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I will write a better opening title soon. I just wanted to say Finland looked at last year, and saw they struggled with the jury votes. So this year, they sent this:


LAST in Finnish jury votes in their national final, but runaway first with viewers. And it is now confirmed as their entry to Malmö.

Dang, i lost my streak of making the eurovision threads

Finland is coming in hard with that. I'm still slightly salty about last year. Cha Cha Cha was such a belter. Their entry this year is interesting it has potential to be both top 5 or bottom 5, its one of them that'll either work or not. That live version is also way better than the version on Spotify.
For me, France is looking like a #1 contender, it has the ballad vibes that often do well. My personal favourite so far is torn between Finland, Spain & Norway.

I realise Spain ain't here to win, they're just having a laugh and making the best of it. I'd be surprised if that was even in the top 10.

France sending their weakest entry in years, and you cheering for it? Just Eurovision things.

I don't necessarily think we've heard the winner yet. Ukraine leading the polls of course, but their entry is mid at best. Finland is crazy, but it will do even worse with juries than Käärijä did. And then there's the UK. What can Mr. Alexander put out, could it be your year?

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Windows95Man, our friendly Finn from above, has spoken to Finnish newspapers saying he is not sure he will represent his country. He supports Palestine in the ongoing genocide in the Gaza strip, and is hoping other artists will sign a petition banning Israel the same way Russia and Belarus were banned in 2022.

Here is a news article in Finnish, translated by Google:
https://www-hs-fi.translate.goog/kulttu ... _hist=true

Chrill wrote: ↑14 Feb 2024 19:57 France sending their weakest entry in years, and you cheering for it? Just Eurovision things.

I think I just love the language, French always sounds good to me. The singer also looks like if it goes not as planned, they won't flip a hand sign at the camera like last years act, which'll be a bonus!

Windows95Man, our friendly Finn from above, has spoken to Finnish newspapers saying he is not sure he will represent his country. He supports Palestine in the ongoing genocide in the Gaza strip, and is hoping other artists will sign a petition banning Israel the same way Russia and Belarus were banned in 2022.

Here is a news article in Finnish, translated by Google:
https://www-hs-fi.translate.goog/kulttu ... _hist=true

I'd be saddened if they decide to not take part, but hey, you gotta stick to your personal views at times!

They've not released the whole UK song, just a teaser of the middle bit of the song (can you tell i forgot the word for the middle bit), its on YouTube Shorts. If he can sing it that well on the day, it might do well, but the video smells a bit of "perfected in the studio" rather than "live" to me?

Latvia's song has grown on me a bit with multiple listenings.

Redirect Left wrote: ↑14 Feb 2024 22:13 Latvia's song has grown on me a bit with multiple listenings.

Can I tell you something surprising? I don't really agree.

Have we ever been in agreement over any entry?

Double post? Who cares.

In the Norwegian "Melodi Grand Prix", they played a Swedish medley of all winners. Surprise appearance at the end from a Swede! This will appeal to proper Melfest fans.



EDIT: Actually not all, no... They skipped over Charlotte Nilsson's 1999 win, did they not? So, here we go, in all the 90s glory:

Chrill wrote: ↑15 Feb 2024 19:01

Redirect Left wrote: ↑14 Feb 2024 22:13 Latvia's song has grown on me a bit with multiple listenings.

Can I tell you something surprising? I don't really agree.

Have we ever been in agreement over any entry?

The year we agree on anything. I shall buy a plane to Sweden to shake your hand on it.

That medly video was pretty well made, and it's nice to see Tix again, he does a good job singing Heroes too (cue Chrill disagreeing relentlessly)

I think we both agreed that Käärijä was entertaining, no?

Some more finals coming up this weekend, we will see Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Lithuania, and Moldova selecting their entries.

Germany's favourite according to odds is this:


Denmark's number one is this:



I don't know about the other 3 to be honest. Germany sounds clean and polished, but with their typical lack of a stage show it seems like a solid bottom finisher again.

Denmark, then? Well, when Sweden won in 1999, Denmark won ESC hosted in Stockholm. And when Loreen last won, Denmark won ESC in Malmö. SABA has a legacy to live up to. It sounds decent, a sleek modern pop song, but does it pop enough? Not sure. And I can't shake the feeling I've heard it before, I just can't quite identify it.

This year, Sweden is doing five "heats" to pick our songs for our main national final. Heat 4 was tonight, and it was very mediocre. I really liked one entry though. Guess what? It finished 4th out of 6 participants. Maybe I'm in the minority here ...

That entry from Finland...

Vocals? Superb.
Lyrics? Outstanding.
Stage presence? SMH.

I have a new love in life. A new player has entered my heart, left recently broken by a relationship breakdown.
Enter: Croatia. My new beloved.

What an absolute wild ride, i absolutely love it, its now my favourite. Will it win? I doubt it, probably top 10, but its won a place in my cold dying heart for sure!

I'm team Croatia. Yes. We can finally wholeheartedly agree on this one.

Redirect Left wrote: ↑26 Feb 2024 22:37Will it will? I doubt it, probably top 10, but its won a place in my cold dying heart for sure!

