Not Letting Me Down

I was much happier with the Eurovision song selection results this week than last week.

Belarus changed their performer to Litesound, a much better choice assuming “We are the heroes” is the song.
Turkey presented their song, “Love Me Back”. I’m not impressed with it, and it isn’t even as good as last year’s non-qualifier.

Ireland chose to send Jedward to Baku for the second time in a row with “Waterline.” It’s not as good as “Lipstick” but it was the best in their national final and Jedward are always entertaining.

Austria had a similar situation, sending “Woki mit deim popo”. It’s not as good as “Oida Taunz” but it was the best in their national final and Trackshittaz are always entertaining.

Finland chose “När Jag Blundar”, in Swedish, for their entry. It’s a nice ballad and an interesting choice of language.

The Netherlands chose “You and Me,” a not very impressing country song.

Slovenia picked “Verjamem,” which is pretty much “Molitva 2”, which is a good thing.

Three other countries had semifinals. Estonia had their second semifinal. I’m happy with the qualification of “City lights” but not as much with the other qualifiers. Lithuania had its fourth semifinal and I am pleased with the qualifiers, especially “Home” and “One of a Kind”.
Sweden had their fourth and final semifinal. I'm happy with the final qualifiers, but I wish "The girl" made it to the second chance round instead of "Don't let me down."

Ballad time

It's now crunch time for Eurovision selection season. This and the next three weekends will have several entries chosen or presented per week.

This week, several countries chose or presented ballads by female singers. On Valentine's Day, Belarus chose "All My Life". I'm disappointed it wasn't "We are the heroes" but it's a fine dramatic ballad. Italy chose Nina Zilli as their representative. She performed "Per Sempre" in Sanremo, but it's unsaid if she will perform that song in Baku. Croatia presented their song "Nebo" by another Nina, which is better than some of their other recent entries. Latvia held a national final and chose "Beautiful Song" which was my favorite of the songs in their selection this year, but that's not saying much.

Ukraine picked "Be My Guest". I'm disappointed it wasn't "Dance" but it is a good song and goes back to the "tradition" of Ukrainian entries being uptempo songs sung by female singers, as opposed to the ballads of the past two years.

Georgia chose "I'm a Jocker." Since I don't have anything nice to say about it, I'll wait until March to say more.

Germany chose "Standing Still" which I don't like as much as their Lena entries but it is contemporary and has potential.

Some countries also had semifinals. Finland had one of several selection shows and finally opened up voting for the semifinalists. Of the semifinalists, my favorite are "Noitanainen" and "We are the night" so I hope those make it to the final.

Sweden had their third semifinal. "Why am I crying" and "Mirakel" qualified to the final and "Lovelight" and "Youngblood" qualified for the Andra Chansen round. This was my least favorite of the three semifinals so far and I am surprised at the result for "Youngblood" as it sounded like a rough draft of "Manboy".

Lithuania also held their third semifinal, from which three songs qualified, none of which appeal to me at first listen.

Estonia had their first semifinal. None of the qualifiers are my favorites, and I'm disappointed that "Fight for love" and "Bon voyage" didn't qualify.

Third Week of Euphoria

Three countries held finals to select their Eurovision entries. Norway chose “Stay,” which was my favorite of their selection. Is it “Popular” part 2? Maybe, but it won’t be a copy unless Tooji breaks glass on stage. Iceland chose “Mundu eftir mér,” which was also my favorite of their finalists. Since the Icelandic songs have all been in English in Eurovision lately, it will be interesting to see how this turns out should it get translated. Hungary chose “Sound of our hearts,” which was not my favorite (that would be “Vízió“), but still a solid choice.

Sweden had their second semifinal. I expected “Soldiers” to qualify but I didn’t expect “Shout It Out” to. The Andra Chansen qualifiers, “Stormande hav” and “Baby Doll”, are also good songs. Lithuania had their second semifinal as well, from which three songs qualified. I don’t like “Take it Back” or “Amazed by You,” and like “Euforija” only a little better.

Next week should see finals from Belarus, Germany, Latvia, and Ukraine, and semifinals from Estonia, Lithuania, and Sweden.

Starting Super Saturdays on Sunday

This weekend marked the start of the run of “super Saturdays” of song selection. On Saturday only Malta chose their Eurovision entry, “This is My Night.” It’s at least better than their previous two entries, but that’s not saying much. Hopefully it gets a makeover for the better.

Lithuania had their first semifinal. I like “Why” but not the other two qualifiers.
Hungary had their second semifinal. Sad to see “Yeah OK” and “Élek a szemeidben” go.
Norway had their third and final semifinal. “Stay” was my favorite and rightly qualified. The other two qualifiers don’t stand out as much to me, but none of the other songs in the semifinal did.
Sweden had their first semifinal. I’m happy “Euphoria” qualified as it was my favorite of the group. The other qualifier, “Mystery,” isn’t as appealing to me but it definitely has a target audience that is underserved in Melodifestivalen/Eurovision.

Next week: A truly super Saturday with finals in Hungary, Iceland, and Norway, and semifinals in Lithuania and Sweden.