Intro Post

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I’m convinced that Netta Barzilai incorrectly predicts the Eurovision host city on purpose at this point. Why else would she have predicted Geneva to host Eurovision 2025 when Basel was so obviously the correct choice? I’m very pleased with the choice of Basel; as I said, it’s relatively close to where my grandma and my mom’s German friends live, so I might end up going to the contest with my mother this time.

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Introduction

After winning Eurovision for the first time in 44 years, the Netherlands was prepared to host Eurovision 2020, their first time putting on the contest in 40 years. The prior Dutch contests were all organized by the broadcaster NOS, but this time they teamed up with AVROTROS (the broadcaster who picks the Dutch entries) and the two broadcasters’ parent organization, NPO. Initially nine different Dutch cities bid, but then the potential host cities were narrowed down to five—none of which had hosted Eurovision before, so no Amsterdam, Hilversum, or The Hague. Then the shortlist consisted only of Maastricht and Rotterdam, and in the end Rotterdam won out, earning them the right to host Eurovision in the Rotterdam Ahoy.

Most of the same countries from 2019 sent an entry to Eurovision 2020. The only two that didn’t were Montenegro (who would return in 2022, then will return again in 2025) and Hungary (who still hasn’t returned). Ukraine and Bulgaria both came back after skipping 2019. This means that as with last year, 41 countries had entries ready for the contest. That is, until the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the entire world and canceled the Eurovision Song Contest.

When the coronavirus lockdowns started up, a few countries were still yet to release their Eurovision entries. Russia was the very last to do so, on March 12, 2020. In those first few days of the lockdown, everyone thought it would only last a few weeks, but quickly the world would be proven wrong. On March 18, the EBU announced their decision to cancel Eurovision 2020. This means we’re left with 41 songs that never got to compete on the Eurovision stage. Some of the contestants would get to perform in Rotterdam with new songs next year, but others would be replaced with different artists entirely.

This is going to be a really weird year to review. Instead of watching a TV broadcast of the contest, I’ll have to search YouTube for national final performances and music videos of the songs, as though I were ranking a Eurovision contest pre-show. Which is not easy at all—without a live performance to go off of, some songs just make me think “it’s dramatic I guess” or “it’s probably a good song”. But I will try my best!

I’ll go through the songs in the same order as in the Eurovision Song Celebration 2020 videos (1, 2). Both videos are in the running order the semifinal would’ve had, plus the three automatic qualifiers that would’ve voted at the end.

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Sweden: Move

Artist: The Mamas, who were backing singers in 2019

Language: English

Key: F♯ minor

The first semifinal starts off with an accessible Swedish entry, predictably enough. Even in a canceled contest, I can sense all the obvious running order tropes, and a certain Ukrainian friend of mine is to blame for that. Thankfully this is one of the easiest 2020 entries to analyze, because we already have a live performance in front of a huge crowd that looks passable as Eurovision. That’s the benefit of Melodifestivalen! The Mamas have such a great energy on stage, especially since they’re now performing the song on their own and not accompanying John Lundvik. Watching their performance is bittersweet because the entire world would be locked down less than a week later.

This might be the third best Swedish entry from 2001 onwards, behind “Dance You Off” (2018) and “Heroes” (2015). It’s a normal well-produced gospel pop song for the most part, but two things about it elevate it: the Mamas’ effortless harmonies and the handful of curveballs thrown in the chord progression. I need to give special shoutout to the bluesy chords in the second last “everybody move like us” in the bridge. The chorus is a little repetitive, but if the other entries this semifinal were all really weak, I would’ve happily voted for this. Too bad the first semifinal has so many bombshell songs!

Belarus: Da vidna (Да відна)

Artist: VAL

Language: Belarusian

Key: C minor

I’m really sad that VAL didn’t get to go to Eurovision 2021, because this song is loads of fun and would’ve made for great representation of the Belarusian language. It’s infinitely better than that stupid propaganda song that Belarus would try getting into Eurovision next year. I’ll consider this Belarus’s final entry in Eurovision, though one could arguably give that label to “Like It” last year instead. Even though I’m not a big fan of most Belarusian entries, I like that the country just sent whatever entries they thought would make the contest more fun, and didn’t care at all about winning. At least, I don’t get the feeling any Belarusian entries were designed to win, and that’s OK.

