I normally split my song review of the first and second semifinal into separate halves, but with the relatively lower turnout this year, I feel I might as well do my song preview in one go without splitting each semifinal up. The first semifinal is deemed this year's "Group of Death" based on the hype and caliber of the entries in this bracket. There are some who would wish that some of the potential losing entries in this group should've swapped places with some entries in the other group so these otherwise worthy entries would be able to advance, but we have to play with the cards we are dealt with, so to speak.
01 NORWAY: "Queen of the Kings" - Alessandra Mele. This entry has been deemed one of the top favorites in this year's batch, as its martial beat and sea-shanty vibes are irresistible to many listeners. It looks like this entry is poised to duplicate the Top 10 finish of its predecessor--the question now is, how far will she be able to outrank last year's 10th place.
02 MALTA: "Dance (Our Own Party)" - The Busker. There are some Eurofans who may not have a high regard for this entry as the vocals showcased are of a limited range, and includes whispered delivery. But this funky song has an irresistible groove and it also has a sax guy who is almost as legendary as Moldova's Epic Sax Guy (Sergey Stepanov) from Sunstroke Project, and its stage presentation promises to be a lot of fun. There are two questions--can they overcome its country's recent weakness in drawing televotes? And can they break the curse of the No. 2 slot?
03 SERBIA: "Samo mi se spava [I just want to sleep]" - Luke Black.. The YouTube channel Overthinking It has delivered in-depth analyses of some entries like this one, so I'm tempted to defer my notes to what they say, below. What I'll add is that this is a great successor to Konstrakta's art-pop number last year and that it's nice to learn they have a connection as Luke was mentored by her. Also, I just love the crouching choreography--that is very tough on the thighs. Don't know if this entry will have enough to equal Konstrakta's 5th place finish, but even with this early slot I'm reasonably confident this will advance to the final.
04 LATVIA: "Aija" - Sudden Lights. This band previously competed at Supernova in 2018 and finished 2nd behind the jazzy Laura Tesoro. Now, they are fielding this moody art-rock number. At first listen I thought this number doesn't have impact, but upon further listens, I was won over and as explained by the German YouTuber Eurovision Histories, this entry is actually very moving and relevant, and it even has a connection with last year's champion, Kalush Orchestra's "Stefania" as both touch upon returning to a place where they can listen to lullabies. With a certain entry weakening in buzz, there might be an opportunity for this entry to advance in its place and break its five-year finals drought.
05 PORTUGAL: "Ai coração [Oh, heart]" - Mimicat. Though I'm slightly upset that Claudia Pascoal was not selected to represent Portugal with "Nasci Maria [Born a Maria]" I do appreciate this entry especially with the energetic stage presentation and the vocal and showmanship skills of this artist. Now, it seems based on the rehearsals they ditched the couch prop, and for me that prop made the performance special so I wonder if this would make them vulnerable to a possible shock boot. SPAIN is not voting in this semifinal, so much will be seen if this entry will still have enough support to make the final.
06 IRELAND: "We Are One" - Wild Youth. The guitar riff I hear throughout this song reminds me of the riff U2's The Edge played in their 1987 Joshua Tree classic "Where the Streets Have No Name".but set to a Bo Diddley beat and with generic world peace sentiments. Despite being reasonably listenable, it is deemed one of the weaker entries in this semifinal. Aggravating matters is the ill-conceived music video--what's the point of having the handsome band members hidden in glitter masks and why no unmasking took place? At least the staging would feature the lead singer in a golden bell-bottomed jumpsuit, though I still believe this will not advance.
07 CROATIA: "Mama ŠČ!" - Let 3. Like many Eurofans, I was shocked when I learned this entry won the right to represent this country to this contest. I scratched my head and wondered why both the Croatian jury and televote opted to vote this "troll" act. As Overthinking It researched and explained, it turns out this band has already a long history as it was formed all the way back in 1986, and they have a long history of provocative demonstrations and the Croatian public was all for it. Now that I learned about the band's history, I started appreciating them a bit more and understood that they might be the "troll" act that will likely see action in the final as their provocative staging would no doubt be eye-popping and impactful.
08 SWITZERLAND: "Watergun" - Remo Forrer. What I noticed when this entry premiered was the obviousness of its antiwar lyrics. I was first bearish over this song's prospects because of those lyrics but then when I listen to the song as a whole with the sincerity of this young man's vocals, I started to believe there might be a way that this would work and have a path to the final. Sasha Jean-Baptiste conceptualized a staging featuring backup dancers and running choreography and that could possibly make an impact. I'm no longer counting out this entry's prospects of making the final.
09 ISRAEL: "Unicorn" - Noa Kirel. I've learned of her as she was the opening number performer at Miss Universe 2021 that was held in her country. She was the first artist announced to compete in this contest, and many fans were waiting with bated breath of what her song was going to be. It turned out it's a catchy bop that has multiple disparate musical sequences that seems disjointed. But having listened to K-Pop songs and aware of how most of those hits have disjointed styles, especially hits by Blackpink like "Kill this Love" and "How You Like That". So in my mind I was speculating that this song was probably originally offered to Blackpink but then retooled to suit Noa's style instead. It's interesting to note that Noa was absent in all Eurovision pre-parties--it turns out she and her team were all focused towards their staging in Liverpool, so when rehearsals came around, any worries that she would fail to deliver were tucked away as she turned out to be almost as ferocious as Eleni Foureira back in 2018, so not only is she a shoo-in for the final, she could make a serious play for the Top 10 or even Top Five.
