Yes, It's Supposed to Be That High

My tickets finally arrived! The stars finally aligned to send me to Eurovision's 60^th contest. However, I won't be seeing the first semifinal, so who knows if I'll get to see the later four of these five later in the week.

20. Austria

The Makemakes - “I Am Yours”

Reaction: It's not as good as last year's winner (what could be?) but it's better than their average. This heartfelt piano rock ballad is catchy and familiar. It's an Eurovision take on the dad-rock ballad.

Best Part: Last chorus

Rating: 3/5

19. Serbia

Bojana Stamenov - “Beauty Never Lies”

Reaction: They get bonus points for being about body positivity, although the lyrics are a little awkward. The melody sounds better with Serbian lyrics, though. Both the message and energy are refreshing in this field.

Best Part: When the power ballad soul ascends to dance heaven

Rating: 3/5

18. Hungary

Boggie - “Wars for Nothing”

Reaction: Peace songs in Eurovision are practically a dime a dozen. A sweet-voiced woman with a simple repetitive melody would be unremarkable if not for the lyrics. Instead of painting an airy picture of world peace, they angrily call out the injustices of war.

Best Part: “Let me ask can you justify all the eyes that will never see daylight”

Rating: 3/5

17. Russia

Polina Gagarina - “A Million Voices”

Reaction: In contrast to the previous song, this song is one of those cliched, syrupy everyone's-together peace songs, especially in the lyrics. The chorus leans a little bit towards “shine/believe in yourself” for variety, but the lyrics are so positive it's cynical. What saves this song is the upbeat Scandinavian pop almost-perfection, almost only because of the awkward ending.
Best Part: “We can sing/we can shine” (this is for the delivery, not lyric)

Rating: 3/5

16. Finland

Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät – “Aina Mun Pitää”

Reaction: This is a burst of punk energy and attitude. The short length works perfectly because that's about all you want to hear. The lyrics express frustration and anger at society and the mundanities of life, which shows more depth than some other songs with longer sentences.

Best Part: Chorus

Rating: 3/5