#good for loreen she deserves a second win but not this year other entries were better

[mayennalee]

ohhhhh 50 years of abba next year. sweden winning makes sense now

[eurovision-del]

So how about those results! It was a real rollercoaster watching the show tonight!

Top 5

Sweden: I have always said that Tattoo is a good song, and Loreen a great artist, and I still feel that way. She deserves to have her win be celebrated. Sweden also did come second in the televote, although a fair margin behind Finland – that’s a better result than in 2015 where they came third in televote and won thanks to the jury, and no one questions Måns Zelmerlöw’s victory. I struggle to unravel all my feelings about it from the fact that she’s a returning winner – it shouldn’t matter in theory, but I really believed that in the modern system nothing like that would happen. Personally I like how Eurovision introduces me to new artists I’d never hear otherwise, so unless it’s someone I really like with a great song, I generally don’t like it when artists return, and it feels even harsher when it’s a previous winner – however as others have rightly said, Eurovision is a competition, not a charity, there’s no requirement for it to be ‘fair’ in that way. I will say that it does seem to have jeopardised her reputation, going from one of, if not the most beloved Eurovision winner, to the person who was pushed by the jury and robbed the much preferred televote favourite. However, I’m curious how this result will look in hindsight after a few years once everything has settled down.

Finland: I’m so proud of him for securing Finland’s second best result. After the televote I really believed he might have done enough? 376 was the same score Salvador Sobral got back in 2017, and is the second highest televote score ever after Kalush Orchestra’s last year. Loreen’s 340 from the Jury, while still very high, is less than both Måns and Salvador both got. Unfortunately it was not to be. I loved every second of Käärijä’s performance, I couldn’t have asked for anything more. I hope his career flourishes after this – he may not have won Eurovision but he’ll always be one of the most iconic entries we’ve ever had.

Israel: Honestly, I’m not happy about this! I don’t enjoy the song, and while I could respect some technical aspects of Noa’s performance it did nothing for me. And yet this came third – second in juries yet actually scoring even more points in the televote! Choices. After a couple of years of feeling satisfied with the top 5, or at least that it was justified, my luck definitely ran out this year.

Italy: Also surprised me a little, although Marco is a fantastic performer. I do wonder if between Marco and Loreen other artists will be encouraged to return. I think he also got the most equal points distribution between Televote and Juries, which I wouldn’t have expected, but Due Vite clearly resonated with a lot of people, and I have to admit even I was feeling it too. Even if it’s a little higher than I’d have put it, this feels a reasonable result.

Norway: Yeah, based on fan reaction it seemed reasonable to expect her to come top five, although the discrepancy between her televote and jury was huge! I was happy to see her reaction after getting so much love from the public though. Again, not my favourite song, but I’m ok with this result.

Other Countries

United Kingdom: Ah, something so comfortingly familiar about the bottom of the scoreboard… For real I was a little disappointed by this, but the performance, especially the vocals, just weren’t strong enough. I really, desperately hope that despite this the renewed interest in Eurovision in this country isn’t replaced by a backlash in response to this result – we won’t always do well, that doesn’t mean we should stop trying.

Germany: Another huge disappointment – after years of what I felt were deserved bottom five placements, Germany finally send something I love, something that seems to have some fan buzz… and still get last place. I loved every second of Lord of the Lost’s performance, it was one of those songs that sounds even better live. I really hope Germany aren’t discouraged by this, and continue to send interesting, unique acts instead of retreating to bland, ‘radio-friendly’ pop.

Spain: Sometimes you take risks, sometimes they don’t pay off. This came dead last in the televote! I think it’s a real shame, although I can understand how the song could be alienating to people. I’m so grateful to the juries for appreciating it, putting it in their top 10, which is exactly what that vocal performance deserved as far as I’m concerned. Again, I don’t want any country to be discouraged from taking a risk and sending something out of the box, even if it doesn’t pay off, it will still find it’s fans outside the contest.

