Intro Post

< 2020 Semifinal 2 | 2021 Semifinals | 2021 Final >

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Introduction

Some international annual events had to be canceled for two or three years in a row due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so we’re very fortunate that Eurovision only missed one year and maintained its host city of Rotterdam, Netherlands for 2021. The producers of Eurovision 2021 ensured the contest complied with all COVID-19 regulations, but cleverly disguised the fact that it occurred during a pandemic.

It feels strange to watch clips from the 2020 (actually 2021) Summer Olympics with almost no live audience, so it’s miraculous that the EBU put together a live audience for 2021. They did so by allowing only 3,500 seats in the Rotterdam Ahoy, about a third of the usual amount, and not allowing any standing seats—the space was instead used for a socially distanced green room. The audience members didn’t have to wear masks or sit two meters apart—they only had to test negative for COVID and wear masks when not seated. The audience consisted only of those who had bought tickets for Eurovision 2020, so there were no public ticket sales this year. One change that the pandemic did cause was that backing vocals could now be pre-recorded. It’s a bit of a divisive rule, but as we’ll see in quite a few songs this year, it’ll allow for a new layer of creative freedom.

All countries that would have participated in 2020 returned for 2021, except for Belarus who was banned due to sending a propaganda song, and Armenia who skipped out due to a war with Azerbaijan. Out of these 39 countries, 24 of them internally selected the same artist as 2020, two (Estonia and Lithuania) held a national final where the 2020 contestant won, and 13 selected an entirely new contestant. This means that exactly two-thirds of the entries this year have the same artist as 2020.

The running order for both semifinals looks pretty similar to the 2020 semifinals. The draws of who gets into which semifinal, and who is in which half, were reused from 2020, but the countries were reordered for the sake of the show. This means each semifinal will consist of the same countries as its 2020 counterpart (barring the ones that dropped out), but not always the same singers.

As of this writing, I’ve heard in full almost all Eurovision entries from 1956 to 2024, except for these countries’ entries this year: Albania, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Georgia, North Macedonia, Romania, Slovenia, and Sweden. By the time I finish this post, I will have heard every single song in Eurovision history.

I watched the semifinals with German commentary by an increasingly raspy Peter Urban, who by this point I’ve warmed up to. I find his style of commentary to be deadpan in an endearing old man way. In case you were wondering, I’m back to watching these contests alone. If you’d like to know more about how I find commentary for recent contests, or would like me to send video files I have available, there are multiple ways to contact me listed on my home page. I’m open to helping you out!

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Belarus: Ya nauchu tebya (Я научу тебя) (rejected)

Artist: Galasy ZMesta, whose name means “Voices from the Place”

Language: Russian

Key: C major

The reason Belarus didn’t select VAL again for 2021, in case you were wondering, is because they participated in protests against the country’s dictator, Alexander Lukashenko. It seems like his grip over Belarusian media was getting tighter around this time.

I don’t want to give this propaganda song too much attention, but I’m obligated to discuss it for completion’s sake. I’m not sure if Belarus really intended to participate in Eurovision with this song, or if they sent it just to tell the EBU “reject this, I dare you”. I’m leaning towards the latter, since after this song was rejected, Belarus sent another song by the same band called “Pesnya pro zaytsev” (Song About Hares) which ends with lyrics that translate to “What’s the song about? Even I don’t understand.” It’s just spiteful bullshit all around. Belarus got banned from the EBU in May 2021 (effective June and ongoing), just two months after sending this song, though it wasn’t actually for reasons related to Eurovision.

Oh, the song itself? It’s just boring rock that I’ve heard a few times and can never remember how it actually sounds. Their second song is even more boring and has some annoying talk-singing mixed in to make it worse. What is it with pro-Putin (or in this case, pro-Lukashenko) propaganda music and being not good at all?

It’s probably fair to say this is the most universally hated entry in Eurovision history, which begs the question: what’s the most universally loved entry in Eurovision history? I’d go with “Nocturne” from 1995. It can’t be one of the more recent winners or fan favorites because there’s plenty of fans who complain that they’re overrated, so instead I’ve chosen an older winner that pretty much all fans appreciate.

Slovenia: Amen

Artist: Ana Soklič, returning from 2020

Language: English, unlike her last entry

Key: G♯ minor, B♭ minor

I’ve already forgotten what Ana Soklič’s last entry sounded like, other than that it’s a dull shouty ballad, and this song is exactly the same. Come on Slovenia, just because you kept the same singer from 2020 doesn’t mean you have to keep the same genre! This is boring as all fuck and makes me feel absolutely nothing, but fortunately there are two interesting things to say about it.

