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.