Cyprus - Alan Wilson

On 17th October 2022, the Cypriot broadcaster RIK/CyBC announced that Andrew Lambrou would represent Cyprus at the Eurovision Song Contest 2023.

After releasing a 30 second snippet on 21 February 2023 (coincidentally on the same day Australia had released their own song), the full version Andrew’s Eurovision track, “Break A Broken Heart”, was released on the Panik Records YouTube chnanel before becoming widely available on 2 March 2023.

Andrew Lambrou is 24 year-old Sydney-based singer-songwriter with Greek-Cypriot heritage.

Lambrou started his career by posting cover song on social media. In 2015, he appeared on Season 7 of “The X factor” in Australia where he placed in the top 20. He is perhaps best known for participating in Australia Decides in 2022 with his song “Electrify”. He finished in 7th place amongst the 11 songs that were competing to be Australia’s representative at Eurovision in 2022.

Since 2021 he has released 4 singles; “Throne”, “Lemonade”, “Confidence” and his Australian Decides song “Electrify”. All have gained a number of views on YouTube and streams on Spotify.

Onto “Break a Broken Heart” which is a song composed by a mix of Danish and Swedish songwriters, namely Jimmy Jansson, Jimmy "Joker" Thornfeldt, Marcus Winther-John, and Thomas Stengaard. These guys have all had previous success writing Eurovision songs.

“Break a Broken Heart” is a heavily produced pop ballad that requires a lot of vocal skills from Andrew. The accompanying music video is an emotionally wrought affair that shows Andrew in some type of drama over giving a girl a necklace. It’s the traditional trope of strength through adversity using the metaphor of some bad jewellery.

In interviews prior to Australia Decides Andrew has demonstrated a good knowledge of Eurovision and a shown a real desire to compete. As it turns out it wasn’t Australia but Cyprus who has given him his chance. And good to see Cyprus giving the blokes a go.

San Marino - Lee Rogers

Una voce per San Marino by Lee Rogers

The second edition was almost as crazy as last year's dessert filled festival of cringeworthy auditions. It was organized a bit differently, with established singers mixed into the auditions and semi-finals of the common folk, offering at least a few good songs and performances among the crowd of hopefuls with little to no hope of winning.  In the end, an unexpected winner was chosen with a song title reminding us a bit of what we endured to get to the end of the grand final.

Una voce attracted over 1000 singers / bands from over 30 countries, and they auditioned over a period of several months, from the end of October to mid-February, whereby the jury chose more than 100 semi-finalists.  The semi-finals were televised over four days from 20 February to 24 February, with a second chance semi-final on the 24th.  With over 20 acts each night one would think it would be incredibly long but they were done on a tape delay basis, with no breaks or postcards between acts.  There was no televote, only the jury decision, and consequently, these shows went very quickly.

Overall, they weeded out more (but not all) of the horrifyingly bad and painful acts this year, and with the established singers, watching the semi-finals was tolerable.  Among the established acts were Eiffel 65, Ronela Hajati, Le Deva, Moreno, and some returning singers from last year including Camille Cabaltera, Kurt Cassar of Malta, Eurovision fan Christopher Schuhmacher of Germany, and Miss Tiramisù herself MeriCler. Like last year, it was an eclectic mix of musical genres and staging, a mix that left you wondering what could possibly be next. 

The choices for qualifiers seemed curious at times, and I would wonder if that same small stage and secondary school sound system made the performances sound bad like last year while in-person *maybe* they sounded stronger. Alfie Alcuri, an Australian singer noted for his participation in The Voice there qualified with a promising song called Collide.  Previous participants Deshedus also qualified with a gritty rock song called Non basterà, with a vibe that could only be described as "They are making us do this".  Yet my fave Brandon Parasole and Affare did not even make it to the 2nd chance. 

Eiffel 65 qualified to the final from the 2nd SF even though their performance left people wondering what happened to them.  Their performance in the final was better, but they lacked the international superstar vibe that Blue would imply.  My fave for that semi-final was La Bebae and Tocco il Fondo who was relegated to the 2nd chance round.  How??  Tell me that song would not have rocked in Liverpool.  

The third and fourth semi-finals brought us the eventual winner as well as some gems like Mayu and Qualcosa in me che non funziona, a dark and moody ballad with thick vocals. Ronela also gave her performance of her new song Salvaje which only sent her to the 2nd chance round.  Her vocals improved that Friday, and she made it to the final.  Unfortunately, she did not even make the top 10 even though Salvaje was one of the better songs to choose from.  

The grand final took place on Saturday 25 February at San Marino's Teatro Nuovo with 22, uh 21, acts to perform.  The two Sammarinese singers automatically qualified for the final, but one no showed.  We were treated to Senhit as an emcee, and unlike the very speedy SF experience, the producers decided to turn this into Sanremo from Wish.  It was a long drawn out night of performances and interval acts, including Senhit herself singing a medley of Beatles' hits. 

In the end, the jury made the curious choice of an established Italian rock band called Piqued Jacks with their screamer of a rock song Like an Animal, beating out another established Italian trio Le Deva who finished 2nd with Fiori su Marte.  The jury votes were not released for any of this, and we only know who qualified and who finished 1-10 in the final.  I have not looked for all the live performances, but the ones I looked for are still on YouTube.  If you did not watch any of the shows, then take a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly of the 2nd edition of Una voce per San Marino.  

Sweden Heat 5 - Davis Webster

The Swedish selection train continued rolling on through one of the more… interesting traditions of Melodifestivalen, andra chansen—I mean semifinal. For those unfamiliar with the format, Mello consists of 4 heats, each with 7 songs. In each heat, 2 songs go direct to the final, 2 go to the semifinal, and the rest are eliminated. The semifinal was originally meant to be a second chance for artists to tweak their performances. However, since every single artist just gave a carbon copy of their first performance, the festival organizers finally admitted defeat a few years ago and changed the name from the second chance round to the semifinal and got rid of the previous duel format that saw two songs going head-to-head.

Since then, SVT has struggled to figure out what exactly to do with week 5 of Melodifestivalen and this year was no exception.

The show started, as every week of Mello does, with performances of all the night’s songs. They were, as expected, identical to their first performances and there’s no point in recapping them when the others covering Mello have already done such a great job.

The interval acts kicked off with a relatively new tradition: inducting someone into the Melodifestivalen Hall of Fame. This week’s lucky recipient was Sweden’s answer to Kris Jenner: Pernilla Wahlgren. A short clip showed host Jesper Rönndahl visiting the singer at her home to deliver her trophy and try on piccadills.

Halfway through the voting, they brought out a screen to break down the results of the previous heats. I probably would’ve understood this better if I understood Swedish. Or math. At the end of the segment, they revealed the 4 songs that would go to the final, if the show were over.

But of course, this is week 5 of Mello. Nothing is ever that simple. They opened the second round of voting which concluded with one of the most confusing results sequences I’ve ever seen (and I can’t blame this one on my poor Swedish and math). Instead of showing the point allocations for the different age groups, they only gave out the 12 points for each age group. And there was no scoreboard. All of this led to a very anticlimactic final result, where Jesper just listed off the 4 winners who were, surprise surprise, the exact same 4 songs that led the first round of voting.

The one true highlight of the night was the interval act staged as a birthday surprise for legendary Swedish actor, designer, singer, and drag queen, Christer Lindarw. The act started with a drag queen popping out of a giant birthday cake to tell a fairy tale about Christer’s life and ended with him sitting on a peacock feather throne, surrounded by queens singing “La dolce vita.” My writing is not nearly good enough to capture the performance so just go watch it.

