ESTONIA
Estonia's ERR held its annual Eesti Laul with 20 entries subject to two semifinal heats, where four would automatically advance from each heat based on combined jury and televote rankings, then the eliminated entries were given two chances--a televote re-vote during the semifinal heat, and if they failed that round, a wildcard voting round conducted after the semifinal heats. This would then yield 12 finalists and after the jury and televote tabulated, the Top Three would then be subject to another televote round to decide the winner.
Let's first start with notable eliminated entries.
"Kurbuse matused [Funeral of sorrow]" - Robin Juhketa. His name may not ring a bell but back in 2010 he was the frontman of the band Malcolm Lincoln, who represented this country with "Siren". That entry has avant-garde leanings, and this artist continued in that direction with this track. It's
"Tokameki [Throbbing]" - Neon Letters with Maiko. Maiko is half-Japanese and Estonian and she sang this song in English and Japanese. It's an early favorite hampered by less-than-pitch-perfect live delivery and lackluster staging.
"Whisky Won't Forget".- Carlos Ukareda. This chill acoustic pop entry has some adherents among Eurofans, but it failed to garner enough impact to advance to the final. Perhaps because again the vocals were not pitch-perfect live.
Now let's talk about notable finalists.
"Bad Philosophy" - Elysa. She was popular among Eurofans as this entry had a fun retro 1980s sound. But less-than-perfect-pitch live vocals made it miss the initial semifinal heat and required it landing one of the two wildcard slots to secure its spot in the finals. In the final, it ended up 11th place overall
"So Good at What You Do".- M Els. Here is a well-regarded chill number that recalls Gotye & Kimbra's 2012 megasmash "Someone that I Used to Know". It was 10th with the jury and 8th with the televote, so it finished 9th overall.
"Awaiting You" - Inger. This artist seems to be a well-regarded Eesti Laul staple since they debuted in 2019, and this upbeat mellow pop number displays great growth from that debut. It's a pleasant ditty that finished 7th across all metrics--maybe not topping or equaling their 2019 6th place finish but to be blunt I think this entry is way better than that debut.
"Lighthouse".- Sissi. She's the daughter of Dave Benton, who brought Estonia to victory in 2001 with "Everybody" alongside Tanel Padar and 2XL. For this go-round she offered a ballad and finished a respectable 6th place.
"House of Glass" - Janek. Here is a well-performed and sung number that started out as a spare ballad that then segued into an electro-pop raveup mid-song before reverting back to balladry. It finished 5th overall, ranking 6th with the jury and 4th with the televote.
"Tuju [Mood]".- Meelik. This band offered a fast-paced 1960s style rock number that won over the jury, placing 4th, and finished 5th with the televote, and with its 4th place overall finish missed out of making the superfinal. But admittedly, the Final Three were just too formidable.
"Monsters".- Bedwetters. This band gave Linkin Park-style hard rock with a great stage show. I would've loved this to win, but it was pitted with another formidable rock number in the superfinal that in a way the rock vote was split between these two.
"Venom" - Ollie. This rock ballad has an arena-ready vibe so it proved to be a worthy runner-up to the eventual winner. It could've possibly won if it didn't have to split the rock vote with the Bedwetters.
LATVIA
Latvia's LTV staged its annual Supernova. It has a scaled down shortlist this year of 14 entries, which were subject to a semifinal round where 10 would move forward to the final. Interestingly, one returning alumni failed to make the final cut...
"Strangers".- Justs. Justs was a 2016 alumni who advanced to the finals with "Heartbeat".For this edition, though it's a solid pop ballad, it's low-impact that is not helped with the threadbare staging, hence it did not make the final.
Now, let's talk about notable finalists.
"Fake Love".- Raum. This is an accessible pop-rock tune that has some fans. It finished respectably in 6th place.
"Let Me Go".- Avei. There are some Eurofans who dig this sleek EDM-infused pop ballad. It finished 5th overall, being 6th with the jury and 5th with the televote.
"Forever".- Markus Riva. He has been a constant presence at Latvia's national selection since 2014, coming close to winning in 2015 and 2019. The 2020s were a dry spell for him so far as he failed to advance to the final until this moment with this uptempo synth-pop number. He got 5th place with the jury and 3rd with the televote.
