It’s been two weeks since the Eurovision 2018 Grand Final and I’ve been trying to cope with my PED (Post Eurovision Depression) and not only processing the results but also my very first experience in Eurovision. Here comes the positive part! The negative one will follow later..
First of all it was just amazing to be there in the same space where the actual magic happens, see what goes on at the stage during the postcards etc. The stage was gorgeous! For sure it is one hell of a big thing to cross on my “things to do before I die” check list.
I also enjoyed tremendously watching every day how the event was built in front of where I work. The hype was all around and I was super glad and proud to be part of that. Loudly as my friends witnessed (sorry!).
Besides of my favorites I always hope for a diversed Final show with different genres, songs and performers. This year we had plenty and was super glad to see Slovenia (rap), Estonia (opera), Hungary (heavy metal) and Netherlands (rock country) going through even though not all of these were my top 10 favorites.
I was so happy and relieved to see Denmark, Albania, Serbia, Finland and Lithuania qualifying! I was worried for all of them! Especially Albania’s success in the Final also was great thing to watch! Eugent is such an amazing singer and the song was soooo good!
About Finland. Finnish media has done its traditional dance around Eurovision “coulda-woulda-shoulda” after the event and putting down the artist, the song, the entire process. But there were 43 countries taking part this year which we left quite many behind! Okay fine, the points were lower than what expected but our song and performed was loved by Eurovision community. I felt that love and I’m sure Saara felt it too. Besides we were in the freaking Final which we haven’t been for FOUR YEARS! She did a good job and we had a great song. Unfortunately this year’s competition was full of good songs! Someone has to go down.
Also Italy was big fan favourite in the Final - the hype around the song wasn’t as strong as with France and Bulgaria for example so I did not expect fans to embrace the song the way they did. Especially after those jury votes...The guys had a good spot though performing last. With Denmark it was also the same thing! Televotes made the day!
My ultimate favorite from Semifinal II Romania didn’t qualify but it improved a lot during the rehearsals and I saw many people changing their minds about the song! I will be listening to this song for a long time!
Germany spoke to me this year! The song made me cry. And obviously I wasn’t the only. People reacted and this was the best result for Germany for many years. And totally deserved!
We Finns often envy Swedes and make fun of them and especially in Eurovision. And I’m so sorry for putting this to my list of positive things in ESC but....Swedish entry wasn’t clearly the best track but it was still well produced and slick Swedish quality which I did expect to please the viewers. Also their performance, lights and visuals were memorable - even though maybe not as memorable as the juries thought across EU. However what a shocker that SWEDEN GOT LESS TELEVOTES THAN FINLAND! This is historical! Audience dropped them hard!
As Israel kept on climbing towards the top Cyprus was getting its strength. The hype around Fuego was unexpected and sudden. However I was glad to see someone being strong enough to challenge Netta - it was beginning to be to obvious. Eleni did a grand job and her performance was perfect! Toy however did carry an important message and stands out pretty much anything else we’ve ever seen on ESC before. The right one won.
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
Time to talk about some Eurovision! I’m bursting to talk all my favorites! And there are so many since I’m in love with almost all the entries this year! Sayonara to the years when the paying countries sent their crappiest songs ever existing because this year many of the fans favorites come indeed from:
FRANCE
One of the earliest entries this year. Even when I was watching through the national selection Madame & Monsieur stood out for me. Was super happy that the French audience saved them and brought them to victory and Mercy has been non-stop play ever since. Some say it’s too political but for me it’s simply touching…the subject, the words, her singing. Just absolutely adore her voice. There’s so much emotion in this performance. I like their sound. It’s organic. The lightness and softness. It’s French but not too much. If you’re into this take a listen their debut album which came out in 2016. Their live performance though wasn’t as good as I had hoped for which I’m eager to see if they’ll do honour for the studio cut. So here’s the official video untill..
The magnificent Madame Monsieur with “Mercy” from France.
GERMANY
I was so sad last year for Germany. There was a happy girl singing last song of the final. And she sang her heart out. I wanted to like her but the song was just bad. I admired her positivity. This is not the case clearly in Lisbon. This is not the best song of the competition but it’s a big leap from previous German entries. It is definitely speaking to me. Like France it has a touching theme which also makes it to stand out from the rest of the ballads. Some say it’s cheesy, generetic but the emotion is raw, fragile and real. I see so much potential in this!
Michael Schulte with “You won’t let me walk alone” from Germany.
ITALY
For me Italy is a treasure chest what comes to the music. They have so much talent what comes to singing, performing, songwriting… And the world doesn’t know about them cause italian artists are quite happy staying in their own country. I was spectical when I hear their victory and did not like it at first listen. But this song has grown so much. Again a bit political theme, similar to France but I don’t care! It’s amazing! Their singing is brilliant and their voices sound so good together. There’s an organic sound which makes it to stand out from the rest pop songs in the contest. The intensity makes my world stop for 3:30 minutes.
Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro with “Non mi avete fatto niente” from Italy.
PORTUGAL
I wasn’t familiar with Portugal’s Festival de Cancao before this year. But since living here what the hell. Also I was interested by the fact that Diogo Picarra was one of the songwriters and performers. He’s the only portuguese artist singing in portuguese I actually like (language learning). His song was not the best of him I think but I was sad to hear the rumors that he had copied his song from something that was released 30 years ago. I do believe in his honesty and was even more saddened to hear him dropping out from the competition. Anyhow the one act that got selected to represent Portugal. I did like her song the best. It’s not the winner song of the competition but I like the mystical sound in it which portuguese language adds to it. Nice beat. Claudia is cute and fragile while Isaura got her back. Looking forward how it’s gonna look like on big stage in Lisbon!
Cláudia Pascoal from Portugal with “O Jardim”.
SPAIN
One of the earliest entries. I loved it from the first time I saw it. The song itself isn’t that special on its own but when you see them performing it together – it’s just magic. It somewhat stands out being one of the rare simple ballads without big arrangements. I’m so happy to be back loving the Spanish entry!
I guess they’re gonna ditch the pianos but I just prefer this original live version from Spain..
UK
It has all the qualities that a good pop song needs. It has the pretty girl, great voice and charisma. There’s the beat and catchy tune. But no. Still not reaching high enough. I’ve really tried to like this one but no. However very classic pop song, British pop and eurovision pop also. I’m still hoping that this song will do the same as the last year’s UK entry did. They developed the song and the final version Ukraine hit me.
And because there’s a limit of only 5 videos in each post cannot add UK entry here but you can check it out here: