I know, I know I was supposed to start writing this post in May, but... Well... Let's be honest: life hit me with a force of a fucking train. Fortunately, lately I've somehow managed to sort most things out and sit down to work, so... Better late than never, eh?
But let's get to the topic: Eurovision 2021. After two years of waiting everyone was Eurovision-starved (me included), so no surprise that this edition was... Special. Really special. I mean, it's been something like two months and I still haven't gone down from Eurovision high, so yeah. In short, there were emotions, a lot of fun and many wonderful people. And songs. I'll be honest, the variety of songs this year was amazing. So, let's start the annual tour around entries!
As last time, the order is determined by country's placement. And we're starting with...
39. Latvia: "The Moon Is Rising" by Samanta Tina
Wait, what?!
When I was checking out songs before the contest, I got pretty hyped up for Latvia. Okay, maybe this year's entry isn't as much my taste, as the previous one, but I still liked it. It's amazing song with feminist message sung by a strong woman with powerful voice. So what went wrong?
Everything. Everything went wrong.
Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit. The staging is weird, but fits the chaotic energy of the song. Same for the costumes. What failed are the vocals. Samanta has gorgeously powerful voice, but for some reason couldn't stay in the right key. I doubt it's the stress – her voice is too consistent for just being nervous. Several people theorized that her earpiece fucked up and she couldn't hear the music, which I think is the case here. Quite a pity. "The Moon Is Rising" is fire, it's painful to see it killed by technical issues.
38. Georgia: "You" by Tornike Kipiani
Despite said musical variety, we still couldn't escaped mandatory tearful ballads. (Yeah, I'm not a fan of ballads on Eurovision, why do you ask?) "You" is well written and performed, but for some reason it just feels... Empty. Empty musically and visually. Maybe I got spoilt with electronic and metal music, I don't know. This is just not in my taste.
But I have to admit, the moment when lyrics are being displayed on Tornike is quite cool.
37. Ireland: "Maps" by Lesley Roy
Another song that sounded great as a studio version, but didn't do as well live. Lesley has a good, powerful voice, but still I can't shake the feeling that something was off on the stage. Maybe it was stress, maybe tiredness (so much running...), I don't know.
But I have to admit, the staging is unusual. It brings to mind these children books with 3D illustrations, which is an interesting idea. Okay, maybe it didn't look as good when seen from the auditorium, but damn. Greece had similar problem and no one complained, so why would I?
36. Czech Republic: "Omaga" by Benny Cristo
Woah, that's a lot of glitter. Or crystals. Or whatever they glued to his jacket. It sparks.
This is one of the songs I call "typical Eurovision". It's... Safe. There's nothing really outstanding. The song is nice, the visuals are nice, the choreography is nice, everything is... Nice. And that's all. For me there's no surprise that it didn't qualify. Sorry.
35. North Macedonia: "Here I Stand" by Vasil
Okay, who had "disco ball cosplay" on their Eurovision bingo card this year? *ba dum tss*
Jokes aside: while the song is totally not my jam, the performance itself is marvellous – very aesthetic and well done on technical level. Vasil has strong voice (holy shit, the high note on the end!) and sings very emotionally, which was completed with some nice visuals. To be honest, I didn't expect this entry to get so little points... But well, surprises are integral part of The Eurovision ExperienceTM.
34. Australia: "Technicolour" by Montaigne
Aww, they did Australia dirty this year! Despite remote participation (fucking pandemic, can this shit finally end?!) this entry is awesome. The staging is lively and suits the song, the choreography is interesting and, last but not least, Montaigne slays as a vocalist. Her vocal range is phenomenal, she is also very invested in the performance. I was sure this song would get into the final.
Anyway, now you know why I never play any lottery...
33. Poland: "The Ride" by Rafał
(People will probably hate me for this, but fuck it).
To my giant surprise, this year's song is... Not bad? I mean, it's very upbeat, danceable and just nice to listen to. When I was checking out songs before the contest, I quite enjoyed it. Of course, I still didn't expect much from the performance... And I was mostly right. Mostly. I mean, the performance itself is nothing special – rather mediocre compared to others this year. Also, Rafał's voice just sounds weird without the shitload of autotune. However, if we compare it to entries from previous years, we can see that Poland is actually making progress. Not much, but if we keep that up, in a few years we might actually get a good score. For now I can say we are heading in the right direction... And hope we don't fuck it up next year.
However, there is one thing that kept bothering me: displaying "Warszawa" everywhere was completely unnecessary. Like, damn, everyone knows it's Poland's capital, no need to flex!
32. Slovenia: "Amen" by Ana Soklič
I'm not very fond of this song, it's quite boring for me. However, I have to admit that Ana has amazing voice – the "hallelujah" part is awesome. I also liked the visuals, rather minimalistic, but matching the tone of the performance. But as a whole, the performance didn't make me change my mind about eurovisional ballads.
31. Estonia: "The Lucky One" by Uku Suviste
Shout out to Tumblr user, who made the UwU Suviste joke. Now I have to watch myself so I wouldn't call Uku that. Thank you, I hate it.
Rather solid entry, but also not outstanding. For some reason it reminds me about "Arcade" and "Scream", dunno why. Maybe it's the visuals... Also, please, can someone teach Uku how to tie a bow tie? This untied one around his neck looked rather sad.
30. Austria: "Amen" by Vincent Bueno
In retrospect, it's quite funny that there were two songs called "Amen" this year... And neither qualified to the final.
Totally not my jam, but I like how emotional this entry is. Vincent poured his whole heart into performing and oh my, it shows. Especially near the end – he almost started crying.
29. Denmark: "Øve Os På Hinanden" by Fyr Og Flamme
A cool, energetic song with cool, energetic performance. It also has a distinct retro feel, which is great. And I'm always for songs in national languages, it makes a nice difference in English-dominated music scene. Also, Fyr Og Flamme definitely had a lot of fun while performing (these cute dances are my favourite part). Watching them brings a lot of happiness.
28. Romania: "Amnesia" by Roxen
Interesting entry. The song is nice and has a great message. I also like the staging, especially the choreography. However, I'm not sure if Roxen should have moved that much: as someone pointed out, she often sounds out of breath, which affects the overall performance. But still, her vocals are quite pleasant, at least for me. Quite a pity Romania didn't qualify.
27. Croatia: "Tick-Tock" by Albina
Another entry I was sure would qualify. The song is catchy and well performed, I especially like the language change. The dancers also did amazing. And the visuals? I love them.
However, despite being this great, Croatia still got screwed by the points. Well, shit happens.
***
This concludes the post. Next time (don't ask me, when, my life is too chaotic to promise you anything) I'll talk about the songs from the final. Stay tuned, sweethearts! 💜
(And if you want to make sure you don't miss anything, you can follow me on Twitter! Look for @kikihakanate there! 💜)