Austria: This came bottom five in the televote! (Technically fourth from bottom, tied with Portugal and Serbia). Sometimes It’s easy to get caught up in the fan bubble – I don’t mind at all, the surprise is all part of the fun, if the fans got it right all the time the show would be boring. However, I have to say I’m so grateful to the juries for seeing this one through – mid-table was actually about what I was expecting, although I was expecting it to get a reasonable televote and a lower jury. I wonder if this is the impact of running order – aside from Poland the first few songs all scored very poorly in the televote. I’m very curious to see what sort of result it got in the semi-final – even though competing against different songs is a factor, if the difference in votes is huge I’ll feel running order definitely played a part. However, there’s every chance that I was wrong about how much broad appeal this had in general.

Belgium: I think I need to make a collection of songs that I did not care for when they won their national final, then ranked mid in my rankings, and ended up rooting for them all the way in the competition – Denmark and Portugal 2021 would both also be examples. I was actually ecstatic to see Belgium pick up some douze points from the juries, and to see him end up in the top 10 overall. What a journey this entry has been on, the narrative of Gustaph going from backing singer to lead, the underdog beating out fan faves in the national final and get dismissed, only to win everyone over throughout pre-party season and end up where he did on the night. I’m so sorry Gustaph that I ever doubted you – you and your feel-good throwback bop have all my love.

Other Thoughts

It was nice that there were no nil points, not even from just jury or televote – everyone got something. In fact, everyone got double digits! Even so, no redemption for the entire big five, in fact they mostly did worse than I and many others within the fandom predicted. I think we need to scrap the pre-qualification – I actually think it does us no favours not having to qualify. Everyone else who made the final this year proved they had some level of televote appeal – the big five then get slotted in around those entries in the final. Competing in the semi-finals is still competing in Eurovision – we’re never gonna get another Germany 1996 again. It’s time we scrapped this outdated way of doing things.  

Even if the juries were ultimately responsible for deciding the winner, I still don’t want to do away with them. Juries seem less susceptible to running order, they support songs that are technically brilliant but might not resonate with viewers like Spain this year, even if I don’t agree with all the decisions they make. Even if I’m not too keen on the overall top 10 this year, I prefer having Australia in the top 10 to having Poland (who were top 10 with the televote). It’s the same way I feel every year – the system isn’t perfect, and the way juries are set up could do with an overhaul, increased numbers, more varied members etc. – but as far as I’m concerned it’s still better than televote only.

I did feel the show could have done with more Ukraine – the mix of Ukraine vs UK content in the semis was a little skewed to the UK but I could overlook it, however I felt really uncomfortable seeing Sam Ryder get the interval act position that the previous winner usually gets, while Kalush Orchestra were left as an opener. Honestly? Sam shouldn’t have been there at all, or at least not as anything more than a small guest appearance. It was right that a Ukrainian act opened, but they should also have had the main interval act spot too. The host balance also was wrong, especially once Graham joined in too. I think Alesha Dixon should have been replaced by another Ukrainian host to join Julia Sanina, I thought Hannah Waddingham did a great job so wouldn’t want to replace her, but there should have been an equal number of Ukranian and UK hosts at least in the final – and having two to one Ukrainian to UK hosts in the semis would have made sense – Ukraine did win last year after all.

The televote seems to have well and truly given up on rock, with both Germany and Australia doing very poorly in it, Australia only making the top 10 thanks to juries (another reason I’m glad for juries despite everything!) Maybe all the rock votes went to Finland instead – I have to admit that’s what I did. I really hope this doesn’t last, I love rock and Eurovision, and both Måneskin and Blind Channel proved it can do well. I don’t want 2021 to have been a fluke.

Closing Thoughts

I’m feeling mixed about these results honestly, some of my faves like Germany and Serbia did poorly, but Finland coming second is still a fantastic result. While I do think every winner should be respected and congratulated, personally I can’t say I feel too great about Sweden winning right now. I like having the jury at Eurovision for adding a different viewpoint and saving songs like Spain (or Albania 2018) from the bottom of the scoreboard, but I also much prefer when the televote favourite wins overall. I can accept a winner I dislike if it’s the public opinion, it’s harder to accept when it’s just juries. Having Eurovision 2024 in Sweden 50 years after ABBAs win is neat I guess. At the end of the day, regardless of the results, we got to experience 37 new songs, and hundreds more in the pre-selections, discovering and falling in love with so many new artists – and that’s what I really love about Eurovision.