"You Said".- 24, Avenija. This entry provided some avant-garde funk that I really dig. The juries agreed as it placed 3rd there, and although Markus Riva got triple the votes for the televote bronze, its 4th place finish there ensured a 3rd place overall standing was secured.
"Hush" - Patrisha. The Latvian jury and public had one clear favorite, but they also dig this enough t that this is the runner-up in all metrics. There are many fans who feel that this propulsive rhythmic pop banger deserve to be the winner (including myself) but I now learn to appreciate the eventual winner more as the days wore on.
DENMARK
Denmark's DR staged its annual Melodi Grand Prix. Since 2021 they only shortlisted eight finalists to compete for the right to represent the country in Eurovision. Normally, for most Eurofans, they tend to ignore this national selection as the entries tend to be milquetoast, but this year's batch seems to pique a bit more interest with its more eclectic styles. There are two rounds of voting in the final: the first round is solely public voting to determine the Top Three, and the Top Three in the Superfinal would then be voted by a jury and another round of televote.
"Stuck on You" - Frederik Leopold. This entry garnered the least buzz amongst Eurofans, as this uptempo Justin Timberlake-style R&B number is overshadowed by the other numbers out there.
"I Was Gonna Marry Him".- EYJAA. There were a lot of online Eurofans who are into this twin-act pop ballad. Unfortunately, it seems the Danish public are not into this and though DR did not disclose how each entry ranked, they disclosed if an entry figured in the Top 3 by regions and with a separate category for SMS, which is treated as a region. Unfortunately this entry likewise failed to figure in the Top 3 in any of the regional or SMS list.
"Lige her [Right here]" - Søren Torpegaard Lund. He sang an old-fashioned ballad, evoking the style of 1950s-era Eurovision, and provided a twist by cross-dressing as female. It's well-performed and well-sung, but again, like EYJAA, it didn't make any impact with any region or SMS.
"Human" - Mariyah LeBerg. This was not as buzzed about by Eurofans but it's actually a solid rock-tinged midtempo pop ditty, and the Danish SMS voters dug it as it made top three in that segment.
"Beautiful Bullshit" - Maia Maia. This is an attitude-laden pop number with a provocative title that also garnered a top three showing among SMS voters.
"Glansbillede [Glossy photo]" - Micky Skeel. I suppose because this is a contemporary pop song in Danish that of course the Danish public responded to it and made it part of their Top Three and hence this made the Superfinal where it then finished third.
"Freedom".- Nicklas Sonne. This is a hard-rock entry with a built-in sing-along segment, so it's not surprising that despite the formidable standing of the eventual winner, this performed a strong 2nd.
ROMANIA
Romania;s TVR staged its annual Selecția Națională. It's a lean affair with 12 shortlisted entries from 85 applications. And admittedly this batch is relatively slim pickings but these are the notable ones. The winner was decided by public voting, done in two modes: televoting and online voting.
"Call on Me".- Deiona. This is a sweet Taylor Swift-style ballad sung by a young ingenue. It didn't connect with the Romanian public somehow as it only finished 9th in all measures.
"Puppet".- Amia. Here is another youthful ingenue, this time with a sassy attitude and a quirky 1920s-style Charleston tune. She was 3rd in the televote and 5th in the online vote, and with those results she ended up as 5th overall.
Adelaida with "Bla Bla Bla". This slick pop banger was the one most Eurofans would've wanted to be Romania's entry, but even if it was 2nd with the online voters, it placed 5th in the televote, resulting in a 4th place overall finish.
"Statues".- Andrei Dutu. There are also some fans, including myself, who felt this uptempo pop entry would be a possible winner. Some detractors noted, though, that the song sounded like a Melodifestivalen reject--it turns out they are not that way off, as the song was written by Kjetil Mørland, a Norwegian who previously represented his home country in 2015 with the well-regarded ballad "Monster Like Me", so it's possible that this was actually a Norsk Melodi Grand Prix reject. It finished 3rd with online voters but 4th with the televote, so it ended up 3rd overall.
"Periniţa mea [My little girl]" - Andreea D Folclor Orchestra. The Romanian public voting over the phone lines took a liking to this very traditional sounding hoedown that it topped the televote. More modern online voters, though, don't dig this as much and it ranked fourth there, hence this didn't win and ended up the runner-up instead.
COMING UP: CROATIA, MALTA, and ITALY
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