LITHUANIA
Lithuania's LRT held its fourth Pabandom iš naujo! [Let's try again!] After a streamlined format in recent years, it expanded its coverage again, featuring three stages of elimination--two quarter final heats featuring 30 entries, which would then be whittled down to 20, which would then compete in two semifinals where the 20 would be reduced to 10 and then the final.
There was one veteran of this country's national selection who was shortlisted to the quarterfinals but failed to advance further.
"We're Not Running" - Aistė Pilvelytė. This lady has been trying out at Lithuania's national final for over two decades now. She placed 2nd three times, in 2008, 2010 and 2017, and had top five finishes as recently as 2020. Her classical style ballad just simply could not strike a chord amidst a more competitive field, it seems, and indeed this ballad is too low-key compared to her previous entries.
Lithuania is notorious for featuring "troll" or "novelty" acts in its national final, sometimes even winning it all, and this year is no different, but this time it only went as far as the semifinal.
"Sėdi ir važiuoji [Sit and ride]" - Antikvariniai Kašpirovskio dantys [Antique Kashpirovsky Teeth]. This is a goofy comedy song with the singers assuming the Slavic gopnik*1 persona with sequined Adidas tracksuits. It's undeniably well-performed but I'm glad more quality entries prevailed.
*1 Basically a lower class delinquent young man.
Like Aiste, there is one previous national final participant who went very far in the finals previously, but this time missed the finals cut.
"Saw Your Ghost" - Gebrasy..This is a moody electro dance-pop song. It got 5th place with the jury in the semifinal round, but a weak televote showing doomed it to miss the finals as it was 6th in its heat and only the top five of the heat would advance.
Now, let's discuss the finalists.
"Sparnai [Wings]" - Il Senso. It's interesting to see a co-ed opera act and well, in general this entry Lithuania had previously fielded some operatic entries so there were expectations that this will rank high. Well, it did make the final, but interestingly even if it wasn't last in either the jury or televote, it ended up taking the rear as the last placers in each category compensated with a high ranking in the other category to ultimately outrank this entry.
"Šauksmas [Shout]"- Gabrielus Vagelis. He previously competed in 2020 and 2021 and garnered some buzz but he never advanced to the final round until this time with a Lithuanian language pop ballad. It ranked 7th in the jury and 5th in televote for a 6th place overall finish..
"Let Me Think About Me" - Paulina Paukštaitytė. This is a well regarded electro-pop number. It placed 5th with the jury and 6th with televote and finished 5th overall.
"Love of My Life" - Petunija. This is a spare and sparse piano ballad that was undeniably a jury darling, as it ranked 4th with them and even if its 7th place televote finish meant she actually tied with Paulina Paukštaitytė based on combined ordinal totals, the higher jury ranking took precedence and hence she's officially 4th overall.
"Like a Movie" - Beatrich. She brought a fresh burst of energy with this peppy rock number and hence in the final it was 3rd with both juries and televote and hence finished 3rd overall.
"So Low" - Rūta MUR. This blast of 1980s synth pop reminds me slightly of Talk Talk's 1983 classic "It's My Life". I have to note that Rūta is female but with her low voice and mannish white suit you would assume it's a male singer performing out there. She actually topped the televote and was 2nd with the jury, which based on combined ordinals put her in a tie with the eventual champion, but because of the lower jury ranking, this became the runner-up instead of the champion. In other countries' systems usually televote would take precedence in case of a tie but for this country for this year, it's the opposite.
FINLAND
Finland's broadcaster YLE again staged Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu [New Music Competition] or UMK. Since 2021, the Eurofans were very excited about the lineup of finalists in this competition as the quality of the entries were so high that Eurofans feel that any of these entries could be sent to Eurovision and do well. For this year's edition, I've notice that it seems Finland is in a wave of 1980s nostalgia as most of the entries evoke the synth-based sounds of that era.
"Hoida mut [Take care of me]"- Benjamin. This peppy 1980s pop throwback has some adherents among the Eurofans. It didn't finish last in either jury or televote, as it ranked 5th with the jury and 6th with televote, but the last placers in either category got significant points in the other category, and hence this ended up taking the rear.