[anotherescsite]

Eurovision 2024. Hmmm

I usually take my time to contemplate the contest. This year, I'm took longer than usual. I wrote the below document months ago, but never had the will to send it into the Tumblr world.

Things have happened, people have said things, people aged and I got Covid for the first time. But the lingering thought of Eurovision 2024 is still there. While it feels very real and very raw now, that booing, Bambie, Joost and the Martin thing etc will most likely be forgotten by viewer and except for Eurovision tragic like myself. I'm not going to focus on that stuff.

Let's start from the beginning. The Eurovision of 2024 was held in Malmo Sweden for the second time following Loreen's win. Sweden have said that they have won the Eurovision seven times numerous times and while there was a shine and a sparkle, there were disappointments and corners cut which annoyed me.

Postcards recorded on mobile phones. How is that a good experience for a viewer? Some were fine, others were posing, others may have never seen a mobile telephone in their life. People spend too much time taking selfies and filming themselves being dumb and this encourages it (until they walk into the traffic and are placed in traction).

The stage. Clever and interesting stage which had great screens everywhere. Conspiracy theorists would have said that the stage design told us the winner would be Switzerland (a big cross) from the beginning and saved us 9 hours. Most of it was highly under-utilised and some acts went everywhere and made their stage look messy.

The interval acts. I feel a bit annoyed by the return of former artists singing the same songs. Kudos to Benjamin Ingrosso for singing new material. Otherwise, repeat performances from Eleni Foureira, Eric Saade, Chanel, Charlotte Nielson, Helena Paparizou, and Sertab Ererer. The performance from Loreen in a convoluted chair was the worst. I didn't even realise she had moved from her new song to Tattoo because she was mumbling so much. We got another humorous song from Petra, but how many versions of the same song can you have? Which brings us to...

The Hosts. They were an interesting choice and for me it was like watching newsreaders from Korea. Malin presenting the South Korean manner of calm and Petra somewhat aggressive, louder and shrieking of the North. Petra proved she can speak in an appropriate manner, but when the soft spoken Malin was there, Petra seemed a bit passive aggressive. The show went well with their guidance though.

Camerawork I'm not sure about this one. Either the artists/people in charge of songs were not taking advantage of the camerawork or the SVT people were all over the place. I want to put it down to inexperience of the participants, because others were very precise. I don't understand why they (the host broadcaster) do not make suggestions for a better television show.

Which brings us to the songs. A mix of diverse, buoyant, gritty, hard, soft, silly, fun, forgettable, strange, wicked and sensible which combined to create an interesting journey of music. I cannot say that all of them are to my taste. It is rare you will locate a person who would enjoy every entry in a year, and if you do, you deserve a prize.

It is officially award season on my site. Let the extensive crap shoot begin.

[borisbubbles]

Eurovision 2010s: 60 - 56

60. Emma - La mia città Italy 2014 

Emma is short for “Emmanuella”. 😍 Clearly the inspiration for this act:

You may not know this, but “La mia citta” is probably my favourite song out of 2014? It’s ROCKIN’ A RIDE (na na na na na na) of high voltage energy that I instantly became addicted to.  😍 Of course we were also immediately forewarned that Emma couldn’t sing her own song (which is hilarious, but yeah  😬)  so I was expecting a ready disappointment.  What I did NOT expect however was that Italy would yank UP the fun factor by trapping Emma into the direct-to-video sequel of Tinto Brass’s Caligula and letting her steal the show even more. 😍 ITALY <3 <3 <3 

The vocals may have been beyond subpar, but Emma flailing herself around the stage, contorting her body in IMPOSSIBLE angles, dismissively pushing the beta manfolk around like the boss she is gives me SO MUCH LIFE. If she had sung in a key that suited both her voice and the song, she would’ve ranked even higher, but a spot right outside of the highest tier will have to do. ALL HAIL THE EMPRESS OF TERRIBLE TASTE. 

________________________________________________________________

59. AWS - “Viszlát nyár” Hungary 2018

[2018 Review here]

GIVE ME FIRE, I’M A FIGHTER!

