Same, the instrumental just feels really boring, song doesn't go anywhere, I had the same feeling about Italy's entry last year.
I like ballads too, they often give me chills if done right (Voila, Ramonda), but this is just so boring and will unfortunately eat up like a quarter of the jury votes.
Belgium.
Every single live version we’ve seen - whether a pre-party or a TV thing or an acoustic set folks have made excuses for the vocals/performance being off.
The studio mix is great, sure. And the music video is also solid. But there is a BIG difference between pulling something off when you have multiple takes with producers/directors all around you and performing live in front of an audience by yourself.
I know he’s an actor, but that doesn’t mean he’s a great performer as himself onstage - you can be both an incredible actor and a terrible showman - they’re two different skillsets (think of how many musicians are absolutely awful when they try acting - Lady Gaga is a massive exception to the usual Mariah Carey rule).
>the usual Mariah Carey rule
Never did I expect to see a Glitter drag on r/eurovision. Glitter the movie was an absolute abomination. Glitter the soundtrack is a guilty pleasure with possibly the worst picked release date in history.
It wasn't even about the not-on-point vocals for me, I never really got the appeal of the studio version. An annoyingly thumpy beat, generic and repetitive, a build up to nowhere. It's solidly in my 37th place this year.
(Nothing against Mustii, guy looks pretty cool, it's the song I have a bone to pick with)
I genuinely never got the hype for Belgium. The song builds to...him repeating the title over and over without any variation? It's not my 37th place, but if I would've based my ranking solely on my enjoyment of the songs themselves, it would've been a solid 37th place.
Easily Belgium for me as well. I never understood why people considered this song to be a potential winner. I guess people got too excited over the music video.
Now, I was in the camp defending him during the London party - 1hr’s sleep and not great sound will generally diminish the performance of someone otherwise excellent - but now I’m starting to concede to similar thoughts sadly, the more I see, and I like the guy and the song now (initially was meh about the song).
I don’t think his showmanship for me is in any question, but I’ve noticed across the performances that he’s consistently had pitching issues with the higher notes in particular. They’re consistently up to a semitone sharp. I figure his vocal coach is working on stopping this with him, and I will say that it *needs* to, at this point in the run-up now. If anything’s going to make the performance flop, it’s that (see Reilley, Denmark 2023 for similar)
On that note too, I feel similarly frustrated with Päevakoer from 5Miinust (Estonia) not nailing the rhythm of the beginning of their song by now. Like mate, come on - this sets the tone, and could be the difference between a mess and brilliance - practice and nail it! 😅😅😅😂
It’s Belgium for me as well. For me it’s just a very unremarkable song which we’ve heard a thousand times before. Whenever it starts playing I can’t remember if it’s Latvia or Belgium.
The music video snippet is so impressive, with the gold body and the mirror and the dramatic flailing… I was sure this would be one of the top favorites, but listening to it, it just takes so long to build… 2 minutes before anything happens, really. People might take a bathroom break 😬
I grew up with this kind of music, and I can say that she is not trashy enough to make the song a whole package. I'd love her to go full tacky like a true 90's "cani"-parking-lot diva!
Either you have some guilty pleasure feeling combined with nostalgia about this type of music (pure europop) or you don't. If you don't like it, it will not grow on you
Aww I love it! It’s all about the “ram de dam de dam” part, the fusion of Moonlight Shadow in the verses and Ice MC in the refrains.
Tacky as you can get but it’s a fun call back to 90s Eurodance.
This is easily my answer. A friend in my group chat said this was her FAVORITE ACT OF THE YEAR, and I was floored. She tried to explain it to me and I still didn't get it.
And the thing is, it isn't even close to being one of my least favorite songs of the year, but there are songs I like less than Austria that I immediately understand their niche, and what they bring to the table that no other act does. And that's not the case for Austria.
For me, is the song and the performer.
The song: Definitely it is a reference to 90's and 00's, so people are enjoying it. However, there are better entries that remind this period, such as Netherlands.
