Spoiler: Reactions
Sweden // Real Boy - Lola Blanc
There's a line for me somewhere between 'show tunes' and 'uses the show-tune aesthetic'. I don't know exactly where the line is, but I do know that I feel strongly about things on either side of it (preferring the latter side), with not a lot of in-between. This feels like it's wobbling a tightrope walk along the line but teetering towards the wrong side more often than not. The stompy stuff has some appeal for me but I can't quite get on board.
Mali // Heavy Heart - Bartees Strange
(my entry!)
Picking out one Bartees Strange song to submit was kind of a nightmare; the man works hard to make a mockery of the word 'genre', cramming a little bit of everything that he can onto his records. Almost no two tracks sound the same - but none of them sound like they could have been produced by anyone else.
There are a handful that I love roughly equally, so I went with this one as it's the first of his that I heard - the opener to his excellent 2022 album Farm to Table that convinced me immediately that I'd made a good purchase. I love its themes of letting go of some of the burdens we place on ourselves and remembering to enjoy the good things that we have despite all of the shit. I love the soaring guitars. I love the triumphant horns.
Wales // Mandible - Odette
The strings and percussion on this are gorgeous. The vocals are a bit over-pronouncy on some of the vowels but I do like the richness of the voice regardless. I could have listened to a lot more of this. Will be returning to it.
Kazakhstan // Werewolf - Lil Uzi Vert ft. Bring Me the Horizon
I have yet to meet a Bring Me the Horizon song that I could tolerate, and I still haven't.
fSwatini // Colour of Anyhow - Beverly Glenn-Copeland
Oh, that's a gorgeous deep voice. Angelic. The strings and gentle, occasionally beach-like guitars are just beautiful as well. I can hear some of the future make-up of my favourite Weather Station songs in here. Easy big points.
Hoverboards // Fire in the Rain/Heroes - Måns Zelmerlöw
I'm surprised that I don't remember this one very clearly, seeing as it's so visually impressive - I normally watch every Eurovision as a matter of course. Maybe I missed this year. Musically, like, eh, s'alright. Neither part is one that I would be seeking out after the show, but he does a fine job here.
Ireland // Drugs & The Internet - Lauv
I enjoyed the lyrics well enough, even if they were a little on the nose. Not as much a fan of yer man's higher-pitched voice - got a bit too airy and wobbly for me - and instrumentally it didn't do an awful lot for me either way.
Earthsea // Circulatory System - Yesterday's World
This was interesting and fun. The woodwind put in a lot of work. It didn't feel like the song was putting a massive amount of emphasis on its own lyrics, but I always like stuff that reflects on time, age and change, so I enjoyed them too. Might revisit this.
eSwatini // Dead to Me - Chloe Adams
Not super keen on the guitars chugging along in time with the vocals during the verses, but I can appreciate the dark, moody, pop-via-Trent Reznor vibes being conjured here. It's in and out before it gets wearing. I don't know if I'll remember much about it in a couple of hours' time but it was fairly fun and driven while it was here, even if the vocals felt a little bit slight.
Denmark // Rock'n Roll, Morning Light Falls on You - Asian Kung-Fu Generation
This has a very pleasant 90s radio rock energy, accented by those occasionally mathy bits of guitar picking. I'm not overly wild about yer man's voice but it gets the job done, I guess.
Peru // Perfect - Sorry
After hearing As the Sun Sets in SC177 and getting curious, I bought the album. It's fine. This is on it. It's fine. The door/adore rhyme is cute. And the little bursts of guitar that get interrupted for the vocals are cute. It's not one to which I've been drawn back repeatedly since finishing my first few listens to the record.
Chile // Bring It On Home to Me - Sam Cooke
I haven't listened to lots of Sam Cooke - only enough to know that he's rightly lauded for being one of the best to ever do the kind of thing that he does - but this song, while beautifully delivered vocally and instrumentally, just doesn't do it for me. The plaintive delivery doesn't stop the lyrics from being so incredibly straightforward that I struggle to take them seriously.
North Korea // Numbers - Sky Eats Airplane
Not for me!
Ecuador // The Wolf You Feed - Nita Strauss ft. Alissa White-Gluz
Also not for me.
Scythia // Fear Not This Night - Asja Kadric
I feel like I might have enjoyed this more as an instrumental, just because I know that I like Jeremy Soule's instrumental work on other projects. Her voice is impressive more than it does any actual tugging at my soul, but it
is
impressive.