Oh, and one of the songwriters bit the host, Farah Abadi, during the voting.

Iceland SF 2 - Rowan Quigley

Söngvakeppnin Semi-Final 2 began with an energetic performance by Ragga Gísla. The show was hosted by Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir, Siggi Gunnars, and Unnsteinn Manuel Stefánsson. Ragnhildur wore a sparkling silver crop top and pants, Siggi wore a black suit and bow tie, and Unnsteinn was dressed in a magenta suit.

The first performer of the night was Úlfar, who performed "Betri maður" (Impossible). His staging included chairs in different orientations, like Greece's "Die Together" from 2022. He wore a black leather outfit with teal arm sleeves and was joined by three backing dancers. Úlfar's performance was excellent, and his ballad was accompanied by a pop-flavoured backing track that did not distract from his vocals.

Kristín Sesselja performed "Óbyggðir" (Terrified) second. Her staging was dark, with blues and greys shown on screens behind her, and she was dressed in a white tulle dress with see-through sleeves. She was joined by a cellist and two violin players and played a green Stratocaster halfway through the performance. The background changed to a nebula effect towards the end, elevating the song to its climax. Although Kristín's vocal performance was lacking in parts, it was an excellent performance overall.

Langi Seli og Skuggarnir performed "OK" third. The postcard showed the three performers sat in a café, drinking coffee, and playing cards while discussing their entry. The song was a textbook rockabilly number, and their staging included two large red-light letters spelling "OK." They had good stage presence, and the chorus hook was catchy.

Silja Rós & Kjalar performed "Ég styð þína braut" (Together We Grow) fourth. Their staging was simple, with shots focusing on each performer and then showing them together. The only stage effects were the use of a smoke machine and screens showing broken glass floating up and down. Silja Rós wore a white jumpsuit with cascading fringe detailing, and Kjalar wore a partially see-through white shirt and black leather pants. Their ballad was a compelling blend of Silja's higher vocal quality and Kjalar's deep vocal quality.

Sigga Ózk performed "Gleyma þér og dansa" (Dancing Lonely) last. The camera visual effects showed the video in a 4:3 aspect ratio, reminiscent of a VHS tape being played. She wore a red dress with short skirt and see-through tights, and her hair was styled in an 80s fashion with a small scrunchy. She was joined by four backup dancers, and her upbeat pop song was fun and well-performed.

After the ad break, Ragnhildur, Siggi, and Unnsteinn returned. Siggi wore a dress like that of Hera Bjork, Ragnhildur transformed into a member of Hatari, and Unnsteinn performed an upbeat electronic dance track. They covered "Tell Me", from August & Telma, the Icelandic entry to the 2000 Eurovision Song Contest, and were joined on stage by Hermigervill and a female vocalist named Gugusar.

The show ended with the announcement of the two finalists, Sigga Ózk and Langi Seli og Skuggarnir. The wildcard entry was also announced being Celebs who performed in Semi-Final 1.

Moldova - Michelle Stigwood

Timeline

Moldovan National Broadcaster TRM announce that Etapa Nationala 2023 will be held to select Moldova’s artist for Eurovision 2023.

23 Dec 2022
TRM opens song submissions

16 Jan 2023
60 song submissions are whittled down to 33 valid entries

28 Jan 2023
Live auditions are broadcast on TV but only 30 artists compete as 2 songs are disqualified and 1 artist is unable to appear on the night. The contestants are whittled down to 10 finalists

4 March 2023
10 finalists compete in Final broadcast on TV
Winner selected


Important Players
Professional jury of 5 members include Radio Executive, Performer, Singer, Composer, and Journalist. They select the 10 finalists from all the Live Auditions.

In the Final, Public will get Televote to decide the winner- 50%. Approx 11,000 televotes were cast.
In the Final, the Jury will also get to vote to decide the winner -50%
Everyone is happy


Serial Contestants
Aliona Moon - Eurovision backup singer 2012 ( for Pasha Parfeny), then soloist Moldovan Eurovision Entrant 2013.

SunStroke Project - Moldovan Eurovision Entrant 2010, and selected again to represent Moldova at Eurovision in 2017. They hold the honour of reaching 3rd in the 2017 Eurovision Grand Final and that is Moldova’s best ever result at Eurovision. They were responsible for the “Epic Sax Guy” phenomenon.

Pasha Parfeny - this guy has competed at Moldovan National Selections a total of 9 times either as a singer, instrumentalist or composer. He has been selected as Moldova’s  Eurovision entrant in 2010 ( as the then lead singer of SunStroke Project) and then as a soloist in 2012. He also composed the Moldovan song entry for Aliona Moon in Eurovision 2013 and was the pianist for her in the 2013 Eurovision Final. Maybe he should be Mr Eurovision and not Johnny Logan!

The other 7 finalists are pitted against the above mentioned successful, renown, and highly fancied heavy hitters so let’s see how they fared at the Etapa Nationala 2023.

5th place (11 points) is awarded to Donia with her song “Red Zone”. Sexy outfit but static performance of an uptempo pop song. Her usually solid voice is hamstrung by nerves. She only softens briefly, when she plays the saxophone.

4th place (15 points) is the family group Surorile Osoianu. Five sisters and one brother who enjoy success with their very traditional Moldovan folk harmonies preserving Moldovan cultural identity thru song. Scored better with televoters but supported by a good jury vote too.

3rd place (17 points) Aliona Moon with her ballad “Du-ma”. Ethereal ethno pop with haunting voice. Well supported in the jury vote. It is a flawless performance.

2nd place (18 points) SunStroke Project with their dance number “Yummy Mommy”. The proposal seems underdone to me with the two main performers trying to keep the energy going, the Saxophone and some back up dancers. Popular with televoters.

And the runaway winner on 24 points is Mr Eurovision - Pasha Parfeny with his ethno pagan pop number “Soarele si Luna” ( Sun and Moon).  A pagan wedding ritual in the forest complete with Pasha in his free flowing Moldovan costume, vested drummers, mythical forest creatures ( nymphs with deer antlers) and a flute playing jester.  It is an earworm chorus imbued with Pasha’s eccentricity and has huge potential for epic staging in Liverpool.

Moldova has drawn the tougher Semi Final 1, however I feel the song’s folklore appeal and the usual solid support Moldova enjoys from its neighbours, will see it sail into the Final.

Go Moldova.

Italy Night 5 - Taylor Szegho

SanRemo Night Five is where we get to see each act one last time, and then televoting opens and the top acts are revealed. After the reveal, they each perform again and then the winner is announced quickly.

SanRemo Night Five featured many guest performances, including Depeche Mode, Achille Lauro, Massimo Ranieri, and Ornella Vanoni. They were all enjoyable, but I do think this show is just way too long. I watched it mid-afternoon Eastern Time and I cannot imagine watching it at nighttime. I would have been deliriously tired. I believe it ran 30 minutes longer than it was intended. It was five hours. Less guest acts might not have been a bad thing, since we had 28 competitors’ performances to watch, and then 5 of them performed a second time.

The televotes from night five were added to the juries’ scores from the previous nights to give us the top acts which were eligible to win SanRemo and represent Italy in Eurovision Song Contest.

