#Eurovision ranking 2023

[docholligay]

37. Switzerland

The absolute stones. The brass ones. I mean, I can almost appreciate it’s so bad.

This is a very pale “war is bad mkay” song, and more specifically this is a song from a sad Swiss boy about how he doesn’t want to go to war and play with real guns :(. Which, given the way of the world, I suppose could be touching, minus the fact that Swiss has had the policy of “Go fuck yourselves, i don’t give a shit” since 1815, and has not participated in a non-civil war since then. And the civil was was in the 1840s.

This would be akin to some 19 year old from America singing about his fears of land invasion. Oh no, wait, we’ve been invaded by land much more recently than the Swiss have been involved in a conflict!

Given their extreme neutrality which has come under fire for actually being, you know, a kind of evil, this songs moves from being milquetoast to offensive. Switzerland serves the world’s elite and stands on the sidelines to see who’s left standing at the end.

In the EuroBubble, I’ve gotten some blowback for my extreme dislike  of this song, because Switzerland has compulsory military service, to which I would say “When you know you are never going to war, it becomes an inconvenient summer camp.” Swiss military service also allows a number of schemes that can get you out of anything military at all: civil service, assisting firefighters, and, even “being declared unfit for military OR civilian service” which is what 20% of conscripts do and weirdly only comes with an extra tax, and weirdly, is more common for conscripts from rich cities hmmm hmm hmmmmm.

I’ll get my ass chewed for this, but this song would feel much more compelling coming from a country like Ukraine (Who wouldn’t let this go through because pf their approach to the war) or even Israel (Who would ABSOLUTELY NEVER let that go through because it would be deeply critical of the government) you know, countries where conscripts face a chance of actual death. Finland, even! I am willing to accept so many answers here, but Switzerland SURE AS SHIT is not one of them.

It’s so tone deaf, I would hate it in peace time, but now it seems so distasteful when Switzerland is rubbing their little temples about whether it’s naughty and bad to not send Ukraine guns but Russian oligarchs can keep their art (which is just a kind of hidden international money--like gold) all over the place.

Unfortunately, he actually can sing this song.

I don’t think my reaction will be singular, and I don’t think the song has enough “tricks” to overcome that in a non-juried semi.

Disclaimer

[pinan-stutor]

My Top 10 for ESC 2023

Might do YouTube embeds and/or one-sentence commentary later, but I wanna at least make my first ESC post while I've got some brain momentum!

1. Käärijä - Cha Cha Cha (Suomi/Finland 🇫🇮)

2. Teya & Salena - Who The Hell Is Edgar? (Austria 🇦🇹)

3. Pasha Parfeni - Soarele Şi Luna (Moldova 🇦🇩)

4. Alessandra - Queen of Kings (Norway ���🇻)

5. Voyager - Promise (Australia 🇦🇺)

6. La Zarra - Évidemment (France 🇨🇵)

7. The Busker - Dance (Our Own Party) (Malta 🇲🇹)

8. Lord Of The Lost - Blood & Glitter (Germany 🇩🇪)

9. Joker Out - Carpe Diem (Slovenia 🇸🇮)

10. Mae Muller - I Wrote A Song (United Kingdom 🇬🇧)

[peaceowatermeln]

you wanna know what my thing is about the jury? well too bad, i’m gonna tell you anyway.

two words: elitism and subjectivity

so, the point of the jury is that they (supposedly) have more music knowledge and therefore are better and more impartial judges of music, right? (i mean… we know that’s bullshit but that’s the design)

well here’s the thing. like most art forms, music is subjective, meaning what someone thinks about a song is influenced by their own taste, opinions, and feelings. this doesn’t magically disappear once you learn… i dunno, how time signatures work, for example. someone with music knowledge would be able to hear a song with something musically neat in it and go “hey, that’s neat” but ultimately that doesn’t change if the sound of the song lines up with their own taste.

