eurovision-del

[eurovision-del]

Eurovision is only a few weeks away now and normally by this time I’d have started posting my full ranking. However, I’m sitting this year out. Rather than leave this blog hanging, I decided to post this as a wrap up to the 2024 season. Since I’d listened to nearly all of the competing songs over the past few months, and had a rough idea already of how I’d rank them, here’s what my top 10 would probably be for this year, just to have it on record:

10. Australia – One Milkali (One Blood) 9. Ukraine – Teresa & Maria 8. Lithuania – Luktelk 7. Croatia – Rim Tim Tagi Dim 6. Portugal – Grito 5. Ireland – Doomsday Blue 4. Estonia – (Nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi 3. Switzerland – The Code 2. San Marino – 11:11 1. Norway – Ulveham

I love Eurovision – it’s one of my main hobbies and I love the music, the spectacle, and the fun of the competition.  But I can’t take part in it right now. I had a lot of fun with national final season this year, and with plenty of good internally selected songs too, I honestly think this had the potential to be a fantastic year. Maybe one day I’ll return to this set of 36 songs and give them the proper review they deserve, but for now, this is the last I’ll be talking about this year.

#eurovision #esc2024 #this blog isn't going anywhere #but I don't know when I'll be back #my issue is with the EBU and the way they've chosen to handle things #and the inability it feels to communicate with participating broadcasters to do anything about it #and at the end of the day Eurovision is not important in the grand scheme of things #if the situation is still the same next year then I'll probably do the same as this year #enjoy national final season as a way to discover new artists and music #but avoid anything directly from the EBU until they change course

[eurovision-del]

And with that, all the national finals have been completed! Tonight has been good for me, with both results going my way! I couldn’t watch Melodifestivalen live, but I was happy to find out Marcus & Martinus will be representing Sweden, they were my pick to win! I think they’ll be a great host entry – even though the lads are technically Norweigian, Unforgettable as a song is very standard for Sweden, it’s a great slice of Swedish pop and I do enjoy it. The staging is a big part of it, I watched the winners reprise and it’s definitely weaker without the full staging, but I do think the song has merit, and in the end it’s the whole package that matters. They’ll put on a solid show in Malmö, and I think they’re a host entry that Sweden should be proud of.

Following Sweden, Portugal have also decided and iolanda will represent them with Grito! I’m thrilled with this result – she was just as good in the final as in the semi to my ears, and the song is really something special. I was very happy also to see João Borsch get recognition from the public with him winning their vote, and I’d love to see him back in a future year, but personally I’m glad it was iolanda who won in the end. On the surface it might fill a similar niche to Serbia and maybe even Ukraine’s entries which are competing in the same semi, but I think there’s more than enough space for all of them in the final. I really want to see Portugal do well at Eurovision with this song!  

#eurovision #esc2024 #nf winner #sweden #portugal #it's been a good national final season honestly #lots of good new songs that I've discovered to add to my playlist #a few national finals didn't do it for me but many more than delivered #and while I had a fair number of songs I ranked last win #I also had a lot of my number ones or personal picks win! #doesn't feel like we've had any super controversial or surpising results despite the odds not getting it right so often early in the season #it's been exciting but never too stressful #and while I've had a little disappointment at times I've definitely enjoyed it all #... I am undecided as to how I'm going to actually approach Eurovision this year after the annoucement that a certain country will be there #I'll probably still do my ranking in April because I want to acknowlege all the other songs competing #and I enjoy a lot of them #but yeah it really sours the whole thing

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We’ve reached the end of national final season! Portugal will be the final country to select their song when they hold the final of Festival da Canção tonight, so I’ve taken another look at the finalists before then:

iolanda – Grito

João Borsch – Pelas Costuras

Rita Onofre – Criatura

Rita Rocha – Pontos Finais

Perpétua – Bem Longe Daqui

Nena – Teorias da Conspiração

No Maka ft. Ana Maria – Aceitar

Léo Middea – Doce Mistério

Cristina Clara – Primavera

Buba Espinho – O Farol

NOBLE – Memory

Silk Nobre – Change

There’s only a been couple of minor shake ups to the shape of my ranking – the biggest change is how much the gap between my first and second place has widened! I enjoyed João’s performance of Pelas Costuras, that man knows how to serve to the camera. The red and black colour scheme fit the song very well, and although he was a little bit imprecise with hitting some of the notes, I think he did a great job selling the song. Iolanda, however, was on a whole other level. I said it would be impressive if she could nail that opening live, and nail it she did! She was absolutely perfect vocally, I could not fault a single thing, and I loved it! If I were to guess pre-show, I was expecting orange lighting or something to reflect the lyrics in the chorus talking about being a flame still burning, so the stark white surprised me, but I think it really worked. It was visually stunning and gave the staging an ethereal feel which matches the beauty of the music. I did also enjoy the dancers, although at some points it felt a little too busy – I need a couple of calmer moments of contrast to let the music speak for itself, but on the whole I thought it was a great performance, and my clear favourite entry. I’d still be happy with either of my top two winning, but I’m really hoping that Portugal will choose Grito tonight.

#eurovision #esc2024 #nf ranking #portugal

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We’re approaching the final national final weekend, with only two more countries left to pick their Eurovision entries – Portugal and Sweden. I’ll take another look at the Portugal finalists later, but here’s my ranking of the acts in contention to be the host entry:

Smash Into Pieces – Heroes Are Calling

Marcus & Martinus – Unforgettable

Medina – Que sera

Cazzi Opeia – Give My Heart a Break

Annika Wickihalder – Light

Maria Sur – When I’m Gone

Lisa Ajax – Awful Liar

Jacqline – Effortless

Dotter – It’s Not Easy to Write a Love Song

Danny Saucedo – Happy That You Found Me

Jay Smith – Back to My Roots

LIAMOO – Dragon

Honestly, I’m not particularly impressed. I never quite gel with Melfest, the particular type of pop it favours isn’t really my thing, and it takes something really special to cut through and connect with me. With all the other national finals happening, I didn’t watch any of the heats live, but I did catch up with all the competing songs, and actually there was quite a bit that I enjoyed. I’m really sad Clara Klingenström didn’t qualify, Aldrig mer isn’t quite as good as Behöver inte dig idag to my ears, but I still really enjoyed it. I also (perhaps unsurprisingly given my tastes) really enjoyed Circus X – I think it’s a better rock song than Heroes are Calling, and has a far clearer identity too. The creepy circus thing may have been done before, and I wish they’d done something a little more inventive than a straight up IT reference with the red balloon in the opening, but they put their own spin on the concept and I had a great time with it. And the ending was absolutely fantastic - those final few bars where it completely rocks out is one of my favourite moments of the entire national final season this year!

Looking at the actual finalists, Smash Into Pieces are sort of my winners by default. I was very positive about them last year, and Heroes Are Calling is more of the same. It doesn’t hit as hard as Six Feet Under did, but I’m always going to enjoy a heavy guitar riff and a strong beat as long as there’s nothing notably bad in the song, so I have a good time listening to it.

There was also one other entry that I found myself really liking, and that’s Unforgettable. Part of it was down to the staging – Sweden do always deliver there, every single one of these finalists have great stagings and strong semi performances – but I especially liked this one with the walls close them in then expand out as the song progresses, and the general 90s matrix style of it all is great visually, and fits in with the electronic influences in the song, even if it’s not got much to do with anything lyrically. But a big part of it is the song itself, I found it the most memorable of all the finalists. The little rising sequence of notes that makes up the main hook builds tension really well and creates a cooler sound that their brighter voices bounce off really nicely. I especially like the final chorus, the production there sounds almost Daft Punk influenced, and I really enjoy how it keeps the tension ramping up to the very last note.

Because of this, Marcus & Martinus are definitely my pick to win tomorrow night. I’d also be very excited if Smash Into Pieces did by some chance end up representing Sweden, but I don't think it's likely. We know Sweden will put on a great show in Malmö, and no matter what they pick they’ll bring an exciting stage show and strong performance – nothing here feels enough for a second victory in a row to me, but they should have no trouble climbing the scoreboard. Sweden will almost certainly take their performance straight from Melfest to Eurovision with no chances as usual, especially since they’re hosting. The only downside to the production value of their national final being so high is that there’s nowhere for it to go.

#eurovision #esc2024 #nf ranking #sweden

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Electric Fields!!?

#eurovision #esc2024 #usually wouldn’t post anything at all about internal selections #but man I’m hyped! #I love 2000 and Whatever so much #checking out their song right now!