"Something to Lose" - Lxandra. She was in 2nd place with the international jury but dead last with the televote, which carries five times the weight of the jury scores, so with that this ballad ended up in 6th place overall.
"Ylivoimainen [Overpowered]" - Kuumaa.[Hot]. This is another sprightly 1980s pop throwback that piqued the ears of many Eurofans, and many would feel that he and Benjamin deserve to finish higher than they actually did. He was actually 3rd with the jury, but the 5th place showing with the heavily weighted televote resulted in him finishing 5th overall.
"Girls Like You" - Robin Packalen. This slick modern pop/funk number would've been a highlight in other countries' national finals but among the high caliber entries in this roster, it's the one that is least regarded, which was reflected with its last place finish with the international jury. However, it seems he had some strong local support and his 4th place televote finish helped him garner that same overall ranking.
"No Business on the Dance Floor" - Keira. She brought sass to the proceedings with this pop banger, and got very respectable showings, being 4th with the jury and 3rd with the televote, and hence finishing 3rd overall.
"Samaa taivasta katsotaan [We all look at the same sky]" - Portion Boys. Just like Colapesce and DiMartino at this year's Sanremo, this entry evokes a peppy 1980s action movie soundtrack vibe, and even if the international jury ranked it in the bottom (tied with Robin Packalen) the Finnish public were all for this number and granted it enough votes to be 2nd behind the undeniable champion and finish 2nd overall.
SAN MARINO
For a tiny principality like San Marino, its broadcaster SMRTV staged the biggest national selection of this year's batch, shortlisting 106 entries (out of supposedly over 1000 submissions) for Una voce per San Marino [A voice for San Marino]. The shortlisted entries were presented alphabetically across four heats, where they advanced four directly to the final and another four subject to a second chance round per heat. The second chance round would select four to join the 16 finalists. On top of the 20 finalists, two of the 106 entries were from San Marinese residents and were given a fast-track ticket to the finals. But during the final, one of them, Simone de Biaggi was a no-show, leaving only one native San Marinese finalist:
"Stessa pelle [Same skin] - Kida. She got an automatic pass in the final as she's a Sanmarinese. Her pop/rock number was actually solid, arguably better than some of the previous entries sent by this country to Eurovision. Still, the five-person jury felt that there were more compelling entries than this one that this was outside the Top 10.
."Prisma [Prism]" - Mate. She got some buzz amongst Eurofans with her disco/pop banger, but it looks like the jury was more in a rock mood so this also missed the Top 10.
"Salvaje [Wild]" - Ronela. I do salute Ronela for having the guts to try again after the debacle of her staging choices which prevented her and her native country Albania from making the Eurovision final last year. She offered this Latin-inspired dance-pop banger and brought fierce attitude, but sadly she didn't win favor with the jury--you could say she might be in the same situation with Mate as the jury seems to be leaning towards rock, but we should also note that she fell a bit short in the first heat and had to perform in the second chance round to make the final.
"Collide" - Alfie Arcuri. This former winner of Australia's The Voice and a 2019 participant of Australia Decides (Australia's Eurovision selection show) offered up this well-sung ballad. I was shocked that this failed to figure in the final Top 10 as it was an automatic finalist in the first heat. Perhaps the jury was not feeling it and gravitated towards more rockier numbers. To be honest, I would rather see this in the Top 10 rather than 9th placer EEF with their jazz-rock number "Something for You".
"Oblvious" - Vina Rose. This Italian artist garnered positive notices for this rock empowerment number, and I don't object at all with her 10th place ranking.
"Sacre e profano [Sacred and profane]" - Tothem. This is a sassy electro-rock number that is of strong quality so it ranking 8th is a good standing.
"Mama Told Me" - Ellynora. She offered up a bluesy acoustic rock ballad that can be viewed also as an empowerment anthem, and it struck enough of a chord that it was ranked 7th by the jury.
