Eurovision Season 2019: February Update
To some February is the month of Valentine's Day, to some February is the month of miserable winter weather, but to me February is when Eurovision truly heats up ahead of knowing all of the entries next month. It suggests a lot that my frequency of entry-writing has gone up from an entry per month to an entry per week as we roll down towards May (less than 100 days to go). With that in mind, it's time for a reflection on the comings and goings of the last couple of weeks.
United Kingdom
I mean, it's difficult to say anything that changes the conversation about the UK at Eurovision. Michael Rice will clearly give it his best in Tel Aviv with a song that is very firmly in the not bad category but ultimately he won't be as good an ambassador for the UK at Eurovision as SuRie was last year and the song is pretty much guaranteed to end up languishing near the bottom of the scoreboard. The weird six-singer, three-song format didn't help proceedings and just showcased the lack of artistry and original creativity currently at the heart of the BBC Eurovision selection process. The real winner of the day was Mans Zelmerlow who for the second year running excelled in his role as host of the show alongside Mel Giedroyc and who is honestly our best hope of the UK one day falling back in love with Eurovision again! Perhaps he is the hero of our time after all!
Australia
By contrast, I loved everything about the way that the Australian National Final was organised. Besides the part where by definition, the Australian primetime slot turned the Saturday into a Eurovision National Final DAY (as opposed to a series of things happening simultaneously in the evening) the quality and variety of acts were really fantastic and left the Australian public with a big choice. If I am being honest, I don't think they chose correctly. I think either Sheppard or Electric Fields would have made a better Eurovision entrant and the relation between Kate Miller-Heidke's staging this year and Elina Nechayeva is (whilst perhaps a cheap comparison to make) definitely apparent. I see this year as a year of Australia finally beginning to celebrate being a part of Eurovision as a whole nation through this national final. Their invited entry which started as a controversial experiment in 2015 has four years later borne some fantastic results!
Montenegro
Ok, so I honestly like this song! No, I'm not being ironic. I like that the staging was different, I like they took the risk of not going down the big Balkan ballad route, I think the vocals are on point when they are together live and I think this group is composed of six young musicians who will together work hard to seize the opportunity that the Montenegrin public has presented to them. I'm not suggesting it will do anything upon reaching the final, but with a revamp and a potential upgraded staging to go alongside that, I can't see why D-Moll couldn't send Montenegro back to the final for the first time since Knez and 'Adio' in 2015.
Italy
Oh Italy, I will never understand Sanremo, I will never understand your weird way of choosing the song to send to Eurovision but most importantly, I will never understand why Italian hip-hop is as much of a thing right now as it is. People seem to like it and I can't wrap my head around this. Similarly to this year's French entry, I feel like people have hopped on the bandwagon of deconstructing the story behind the song whilst forgetting that the song has to be exceptional as well if it's going to go anywhere in Tel Aviv. I don't like their chances this year but knowing my luck on predictions, that just means that Mahmood will place in the Top 10!
The Belorussian National Final is weird in a good year but this year's Belorussian Final is even weirder owing largely to the part where it's taking place in March. That hasn't saved the part where the lineup is still dire with nobody competing who seems to give me any hope that Belarus are going anywhere near the Grand Final again. I find it hilarious that MIHAI and Daz Sampson couldn't make the cut on this lineup!
The Danes meanwhile continue their Dansk Melodi Grand Prix trend of putting together a half-decent song selection with a lot of resource behind it but ultimately existing in the shadow of a certain 2013 winner. I love getting behind a Danish entry but the two songs in pole position for me are a bit too much a case of "people will like this for the wrong reasons" for me to sit comfortably with it. Nonetheless, Denmark will probably enjoy a good show next weekend and the production values of Dansk Melodi Grand Prix (having watched it over the past few years) are certainly in the same region of the Norwegian and Swedish compatriots.