2018 may not have been as great of an experience for me as it has been for many others, but good god did it NEED AWS. A 2018 without AWS has no high voltage, uptempo, loud, aggro ENERGY. “But Boris there’s also Toy” yeah no. Na na banana I do what I wanna :-) 

and honestly, why shouldn’t we love “Viszlát nyar”? Loss songs that instead of mourning solemnly burst into a primordial tempest of ire and flame. IT’S INTENSE, all thanks to Orz’s excellent performance. 

and this comes WITHOUT the consideration that AWS were the backstage deities for the 2018 contest as well, providing many hilarious interviews and other moments of levity. 

AWS were great, because they weren’t a typical Eurovision entry. They are an indie metal band from Hungary that won A Dal by accident and in doing so were thrusted into an adventure beyond their wildest expectations. They never took Eurovision seriously, but regardless they had loads of fun with it and so did I. We will continue this line of thought when we get to a certain deadpan Slovene duo, much, much later in this ranking. 🤭

________________________________________________________________

58. Loïc Nottet - “Rhythm inside” Belgium 2015

Cutting Loïc means I have my change my t-shirt into the one my friend gave me for my 25th birthday (😍)

and I mean what is there to say about Loïc? He’s widely regarded as one of the most artistic and memorable entrants in recent years, sparking a hot streak of entries which ended when Sennek refused to rehearse her song/come up with an act. 

I may as well use this moment for a little confession: Avant Garde is one of my favourite Eurovision genres. AG entries are always interesting, always delivering, always different from what we’re used to. They are brave and inspired. When well-executed they can easily becomes some of the all-time best Eurovision entries.

“Rhythm inside” also falls into the category, taking a fairly simple subject (the beating of the human heart) and turning it into a metaphilosophical journey of discovery, star matter and mindblowiness. Loïc launched “Rhythm” into greatness, providing excellent vocals, dancing and miming. 

and also like all amazing things in life, it contains a small dose of SuRie: 

However, avant garde often comes with one massive problem: poorly-executed AG tends to frame every twirl, fart and headturn as a testament of some highly ~artistic vision~ when it adds nothing of value. In other words, fuckin’ meaningitis. “Rhythm inside” is actually one of the worst offenders, imo. For every epic moment of Loïc gazing into the camera or twirling around like an ebon cygnet, we get a tryhard one in which somebody lays themselves down and starts kicking their feet into the air for no reason and *sigh*. 

It saddens me that  “Rhythm inside”, despite being a very innovative composition that explores the boundaries of music, tries too hard to sell its own artistry and well... it is that moment of self-doubt which prevents me from ranking it inside the elite tier. BELIEVE IN AND LOVE THYSELF!!!

________________________________________________________________

57.  Madame Monsieur - “Mercy” France 2018

[2018 Review Here]

Every year is defined by its political zeitgeist, and in 2018 there were two defining themes: #MeToo, covered by “Toy”, and “Transmigration” covered by Madame Monsieur. I soon was convinced one of them would win 2018, which happened, but sadly it was the weaker of the two entrants 😭

Regardless, Madame Monsieur deserve all the praise they can get. It is SO easy to take a topic such as “migration” and turn it into an Americanized story of Wrong And Right. It’s SO easy to turn it into a sob story. It’s SO easy to cheapen the plight over others for self-gain. It is important to remain authentic, austere and respectful. 

Which is exactly that Madame Monsieur did. 

Using a peppy synthpop beat as a platform to carry their haunting lyrics (”je suis ces enfant que la mer a pris” ::shivers::), Emilie and Jean-Karl turn “Mercy”, a tribute to a baby born at sea to refugee parents, into a true humanitarian hymn, focusing on their message and letting this speak for itself. The end result is pretty potent. THE SEA OF FISTBUMPS <3

So naturally I really fucking love “Mercy”. However, I also think it was lacking in the little area of staging. While I do think the intent of keeping it sober and free of gimmicks was a clever coice, the gut-punching message didn’t exactly come across.

The act was too subtle. It’s the Hassani story of France getting outclassed by Italy at the last second, but much stronger than with Bilal. I don’t think the lack of LEDs was the issue though, like, just bring stage props? Work the camera more? It sucks that I have to nitpick so close to the highest tier, but the fact that I do proves to me that “Mercy” can’t make it that far. RIP sweet synth angels. 

