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.

Social Media Plug:

kosjrphd

(deactivated until Easter)

smokinscientist

Eurovision (ESC) Thursday - ESC22 Then & Now - Part 2

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 second half of the list in alphabetical order by country.

LATVIA – CITI ZENI – “EAT YOUR SALAD”

The guys from Citi Zeni pretty much have stayed the same for me throughout this crazy ESC2022 season.

LITHUANIA – MONIKA LIU – “SENTIMENTAI”

I gotta say that Monika is an entire vibe, and I’m such a huge fan of her song and her personality.

MALTA – EMMA MUSCAT – “OUT OF SIGHT” “I AM WHAT I AM”

Malta did a little switcheroo on us. They released one song but decided to change its entry later in the national selection season. While that’s not against the rules, it did rub some folks the wrong way. If it is part of the rules, I cannot fault Malta for taking advantage of this loophole. Although this song isn’t a huge improvement compared to the first one originally submitted, I do like this song a bit more than the first one.

MOLDOVA – ZDOB ȘI ZDUB & FRAȚII ADVAHOV – “TRENULEŢUL”

Looking back, I may have given Moldova too low of a score – that’s why this entry is Then and Now. While I’m not a huge fan of the revamp, this song still puts a smile on my face. Oh, I’m not too huge of a fan of the revamp because I think they made it too “rocky” at the expense of the folk sound.

MONTENEGRO – VLADANA – “BREATHE”

Throughout this season, Vladana has been delivering the fashions. Seeing what she was going to wear to the preparties was one of the reasons why I followed the preparties. Unfortunately, the vocal did not really match all of the fashions that she was delivering.

NETHERLANDS – S10 – “DE DIEPTE”

I will be honest that I pretty much skipped this song early in the season, but it really grew on me. For instance, as I type this, I’m singing “OOOOOHHHH oOOOHHHH AAAAH AAAHH something, something, something in Dutch” in my head. The unexpected is one of the things that I like about Eurovision. A song in a language besides English or Spanish that I would normally ignore has become one of my top songs for the year. In addition to a strong song, I have to give S10 so many props (or as the kids say her flowers) for overcoming so many obstacles just to get this to this point.

NORTH MACEDONIA – ANDREA – “CIRCLES”

Andrea’s song started off really strong for me, but it lost that spark over the season. Compared to other artists this year, I feel that she lacks a certain stage presence when performing this particular song. However, I am a bit conflicted because I LOVE the personality that she has displayed during interviews.

NORWAY – SUBWOOLFER – “GIVE THAT WOLF A BANANA”

The jump from three stars to five stars is primarily based on the group’s personality. For example, the group has made parodies (in a good, friendly way) of most of the other songs/videos for this year’s contest. Honestly, I look forward to seeing what randomness they are going to post on Instagram. They seem like the type of folks whom you want on your party’s or brunch’s guest list. While the group has not revealed their identities, I (as well as others in the fandom) think they are Ylvis. The duo that had that somewhat popular “Fox” song from a few years ago. A few reasons for this assumption:

• They are both from Norway and on the same record label

• The costumes imitating animals

• Dancers wearing ties

• Special choreography

• Since Subwoolfer is from the Moon (for ESC2022 at least), they do not speak and have a “translator” do their interviews. I think this is clearly a decoy to throw off folks who might recognize their speaking voices.

POLAND – KRYSTIAN OCHMAN – “RIVER”

This song pretty much has stayed in my top 5 through this Eurovision season.

PORTUGAL – MARO – “SAUDADE SAUDADE”

I really tried, but I just could not get into this song even after multiple listens. My one-star does not mean the song is bad; it just means (for whatever reason) the song just doesn’t resonate with me.

ROMANIA – WRS – “LLÁMAME”

Boy oh boy. This song is such an earworm. Like I’m actually singing Hola, mi be-bé-bé. {HEY} Hola, mi be-bé-bé. {HEY} Llámame, llámame. I dunno why, but this song always seems to put a smile or a smirk on my face. For me, the huge jump in stars is less about the song and more about the artist, Wrs. While he seems quite eccentric, he also seems to be quite down to earth with a super chill vibe. If Eurovision gave out a Mr. Congeniality award, Wrs would be my top candidate for ESC2022. Although Wrs is going to be in a tough semifinal round, I really hope that he qualifies to the grand final.

