Eurovision 2023 Song Review: 6th (and the last) Batch: 🇵🇹🇸🇪🇦🇿🇬🇷🇦🇲🇬🇪

As I mentioned in a previous post, we are back for another season of Eurovision. As countries begin to select their songs, I’m going to do a brief recap of what I think about the ‘current’ songs.

We’ve made it to the end. My song reviews for Eurovision 2023 will conclude with Portugal, Sweden, Azerbaijan, Greece, Armenia, and Georgia.

Current ranking:

PORTUGAL 🇵🇹: MIMICAT — AI CORAÇÃO

National Selection – Festival Da Canção (***)

Ok, I kind of cheated with this one because I accidentally watched Mimicat’s national selection performance. Right now, I absolutely love this song – it’s upbeat, fun, and catchy with a taste of kitsch. I definitely kept my hands clapping and feet tapping throughout the entire song. I’m pleasantly surprised with this entry because Portugal tends to send sad, slow, and/or somewhat depressing songs to the contest, so this is a well-received breath of fresh air. Oh, there is a lovely sustained note at the end of the song, which I really hope Mimicat can still pull off in May. I have a feeling that this one will firmly stay in my top ten.

SWEDEN 🇸🇪: LOREEN — TATTOO

National Selection Performance – Melodifestivalen (***)

The queen of Eurovision (according to some) is back. Why is Loreen considered the queen of Eurovision? Although she won Eurovision 2012 with her song Euphoria, some consider her the queen because Euphoria has come in 1st place for the past 10 ten years on the ESC Top 250 countdown. The song was dethroned this past year by Chanel (Spain) SloMo, which came in 3rd place during ESC 2022. Overall, I think it’s a great song; however, I expect a little more from Loreen. While they are two different songs, Tatto (structurally) reminds me of Euphoria. I guess this is a case of if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it since Euphoria won back in 2012. I will say that I’m very impressed with how well Loreen’s vocals have held up over the last decade.

AZERBAIJAN 🇦🇿: TURALTURANX — TELL ME MORE

Internal Selection – Music Video (***)

I’m gonna say that I feel tricked. 😉 Due to many years of criticism for using non-Azerbaijani songwriters, we were told that this year’s submission would be authored by folks from Azerbaijan. Perhaps, this was my own ignorance, but I assume this meant they were going to send an ethnic bop, not a pretty general pop-rock song. I think Azerbaijan had an excellent opportunity to send something quite unique for this year’s contest especially since last year’s mid-tempo song received zero televotes in its semifinal. Overall, I don’t think this year’s song is bad at all, but it’s leaving me underwhelmed. That said, I don’t think it is the weakest song in the bunch. For instance, this is a great song to include in a long road trip playlist. I guess we’ll see what they bring to the stage for this one.

Conspiracy alert: See Azerbaijan think that they are slick. If this song does not do well in this year’s contest, I think they’ll use this as a reason to hire songwriters outside of Azerbaijan (e.g. Sweden) for future Eurovisions.

GREECE 🇬🇷: VICTOR VERNICOS — WHAT THEY SAY

Internal Selection – Music Video (***)

Wow, I cannot believe this impressive voice is coming from someone who is only 16-years old. I wish that my voice was that deep at 16 years old. Awesome, deep voice aside, I gotta say that the song does nothing for me right now. For some reason, I just could not get into the song, and it simply feels flat tp me. Maybe this will change over the next couple of months.

ARMENIA 🇦🇲: BRUNETTE — FUTURE LOVER

Internal Selection – Music Video (***)

Ok, I’m sooooooo loving this one from Armenia. With the softness, but edginess of her voice, she reminds me a bit of Lana Del Rey (who I love). Extra points for having a bit of Armenian in the song something else that I also love. For songs submitted in English, I wish more contestants would incorporate some of their national language(s) into the song. Eh, I guess this will be the hill that I die on. While I pretty much love everything about this song, I think it takes too long to get into the faster part of the song. If they do a revamp, they probably should shave off 30 seconds of the slower part.

THE UK 🇬🇧: MAE MULLER — I WROTE A SONG GEORGIA 🇬🇪: IRU — ECHO

Internal Selection – Music Video (***) Internal Selection – Music Video (***)

Last but not least, we have Georgia. I was hoping to wrap up this series of reviews on a positive note, but here we are. Ok, I love the musical arrangement, styling, and lyrics, but I really dislike her voice. It’s a bit too high-pitched for me. Honestly, I probably would have given this one 2 hearts if they released the instrumental to the song. IMO, Iru is not a bad singer; I simply don’t like the tone in which she sings this song.