First off, during the postcard, Peter Urban brought up the new rule that pre-recorded backing vocals are allowed, and said it was so that fewer people could be on stage due to the pandemic. This is the first entry this year to take advantage of this rule. I think it’ll take a bit of getting used to. The pre-recorded backing vocals seem as though they’re sung by a bunch of invisible ghosts. Not good for viewers who are afraid of ghosts.

Second, I still hate the trope where the leadup to the final chorus has a stompy drum beat and no other instruments. But it’s especially weird because the section that does this happens quite a bit before the key change, whereas normally the trope is immediately when the key change starts, or immediately before.

OK, one more thing to say about this song: her thank-you message at the end makes me think that she could’ve continued shouting into the microphone for a whole hour if she wanted. Thank god she didn’t.

Australia: Technicolour

Artist: Montaigne, returning from 2020

Language: English

Key: A minor, C minor

I doubly feel sad for Montaigne, both not being able to attend Eurovision in person (instead recording the performance from home) and not even qualifying to the final, a first for Australia.

That said, although this is more palatable to my tastes than Montaigne’s last entry and I kind of like the synth work, I still hear a bit of that half crying singing that bugs me. Nowhere near as severely as 2020, but this still isn’t really my thing. Also, now three out of the first five songs (Lithuania, Slovenia, Russia, Sweden, and Australia) have a key change, which is strange for contemporary Eurovision.

North Macedonia: Here I Stand

Artist: Vasil Garvanliev, returning from 2020

Language: English

Key: A major, C major

After his awesome dancey bop from 2020, I’m rather let down that Vasil went for a ballad this time. That said, I actually find this to be really sweet musically, and he sells the song well without shouting his ass off. The staging also has some nice gimmicks: the disco ball during the speed-up, and the sound wave effects that play during the backing vocals. I actually think it’s a very solid ballad with good buildup; the only thing I don’t like is the weird placement of the key change.

HE WAS THE JURIES’ LAST PLACE?????? COME ON YOU GUYS, SHOW A LITTLE RESPECT FOR MY BOY VASIL. I dunno, maybe I just feel sympathetic for him because oh my god his song last year was so awesome and I thought for sure he would appeal to the juries this time. Honestly, this song touches me way more than Sweden does, but the juries ranked Sweden sixth place so clearly they don’t agree.

Fortunately after all these non-qualifiers that make me sad, we have an interlude with the lovely and amazing hosts to lift my mood. Seriously, all four hosts are lovable in their own ways. But next up we have…

Ireland: Maps

Artist: Lesley Roy, returning from 2020

Language: English

Key: G major

… yet another returning contestant who didn’t qualify. It’s actually been really sad going through these non-qualifiers, because most of them were previously going to compete in 2020. Out of the 13 countries that didn’t qualify, ten sent returning contestants, and only three sent newcomers. That means the grand final consists of 16 veterans and 10 newcomers—almost half and half.

I feel bad for Ireland this year because they tried so hard with the staging, doing something flashy and ambitious and full of visual effects like “Heroes” or “You Are the Only One”, yet they got last place. And because this song is so much better and more Eurovision-suited than “Story of My Life”. It actually hypes me up quite a lot and has great melodies and string riffs. It sounds almost cinematic, very well-suited to a song about a woman finding her footing.

With all that said, it’s ultra obvious what the problem is: the staging is too ambitious and Lesley Roy just wasn’t able to keep up, what with all the running around and interacting with the props. She constantly sounded out of breath, so it’s no wonder she didn’t qualify.

Croatia: Tick-Tock

Artist: Albina Grčić

Language: English, plus a small portion in Serbo-Croatian (Croatian)

Key: E minor

This is one of the oddest non-qualifiers in Eurovision history because it got ninth place in the televote and tenth in the jury, but eleventh overall, so in a pure televote or pure jury year it would’ve reached the final. It also scored just four fewer points than Norway, so you can tell fans weren’t happy it didn’t qualify.

This has nice synth work here and there, but otherwise it comes off to me as a generic dancey song. Plus the drum beat has tiny traces of ultra-fast swing rhythm, which isn’t gonna win me favor. It doesn’t help that there’s way too much happening on stage, so I can barely even pay attention to the song. I’m also not convinced this song needed to be filmed in a wide aspect ratio. That’s another way it just looks distracting.

