Eurovision Season 2019: February Update II
Though you may be reading this update in March, it is still an opportunity for us to reflect on what has been a crazy February by even Eurovision Season standards. With all the twists and turns to explore in this article, it may just be best for us to throw ourselves straight into it!
Ukraine
Let's start by talking about the elephant in the room or perhaps more accurately, the elephant who is withdrawing from the room after it was asked to carry political slogans in order to be in the room. There was always going to be a sense with the private-public broadcaster collaboration at Eurovision that it would come to this but unfortunately nobody really wins from the farce that has been this year's Ukrainian Eurovision adventure. Once we are thick into the off season, I am going to write an article on the effect of the Ukraine-Russia conflict on Eurovision because it has now been allowed to affect (in some form) five different editions of the contest and it is beginning to get tiresome for everybody involved. I don't know what to suggest the solution might be long term (as a Sri Lankan I know that these conflicts can drag out for decades) but I certainly think that the Ukrainian broadcaster needs to take a long look at itself and how it wants its cultural relationship with the rest of Europe to work moving forward.
Estonia
Seeing as I was at Eesti Laul and recently wrote an article on those experiences (http://internationalisteurovisionblog.blogspot.com/2019/02/the-ultimate-eurovision-nation-i-was.html), I won't say too much on this except to say that I think the Estonians have made a fantastic choice. The song, the staging and Victor's charisma will bring a lot of positive and exciting things to the show in Tel Aviv!
Latvia
Meanwhile down the road, Supernova was wrapping up into its whimper of a climax. I have two things to say on this year's Latvian selection. 1) I like how the Latvians start the process early, invite the public to listen to all the songs from fairly early on and build up a buzz right at the beginning of the season. 2) Unfortunately the quality of the songs that comes out of the show are not at a calibre to do anything at Eurovision. 'That Night' is not a bad song by any stretch of the imagination, but it is already in the first half of a second semi that includes the Swedes, the Swiss, the Irish, Leonora's big Danish chair and Ester Peony's throne (but more on those in a moment). This song is sweet but will ultimately get drowned out on the night!
Slovenia
Speaking of songs getting drowned out on the night, how did this come out of a competitive EMA with 73% of the public vote? I'll admit that there's only such a small pool to pick from in Slovenia but there were definitely songs that would have fared better at the final contest than this. And yet, the fan community seems to rate this higher than the above Latvian entry which I think is a better song. If somebody could please explain that to me, I'd be very grateful.
Croatia
I can't even tell you how much I wish this performance was sponsored by Red Bull! I mean, were any of us actually listening to this song or just admiring how bizarre a grown man with wings looked singing about a dream? I think Jacques pulled off that style of song in Kiev but there isn't enough memorable about this to lift him (perhaps by the wings) out of the semi. Again, I must stress that the Second Semi includes four of the current favourites for overall victory this year and the only one it doesn't include is Italy. It's going to take something very special from some of the smaller nations to push their case for qualification.
Romania
Oh good, let's talk about Romania. I'm going to put all my cards on the table and say that I didn't like the song, I thought that the staging whilst better in the final than the semi was still not anything extraordinary. I thought that 'Dear Father' would have made a much better entry for Romania and as it turns out, so did the Romanian public! However, the problem here is not the song but that is subjective, the problem is giving individual jury members the same power as the public. This not only leaves the system open to manipulation and corruption, it also gives the public the illusion of power but in reality we already knew that Ester had won before the televote results came in. The system is broken, the system needs to change but worst of all, the system will not help them at Eurovision itself where the all important televote makes up 50% of the result. How can Ester be expected to place in the top 10 of her Semi with the Europe-wide televoters when she struggled to make the top 10 of televoting in her own country in what was not a particularly strong year?
Germany
I want to give credit where credit is due to the Germans by saying that there was no bad song in that lineup and the national final organised around it was perfectly exciting. Any song could have won and any song would have been a perfectly competent entry. Unfortunately, any song did win and whilst 'Sisters' will not be the worst song in the Tel Aviv final, it only needs to be the least memorable for it to come last. If this draws first half in the running order, a bet on Germany to finish last would probably be a shoo in, which is a shame because S!sters seem sweet and the song is cute but nothing particularly special. I will end this year's talk on Germany by emphasising again that I don't understand why NDR aren't brave enough to even consider offering a song in German?
Hungary
There's little to say on the Hungarian selection process that I haven't already said. The system pleases nobody and annoys people no end in between. Unfortunately this system still manages to turn up results (which may say more about the Hungarian diaspora than the song quality). I prefer Origo to Az en Apam but then again, I hardly gave him a hope in 2017 so maybe this year he will improve on his 8th place finished. I am happy for him that he got the slot (even if I would have preferred Acoustic Planet), I am confused by Hungary's approach to Eurovision and I am sure that they will do well in Tel Aviv (even if I don't quite understand how).