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I’ve finally had a chance to catch up with the national final winners from Saturday! Honestly, neither result really went my way. Firstly, Taya Dora won in Serbia and will represent them with Ramonda. She’s a fantastic singer, and I really liked the dark aesthetic of the staging, it’s a concept that’s very Eurovision-ready. The song also is unlike anything else we’ve got in the lineup this year, and I think it is a good song… I’m just not quite getting it yet. I want to like it, and maybe now I’ll have space to properly get familiar with it as its own song outside of PzE it will grow on me, but I had so many other songs I preferred in Serbia’s selection. I do think it’s a good choice for Serbia though, looking at the contest as a whole.

As for Iceland, while I like Hera Björk, I’m not keen on Scared of Heights as a song. It sounds to me like it could have been a B-side to her previous Eurovision entry, and it’s more ‘dated’ than ‘throwback’. I also found her performance a little lacking, I don’t know, I just needed more energy, either from her or her backing singers, or at least for the staging and lighting to be more dynamic. Her voice however is great, rich and powerful, she didn’t hold back on vocals! Even despite my delay getting my thoughts out, my understanding is that Iceland still haven’t confirmed if they’re going to Eurovision or not this year. If they do, I hope they rework the staging, bring a bit more ‘oomph’ to it to really highlight the positive energy of the song, but I feel this risks being a non-qualifier.

#eurovision #esc2024 #nf winner #serbia #iceland #Saturday was great but I did get home too late to catch up on anything #then Sunday ended up being way busier than planned #I checked out who won then but didn't have time to actually sit down and watch the winning performances or write this up #so yeah only just got round to it #I think I read that there was also some controversy over televoting in Iceland? #seems to be a theme this year #I'll see if anything comes out of it but I expect it will all be fine

[eurovision-del]

And as for the other final happening tonight, here’s what I make of the Söngvakeppnin finalists:

Bashar Murad – Wild West

ANITA – Downfall

Sigga Ózk – Into the Atmosphere

Hera Björk – Scared of Heights

VÆB – Movie Scene

Iceland does not like me this year. Four out of five of my personal qualifiers got left in the semis, including my two favourites. I don't think either Blankiflúr or CeaseTone's performances were perfect, but I still think both were decent - I especially liked Blankiflúr's staging and I'm honestly sad she didn't qualify.

With both those two out, Bashar Murad jumps to the top of my ranking, though honestly he just might have made it there anyway! I thought he gave a really good performance, his vocals were good and the choreography was very slick. The overall darker tone of the staging fit the tone of the music really well. I also honestly appreciate him incorporating all the nods to his home country, such as the green/black/red colour scheme, I always enjoy when artists incorporate their heritage. However, given the current context I support it even more so.

Wild West is both my favourite song and had my favourite performance in the semis, so I definitely want it to win tonight. Credit to the other artists, I did enjoy both Anita and Sigga’s performances, both really sold their songs and brought the energy they needed, but in both cases the music isn’t quite doing it for me. I’m glad Iceland held Söngvakeppnin as a contest, and whatever decision they make regarding Eurovision I will support.  

#eurovision #esc2024 #nf ranking #iceland #I wasn't sure how much to talk about it especially since I don't want to make assumptions or read into what might not be there #but I respect and appreciated everything about Bashar's staging from the watermelon graphics to the dance moment to his outfit #may not be the right place to put it under Iceland's contest #but I really hope Israel does not compete this year or any year until the government stops their actions and makes reparations #and the EBU takes a long hard look at their rules and values moving forward #anyway I will be deleting any messages or replies that are negative on this topic #also on a different note #I'm out tonight so I won't get to see either Iceland or Serbia's finals live #but I will catch up with the winner performances and post my thoughts when I have time #either when I get home this evening or tomorrow

[eurovision-del]

Before Serbia select their Eurovision entry tonight, I've taken another look at the Pesma za Evroviziju finalists

Zorja – Lik u ogledalu

Zejna – Najbolja

Keni nije mrtav – Dijamanti

Konstrakta – Novo, bolje

Marko Mandić – Dno

Hristina – Bedem

Breskvica – Gnezdo orlovo

Džordži – Luna park

Teya Dora – Ramonda

Iva Lorens – Dom

Dušan Kurtić – Zbog tebe živim

M.IRA – Percepcija

Nemanja Radošević – Jutra bez tebe

Milan Bujaković – Moje-tvoje

Lena Kovačević – Zovi me Lena

Bojana & David – No No No

I generally enjoyed the semifinal performances, though unfortunately one of the ones I least enjoyed was actually Filarri’s – it was a shame since he had my favourite song, but the staging was offputting. I loved his outfit, and I do appreciate the overall message of the song, but I feel there could have been far better ways to convey it than using the human figures projected on the screen in that way. I understand it not qualifying, but Ko je ta žena is definitely a song I’ll come back to.