I’ve decided to give the fully Croatian version a listen, and it’s one of those native-language versions of a song that I like slightly more just because it’s more of a novelty to hear this genre in a different language. This song not qualifying proves that countries were REALLY quick to step up their game this year.

Romania: Amnesia

Artist: Roxen, returning from 2020

Language: English

Key: E♭ minor

This is a very typical 2020’s non-qualifier: an attempt at a dramatic ballad that just comes off as tacky and weird and has too much happening on stage. It especially doesn’t help when the singing is off-putting, as is the case here.

Seriously, why does Roxen have to be so nasally and breathy, and why does the stage have so damn much going on? I mean come on, the backing dancers keep lifting her up on stage and touching her in weird places, and the smoke effects look like someone left the oven on overnight.* Is this Eurovision 2005 all over again?

I can barely pay attention to the song, which is just a dreary sadgirl ballad that tries to be dramatic. The 6/8 time signature is kinda nice, but the breathy cursive singing sounds stilted and totally spoils it. I was waiting for the song to end for all three minutes, then at the end I said out loud, “that was really bad”.

* I could have sworn I said the same thing about an older Eurovision entry. I searched my blog, and it turns out I said it about “Tornerò”—also a Romanian entry.

Semifinal 1 thoughts:

Oh my god you guys, I’m already absolutely loving this year. I’m not alone in this, it really is one of the most well-regarded years in Eurovision history. Sure, some of the songs are a bit crap, but that’s why we have semifinals. And the hosts are so lovely each in their own way. All four have a distinctive role to play and come from a different background, yet are united by their love for Eurovision. I’ll save my overall thoughts on the hosting for the grand final; just know that the Netherlands really knocked it out of the park!

I need to give special shoutouts to the recap for showing off the most memorable parts of each song. Russia showed the chorus where she sings in Russian, Ireland showed the whole chorus and a bit of what came after, and Israel included her mind-blowing high notes.

The interval act called “The Power of Water” feels interval act-y and contemporary at the same time—a rousing pop ballad about the Netherlands’ water management, set to stunning background visuals and video clips. The trick to making it actually feel like an interval act is simple: just have a huge amount of performers on stage. The small amount of performers is why so many of the interval acts in the 2010’s felt off.

The Netherlands was very efficient with organizing this show, they didn’t dilly-dally with interval acts and skits. They seamlessly filled up the time between the final song and the qualifier reveals, much unlike the last few host countries. The structure was basically: recap, interval act, second recap, interval skits, Big Five interviews, and then the voting. There were a few host interludes mixed in, and they all felt relevant to the show and not like padding. Thankfully the interval skits weren’t trying to imitate SVT’s comedic skits, but rather were honest tributes to the success of Eurovision—one featuring interviews with past winners, the other Nikkie de Jager adapting her style of YouTube videos into Eurovision, which is such a joy to watch. Then we have a skit about the success of “Arcade”, which I’m totally OK with.

It’s hard to say who I would’ve voted for in semifinal 1; there are so many good picks and I might have been biased towards my favorites of 2020. Let’s say I would’ve thrown some votes at Lithuania and Ukraine, big fan favorites that are obviously up my street, and spared a few for Russia (since they FINALLY sent something authentic and personal) as well as lovely Belgium.

This semifinal did a great job filtering out the weak songs; there’s not a single one I would have swapped out. If I had to pick one country I felt saddest for, I’ll go with Ireland because they really tried going the extra mile. The qualifier reveals were fun to watch, because the newcomers were regular happy to qualify, whereas the veterans from 2020 were insanely overjoyed because that’s what returning to an annual event after COVID does to you. The exception is Lithuania, who returned from 2020 with another fan favorite; their lead singer’s face said “I knew we were gonna make it”.

Peter Urban said that for a moment it looked uncertain whether Sweden would qualify, since they were the eighth to be revealed. I have to agree with him, this is the one year where it really felt possible Sweden wouldn’t make it through, because I found their song one of the least competitive. Oh my god, imagine how pissed off the Swedes would’ve been if that were the case. The German commentator sounded like he jumped out of his seat when Belgium qualified, and I can in no way blame him. It’s the kind of song that appeals to older viewers, and by this point he was in his seventies. Thankfully he’s still excited and engaged in the show, and not a party pooper like Terry Wogan in his last few years.

The final qualifier is one of those moments where it feels really obvious who the last will be—anything else would just be too horrific to be true. It was of course Ukraine, which again joyed Peter Urban. I’m reminded of when I was in the Malmö Arena waiting to find out the last qualifier from 2024 SF2, but that’s a story I already told.