This is an awesome dancey party song at a slow and laid-back tempo, which lets the viewer enjoy the synth beat and chill out. I still don’t know much about the differences between how the East Slavic languages sound, but I’ve heard that Belarusian is mutually intelligible with Ukrainian, and knowing this song I can certainly believe that. The rhythm of the lyrics feels so Slavic and so snazzy and I love it. It’s a total miracle that this song won the Belarusian national final, since it got second place in the jury and televote yet is totally up my street. It’s the kind of entry that part of me wishes every country would send to Eurovision every year—a fun native-language tune with a personality distinct from all others.

This is by far my favorite Belarusian entry in Eurovision, and the only entry from this country that I truly love. It’s songs like this that remind me that there’s so much more to countries like Belarus and Russia than their cruel dictatorships. This might be the number one song I’m saddest about losing to the cancellation, since it’s one of the best songs by artists who didn’t return for 2021, and unlike “Uno” (whose artist also didn’t return) it didn’t end up an enduring fan favorite. I get a little teary watching their performance, because I know they won’t get to return in 2021, nor will they have another great song make up for it. Now the song I’m angriest about losing to the cancellation… it’s either this or Germany.

I’ve been looking up music videos and performances of all the 2020 entries on YouTube for this blog post, and I found an at-home performance of “Da vidna” after Eurovision was canceled. It’s such a lovely cover and I’m amazed at how well the song adapts to vocals and guitar.

Australia: Don’t Break Me

Artist: Montaigne (Jessica Alyssa Cerro)

Language: English

Key: F minor

It’s always annoying when I have no idea how to phrase my thoughts on a Eurovision song, then I read someone else’s review and they sum up my feelings perfectly, and I can’t just copy and paste their thoughts. Well I could, but I’d rather write my own words about it. I’ll just say I completely agree with Erica’s thoughts. The singer sounds way too overdramatic and waily throughout the song and it sours the whole thing for me. I get that it might make sense considering it’s a fast piano ballad about a nasty breakup, but it doesn’t mean I want to listen to people half singing, half crying. And plus, I don’t get why Montaigne is wearing a circus outfit. It’s one of those costumes that as far as I can tell has no connection to the song.

North Macedonia: You

Artist: Vasil Garvanliev

Language: English

Key: F♯ minor

By all means, “Proud” from 2019 should seem like one of the toughest acts to follow in Eurovision history, but somehow North Macedonia managed to make a worthy successor! This isn’t just a song with wow factor on the Eurovision stage, it’s also something I can casually listen to and have a great time. It might just seem like a regular pop song on the surface, but there’s so much about it that makes it work.

It has a really nice fast synth beat, some hints of accordion in the pre-chorus, and a super satisfying drop in the chorus. Not to mention the bridge where the song goes in a new direction but remains coherent, exactly as a bridge should do. The song makes so much great use of the harmonic minor mode and is overall a lovely listen. I wish I could’ve seen the song on stage, so the most I can do is close my eyes and imagine. I’m picturing Vasil dancing his heart out with two women surrounding him as the camera pans over in all sorts of different angles, plus background visuals depicting the bar featured in the music video.

The lyrics are rather simple: they’re about the singer’s desire to dance with his love interest, who is portrayed in the music video by a woman, even though he’s gay. I would’ve preferred to call this “Dance with You” or maybe even “I Just Wanna Dance”, but it’s not a big deal. This is one of those songs where I don’t pay any attention to the lyrics and just happily jam to the music. I have absolutely no idea whether or not this would’ve qualified, but I would’ve definitely given it some votes—especially since my strategy in the semis is to vote for entries that I think need my support. I couldn’t have actually voted for it even if Eurovision wasn’t canceled, since I’m from the rest of the world. This makes for two countries whose best entry by far is in 2020.

EDIT: In April 2025, Vasil performed this song live in London, followed by his 2021 entry “Here I Stand”. He puts in some strange ad-libbing I don’t understand, but he’s a fabulous singer with a great sense of pitch and he absolutely nails that high note.

