Eurovision 2018 Song Ranking Part 2

This week is a diverse group, musicially and linguistically. They may be far from my favorites but their presence is welcome.

35, Hungary 
AWS - “Viszlát nyár”
You can’t say that Hungary isn’t bringing something new to the Eurovision table. This type of music was most popular in the 00’s (there doesn’t seem to be consensus on the genre but it sounds likes screamo to me) but it’s debuting in this Eurovision. The lyric is personal and the vocals are passionately delivered. It’s also got a killer key change, to fit in. I’m not opposed to the genre, but the music doesn’t connect to me overall. Side note: is it just me or does their name first call to mind Amazon Web Services?

34. Serbia
Sanja Ilic & Balkanika- “Nova deca” 
A Balkan ballad, or at least an epic-sounding song with Balkan elements, is always welcome. However, this takes too long to get started, with over a minute long introduction, and it doesn’t pick up energy until the last minute. If it kept the energy of the last minute throughout the song it would be a lot higher.

33. Georgia
Iriao - “For You”
This is only this low because I personally don’t find it that easy to listen to, especially in a Eurovision context. However, they’re doing something different, and effectively, and I applaud it. In the Eurovision Best-Fantasy-RPG-Background-Music Contest this would win first place (or tie with Denmark). This song uses a traditional style of singing to create a dynamic three minutes that is out of the ordinary.

32. Spain
Amaia & Alfred - “Tu Canción”
There are two delicate, saccharine love songs this year that are technically quite good. They might make the audience shed a tear with a beautiful, touching performance. While “When We’re Old” reflects on marriage and a future together, “Tu Canción” is an ode to first love. Its selection was partly due to some heavy shipping of its emerging-couple performers, and hopefully their young love stays together at least until May to give the performance an injection of chemistry. However, if you’re not invested in the real-life love story, it gets old fast.

31. Norway
Alexander Rybak - “That’s How You Write A Song”
Alexander is the expert here but I suspect there are some trade secrets he is leaving out of his instructions. It’s a fun, positive romp that will probably be a fantastic performance in May, but on the recorded version it’s too repetitive and hard to connect with.

Eurovision 2018 Song Ranking Part 1

All the entries are known and it’s finally time for another Eurovision ranking. This year the format will change a little and I will no longer include ratings. The on-season this year definitely felt weaker than some past years, yet overall it’s a relatively strong set. There are fewer songs that are amazing, for sure, but there are also fewer that are really horrible. Over the past few years the bottom limit of quality has been raised higher and higher, which means a 1 out of 5 gets better and better. There haven’t been as many irredeemable duds on the song level, and this year I can’t bear to give any songs a 1 out of 5, so I won’t, because the points don’t matter. Of any personal ranking, only an aggregate of each person’s top few give any indication of popularity. This isn’t Melodifestivalen yet, and nobody is going to vote for 10 songs per night. Nobody is voting for their least favorite song or their twentieth favorite, so it doesn’t matter if they rated it 1 out of 5 or 9 out of 10. Just read this as you’d read any other fan’s ranking and enjoy when it horribly contradicts the actual results in May. Since no composition is a trainwreck, the performance will be the decider between success and failure.

43. San Marino
Jessika feat. Jenifer Brening - “Who We Are” 
The Sammarinese selection for Eurovision this year was one of the most bizarre and suspicious. It was the biggest Sammarinese robbery since the one in Lupin the 3rd Part 4. The song has a nice sentiment and the chorus is mildly catchy, but it’s very derivative and doesn’t add anything to the contest. Many of their past entries are iconically or memetically cheesy, but this doesn’t add much to their history. The rap part is also really cheesy in a 90s pop throwback way, and not in a good way.

42. Romania
The Humans – “Goodbye”
This is bland soft pop-rock. The vocalist has a lot of passion but the song itself doesn’t have the energy. It’s almost like a long jam session, and the song commits the Eurovision sin of taking over half of the song to get to the chorus, which isn’t even that powerful. It’s far from their worst entry – this is a masterpiece compared to “Liubi liubi I love you” or “Change” - but it doesn’t stand out this year.

41. Latvia
Laura Rizzotto - “Funny Girl”
Let’s get this out of the way, this sounds like a ripoff of The Weeknd’s 50 Shades of Grey Song. That song is better, and it isn’t even that good. The chorus is an earworm and she smolders with unrequited love, but there’s something just irritating about it to me.