"Due punti sull'equatore [Two points on the equator]" - Edoardo Bragi. This electro-rock number initially didn't automatically advance to the final and had to undergo the 2nd chance round to make the final, and it seems the five-person jury started to appreciate this number more in the final and scored it as the 6th place finisher.
"Movie Star" - Eiffel 65. It's so interesting to see this Italian dance-pop band going for another go in the spotlight after their massive mega-hit "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" over 20 years ago. I suppose the recent popularity of the David Guetta-Bebe Rexha collaboration "I'm Good (Blue)" inspired them to return back to the spotlight with a new song. It's a nice enough song, and with the likes of previous major lightning-in-a-bottle acts like Darude and most recently The Rasmus seeing action in the Eurovision main stage, I was rooting for this act to join them. Admittedly though, there were at least two worthier songs than this one so its 5th place finish was not that much of a shocker.
"C'è qualcosa in me che non fuziona [There is something in me that doesn't work]" - Mayu. Most Eurofans, including myself, wouldn't rank this number as highly as, say, Vina Rose, Tothem, or even Ellynora, much less Eiffel 65. But I suppose her bluesy, artsy rock ballad struck a chord with the jury that she finished in 4th place.
"Fuoco e benzina [Fire and gasoline]" - Xgiove. Their accordion-laced rock music reminds me a bit of the Dave Matthews Band and it's a quality rock jam number. To be honest I would've preferred this to represent San Marino over the eventual champion, alongside...
"Fiori su Marte [Flowers in Mars]" - La Deva. This ferocious trio delivered passion with their rock ballad that I'm glad tbey fared high. But like Xgiove, I would've preferred this to represent San Marino instead of the eventual champion. It can also be argued that they would've had a better chance advancing in this year's final instead of the actual champion.
POLAND
Poland's TVP staged its national final as Tu bije serce Europy! Wybieramy hit na Eurowizję! ["The heart of Europe beats here! We choose the hit for Eurovision!"]. Supposed there were 300 submissions, which a panel of five whittled down to the 10 finalists. Little did we know that it would've been one of the most controversial national finals this year.
"Booty" - Ahlena. Many Eurofans were shocked how this trashy pop song made the final cut. It engendered outrage, especially from a former chairman of TVP who denounced the entry as obscene, and led this artist to tone down some of the lyrics. Its "unworthiness" is further aggravated by the live performance, as Ahlena proved raw and listless as she delivered her song, and obviously this entry ended up dead last.
"New Home" - Alicja Szemplińska. The 2020 champion brought forth a spare and sparse ballad that was undeniably well-sung, but admittedly lacks impact so its 6th place showing in all metrics was expected.
"Champion" - Yan Majewski. This is a soaring, bright pop song that struck a chord among some Eurofans, and many felt this could possibly go Top Three. But it seemed it was marked down by the jury as it ranked 7th, and though he made up for it with a 4th place ranking in televote, he ended up 5th overall instead.
"Never Back Down" - Felivers. This act delivered a crunchy rock number that seems to strike a chord with the jury as it placed 3rd, but it's a bit weak in the televote as it ranked 5th and as a result ranked 4th overall.
"Be Good" - Dominik Dudek. This guy offers a Mumford & Sons-style of acoustic rock that seems to be strong with the jury, as it ranked 2nd behind the eventual champion. It ranked 3rd with the televote and this is where it ended up overall.
"Gladiator" - Jann. Many Eurofans, especially after seeing the striking music video, felt this is the clear winner for this competition and should produce a similar finish like Ochman had in the Eurovision final last year. But then, during the final, admittedly his live performance was an uneven mess. He was penalized by the jury as he only ranked 4th, but he won the televote and hence finished 2nd overall. Now, it was discovered the jury members seem to have connection with the eventual winner, so there were accusations that there was a conspiracy with the jury to deliberately mark this entry down to ensure the win of the favored champion. Based on his live performance I would've no longer be as bullish over this guy's prospects of equaling Ochman, but if the jury penalized this entry, they should've also penalized their "favored" one too as her performance was far from pitch-perfect.
COMING UP: GERMANY, MOLDOVA, ICELAND, and SERBIA.
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