(and as someone with a music degree, lemme tell you, having music knowledge doesn’t make a listening experience any more helpful or enjoyable.)

so, in our eurovision setting, where the entire point of the contest is to rank songs and crown a winner based on what is the most universally liked, and everybody voting (including our beloved juries) has their own opinions and biases about music and what is appealing to them, why are juries held as these objective elites with The Facts of what good music is? why are the opinions of 5 people who can maybe acknowledge a cool drum pattern worth the same as the opinions of the rest of a country’s over-18 population?

because they’re more impartial? sure jan.

[borisbubbles]

Eurovision 2023: #25

25. NORWAY Alessandra - "Queen of Kings" 5th place

Decade ranking: 73/166 [Above The Roop, below Mia Dimsic]

TikTok is a scourge on this world.

For those that wondered what a bad non-Noa 2023 result looks like, I present the above. Like yeah sure ITALY is the biggest offender of "Gets Votes Due To Pre-Built Expectations" on average but honestly... Norway's kinda up there too lately. AND ALTHOUGH I'M RANKING HER AHEAD OF MARCO, NORWAY'S RESULT OFFENDS ME WAY MORE. Third in the televote, really? Over Joker Out? Over Monika? Over Brunette? If that is what fan service is supposed to deliver, then the fans of this show are pieces of shit -- April Lewis, me.

I struggle with verbalizing why Alessandra is so meh to me. I should like this. She's camp, her song's uptempo, she was even decent on the night (after being bad literally every other time she had to perform). WHAT IS MISSING HERE?! WHY IS THIS ENTRY NOT AS GOOD AS ADVERTISED?

The issue really is that Queen of Kings is kind of boring. When you think about it, it's just a bunch of uptempo nothing carried by dumb lyrics and a basic techno beat. [ed.: you will NEVER be Cecilia] When Alessandra showed up in MGP (which was bad) and unexpectedly beat Ulrikke (who was attempting a Husavík - embarrassing) it was great though, in part BECAUSE she was basic and relied heavily on the live autotune. (lol you forgot MGP had live autotune, didn't you?). To finally have something, anything upbeat in what looked like a pretty meh pool, Norway temporarily gave me a lifeline I could cling to during these dire times of need! NOTHING IN THIS WORLD CAN STOP THE SPREAD OF A WITCH!!! SHE WILL BE THE WARRIOR OF THE NORTHERN SILENT SEAS!!!

And that is the ONLY reason Alessandra made it as far as she did on my ranking.

But then, things got better. Promise happened. Carpe Diem happened and Cha Cha Cha happened. Gustaph and Vesna, whom I had doubts about at the time improved drastically at the contest. Mimicat and Loreen and Pasha delivered as expected. There weren't many good entries (compared to 2022 and especially 2021), but a few did show themselves. Norway meanwhile, were on their fourth shallow meme entry in a row and enough. Time to try something else girlies. Why couldn't this televote result have gone to Edgar instead? (lol I have harsh words for that one too, but patience, children, first we have smaller fish to fry)

Ultimately, "Queen of Kings" was vaguely camp Eurovision pulp at its silliest and most scuffed (the fucking NERVE NRK had to try and frame it as a ~Secretly Complex Bisexual Anthem~ like, literally: die), but I find those traits more charming in filler entries nobody has high expectations for (Solo is HERE to stay for a while, and you will deal) and kinda embarrassing in overrated fanfave beasts designed to steal televotes from the plucky underdogs that truly deserved them. But hey, maybe that's just me. 🤷‍♀️

THE RANKING

[columba1234]

My 16 7 winners from this year Eurovision 2023 (in no particular order)

1, Czechia: Vesna - My Sister's Crown

(this is my earliest personal winner when the songs were selected lol)

2, Finland: Käärijä - Cha Cha Cha

(I once rank it last after the first listen, but after a second time, I regretted it. Käärijä, you are my winner)