SAN MARINO – ACHILLE LAURO – “STRIPPER”

I might have unfairly judged this one. No, I take that back. I think that I judged it fairly based on Achille’s performance during San Marino’s national selection. However, over time the artist and the song really grew on me. Also, I kind of like the mystery behind Achille. With his too cool-for-school demeanor, I’m like does he even want to be in Eurovision. I guess that’s the mystery behind him. You know, do not give them too much so they will always want more. Oh, I do think he wants to participate in Eurovision because he would not have competed in two separate national selections for the contest. After placing in the bottom half of Italy’s Sanremo festival, he decided to compete in San Marino’s national selection.

SERBIA – KONSTRAKTA – “IN CORPORE SANO”

This has been one of my favorite songs and performers throughout ESC2022 season. No one had better say anything bad about Konstrakta.

SLOVENIA – LPS – “DISKO”

Last Pizza Slice (or LPS) gained a little power with me. While I am a fan of disco music, the song never resonated with me. However, there is one part of the song when the lead singer (I think his name is Philip) and the band really slows down the groove. I don’t know why but I absolutely love that part of the song. In fact, I mainly listen to the song because of that transition. Random LOL. Doesn’t the group look like bunch of high schoolers set up a band with their music teacher?

Photo courtesy of RTV SLOVENIA

SPAIN – CHANEL – “SLOMO”

What an amazing talent. While Chanel does not have the strongest vocals of the female performers in this year’s contest, her dancing and stage presence are undeniable. If she plays her cards right and has a good team, I’m sure that we will hear a lot from her in the future.

SWEDEN – CORNELIA JAKOBS – “HOLD ME CLOSER”

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

SWITZERLAND – MARIUS BEAR – “BOYS DO CRY”

Sorry Switzerland, but I just could not get into the singer or the song.

UKRAINE – KALUSH ORCHESTRA – “STEFANIA”

This is complicated because Ukraine originally was sending Alina Pash as its representative. However, she had to withdraw after it was discovered that she illegally traveled to Crimea, which is a no no for Ukrainian citizens. Since Kalush Orchestra came in second place for the national selection, they became the Ukrainian candidates for ESC2022. I’m sorry but the song does not really work for me. Actually, I take that back. The rapper does not really work for me. Since anything related to Ukraine is clearly a touchy subject, I’ll just leave my comments there.

THE UK – SAM RYDER – “SPACE MAN”

While Poland is my favorite to win, I think Sam is going to bring the Eurovision microphone trophy back to the UK after many, Many, MANY years. My only concern with his song during my original review was with hitting those high notes live. At the time of the review, I only commented on the music video. I gotta say that he delivered those high notes at every single preparty. Also, I have seen some clips of his rehearsals for Eurovision and the staging is probably one of the best stagings that I have seen in the few years of watching Eurovision. The BBC really invested quite a bit of pounds in this artist, and I think the UK will be extremely pleased with his results. I’m going to say this right now, but you know there is some geopolitical crap going on if Sam does not finish in the top 10 overall and in the top five for the national juries vote.

My Complete Rankings

Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) – Portugal 🇵🇹

Maro – Saudade Saudade

Final Thoughts:

Maybe, I’m just a bit crabby today, but this song did not move me at all. I might have to rewatch this performance with a “fresh mind”. I do not know why, but I was expecting more of an uptempo song from Portugal (maybe because they sent a slow song last year). For me, her voice seemed a bit weak, and to keep it real, I felt that her backup singers were stronger than she. The hubby and I listed to the recap of all the other songs/contestants in Portugal’s national selection (or Festival da Canção) and 90% of the songs seemed better than this one. . . at least to us. Getting upset that song A won instead of song B is one of the reasons why I decided not to watch all of the country’s national selections. Plus, who has that much time to review all of these music festivals/contests. I think there were like 31-35 national selections.

Portugal in last year’s Eurovision

THE BLACK MAMBA – LOVE IS ON MY SIDE

• Semi-final results: 4th place out of 17 performances (239 total points – 128 national juries and 111 public votes)

• Final results: 11th place out of 26 performances (153 total points – 126 national juries and 27 public votes)

I will honestly say that I was really surprised with how well The Black Mamba performed in the final. Actually, I’m also surprised with how well the group did in the televote in its semifinal round. Actually II, I take most of that back. Based on the musical arrangement and the simplicity (not saying that’s a bad thing), I can see how the national juries would give this song high marks. But, the low televotes for the final makes complete sense. I have a feeling that many of the televotes for ballads went to Switzerland and France. I think this one of the few songs that did not grow on me after Eurovision. This probably is due to the lead singer’s voice. His voice is not bad, but the high-pitch male singing voice (unless the singer is hitting a high note) is not my thing so much. Singing aside, the lead singer and the rest of the group look like they would be so much fun to hang with.