Usually, they select a top 3 at SanRemo. This year there was a top 5, which consisted of:

Marco Mengoni “Due Vite” – 1st

Ultimo “L’alba”– 2nd

Lazza “Cenere” - 3rd

MR. Rain “Superoi” - 4th

Tanainai “Tango” - 5th

I knew that Ultimo, Marco, and Lazza would be in the top, but I was extremely pleased to see Mr. Rain and Tanainai there. Tanainai finished in last place or close to it last year, if I recall, so I’m stoked that he had a redemption arc. “Tango” was a big step up from “Sesso Occasionale” which was laughably awful. Mr. Rain is my Eurovision season number one crush across all national finals, so I would not have minded at all if he had won, but I think we all knew it would come down to Marco Mengoni and Lazza as the top 2. No offense to anyone, but I was just thrilled it was not Ultimo who won because I think his song was really underwhelming compared to a strong selection at SanRemo overall. It was a shame to not see any women in the top 5. Madame was a crowd favourite, and when her overall score was revealed to be 6th and just outside the qualifiers, many of her fans in the audience loudly expressed their disappointment. Anna Oxa, Ariete, and Elodie are also phenomenal. I hope that they gained a lot more fans from SanRemo.

The scores are all set back to 0 before the top 5 performers take the stage. The final rankings were determined by equal parts press jury, demoscopic jury, and televoters. They were:

Marco Mengoni – 1st place

Lazza – 2nd place

Mr. Rain – 3rd place

Ultimo – 4th place

Tanainai – 5th place

I think Marco is a great candidate to represent Italy, I am glad that it’s him, but I would have been happy with Lazza as well. (Or, future husband, Mr. Rain. But I don’t know what he would have done with his entourage of kids who are not allowed to perform at ESC).

For me, the biggest winner of SanRemo ‘23 is GiANMARIA with “Mostro” because I cannot stop listening to that song. I hope he gets another shot next year!

Italy Night 4 - Ilya Marin

Sanremo 2023 has concluded and Italy has selected Marco Mengoni as its representative to Eurovision. But do you know how things unfolded at Sanremo’s fourth night of the show? Let’s take a look!

The festival fourth night has traditionally been different from all other nights, as the contestants perform covers of Italian music hits and can invite guests of their choosing to sing with. This has become my favorite night to watch because we can take a break from listening to the same songs that have been played over and over throughout the week.

Hosting the show was none other than its artistic director Amadeus, who has been praised for making Sanremo exciting again and attracting a younger audience  – thus breaking its stereotype of “a festival for the elderly”.

A special mention must go to the impressive Sanremo stage – it was absolutely gorgeous and resembled a spaceship. It was also three-dimensional, extending horizontally well into the theater, with the orchestra pit on both sides. As always, the focal point of the stage were the stairs, on which every show’s contestant and guest had to make their grand entrance.

Here are the three performances that resonated with me the most. Due to Rai’s copyright restrictions, only 1-minute excerpts are available on YouTube, but you can watch the full show on RaiPlay’s Sanremo page.

Paola & Chiara singing a medley of their hottest hits, accompanied by a DJ and backing dancers. The two sisters rose to fame in Italy the 90s with several dance hits, but have largely been out of the spotlight since then. This performance nostalgically took me back to when I was a kid singing along to their videos on MTV Italia.

https://youtu.be/hE24kDRe9nk

Giorgia singing Luce and Di Sole e d'Azzurro together with Elisa, to a standing ovation. Just to give you some background, Giorgia and Elisa competed against each other 22 years ago, at Sanremo 2001. Elisa went on to win the festival with her song Luce, while Giorgia got second place with Di Sole e d'Azzurro.

https://youtu.be/aJI4pdzkx3A

Marco Mengoni singing Let it Be, with the Kingdom Choir – a powerful and winning performance.

https://youtu.be/EzyJQqJBh5Y

Estonia - Rodrigo Ezequiel Stoessel

Alika wins Eesti Laul 2023 with "Bridges"

The 15th edition of Eesti Laul took place last February 11th in Tallinn, winning Alika with “Bridges”, being the next Estonian representative in Eurovision 2023.

12 of 20 competing songs, selected by the public and the Jury, were the main protagonists of the Grand Final celebrated in the Tondiraba Ice Hall in Tallinn. The twelve finalists were from different regions of the country, demonstrating the range of styles of current rhythms in Estonia.

The Grand Final, hosted by Grete Kuld (singer) and Tõnis Niinemets (actor), was a special night where the finalists could show their best performances in front of the jury panel and the public.

This was the line-up of the Grand Final show:

1. Meelik (Andres Kõpper, Meelik Samel, Martin Petermann and Rain Parve)  – “Tuju”

2. Inger Fridolin “Inger" – “Awaiting You”

3. Janek Valgepea “Janek” – “House of Glass”

4. . Elisa Kolk  “Elysa” – “Bad Philosophy"

5. Merili Käsper “M els” – “So Good (At What You Do)”

6. Bedwetters (Joosep Järvesaar, Mihkel Mõttus, Karl-Kristjan Kingi, Kaspar Koppel “Bassu" and Rauno Kutti)  – “Monsters”

7. Andreas Poom “Andreas” – “Why Do You Love Me”

8. Alika Milova "Alika” – “Bridges”

9. Anett Kulbin “Anett” & Frederik Küüts “Fredi” – “You Need To Move On”

10. Oliver Mazurtšak (Ollie) – “Venom”

11. Kersti Kukk “Mia” – “Üks samm korraga”

12. Sissi Nylia Benita “Sissi” – “Lighthouse”

The voting system consisted of two rounds: at first, a jury (50%) and public televote (50%) determined the top three entries and then, the Superfinal with the Top 3 entries selected by the public. In this opportunity were “Bridges”, “Venom”, and “Monsters”, according to the betting houses who predicted it too.

Finally, the winning song was “Bridges” by the Narvian singer Alika Milova who received 85 points from Jury (18 more than the runner-up “Monsters”) and 8,514 votes from the public ( surpassing “Venom” in more than 1600 votes). “Bridges” was written by Alika and the Dutch musician Wouter Hardy (one of the writers of “Arcade” - The Netherlands, 2019).

The Grand Final of Eesti Laul 2023 lasted more than four hours and was watched by more than 180,000 viewers - 16.2% audience share. Stefan, the 2022 winner, performed his new single “Kiri külmkapi peal” (Time Stops) in one of the intervals.

Sweden Heat 2 - Jose Juise Abaya

Sweden’s Melodifestivalen had their second semifinal heat on the 11th of February. It took place at the Saab Arena in Linköping. The hosts were Farah Abadi and Jesper Rönndahl. Let’s take a closer look at the songs that competed for this heat:

• All My Life (Where Have You Been) sung by Wiktoria

Songwriters: Herman Gardarfve, Melanie Wehbe, Patrik Jean, Wiktoria Johansson

Wiktoria started the competition with an upbeat song and tons of pink and glitter. This entry does not fit the typical genre that we are used to hearing Wiktoria sing in Melodifestivalen. It does invite you to dance, and it is definitely a good pick-me upper. I find that the lyrics are overly repetitive and the chorus isn’t that strong.

• Comfortable sung by Eden

Songwriters: Benjamin Rosenbohm, Eden Alm, Emil Adler Lei, Julie Aagaard

Eden’s self-written ballad showed a sense of rawness and vulnerability. The song is about the loneliness that she felt during a relationship that didn’t work. I think she was able to express that feeling in her song, but it didn’t transfer successfully to a wider audience.

