One More Sunday

Five countries chose their songs this week, bringing the total number of songs presented thus far to fifteen.

On Valentine’s Day Poland chose “Jestem,” an upbeat and modern pop song. It’s good, but I preferred the runner-up, “Ktoś taki jak ty.”

Germany chose “Taken By A Stranger,” which isn’t as immediately appealing as Satellite, but isn’t at all bad.

Spain chose “Que me quiten lo bailao,” which is kind of weak but if it’s still a demo there’s opportunity for improvement. As it is it sounds a little too close to Portugal 2009.

Georgia chose “One more day,” which is a rock song and thus a bit different from the country’s previous songs.

Italy chose the “Follia d’amore” for their return. It sounds like an uninspiring jazz song to me, but it will probably be a jury favorite.

Four other countries had semifinal rounds. Estonia had their second semifinal, from which five songs qualified, including my favorite “The Storm.”

Latvia had their third semifinal, a second chance round. Two songs qualified, “Cinderella” and “Look Back At Me Again,” neither of which sound like winners.

Lithuania had their third semifinal, from which three songs qualified. Of the qualifiers, my favorite is “I will break free,” and “Be my baby” is nice too.

Sweden had their third semifinal, and although I think it was the weakest so far it had some good qualifiers. “Popular” is a little too “It’s Gonna Rain” and not enough “Manboy,” and also it really is a little reminiscent of Lili & Susie’s “Oh Mama” like various internet commenters have said, but it was inevitable that the teen idol would qualify. The other qualifier, “The King” is Kempe-does-rockabilly and though the aesthetic annoys me I can’t stop listening to the song; it is ridiculously catchy. The second chance qualifiers were more of a surprise. “Spring för livet” seemed a little dull to me and “I thought it was forever” seemed like a fan favorite that would flop, but I’m happy it qualified.

Next week: A lot more finals! I can't make predictions for all of them, but I'd like to see "Banjo Laura" win in Latvia and "Smile" win in Ukraine.