3, Latvia: Sudden Lights - Aijā

(If this one doesn't qualify, I'll riot. Anyone who can vote in the 1st semi, please vote number 4 please. Thank you)

4, Spain: Blanca Paloma - Eaea

(Spain is really stepping up for Eurovision this year. From SloMo to Eaea (both of them are really good, I just don't really like SloMo last year), so having Eaea this year is perfect)

5, Slovenia: Joker Out - Carpe Diem

(Ljubjiana 2024? A high chance indeed)

6, Serbia: Luke Black - Samo mi se spava

(Like Spain, Serbia is stepping up their Eurovision quality from last year's success of In Copore Sano. Belgarde 2024 is a high chance too.)

7, Austria: Teya and Salena - Who the hell is Edgar?

(POE. POE. POE. (Why the hell can I almost forget Austria? It's one of your winners, @columba1234))

Honorable mentions:

Moldova: Pasha Perfeni - Soarele și luna

Norway: Alessandra - Queen of Kings

Germany: Lord of the Lost - Blood and Glitter

Malta: The Busker - Dance (Our Own Party)

France: La Zarra - Évidemment

Portugal: Mimicat - Ai coração

Croatia: Let 3 - Mama ŠČ

Ukraine: TVORCHI - Heart of Steel

Australia: Voyager - Promise

(actually, this is my top 16 post lol (and they are soooo good, 2023 is truly a strong year) and Eurovision 2023 is in less than 2 weeks now and I still can't watch semi 1 live due to exams....)

[itsmeimcathy]

Europe blink twice if sweden and israel are holding you at gunpoint

[dr-drea]

My Top 5 ranking is now a sad list of countries who got robbed at Eurovision 2023

[miyakuli]

Gonna watch and probably comment the finale of eurovision tonight ;)

And I will certainly be alone against the general opinion as always X'D

[aprilskyforever]

Henny ranks Eurovision 2023 - before the show

i’m kinda late with this this year, i admit. reasons? I guess I can say i’ve been busy, but it’s not all, truth is i’m not that engaged about this year actually... of course there are songs i love, but it’s not a year where i struggle to make a top 10 you know? anyway. enough negativity. let’s take a look, shall we? oh and please not that the songs are not in a certain order within each category.

category: can’t we have two winners please?

Sweden - yeah i’m in my patriotic era again. this is euphoria chapter two, in a good way, and it’d be so cool if she won purely from a statistic point of view... howEVER........ 

Finland - wouldn’t it just be great with a winner that was... a little rough around the edges? dirty, gritty, would scare your grandma only to later make her nod and say it’s quite a bop afterall? and it’d be the proper reward for finland who has brought their absolut a-game to their national final for the past few years - even though they’ve in my opinion picked the wrong winner from it. until this year that is. yeah, i think i’d like that.

category: added to my playlist and played frequently

Norway - mgp really stepped up their game as well this year and sometimes i even question if queen of kings is my winner from it (there’s tresko, ekko inni meg, love you in a dream etc etc) but my god it just goes so hard doesn’t it? although WHEN are they putting the version with the intro on spotify?? WHEN!!

Slovenia - you know sometimes i forget carpe diem is a eurovision entry because it just sounds like something i’d hear from an average band in my library?? idk how else to describe it. i just love it. and i love THEM. bojan’s charisma is.... sigh

Austria - it bops and it’s so CLEVER i love it

Serbia - hello??? i’m obsessed

Portugal - as soon as the beat kicked in on my first listen i was hooked. it’s flawless. and it’s the first portugese entry i’ve been really engaged in since.... uh... i started watching?? obviously i’ve liked entries from them but i haven’t really cared. this time i do.

