Eurovision Season 2019: January Update

I don't know about everybody else but suddenly Monday came along and it really felt like the Eurovision 2019 train had gathered full force. With so much to report on, I should save this nice introductory anecdote paragraph for a different post and crack straight into what's been happening!

I have always been a sucker for draws! I am not being ironic when I say that there's a certain thrill to watching and waiting to see which countries get pulled first from the bowl and in which semi final half they are placed in. I have been weirdly lucky enough to have watched all of the last four of these despite the variety of times they have been at. Whilst we will have to wait until all the songs are released to be sure, what I will say is that both semi-finals look fairly evenly matched with perhaps a slight leaning to Semi Final Two.



Semi Final One

There are some nice geographical anecdotes to mention here. Spain is voting in the semi final that Portugal is competing in. Greece & Cyprus get to begin their annual love in at the semi-final stage as will Serbia & Montenegro. With the three acts we know in the show's first half all being dance-based songs, we're in for an upbeat start to proceedings on the Tuesday. The dark horses in Cyprus and the Czech Republic are in the first half whilst traditional powerhouses such as Australia, Belgium, Greece & Ukraine occupy the second half.



Semi Final Two

The Brits voting in the same semi as both the Maltese and Irish performances will be a big help to both of them. Similarly, the German-speaking countries are all voting in the same Semi Final (perhaps time for somebody to send an entry in German?). Somehow Denmark, Sweden & Norway are all voting in the same Semi Final. Moldova and Romania are guaranteed to pass their twelve points between each other no matter what gets sent whilst Azerbaijan and Armenia are guaranteed to rank each other bottom no matter what gets sent! The real cat amongst the pigeons though is Russia who have ended up in the second half of this semi final and can be fairly confident of getting through what is nevertheless an action packed semi.



This is a very exciting draw with a lot of potential plotlines to explore as we get closer to the contest. With every song that gets released from here on out, we get the chance to uncover the blanks and take gradual steps towards learning the full make up of each show. With that in mind, let's have a look at the three countries who now have confirmed songs.

France

I mean, I saw every part of this particular result coming from about a mile away. Flew through to Final? Check. Performance with slide-show showcasing internal message of song? Check. Didn't get much love from international juries? Check. Smashed the televote? Check. Last place at the main contest? Whilst I can't put a tick there yet, this selection has 26th place written all over it and maybe that will be enough to send Madame Monsieur away from the Eurovision universe for another few years. Unless Bilal Hassani can come up with a gimmicky hand movement that the Tel Aviv crowd can join along with, maybe that will build up a higher score (Sarcasm)!



Spain

This final at least had some entertainment and shock value. For weeks beforehand it was supposed to be Maria vs. Noelia and then Miki swooped in with a fun-loving bouncy song that should have the Tel Aviv crowd jumping even if they mess up the staging. It's worth also noting that this will go through a revamp before we hear the final version and I think this with a revamp has a lot of potential. Perhaps not Madrid 2020 potential but certainly enough to turn around a recent poor spate of Spanish results!

Czech Republic

I normally really enjoy nothing more than sitting down and flicking through each of the songs from various national final selections deciding if there is a potential winner amongst the group. The excitement builds even further when the broadcaster decide to poll the Eurovision fandom to find said song. It therefore says a lot that having heard the full array of Czech finalists, there wasn't a song I felt was even worth me spending my free app vote on. Friend of a Friend is a catchy foot tapping song but when you're in the same half of the first semi as Cyprus' Replay and whatever Finland and Darude send, I feel that it will get forgotten.

Speaking of Darude, am I the only one getting really excited about Finland sending one of their most famous musical exports of all time? In DJ terms, this is the equivalent of Belgium sending Martin Garrix, the UK sending Calvin Harris or France sending David Guetta. Yes, it's been a good 20 years since the release of 'Sandstorm' but if he does well, it could pave the way for some legends of the era to give Eurovision a go! I'm eagerly awaiting his three songs' release.

A Dal is back and A Dal is still really weird! As per usual, there is a good variety that means there will be something for everybody and the winner will be unexpected and will come from nowhere. I love 'Nyari Zapur' and would love to see Acoustic Planet win the ticket to Tel Aviv but I have been burned by A Dal before and am definitely not buying a Hungarian flag in excitement of whatever they do send (again, it will come from nowhere).

 

Judging from the snippets, Slovenia have a half decent selection of songs. We will have to wait until the full versions come out but I have a sneaky feeling about Ula Lozar and 'Fridays'.

Credit also has to be given to the Aussies who have not only arranged a fantastic selection of songs but have managed to secure some high profile names to compete. I have yet to hear a song that could win the whole thing but this is still a final that is set to stoke the excitement of a nation in Eurovision. For my part, I hope Sheppard get the ticket so I can see one of my favourite Australian bands represent the land down under (and am only a tiny bit impatient about getting the chance to hear 'On My Way')

 

As I have written in previous articles, I would love nothing more than to see Iceland win Eurovision and host it the following year on a chilly May Eurovision island! They have failed to qualify for the final since 2014 but every year I am hopeful that they will get their act together and start properly competing. Unfortunately this won't be a year when they come close to winning but they do have a good chance to end their poor run of form and qualify for the final again. It will be interesting to see what gets selected.

 

For Portugal, will it ever get better than 2017 in Kiev? I don't think so. In fact, I think the nature of their victory will make RTP even more dogged to mostly send very traditional Portuguese music in Portuguese and hope they end up stumbling upon another Salvador Sobral. That act isn't coming this year but 'Inercia' is at least an interesting and unique listen.

Recent winners Norway have decided to follow up last year's very strong Melodi Grand Prix selection with a largely unforgettable bunch of fast tempo songs and then a woman trying to do the female Alexander Rybak act that apparently has yet to be tested! It's a crying shame to me that 'Scandilove' would have sailed to victory if it had competed this year as would 'Talk to the Hand'. I think that this might be one of the rare years that Norway doesn't qualify for the Grand Final.

And finally on the finals discussion, am I the only one who is genuinely surprised that Romania have yet to win Eurovision? I mean, they had a bad year last year but they tend to have consistently strong results. This year is no exception with a bunch of songs that could make waves including 'Army of Love', 'Dear Father' and 'Destin'. In fact, Romania have been making headway in the early betting odds and I for one would get very excited about the general concept of Bucharest 2020.

I will say a quick word for Austrian artist Paenda who promises to bring something unique to the contest that I see as being similar to Dihaj in 2017. I take my hat off to anybody who tries to push the boundaries of the contest so well done to ORF for building on last year's strong finish with another enticing entry!

I'm also weirdly excited about the return of Serhat who let's not forget nearly qualified for the final in Stockholm with a much maligned song. Yet he handled himself with class and poise through the whole process and I am convinced he will come into this challenge knowing what to expect and ready to do the unthinkable by giving San Marino its second ever finalist! Credit where credit is due to the San Marinese broadcaster who keep going when faced with the difficult challenge of qualification for the grand final with much fewer resources in comparison to other broadcasters.

And speaking of broadcasters throwing the kitchen sink at something, the Russian artist will be announced on Friday and I am giddy with excitement. Whether the rumours of Sergey's return are true or not, the Russians are back with a point to prove and they will not slip quietly into the night of the second semi. I am expecting the world from the Russians and as mentioned in my previous post, I also expect them to go the distance and win the whole thing!

And with that, I am going to start packing my bags for Gothenburg! Expect an article very soon showcasing my first experience of a Melodifestivalen Semi live in person! We are getting into the thick of national finals season and as you've been reading about, the excitement is well and truly heating up so it only remains for me to say see you in February!