we’ve got group of mid-tempo entries which all happen to have a bit dark, soul, jazz sounds in them. I love them all but I know some will go down in the semifinals. Especially when they’re almost all in the 1st semifinal...Which one is your favourite?
They appear in the alphabetical order:
AUSTRIA - CESÁR SAMPSON - NOBODY BUT YOU (1st semifinal)
I’ve warmed up to this slowly but gotta admit that there’s something in this. Nice beat, stands out with gospel/soul sound, he sings well - quite like his voice! I see this qualifying if only the live show goes well.
BELGIUM - SENNEK - A MATTER OF TIME (1st semifinal)
I’m one of the rare ones who don’t get this nor the hype around Belgium’s entry this year. I see that Sennek is talented, she has a vision, this is arty instead of “fast food” music. This is lyrically heavy but it’s balanced with the light melody. It’s interesting, sophisticated but I’m still waiting for my wow moment with this. I see this qualifying.
BULGARIA - EQUINOX - BONES (1st semifinal)
I kind of ignored Bulgaria this year due to the similarity other entries. But been watching some reaction and fan favorite videos and I quite like it as well! This has a very nice sound with multiple layers including the different vocals that makes it to stand out. It’s heavy, haunting and dark. I’m really looking forward to see this live. I believe strongly that this will qualify.
CROATIA - FRANKA - CRAZY (1st semi)
Croatia took a hit recently it was revealed that Crazy existed before sung by another artist. Franka enlightened that the two songs had same producers and that “Crazy” is the original one. Not sure where allegations stand at the moment though. This is jazzy - I like its beat. I like this a lot but I’m afraid this will fall being too generetic unless they really nail it with the live show. Which they might be able to do because the music video is stunning! However Croatia will perform just before Austria which I found better - I’m worried.
LATVIA - LAURA RIZZOTTO - FUNNY GIRL (2nd semifinal)
I fell in love with this for the first time I heard it. I know it’s not a winning song or even qualifying one but I’m liking it. It’s sexy, playful - there’s this 007 sound in it. But I think as much as I love it I don’t see it standing out enough to qualify. Only being in the second semifinal might save Latvia since Thursday live show is missing almost all mid-tempo tracks.
CHOOSING SAARA AALTO in the fall 2017
For Eurovision 2018 Finland did things differently than expected. Instead of having the competition UMK (Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu) of 10 artists and their songs YLE, the local proadcaster chose one artist to represent the country in Lisbon in May. She would produce the songs where the ultimate track to Lisbon would be chosen by audience and jury votes in March 2018. And she was no one else but Saara Aalto, known to Eurovision audience already from UMK 2011 and 2016 (coming second). She also took part in X-Factor UK in 2016 coming second but this time making record deals with Sony Music and Warner. Therefore she has become quite a popular character in UK as in Finland gaining somewhat existing fan base in Europe but especially among Eurovision fans.
The Eurovision dream of hers has never been a secret. Her attempts during previous years however haven’t been good enough in my opinion. She knows how to sing, perform and write songs but there has always been something missing. X-Factor gave her the much needed push and tools to create Finland’s Eurovision entry 2018. There has been a lot of criticism about choosing her without the public vote but to be honest this kind of buzz that is happening around her won’t wait. Finland has rarely these kind of artists as willing and skillful to perform at ESC so I’m definitely standing behind this.
I will not review the videos cause in they don’t play much role in the final show of UMK or at Eurovision shows.
MONSTERS Feb 9th 2018
The song offers a big start for Saara’s Eurovision 2018 journey. I was super afraid that the songs for Lisbon wouldn’t be good enough because earlier when Saara performed in UMK the songs weren’t good! But clearly this isn’t the case here! Monsters is an upbeat track with a catchy sound. Uplifting theme about leaving your demons behind you. Suits Saara and her story in life as in Eurovision. Her voice is soaring. This is such a motivating track and works outside of contest! Some say Sweden is all over this and but I’d say it’s high quality and attention to detail more like. No more that feeling that something is missing like in previous Saara’s attempt. I was impressed by the song when I first heard it but the more I listen to it the more it grows on me. This is gonna be big.
Domino Feb 16th 2018
The ballad. To be honest I was expecting bigger power ballad and this kind falls into the mid tempo range. But it has a nice sound. This can be memorable. Strong chorus and beat. Her voice is slightly over produced I think but still good singing here also. I like especially the bridge here by the way. First impressions were not as good as with Monsters but this song has grown for me and I’m really thinking this might work better when performed live!
Queens Feb 23rd 2018
Another uptempo track but with a theatrical twist. Knew to expect this. Goes with the same theme as Monsters but does not have the same catchy sound as the two previous songs did. It has some memorable notes and lines but it doesn’t reach same level as Monsters so therefore is the weakest link out of these three. Again I have to save some space for the live performance which in Eurovision can change things dramatically.
Nevertheless which of these songs will be selected I feel super positive about this! It will be the best pop we’ve have ever sent to Eurovision. I’m feeling also confident about Saara’s performance. She knows how to pull a ESC performance whether I’ll like it - that’s just the question of taste.
The final track to Lisbon will be selected by jury and audience votes on March 3rd!