Slovenia: Voda

Artist: Ana Soklič

Language: Slovenian

Key: D minor

Starting from Belarus, this semifinal has been alternating between great songs and crap songs. This is a soppy dreary power ballad, way lower energy than what I’d normally expect from Slovenia, and Ana’s voice sounds like she was trained only to sing in English. Maybe that’s why she sang in English in 2021. There are occasional power ballads that strike me emotionally, but this one doesn’t reach the threshold and makes me want to sleep. Except when she gets shouty at the end, that makes me want to turn down the volume.

Lithuania: On Fire

Artist: The Roop

Language: English

Key: F minor

Now we have the first of five entries that I think would’ve scored in the top five! All five of these entries, I could plausibly have imagined winning 2020, since I don’t think this year has one ultra-obvious winner.

In any case, this year is an absolute miracle for Lithuania. After sending mostly forgettable songs for so many years, out of nowhere Lithuania dropped a bombshell and sent a song that got the entire continent excited. Yes, I know Eurovision 2020 was canceled, but this song ended up a fan favorite anyway and when Lithuania held a national final again next year, The Roop won by a landslide.

This song is fun and groovy and easy to dance to and I can happily forgive all the fire/desire rhymes, since as with “My Number One” it feels like an archetypical example. I love the dancey drum beat, the bluesy guitars, the synths, and not to mention the bass synths in the bridge. It’s playful and quirky, a tinge humorous, but also a perfectly serious piece of music. This is nowhere near my favorite entry this year, but it’s easily the best Lithuanian entry so far and they’ll send even more gems the next few years. When I watch the national final performance, I instantly get the feeling it would’ve landed in the top five. It just has this kind of energy.

Ireland: Story of My Life

Artist: Lesley Roy

Language: English

Key: G major

Honestly part of me wants to skip all the remaining Irish entries preceding “Doomsday Blue”, because almost all of them starting from 2013 have been forgettable drivel. “Together” from 2018 is fairly good, whereas this is again forgettable and does nothing to engage with me. It has a flat level of energy and is so obviously better suited to fill time in a radio station than for Eurovision. I would say this is the most obvious non-qualifier so far.

Russia: Uno

Artist: Little Big

Language: English, plus names of numbers in Spanish

Key: A minor

Now this, on the other hand… I can tell the producers wanted to put this at the end, but since it was drawn into the first half, the best they could do was put it in running slot number 8.

Anyway, I fucking love Little Big and they are complete and utter geniuses. As with so many other people, I wouldn’t have known of them if not for Eurovision, so I’m really glad Russia internally selected them. Their style of music is exactly the number one genre that I find most addictive: hectic electronic rave music.

I’ve complained plenty about songs using the same four-chord progression from start to finish, so it’s an absolute miracle that this song entirely uses a two-chord progression (i and V, A minor and E major; except for the organ chords at the very beginning) and ends up THIS infectious. It makes up for the minimal chords by having a varied rhythm and drum beat. I love the sharp piano chords and the bassline notes that match them, the drum beat when the pre-chorus starts, and the Spanish-sounding brass riffs that are especially prominent in the chorus. And I love the section after the chorus where the melody is played on extremely harsh synths, much like the breakdowns of “Rim Tim Tagi Dim” and “Europapa”. Actually I love literally everything about this song and I simply can’t get enough of it. It’s such a perfect parody of and genuine homage to flirty sexual Spanish dance songs, and “uno uno uno, dos, cuatro” is so irresistible to sing along to.

I have absolutely zero doubt that Russia would have won the televote this year. Little Big are absolute experts at pleasing the crowd and their song is a guaranteed top five at least. The music video is hilarious and iconic, and they perfectly replicated it when performing their song at the start of Russia’s national final next year. I love that the singers all look so serious when performing this crazy song; it adds to the humor and feels very Russian. I imagine the song’s performance on the Eurovision stage would’ve looked almost the same, but their music video has seven people so they’d have had to sacrifice one of them for the contest. Which one they would’ve left behind, we’ll sadly never know.