However, I have a new favourite! I already liked Lik u ogledalu, looking at just the songs I put it as one of nine I’d be happy winning, but after seeing it performed this is now my clear personal winner! I thought everything about it was incredible, the staging was great, with the way the harsh spotlight against the darkness isolated her at the start, to the way they incorporated the titular mirrors, to the moment of vulnerability at the end where she faces herself in the shattered mirror – I found it really moving. Zorja also has a fantastic voice, she sounded beautiful throughout and nailed the top notes!

While there are still plenty of other songs I like – Konstrakta’s performance was great and I find it really interesting how Novo, bolje serves as a continuation of In Corpore Sano, making a point of using all the same staging aspects to highlight how things haven't changed, and I still love Najbolja and Dijamanti as songs, even though I could have done with a little more energy actually from both of the performances with how high-key the songs are – I want to see Lik u ogledalu win tonight. Zorja could take that performance as is to Eurovision and would sail through the semis, and hopefully far up the scoreboard in the final! That said, while she’s become my clear standout, I do still feel that Serbia should comfortably qualify with most of the options they’ve got.  

#eurovision #esc2024 #nf ranking #serbia #I would apologise for the massive run on sentence... #but to be fair I'm not that great at writing concisely #these things usually get a bit rambly anyway

[eurovision-del]

The first semi final of Pesma za Evroviziju is starting soon, but I’ve managed to finalise my ranking of all 28 competing entries this year just in time!

Filarri – Ko je ta žena

Zejna – Najbolja

Keni nije mrtav – Dijamanti

Marko Mandić – Dno

Kavala – Vavilon

Konstrakta – Novo, bolje

Breskvica – Gnezdo orlovo

Filip Baloš – Duga je noć

Zorja – Lik u ogledalu

Hydrogen – Nemoguća misija

Hristina – Bedem

CHAI – Sama

Yanx – Kolo

Džordži – Luna park

Nadia – Sudari

Iva Lorens – Dom

Ivana Vladović – Jaka

Teya Dora – Ramonda

Dušan Kurtić – Zbog tebe živim

Durlanski – Muzika

M.IRA – Percepcija

Kat Dosa – Tajni začin

Martina Vrbos – Da me voliš

Saša Báša & Virtual Ritual – Elektroljubav

Lena Kovačević – Zovi me Lena

Milan Bujaković – Moje-tvoje

Nemanja Radošević – Jutra bez tebe

Bojana & David – No No No

I never really think of Serbia as having one of the national finals I always look forward to, but looking back over the past few years I’ve been really positive about their selections, and this year is no exception! I had a great time listening to all these songs – I give every song a score out of 10 to help me put my rankings together, and this selection has the highest average score out of every national final this year.

Because of that, choosing a favourite was hard! I was very excited to see both Filip Balos and Konstrakta back, and both delivered, but there was also so much else here that really appealed to me. I love the opening of Vavilon, it’s really beautiful, and I think the overall sound of the song that follows is great too. I also love sound of Dno, the folk beat created by the drums and strings is so catchy and makes me want to move to it, there’s a real fire to it. Another song that gets me going is Najbolja, with how fast paced and energetic is it. I do love those guitars too, that very rapid percussive rhythm they use honestly wouldn’t sound out of place in a metal song, but works super well here too. It’s enough to just outrank Dijamanti, which is my favourite of the rock songs on offer here (not that the others are bad!). Finally, Filarri’s entry this year is such a huge step up from his attempt last year! A lot of songs in this selection are very full on, creating a very intense sound, which to be fair is probably why I’m so excited about the selection in general, but Ko je ta žena is the absolute pinnacle of it, with the way the beat hits. I especially love it in the second verse where it’s punctuated by the strings, every single beat ramps up the tension! I want to turn up this song to full volume and just lose myself in it!

Serbia have so many options – I’d be thrilled with any of my top 9 here, and think they’d all have a lot of potential at Eurovision, but there’s also plenty further down my list that’s promising. Hopefully the I enjoy the live performances as much as I enjoyed the studio tracks!