Czechia - go ladies go!! i really hope this will be as epic on stage as in the mv. please please please

Malta - this is a sort of recent obsession, i didn’t really get it right after the nf, so we’ll see how long this lasts but i’m always having fun listening to it

category: also in my playlist but not as frequent

Estonia - it’s beautiful! but maybe not so original. my winner of eesti laul was meelik /:

Switzerland - i actually don’t mind the lyrics and i love the chord intervals in the chorus

Croatia - chaotic fun. and sticks to your brain like glue. mamaaaa kupila traktora... SC!

United Kingdom - this song was like a bubble gum. lovely and fun the first few listens but i got tired of it kinda quickly, sadly

category: i can recognize the talent here but i guess it’s just not for me?

Latvia - i’ve seen so many people hyping this and everytime i listen it’s like yeah this is good! and then i don’t feel the urge to listen again

Spain - yeah the performance was captivating but... that’s where it ends for me

Italy - it’s nothing Wrong with the song itself but it didn’t grab me and i had so many other options from sanremo i’d rather see here than Another Male Italian Ballad and this time by a returning artist on top of it so uhhhh yeah

France - i’ve listened to la zarra before the contest so i had some hopes for her and they were not fulfilled )): i like the disco beat and the last chorus - because that’s when everything finally reaches a fullness it should have reached WAY earlier in the song. do you feel me?

Moldova - you know i think i just need a few more listens to this and i’ll get around to it

Ukraine - don’t have much to say about it but it’s alright!

Georgia - this is that kind of song that you only hear in eurovision but when you do you absolutely love it and she does have very impressive vocals, i gotta say

category: they’re fine i guess/i don’t care!!!!!!/no that’s definitely not for me

Belgium - song is kinda catchy i’m ngl. but i cannnnnNOT cope with his styling.

Azerbaijan - it’s cute! that’s about it

Albania - i’ve listened to this exactly once and it was alright but nothing core shaking you know?

Netherlands - this one i think is alright everytime i hear it and then i immediately forget how it goes after it’s done. i couldn’t sing it back to you know matter how i tried honestly

Denmark - yeah it’s fine

Cyprus - i don’t caaaare i don’t care it’s alright but i don’t caaare

Lithuania - ehhhhh why couldn’t we have had beatrich instead ):

Germany - i guess i see why people like it but yeah no this is Not my thing at all

Australia - same with this

Armenia - this could go in the other category above here but.. i don’t like it enough actually

Iceland - yeah no. i don’t get it

Greece - for the love of god couldn’t someone have paired him up with an experienced songwriter and/or producer here because there are many great ideas but they just sound like a mess? it sounds so unfinished?? and i think i really would’ve liked this if it just sounded more... polished. worked on.

Israel - again a mess of a song with too many ideas in it and a very weird build. can’t get around to it

category: good god no

Ireland - someone asked an ai to write the most generic song ever and this is what we got

Romania - dude. bro. no.

Poland - this could’ve been a very basic but somewhat ok entry had there just not been the whole story with how it was picked and what kind of person she is

San Marino - this song feels like a threat. and WHAT is with the singer’s posture?? STAND UP STRAIGHT jesus christ

and there we have it! how much do we agree?

[lil-scout-precure]

Junior Eurovision 2023 detailed opinions before the show. Part 1

Well, as I told you in my previous post where I made my tier-ranking for this year's Junior Eurovision, I will now make a new explanation about my opinion of each song by tier! As my second live-watch JESC, I'm very hyped to see how this year goes since it's more of a ballad edition, I got more than one winner, and well the live decides it all!

Let's start from the lowest to the highest tier!

Tier 5: "I heard better ones in previous years"

🇮🇹 Melissa and Ranya "Un Mondo Giusto"

First of all, I will clarify I don't have any beef with this or other song in low places. I'm more open in JESC, I support the kiddos, and also, the songs are at least decent compared to some songs of the adult edition I really hate or just bore me. But since there are a lot of entries I like from this year, the first one really didn't catch me too much compared to others.