I think this song would’ve done quite well with the juries and had a real possibility to win, but I’m in two minds on whether I’d have wanted them to. I absolutely fucking adore this song and would have given it tons of votes, but at the same time, it would’ve caused a lot of drama for Russia to host the next Eurovision and I really doubt Ukraine (and possibly other countries) would have wanted to participate. Still, now we have three countries whose best Eurovision entry is in 2020, though “You Are the Only One” from 2016 comes pretty close.

Belgium: Release Me

Artist: Hooverphonic, a band dating back to 1995

Language: English

Key: B minor

The alternation between good entries and crap entries has been broken: we now have two great Eurovision entries in a row!

Most dreary croony ballads in this canceled contest do nothing for me, but this actually tugs at my heartstrings. Maybe because it’s got lovely, carefully thought out instrumentation: the retro electric piano, drums, and orchestra particularly stand out. The song is melancholy with a tinge of hope, and that’s expressed perfectly through the vocals and abundance of uneasy chords. I wish we could have known how well Luka Cruysberghs could sing on the Eurovision stage. I say this because in November 2020, Hooverphonic replaced her with their previous singer, then six months later, their new lineup performed in Eurovision.

The song features the phrase “losing game” a few times and I’m reminded of “Arcade”, except the lyrics here seem even sadder. The text is about a woman who wants her love interest to release her from their unfulfilling relationship and it plucks right at my heart. I admit that whenever she sings “from this sad and losing game”, it sounds more like “from this sudden losing game”, which makes the song seem way different, as though this relationship abruptly started feeling traumatic, or perhaps she was in denial that it was this traumatic until a week ago. Still, this is overall a well thought out song and I’m glad VRT decided to select Hooverphonic again for 2021. I’m curious if their second song is also this good!

Malta: All of My Love

Artist: Destiny Chukunyere, the winner of Junior Eurovision 2015

Language: English

Key: E minor

I just discovered Malta picked their artists in 2019 and 2020/21 through X Factor Malta and then internally selected their song, which explains a lot: Destiny really has an exceptional voice. A lot of countries that internally select forget to take into account whether their artist can sing on stage, so it’s nice to see a country that did care about that.

I like the varied drum beat and just as Erica despises gospel music, I tend to feel lukewarm towards it. Unfortunately it has the same chord progression in the verses and chorus, so that lets down the song a bit. This is another song with no live performance, so the most I can do is imagine the stage bringing it to life. Destiny seems like the type who could command a stage on her own.

Croatia: Divlji vjetre

Artist: Damir Kedžo

Language: Serbo-Croatian (Croatian)

Key: A minor, B♭ minor

This is a ballad in Serbo-Croatian that has all the generic modern ballad tropes, including the dramatic piano and cinematic percussion. It has a few good elements like the backing singers’ solos and the F minor chords (unusual for a song in A minor), but the whole package just isn’t for me. It comes across like he’s singing the lyrics of a Balkan ballad over movie trailer music.

I just relistened to “Rim Tim Tagi Dim” after writing this review and man, it’s incredible how much of a glow-up Croatia had in 2024.

Azerbaijan: Cleopatra

Artist: Samira Efendi

Language: English, plus a Buddhist chant in Japanese

Key: D minor

Now this makes four countries whose best Eurovision entries are in 2020! I am also quite a fan of “Skeletons” from 2017 and “Özünlə apar” from 2024, so this isn’t Azerbaijan’s best by a landslide… OK, maybe a medium landslide.

This song is extremely addictive, not Little Big levels of addictive, but infectious nonetheless. It has the perfect structure to keep the listener excited, but before I go into it, I’d like to point out another perk. In September 2021, Efendi performed this song in Poland with full choreography, which means we have a good idea what the staging would’ve looked like! The stage has more than six people here, but I can imagine it being simplified to Efendi and five of her backing dancers. She looks very attractive on stage and sells this song so perfectly.

I’m delighted by the opening lyrics of this song: “Cleopatra was a queen like me / Just like me, just like me / Straight or gay or in between”. They’re humorous yet daring lyrics for this country and have a genuine message: we don’t know all the details of the lives of historical figures and some are surely fabricated, so why not make up stories of your own? For all we know, Cleopatra might indeed have taken a shining to women. These lyrics are followed with “in between, yeah, in between”, implying that Efendi headcanons Cleopatra as bisexual. Then the rest of the lyrics are the singer comparing herself to the ancient Egyptian queen, which might seem silly but is genuinely badass.