#eurovision #esc2024 #nf ranking #serbia #sidenote: what is with the airbrushed artist portraits? #it's giving me uncanny valley from some of them honestly #just looked up a couple of fan polls out of curiosity #and despite having so many songs I love here of course the fan favourite is not one of them #I literally wrote about Ramonda 'I feel this could grow on me' when I was writing notes on each of the songs though #and to be fair in any other selection it would not be anywhere near the bottom half of my ranking #I'll see how it comes across live

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Croatia have decided, and Baby Lasagna will represent them this year with Rim Tim Tagi Dim! This wasn’t too surprising, he was the clear favourite, but even then the absolute landslide victory he got was incredible! I think it was absolutely deserved, he was easily my favourite of the finalists! I do really enjoy this song, though for me there’s one little thing which holds it back as a great song instead of fantastic one which is the way it feels a bit too repetitive for me – but this was something that was completely not an issue in the live performance. The way the staging used lighting helped break the song into sections and made it feel way more dynamic and alive. With how energetic the song is, it really benefited from the extra energy that can only come from a live performance, which Baby Lasagna absolutely bought! I fully bought into the hype tonight, and it’s added yet another great song to a lineup that’s already pretty stacked!

#eurovision #esc2024 #nf winner #croatia #I have seen comparisons to Cha Cha Cha #I do get it they do scratch the same itch #but Rim Tim Tagi Dim is very much its own thing

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The marathon that is Una Voce per San Marino is finally over, and Megara have won! I’m thrilled with this result, 11:11 was my favourite of the night! I was primed to enjoy this with how much I loved them in Benidorm Fest last year, but they still had to deliver, and they did. I really like their electronic rock sound, it’s exhillirating to listen to! Megara also have such a great visual style, and I loved their performance tonight. I’m sure this will be the basis for their staging at Eurovision but I’m hoping there will be space to take it even further.

While it was certainly long, looking at just the competing acts and the final results I did enjoy the show tonight. It wasn’t quite my ideal top 3, but it wasn’t far off, I enjoyed La Rua’s song too! The final result was exciting, I knew I’d be happy with either Loredana or Megara, but honestly I’m glad Megara took it in the end! So looking forward to seeing them again in May!

#eurovision #esc2024 #nf winner #san marino #oh I am going to struggle doing my full ranking this year aren't I #there's so many songs I love!

[eurovision-del]

I think that's all the songs performed in Una Voce per San Marino. I was super excited to see Megara competing and I really hope they win, they far and away had my favourite of the songs tonight, but I'd also be happy with Loredana or XGiove.

#eurovision #esc2024 #san marino #on the one hand it's kind of funny seeing uvpsm serving as a second chance for other nf songs #on the other I don't want their entries to become completely disconnected from san marino #also not keen on the AI thing they did this year #I did not know going in which was the AI song #but after hearing all the songs I had my suspicions about one and I was exactly right #that wasn't good

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Portugal start their Eurovision selection tonight with the first semi final of Festival da Canção. This is another national final I always look forward to, so what did I make of this year's songs?

iolanda – Grito

João Borsch – Pelas Costuras

Rita Rocha – Pontos Finais

Bispo – Casa Portuguesa

MELA – Água

Huca – Pé de Choro

Rita Onofre – Criatura

Perpétua – Bem Longe Daqui

Nena – Teorias da Conspiração

Mila Dores – Afia a Língua

No Maka ft. Ana Maria – Aceitar

João Couto – Quarto Para Um

Maria João – Dia

LEFT. – Volto a Ti

Léo Middea – Doce Mistério

Buba Espinho – O Farol

FILIPA – You Can’t Hide

Cristina Clara – Primavera

Silk Nobre – Change

NOBLE – Memory

I generally enjoyed this selection – writing up a few notes on each song as I listen to help me rank them, the word I used more than any other was ‘interesting’ – usually as a compliment but occasionally not so much. However, aside from a couple of songs at the bottom that did not work for me, I enjoy the vast majority of songs here, but two stand out above the rest.

My absolute favourite is Grito. This is a fantastic song, dramatic without being melodramatic, sombre but never dull. I love the way it progresses, from the completely a cappella opening (which will be impressive if she can nail it live) building up to a climax on the titular cry at the end of the bridge, before drawing back for an ending that summarises the melancholic tone of the whole song. I love the melody on the chorus, the little repeated ‘ainda arde’ is beautiful and sticks in my mind. The overall sound here has an almost cinematic quality with the orchestration, it feels powerful, but also haunting at the same time. It’s a brilliant example of the sort of ballad I love.