I predicted that Moldova would have a shot at winning the whole thing in a post of mine at the beginning of this year (http://internationalisteurovisionblog.blogspot.com/2019/01/eurovision-season-2019-preview-post.html) but that dream died a very certain death upon listening to their entries and realising that they would do well to get out of their semi. 'I Will Not Surrender' is my favourite of the bunch but it is thin lines in what is ultimately a poor and unmemorable line up. Nonetheless, we have seen the Moldovans work staging magic the last two years and if they can put together a stage show of that calibre, the song itself may not even matter.
Similarly to the Danes, I want to get excited about the Serbian final for no other reason than the number of fantastic entries that the Serbs have already given us (and the lack of a big Balkan song in this year's entries so far). However I must say that all of the songs sound very ordinary and only 'Moja Bol' stands out to me at all. I'm sure the Serbian public will still end up picking a corker of an entry but this is not a final I would even vaguely consider watching on March 3rd!
There only remains three things to say. Firstly that whilst we have to wait to hear the song, I am very excited about the unique sound that Kobi Marimi's voice will bring to the Eurovision stage, potentially emphasising the Middle-Eastern flare in this year's Tel-Aviv based show! He has proven throughout his time on the talent show selection process that he is capable of many different genres and styles and if his artistry is given the opportunity to shine through in the song and performance, it will mean very good things for Israel in this year's grand final.
Secondly, on writing this article up, I notice that the Greeks have chosen Katerine Duska to represent them. After last year's national final fiasco, the choice is not only a safe and secure one but Katerine is a good name to bring into the Eurovision community who has international experience and will bring a unique brooding soulful voice (and hopefully song and staging to match) to Tel Aviv in May. I feel bad that their hopes of sending artists with an exclusively Greek sound didn't work out however given that the Greeks have always had more success with songs in English, I can't say I am entirely surprised they opted to go back on that idea!
Thirdly, I have three words that I sort of previewed in an earlier entry but which are now made official... Welcome... Back... Sergey!
Right, I'm off to cover Eesti Laul in Tallinn! I look forward to corresponding with all of you from the chilly, music-filled Estonian capital. Don't forget to subscribe to the blog and comment below with what you are looking forward to in this year's Eurovision Season so far!
United Kingdom
I mean, it's difficult to say anything that changes the conversation about the UK at Eurovision. Michael Rice will clearly give it his best in Tel Aviv with a song that is very firmly in the not bad category but ultimately he won't be as good an ambassador for the UK at Eurovision as SuRie was last year and the song is pretty much guaranteed to end up languishing near the bottom of the scoreboard. The weird six-singer, three-song format didn't help proceedings and just showcased the lack of artistry and original creativity currently at the heart of the BBC Eurovision selection process. The real winner of the day was Mans Zelmerlow who for the second year running excelled in his role as host of the show alongside Mel Giedroyc and who is honestly our best hope of the UK one day falling back in love with Eurovision again! Perhaps he is the hero of our time after all!
Australia
By contrast, I loved everything about the way that the Australian National Final was organised. Besides the part where by definition, the Australian primetime slot turned the Saturday into a Eurovision National Final DAY (as opposed to a series of things happening simultaneously in the evening) the quality and variety of acts were really fantastic and left the Australian public with a big choice. If I am being honest, I don't think they chose correctly. I think either Sheppard or Electric Fields would have made a better Eurovision entrant and the relation between Kate Miller-Heidke's staging this year and Elina Nechayeva is (whilst perhaps a cheap comparison to make) definitely apparent. I see this year as a year of Australia finally beginning to celebrate being a part of Eurovision as a whole nation through this national final. Their invited entry which started as a controversial experiment in 2015 has four years later borne some fantastic results!
Montenegro
Ok, so I honestly like this song! No, I'm not being ironic. I like that the staging was different, I like they took the risk of not going down the big Balkan ballad route, I think the vocals are on point when they are together live and I think this group is composed of six young musicians who will together work hard to seize the opportunity that the Montenegrin public has presented to them. I'm not suggesting it will do anything upon reaching the final, but with a revamp and a potential upgraded staging to go alongside that, I can't see why D-Moll couldn't send Montenegro back to the final for the first time since Knez and 'Adio' in 2015.