• Grytan sung by Uje Brandelius

Songwriter: Uje Brandelius

Uje was one of the singers that shocked Sweden when it was announced that he will be competing. Aside from being a singer, he is an actor and a politician. He is a social realist who is known for his politically-charged songs. This Mello entry is about an evening in a couple’s kitchen where the guy burns the food and the lady comforts her partner by saying that it is alright to order pizza instead. He further tells reasons why he loves his partner….such a kitchen sink romance!

• On My Way sung by Panetoz

Songwriters: Anders Wigelius, Daniel Nzinga, Jimmy Jansson, Nebeyu Baheru, Njol Badjie, Pa Modou, Robert Norberg

Panetoz returns with their typical hiphop/rap/African fusion genre. There’s a lot of dancing and repetitive lyrics… probably because the only thing that I understood was I’m on my way. They definitely made my feet move to the beat.

• Now I Know sung by Tennessee Tears

Songwriters: Anderz Wrethov, Jonas Hermansson, Thomas Stengaard, Tilda Feuk

If you love country music, you’ll love this. It is a combination of Common Linnets, Firelight, Elina Born, and Stig Rästa all rolled into one group. It is very upbeat and it helps you feel good. The duo’s voices complement each other and this genre. Even though I am not a big fan of country music, I liked this one.

• Never Give Up sung by Maria Sur

Songwriters: Anderz Wrethov, Laurell Barker

Maria Sur surely delivered! The song is a power ballad and it definitely sounded like it was made for the chart-topping Billboards. Maria Sur definitely told her personal story through this song, and I think that she was successful in touching the hearts of her audience. I think we will see more of her in the coming years.

• Mer av dig sung by Theoz

Songwriters: Axel Schylström, Jakob Redtzer, Peter Boström, Thomas G:son

Aww, Theoz! For me, this was the song of the night. This made me stand-up and dance. The whistles, the tempo, and the lyrics all gave a fun vibe that helped you remember his song.  The staging was also amazingly cool; the fireworks even added to the wow factor.  This will be another summer hit.

My Predictions:

Direct to the Final: Mer av dig by Theoz and Never Give Up by Maria Sur

Semifinal: Now I Know by Tennessee Tears and All My Life (Where Have You Been) by Wiktoria

The Results:

For the first round of voting, Never Give Up by Maria Sur got the most number of votes. She will go straight to the final.

There was another round of voting. This time, On My Way by Panetoz got the highest votes for this round. They will join Maria Sur in the final round in Stockholm. The second highest was Mer av dig by Theoz and Now I Know by Tennessee Tears got third highest. They will be able to sing again in the semifinal round.

Now The Fun(ner) Parts:

After all the competing songs were played, we were presented with a variety of entertaining middle acts. The first one was the presentation of Thomas G;son into the Melodifestivalen’s Hall of Fame. In the sketch, the host (Jesper) was trying to read the brain of Thomas G:son. He also presented a medley of the different songs that he composed. You can watch the segment here.

Did somebody say medley? The second act was a Mello-battle between Linda Bengtzing and Magnus Carlsson. They were joined by some famous Mello artists like Edvin Törnblom and Tess Merkel. They sang a medley of their competition songs while trying to outshine each other. It was a very entertaining act and a nice gift to those who are die hard fans of Mello. You can watch the segment here.

Final Pic

As I end this review, I want to share a picture of the semlor that was served to us during this viewing party. Semla is a Scandinavian pastry that is commonly served during February/Fat Tuesday. They were so yummy!

Iceland SF 1 - Tony Peter

Iceland’s national final, Söngvakeppnin, is back for 2023 and it will consist of two Semi-finals on 18 February and 25 Februaryand a Final on 4 March.

Five songs will compete in each Semi-final, with Icelanders choosing two songs to progress to the Final by a public vote. There will also a wildcard allowed for the broadcaster, RÚV, to bring a fifth song into the Final if they so wish.

So to recap the 1st Semi-final held on 18 February 2023:

The show itself was hosted by Unnsteinn Manuel Stefánsson, Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir and Sigurður Þorri Gunnarsson and looked very slick and professional. The crowd were clearly excited for the performances to come.

The five competing songs were:

Bragi -“Stundum snýst heimurinn gegn þér” (Sometimes the World's Against You

• A mid-tempo man ballad that only required Bragi to stand and deliver in front of the LED screens with a couple of special effects, felt like a song made to be sung in English and not Icelandic. Bragi is a professional footballer who did pretty well in Idol in Sweden in 2018.

https://youtu.be/QU9YdwAwZCQ

Móa - “Glötuð ást” (Lose This Dream)

• Móa, the legacy artist, is a handy singer bringing a sultry song suited better to a smoke filled club rather than a big stage. Apparently she was big in the 90’s. Another stand and deliver type song.

https://youtu.be/SQKWQLq4aoQ

Benedikt - “Þora” (Brave Face)

• Benedikt hit the stage with a head full of blonde curls, unfortunately they stitched him up with the staging and the terrible “Princess Fiona” outfit. Look out for him almost falling off the box while being held by the muscly back up dancer. Another song that wasn’t very successful in Icelandic.

https://youtu.be/W2EteNn8DLk

Celebs - “Dómsdags dans” (Doomsday Dancing)

• A not so bad studio track that didn’t translate well to the stage. Celebs is a trio consisting of a family (2 brothers and a sister). They certainly got their money’s worth at the “tinsel fringe” shop. Plenty of memes with that performance. 

https://youtu.be/jmCrGZGOlIo

Diljá - "Lifandi inni í mér” (Power)

• Diljá didn’t get much staging either but her tv experience shone through (she competed in Iceland’s Got Talent in 2015 when she was 12). Strong vocal performance and easily the best of the night. This will go quite well when performed in English.

https://youtu.be/FXprRtvM8yw

And the two songs given the tick of approval by the public were:

• Bragi -“Stundum snýst heimurinn gegn þér”

• Diljá - "Lifandi inni í mér"

I didn’t see anything worthy of a wildcard in the rest either. Over to Semi-final 2.

Italy Night 3 - Juan David Osorio

It’s the third night at Sanremo Music Festival and it’s the first time we watch all the 28 songs together and the audience can vote for their favorites since the beginning of the Gala. In the end, the result will be combined with the votes of the demoscopic jury (composed of 1000 people) with a value of 50% of the total.

Some of the interesting facts about the night were:

Gianluca Grignani had technical issues and started the song again, joking about Blanco’s mishap saying "I reacted this way because I'm 50 and learned how to react. Thank goodness I'm not 20 anymore".

The singer Lazza gave the bouquet of flowers that was given to him after singing to his mother who was in the audience. Just so cute.

Maneskin's presentation was a mini concert of 4 songs, making what it didn’t happened on the Eurovision stage, but it is understandable because in Italy Sanremo is more important than the Eurofestival.

The gossip about two of the evening's competitors, Anna Oxa and Madame, after they argued backstage, and one spilled a glass of water at the other.

Other guest artists of the night were Tom Morello, Peppino Di Capri (Italy 1991), Sangiovanni, Massimo Rainieri (Italy 1971 and 1973), Annalisa and Guè.