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Eurovision (ESC) Thursday - ESC22 Then & Now - Part 1

I figured that I would do a comparison of what I thought about the songs when they were first released and what I think about the songs now since we are about 1.5 weeks away from the big day. Keep in mind for my “now”, I’m factoring in several things – preparty performances, general personality, and of course the song.

Since there are 40 countries competing in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, I’m breaking this topic down into two parts. Here’s the first half of the list in alphabetical order by country.

ALBANIA – RONELA – “SEKRET”

OMG, she pretty much embodies everything that makes Eurovision great. I would even say that is the most well-rounded artist in the contest. If there was some sort of Miss Congeniality award for Eurovision, she would be my top choice.

ARMENIA – ROSA LINN – “SNAP”

AUSTRALIA – SHELDON RILEY – “NOT THE SAME”

I’m not really sure why, but Sheldon lost power with me over the past couple of months.

AUSTRIA – LUM!X & PIA MARIA – “HALO”

Kind of like the song, but I was kind of surprised that Pia Maria’s live vocals were not as strong as they were on the studio version (I guess this happens frequently). My three stars are pretty much based on the song along because it’s one of those songs that will get you dancing or bopping your head at least.

AZERBAIJAN – NADIR RUSTAMLI – “FADE TO BLACK”

I will admit that I originally thought this song was a snoozefest. Like I said earlier, I think I was all Eurovisioned out by the time Azerbaijan released this song. That said, the song has grown on me and Nadir seems like a fun individual to hang with. In some ways, he reminds me a little bit of someone I used to date . . . even down to his “gingerness”

BELGIUM – JÉRÉMIE MAKIESE – “MISS YOU”

I think he is one of the strongest male vocalists in the contest, and I am a fan of the strong R&B vibe of the song. That said, I do not know much about him. He hasn’t been as active as other performers so it’s tough to get a sense of who he is. I wonder if it’s an English language thing for him. For instance, I’m not sure if he feels comfortable enough with the English language to put himself out there in these ESC streets. I fear that this might hurt him in the contest. But then again, most ESC viewers do not really pay attention to the contest until semi and final week.

BULGARIA – INTELLIGENT MUSIC PROJECT

I have to admit, I think that I let the public opinion influence my original thoughts about the song. While the song is a bit dated, I do not think it’s THAT bad of a song. Actually, the song has made it onto a couple of my running playlists.

CROATIA – MIA DIMŠIĆ – “GUILTY PLEASURE”

Eh, my opinion has not really changed too much.

CYPRUS – ANDROMACHE – “ELA”

Another case of loving the song but not knowing much about the artist. It seems like she is not too invested in ESC2022, which is fine. I assume that some artists would rather focus on themselves, their songs, their staging, etc during the weeks leading to Eurovision. She had a couple of interviews that gave me a bit of an “oh that’s weird” vibe. In an interview, she was asked about Greece’s ESC2022 song, and she said that she hadn’t heard it. As most know, Greece and Cyprus are pretty much cousins in this contest because they tend to give each other high points. Also, she (like most folks from Cyprus) is Greek. I dunno, but it seems strange that she (at this point) has not heard the Greek song. In another interview, she was asked if she’d be willing to do a collaboration with Chanel (Spain). This question was asked because a lot of folks from Spain like her song. And she responded that she did not know who Chanel is. I’m not mad that she does not know Chanel. BUT, for ESC2022, if you were to ask someone to name five artists from this batch, most folks would say (in no particular order) – Chanel (Spain), Ronela (Albania), Mahmmod & BLANCO (Italy), Ochman (Poland), and Sam Ryder (the UK). So it’s kind of strange that she responded in that manner. Then again, maybe she meant more of an I do not know her personally as opposed to not knowing who she is.

CZECH REPUBLIC – WE ARE DOMI – “LIGHTS OFF”

Going into the season this was one of my top songs. After seeing the group’s performances in the preparties, I was surprised by the weak vocals compared to the studio version and the Czech Republic’s national selection. Ok, the five preparties’ venues had a lot of issues with sound and technical difficulties. That said, other performers did fine with the same difficulties.

DENMARK – REDDI – “THE SHOW”

ESTONIA – STEFAN – “HOPE”

I still really like the song and the performer. While this song was released early in the national selection season, it pretty much has stayed in my top ten since it was released.

FINLAND – THE RASMUS – “JEZEBEL”

Right now, the song just really does not do much for me, but maybe that will change once I see the band on stage. I will say that out of all of the national finals, this band had the best LED staging.