Italy
Oh Italy, I will never understand Sanremo, I will never understand your weird way of choosing the song to send to Eurovision but most importantly, I will never understand why Italian hip-hop is as much of a thing right now as it is. People seem to like it and I can't wrap my head around this. Similarly to this year's French entry, I feel like people have hopped on the bandwagon of deconstructing the story behind the song whilst forgetting that the song has to be exceptional as well if it's going to go anywhere in Tel Aviv. I don't like their chances this year but knowing my luck on predictions, that just means that Mahmood will place in the Top 10!
The Belorussian National Final is weird in a good year but this year's Belorussian Final is even weirder owing largely to the part where it's taking place in March. That hasn't saved the part where the lineup is still dire with nobody competing who seems to give me any hope that Belarus are going anywhere near the Grand Final again. I find it hilarious that MIHAI and Daz Sampson couldn't make the cut on this lineup!
The Danes meanwhile continue their Dansk Melodi Grand Prix trend of putting together a half-decent song selection with a lot of resource behind it but ultimately existing in the shadow of a certain 2013 winner. I love getting behind a Danish entry but the two songs in pole position for me are a bit too much a case of "people will like this for the wrong reasons" for me to sit comfortably with it. Nonetheless, Denmark will probably enjoy a good show next weekend and the production values of Dansk Melodi Grand Prix (having watched it over the past few years) are certainly in the same region of the Norwegian and Swedish compatriots.
I predicted that Moldova would have a shot at winning the whole thing in a post of mine at the beginning of this year (http://internationalisteurovisionblog.blogspot.com/2019/01/eurovision-season-2019-preview-post.html) but that dream died a very certain death upon listening to their entries and realising that they would do well to get out of their semi. 'I Will Not Surrender' is my favourite of the bunch but it is thin lines in what is ultimately a poor and unmemorable line up. Nonetheless, we have seen the Moldovans work staging magic the last two years and if they can put together a stage show of that calibre, the song itself may not even matter.
Similarly to the Danes, I want to get excited about the Serbian final for no other reason than the number of fantastic entries that the Serbs have already given us (and the lack of a big Balkan song in this year's entries so far). However I must say that all of the songs sound very ordinary and only 'Moja Bol' stands out to me at all. I'm sure the Serbian public will still end up picking a corker of an entry but this is not a final I would even vaguely consider watching on March 3rd!
There only remains three things to say. Firstly that whilst we have to wait to hear the song, I am very excited about the unique sound that Kobi Marimi's voice will bring to the Eurovision stage, potentially emphasising the Middle-Eastern flare in this year's Tel-Aviv based show! He has proven throughout his time on the talent show selection process that he is capable of many different genres and styles and if his artistry is given the opportunity to shine through in the song and performance, it will mean very good things for Israel in this year's grand final.
Secondly, on writing this article up, I notice that the Greeks have chosen Katerine Duska to represent them. After last year's national final fiasco, the choice is not only a safe and secure one but Katerine is a good name to bring into the Eurovision community who has international experience and will bring a unique brooding soulful voice (and hopefully song and staging to match) to Tel Aviv in May. I feel bad that their hopes of sending artists with an exclusively Greek sound didn't work out however given that the Greeks have always had more success with songs in English, I can't say I am entirely surprised they opted to go back on that idea!
Thirdly, I have three words that I sort of previewed in an earlier entry but which are now made official... Welcome... Back... Sergey!
Right, I'm off to cover Eesti Laul in Tallinn! I look forward to corresponding with all of you from the chilly, music-filled Estonian capital. Don't forget to subscribe to the blog and comment below with what you are looking forward to in this year's Eurovision Season so far!
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