Oh, thanks Liberty!

I must admit I haven't listened to all of them, either (though there's a recap video of all 40 songs that got uploaded today, so maybe I'll watch that). Some of them I've listened to part of, others are already earworms. Which ones do you like so far?

I like Poland's entry, it's the one I've listened to the most.
I'm not sure what I think of Norway, but it's gotten stuck in my head more than once, and it definitely fits into the weird and quirky side of Eurovision! Since I follow a a TIX fan account on Twitter and was aware of MGP as it was happening (TIX gave a great performance, so different from his Eurovision one but really nice), I have seen a lot of the buzz about trying to guess who Subwoolfer is (at some point some people wondered if they were Ylvis, but I think that theory got shot down eventually). TIX has been hinting that there's some connection with him, that he would be involved when the identities were revealed, but I don't think he's either of the wolves. I had wondered if maybe his brother Mathias is the astronaut DJ character, but I'm not so sure anymore since he posted a joke TikTok about his brother being in Subwoolfer... That being said, I don't know many Norwegian celebrities, so I probably won't know who the people are even when they are revealed!

I have to admit, some of the ones I've listened to I've forgotten about afterwards. One that sticks in my mind, though, is Serbia! I don't remember the tune of the song, but I watched the video of the performance at their national final with the English subtitles on, and I think it's an interesting response to wellness culture and celebrity obsession. 
I kind of like Estonia's song, even though it's maybe not the most interesting. I read that the singer has tried to get into Eurovision three times (I think it was three) before actually winning, so I admire his persistence if nothing else!
I don't know if it will be one of my favourites, but I think I like Latvia's better than last year's. I can't tell if it's making fun of efforts to be sustainable, or if they just want to present an environmental message in a funny way. 
I don't remember the song much, but I think the singer from Australia has a good voice. He actually auditioned for America's Got Talent a couple of years ago, though I can't remember him making it very far despite his good voice, so it's cool to see him re-emerging in Eurovision.

I've noticed quite a few rock acts! More than last year. I think it's likely because Italy won with a rock band last year, more people think they could win if they enter. I guess it's not that surprising, but I still find it a bit interesting.

Last edited by Yitzock (March 22, 2022 3:00 pm)

Yes, I don't know if I really have favourites yet, either. What I wrote were just my early impressions so far.

I agree with you about Ukraine. I do like the combination of contemporary and traditional. Apparently the guy playing that traditional Ukrainian instrument (kind of like a flute) is the same guy who performed with Go_A last year, which is kind of cool. I wonder if they will be able to make it to the competition, if the situation in Ukraine doesn't get any better.

I listened to that recap I mentioned, and it reminded me of the Slovenian song, Disko. I had listened to it before but had forgotten it. But I like the feel of that one, as well, a little bit retro. I like the group's outfits, too!
I also like that Moldova went with a more traditional feel for their song this year. I think it's upbeat and fun and the video for it is fun. I don't really understand what the song is supposed to mean, exactly, even though the music video has English subtitles. I'm not sure what they're trying to say with some of the lyrics.

I don't think I realized that about the French entry. I thought maybe it was in Arabic, but I wasn't sure. It's cool to hear songs in languages I don't get to hear very often, if ever!

No, I wouldn't have expected Breton to sound like that, either, but I didn't really have a point of reference. I maybe would have expected it to sound kind of like French, I guess. There's a few words that sort of sound like French, but otherwise it sounds pretty different.

Yes, I've actually been feeling the same way overall. There are still some good entries, but I'm not finding as many of them standing out or seeming as special or original as last year. There was a nice variety last year and several songs I really liked. But it could be a question of familiarity, since I haven't listened to most of the songs more than once or twice, if that, and I got attached to a few of last year's performers. So these ones, by comparison, I don't know very well yet. I can't believe the competition is just a month and a couple weeks away already!

I am curious about what the live performances of some of these are going to be like, especially the Georgian entry since they haven't even released a proper video yet. I saw in the comments for their official video that they had a music video, but they are not releasing it as a form of protest against what Russia is doing. I'm wondering if they will do the same for their live performance if things don't change. They seemed like a quirky group purposefully building mystery around themselves, so I am curious what their staging will be like because of that, even if I don't have a strong opinion about their song yet one way or another.

Last edited by Yitzock (March 25, 2022 4:23 pm)

That makes sense that Breton would have similarities with those languages. I can understand why you might expect it to sound similar to Welsh based on that. I listened to the song again and I could sometimes hear words that sounded sort of like French (or like certain words sound with a French accent), but it's definitely different. 

That's an interesting idea, to listen without looking at who it is. I think I did that with a few songs last year, but I don't remember which ones anymore. I wonder how much visuals affect opinion. I find the guy from San Marino kind of scary, I'm just not really drawn to his overall look. I think I have listened to a couple of this year's while doing something else and therefore not looking at the video, but I don't know if that was the best idea because I was partially distracted!