Now for the composition: this opens up with an oriental beat played by Azerbaijani traditional instruments, then the lyrics kick in which are sung in a semi-major key Phrygian mode, much like what we sometimes hear in flamenco music. But then when the pre-chorus kicks in (“there was no intervention”), the mode switches to a standard minor key. I think this alternation between different styles of minor key is cool as fuck and makes the song way more interesting. Then the music pauses and she sings “and it sounds… like… this”, then comes a low-pitched Buddhist chant set to only the root note.

And THEN the chorus kicks in when she sings “like Cleopatra” with a heavily rolled R, and the instrumental switches back to the oriental scale. I love the 3-3-2 beat in the drums and want to slap my legs to it, and I just love everything about the chorus. The second verse comes next, and it’s similar to the first but with more claps. We get a few more flourishes in the second pre-chorus, then the second chorus plays as usual. The bridge starts off with a bit of a percussion solo, then puts focus on her vocals for a while, and then comes the final chorus which switches out the 3-3-2 beat for an ultra hectic stompy beat, such a joy to listen to and reminiscent of the breakdown section of “Europapa”. And it concludes so satisfyingly too!

My god, how I fucking love this song. I forgot how much I loved it, since it’s been months since I last listened to it. 2020 is really the year of countries leaving their comfort zone, and it’s so much for the best! Especially since about half these artists were re-selected for 2021.

Cyprus: Running

Artist: Alessandro Heinrich Rütten, who goes by many different stage names including Sandro

Language: English

Key: C minor

Sandro is the musician equivalent of that one Internet user you probably know who invents a totally new username every few months. It annoys the hell out of me when people frequently change their username and eventually it gets to a point where I just know them as “that one person who can’t decide on a consistent username”. It’s also a bit of a stretch to pick him for Cyprus since he lives in Germany and is only a quarter Greek, but it seems picking diaspora singers was Cyprus’s strategy back then.

Anyway, this is a pretty obvious non-qualifier, just an anonymous dancey song with generic lyrics that doesn’t have any catchy hooks. It’s perhaps the number one most forgotten entry of Eurovision 2020.

Norway: Attention

Artist: Ulrikke Brandstorp

Language: English

Key: F minor

I’m on the fence whether Norway would have qualified with this. It’s a mysterious-sounding ballad about a toxic relationship where the singer feels like she needs to bend backwards to get her love interest’s attention. I quite like the emotional sound of the verses, but the chorus a little less so. It’s one of the better romantic ballads in modern Eurovision and the singer looks genuinely emotional, but it’s still a ballad.

Israel: Feker Libi (ፍቅር ልቤ)

Artist: Eden Alene

Language: English, plus phrases in Amharic, Arabic, and Hebrew

Key: C minor

Now Israel on the other hand, they’re the fifth country this year to send their best entry. It’s not a very tough competition here; the only other Israeli entries I like nearly as much are “Kan” (1991) and “There Must Be Another Way” (2009).

Normally when a song feels like multiple songs in one, I mean it in a bad way, but this time I mean it in the best way! The difference with this song is that it does a masterful job blending all its different genres while keeping its flow. It starts with a mysterious-sounding intro with what I’m guessing are Ethiopian traditional instruments, while Eden Alene sings some phrases in Amharic (the national language of Ethiopia) and English. Then the song drops its beat into a Caribbean-sounding verse in English with some nice steel drums and brass, then in the chorus it drops even further into an incredibly fun dance rhythm (and stays in English). I can’t overstate how much I adore all these genre alternations, and really everything about this song. It keeps things interesting for three minutes and is a fusion of so many genres into one that still feels like a cohesive product! I never ever fail to get wowed at the dance drop in the first chorus, with the jumping bassline and piano chords and drum beat.