At the end of the night, after listening to all the songs again, the combined ranking of the first three nights (demoscopic jury + press jury + televote) is shown and it remains as follows:

1.      Marco Mengoni

2.      Ultimo

3.      Mr. Rain

4.      Lazza

5.      Tananai

6.      Madame

7.      Rosa Chemical

8.      Colapesce Dimartino

9.      Elodie

10.   Giorgia

11.   Coma Cose

12.   Gianluca Grignani

13.   Moda

14.   Paola e Chiara

15.   LDA

16.   Ariete

17.   Articolo 31

18.   Mara Sattei

19.   Leo gasman

20.   Colla Zio

21.   Levante

22.   Cugini di campagna

23.   Gianmaria

24.   Olly

25.   Anna Oxa

26.   Will

27.   Shari

28.   Sethu

Marco Mengoni reaffirms that he is the favorite to win the festival, and once again the six acts chosen through the Sanremo Giovanni Contest were relegated to the last 9 positions in the ranking.

Tomorrow the fourth gala of the Italian contest, called "Canzone d'autore", will be held. The twenty-eight artists will cover an Italian or international song from the 60s, 70s, 80s or 90s, which they can perform alone or accompanied by another Italian or foreign artist.

Lithuania - Ronny Addamo

Lithuania may be a small Eurovison nation but they certainly throw a lot at Pabandom, their method of choosing their Eurovision entrant for the past three years. Thankfully, the days of the ten show extravaganzas are over, with the nation now opting for a much more reasonable three heat, two semi final, one final format. The set is modest, but functional, and unlike some national finals, multi lingual hosts,a  bonus for this lazy Aussie. 

The show opens with Mario,and his sleek RNB track, its nice, he's an attractive fella with some swagger about him, but ultimately, I think this will end up forgotten. 

MoonBee takes to the stage second with her sweet Alt-pop number. Shes very endearing indeed. The stage set is delightful and I'm starting to think that this national final may be one to rival some of the bigger, more loved nations. 

Juste and the slightly baffling 'need more fun' is performed next. A question,, why would you keep your lead singer off stage for the first full minute of the song only to have her enter, indistinguishable from the back up dancers? Odd

Paulina and her autotune heavy pop song 'let me think about me' is up next. It's always hard as a good singer, to take on such a pedestrian song and do it with any real love. Way too good for this material. 

Punk pop Beatrich, one of my personal favourites hits the stage next. It's very solid, with maybe the most fun dance moves I've seen in a while. After seeing this i don't think she will win it though

After the longest ad break in history Ruta and her 80's sad diva infused track are next. And delivers. Transfixed. The song has layers and can be tricky to do justice without a vocal backing track and Ruta holds the fort all alone, like a champion. This will be near impossible to beat. 

The next act I like to call the singing news readers. I smell a rat with these guys. They cleaned the floor with the televote in their semi final, after just scraping through the heat, meaning I think something was quite off here. Anywho, it's that naff familiar four vocal artists pretending they like each other, motioning and holding hands and smiling.. you know the type.  familiar, and annoying 

Petunija follows with her big piano torch ballad. I'm a sucker for these. Beautiful vocals and an intimate and personal staging. Perfect! dark horse? 

The penultimate performer is Vagelis. He's no stranger to this competition. This outing however, is kind of contrived, a lot rehearsed and more than a little inspired by Sweden 

Our last act is familiar Monika, back again with what I consider one of her weaker attempts since trying to rekindle her Eurovison dream. Like Vagelis, I think she had been watching Sweden a little too closely, namely, the Mama's, this looking more like a Melfest semi final non qualifier than her own work. 

And the voting is happening. We are treated to Duncan Laurence and Monika Liu. 

Monika came out as the winner with the jury with 97 

Ruta second with 88 

Beatrich third with 78

In the televote 

Ruta came out first with 12822

Monika second with 12675

Beatrich third with 9392

Meaning a tie on 22 points, however they decided to go with the jury vote awarding Monika the win over the popular vote of Ruta. Im a little sore over this, what are your thoughts? 

Sweden Heat 3 - Kevin Fansler

This was a tough week, with seven strong songs. I’m hard-pressed to pick my top four!

Paul Rey: “Royals”

This is Paul’s third time at Mello as a singer, following years as a songwriter. “Royals” is more of a banger than his previous entries, and he was backed up by a troupe of dancers and flashy graphics. Definitely a contender.

Casanovas: Så Kommer Känslorna Tillbaka (This Is How the Feelings Come Back)

Casanovas is a dansband (dance band), a popular subgenre in Sweden. This kind of song is always catchy, but does the genre translate to a larger Eurovision audience? Probably not.

Melanie Wehbe: “For the Show”

Great song, but it seems a little too similar to last year’s winner, Cornelia Jakobs. Melanie gave a great performance but was held back a bit by a strange pillar in the middle of the stage that she first danced around, and then entered in at the end. It’s unclear how this relates to the song.

Nordman: “Släpp Alla Sorger” (Forget Your Sorrows)

Great song from an established band. Nordman had two big albums in the ‘90s. Their sound is a bit folk mixed with rock. This song has a super catchy hook and some mystical images of ravens flying in the background.

Laurell: “Sober”

Laurell is a Canadian with a few massive hits on Spotify (“Habit,” “Change My Heart”). She met her Swedish husband at a songwriting camp for Mello. Her song with a reggae beat included dancing gummy bears and hallucinogenic background graphics. It seems like it could be a love-it-or-hate-it type of entry.

Ida-Lova: “Låt Hela Stan Se På” (Let the Whole Town Watch)

Nice song about letting go and not caring what people think when you want to dance or scream in the public square. Ida-Lova has an earnest performance style that matches the lyrics.

Marcus & Martinus: “Air”

M&M are Norwegian teenage brothers with some dance moves, a catchy song, and a light show. This could easily win the day. The song is about how you can breathe without air when you are with someone who takes your breath away. 

Advancing direct to the final on March 11:

1. Marcus & Martinus: “Air” (as expected, this crowd pleaser won the day)

2. Paul Rey: “Royals” (it was a close battle with Nordman, but Paul Rey squeezed through)

Going to the semi-final on March 4:

1. Nordman: “Släpp Alla Sorger”

2. Melanie Wehbe: “For the Show”

Spain Second Semi-final - Ricardo Alegre

2023 Benidorm Fest Second Semifinal was aired on 2nd February. It looked like first semifinal were going to be stronger and harder to predict, according to the pre contest favourites, but it wasn’t this way at all. Eventual winner and Spanish ESC representative Blanca Paloma were in this semifinal.

The arena was full as usual, and the host were less nervous than in the firs semifinal. The work from TVE and the presenters were better than in the first one,,, and it were even better for the final.

Three special guests in the sow;

Miguel Poveda in an opening act singing 1973 ESC Spanish entry “Eres tú”

Álvaro Soler presenting his new single in an interval act.

And superstar and LGBTI friendly, Mexican Gloria Trevi with a medley that includes “Gloria” and her hit “Todos me miran”

THE PERFORMERS

Song 1; Famous “La Lola” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isA6nSHFDR0

Former Operación Trinunfo (Star Academy) winner, gave us a good opening, with choreography and a good vocals. Latin sounds but maybe not too much impressive.

Song 2; José Otero “Inviernos en Marte” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvCHeGgwQ9A

The main point is this one was the powerfull and charismatic voice of Jose. Maybe in the semifinal he wasn’t on point, but he were 4th and could do it better in the final.

Song 3; Karmento “Quiero y duelo” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2Lyd7PD-NM

One of the two performances in the semifinal with a 100% Spanish flavor. Karmento gave us a piece of La Mancha (Land of El Quijote) with the mix she usually do, with folk, tradition and modern way to do it.

