CROATIA
Croatia's HRT stated its annual Dora with 18 entries competing for regional jury and televote points. Here are the notable entries from this competition.
"Free Fallin'" - Dana Smajo. If there is any entry or act who is most inspired by 2012 Eurovision champion Loreen, it's this lady. Everything about the song and the presentation seems to have elements that we have seen in Loreen's epic performance. The only problem is that HRT doesn't have the budget to give her staging the luxe treatment, and she also lacks Loreen's pitch control, and that probably was why she ended up ranking low, 15th with the jury, 12th with the televote for a 13th place overall finish.
"Angels and Demons" - Damir Kedžo. The 2020 champion decided to sing a more conventional pop song in English this time. Though his vocal chops remain terrific, he didn't quite come close to winning as he ended up 6th with the juries and 4th with the televote for a 5th place overall finish.
"Lost and Found" - The Splitters. Interestingly, for its stage presentation, it borrowed an element from another Swedish Eurovision champion, Måns Zelmerlöw's "Heroes"--in particular, the stick figure drawing cartoon style, albeit the singer doesn't interact with the screen this time. It somehow works for this Beatles-meet-Bowie ballad. The juries ranked it 5th but it struck a bit of a chord with the televote as it ranked 3rd and this resulted in a 4th place overall finish. .
"Master blaster" - Detour. This is a peppy rock number that proved a strong performer with the juries, as it ranked 2nd, though it faltered with the televote as it ranked 5th, resulting in its 3rd place overall finish.
"Nevera (lei, lei)" - Harmonija Dissonance. For many Eurofans, this was was the favorite to win. However, their live performance turned out to be a major hot mess, with poor blocking and choreography and the singing not totally in sync, so the eventual winner--who turned out to already have been very popular with the Croatian audience for decades now--was able to steamroll this closest rival.
MALTA
Malta;s PBS held the Malta Eurovision Song Contest (MESC) and it featured an initial roster of 40 entries, who were initially subjected to a first round of 3 heats where they select a Top 24. The Top 24 are then subjected to a single semifinal round where they selected 16 finalists that will compete in a final decided by jury and televote.
There was some controversy as one front-running entry was somehow disqualified by PBS for an officially undisclosed reason...
"Regina" - Aidan. Aidan became a fan favorite in last year's MESC with the tropical rhythmic banger "Ritmu [Rhythm]" and many Eurofans felt it's a travesty he was beaten by Emma Muscat. He attempted another go-round for Eurovision glory with this similarly rhythmic entry, and many have dubbed this an easy favorite to win, until PBS suddenly decided to disqualify this entry, allegedly because Aidan was promoting this song heavily on social media. There was a major uproar about this disqualification that to appease upset fans, the broadcaster decided to invite him back as a guest performer in the finals, where he performed a medley of his local hits including "Ritmu". It's such a shame this happened as Aidan is proving that singing in the local Maltese language can actually be viable and can win over listeners across the continent. Let's see if he'll finally be granted a slot next year.
There was another Maltese Eurovision veteran who failed to pass te first cut...
"Unapologetic" - Jessika. She made it to the big Eurovision stage not by representing Malta, but San Marino in 2018 with "Who We Are". Her entry in this competition is a sweet pop song, but admittedly its not that impactful so it's understandable why it didn't even advance to the semifinal.
There were two drag acts who were in the initial 40. One, Clintess's "Lura Qatt [Never Coming Back]", didn't advance to the Top 24, but one other entry at least went as far in the semifinal:
"Sound of My Stilletoes" - Greta Tude. This is a listenable tropical-tinged rhythmic track, though I do agree that based on performance level and vocal quality this doesn't deserve to advance further to the final.
Now, it's time to discuss the notable entries among the 16 finalists.
"Guess What" - Eliana Gomez Blanco. She previously represented Malta at Junior Eurovision in 2019, and now she is aiming for the main stage with this 1940s-infused number. Though she's 6th in the televote, her 10th place showing with the jury kept her down to 9th place overall.
"Try to be Better" - Frabrizio Faniello. He had already represented Malta at Eurovision twice before, placing 9th in 2001 with "Another Summer Night" and 24th in 2006 with "I Do". This entry is of a similar style as those two entries, and though we've been hearing sounds from older eras being considered current, the techno-pop sounds of the 2000s decade is not yet considered a welcome throwback but dated and that is why he was a distant 8th place with the jury and despite eking 7th place in televote, he stayed at 8th place overall.
"Checkmate" - Brooke. She delivered a pop female empowerment anthem and was a solid 4th with both the jury and televote. She was pipped at the post by the strong televote points delivered by...
"Alone" - Maxine Pace. This sparse dramatic ballad seemed to strike a chord with the Maltese public that this ended up 2nd with the televote, and this help offset the 5th place showing with the jury and helped her pip Brooke for 4th place.
"Up" - Matt Blxck. Interestingly, the juries like this pop banger and topped the vote. But with the televote, he tied with Brooke for 4th place and thus ended up 3rd overall.
"In the Silence" - Ryan Hili. This ballad was tied in 2nd place with the juries alongside the eventual champion, but it only placed 3rd in the televote while the eventual champion ran away and amassed a huge margin with the televote points, hence this ended up 2nd overall.