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Estonia: The Lucky One

Artist: Uku Suviste, returning from 2020

Language: English

Key: G♯ minor

Can Uku Suviste really call himself “the lucky one” when he got assigned the death slot two years in a row? I don’t think he can.

I kind of like the moody synthwave instrumental, but overall this is a super generic and anonymous ballad. It’s not so generic that it feels like I’ve heard it a hundred times already, but it’s generic nonetheless. Remember, Estonia was one of two countries that hosted a national final where the 2020 contestant won, which raises the question: did Eesti Laul 2021 have other songs more deserving of Eurovision? I’d bet a good amount of money it did.

Czechia: Omaga

Artist: Benny Cristo, returning from 2020

Language: English, plus one line in Czech

Key: E♭ minor

I didn’t really like “Kemama” (his 2020 entry) and found a hard time imagining it would appeal to Eurovision viewers, so this song pleasantly surprised me! It’s not good enough that I’d keep it, but it has way more musical variety—a nice mix of chord progressions and drum beats, and more melodic than his last entry. It’s too bad the instrumental is way better than the singing.

I also wish the section in Czech was longer than just one line amidst a verse. If I didn’t know better I might have thought it was just mumbling noises, but then again I’m not familiar with Czech as a language. Come on Czechia, don’t be a Sweden, have some confidence in your language!

Austria: Amen

Artist: Vincent Bueno, returning from 2020. Noticing a pattern here?

Language: English

Key: D♭ major

Peter Urban said that this singer was 35 years old but didn’t look that old. I dunno, he looks convincingly thirty-five to me. I can see a trace of wrinkles on his face.

For some reason, this contest has two songs titled “Amen”. This isn’t the first time Eurovision had two songs with the same title—2015 had Malta and Georgia both send a song called “Warrior”. Vincent Bueno sent a happy romance song in 2020, but a breakup song in 2021. I kind of like this for the story it tells, since it has an uneasy sound and trace of minor chords. I’ll choose to interpret the line “I never thought we’d die” to mean both that he and his love interest would die as individuals, and that their relationship would die, and I’ll choose to take this double meaning as clever. I can easily believe this as a follow-up to the story that “Alive” tells, which is unlike the other pair of romance and breakup songs from 2020 to 2021—I’m talking about Israel.

That said, as a song this is too ballady for me and has a generic 2020’s cinematic drum beat. It’s probably an attempt at jury bait, but it would have benefited a bit from having backing singers on stage, especially during the climax.

Poland: The Ride

Artist: Rafał Brzozowski

Language: English

Key: B minor

Agh, why the hell does Rafał have to shout amidst the song so much? That just makes him seem full of himself, and he looks like the smuggest narcissist uncle I’ve ever seen. This is a fairly good 80’s synth pop song, but it’s just missing that extra spark of—COME ON RAFAŁ IF YOU THINK YOUR SONG IS SO GREAT, LET IT SPEAK FOR ITSELF, STOP SHOUTING COME ON! That extra spark of brilliance, that is. All his shouting at the audience makes the song a tad sour to me. I agree with Erica, it’s the kind of song I’d happily listen to if it played on the radio, but never seek it out on my own.

Georgia: You

Artist: Tornike Kipiani, returning from 2020

Language: English

Key: C major

Wow, apparently Tbilisi in German is called Tiflis? I have no idea! Weird that English switched to the hard-to-pronounce endonym when German kept the exonym.

I don’t think “You” was a fitting title for the North Macedonian entry last year, and while I’m not a fan of these super short titles, it actually fits the song here because he emphasizes the word quite a bit: “I wanna touch you”, “I wanna see you”. This conveys that he specifically wants to be with the girl he’s singing about, not just desperate for any random girl.

Anyway, this song feels like Georgia’s take on a sentimental 6/8 ballad, which means it’s just a tad quirky in ways I can’t put my finger on. Again he’s too shouty at parts and this is too ballady for me to love it, but I do somewhat enjoy this song. It’s mournful in a good way. Peter Urban said this sounds like an Irish folk tune and you know what, he’s totally right. I have no idea whether this is accurate to the Georgian music scene, but thanks to Eurovision I associate this country with making whatever music they want to and not caring about norms.

Fun fact: after this song comes Albania’s entry, which is the very last song I have to hear before can say I’ve heard every Eurovision song ever.