Very emotional, and very well received in the arena (and in the televote)

She was 3rd this night.

Song 4; Rakky Ripper “Tracción” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cFAyu589K4

Modern and alternative. Rakky gave us electric sounds in a good performance. Not the taste of everybody.

Song 5; Blanca Paloma “EaEa” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEm9jBI5u9w

Blanca was in Benidorm Fest for second year in a row, but she wasn’t a pre festival favourite. Her song was one of the least streamed before the contest.

All that changed the day of the semifinal.

A mix of flamenco style, modern sounds, Blanca amazing on point voice and a stunning staging.  

The song is a lullaby where she remembers her grandma, and everything on the stage and on the song fits perfect, showing us something more than just a song. That is what we call “art”. It is remarkable, that Blanca is a production designer as well, and she is the mind behind the staging.

She won this semi by a landslide

Song 6; E’Femme “Uff” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvoWCqPJ6sE

It is no easy came after Blanca Paloma,,, but they did it far better than everybody thought. Good for they

Song 7; Siderland “Que esclati tot” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtDFfPoEu2c

Good performance for them, very catchy and well done.. Maybe the song needs something else. They sang in Catalan

Song 8; Alfred “Desde que tú estás” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUleeHku7mc

ESC spanish Singer in Lisboa with Amaya,,, Alfred tried to be in the contest for a second time. He has a good career in Spain, mostly in festivals and has a strong personality.

The song is good, the staging maybe over the top,,, but it was a good performing.

Song 9; Vicco “Nochentera” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMAwxSmhJe8

Acording to the streamings, this is one of the winners. Because it is the most listened song of all in the Fest in Spain.

Fresh, catchy, funny,,,, every in the crowd was singing this one.

She won the demoscopic vote

THE RESULTS

JURY (50%)

1 Blanca Paloma

2 Vicco

3 José Otero

4 Alfred

5 Siderland

6 Karmento

7 Famous

8 Rakky Ripper

9 E’Femme

DEMOSCOPIC (25%)

1 Vicco

2 Blanca Paloma

3 Karmento

4 Famous

5 E’Femme

6 José Otero

7 Alfred

8 Siderland

9 Rakky Ripper

TELEVOTE (25%)

1 Blanca Paloma

2 Karmento

3 Alfred

4 Vicco

5 Siderland

6 E’Femme

7 José Otero

8 Rakky Ripper

9 Famous

OVERALL

1 Blanca Paloma > qualified for the final

2 Vicco > qualified for the final

3 Karmento > qualified for the final

4 José Otero > qualified for the final

5 Alfred

6 Siderland

7 Famous

8 E’Femme

9 Rakky Ripper

Italy Night 2 - Julian Esteban Osorio

On the second night, the 14 participants who did not sing the first night are presented. Today will be the first time we see the full ranking. The gala is broadcast in sign language through the app, and in self-descriptive audio.

The guests:

·      A medley of Albano, Massimo Ranieri, and Morandi, which seems to hint at nostalgia amid 70s-sounding songs. The public went crazy with them.

·      Pegah and Drusilla, Francesca Fagnani and Angelo Duro presented their monologues.

·      Francesco Renga and Nek sang a medley of "La tua bellezza" and "Fatti avante amore" from Piazza Colombo.

·      Black eyed peas sang “Mamacita”, “Don't You Worry”, “I Gotta Feeling” and “Simply the best”. The translator was a member of the orchestra, because he is a big fan of the band and asked the tv show producers to let him greet them in some way.

·      Fedez sang live from the cruise ship of one of the sponsors.

The participating songs:

1. Will - “stupid”

A boy who probably does not exceed 17 years. The song is a melodic trap.

2. Modà - “lasciami”

A gentleman in his 40s singing something by eros ramazzotti. Italianissima song.

3. Sethu - "perse cause"

He is the first participant of the night that comes from young sanremo. A very young 25 year old guy with a punk hairstyle, rapping.

4. Articolo 31 - “un bel viaggio”

Two gentlemen rapping. One of them is a DJ. Their Rap sounds very nice with a live orchestra.

5. Lazza - “cenere”

An electronic sound that makes a difference in a gala with a lot of trap. Very young singer.

6. Giorgia - “parole dette male”

A romantic song, in the classic Italian style, sung by a powerful and raspy voice.

7. Colapesce Dimartino - “splash”

They sing a romantic song as a duet. Not much more to say.

8. Shari - “selfish”

This singer brings a slow and sentimental trap, with her powerful voice.

9. Madame - “Il bene nel male”

Song with electronic sound and live orchestra. Sounds really good.

10. Lift - “Alive”

Pop sound. Fun song.

11. Tananai - “Tango”

Slow romantic song that sounds very nice with the orchestra.

12. Rosa Chemical - “Made in Italy”

A fun song with a lot of participation from the choir and the orchestra.

13. LDA - “se poi domani”

A romantic song with a soft tempo. The sound on the stage failed a couple of times at the end of his performance but he was able to finish it.

14. Paola & Chiara - “Furore”

They present a performance with dancers who form figures along with them in the choreography. Eurodance sound and futuristic dresses.

Results

The general ranking for the press room of the two nights was presented. The winner remains Marco Mengoni, followed by colapesche dimartino and madame.

Czech Republic - David McAlpine

After another year with an entry that made it to the Grand Final, Ceska televize returned to the popular ESCZ format to choose the Czech entry for the Eurovision Song Contest.

ESCZ 2023 was a change from years’ past. First - the entire process, both the performances and the winner, were announced live (a first for Czechia - now the official EBU name for the Czech Republic). Second - instead of relying on an international jury to help select the winner, the entry was selected purely by public vote on the Eurovision Song Contest app. 30% of the points came from the Czech audience, while the other 70% came from international audiences.

Initially, only three songs were supposed to be shortlisted for the live final - but after more than 170 submissions were received by CT - five were selected to compete for the Eurovision slot.

All five finalists performed their entries live in Prague on January 30, during a primetime special hosted by Czech singer and actor Adam Misik. The running order was as follows:

1. “Flood” by Maella

2. “Ghosting” by Pam Rabbit

3. “Happy” by Market Irglova (who won an Academy Award in 2008 for Best Original Song)

4. “My Sister’s Crown” by Vesna

5. “Introvert Party Club” by Roman

After the live performances, viewers had one week to submit their votes - and “My Sister’s Crown” won by a wide margin.

“Crown” features lyrics in English, Ukranian, Czech, and Bulgarian. Vesna’s lead singer, Patricia Fuxova, said the song was written with Eurovision in mind - and that the group wanted to sing something that concerns everyone. Fuxova explained the song is about sisterhood, respect, support, and cooperation - values that Vesna believes are important in solving some of the issues affecting the world in 2023.

Vesna is hoping to be the fifth Czech entry to qualify for the Grand Final - following last year’s success from We Are Domi’s technohit, “Lights Off.” Vesna will perform in the second half of Semi-Final 1 on May 9.

Croatia - Kyle Woods

It’s time to return to Opatija, Croatia for another edition of Dora.  Let’s take a quick look at what happened on the big night!

If you’re interested in seeing the whole show, it’s available here: https://www.youtube.com/live/K2PI55nmdZM?feature=share  

The show started off with a bizarre performance of some ladies wearing white hats and showgirl outfits.  Not sure what was going on here – it felt like a combination of cirque du soleil with opera and electronic music.  I wasn’t really a fan of anything but the hats.  After whatever that was, Mia came out and sang “Guilty Pleasure” (which really was robbed at Eurovision).  This time she had an orchestra and she looked fantastic in her little black dress!  