For being their first song in JESC, Melissa and Ranya sing so good in a duo. The raspy voice of Melissa caught me off-guard with the soft singing of Ranya. And somehow, the combination goes well for the song, apart of the main melody and the Italian talent. But for being a ballad between others this year, it doesn't surprise me too much. Like Albania last year with "Pakez Diell". And I regret right now saying Chanel Dilecta's "Bla Bla Bla" was the downgrade of the downgrades after Elisabetta Lizza's "Specchio" in 2021; at least Chanel's song would have been more than welcome in the train of ballads of this year.

I really hope the live version in Nice boosts them a lot. Because they have potential nevertheless. They are nice girls! :D

🇬🇪 Anastasia and Ranina (still Oto and Nikoloz for me) "Over the Sky"

I had better hopes for the Georgian trio this year. Like, it was a surprise for me when GPB decided to call two Ranina finalists, Oto Bazerashvili and Nikoloz Kharati, to join Anastasia Vasadze (Ranina 2023 winner and direct representant of Georgia in JESC 2023) for this edition. And well, a trio already won the Junior contest in 2008 and Ranina always delivers potential winners, so surely they would have a song to get their fourth victory, right?

First with the good things, the song itself is good. Calm and more serene, but good. And the trio really works here, even the boys have their moment to shine! (considering they decided to make Anastasia the main singer and call the male duo "Ranina", something that still bugs me). The music has good potential. And the lyrics inspire me, even the "Ranina, hey!" chant. But with the downsides, not the best song I expected for them after hearing a masterpiece like Mariam Bigvava's "I Believe" last year (and other songs from Georgia in previous editions). Not bad, but softer in vibes than 2022.

Hearing the rumours of two expert ballet dancers joining them for the live version, I think a good staging can deliver this song to a well-placed position still (and if possible, maybe win?). Just to wait.

Tier 4: "Unlikely but potential Top 5/Winners(?)"

🇦🇱 Viola Gjyzeli "Bota Ime"

To think I had this one at the bottom of my list before the revamp. As someone who listened (at work) the Junior Fest 2023, I thought "no way, they gonna choose another Pakez Diell again" due to most songs (and the contest itself) being soft; and "Bota Ime" 's first version didn't surprise me when it won. But when I thought it would be in the lowest place for the list, the revamped version came in the YT channel of JESC and my gosh, what a glow up!

It's still not, as a popular TV phrase in Mexico says, "Que bruto, pero que temazo!" ("What a bop!"). But the studio version gave the song the strength it needed a lot. Viola's voice sounds so whimsical and with class. The entry is way less plain than Pakez Diell at least. And as for the lyrics (the same one that wrote Duje made this? WOAH), if the studio video made them have sense, I wonder how will the live deliver that "own fairyland" feeling I appreciate of the song.

I really hope they keep the vibes and world-setting for the live version. To see them ruining it would be devastating for this song.

🇬🇧 Stand Uniqu3 "Back To Life"

After Freya Skye's SLAY (even if sick bc of cold night ceremony, darn you, EBU) in Yerevan with "Lose My Head", I knew United Kingdom wouldn't play easy. Sure, Mae Muller's "I Wrote A Song" placed at the last places in Liverpool (something I won't forgive alongside LOTL's unfair last place and "Solo" at the grand final >:U), but in JESC they would still give fiery competition! And we have "Back To Life"

A group in Junior Eurovision is always welcome in my list. And Maisie, Yazmin and Hayla (the girls) really got some good vocals and energy for their song! Sure, not too great compared to Freya's entry and queen vibes, but the song itself is awesome (and necessary given the time, when a lot of ballads were revealed)! They remind me a lot of Fifth Harmony imo, maybe by vocals or the entire energy they give in the song.

If the staging and live version can upgrade their entry to a new level than it is already, maybe United Kingdom can get some justice for what they did to Mae and get a good placing!

