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 2023 Song Review: 5th 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.

For this recap, I’m going to chat about (in no particular order): Iceland, Moldova, Cyprus, Austria, Israel, and the UK.

Current ranking:

 

ICELAND 🇮🇸: DILJÁ — POWER

National Selection Performance: Songvakeppnin (***)

 
 

“Pa-Pa-POOOWER over me” I have to admit that I wasn’t expecting something like this from Iceland. I think that I prefer the chorus over the verses. I’ll say one thing: Dilja can really sing. Looking forward to seeing this on ESC2023’s stage.

MOLDOVA 🇲🇩: PASHA PARFENY — SOARELE ȘI LUNA

National Selection Performance: Etapa Nationala (***)

 
 

Ok, on to the song. While I’m not enthusiastic about the song, I do like it; however, I’m not really sure why. In his case, I feel like his backing vocalists do most of the heavy lifting in the song. Well . . . maybe that’s the point.

CYPRUS 🇨🇾: ANDREW LAMBROU — BREAK A BROKEN HEART

Internal Selection: Music Video (***)

 
 

Normally, I like these types of pop-R&B songs, but this one really doesn’t it for me. However, I cannot put my finger on why it doesn’t work for me. I don’t hate it, but I think that I will need some time for this one to grow on me. Andrew tried to compete for Australia in last year’s contest but didn’t make it. So this year, he will represent his motherland of Cyprus. At least, we know if he makes it to the final that he will receive 12 points from Greece AND Australia. Smart move.

AUSTRIA 🇦🇹: TEYA & SALENA — WHO THE HELL IS EDGAR?

Internal Selection: Music Video (***)

 
 

It’s a bop for me. However, I think it’s one of those songs that I’ll probably never listen to after Eurovision.

ISRAEL 🇮🇱: NOA KIREL — UNICORN

Internal Selection – Music Video (***)

 
 

I think Noa was one of the most anticipated artists from the very beginning of the ESC2023 season because 1) she’s an established artist (kind of the likes of Rosalia) and 2) Israel was planning to put up $900K – $1M for her package. While this is a typical pop-dance song, I can see the potential for the staging and performance. You just know that there is going to be a dance break in the performance. How do I know this? Because she says “Do you wanna see me dance” 80 thousand times in the song. Actually, she says it only three times. My conversation with Noa:

  • Noa: Do you wanna see me dance?

  • Me: Eh.

  • Noa: Do you wanna see me dance?

  • Me: I guess

  • Noa: Do you wanna see me dance?

  • Me: Well hurry up and do that damn dance.

  • Noa: *Does the dance*

  • Me: Final-damn-ly.

THE UK 🇬🇧: MAE MULLER — I WROTE A SONG

Internal Selection – Music Video (***)

 
 

Hmmm, it’s giving me Dua Lipa vibes, which isn’t a bad thing. It’s very earwormy for me because I’ll be singing “Instead I wrote a song da da da da dai-iii” probably for the remainder of the night. I really hope she has amazing staging, great dancing, and powerful vocals because I can see this one getting lost in the mix. Since the UK has not had a great history in this contest, I hope a lot is done to convince folks that Sam Ryder’s 2nd place finish was not a fluke . . . this advice also goes for Spain this year.

 

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