The hosts were two old guys and one middle-aged guy – not sure who picked them.  They weren’t really particularly charismatic.

Now let’s get on to the entries.

• Top of the Pops ft. Mario 5reković – “Putovanje” (Journey)

(placed 10  of 18)

https://youtu.be/LYh6F4m9lf4  

Definitely not top of the pops, unfortunately.  I don’t mind the woman’s voice, but the guy wasn’t really anything special.  There is an abysmal spoken part in the middle that made my molars hurt, though.  On the whole the staging and song feel like they belong on a cruise ship.

• Yogi – “Love at First Sight”

(placed 16 of 18)

https://youtu.be/TXpAeY2s96w  

This was abysmal.  Yogi’s voice felt a bit off, and the song never went anywhere.  It sounds like something you would hear in the entrance of a subway station, not something you would ever want to seek out.  Definitely not love at first listen.

• Boris Štok – “Grijeh” (Sin)

(placed 14 of 18)

https://youtu.be/S7r-E2QG5TM  

This started a bit more upbeat, though Boris lost me with the bad dancing in the opening beats – he kind of looked like he was going for zombie choreography.  Sadly, the song went nowhere and stayed in lounge act mode the entire time.  .

• Tajana Belina – “Dom” (Home)

(placed 17 of 18)

https://youtu.be/-5QzK0q1RYo

I didn’t hate this, although it was pretty boring.  I loved her dress, though.  

• Krešo and Kisele Kiše – “Kme kme” 

(placed 7 of 18)

https://youtu.be/SO2rheebPlE

Okay the show has finally started.  This was a lot of fun.  It was upbeat, lively, and unexpected.  It’s definitely not my style of music, though the sound reminiscent of the early days of legendary Croatian band Prljavo Kazalište.  And anytime a trombone features on stage I am a fan.   

• Maja Grgić – “I Still Live”

(placed 15 of 18)

https://youtu.be/ZujM21lZfqc  

This made me laugh out loud.  The opening lines “I died, I’m no longer alive” combined with that outfit – I lost it.  Sadly, I don’t think Maja intended her performance to be funny.  But if you want to see a dryad surrounded by two women dressed as Eve, look no further.  Sadly, despite its comically bad lyrics and amazing outfits, the song itself is a total snoozer..

• Barbara Munjas – “Putem snova” (Through dreams)

(placed 8 of 18)

https://youtu.be/oQcNdzlNq40  

This took me back to some of the Belgian entries from 2015 and 2016.  It felt fun, and I loved Barbara’s performance – there is a moment at about 1:12 on the video where she puts her hair down the middle of her face and makes crazy eyes – highlight of the night for me!  She is there to entertain and while she can’t spin straw into gold, she’s at least giving it a shot! doing her best to sell it!

• Đana – “Free Fallin’”

(placed 8 of 18)

https://youtu.be/OnEL9HsbmmI  

It felt like Đana spent the whole three minutes searching for her note.  The vocals are pretty bad, other than some parts of the chorus.  The outfit is ugly (a saggy bra and hammer pants?), and although I like her hair, there isn’t much else to like about this.   

• Patricia Gasparini – “I Will Wait”

(placed 18 of 18)

https://youtu.be/acPzmBaqGkc  

What is this? “I will wait in the cabin by the lake” – who wrote this crap?  The lyrics are awful, the outfit is bad, the hair (probably a wig) is awful, the vocals feel off, the backup is terrible, and the performance is dull.  Patricia should have waited for a better song.

• The Splitters – “Lost and Found”

(placed 4 of 18)

https://youtu.be/iofl3nQVb94  

It seems Måns Zelmerlöw’s line drawing friend went on vacation in Croatia.  I actually don’t hate the song (though the singer could stand to work on his English pronunciation).  The sound is catchy, though and I enjoyed it overall. 

• Hana Mašić – “Nesreća” (Accident)

(placed 11 of 18)

https://youtu.be/P8ITDtpnx8g  

Poor Hana looked super nervous.  The hair gimmick feels like a low energy version of Sertab Erener   The song itself is inoffensive but not particularly memorable.

• Damir Kedžo – “Angels and Demons”

(placed 5 of 18)

https://youtu.be/NAQmfeEI1HE  

I enjoyed this much more than “Divlji vjetre” but on the whole it feels somewhat derivative.  Damir’s voice is good though, and even though that outfit needs to be burned, the song wasn’t terrible.

• Martha May – “Distance”

(placed 12 of 18)

https://youtu.be/HS_vVXNWI-A  

This one is fantastic!  I love the lyrics, I love the outfit, I love the way Martha performs it.  It does sound a lot like “Guilty Pleasure” so I am glad Croatia isn’t sending the same thing back-to-back, but I definitely need more of this song and this singer!

• Detour – “Master Blaster”

(placed 3 of 18)

https://youtu.be/6mNyji2Rl38  

I enjoyed this – the song is definitely quirky and the staging is definitely a choice.  I love the woman in the background with the three Staples Easy Buttons for no apparent reason.  I do wish the song went somewhere – it starts to feel repetitive, and some parts sound like the soundtrack from Zombies Ate My Neighbors, but on the whole I didn’t hate this.

• Meri Andraković – “Bye Bye Blonde”

(placed 9 of 18)

https://youtu.be/rJNjRTI4VYU 

Okay so that happened.  This was soulless and feels like an attempt to copy the sense of Serbian groups like Moje 3 and Hurricane without actually possessing any of the charm that those groups had.  The lyrics sound like they were borrowed from Shock Treatment. 

• Let 3 – “Mama šč!” 

(placed 1 of 18)

https://youtu.be/q1-hSh10PB4  

And then this happened…Let 3 is definitely heavily inspired by Little Big, but since we never actually got to see them at Eurovision, I guess this is a chance to do so.  The outfits are a shoe-in for Barbara Dex (yes, I will still use that term and you can’t stop me).  And while the song feels like a gimmick (and the lyrics are pretty inane), it’s the kind of train wreck I can’t look away from.  I am a bit embarrassed to admit that I quite like the second half of the song, which is a total departure from the first half.   While this is definitely the most political song we have had since probably 1944 (especially if you can understand the lyrics), this one skirts the rules by never actually saying anything against Russian aggression (while very heavily implying it).  However, whether you want to revel in the thinly veiled message or whether you just want to answer the age old question “What if Hitler had done drag?” this is definitely something that will capture attention.  Mama, idem u rat!

• Eni Jurišić – “Kreni dalje” (Move on)

(placed 6 of 18)

https://youtu.be/wz2VE79zvr0

This one is trying too hard to be artistic and meaningful.  The performance takes itself way too seriously, and the song is pretty boring.  Eni herself has fantastic makeup though.

• Harmonija Disonance – “Nevera (Lei, lei)” 

(placed 2 of 18)

https://youtu.be/UdvNJyCN-Lk  

I love this!  I tend to love these kinds of harmonies.  I do wish the singers looked like they were having fun, though – they looked bored out of their minds.  Also, I wish they had coordinated their outfits a bit better, but the song and the staging are pretty fantastic!  

The intermission was awful.  The performer, Toni Cetinski (Croatia’s representative at Eurovision 1994) and honestly, I had to set an alarm to wake me up when it was over.  

