The Eurovision with Greta Thunberg’s momma and Dita von Teese.
Preface:
Since we are more or less in the quiet season, I can soothe my Eurovision itch by watching some of the previous contests. Since I’m at my computer all day and my workstation has three monitors, I figure that I could devote one monitor to ESCs while working on the other two. Yes, I know there is a Junior Eurovision, but I’m not a huge fan of children-based competitions.
We’re ‘feeling our heartbeat’ in Düsseldorf, Germany
This was the 56th edition of the contest due to Lena winning the 2010 contest with her song Satellite.
For this year’s ESC, 43 countries participated with Italy returning after its 14-year hiatus from the contest. Since I’m pressed for time, this will be a pretty basic, general review. Even more basic and general than my other reviews. Overall, I thought the production and the hosting aspects of the contest were great. Y’all know that video postcards are my thing, and I really loved the concept. This year’s contest had folks/activities in Germany but from the performers’ home countries, which greeted the audience and the performers. I guess this concept works well in a country like Germany since Germany probably has quite a few people from the participating countries living there. While I enjoyed the contest overall, none of the songs really stuck out (in a good or a bad way to me). To be honest, I think that I preferred the interval acts more than 90% of the performances. I kind of felt like I was just going through the motions watching the contest. A couple of reasons for this feeling include my list of maybes:
Maybe, it was the general era of music.
Maybe, I was in an indifferent or crabby mood that day. Actually, I’ll take back the crabby part because I really did not hate on any of the songs or performers.
Maybe, it was too cold in my house.
Maybe, it was too distracting having Youtube-related ads break up most of the performances.
Maybe, I did not care too much since I already knew who won that year.
But, anywho . . . . Let’s go.
What Europe Thought
What Kwame Thought
n terms of countries that were on the left side of our scoreboards, it looks like Europe and I agreed on only eight songs/countries (Slovenia, Sweden, Bosnia & Herzegovina, the UK, Denmark, Germany, Moldova, and Italy). Although Slovenia was my favorite, the actual winner was Azerbaijan (my #14).
MY WINNER: SLOVENIA – MAJA KEUC – NO ONE
EUROPE’S WINNER: AZERBAIJAN ELL & NIKKI – RUNNING SCARED
While it is a nice song, it just did not do much for me.
Random Thoughts:
Some of my thoughts while watching the contest (in order of the performances)
Finland – Da Da Dam by Paradise Oskar: A Nice song about the environment, but it didn’t do much for me. However, I think it was too slow of a song to open the show.
Bosnia & Herzegovina – Love in Rewind by Dino Merlin: A very eclectic song that seemed to have a little bit of everything. For some reason, this eclectic mix really worked for me. I think this would have been a better opening than Finland.
Denmark – New Tomorrow by A Friend in London: So blond. Decent and catchy song.
Lithuania – C’est Ma Vie by Evelina Sasenko: Eh
Hungary – What About My Dreams? by Kati Wolf: It started off kind of nice, but then it sounded like she was yelling. I kind of wish that she moved around a bit more because I found myself watching the backup dancers instead of the main performer.
Ireland – Lipstick by Jedward: Very energetic, but it seemed like the backup singers were doing most of the singing. I guess it’s fine because the twins were jumping all over the place. The ending was a bit abrupt.
Sweeden – Popular by Eric Saade: That was fun!
Estonia – Rockefeller Street by Getter Jaani: Eh
Greece – Watch My Dance by Loucas Yiorkas ft Stereo Mike: I guess this is a combo of something old and something new. Not sure if I really liked the guy rapping, but the vocalist was pretty decent. Honestly, I don’t think Greece needed the rapper for this performance. I did like the breakdancing.
Russia – Get You by Alexej Vorobjov: (in a strong Russian accent) Do you feel my heartbeat, Europe? Um, I think it was the techno beat that I was feeling, comrade Alexj. I will say that the choreography is very tight in this performance. Extra points for nailing a backflip while holding a microphone.
France – Sognu by Amaury Vassili: Opera in Eurovision; I love it.
Italy – Madness Of Love by Raphael Gualazzi: Something a bit unexpected from Italy considering that the country had a 14-year hiatus. Then again, I’m not sure what I was expecting.
Switzerland – In Love for A While by Anna Rossinelli: Too similar to Italy’s song, which was right before her performance.
The UK – I Can by Blue: Pretty poppy boy band entry from the UK. Well, the guys were also very pretty. Overall, I kind of liked this performance with the exception of one of the guys constantly straining to hit those notes.
Moldova – So Lucky by Zdob Si Zdub: Is that a fairy on a unicycle? While different, it was a very exciting performance. Much props to Zdob Si Zdub for staying in the Eurovision game for so long. I believe this was their second time in the contest, and they came in 2nd place in the televote for Eurovision 2022.
Germany – Taken By A Stranger by Lena: A bit surprising that the winner from the previous year’s contest came back to ‘defend her title. I don’t know why, but I kind of liked it. Perhaps, it’s a nice breather from Moldova’s energetic and over the top (in a good way) performance.
Romania – Change by Hotel FM: Little too 90s for me. Actually, this song sounds like a theme song from a sit-com from the 80s and 90s. It does have a nice message so that’s something.
Austria – The Secret Is Love by Nadine Beiler: Ok, Austrian Mariah Carey, I ain’t mad at you.
Azerbaijan – Running Scared by Ell&Nikki: Sorry, but I don’t get all the hype.
Slovenia – No One by Maja Keuc: Wow, this lady has some strong vocal pipes.
Iceland – Coming Home by Sjonni’s Friends: Eh, they were there.
Spain – Que Me Quiten Lo Bailao by Lucia Perez: ummmm. Her voice sounds like something from a cartoon series. Like a song Dora the Explorer would sing right before going on a journey to find Diego or something. The song has a pretty fun vibe. I might have missed something in the performance because the crowd was chanting Lucia when she finished.
Ukraine -Angel by Mika Newton: What an engaging performance. I’m starting to understand why they do so well in this contest.
Serbia – Caroban by Nina: I wasn’t feeling this one, but I cannot put my finger on it. Maybe the staging was too bright, but girlfriend has a pretty strong voice.
Georgia – One More Day by Eldrine: What in the Evanecesance hell? I will say that Georgia always brings something different.
Next up: Eurovision 2006
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