ITALY
Italy's broadcaster RAI used the long-established Sanremo Music Festival to search its Eurovision entry. There were 28 entries this year, and the festival is a grand affair that spanned five nights. The first two nights serves as a debut live performance for the 28 entries, voted upon by the media. The third night would then feature the performers performing their entries again, this time subject to the vote of the televoting public and demoscopic jury. The fourth night featured the artists performing a cover song which would still be voted upon by the press, demoscopic jury and televote and counted over the overall standing, and the fifth night is the final time all 28 entries would be performed subject to another televote. In other words, across those five nights the same entries would be performed three times. The top five based on all that criteria would then go to a superfinal round where the press, demoscopic jury and televote would determine the winner.
I normally post the performance of the artist in their national final, but RAI has a knack of quickly pulling out the videos of those performances and do copyright strikes on outside YouTubers who attempt to re-post those performances, so at this point I can only post the official music videos of those entries.
"Sali (Canto dell'anima) [Sali [Song of the soul]" - Anna Oxa. She previously saw action at Eurovision 1989 in a duet with Fausto Leali with the rock ballad "Avrei voluto [I wish I had]" and placed 9th. Her voice grew huskier over the 34-year period, but she still got it with this modern rock ballad. I suppose participating is achievement enough for her at this point and she ranked 25th overall in the end.
"Splash" - Colapesce e Dimartino. This number got some notice as it's a 1980s throwback--think a soundtrack to any 1980s action movie and you will hear this kind of sound. During the first round (press night), it actually finished 2nd overall, but then fell down the rankings as it didn't quite have much popular support. During their second peformance, they were 3rd with the demoscopic jury but a very lowly 14th in the televote, and covers night did not help matters as they finished 15th, and for the final night they ranked 11th so they ended up in 10th place overall.
"Due [Two]" - Elodie. This pop number with edgy rhythmic synth elements also piqued the ears of many Eurofans and felt it deserved to finish in the Final Five, and her first performance did win over the press jury that she ranked 5th. But then, on her second performance despite holding on to the top five by the demoscopic jury, she was marked down by the televote to 13th and made her finish 10th during the third night and that diminished her ranking. She recovered a bit during covers night by ranking 7th that night but the televote-only final night still hurt her a bit as she ended up 10th for that night and can only manage a 9th place overall finish.
"Made in Italy" - Rosa Chemical. Despite the female name, Rosa Chemical is a male act--was he inspired by Alice Cooper to assume a female name? His entry is a highly entertaining listen, paying a homage to Renato Carosone's 1956 classic "Tu Vuò Fa' L'Americano [Who wants to be American]", which became world-famous in 2010 when Australian band Yolanda Be Cool featuring producer DCUP sampled it in their song "We No Speak Americano" He ranked 9th with his initial performance judged by the press, but got a great push with the televote in the remaining nights that helped shore up his fortunes to finish 8th overall.
"Il bene nel male [The good in the bad]" - Madame. Many Eurofans dig this and is their choice for winner so they were outraged when she didn't advance to the Final Five. Though she placed 3rd with the initial media vote from the first two nights, the highest she could get in subsequent nights was 6th with the finals night televote. On her third-night performance she only ranked 7th with the demoscopic jury and televote, and on covers night she ranked 11th, and hence she ended up in 7th place overall.
"Parole dette male [Bad words]" - Giorgia. This is a conventional pop ballad that was well-regarded enough by the press to rank 8th, and would've just ranked around that place, but she was pulled up by her performance during covers night where she brought in last year's Sanremo runner-up Elisa to perform a medley of Elisa's hit "Luce (Tramonti a nord est) [Light (Northeast sunset)]" and Giorgia's prior hit "Di sole e d'azzurro [Of sun and of blue]" and that duet helped bolster her cause and she ended up finishing 6th overall.
Now, let's go to the Final Five. The eventual champion reflected that the lineup was all male and felt the lineup lacks balance, and many fans would like to agree, especially with Madame's absence in this hallowed group.
"Tango" - Tananai. He was the winner of last year's new artist section and now he made the big artists' competition with this lush ballad that interestingly doesn't feature any tango rhythm. It was consistently ranked in the Top 5 throughout the week, and indeed that is where it would end up overall, in 5th place.
"Alba" - Ultimo. He's a well regarded pianist and balladeer, but this ballad had a bit of a rollercoaster ride--during the two press nights he only ranked 10th, but during the third night, he amassed such a high amount of televotes that he beat the frontrunner and eventual champion and soared to 2nd overall, and stayed there until called to compete in the superfinal round. He was severely marked down by the press as he was ranked 5th with them and the demoscopic jury put him in 4th place, and this resulted in him finishing 4th overall.
"Supereroi [Superheroes]" - Mr. Rain. This ballad featured a children's chorus, so if this were chosen to represent Italy at Eurovision with prior backing vocals rules in place this would've been a problem. But since current rules now allow for backing vocals to be pre-recorded, it wouldn't be an issue. He didn't make a good impression during the press nights as he ranked 17th, but going into the 3rd night, he soared to 3rd in the televote and from then on this is where he would end up.
"Cenere [Ash]" - Lazza. This is the only Final Five entry that wasn't a ballad. It's instead a club banger and I appreciate this entry a lot, even if I concede that the eventual winner was just unbeatable. It ranked 7th with the press, but the soared to 4th in the 4rd night and 3rd during covers night, and was 3rd going into the superfinal. With Ultimo faltering with the press jury, this made room for this guy to end up the runner-up.
COMING UP: LITHUANIA, FINLAND, SAN MARINO, and POLAND
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