Grab your pencils! It’s final exam season. Today we’re checking out BESA (Albania), FAHREE ft. Ilkin Dovlatov (Azerbaijan), ISAAK (Germany), Marina Satti (Greece), Bambie Thug (Ireland), Silvester Belt (Lithuania), LUNA (Poland), TEYA DORA (Serbia), alyona alyona & Jerry Heil (Ukraine), and Olly Alexander (United Kingdom).
BESA – TiTAN
This song has a very distinct soundscape. It gradually gets filled like a sonic sandbox. I particularly like the screechy trap beat that comes in the second verse. Where I think BESA should have drawn the line is not having the drums come in at the end. It just feels out of place in this sandbox she has made. BESA has a lovely voice, but her vocal melodies are a little boring. The only line in the song that stuck with me was “Got an armour ’round my heart, it’s unbreakable / Got my feet on the ground, I’m unshakable.” I think that’s partly due to her delivery and partly due to the imagery of the lyrics. Overall, the song is well-made and easy to follow, but it doesn’t leave that strong of an impression.
Grade: C
FAHREE ft. Ilkin Dovlatov – Özünlə Apar
In general, I feel down the middle about this song. It has some nice cinematic sweeps of the strings paired with a drum machine. Ilkin Dovlatov contributes to the track with some folk singing near the end. I find the song to be inoffensive, which might actually be a bad thing in the Eurovision Song Contest. Other people might disagree, but I don’t feel any particular way about the lyrics, or the singing, or the music. In particular, the lyrics are the weakest link. I wonder if there was a version of the song that was fully in Azerbaijani.
Grade: C
ISAAK – Always On The Run
You guys hear the elephant in the chorus too, right? There is this constant intensity whenever ISAAK sings simply due to his growly vocal timbre. What sets this song back for me is the lack of sensory detail in the lyrics. While I relate to the feeling of never being good enough, I would have liked more examples to latch onto. I wonder if this song will be a hit with the Eurovision crowd. To me, it has that adult contemporary sound, the kind you would casually hear on the radio. And while it has intensity to it, I think it’s ultimately dulled by the lack of tangibility in the lyrics.
Grade: C
Marina Satti – ZARI
If I had to describe this song with one word, it would be “angular.” Considering the song’s title translates to “dice,” I’d say that this sound is appropriate. While I criticized other songs for their lack of transitions between sections, in “ZARI” it feels like a stylistic choice. It is completely unabashed in all of its electronic samples and does some fun rhythmic stuff with it. What especially works for me is the interplay of silence and sound. If the production was fuller, it would have made for an overly dense song packed with a lot of sound. Because there are so many blank spots between sounds, it evens everything out. I wish more breakup songs sounded like this.
Grade: A
Bambie Thug – Doomsday Blue
This might sound crazy, but I honestly believe Bambie Thug pulled their punches when it came to the creepier portions of the song. The soft jazz sections sound fine, but when the metal screaming comes in, I wasn’t whacked in the face with it as much as I expected. Sure, it’s shocking when you first hear it, but afterwards it feels like it’s missing a heavy underbelly. In terms of the lyrics, I found them to be clear in terms of the message and details. I especially like when Bambie Thug sings “I guess you’d rather have a star than the moon.” I think that line perfectly encapsulates the spiteful feelings they express in their song. Let’s hope the audience don’t find Bambie Thug as polarizing as the structure of this song.
Grade: A
Silvester Belt – Luktelk
Since “Luktelk” is your standard dance song, there’s not really much to say about it. Silvester Belt said that the song is supposed to emulate a state of limbo that many people experience in their lives. I guess that explains why this song maintains the same level of energy throughout its duration. That being said, I like how the song occupies the space from the booming kicks to the fluttering keys. While I enjoy the song and understand its message, on the surface it doesn’t hold my attention for very long.
Grade: B
LUNA – The Tower
This is another song where my personal taste clouded my judgment. I thought this song sounded too bright, especially since the chorus starts with “Broken bodies / Scattered through my history.” But I understand that LUNA is going for a more optimistic outlook on suffering through hardship. Sometimes you have to undergo some difficult times before success comes to you. I would describe this song as trendy, something I might hear in a clothing store. And even though this song is not really my thing, I can find no technical fault with it.
Grade: B
TEYA DORA – RAMONDA
First of all, these lyrics are beautiful. They really paint a picture in your mind as you are listening to them. Not to mention that TEYA DORA sings with a haunting but captivating voice. “RAMONDA” is a sorrowful song about finding hope in a desolate situation. TEYA DORA is very delicately accompanied by a piano, a music box, and some strings before exploding into symphony and a chorus of voices. In my head, I picture a garden where every flower is blooming at once. This song is moving. I wish Serbia and TEYA DORA all the best in the competition.
Grade: A
alyona alyona & Jerry Heil – Teresa & Maria
Apparently Ukraine is the place to go if you want to hear good rapping. alyona alyona absolutely tears up the mic as soon as she steps up to it. The song speaks about the women who have paved the way for us so that we no longer have want for more. Speaking of wanting more… I felt that Jerry Heil lacked presence in both the performance and the studio version. In the National Final performance, I thought maybe they just needed to turn up her mic. However, in the studio version, Jerry Heil is once again eclipsed by the chorus of voices behind her. I think it would have been smart to have her sing the chorus alone for the first chorus and have everyone else join in on the second one.
Grade: B
Olly Alexander – Dizzy
This is yet another song where I judged it too harshly the first time I heard it. I did so purely because I was drained from listening to every entry before it. After giving this song a closer listen, I can really appreciate how much care was put into making the instrumental. The theme of the song is “dizzy,” so the producers put arpeggiated synths that make you feel like you’re endlessly climbing and descending flights of stairs. Also, while the song is mostly in a minor key, they sprinkle in some of the parallel major key in certain areas. I remember finding the final chorus disappointing because it doesn’t change and it feels like we didn’t go anywhere. But that kinda lines up with the theme, doesn’t it? Overall, this song is smartly constructed which gives it a B in my book.
Grade: B
Check out these acts and the rest of the competitors here.