And don't worry about judging "quality." I'm just giving my own personal opinions on enjoyment as well. I did take music class in high school, but I feel like so much of music is just how you respond based on personal taste even if you do know technical things.

I personally prefer listening to live versions, even though some of the studio versions of the songs are good, too. I guess that's not a bad thing because they end up being judged on their live performance at the actual competition. But I do prefer to hear a more unadulterated version of a singer's voice when possible, since with a studio recording you don't know how much has been manipulated.

I honestly have no idea if my picks are going to be winners, either, to be honest. The songs I liked the most last year were kind of all over the map in the final, a couple in the top 5, a few in the middle and a couple at the bottom. I also remember thinking Austria would for sure make it to the final but then they didn't. I remember also kind of liking Czech Republic in the studio version, as well as other live performances leading up to the competition, and then the performance at the semi-final was like someone else performing entirely, I don't know what happened. But from his semi-final performance I wasn't surprised he didn't make it to the final.

This is kind of funny, I forgot to mention it before. But when I heard Sweden's song for this year, I had a feeling it was going to be one that you would like! Just based on other songs we'd talked about before and which ones you liked.

I don't really watch a lot of people's opinions. There's a British lady whose channel is called "Honest Vocal Coach" and she posts her reactions, which I find are sometimes fun to watch, but I don't always agree with her opinion! But other than that, I don't really watch stuff, just maybe peek at comments on the videos of the performances. There's lots of people who post reactions or their top 10, or comparisons between this year and last year, but I don't find myself drawn to them.

I saw the video of the Swedish singer performing her song outside. I like it better than the version from the Swedish national final. For some reason I couldn't get through the full performance of that version, but the acoustic version I actually enjoyed.

Just came across this version of Breathe (Montenegro).  It's very different. 
 

Oh, there's some more videos up from the London party since I posted!

- Lithuania, Monika Lui is fantastic!  Great singer and performer, great with the audience.  I'm not wild about the song unfortunately.
- Romania. WRS, I think I was smiling the whole way through this!  He's cute and fun, and had the audience singing along
- Denmark, Reddi - I like the retro feel of this song.  I thought this live performance was great!
- Czech Republic, We Are Domi.  I like this song, a high middle on my list, but I didn't think it sounded great live. 
- Malta Emma Muscat seemed to keep losing her voice, but did put a lot of energy into it.  Not one of my favourite songs, though.
- Latvia, Citi Zeni - looked really good from what I could see in the video, very enthusiastic and professional, not one of my favourite songs, but looks like they will be good in the semi-final.  Just editing to say that there's a better video up now, and they look and sound fantastic.  Really good performance, filled the stage, very energetic and fun, great musicians. 

Yes, I'm not expecting Sam to win, but maybe he'll do better than last year's entry!  Are Poland and Estonia your favourites, or just the ones stuck in your head (it's not always the same ones for me!).  I did want to listen more to the other songs, but of course the danger is that I end up with a lot of favourites which get eliminated in the semis! 

Last edited by Liberty (April 7, 2022 7:15 am)

I was not aware of those COVID numbers. I guess it's possible that that could have something to do with it.

I've listened to a few more of the live performances now that Wiwibloggs has uploaded the videos. I also enjoyed Monika Liu's performance. It's one of those songs I listened to once and then kind of forgot about. I think that because I watched it with English subtitles on and the lyrics seemed kind of odd (they're kind of abstract, almost surrealist) so I wasn't sure I could connect, but it's not a bad melody. Other than the song itself, her bowl haircut reminds me of the French film director Agnes Varda.

I agree that "Lights Off" didn't really sound good here. The singer really sounded like she was straining to me. Maybe it just wasn't her day.

I laughed when the audience shouted the uncensored lyrics at the beginning of "Eat Your Salad." I thought they did a good job in this performance, even though the stage was kind of small. I enjoyed their synchronised movements and that they gave each musician a feature. Obviously, they can't do that in competition because there's no live instruments and because it made the performance longer than 3 minutes, but it was fun the way they did it. I thought it was too bad the stage dive (especially if it really was his first stage dive ever) didn't work out. I hope nobody was badly hurt!

When I said that Poland and Estonia were the ones stuck in my head a lot, it's because I also listen to them the most. But I forgot to say that "Give That Wolf a Banana" has also been in my head a lot, even though I haven't listened to it that many times. I find just thinking of it gets it stuck in my head. We've been having bananas at home, lately, too, and I keep finding myself humming the "Yum yum yum yum yum" part of the song, even if I don't want to.

Last edited by Yitzock (April 7, 2022 5:04 pm)