________________________________________________________________

56. DiHaj - “Skeletons” Azerbaijan 2017

[2017 Review here] Another lovable avant garde angel, morph! DiHaj improved quite a bit for me on the rewatch, but I can’t let her move onto the elite tier for reasons that I think are obvious. (If they are not, please unmute your computer.)

HOWEVER, I do think “Skeletons” a great, dark moody song that is highly entertaining. It is, for the most part a great example of how to do novelty at Eurovision: It displays the greatest strength of modern Azerbaijan: the visually stunning SPECTACLE. Music is supposed to a form of expression and DiHaj goes ALL OUT.

Of course, I understand that the act isn’t to everyone’s taste and it does suffer a *little* bit from Fuckin’Meaningitis™ , which is fair enough. At the same time... the story told here is pretty obvious? There is no dispute that this song is about a broken relationship and the moral dilemma that often comes with it. Azerbaijan stuck with the source material provided by the song and that makes Skellingtons’ act much better than that of “Rhythm inside”. It’s a captivating story, because it makes sense. 

Too bad those Professional Swedish Backings sounded like crap tho...x

And that was the last of Azerbaijan,

After a pretty terrible start of the decade, Azerbaijan reinvented themselves as trash angels and the rest is herstory. I hope they continue to dazzle us with ridiculousness in the years to come. 😍

_______________________________________________________________ 

And now we move on to the higher tier. CONGRATULATIONS TO THESE (nearly) FLAWLESS ANGELS:

2010 

Juliana Pasha - “It’s all about you” Tom Dice - “Me and my guitar” Kuunkuiskaajat - “Työlki ellää” Jessy Matador - “Allez ola olé” Giorgos Alkaios & Friends - “OPA” Paula Seling & Ovi - “Play with fire” maNga - “We could be the same”

2011

Dino Merlin - “Love in rewind” Poli Genova - “Na inat” Lena - “Taken by a stranger” Maja Keuc - “No one”

2012

Ott Lepland - “Kuula” Pasha Parfeny - “Lăutar” Loreen - “Euphoria”

2013

Elitsa Todorova & Stoyan Yankulov - “Samo shampioni” Koza Mostra ft. Agathonas Iakovidis - “Alcohol is free” Gianluca - “Tomorrow” Who see ft. Nina Zizic - “Igranka” Anouk - “Birds” Zlata Ognevich - “Gravity”

2014

Aram MP3 - “Not alone” Conchita Wurst - “Rise like a phoenix” Cleo - “My słowianie- We are slavic” Tinkara Kovač - “Round and round” Ruth Lorenzo - “Dancing in the rain” Sebalter- “Hunter of Stars”

2015

Elina Born & Stig Rästa - “Goodbye to yesterday” Nadav Guedj - “Golden Boy” Aminata - “Love Injected” Polina Gagarina - “A million voices” Bojana Stamenov - “Beauty never lies” Måns Zelmerlöw - “Heroes”

2016

Iveta Mukuchyan - “LoveWave” Laura Tesoro - “What’s the pressure?” Poli Genova - “If love was a crime” Nika Kocharov & Young Georgian Lolitaz - “Midnight gold” Hovi Star - “Made of Stars” Francesca Michielin - “No degree of separation”

2017

NAVIBAND - “Story of my life” Blanche - “City lights” Joci Pápai - “Origo” fusedmarc - “Rain of revolution” JOWST ft. Aleksander Wallmann - “Grab the moment”

2018

Rasmussen - “Higher ground” Elina Nechayeva - “La Forza” Ieva Zasimauskaite - “When we’re old” DoReDoS - “My lucky day” Lea Sirk - “Hvala, ne!” ZiBBZ - “Stones”

2019

Kate Miller-Heidke - “Zero gravity” Mahmood - “Soldi” KEiiNO - “Spirit in the sky” Zala Kralj & Gašper Šantl - “Sebi”

[emmadeforests]

My Melfest Rankings Or Discourse Or Whatever

this goes in order from least liked to most liked, also i can’t do cuts from my phone so this is gonna be long and i’m sorry — Road Trip – Ok. While it would be nice to see Sweden either sing in Swedish or send a novelty act…I don’t want it to be this one. It’s annoying and the live vocals aren’t great, and the car gimmick fails to draw me in. Also, why is this “DJ Hunk” just standing there? This overall confuses me and is one of the Melfest entries I can’t stand.

