Eurovision Season 2018: February Update
Sorry for the delay all! I'm currently in the midst of my final year of University and I only get my bits and pieces of free time very sporadically (explaining of course why this post was started at about 11 pm on a Tuesday night). I'm nonetheless very eager to run down everything that's set to happen in the Eurovision world. I will not look at the songs already selected just yet and I will wait until after more of the songs have been selected to do a Class of 2018 review post. For now though, let's check out the races around Europe coming up.
United Kingdom
Coming up, I am planning to write a longer blog post about what the United Kingdom needs to do in order to win Eurovision again. Sadly, 2018 is not their year to break back into the chasing pack. In fairness to the BBC, they have at least managed to get something for everybody this year and I am fully convinced that tonight's show in the Brighton Dome will be fantastic, but let's not kid ourselves, we'll be lucky to finish on the left side of the scoreboard with this lot. Favourite 'Legends' by 16 year old Asanda could do well but there are too many factors in play that could threaten that that I am not anywhere near getting excited. My personal favourite is 'Storms' by SuRie but knowing my luck with 'Eurovision: You Decide' it won't win. In any case, tonight should be a fun show but for me that mostly comes down to Mans Zelmerlow hosting it as opposed to any kind of hopes that we might see London hosting the 2019 contest.
Italy
All the snarky comments I have made about the United Kingdom aside, I never thought I would ever see the day when I got more excited about the result of 'Eurovision: You Decide' than I did about Sanremo, but trust me when I say that it really is god awful stuff. After Francesco did so well last year, I would have personally thought that we would have seen more current, modern pop songs ready to compete for the Italian ticket. Turns out, most of the songs sound like they dropped fresh out of a dusty cupboard, though I will say that at least the Piano players in the Sanremo area are getting some business. Lo Stato Sociale with 'Una vita in vacanza' is my one to watch but I have no faith in Italy getting this selection right whatsoever. Whoever they send is set to be their worst result since Italy came back to Eurovision in 2011 (and yes I am taking their 21st place finish in 2014 into account).
Denmark
I have a funny relationship with Melodi Grand Prix. It never manages to in itself be an amazing show but you always find one or two pure gems of songs that you listen to over and over again and really take to your heart. Then they come second and are unjustly robbed of the win only for Denmark to perform very underwhelmingly at the final itself. Now again, I know Anja sent Denmark back to the final in 2017, but it isn't exactly the days of 'Only Teardrops' and 'New Tomorrow' anymore. I'm not sure whether it's the lack of musical talent in Denmark or just that they can't put a decent show together, but if I were Denmark, I'd definitely be going around their Swedish neighbours to ask for a little advice. Check out 'Riot' by Ditte Marie for something vaguely resembling a decent entry.
Belarus
I'm not going to even waste any time going into the details of this race. The national broadcaster completely failed to do its due diligence and it will be a disappointing follow up to NAVIBAND's amazing placement last year. Or to summarise - I can guarentee that whatever gets picked is heading home in the Semis.
Montenegro
I'd have a lot more to say on this one if some songs had actually been released. Montenegro is one of those countries who have had such a bad run at Eurovision that they honestly can't do worse than a national final selection. There's a lot of buzz around Katarina Bogicevic and the buzz is enough for me to at least get my hopes up that they'll be returning to the Final (though they will have to emerge from the bloodbath of Semi Final 2 in order to do that).
And that's your lot for now. On the next update, we will be exploring Serbia, Germany, Greece and the Super Saturday finals from Moldova, Hungary, Latvia, Slovenia & Ukraine followed by finals from Armenia and Romania the following day!
United Kingdom
Coming up, I am planning to write a longer blog post about what the United Kingdom needs to do in order to win Eurovision again. Sadly, 2018 is not their year to break back into the chasing pack. In fairness to the BBC, they have at least managed to get something for everybody this year and I am fully convinced that tonight's show in the Brighton Dome will be fantastic, but let's not kid ourselves, we'll be lucky to finish on the left side of the scoreboard with this lot. Favourite 'Legends' by 16 year old Asanda could do well but there are too many factors in play that could threaten that that I am not anywhere near getting excited. My personal favourite is 'Storms' by SuRie but knowing my luck with 'Eurovision: You Decide' it won't win. In any case, tonight should be a fun show but for me that mostly comes down to Mans Zelmerlow hosting it as opposed to any kind of hopes that we might see London hosting the 2019 contest.
Italy
All the snarky comments I have made about the United Kingdom aside, I never thought I would ever see the day when I got more excited about the result of 'Eurovision: You Decide' than I did about Sanremo, but trust me when I say that it really is god awful stuff. After Francesco did so well last year, I would have personally thought that we would have seen more current, modern pop songs ready to compete for the Italian ticket. Turns out, most of the songs sound like they dropped fresh out of a dusty cupboard, though I will say that at least the Piano players in the Sanremo area are getting some business. Lo Stato Sociale with 'Una vita in vacanza' is my one to watch but I have no faith in Italy getting this selection right whatsoever. Whoever they send is set to be their worst result since Italy came back to Eurovision in 2011 (and yes I am taking their 21st place finish in 2014 into account).
Denmark
I have a funny relationship with Melodi Grand Prix. It never manages to in itself be an amazing show but you always find one or two pure gems of songs that you listen to over and over again and really take to your heart. Then they come second and are unjustly robbed of the win only for Denmark to perform very underwhelmingly at the final itself. Now again, I know Anja sent Denmark back to the final in 2017, but it isn't exactly the days of 'Only Teardrops' and 'New Tomorrow' anymore. I'm not sure whether it's the lack of musical talent in Denmark or just that they can't put a decent show together, but if I were Denmark, I'd definitely be going around their Swedish neighbours to ask for a little advice. Check out 'Riot' by Ditte Marie for something vaguely resembling a decent entry.
Belarus
I'm not going to even waste any time going into the details of this race. The national broadcaster completely failed to do its due diligence and it will be a disappointing follow up to NAVIBAND's amazing placement last year. Or to summarise - I can guarentee that whatever gets picked is heading home in the Semis.
Montenegro
I'd have a lot more to say on this one if some songs had actually been released. Montenegro is one of those countries who have had such a bad run at Eurovision that they honestly can't do worse than a national final selection. There's a lot of buzz around Katarina Bogicevic and the buzz is enough for me to at least get my hopes up that they'll be returning to the Final (though they will have to emerge from the bloodbath of Semi Final 2 in order to do that).
And that's your lot for now. On the next update, we will be exploring Serbia, Germany, Greece and the Super Saturday finals from Moldova, Hungary, Latvia, Slovenia & Ukraine followed by finals from Armenia and Romania the following day!
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