FRANCE – ALVAN & AHEZ – “FULENN”

After viewing France’s national selection, this group was one of my tops. However, the group’s performances during the preparties leading up to ESC2022 week have been less than stellar. In my opinion, Alvan (one artist) and Ahez (a female trio) have not been really cohesive in some of their live performances. For instance, it sounds like they are singing two to three different songs even though they are now one group. While I like the song, I feel that the women in Ahez do not have a commanding stage presence, which is a huge contrast while looking at Alvan jumping all around the stage.

GERMANY – MALIK HARRIS – “ROCKSTARS”

This one has lost a bit of power for me. The other day, I was thinking about the songs from the Big 5 (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK) and completely forgot about Germany’s entry. Like, I actually had to think very hard to remember the song and the artist. While the other members of the Big 5 put up strong entries this year, I think Germany is the weakest of the group. Since Germany is part of the Big 5, Malik will automatically qualify for the final; however, I do not see a strong finish for him. At the end of the day, I’m not sure that Rockstars is a good song for Eurovision, but I have a feeling that it will make it into some of my chillin’ at home playlists.

GREECE – AMANDA TENFJORD – “DIE TOGETHER”

I have no words that reflect how much I enjoy listening to this song.

ICELAND – SYSTUR – “MEÐ HÆKKANDI SÓL”

This trio definitely has grown one me over the past couple of months. While it might be a long shot, I really hope that they will qualify for the final. I wonder if they plan to include some English in this song as a way to connect to a larger audience.

IRELAND – BROOKE SCULLION – “THAT’S RICH”

Originally, this song was not my cup of tea (actually, it’s still not my cup of tea). However, I am quite impressed that Brooke’s vocals (and performances) have drastically improved over the past couple of months. Depending on her staging, I think the song might have a shot at qualifying. LOL moment for Brooke (maybe now it’s an LOL moment). When traveling from Ireland to Spain for one of the preparties, she lost her passport and had trouble entering the country. There’s video of officials in Spain’s border control office viewing her videos as a form of identifying her.

ISRAEL – MICHAEL BEN DAVID – “I.M”

Actually, I think my rating now would be a 2.5, but I guess that I gotta round up. The song just does not work for me as much as it did when was first released. However, word on the ESC streets has been saying that his rehearsal staging is really good and elevates his song and performance.

My Complete Rankings

Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) – My Growers

Preface:

Now, that we are ramping up to ESC2022 (I believe that we are less than 30 days away), I figure that I could quickly mention a few songs that have grown on me over the past few months (actually over the past few days/weeks). This is the first time that I’ve experienced growers before ESC because it is my first year following ESC during national selection season. In the past, I pretty much only listened to the songs during the semifinals and final rounds so my growers would happen after ESC. It’s kind of funny that I’m beginning to love the songs that I originally hated (or rather, that I did not care for) and vice versa. So here are my top growers.

Andromache – Ela – Cyprus 🇨🇾

I do not know; this song is just a vibe for me.

Cornelia Jakobs – Hold Me Closer – Sweden 🇸🇪

I will be honest that I did not like this song because it seems like everyone automatically falls in love with anything (good or bad) that Sweden sends to Eurovision. After forcing myself to listen to this one, it definitely reminds me of a time when I was in a relationship that my a** had no business being in. It’s a sappy song without being too sappy.

Krystian Ochman – River - Poland 🇵🇱

This song always has been in my top 10. After hearing his live vocals at a few of the pre-Eurovision parties/concerts, this song is firmly cemented in my #1 spot. At these parties/concerts, he did an amazing job with very limited staging and sound, so I’m sure he will kill it on the big stage in Turin.

S10 – De Diepte – the Netherlands 🇳🇱

This is a very recent grower for me. By very recent, I mean that I really started getting into De Diepte this past Tuesday. This song had me texting family in the Netherlands for some help in translating. Yes, I could have looked up the Dutch to English translation on my own, but it gave me an excuse to say hello on my Ghanaian family’s Whatsapp group chat . . . even if I sent the message at 9 pm (NYC time), which is 3 am in Amsterdam.

Sam Ryder – Space Man – United Kingdom 🇬🇧

No words about how much I really enjoy this song. Word on the street is that he is going to some amazing staging for ESC2022.

Amanda Tenfjord – Die Together – Greece 🇬🇷

There’s just something about her voice that keeps this song in my head. Also, the song is kind of different because there is no music for the first part of the song. I do worry that my opinion might change once I hear a live version of this song. Also, I wonder how she is going to do the audio modulation with her voice at ESC2022 since performers cannot use special vocal effects in the contest.