Vart Har Du Vart – I can see why this placed last. It’s nice that Sweden is trying something new, but this genre is not one I enjoy. That, plus Allyawan’s somewhat questionable live vocals, adds up to a not-nice rank both for me and in Melfest.

Du Får Inte Ӓndra På Mig – It’s certainly a sweet song, and they’re perfectly fine singers. But to be honest? This is dated and boring, and would have given Sweden its second non-qualifier.

Mitt Liv – It’s a perfectly good song, but with the contest already dominated by female ballads, this is the last thing Sweden wants to send (except maybe De Vet Du). It doesn’t have much build, either, and while I’m sure this would have done great in earlier Eurovisions, it simply doesn’t have the staying power to succeed in 2017. I appreciate the sparkly guitar though.

Boogieman Blues –I would love for this to go to Eurovision purely for the meme value. And while I love this kind of retro music and Owe seems like a cool dude, it seems a little off. I don’t know if something went wrong or what in the performance but it just didn’t seem to make a ton of sense.

I Don’t Give A – I have three main critiques about this one. First, what is she wearing? Second, seeing her face projected behind her is a little unnerving. Third, and most critically, the verse and the chorus sound like two different songs. I can tell why this got Andra Chansen - I think that Lisa is a very good vocalist and a good performer who is very likely to win Melfest in the near future but I strongly doubt this is her year. This is not a good song for her.

Amare – Oh Adrijana. What is a little Albanian girl doing singing in Swedish? I love her ballerinas and her stage presence - she’s really having a good time there - but this isn’t really a good… song. This sounds like something that my choir friends would listen to. That isn’t necessarily bad but it’s honestly not for me. I’d love to see Adrijana return with a different song, maybe one that sits a little higher in her range.

Good Lovin’ – Disclaimer: I had to watch the music video for this one and not the live performance. Like many of the finalists, this sounds almost like something I’d hear on the radio or at an acapella party. This kind of music is no fun at Eurovision. Not quite sure how I feel about the song itself. I feel like I expected a bit more and it didn’t give what I thought I’d get. (Edit: it’s also not memorable AT ALL. I can’t for the life of me remember even the chorus.)

Gotta Thing About You – I’m not quite sure why I hate this so much. Decent vocals and very good dancing…I should like it, right? Maybe it’s lyrics like “you make me wanna wag my tail” and “you got the goods I’ll be getting” that puts me off. Maybe it’s the genre. I don’t know. (Edit: this has kind of grown on me, but I still don’t like it very much.)

I Can’t Go On – Generic, radio friendly pop song. Nothing really special about this. I don’t think I like his whole singing backstage thing. Seems a little like trying too hard… but it went direkt til final so I guess it worked. Also, Robin comes across as kind of douchey to me.

Bound To Fall – Sheppard meets The Lumineers. It doesn’t quite work but this is something I’d want in my iTunes library nonetheless.

One More Night – It sounds like someone spliced Amanecer with To The Sky. It sounds nice though. I think one thing that didn’t really work in Dinah’s favor is that she kind of gives me a cool mom vibe? Which is great, but it doesn’t work for her as a performer right now, and makes this youthful pop song and especially the rapping seem kind of off. She seems a little too old for her own music if that makes any sense.

Hearts Align – I would have liked this song about two years ago. While the chorus is still pretty good, it’s not a standout and I’m pretty sure this won’t come out of Andra Chansen.

Up – One of the genres I wouldn’t ever think of competing in Melfest. Not the best vocals but a fun song itself. The roller skates were an unexpectedly nice touch.

Statements – First thing: love love love the dancing. The running bit in the second verse was a bit weird but beyond that the staging was my favorite part of the song. You really felt like you were in the world, you know? That having been said, I think there was a little too much going on in this song instrumentally. There are weird, random noises that take away from the song and honestly? I can see why this got Andra Chansen. Were it any other singer singing it, it wouldn’t have qualified. Loreen is an astounding vocalists but I think her fame is what really carried her through.