I also really like Pelas Costuras – I knew I would before João even started singing with that guitar intro and immediate pulsing beat. It’s a very cool sound, and the descending melody gives it this dark colour which I love. I like the way it’s been produced, it’s got this gritty quality to it while also sounding polished and complete, and I love the tone of João’s vocals on the studio cut.

I really want one of those two to win. While there are plenty of other songs I enjoy, those two are so far ahead of the rest of the pack for me I’ll miss them if something else wins. Of course, my opinions could change if either fails to deliver live, but I’m really hoping they can both pull it off. Looking at the whole competition, the semis are really unbalanced in terms of how much I like the songs in each – in my entire top 10 there's only two from the second semi – not a great place to be in cause it means I'm definitely gonna loose some songs I like tonight, but on the other hand it means I’ve got a lot to look forward to in the show itself!

#eurovision #esc2024 #nf ranking #portugal

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After a very full on weekend last week, we’ve got a much less busy weekend coming up, with only San Marino actually selecting their song this Saturday (which I probably won’t be ranking in advance). However, Croatia are also selecting their entry this weekend with Dora starting tomorrow evening, finishing with the final on Sunday. The songs have been out for quite a while, so here’s my ranking of them all:

Barbara Munjas – Nepobjediva

Baby Lasagna – Rim Tim Tagi Dim

Let 3 – Baba Roga

Damir Kedžo – Voljena ženo

Lana Mandarić – More

Noelle – Baby, Baby

Natalie Balmix – Dijamanti

Vatra – Slatke suze, gorka ljubav

Lu Dedić – Plavi leptir

Erna – How Do You Love

Alen Đuras – A Tamburitza Lullaby

James Night – Nebo plače

Stefany Žužić – Sretnih dana dat’ će Bog

Lara Demarin – Ne vjerujem ti

Pavel – Do mjeseca

Vinko – Lying Eyes

Marcela – Gasoline

Eugen – Tišine

ET – Pametnom dosta

The Splitters – Od kad te sanjam

Mario Battifiaca ft. Robert Ferlin – Vodu piti trizan biti

Boris Štok – Can We Talk

Misha – One Day

Saša Lozar – Ne plačem zbog nje

The overall quality of this selection is pretty high, it's the rare selection I might find myself throwing on the playlist of all the entries for casual listening in the future – there's nothing I really dislike, my worst criticism of any song here was 'forgettable'. That said, while I like a lot of the songs here, I actually don’t think there’s an obvious standout.

I think my favourite song here is actually Nepobjediva by Barbara Munjas – I ranked her entry last year pretty high too, there’s something about her sound that appeals to me. Nepobjediva combines electronic pop with a bit of rock influence in an interesting way. The rhythm of the guitar in the chorus is great, I vibe with it so much. The song goes through quite a few different ideas in that it feels more like a train of thought than a strictly structured song, but I like that, it feels like I’m going on a journey with it – before I was properly familiar with it I wasn’t sure where it was going to go next but every time I was excited to find out. I also really like Barbara’s voice, she’s got a proper rock vocal with the power and attitude she can sing with – I wasn’t surprised when I looked her up to find that apparently she’s fronted a couple of rock bands before.  

I much prefer when I can do all these rankings completely blind, even though I might have a guess at which songs might be fandom favourites I don’t look at any fan polls or odds until after I’ve finalised my ranking – but unfortunately with these songs being out for so long before I got round to it, I’m aware that Baby Lasagna is the clear favourite here. It’s put me in a weird position, because I feel like I should really like Rim Tim Tagi Dim, and I do like it, the general sound of it is right up my street, but I do have reservations that mean it’s not quite my favourite. I love the pace and energy of it, it hits exactly the right note to get you hyped up at the start, but if anything I want even more! It feels like it sits on one level, and while it’s a good level, I wish it shook it up a little more. In direct comparison to what I was saying about Nepobjediva it’s got a pretty standard structure – first verse, chorus, shorter second verse, chorus, instrumental break, chorus, chorus. After you’ve heard the first chorus you’ve heard pretty much the entire song – though to be fair when it sounds good that isn’t always a bad thing.  