10 MOLDOVA: "Soarele și luna [Sun and moon]" - Pasha Parfeni. When I first listened to this song, I coujldn't get the repetitive chorus out of my head and the fusion of traditional Eastern European folk music and modern EDM is just so irresistible that I am rooting for this guy to not only outdo his 2012 stint but perhaps come close to equaling Sunstroke Project's 3rd place showing in 2017*1. Though it seems he's currently overshadowed by buzz over the likes of ISRAEL, SWEDEN, and FINLAND, I think a Top Five showing is still within reach.
*1 He was the original lead singer of this band, from 2007-2008, before he decided to pursue a solo career.
When I read the song lyrics I thought it's a simple ditty about a man in love who wants to commune with nature to marry his beloved. But then, YouTube channel Eurovision Histories provided a possible darker interpretation based on a Romanian/Moldavian folk song / tale called "Miorița [The Little Ewe Lamb]" about a shepherd anticipating his own murder by his two colleagues instructing his flock to tell everyone like his aging mother that instead of him being murdered he went off to marry a princess with the sun and moon and the forces of nature as witness.
11 SWEDEN: "Tattoo" - Loreen. When it was announced Loreen is going to have another go-round at Melodifestivalen (Melfest), the whole Eurovision fandom got very excited, wondering if she'll deliver a song at the level of her 2012 classic "Euphoria", or if it will languish in the semifinal like her 2017 entry, "Statements". Turns out, it's more towards the former, and with an innovative staging involving a giant ceiling screen that gradually ascends upward, winning Melfest was all but guaranteed. Now, hype is heavy that Loreen will not only pull off the feat only achieved by Ireland's Johnny Logan (winning Eurovision twice) but to bring forth her country's 7th win to tie with Ireland's record. Despite fierce competition from FINLAND and, yes, possibly ISRAEL and AUSTRIA, I'm bullish on this entry's prospects to achieve those lofty goals.
I have a piquant note about the song--I've observed that the chord progressions seem to evoke a familiar mega-hit from another iconic Swedish act: ABBA's 1980 classic "The Winner Takes It All". To me the chord progression of the verses of both songs are similar, and that they share a breakup theme--the difference is that ABBA's tone is serious and expresses a finality in the breakup, while Loreen'[s song expresses a hope that yes they'll part ways for now but they'll come back together again someday.
12 AZERBAIJAN: "Tell Me More" - TuralTuranX. After the jury collusion scandal that seems to be spearheaded by this country, this country decided to scale back and decided to ditch the successful formulas they previously employed. They decided to do a low-key selection for acts with songs that were locally written instead of hiring Swedish songwriters to come up with their entry. And as a product of their new approach they have these twin brothers, who delivered this low-key Beatlesque number with a rap interlude. It felt out of league with the heavy hitters with this semifinal, and although the staging with the contrasting colored wardrobes sported by the twins is appealing, this country will have to wave its final qualification streak goodbye.
13 CZECHIA: "My Sister's Crown" - Vesna. There was a lot of excitement among many fans when this entry was selected to represent this country at Eurovision. The song's theme of Slavic female unity and empowerment seems to be a powerful, necessary message worth promoting. So it's baffling when we learned of the controversies that arise with this entry, which Overthinking It explained in depth (and check out the Stranger Things joke towards the end). I feel the controversy and objections are absurd, and I hope that wouldn't deter this entry's prospects. Anyway, it's surprising to most fans when they discovered the staging for Liverpool--instead of the colorful costumes in their music video, they now opted for uniform pink jumpsuits and one long braid for each member. Based on rehearsals, this actually looks brilliant and this group would be closer towards equaling Micklas Josef's stellar 6th place finish back in 2018.
14 NETHERLANDS: "Burning Daylight" - Mia Nicolai and Dion Cooper. There was initial excitement about this entry as it was disclosed that the song is cowritten by 2019 champion Duncan Laurence. When the music video was released, everyone remained optimistic--yes, it's no "Arcade", but it sounded like a quality ballad that it would sustain this country's finals streak. But then came the live parties and they didn't make a good impression that the Dutch media took potshots at the pair, and there were reports the broadcaster was not running to this pair's defense. They decided to fix the issue by adjusting the key the singers would sing in, supposedly to make them more comfortable, and although the staging looks pleasing, the key I'm hearing the pair is singing in seems off especially in relation to the instrumental, so it felt uncomfortably off-key. So I'm concerned that this might pave the way for the likes of a SWITZERLAND or possibly LATVIA or MALTA to advance instead of this one.
15 FINLAND: "Cha Cha Cha" - Käärijä. This fusion of abrasive industrial rapping and catchy pop alongside the well-conceived humorous staging amde this entry a major sensation and is hyped to be the one who could pull off the upset to beat Loreen. And this guy is relishing the hyped rivalry--check a TikTok video of him parodying Loreen's staging. I can understand the sentiment in the song's lyrics about getting drunk to let go of inhibitions and then dance, but Overthinking It dives deeper and we discover about introversion and some alleged plagiarism controversy, though I am in the camp that no plagiarism took place. It's indeed an opportunity for this country to clinch its 2nd victory, but if Loreen still prevailed, I have a feeling this entry will still deliver this country's best finish since "Hard Rock Hallelujah".
With all 15 entries accounted for, here's my "Fearful" Forecast:
TOP 10: NORWAY, SERBIA, PORTUGAL, CROATIA, SWITZERLAND, ISRAEL, MOLDOVA, SWEDEN, CZECHIA, FINLAND
BUBBLING UNDER: MALTA, LATVIA, NETHERLANDS
COMING UP: SECOND SEMIFINAL
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