Scores were tallied in a Eurovision-like manner, and Let 3 handily won both the juries and the televote.  I have mixed feelings about it, but the more I listen to the song, the more it grows on me.  I probably would have picked Harmonija Disonance, but Let 3 may be interesting enough to break the Croatian Curse and make it into the final, at least.  It’s as quirky as Konstrakta, so who knows.  Croatia is riding its tractor into war this year – let’s wait and see!  

Overall, this year’s Dora was a bit of a letdown.  Croatia has some amazing musical talent, but none of it really seemed present this year – it all felt kind of phoned in.  But at least we have something memorable in the end!   

Georgia - Steve Stigwood

Georgia has made changes in its selection format in an effort to avoid a repeat of their last placing in their ESC 2022 semi final and to lift their 50% strike rate in getting thru to the Eurovision Finals.

The broadcaster GPB decided reality TV show “The Voice Georgia” would unearth Georgia’s representative for Eurovision 2023. And in another move they enlisted previous Eurovision entrants Sopho Toroshelidze  (her performance in 2011 with metal band “Eldrine“  has given Georgia its best result so far in Eurovision) and Stephane Mgebrishville (Stephane and 3G who were controversially disqualified in 2009) and another two coaches Dato Porchkhidze (a composer) and Dato Evgenidze (a composer, performer and producer). So it seems, all good so far.

But, the one problem I see from the start as I watch the 32 entrants strutt their stuff to Georgian audiences and their enthusiastic coaches in blind auditions and team switching, is that Georgia has never had a lack of singing talent. It has a bloody good history of singing and performers. Anyway, back to the selection process.

32 entrants are whittled down to 8 after singing battles and semi finals and that leaves the four coaches with two contestants each to progress to the Grand Final. Televoting commences after the eight contestants are chosen and continues all week.

The finalists are exceptional, in my view. Song selections cover rock, jazz, pop, musical stage classics and a brave Arianne Grande medley.  All could represent Georgia proudly, however when the artists are required to perform a well known song of their choice, it is 23 year old Iru Khechanovi who choses the Eurovision and Loreen classic “ Euphoria “ as her last Final’s stand.  She sings it masterfully, offering a tender mood that showcases her vocal skill. Unfortunately, she is not required to sing the song in totality, so I am left a little disappointed, but not in doubt of her talent.

The week long televote finally finishes on the night and decides Iru’s win as she manages 21.88% of the vote with her nearest competitor on 15.72%.

Iru is Tbilisi born and a previous Georgian representative - with a crown - having performed in a pop group “Candy” that won Junior Eurovision in 2011. 

So now Georgia has an artist with a bonza voice, and one that has good form. But back to the problem that I mentioned in the beginning. Georgia still needs a song cos I believe that is often the missing part of the puzzle for Georgia.

So, here’s my tip. Someone at GPB, get on the blower and call up your Junior Eurovision mate Giorgi Kukhianidze (who composed last year’s Mariam Bigvava’s stunner “I Believe”). And then get Giorgi and Iru together for a beer, wine, mocktail writing session AGAIN, yes again, cos Iru was - you guessed it - the lyricist for  “I Believe”. 

And Bingo, Georgia might again be riding a winner.

Denmark - Chris Zeiher

The 53rd (yes, that’s correct 53rd) staging of the Danish internal selection competition Dansk Melodi Grand Prix was held on Super Saturday (Feb 11, 2023) in the Southern Zealand city of Næstved, Denmark.  Sometimes dwarfed by other Nordic nation’s internal selection shows the Danes opt for one show and one chance to pick a winner.  As per previous editions 8 acts battled it out for a chance to represent Denmark in Liverpool this May.

Hosted by local celebrities Tina Müller and Heino Hansen the packed Arena Næstved was bursting with excited locals ready for the heat of battle.  Having had all week to vote for their favourite 2023 act these votes, along with those cast during the live event, were combined to send the top 3 acts to the super final.  No jury votes in this first run…only 100% public voting.   So, who was in the running?

• Nicklas Sonne – “Freedom”…a rousing rock-metal track 

• Frederik Leopold – “Stuck on You”….radio friendly, if a little dated, man-pop

• maia maia  - “Beautiful Bullshit”…accessible sing-a-long pop

• Mariyah LeBerg – “Human”… whimsy alt-pop 

• Micky Skeel – “Glansbillede”…a Robbie Williamsesque crowd pleaser

• EYJAA – “I Was Gonna Marry Him”…Icelandic sisters with an ode to being ghosted

• Soren Torpegaard Lund – “Lige Her”…a stylish yet a little boring torch song

• Reiley – “Breaking My Heart”…a Faroese version of Troye Sivan with a chorus begging to be sampled on TikTok

The Danes can be a funny bunch when it comes to their internal selection often veering to safe options which don’t always translate to success at Eurovision proper.   So, it comes as no surprise that pre-contest favourites EYJAA and maia maia found themselves missing out on the super final in favour of a trio of lads.  

So, who’d be taking the ticket to Liverpool?  Would it be Micky Skeel’s inoffensive mid-tempo pop rock “Glansbillede”, towering crowd-pleaser Nicklas Sonne with his rock-metal “Freedom” or Faroese social media sensation Reiley who’s “Breaking My Heart” skirted some rule-breaking controversy pre-contest but was cleared to compete.  The winner of the super final would be determined by the more familiar 50% public vote and 50% jury vote.

Oozing personality Nicklas Sonne delivered a solid public vote but the jury’s tipped in favour of the contemporary stylings of Reiley propelling the lad from the Faroe Islands to the win.  Reiley becomes the first-ever Faroese winner of the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix and is set to break some hearts in Liverpool.  

Super-Final Results…

• Reiley – “Breaking My Heart” (43% of the votes – Jury 28%/ Public – 15%)

• Nicklas Sonne – “Freedom” (34% of the votes – Jury 14%/ Public – 20%)

• Micky Skeel – “Glansbillede” (23% of the votes – Jury 8%/ Public – 15%)

Can a bit of Faroese magic advance Denmark back into the Grand Final or will the Danes hearts get broken for another year?   

Norway - SF 3 - David McKean

orway’s Melodi Grand Prix is the 61st edition and is the preselection mechanism for the country’s entry into the ESC.

In 2023 it comprises 3 heats of which the top 3 from each will progress to a grand final scheduled to held 4/2/23.

Semi-final 3 was held on 28/1/23 in Oslo.

The 7 entrants / songs in order of performance were:

• Akuvi / “Triumph”

• Tiril / “Break it”

• Skrellex / “Love again”

• Eline Thorp / “Not meant to be”

• Stig van Eijk / “Someday”

• Maria Celin / “Freya”

• Atle Pettersen / “Masterpiece”

Hosted by the delightful Arian Engebø and Stian Thorbjørnsen, the show contained a fantastic variety of the best of Norway and competition was intense for these last 3 tickets.

Once everyone had belted out their best effort the decision was passed to the Norwegian televoters. The 3 acts that topped the votes and earnt a right to perform in the grand final on 4/2/23

• Eline Thorp

• Atle Pettersen

• Skrellex

Focus now switches to the Grand Final. The winner will be decided by a 50/50 combination of public televoting and ten international jury members from across Europe.

Some trivia on some of the heat 3 entrants: Stig van Eijk represented Norway at the 1999 ESC and finished 14th. Alte Petersen is lead singer of the band The Scheen and competed at MGP in 2021. Eline Thorp is a singer songwriter with 3 singles released so far.

Bring on the MGP final and may the best Norwegian win !