Kiss You Goodbye – Someone called this the Swedish answer to Shawn Mendes? I would agree, I think. I feel bad that he’s facing Loreen in Andra Chansen - against, say, FO&O or De Vet Du he’d definitely make it to the final. As it is, he has particularly low odds to win because he has the most difficult Andra Chansen duel. Poor man. Deserves better. I like his song. (Post-AC edit: I TOTALLY WASNT EXPECTING THAT. YOU GO ANTON HAGMAN)

Snurra Min Jord – Krista looks so great in that outfit and of course I remember her delightfully trashy number from 2013. She’s just an amazing performer. I love everything about this… except for the kaleidoscope effect, which REALLY puts me off the song. The song is a little too electro for my taste but overall I do like it a lot.

Himmel Och Hav – I unironically love this. As a musician, this is one of my favorite compositions in Melfest. It sounds epic - and this, I think, is his downfall, because it doesn’t sound like a Eurovision song, it sounds like it should be in a fantasy movie. I am also a little confused as to what he is wearing. I don’t think it’s traditional Sami, although I know Roger is part Sami, so that would be an explanation, but it sort of looks like China and Scandinavia got drunk and had a baby.

Gravity – She has a great voice, great presence, I love the red. I can’t find much fault with this beyond that the other songs are just better. One of the debutants I’d love to see return.

Running With Lions – Gosh I love her. She has to come back, ok??? Ok??? Her voice isn’t really my favorite ever but she is a good singer - just not to my taste. She seems super cute and if she ever wins Melfest you can catch me making a fanstagram.

När Ingen Ser – I’m not sure why everyone hates this - likely because it’s what knocked Alice out of the running, which I don’t think is super fair. This is pretty good. I’m especially impressed by the dancing. Another reason I like this so much is because Axel is one of those debutants who looks like he’s just having the time of his life up there, like Adrijana. I hope this beats Lisa Ajax in Andra Chansen. (Post-AC edit: i am SO SALTY that this didn’t qualify!!! He deserves the final way more than Lisa Snakejax. Peppapönk got treated to a whole rant earlier today.)

A Million Years – Another song where I couldn’t find the performance (odd, because I found Owe’s just fine), but I know this is the one where the dancers are kind of hanging from the ceiling. She has a good, very pure voice but the song is a little underwhelming. Nevertheless it’s well done and doesn’t sound too mainstream for Eurovision as is the problem with many Melfest entries.

Wild Child – I just love this woman. She emulates sass and her song this year is, characteristically, anthemic. Unlike with Dinah Nah, I have no trouble believing this song is the right song for her. I have no idea whether she’d do well or fail in Kiev because this song is just so unlike what you usually hear. I’m curious to see how the international audience would respond to this and I’d love to see her go to ESC soon.

As I Lay Me Down – WIKTORIA! She’s such a good performer and I love her style. My only thing with her is her voice. While she has energy and power, and is technically accurate, her voice is pushy and shouty and overall too aggressive for my taste. But she’s amazing enough at everything else that I sort of give her a pass for that.

En Värld Full Av Strider – This song sounds epic if you only listen to the chorus. There isn’t a real verse, or at least not so far as I can tell. Another one of those songs that sounds like it ought to be in a movie soundtrack.

Crucified – I love this. I made a vow to love Bella and Filippa when the artists were first revealed and they had the lowest odds…and they did NOT disappoint. Chorus is kinda repetitive and I honestly expected more harmonies but I love this shit. They are my precious children. Even though they’re like a year older than me. They’re still my daughters.

Her Kiss – Ok, what is it with me and ex-footballers? First Axel and now Boris, and I love them both. This song is just SO catchy, I love his voice, and I’m loving the performance too. I know this isn’t his year to win but I’m going to hope for it anyway.

Hold On – Yes, look at me being basic with my fave once again. But of the main contenders - Ace, Mariette, Wiktoria, and this - I definitely like Nano the best. His vocals are better than Ace’s or Wiktoria’s, at least in the studio version. And I connect to it, you know? In my head I connect the lyrics to anxiety and stuff so that makes me like it more.