40. Albania
Eugent Bushpepa - “Mall”
Despite being the first song selected, this song has received a lot of hype which I do not share. This sounds like somethings lots of countries have entered and floundered in the semifinal (Netherlands 2011 maybe, or Switzerland 2009 or Hungary 2012). It’s different from the typical Albanian entry, but with its revamp it loses the power and edge it would need to stand out. In this case, being overproduced and over-orchestrated didn’t help,

39. Iceland
Ari Ólafsson - "Our Choice"
This sounds like it belongs in any Eurovision semifinal since 2004, and it wouldn't qualify in any of them. It is a bland peace-song ballad with cringy lyrics. Just because a cute young man sings it instead of a cute young woman or a not-young anyone doesn’t make it better. However, the music itself is pleasant to listen to.

38. Lithuania
Ieva Zasimauskaitė - "When We're Old"
This song has an infinite sweetness and the chorus is strong. However, it’s almost too delicate to listen to fully or be memorable. Also “from the very first smile I knew I’d walk a mile” is an illogical lyric. If I’m wrong about any of this set of songs, it might be this one.

37.Ireland
Ryan O'Shaughnessy - “Together”
This is a bland, inoffensive singer-songwriter pop song. It sounds like it would play on the store radio for Kohl’s (to give non-Americans an idea of the type of inoffensive blandness, I heard a Dansk Melodi Grand Prix song play during the holiday season). There is one thing that stands out: the chorus has a jarring high note, and on a long held “die” of all lyrics. It might be nice and sweet to shop, have a coffee, or fall asleep to, but it’s not very interesting for the idea of a stage show.
 
36. Switzerland
Zibbz - “Stones” 
This song doesn’t lack for energy, that’s for sure. It has both a powerful instrumentation and message. It sounds like it would be at home in a commercial for a movie or TV show. It’s only this low because the “noooo I ain’t throwin’ stooooones” in the chorus just irritates me.

Eurovision 2018 Preselection Blog Week 10

The long journey is almost over. It's the final week of Eurovision preselections. There are two songs yet to be revealed within the next few days. Next Sunday this blog will shift over to the annual ranking with a super-sized bottom 8 post, but for now here's some gems from the last national finals.

Sweden's Melodifestivalen came to a close with a remarkable runner up. "Every Single Day" by Felix Sandman has such vivid pain. The singer is really not taking his breakup well, and even the "undo the pain" lyric works much better than Sweden's 2014 song (let's be honest, the lyricist is not the best). The melody is a fresh and contemporary ballad, with a little of a K-pop feel too, where each emotion is delicately felt. The line from the second verse about the cup is so intense and creative, the kind of inventive imagery that really only appeared in "If I was Sorry." The song contrasts with his previous Melodifestivalen song in an interesting way. "Gotta Thing About You" was awful musically, lyrically, and visually, so Felix seemingly did need a "breakup" (of the FOOO Conspiracy/FO&O) to blossom.

"Party Voice" by Jessica Andersson also must be highlighted. The lyrics are a little nonsensical but it is a future classic schlager that still feels fresh.

In Norway's Melodi Grand Prix, Ida Maria asked and answered a question with "Scandilove" that nobody was wondering about but everyone can enjoy. The live performance was a (beautiful, probably intentional) mess, but the song itself is an upbeat good time with a good laugh that is needed.

Lithuania finally picked a song too in the last of N selection shows. From the six-song final, Jurgis Brūzga's "4 Love" is a funky slow jam with some cool synths.

Eurovision 2018 Preselection Blog Week 9

It's almost over, the long journey is almost over towards a complete Eurovision lineup. Let's wonder what might have been:

What if Finland sent Saara Aalto's bizarre train prop in “Queens”?

What if Waylon chose “Thanks But No Thanks” for the Netherlands and we had two entries with the same (translated) title?

What if Portugal sent Janeiro with the untitled “(sem titulo)”?

What if San Marino sent Gioavanni Montalbano with “Per quello che mi dai” in their national language?

What if Iceland decided they still wanted to send an empty positive song, but wanted a choir instead and a catchy chorus, so they sent Fókus hópurinn with “Battleline”?

What if Sweden's SVT put their videos on YouTube for international viewing so I could link to the video for Olivia Eliasson's “Never Learn”?

What if Estonia was more chill and aesthetic and chose “Drop that Boogie” by Iiris & Agoh?

 What if Poland joined the group of countries sending pink-haired singers and picked Saszan and “Nie chcę Ciebie mniej”?