We are back for another season of Eurovision, and this year we are heading to Malmรถ, Sweden ๐ธ๐ช. As countries begin to select their songs, I'm going to do a brief recap of what I think of the 'current' songs.
For this recap, I'm going to chat about (in no particular order): Estonia ๐ช๐ช, Latvia ๐ฑ๐ป, Denmark ๐ฉ๐ฐ, Germany ๐ฉ๐ช, Moldavia ๐ฒ๐ฉ, Lithuania ๐ฑ๐น.
Like last year, I'm gonna do follow this mode of attack:
Review songs in batches of 5 or 6 rather than doing a country-by-country recap.
Watch the national selection final (or internal selection) once or twice.
Not constantly listen to the songs until we get into semifinal week.
Reasons 1-2: For this edition, I don't have time to write 35+ posts (one per country) before getting into the actual contest. Also, what's the point of doing an in-depth or half-assed review (depending on how much free time I have) before the delegations either revamp the song and/or the performance? Reason 3: I don't want to get tired of the songs before the contest. A couple of Eurovisions ago, I noticed that I was pretty much over the songs that were released early in the national final (January/February) season by April.
Kwame's Current Rankings:
Like always, I'll use my cheezy Eurovision meter to rate the songs.
Alright let's get started:
Estonia ๐ช๐ช: 5miinust & Puuluup -- (nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea (kull) midagi (We [really] don't know anything about [these] drugs)
National Selection Performance - Eesti Laui 2024 (link: ***)
Songwriters: Estoni Kohver, Kim Wennerstrรถm, Lancelot, Marko Veisson, Pรคevakoer, Pรตhja Korea, and Ramo Teder
Key: D; BPM: 145
Something a little different. Word on the street is that this song title is the longest in the history of the contest, so that's something. It's not necessarily my cup of the tea, but it's upbeat as hell, which always works for me. This one kind of reminds me of Moldova's 2022 entry, which I hated at first, but grew to love. Even though, the song (well the performance) is a bit chaotic (IMO), I think this is a song that definitely will amp on the crowd. For me, it seems like it's three songs in one. While I do not hate *insert long title here* (because I'm not retyping all of that ๐คฃ), this one definitely will have to grow on me.
Latvia ๐ฑ๐ป: Dons -- Hollow
National Selection Performance - Supernova 2024 (link: ***)
Songwriters: Artลซrs ล ingirejs, Kate Northrop, and Liam Gedde
Key: C#/Db; BPM: 148- Really a 148 bpm, the song seemed a little low-tempo to me.
Dons has a very strong voice; however, the song is a bit mid for me. Well, actually, the verses are a bit mid, but the chorus is a slightly electrifying. Overall, I think that I need to listen to this one a couple more times for it to move or inspire me. Unfortunately, I think it might be tough for this one to qualify (in its current state). Since we have a lot of unique, nutty songs this year, I fear this one will get lost in the mix. I think this song could have work in 2022's contest, but there are too many unique, witchy, random songs in this year's contest. While Dons has an excellent voice, I don't think he really has a stage presence that will draw in a lot of folks.
Denmark ๐ฉ๐ฐ: Saba -- Sand
National Selection Performance - Melodi Grand Prix 2024 (***)
Songwriters: Jonas Thander, Melanie Wehbe, and Pil Kalinka Nygaard Jeppesen
Key: E minor; BPM: 114
The lighting for this one is very pretty and dynamic. Whoa she has a very strong voice. Overall, I'm really loving this one. Hopefully, this will be the song that finally gets Denmark into the grand final. I mean, the lighting is some of the best that I've seen so far in this year's contest. However, the delegation should get a better platform for her to stand on because it's giving one of those small tables from Ikea. I think those small tables are called Lack. Also, I hope for the Eurovision performance of this song, Saba will eventually leave the platform at some point. Since this is an upbeat "ballad", I would like to see a bit more movement because I'm not a huge fan of very static performances where the artist stands in one place for the duration of the song. An issue that I have with this song, it sound a bit like Loreen's Tattoo - last year's winning song. Some folks might pass Saba's Sand because folks may think Denmark is just trying to copy Sweden's win last year.
Germany ๐ฉ๐ช: Isaak -- Always on the Run
National Selection Performance - Das Deutsche Final 2024 (link ***)
Songwriters: Greg Taro, Isaak Guderian, Kevin Lehr, and Leo Salminen
Key: A#/Bb BPM: 110
What a soulful voice. The song has an over nice, feel good message, and Isaak's voice is pretty flawless. However, Germany will have to up the staging and Isaak's stage presence for this performance. To be honest, Isaak is dressed like he is rehearsing for his final performance for Das Deutsche Final. Unfortunately for Isaak, Germany is one of those countries that has to be twice as good to get the same credit in this contest. Although I like the song (and somewhat like the performance), I don't see this moving from the bottom five in the contest.
Moldavia ๐ฒ๐ฉ: Natalia Barbu -- In the Middle
National Selection Performance -Etapa Naศionalฤ 2024 (link: ***)
Songwriters: Natalia Barbu, Khris Richards, and Natalia Barbu
Key: G#/Ab; BPM: 114 (hmm, it seemed little faster)
No surprise that Moldova is bringing something a bit different to this contest, but it's a good kind of different. For some reason, I find this song and performance very soothing. I think this might be due to its uniqueness in a field of many "loud" and "out there" performances. Actually, this performance might be out there a little bit. For instance, I'm not sure if the backup vocalists are supposed to move months while not actually singing. I hope it's not the case of the backup vocalists lipping the words, so they know when they are actually supposed to sing. The violin pieces gives this performance a cool low-vibe feel. OK, so I've never played violin, but it seems as if they (or some of them) need to rehearse a bit more. All of that said, Natalia and her crew have time to learn the words and rehearse playing the violin before going to Malmรถ in May.
Lithuania ๐ฑ๐น: Silvester Belt -- Luktelk (Wait)
National Selection Performance - Eurovizija.LT (link: ***)
Songwriters: Dลพesika ล yvokaitฤ, Elena Jurgaitytฤ, and Silvestras Beltฤ
Key: B; BPM: 140
Nice little boop. With the first listen, I didn't really move me vocally, but I was bobbing my head to the song. Also, I can see it growing over the next couple of months. Silvester has a pretty relaxing vocal, but it comes off a little monotone for me. Ok, I know that prerecorded backing vocals are allowed in the contest, but I feel like he is relying on the backing vocals way too much. There were points in the song where the prerecorded backing vocals were louder than Silvester's vocals. Perhaps, that supposed to be the artistic effect.
Up Next:
That's it for now, let's see what the next batch of songs will bring. Looking at the national selection final calendar, it looks like the next batch of songs will include: Croatia ๐ญ๐ท, Iceland ๐ฎ๐ธ, San Marino ๐ธ๐ฒ, and Belgium ๐ง๐ช.