🇫🇷 Zoé Clauzure "Cœur"

As always, I expect for the host/winning country in a Junior edition to have a good "defender entry", a song that shows the world they're not playing safe just because they won once and/or host the contest. France did it with Enzo's "Tic Tac" (even if the Discord fandom despises him fsr), Armenia with Nare's "Dance!" (and they really ALMOST WON TWICE A ROW like Poland in 2018-2019). And I had my hopes high for France (again XD) after Lissandro's win

For being a French JESC song not written by legend (and idol for some of my mutuals) Barbara Pravi, this one takes the cake for being as French as possible (in a good way) and still be likeable for every audience! Zoe's vocals sound SO CLASSY for someone so young, and the song itself could easily be confused for an adult Eurovision entry (with some tweaks). And yeah, the entry reminds me A LOT of La Zarra's "Évidemment" (another Big 5 robbed entry this year, no wonder she gave everyone the finger and left the Green Room before the end of the votes). Not of my 100% favorites or a song I see winning JESC 2023, but I still love it.

At this point I wonder if they will pull a "Paris/France reference" in the live staging (like La Zarra did this year, queen), because the song itself is so wonderful it screams good live version!

-------------------------------------------------------------------

And that's all for this first part! Next one I will get to the personal wild card tier! See ya!

[eurovision-del]

6. Romania – D.G.T. (Off and On)

Ok, so a bit of preface for this one – I locked in my final ranking right before starting to post these write-ups in mid-April, and I’d already outlined my notes for why I loved D.G.T. so much and why I thought it worked so well – and then a revamped version was released. I decided to stick to my original ranking based on the version we’d heard in the national final, and wait until the rehearsals to see whether the revamp was really what we’d hear in Liverpool or not – and unfortunately it looks like it is. While I’m sticking to my rule to not let rehearsal footage influence this ranking, since the new version technically came out just before I finalised this list, this review has been hastily reworked to cover both versions.

I honestly love the original version of this song! The blues rock sound is right up my street, and it’s the perfect music to convey the messy emotions this song delves into. It’s gritty and raw, hard-hitting from the very first note, full of attitude. I love how it’s structured in a way that gives it variety while still creating a tension that never lets up throughout the entire song. When I first heard this song I wished it was all in Romanian, but actually I think the language shift to English at the start of the second verse works to highlight that moment without altering the intensity in the music. Then when the song does strip it back after the second chorus the staccato piano notes and snappy vocal line keep that tension building, and before you know it the descending baseline kicks in and you’re thrown back into the mess of it all! This entire song is a gut punch – painful and raw from start to finish, as messy and toxic as the relationship it sings about, and I cannot get enough of it.

This is also why, as far as I’m concerned, swapping out all that tension for a minute long acoustic opening is a huge mistake. It saps all that energy out and messes up the structure of the song. The language shift no longer serves any purpose as it’s now happening as the music is completely switching gear and the song finally gets started in earnest. From there, the song continues as in the original and I’m fully into it again, but there’s a lot less time with the intensity I love.

Regardless of what version he’s singing, Theodor is a great vocalist – he's got a powerful, rough voice, a little imperfect at points, but it’s perfect for this style and he puts so much grit and emotion into it. He’s also got such an impressive range, and this song shows it all off, switching between his mid and lower register throughout, before nailing those high notes at the end. I also love how committed he is as a performer, he throws everything into it! He’s pretty much carried his entire production with little to no support from the broadcaster, and while it hasn’t always worked (I agree with pretty much everyone that the national final staging was rough) I love how earnest and unbridled his approach has been. And in the end, even if I have big issues with the revamp, I honestly think D.G.T is a great song and easily one of my favourite entries of the year.

[docholligay]

18. Norway

I AM READY. This is probably my HOTTEST take today. I stand ready for you fools to decry me. THEY HATED JESUS BECAUSE HE TOLD THE TRUTH.