Denmark
As soon as I saw this staging I sighed and said "they're going to send her, aren't they" and sure enough they did. It's at moments like this when I miss Rasmussen and the fearlessness with which he performed 'Higher Ground' in Lisbon. 'Love is Forever' is again cute and sweet and the multiple languages is an obvious one to get people voting but it won't do anything. Obviously, everybody's Eurovision expectations on different nations differ but I have always viewed the Danes as being at the top table of Eurovision excellence and this act is not even close to matching those very high standards.
Lithuania
Monika, Monika, Monika, Monika, Jurijus! Well the Lithuanian jury and televoters certainly had me trolled there. From all the attention generated around her and the song, you would have though Monika Marija had already booked her tickets to Tel Aviv in May. I think she got cocky and I think that the Lithuanian voters reacted negatively to that in their numbers. 'Run with the Lions' is definitely not a better song or is performed better but unfortunately I think that in many people's minds the vote came down to Monika or something else. Jurijus seems like a nice enough guy and a competent enough singer but again, he is at risk of getting eaten alive (perhaps by those lions he's running next to) in the thick of the Thursday Semi Final.
Right, that's national finals out of the way. Belgium released their entry today and whilst I have previously admitted to not rating Belgian entries as highly as everybody else does, it seems that I might actually not be alone in thinking we won't be headed to Brussels next year. Again, Eliot seems like a sweet enough guy but the song is not memorable and there isn't a type of staging I can imagine that would lift what is a very bland song live on the Tuesday night (especially when placed close to staging as bizarre and memorable as Australia, Estonia and what it looks like Iceland will pick).
Let's talk about 'Fuego', oh no sorry, I mean 'Replay'. Jokes aside, I see the point many are making about similarities but I ultimately disagree and believe that Tamta will bring her own style and flavour to the act. Cyprus know how to stage acts properly and are not stupid enough to think that doing the exact same thing two years running will end in the same result. I like what I have heard so far and look forward to hearing the finalised cut.
We are down to the end of national finals season and parting is such sorrow but we still have finals coming in Georgia, Iceland, Moldova, Norway, Portugal, Serbia & Sweden in the next couple of weeks. We are also getting into the season of internal selections popping up out of nowhere so we are in for a fun couple of weeks and I will see you all in March!
Ukraine
Let's start by talking about the elephant in the room or perhaps more accurately, the elephant who is withdrawing from the room after it was asked to carry political slogans in order to be in the room. There was always going to be a sense with the private-public broadcaster collaboration at Eurovision that it would come to this but unfortunately nobody really wins from the farce that has been this year's Ukrainian Eurovision adventure. Once we are thick into the off season, I am going to write an article on the effect of the Ukraine-Russia conflict on Eurovision because it has now been allowed to affect (in some form) five different editions of the contest and it is beginning to get tiresome for everybody involved. I don't know what to suggest the solution might be long term (as a Sri Lankan I know that these conflicts can drag out for decades) but I certainly think that the Ukrainian broadcaster needs to take a long look at itself and how it wants its cultural relationship with the rest of Europe to work moving forward.
Estonia
Seeing as I was at Eesti Laul and recently wrote an article on those experiences (http://internationalisteurovisionblog.blogspot.com/2019/02/the-ultimate-eurovision-nation-i-was.html), I won't say too much on this except to say that I think the Estonians have made a fantastic choice. The song, the staging and Victor's charisma will bring a lot of positive and exciting things to the show in Tel Aviv!
Latvia
Meanwhile down the road, Supernova was wrapping up into its whimper of a climax. I have two things to say on this year's Latvian selection. 1) I like how the Latvians start the process early, invite the public to listen to all the songs from fairly early on and build up a buzz right at the beginning of the season. 2) Unfortunately the quality of the songs that comes out of the show are not at a calibre to do anything at Eurovision. 'That Night' is not a bad song by any stretch of the imagination, but it is already in the first half of a second semi that includes the Swedes, the Swiss, the Irish, Leonora's big Danish chair and Ester Peony's throne (but more on those in a moment). This song is sweet but will ultimately get drowned out on the night!
Slovenia
Speaking of songs getting drowned out on the night, how did this come out of a competitive EMA with 73% of the public vote? I'll admit that there's only such a small pool to pick from in Slovenia but there were definitely songs that would have fared better at the final contest than this. And yet, the fan community seems to rate this higher than the above Latvian entry which I think is a better song. If somebody could please explain that to me, I'd be very grateful.
