There’s still no will to make a standalone NF in Ireland, so we’re back to watching The Late Late Show. Let’s hope they tried to make the production a little more fitting for a national final.
Yup, here’s that typical talk show vibe. The host talks a lot, though it helps that he’s actually likeable and funny. He quickly introduced us to the international and national juries, and we moved on with the songs. That was nice.
Ouch, that was rough production-wise. It seems like the production is as bad as it has historically been. Which is sad because the song is actually very pleasant. Sure, it’s a bit too lowkey for Eurovision, but I think it’s very lovely and listenable. The violin elevates it a lot and he has a very pleasant voice that carries this song well.
It’s very unfortunate that she got a chest infection before the NF. Some artists withdraw over this, but she powered on. Was this the right decision? Well, not really. She decided to rely on the backing track to do all the work for her and lipsync instead, which was a very bad decision. If you’re sick, you should still try to make it sound like you’re giving it your all, as a lot of people are willing to give more of a pass to ill people. And she definitely wasn’t helped by the Eurosong production either, as it made her sound far worse on top of this. It’s a shame because I love the cyberpunk vibes it has: it sounds like something that could be in a video game, which is something I like as someone who listens to video game music a lot.
Contrary to most people, I actually really like this song. Once again, it’s quite lowkey, but I don’t think it’s a bad thing in this case. Eurovision has very few slow songs these years, so every single one has a higher chance of doing well since the slow song fans will all flock to one/two songs. The song has a great vibe and really resonates with me. The way the chorus sounds epic after the quiet verses really wins me over. It also has a lot of staging potential, so I wouldn’t count out this song’s chances if it goes to Eurovision.
This had everything. And by that I mean when they had an idea, they said “yes”. First, she’s having dinner, then she’s in front of the table, there’s random tap dancing. Her vocal is all over the place and same goes for the song. One of the jurors put it best, it sounds like ten different demos played together with no chemistry between them. I don’t even think they could’ve cleaned it up in any way.
I won’t even bother commenting on the vocals because everyone sounds bad in Eurosong, and he was fighting the production so badly. The juries in the studio really liked his vocals, which confirms that this is just a production issue. The song really works, I think it’s catchy and fun, but the performance wasn’t all that. I think the dancers added nothing, and Niyl’s outfit was pretty bad, too. Still, that’s very easy to fix in around 3 months, and it’s probably the most ESC-ready package despite the obvious flaws with the stage performance.
Well, if you know anything about me, you’ll be able to guess how I felt about this: I really disliked this. It was very much in the vein of Keiino/banana wolves: insufferable and intolerable. I feel bad for saying this because Emmy seems like a nice person, but I just can’t come up with anything positive about this. I guess it doesn’t try to compromise what it wants to be, which is fair enough.
But also, there’s a specific kind of dislike I have towards songs (or any other pieces of fiction) that try to be all “no, this bad thing didn’t happen at all. Instead, this good thing happened instead”. Smearing bubblegum over a tragedy still leaves it a tragedy, except it’s now tacky (both in a literal and figurative sense, ha, I’m so funny). I get the idea behind this, but I just inherently dislike this approach.
Well, the average quality was better than last year, but the production really brought it down (as always). In true talk show fashion, there weren’t really any interval acts, just talking, so there’s very little to talk about. So, let me comment on the results.
Even the voting was messy with the production. There were technical issues with hearing one of the spokespeople, so they almost went to the national juries instead, but the technical issues were fixed. The top 3 of the international juries was Fire, Laika Party and My Way, which surprised me. The top 3 of the national juries was the same, but with Laika Party and My Way swapped. And Laika Party also won the televote, which means it won overall. At least this proves that Bambie was just a fluke for Ireland and they’ll go back to NQing once again. But she’s the one Irish people wanted, so fair enough - it’s a national selection after all.
Well, my last place won after all. And Powerplay would’ve easily bee at the top with a better live performance. Sad!