I mean, Ukraine leads the odds but they don't count. They cannot win this year, their entry is too poor. And Croatia is a clear 2nd, ahead of any other nations on the list right now. This can definitely win.

Personally, I'm growing ever fonder of Italy's La Noia. San Remo never disappoints. They need to get her stage show together though, because that won't hold up internationally.

The UK entry has been revealed, we already knew it was Olly Alexander with a song named Dizzy, but the full thing has come out now.


I kinda like it, not as much as i'd like though? Olly Alexander is known for putting on a good show, so hopefully the set they use for Eurovision is going to play into that love.

Meanwhile Poland unveiled 'Tower' which i really like, but it is a little polished in the video I feel, would be interesting to hear live vocals, same goes for Olly Alexander though...

Redirect Left wrote: ↑01 Mar 2024 23:54 Meanwhile Poland unveiled 'Tower' which i really like, but it is a little polished in the video I feel, would be interesting to hear live vocals

heh polished.


On a semi-related note, the song "Circus X" I posted above is now officially out of the running. They did not make the final cut, finishing 4th out of 10 entries in the Semi finals.

We are most likely sending these Norwegian boys instead. Why are they competing for Sweden instead of Norway? We do not know.



They have a really cool stageshow, but it's likely not great to see live

I find myself playing Netherlands entry, Europapa by Joost Klein quite a lot. At first I found it a bit of a nothing entry, but its really grown on me!

I was incredibly disappointed by Europapa. Joost Klein was hyped up when they announced him, but the entry is very much a nothingburger to me.

We did pick the Norwegian duo to represent Sweden in Sweden. It'll be a decent top half finish which is fine for a host nation, I'd say 8-12 most likely finishing position. But so far there are no clear winners this year from any country. There is no standout.

I mean, 2024 does not get any better does it? This is all we're left with? We are heading for a mediocre year, but at least with no clear winner we are also heading for an exciting competition even if the song will not be remembered. For me, right now, a top 10 might look a little like this:

1: Switzerland: Nemo - The Code
2: Croatia: Baby Lasagne - Rim Tim Tagi Dim
3: Italy: Angelina Mango - La Noia
4: Sweden: Marcus & Martinus - Unforgettable
5: Finland: Windows95Man - No Rules
6: Lithuania: Silvester Belt - Luktelk
7: Denmark: Saba - Sand
8: Norway: Gåte - Ulveham
9: Austria: Kaleen - We Will Rave
10: Spain: Nebulossa - ZORRA

This was difficult to assemble. If all these competed alongside all 2023 entries, maybe only Switzerland and Croatia would break into the top 10. Is 2024 just a weaker year than last year, or have I not warmed up to these entries yet?

The only song that really truly stands out to me is Switzerland, and at the moment they are my favourite for the win. Croatia is very entertaining too, but it does not match Cha Cha Cha.

La Noia is a weak entry by Italian standards but, to me, a strong entry by 2024 standards.

M&M is not even Swedish! And they were not even my top 3 in the Swedish finals. Yet I am putting them 4th here. We'll go out as Number One in the finals and that is never good, but voting will open when the show starts so it might help. Top half of the board, for sure, we should be top 13.

Windows95Man, whilst spectacular, has already got me bored.

Lithuania's entry is interesting, and I do appreciate languages that sound different.

Sand, by Saba, is sleek and modern but boring. But hey, lack of competition leaves her 7th.

Norway? I mean, with proper staging and kickass vocals this can go far. Or they can leave the competition in the semis.

Austria? Hah. It's a "rave" entry in Eurovision. It can go badly wrong, but I'm here for it.

And of course, Nebulossa. I love how Spain just went "Can we send Madonna? No? Can we send someone who looks even older but can act like her? Cool!". It'll flop of course, but it's entertainment.

Yeah, my original rankings do not hold up anymore.

Austria is climbing, Finland and Sweden dropping (Finland maybe out of the top 10?). Let's try again.

1. Italy
2. Switzerland
3. Austria
4. Lithuania
5. Croatia
6. Norway
7. Sweden
8. Denmark
9. Netherlands
10. Finland

That'll do. Spain drops to 11th, and Europapa joins the top 10 in ninth.

I've put off making a top 5 (or 10) up to this point, because honestly my mind was still settling on them but here we go!

1: Croatia (Baby Lasagne - Rim Tim Tagi Dim)
2: Netherlands (Joost - Europapa)
3: Finland (Windows95Man - No Rules!)
4: Denmark (Saba - Sand)
5: United Kingdom (Olly Alexander - Dizzy)
6: Latvia (Dons - Hollow)
7: Australia (Electric Fields - One Milkali)
8: Switzerland (Nemo - The Code)
9: Czechia (Aiko - Pedestal)
10: San Marino (Megara - 11:11)

#10 is a close tie between San Marino, & Belgium (Mustii - Before the Party's Over).
As expected for me (i presume by now), i like the ones Chrill mostly didn't, and the ones that are the most 'out there' at times too.

For now I'm gonna share with you my 5 favourite songs that did not advance to Eurovision Song Contest 2024.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.