… holy fuck, that blew my mind. Yes, on September 5, 2024, I can now say I’ve heard every single Eurovision song ever.

Latvia: The Moon Is Rising

Artist: Samanta Tīna, returning from 2020

Language: English

Key: E♭ minor

Agh, what is even the point of existing when the absolute banger from Finland has to be sandwiched between two songs I absolutely hate? The first is Bulgaria (sorry, I know that song has lots of fans) and the second is this utterly fucking putrid abomination. She begins the song piercing into my eardrums by being off key and waily at the same time. Something about her attitude just annoys me, like she thinks she’s the greatest singer in the world. And then this annoying-ass hip-hop beat comes in, all the while this irritating “uh uh uh uh” synth plays in the background.

The song does the exact same shit as her last entry where the buildup sounds promising but it leads into toilet sounds, except the buildup isn’t even that promising at all. If that wasn’t enough, she shouts at the audience to make some noise right after the first chorus. Maybe the reason she can’t hear the audience is because they don’t actually like this? Throughout the second verse she misses a few more notes, and then she starts singing about her boobs, what the hell?! No wait, apparently she was singing “my rules”, but can you blame me for thinking it was “my boobs”? She keeps being irritating for the entire rest of the song and asks the audience to scream one last time when the song is about to end. The audience waits for a split second and then realizes they’re supposed to scream, then the song ends and she’s met with the faintest cheering I’ve ever heard. If I was in the arena during the contest, I would have applauded at the end in politeness, but I couldn’t bring myself to cheer for a song that nearly destroys my ears. Ears are one of the most valuable parts of the human body, I’d prefer not to lose them, thank you very much!

God I fucking hate this song so much and it’s a well-deserved non-qualifier. It scored the fewest points out of anything in both semifinals and I can easily see why. I hate absolutely everything and tolerate absolutely nothing about this song. I hope there won’t be a worse song from 2025 to 2029. And I still need to stick to my promise of listening to each song twice, which means I torture myself for six minutes instead of three. I even listened to it a third time to beef up my rant. Thank god almost everything else this year is so good. Why couldn’t Latvia have hosted a national final like the other two Baltic states, so that this horrific song might have been eliminated?

The only good part of the song is when it ends. I’m not just saying that as a snarky way to say the song is awful. It genuinely makes me happy when this song ends. It’s almost as bad as “Quién maneja mi barca”, which is NOT a statement I make lightly. I seriously can’t remember the last time I hated a Eurovision song this much. I’ve said to people before that “Quién maneja mi barca” is the only Eurovision song that outright hurts my ears, but I’m afraid that’s no longer true. “The Moon Is Rising” hurts my ears too. It’s probably my second least favorite Eurovision song of all time, because almost nothing else fueled me with this much rage when I listened to it.

Fortunately, this is sandwiched between two songs I absolutely love. Next up is the absolutely mind-blowing “Tout l’univers”. You know what? The shit songs actually make me howl with excitement over the great songs.

Denmark: Øve os på hinanden

Artist: Fyr og Flamme

Language: Danish, for the first time since 1997

Key: A minor

Oh my god, I can’t believe the Danish language is finally back in Eurovision, it’s been so long! Dansk Melodi Grand Prix tends to have a mix of ultra-normal radio pop in English, and all sorts of quirky songs in Danish that range from moving to goofy to endearingly stupid. I’m told that this contrast is accurate to the Danish music industry, and all the Nordic countries for that matter. It feels unreal that this year, one of the quirky songs in Danish triumphed over all this radio pop. I think the gorgeous moving “Står lige her” would’ve been a more accessible return for the Danish language, but I’m down for this too.

Honestly I have a lot of respect for Fyr og Flamme. These two guys think 1980’s-inspired synth pop is the coolest thing ever and aren’t afraid to sing it in Danish, and that’s pretty much all of the music they make. I admire anyone who’s willing to make the kind of art they think is cool, regardless of if others find it weird. And I think their songs are a lot of fun, at least among those I’ve heard! These guys are quite popular in Denmark and scored a big hit with “Menneskeforbruger”, which knowing the Danish language is probably pronounced by ignoring half the letters. This proves that the Danes have an affection for quirky music, and that’s well-represented in this year’s Eurovision.

