Hear the Echo

Tonight is the Academy Awards. Much classier than Eurovision and much more artistic merit, but since there is one award for Best Original Song, can we call it a "four-song national final?"

Belgium had a four-song semifinal (sorry for forgetting about them last week). “She's after my piano” by 2 Fabiola ft. Loredana was definitely the most...interesting song of the night.

Estonia had their national final. My absolute favorite, which was destroyed by the juries, was “Kui tuuled pöörduvad” by Sandra Nurmsalu. Despite the shared singer, it's nothing like “Rändajad.” This is peppy and mystical with a catchy bridge.

France had a three-song final. “Ma Liberte” by Joanna is an okay ballad, but it's better than the other one.

Ireland had a five-song final. The four non-winners are pretty unremarkable ballads. Well, “Don't Hold On” by Patricia Roe has an intro that is similar to that of “Bound 2”...that's notable, right?

Romania had a twelve-song national final, which was won by their 2010 representatives. “One More Time” by Vaida came in first in the viewer vote but finished in second after the jury vote was added.

Sweden had their second chance round, where two songs made it to the final out of a group of eight. “Echo” by Outtrigger missed out on the final in the last “duel” of the night. Outtrigger are notable for http://youtu.be/JD33AP-srpk”>their metal cover of “You” by Robin Stjernberg

, which was a vast improvement over the original. “Echo” is even better than this, and would have been great to see in the final.