So this is the part where I tell you how everything went wrong and everything was shitty! If I had to decide based on this experience whether to travel somewhere else for Eurovision the answer would be NO. I’m so glad I didn’t pay hundreds of euros for flights and accommodation in Lisbon and instead just happened to be here. I’m glad I did this - now I don’t need to wonder and I’m happy to continue my Eurovision love by watching it all from tv and/or online!
Organization could have been better from the fans’ point of view. The lining up hadn’t been planned properly, there were no fences so cutting in line was kind a easy. Inside the arena not all the screens were on so if you were short and didn’t have seat you might have not seen anything. Also sound quality wasn’t on point when the shows started on the May 8th. The difference between Tuesday and Saturday sound quality is like night and day! Missed several performances on Tuesday’s live show because of the screens and sounds problems. And it was my only live ticket! Just seriously disappointed.
Also the ticket sales went obviously down south. The arena was quite empty for even Semi I live show and Semi II jury show. The standing arena wasn’t nearly full. Blue ticket, the official one had sold out all tickets but apparently the tickets were being sold on other websites three times more expensive! And a lot of people didn’t apparently buy them for Semis even though the Final shows with its jury and rehearsals were sold out in reality. There could have been use for those tickets which weren’t sold. I’m so pissed about this also cause when we got there there were nothing else left than standing area tickets!
Overall never felt more left outside alone than this year when I was actually in Eurovision! But let’s move on to the actual songs and results! Obviously many of my loves left out already at the Semis but concentrating the main shockers and disappointments.
My ultimate favorite this year, Estonia. I was kind of disappointed that Elina didn’t get more points from the juries since her performance was so technically, vocally on point. And plus the visuals were memorable and standing out from the rest of the performances this year. Can’t believe she got less jury points than so many who were clearly worse singers and had less memorable performance.
Bulgaria which had an amazing hype around their song the entire spring came 14th! The jury votes were fine I guess but I expected the audience to bring them up. The performance as the song were really dark but I think it all looked really good and stylish. Televoters gave them only 66 points. Wow. But still love their song!
I’ve loved French entries for quite some years now and especially this year MadameMonsieur were the best find for me! But something goes wrong for France. They’ve had good songs, great singers and performers, also the visuality and the staging hasn’t been THAT BAD! But still they always fall down 10 positions at least in the actual results. Amir placed 6th in 2016 which was an amazing result for France but still kind of far away from the top 3 which he was originally favorite for. Alma (2017) and MadameMonsieur both placed 12th and 13th far away again from the what they were really going for and audience was cheering them up to. They seriously need to look into this. However France and MadameMonsieur remain for me the best find of Eurovision 2018.
My loves Spain and Portugal! I absolutely loved these songs! So beautiful and emotional, especially Spain! You could not watch that without smiling and feeling the song. But yeah.. I guess they took a hit because there were so many songs this year that went with stronger sounds and were instant hits where Claudia and the spanish couple were left behind and not many actually voted for them. Just sad.
And what about the UK invention! Again! Last year it was the winning artist from the previous year who was intervened. But last year the guy didn’t take the mic. Poor Sury! But seriously what’s up with the security unable to keep the STAGE are safe! It is the stage for god’s sake!
I loved Slovenian entry this year from the beginning. But apparently Lea felt her song was lacking drama since she added this cut in the middle of the song where no music or lights would work. In the semi it seemed like the host country screwed up but in the final she changed it to look like she stopped it. From the faces of the audience they didn’t get it or find it funny. Neither did I. Totally unnecessary.
For two weeks I was hanging around the arena and in Lisbon hoping to spot any artist or blogger for an autograph or a photo. I did see Ireland’s Ryan in Belem on Sat one week before the final. He was wearing his sunglasses so wasn’t sure if it was really him. I POLITELY asked about it and he LIED to me that he wasn’t him. Later on saw posts on Instagram with exactly same clothes and in the same neighborhood. And I liked Irish entry and defended it for others who doubted it! Jerk. There goes my points for Ireland forever. He was the only “Eurovision star” I spotted the entire time. Tragic.
Australia! I loved Jessica’s bubly performance and yes maybe her song was a bit generetic but it was so inspiring and uplifting! And the crowds at the arena seemed to appreciate it. But televotes! OMG so low! She did not deserve this even though her vocals weren’t on point on Saturday night.
Belgium! Not qualifying! How is this possible! Sennek’s song was not my personal top favorite but I know many people liked it. Definite OMG moment this year. Found her live performance cool and giving so much life to her song!
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.