Let the music make you raise your hand

Rehearsals have already started in Moscow and it’s time for my top ten. I really like my whole top twenty very much, so the difference in preference between these songs and the top 5 are very minute. As of this writing only one of them has had a rehearsal, but I hope that all of these are successful on stage and do very well in their semifinals and ultimately the final.

10. Greece
Sakis Rouvas - “This Is Our Night“
Reaction: I’m not sure electronic dance music is Sakis’s strength, but the writers of this song did a good job making up for any weakness. The chorus is very catchy and the backing vocals and instrumental are strong and well chosen.
Best Part: The beeping alarm sound before the first chorus during “When I look into your eyes/It comes as no surprise”
Rating: 4/5

9. Israel
Noa & Mira Awad - “There Must Be Another Way“
Reaction: I know this is blatant political propaganda - Hebrew and Arabic lyrics about wanting peace and finding another way - but I still love it anyway. I will forgive political lyrics in this venue if the music is appealing enough(see: what would have been Georgia 2009), and this one is. This is probably the only song this year whose verses I vastly prefer to the chorus. Although I usually prefer loud instrumentals, I love the simplicity of this song, with two clear beautiful voices in harmony and soft guitars.
Best Part: Bridge
Rating: 4/5

8. Norway
Alexander Rybak - “Fairytale”
Reaction: Last year’s overwhelming betting favorite (and in that case, actual winner) was in this spot too. However, I do not have an irrational fannish devotion to Mr. Rybak like I did and do for Mr. Bilan. I find his voice strange and nasal, but that just might be part of the appeal. The prominent strings are also very strange sounding. The song has a sort of haunting madness to it. The instrumental and lyrics combine to give the feeling of obsessive yet unrequited love.
Best Part: Violin solos
Rating: 4/5

7. Armenia
Inga & Anush - “Jan jan“
Reaction: This is a fun mix of ethnic and modern music, but unlike others that fall under that description this year it sounds more like folk than dance pop. I like the combination of the two female sisters’ voices, as well as the combination of English and Armenian.
Best Part: “We aren’t free/fixed like a tree/to the holy ground/with my sound”
Rating: 4/5

6. Bosnia & Herzegovina
Regina - “Bistra Voda”
Reaction: I never really thought of myself as biased towards Bosnia & Herzegovina’s songs, but considering they’ve ended up in this ranking range three of the past four years (and Deen and Feminnem were favorites of mine the two years I started this ranking) I may have a bias towards giving high marks to their songs. I should probably rename the number between five and seven “Bosnia & Herzegovina.” On the other hand, maybe they are just very good at producing songs that I like. This song mixes Balkan strings with militaristic drums. The lead singer also sings very passionately but not too excessively.
Best Part: Last chorus
Rating: 4/5

Next week is the top five. It may be a bit of déjà vu for some readers as three of them have been in my top five before. Even though you can guess which songs they are by now, I hope you’ll come back next week to see the final order and my rankings. Here’s a hint to keep you interested: three of them were instant favorites as soon as they were chosen, and the other two weren’t but grew on me very quickly.