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The next six performers heading to Liverpool are in front of the judges in our next Juke Box Jury episode. The hits, the misses, the maybes, and the discussions around the songs (and more) are all in this week’s episode.
Eurovision Insight Podcast: Juke Box Jury #2
with Scott Reid (@AScottReid) and Ariadne Griffin (ariadnereviews.com).Cyprus: ‘Break a Broken Heart’. by Andrew Lambrou.
Denmark: ‘Breaking My Heart’, by Reiley.
Ireland: ‘We Are One’ by Wild Youth.
Latvia: ‘Aijā’, by Sudden Lights.
France: ‘Évidemment’, by La Zarra.
Ukraine: ‘Heart of Steel’, by Tvorchi.
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CYPRUS – Without checking the song credits, you can tell this is written by committee.
DENMARK – Forget the song. Young Reiley is generating some serious hair envy among those of us Eurovision fans who are, shall we say, more follicly challenged than Mr Spence.
IRELAND – You have to credit Ireland for coming up with a way of filming their song video even though the band were unavailable on the day it was shot.
LATVIA – Deserves to qualify. Probably won’t.
FRANCE – Decent, distinctive song. Classy performer. 6 -13 in GF.
UKRAINE – Top 10. How high may depend on how much the staging politicises the ‘Heart of Steel’ theme.
Cyprus: HIT. A solid entry. Judging by the Swedish lyricists and composers behind it, it’s the sort of song you can imagine going directly to the Melfest final. I think it suits Andrew well, and from what I’ve seen it looks like he should be able to handle the vocals. Good enough to get Cyprus back to the final and a decent mid-table result.
Denmark: MAYBE. There’s something about this I quite like but it’s very lightweight. The verses are more interesting than the chorus, but the chorus is catchy. Visually Reiley will be memorable but his stage presence could be elevated beyond looking cute. I’m not sure how audiences will react to the vocal effects on the chorus and whether they will make it memorable or turn people off. I think it is on the bubble to qualify (it’s lucky to not be in SF1) but would come at the bottom 6 of the table in the final.
Ireland: MISS. This starts off promisingly before the beige missed opportunity it becomes. I like the quality of the lead singer’s voice but the banal lyrics just let it down so badly. Being in such a strong semi-final and performing before Croatia will do it no favours and it’s not going to qualify.
Latvia: MISS. This is the case of a song that’s good but probably uncompetitive for Eurovision. I took me a few listens to really warm to. I think the music video is very good and more memorable than the live performance. Because of this, I don’t think it will qualify from SF1.
France: HIT. An entry that’s good quality and will stand out from the other songs in the final. It’s unmistakably French, and I wonder if that’s what the French broadcaster wanted to go for after last year’s disappointment following them coming close to winning in 2021. Luckily, they chose an artist for whom this is the sort of music they always make. The dance beat takes it out of the familiarity it might otherwise have in an engaging way. A potential for a top 10 finish or at least top half. I think the juries will appreciate it a lot.
Ukraine: HIT. Another great choice for Ukraine, who rarely seem to have a formula for their entries other than quality. I’m glad they decided to include a few Ukrainian lyrics. I think it will be another top 10 for the reigning champions but I don’t think it will win because it’s not immediate enough and I don’t think it will get enough points from the juries.
Cyprus
It’s a soaring semi-ballad, taking a familiar road from A to B. It is well produced but when you are singing such a song, you need to touch me and make sure I will feel whatever you sing about. Unfortunately this doesn’t do this, as it is way too much calculated to feel genuine. It leaves me cold. It probably qualifying but not doing much in the final – MISS
Denmark
This is a very long 2 minutes and 48 seconds song(and I listen to it twice-like I do to every song, before writing about it). It ‘s very thin on the music side, quite repetitieve. Unlike the Malta repetitiveness this is not charming. I do wonder who is the target audience of this song as it seems that it was written targeting a very young audience. They might vote for it. The rest will find it quite irritating – MISS
Ireland
This is a solid entry, not trying to do anything groundbreaking. It may not be a cutting edge song but when the chorus comes in, you find yourself humming the music together with the band. Its location in the 1st semi final is a problem because it will need to overcome a stiff competition. I don’t mind he song at all even if it is not something I would listen to it after Eurovision – MAYBE
Latvia
This is a very unusual song. It doesn’t go like what you would expected from a Eurovision song. It takes turns and constantly surprise you. It is not an instance song but I don’t care as I quite like this song because it is quite a good song. Not sure how this will sound live(never watched the national final), but I do hope they can do justice for the song. Semi final 1 turn out to be a bloodbath of a semi and unfortunately this song will be one of the semi’s victims- HIT(finger crossed).
France
It starts as a classic French chanson and turn into a mild disco tune. 2 songs in the price of 1. It shouldn’t work but somehow it does. It’s quite understated song. It’s very gentle in what the song wants to say and how it is brought up. She seems like someone with a personality. If the live vocals and presentation are good, and if she sell the song as I think she can, this should do very well -HIT
Ukraine
Ewan said it all. This is a boring song. It shouldn’t be even in the top 10. I am not sure how the sympathy vote will work. After 14 months(at time of writing this review) the war in Ukraine is less present than it was a year ago and there is less sentiment to vote for Ukraine because of the war. It isn’t a song which scream vote for me. In fact it is more a song that scream don’t vote for me – MISS
CYPRUS: MAYBE. I’m not connecting to it, but it sounds familiar, something people will like I think.
DENMARK: MISS. It’s also not for me. Like you said, single gear.
IRELAND: MISS. Missed opportunity for the band to show who they really are.
LATVIA: HIT. A hit in my heart forever. Ewan, sometimes you frame the meaning of HMM, sometimes you don’t.
FRANCE: HIT. Character, drama, chanteuse disco, and meaningful lyrics. Looking forward to the performance.
UKRAINE: MAYBE. I like it. I might love it, but not as much as other songs from Ukraine in recent years.