And then the song keeps on throwing a few more surprises at me. Another great section is right after the chorus, where the song gains a more Israeli sound as she sings phrases in Amharic, Arabic, and Hebrew, all of which are easy to sing along to. I feel engaged in all the cultures represented when I listen to this delightful masterpiece. The second verse and chorus proceed the same as usual (with a drop into the chorus that wows me yet again), but then the song throws one more surprise at me: it mashes together all the instruments from the previous parts and switches from the usual 4/4 time signature into a 12/8 rhythm.

I have absolutely nothing negative to say about this song and I think it would’ve gotten a pretty big televote score, hopefully something respectful from the jury if they don’t hate fun too much. But after the insultingly low score they gave “Spirit in the Sky”, I cannot trust the juries to appreciate a fun song if it hit them in the face. I’d have hoped this song to get at least top 10, but it honestly would’ve deserved top three at least. Eden Alene is a natural on stage and she radiates with so much positive energy. Her backing dancers add a lot and engage with her so perfectly. This song almost makes me want to cry tears of joy, honestly. It’s one of those pieces of music that makes me love the world we live in.

Romania: Alcohol You

Artist: Roxen (Larisa Roxana Giurgiu)

Language: English

Key: F major

Now we have the first of two twin entries that make me feel like a cranky old man who doesn’t understand what the kids are listening to. Actually, there are two other twin entries that make me feel this way, which makes for a total of quadruplet entries. Two of them are dancey trap music, and the other two are croony dreary ballads sung by Billie Eilish wannabes. This is one of the croony ballads and the only one of the quadruplets in the first semifinal.

This is such an annoying sadgirl ballad which would put me to sleep if it weren’t for that irritating breathy voice. When I listen to this, I feel like I accidentally discovered the Spotify playlist of some depressed 15-year-old girl. I would ordinarily click away after a minute, but since this is a Eurovision entry I have to listen to it in full. The pun of “alcohol you” and “I’ll call you” is kind of clever but it’s overshadowed by the annoying singing.

Ukraine: Solovey (Соловей)

Artist: Go_A, the absolute geniuses

Language: Ukrainian, at long last!

Key: F♯ minor

My god, all three of the East Slavic countries absolutely slayed this year! It’s too bad that two of them are now banned from Eurovision; I’d have loved to see the direction Russia and Belarus would have progressed in after their final entries. Maybe after Putin and Lukashenko are expelled from power, just maybe.

Ukraine has always been a pretty strong country in Eurovision: starting from their first winner in 2004, most of their entries are either total bangers that I love, or not to my taste but I can see why they have their fans. But what Ukraine had been missing all this time was something more cultural, something that shows off the country’s traditional culture for modern audiences. In 2020, after so many years of entries almost all in English, they finally did just that! It’s the first Eurovision entry with Ukrainian lyrics since “Mamo”, the Russian entry from 2009, and the first entry to be sung entirely in Ukrainian.

Have I mentioned yet that Go_A are absolute fucking geniuses? I’ve mentioned it before, but it bears repeating. For many Eurovision fans, especially those from western Europe, Go_A is responsible for taming the beast that is white voice singing, and letting them acquire a taste that may have seemed unpalatable. The lyrics tell a romantic folk tale based on Kateryna Pavlenko’s real-life childhood, which ties in perfectly with the song’s composition style: folkloric and contemporary at the same time.

This song is a total banger that’s everything I want out of a Eurovision entry—native language, blends cultural elements with modern electronic music, and full of varied instrumentation. It has easily memorable melodies and some nice flute parts, plus a really intriguing drum beat, and all parts of the package are fully authentically Slavic. Also, can we all agree that Kateryna sings like a goddess? I think it would’ve safely made it to the left side of the scoreboard, but I don’t think it would’ve scored anywhere near as well as “Shum” the next year. I can’t help but view this song as the prequel to “Shum”, which I want to say is the biggest fan favorite Ukrainian entry, but Ukraine has so many fan favorites in Eurovision and I can’t decide which is the biggest of them. Ukraine is too damn good at Eurovision and I want more countries to use them as a role model.