We’ve also got a couple of artists who’ve won Dora in recent years back again. I really enjoy what’s going on in Baba Roga, Let 3 continue to tread their own path and I appreciate them for it, but I don’t want to see them back at Eurovision so soon, not when there are a couple of other songs here I prefer. On the other hand, I would actually love it if Damir finally got his chance to properly represent Croatia at Eurovision. I’m so glad he’s gone back to a ballad after not really feeling his song last year. He knows how to do passion, and I think Voljena ženo builds really nicely as a song – I love how it picks up at the end, it nails the key change. I think Voljena ženo would have real potential to do well at Eurovision, especially since we’re a little low on ballads this year, but I think Rim Tim Tagi Dim could also do well for Croatia too if staged in a way that captures and sustains the energy it has in an interesting way. I’d also be absolutely thrilled if Barbara somehow won on Sunday, but I think I might be in more of a minority in loving Nepobjediva.

#eurovision #esc2024 #nf ranking #croatia

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And finally, capping off a great night for me, Silvester Belt just won in Lithuania with Luktelk! I’m very pleased with this result – he might not quite have been my favourite, that was still Žalvarinis, who I thought did great tonight, but realistically they were never going to win, so I was hoping for him! Luktelk is already a good song, but it won me over when I watched the semi-final performance, and if anything, I felt it was even better tonight! The staging is at a level where I feel they could just take this straight to Malmö as is, and I really hope it will do well for Lithuania there.

#eurovision #esc2024 #nf winner #lithuania #what a night! #can't believe only this morning I found out that Germany were sending my least favourite of their options #it started ok in Moldova went perfectly for me in Estonia and Denmark then ended great in Lithuania #I would love for this to keep up Lithuania's current qualifying streak #also I love seeing them send another song in Lithuanian so soon after their last one #for so long they were just sending stuff in English #unrelated but I also want to say I'm really grateful to many of the livestreams being on the eurovision youtube channel this year #it makes it so much easier to follow multiple nfs at once #rather than constantly changing between different players with different abilities to pause

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Next up, Denmark have selected Saba to represent them with her song Sand. The results keep going my way tonight, she was my favourite, especially from that superfinal. To be fair, I felt Basim deserved to be there, but after seeing it live Planetary Hearts completely won me over (maybe it was the cyan and black colour scheme) and I really hoped that one would make the superfinal too. I did not get the appeal of I Need Your Love. However, none of that matters, since Sand won in the end. I like the song, and I thought it was decent live. It was a little static with Saba stuck on her raised platform, but it meant she was able to focus on delivering the vocals and emotions of the song. Although she seemed a little scared at first, and I wasn’t 100% convinced the first time round, she warmed up as she went and I thought her performance in the superfinal was solid. I really liked the lighting design, I hope Denmark can do something similar at Eurovision. I wish Saba the best for May!

#eurovision #esc2024 #nf winner #denmark #... and the stream's just cut out so I can't watch her winner's performance #it's a shame since I was hoping to see if she'd sound more settled now she'd won #ah well #hopefully it'll be uploaded later?

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5MINNUST & Puuluup just won Eesti Laul! I’m so hyped about this result, it was exactly what I wanted! Credit to Ollie, and I would really love to see him at Eurovision one day, but 5minnust were just on another level tonight. The perfect level of chaos and excitement with a super catchy song – I really hope that this connects with the general audience at Eurovision the way it seems to have with the fandom. They definitely could tweak the staging to give it a little more polish for the big stage, but I hope they keep the overall energy and honestly choreography from this performance. I’m so glad we’ll get to see them again in May!

#eurovision #esc2024 #nf winner #estonia #how to explain to my friends that one of my favourite entries this year is (not) about drugs #honestly the whole show tonight (at least the majority that I saw while dipping in and out of other nfs) was great #not quite enough for me to forgive them their weird autoqualifier system but almost #I enjoyed the interval acts that I saw #especially the guitar medley of eurovision songs - that was practically made for me #I was really happy with the superfinalists as well #after the show those were the exact three I'd have picked #I did really enjoy Brother Apollo as well in the end #though after spending so long hoping that they weren't going to take the song too seriously #I ended up feeling they could stand to take it a slight bit more seriously honestly #no I did enjoy it but damn was not expecting the performance to go that direction #I'm glad they had fun with it at least #but what is it with Finns being unable to keep their trousers on this year