Anyway, this song aged like milk for me. I really enjoyed it the first time I heard it, but it fell out of favor really quickly. It’s a very standard Tiktok song, which is actually how it gained prominence--between Denmark and this song, I’m not thrilled with how TikTok is starting to become a part of winning your final, but here we are. It’s not to the point where I still think it’s vaguely good, but I also find it kind of annoying.

It’s a very standard girlboss bop, nothing new here, its only protective saving grace being that there aren’t many of those this year, so this will be an EASY qualifier. It’s also the show opener. She’s going on. But, for me, it’s become a bit milquetoast to hear about how apparently cool this girl, She (SHE??) is, with her great hair and nice heart and whatever. Also, God (me) abhors a whistle note.

The qualification is buttoned up in a tele-only semi, but I think we should point out that we don’t know EXACTLY how well she can sing this song. “What do you mean, Holligay? The national final is RIGHT THERE.” ah yes, my little chikadeedeedeedee, but Norway, in their infinite wisdom, allows autotune to be used, where Eurovision doesn’t (and I hope that remains. Otherwise it’s a bit pointless and is just a money and dance off) and you can hear her struggle a little bit with the notes in this.

I know I’m gonna take the most heat for this opinion, but in a year with such interest and diversity, it’s hard to appreciate something that has a great beat in the chorus but really not much else going for it. I’m going to forget it by next year, in all probability.

Eta: I would have to make an ENTIRELY NEW POST on how fucking boggling the video is

Disclaimer

[stromcuzewon]

finland won the first semi-final, by the way

[armand-dearest]

My top 14 this year :3

[borisbubbles]

Eurovision 2024: #24

24. LATVIA Sudden Lights - "Aija"28th place

Decade Ranking: 68/116 [Above Malik, below Andrea]

So you know who were kind of boring? Yeah... 😬

Ya sorry gays, I tried! I tried to like "Aija", but it's just not for me. It barely passed me by in Supernova (Discord Friends: "omg sudden lights are great and should win supernova" / Me, with genuine confusion: "which one was that again? 😐 :checks: Oh, i have that one bottom three. 😁") and idk. I liked Supernova 2023 and to me Sudden Lights were firmly in the "Sang some words for three minutes" category. Slow and anemic isn't my game. Especially for a rock entry, wtf? I watch Eurovision for the thrill, not to be put to sleep.

Still, it seemed that Latvia were on to something. "Intimacy" and "Has Great Vocals" aren't the most exciting characteristics on a slow song, but they provided the bare bones for a potentially engaging entry if done right. Besides, I am a great sucker for underdogs and storylines where they overcome all the odds stacks against them. Latvia hadn't qualified in a televote since Justs. As a rare non-embarrassing and non-hopeless Latvian act, Sudden Lights felt like they could make it through. With at least eight acts in the Semi that deserved to be eliminated more (oh, 2023) and arguably the best male vocalist in the contest, their first Grand Final since 2016 was just within grasp!

Except, they didn't qualify and that made me realize that my first impression of "Aija" was the correct one. Don't get me wrong, I don't think Latvia deserved to be eliminated, but... I also don't think they specifically deserved to not be eliminated either? All Latvia needed to be was "not boring", and they failed. This talk about "Aija" secretly being "a hidden gem" just really isn't true, beyond the fact that Andrejs can sing really well. "Aija" spent three minutes building up to a to a BIG VOCAL and then staged it like this:

and dimmed the volume of Andrejs's mic on top of that??

When it came down to the wire, Latvia ran into their old troubles of failing to adapt their staging to a bigger podium (how on Earth is this still an issue?! It's been an ongoing problem since Line!!!!) which meant the intimacy they were aiming for never fully came across, and well, there goes their main USP if I'm honest. I'd wish Latvia luck for 2024, but honestly, this non-qualification proved Latvia's issue is one of skill and not luck, and that is something only they themselves can amend.

THE RANKING

Everyone not elimated made it to ~Very Mild Like~ hooray! The Harsh Words continue though.

[suggable]

Esc 2023 faves ✨ lmk yours pls 💖