Hypnotic

This week has been a pretty big one in televised competitions: Super Bowl, Olympics...who cares, Eurovision's on!

 

Malta had a 20-song semifinal and a 14-song final. My favorite, and a big pre-contest fan favorite, was “Hypnotica” by Jessika. Calling it “Malta attempts Loreen” wouldn't be inaccurate.

Iceland had an other five-song semifinal, with two songs advancing (plus another wildcard). One of the two songs cast aside was “Til þín” by Guðrún Árný Karlsdóttir. This is a lovely ballad, but I like her 2006 “Andvaka” much better.

Hungary held another ten-song heat from which 3 songs qualified via jury vote and another 3 qualified via viewer vote. “Elmaradt pillanatok” by Bálint Gájer is the best of the four, a very Eurovisiony ballad.

Sweden finally allowed drag queen music to enter the 21^st century with Pink Pistols' “I Am Somebody.” Sure it's a 90s-throwback pop song, but it's definitely more current than the showtunes of certain recent years. Maybe it was hurt by its static staging?

Next week brings semifinals in Estonia, Hungary, and Sweden. Also, a final in Iceland!