Italy: Fai rumore

Artist: Antonio Diodato

Language: Italian

Key: F♯ major

Now we’re at the automatic qualifiers! This right here is the only entry that I think could score top five and would be scared of the possibility of winning. It’s not that the song is bad or anything, I just don’t get what’s so great about these Italian male ballads. They’re generally just regular ballads with the usual piano, strings, and cinematic drums, but since they’re sung with an Italian lyrical rhythm, fans put them on a huge pedestal. I feel like I should probably be shedding a tear or two during that dramatized slowdown at the end, but instead I sneezed.

If Diodato’s performance at the Sanremo Festival is anything to go by, I don’t think he would’ve gotten anywhere near as many televotes as Iceland or Russia, so maybe he wouldn’t be so likely to win. But on the other hand, sometimes a performance will get a massive glow-up between the national final and Eurovision.

Germany: Violent Thing

Artist: Ben Dolic

Language: English

Key: C♯ minor

I’m so much in two minds about this song, because on the one hand, this is an actually good catchy song that I’m almost certain would’ve reached the left side of the scoreboard. On the other hand, this is still an English-language radio pop song that feels like it could come from any country, and you should know by now I’m tired of Germany sending those.

Oh, whatever. It may have only one four-chord progression, but it’s a fun and bouncy party song that I can’t help but bop my head and smile to. I so badly wish I could’ve known how well this would have scored at Eurovision. And going by this performance in Germany during May 2020, he has a good stage presence and I can forgive his singing voice sounding a tad prepubescent. I imagine that most of its points would’ve come from the juries, and since voters were biased against the Big Five except Italy (yes, that’s a fact), maybe it’s not guaranteed to reach the left side.

Netherlands: Grow

Artist: Jeangu Macrooy

Language: English

Key: C major

And to finish off this post, we have another song I feel conflicted about. I love the lyrics and the message of the song, especially the line “the more I learn, the less I know”. It’s about the struggles that people face when they come of age, and their realizations that life as an adult isn’t easy at all, which is a highly relatable message for me at 25 years old. And I do actually think this is a good song that delivers its message well. It pulls off the gospel sound well and has some great buildup, starting from a simple organ and growing (haha) into a sweet harmonic ballad.

But on the other hand, this song is much too slow for me to want to revisit it often, and I don’t think it would’ve scored well at all. It suffers the same curse as the last two years’ host entries, which were also slow and un-flashy and didn’t score well. The real good part of the song is only in the last minute, which is why it’s hard for me to fully get into this. And it ends abruptly which I’m a bit peeved about. It almost feels like this is the first half of a six-minute song where “Birth of a New Age” is the second half, so maybe Jeangu Macrooy knew this whole time COVID was going to happen. Just maybe.

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Who would have qualified?

I’m writing this section as a substitute for “Semifinal 1 thoughts”. I’ll group these songs into categories as follows:

• Safe qualifiers: Lithuania, Russia, Azerbaijan, Israel, Ukraine
• Likely qualifiers: Sweden, Belgium, Malta
• 50/50: Belarus, North Macedonia, Norway
• Unlikely to qualify: Australia, Romania, Croatia
• Obvious non-qualifiers: Slovenia, Ireland, Cyprus

I’d need to sacrifice one entry from the 50/50 category to make my list of qualifiers. I need to remember that back then, juries played a part in who would qualify, which means Norway’s emotional ballad would be the most likely of the three to qualify. As for Belarus, despite the death slot I can see it getting a respectable amount of votes from fans who love dancey songs. So out of the three, I sadly think North Macedonia would be most likely to slip through the cracks. The song has its fans (such as me), but it’s easily the most niche of the three.

This means my list would look like this:

• Qualified: Sweden, Belarus, Lithuania, Russia, Belgium, Malta, Azerbaijan, Norway, Israel, Ukraine
• Didn’t qualify: Australia, North Macedonia, Slovenia, Ireland, Croatia, Cyprus, Romania

I could see fans being absolutely PISSED if Norway didn’t make it to the final. Same with Belgium, sometimes they get unlucky and their fan favorite entries slip through the cracks.

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See you next time for the more boring half of Eurovision 2020. Ah well, at least we get to meet my boy Daði Freyr!

>> 2020 (Semifinal 2): Would Iceland Have Won?