Croatia
I can't even tell you how much I wish this performance was sponsored by Red Bull! I mean, were any of us actually listening to this song or just admiring how bizarre a grown man with wings looked singing about a dream? I think Jacques pulled off that style of song in Kiev but there isn't enough memorable about this to lift him (perhaps by the wings) out of the semi. Again, I must stress that the Second Semi includes four of the current favourites for overall victory this year and the only one it doesn't include is Italy. It's going to take something very special from some of the smaller nations to push their case for qualification.
Romania
Oh good, let's talk about Romania. I'm going to put all my cards on the table and say that I didn't like the song, I thought that the staging whilst better in the final than the semi was still not anything extraordinary. I thought that 'Dear Father' would have made a much better entry for Romania and as it turns out, so did the Romanian public! However, the problem here is not the song but that is subjective, the problem is giving individual jury members the same power as the public. This not only leaves the system open to manipulation and corruption, it also gives the public the illusion of power but in reality we already knew that Ester had won before the televote results came in. The system is broken, the system needs to change but worst of all, the system will not help them at Eurovision itself where the all important televote makes up 50% of the result. How can Ester be expected to place in the top 10 of her Semi with the Europe-wide televoters when she struggled to make the top 10 of televoting in her own country in what was not a particularly strong year?
Germany
I want to give credit where credit is due to the Germans by saying that there was no bad song in that lineup and the national final organised around it was perfectly exciting. Any song could have won and any song would have been a perfectly competent entry. Unfortunately, any song did win and whilst 'Sisters' will not be the worst song in the Tel Aviv final, it only needs to be the least memorable for it to come last. If this draws first half in the running order, a bet on Germany to finish last would probably be a shoo in, which is a shame because S!sters seem sweet and the song is cute but nothing particularly special. I will end this year's talk on Germany by emphasising again that I don't understand why NDR aren't brave enough to even consider offering a song in German?
Hungary
There's little to say on the Hungarian selection process that I haven't already said. The system pleases nobody and annoys people no end in between. Unfortunately this system still manages to turn up results (which may say more about the Hungarian diaspora than the song quality). I prefer Origo to Az en Apam but then again, I hardly gave him a hope in 2017 so maybe this year he will improve on his 8th place finished. I am happy for him that he got the slot (even if I would have preferred Acoustic Planet), I am confused by Hungary's approach to Eurovision and I am sure that they will do well in Tel Aviv (even if I don't quite understand how).
Denmark
As soon as I saw this staging I sighed and said "they're going to send her, aren't they" and sure enough they did. It's at moments like this when I miss Rasmussen and the fearlessness with which he performed 'Higher Ground' in Lisbon. 'Love is Forever' is again cute and sweet and the multiple languages is an obvious one to get people voting but it won't do anything. Obviously, everybody's Eurovision expectations on different nations differ but I have always viewed the Danes as being at the top table of Eurovision excellence and this act is not even close to matching those very high standards.
Lithuania
Monika, Monika, Monika, Monika, Jurijus! Well the Lithuanian jury and televoters certainly had me trolled there. From all the attention generated around her and the song, you would have though Monika Marija had already booked her tickets to Tel Aviv in May. I think she got cocky and I think that the Lithuanian voters reacted negatively to that in their numbers. 'Run with the Lions' is definitely not a better song or is performed better but unfortunately I think that in many people's minds the vote came down to Monika or something else. Jurijus seems like a nice enough guy and a competent enough singer but again, he is at risk of getting eaten alive (perhaps by those lions he's running next to) in the thick of the Thursday Semi Final.
Right, that's national finals out of the way. Belgium released their entry today and whilst I have previously admitted to not rating Belgian entries as highly as everybody else does, it seems that I might actually not be alone in thinking we won't be headed to Brussels next year. Again, Eliot seems like a sweet enough guy but the song is not memorable and there isn't a type of staging I can imagine that would lift what is a very bland song live on the Tuesday night (especially when placed close to staging as bizarre and memorable as Australia, Estonia and what it looks like Iceland will pick).
Let's talk about 'Fuego', oh no sorry, I mean 'Replay'. Jokes aside, I see the point many are making about similarities but I ultimately disagree and believe that Tamta will bring her own style and flavour to the act. Cyprus know how to stage acts properly and are not stupid enough to think that doing the exact same thing two years running will end in the same result. I like what I have heard so far and look forward to hearing the finalised cut.
We are down to the end of national finals season and parting is such sorrow but we still have finals coming in Georgia, Iceland, Moldova, Norway, Portugal, Serbia & Sweden in the next couple of weeks. We are also getting into the season of internal selections popping up out of nowhere so we are in for a fun couple of weeks and I will see you all in March!
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