I disagree with Erica, I think this pulled off the retro pop gimmick way better than Poland. It helps that these guys come off as charming and endearing, not smug like the Polish dude. It’s a far cry from Switzerland’s gorgeous masterpiece, but it’s still loads of fun even if it sounds way better orchestrated. I love the synth hooks and riffs as well as the alternation between A minor in the verses and C major (same key signature) in the chorus. The playful lyrics about the guy practicing romance with his crush on the dance floor are lots of fun too, and so are the occasional gestures matching the lyrics like “du er kvinden, jeg er manden” (you’re the woman, I’m the man). The lyrics seem to take place in high school when people are new to how romance works, which really matches the retro composition of the song. I’m rather bummed out this didn’t qualify, and I know exactly which of the qualifiers I would’ve traded for this. (glares sharply at Bulgaria) I want to see more of this side of Denmark, god dammit.

If I was Danish I’d have been bursting with patriotism about this song, then been heartbroken that this song didn’t qualify. The televoters ranked it a respectable 7th place, but the juries snubbed it with 15th because they hate fun. That’s nothing new of course, we’ve known that about the juries since day one. The audience on the other hand, they cheered pretty hard for this. Turns out that they enjoy the sound of the Danish language after all! That certainly means Germany will have the guts to bring back their language too someday… pretty please? I’d love to hear a German cover of this actually.

Semifinal 2 thoughts:

Peter Urban got some unfortunate news out of the way at the start of this semifinal. First off, one of the members of Iceland’s band got tested positive for COVID-19, meaning that Iceland had to perform remotely. Second, Duncan Laurence (who was going to perform more songs throughout this show) also tested positive and has to be remote for the rest of the show. As unfortunate as this news is, this also shows that the contest organizers worked as hard as they possibly could to control the virus, and I admire that. He also said that he was surprised the audience didn’t have to wear masks, because the German authorities would have absolutely not allowed it. I suppose the Dutch do have a reputation for being relaxed with rules.

I love how the recap showed Iceland’s contestants in their own makeshift hotel green room, where the ones who had to stay home due to COVID were put on video camera atop little mannequins. A perfect example of Daði Freyr’s quirky sense of humor. As for who I’d have voted for, my strategy in the semifinals is generally to pick who needs my support, whereas in the finals I pick who I want to win. So I imagine I would’ve split my votes between Albania, Serbia, Iceland, and Moldova, maybe a few for my beloved Switzerland but I’d have likely saved voting for him for the final. I might have even spared votes for Denmark, but I would’ve given way more if my mom was Danish instead of German.

I’m not quite sure what the second interval act is about, but it’s artistic and dancey and interval act-y and features a bike for Dutch flair, so it gets my approval. Why can’t interval acts feature elaborate 50-plus-person choreography every year like the old days? It’s like the old school type of interval act, which does what interval acts were originally meant to do: keep the audience entertained so they don’t switch the channel. And I LOVE that this contest features the contestants clapping along to and enjoying all the other performances; we saw my boy Gjon’s Tears clapping at the end of this act.

During the last minute of voting countdown, Peter Urban said (translated to English): “We don’t have much time left, 40 seconds, and I wish that… um, everyone has their own wishes, but, uh… I can tell you anyway, I really hope Portugal qualifies.” And yeah, even though it isn’t necessarily my kind of song, Portugal’s entry totally appeals to older audiences and is much deserving of qualification.

After the voting time window ended came another round of interviews with prior winners, which were very sweet all around, then another round of skits with Nikkie de Jager—sometime I should check out her interviews with Eurovision contestants on YouTube. Then came the usual Big Five interviews, you know the deal. Barbara Pravi came off as a promising contestant and passionate about her music.

I’m so glad the first two qualifiers are Albania and Serbia, they both kicked ass! Bulgaria dampened the mood a bit, but I’d have been much more annoyed if they were the final qualifier. Iceland was number 6 and the person who flipped their shit the most was Daði Freyr’s wife, the subject of the song. The man himself had a face saying “I knew we could do it”. By the time we were down to three qualifiers left, it was unlikely all my favorites would get through: Denmark, Finland, and Switzerland had all yet to make it through, and I would’ve felt bad for Stefania from Greece if all three had qualified. And for the final qualifier, the crowd was chanting “Finland” and they got their wish, and so did I! Poor Fyr og Flamme from Denmark though. I’ve never heard the German commentator this excited during the qualifier reveals, and I can’t blame him for getting this invested. It really was such an exciting year!

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See you next time for a grand final of bombshells after bombshells after bombshells. Which song do I find the bombshelliest bombshell in the history of bombshells? You’ll find out soon enough. Now that I’m back to watching these contests solo, this blog has gone by much faster!

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