The performer: She is beautiful but she is going for sexy, and when she is on stage I see just super open eyes, almost as she is scared of something. I don't feel anything unfortunately
Also netherlands looots of people love it (I kinda get it a bit tho) but I guess his push-y-ness in regards to getting this song viral kinda went overboard and when that happens it tends to achieve the opposite effect with me. Its like seeing an ad on YouTube too many times
It's funny cause Italy (alongside Belgium if he can pull it off live) is my favourite, but even I am surprised that Italy is so popular. It doesn't strike me like something that so many people should enjoy, or at least outside the Eurobubble, and I'm scared that it'll underperform in the televote and jury. I kind off had the same feeling about Barbara Pravi, where I just couldn't believe that other people would also have such good taste haha :p
Another song that I like (albeit to lesser extent), but where I'm suprised about its reception is Croatia. I'm surprised that it's THAT popular, whereas I can see for example why the Netherlands is so popular.
I feel the same about Croatia. I enjoyed it at first, the video is fun and his performance is fun too, but the music is just so... Bland? Like some kinda Christian rock a la Skillet.
I hope the cat meows back though
That bc Angelina never misses it with her live performances. The song itself is far from my favorite, but her stage presence is magical and completely lives up to the hype. Some of the other hyped artists can't live up to their studio version and fall flat in their live performances.
Same. It's absolutely not bad, nothing against her but it's... Just pop? I do not see what's above average about this song to be considered as a potential winner.
I kind of get it, I think the harmonies are really beautiful. My issue is that the song kind of flatlines and doesn’t really go anywhere after a strong start.
I've been calling these songs "the Gustaph effect" 😂😅 and honestly I loved Belgium's entry from last year so much more than this years! 😂😅 it may not be as serious or polished but it had so much heart and fun vibes
What I really don't get is how music styles from the past are always slammed as "dated" or "old". The 80s never stopped being great and I love Retrowave / Outrun a lot. Same with songs like Europapa or We Will Rave. I am actually very sad that this genre fell out of trendy and I don't get current popular music at all. I am glad that music like this shows up again.
+1
Too many different things & styles in one short song that make it sound as a disjointed mish-mash that it is. Also, overly melodramatic for my taste.
Yes! I have a feeling the song is popular because using a bit of opera singing style means high art in eurovision (wrong it does not automatically). Also the lyrics is about cracking gender norms which seems to be a magnet for a part of eurovision fans, but I care very little about it, so no hype from me. To sum it up it I really don't understand why this song should be winning material, especially with the strange staging.
Same, for me it's not Nemo, just the intro verse of the song and the rapping in the song. The intro lyrics are just so out of place it annoys me, "you better buckle up, I'll pour another cup" just makes me cringe every time for some reason. And the transition into rap also annoys me. The rapping would seem less out of place if it wasn't followed by the operatic parts.
I like the chorus and operatic parts, but there's just too many ideas and genres thrown into this song that the messiness just doesn't connect with me at all. Extremely surprised that this is the frontrunner, and it is usually the case with me if I don't like the song and it is the favorite, I will tend to dislike it even more. Which is a shame because I listened to Nemo's other songs and I like them.
Interesting how different perceptions can be, bc my first thought was that the rap part is just what a theatre kid would understand as rap :D it's giving me 'Hamilton' vibes
Italy. It’s not that I think it’s bad, it’s just that I don’t see it being any different from any other basic (girl) bop in the competition when it comes to me enjoying it for three minutes. Three LONG minutes. She sure can perform the hell out of that song though so I’ll give her credit for that.
Switzerland's 'The Code' by Nemo is everything I dislike about modern pop. The lyrics give me nothing, the music video gives me nothing, the actual song lacks build or development, it feels like it was produced by a guy who does movie trailers. The only factor that has any virtue is his voice, which blatantly rips off a famous riff of Vito's 'The 7th Element'.
Lithuania: I like it, I really do, but top 10 material? It just feels like a random song that would play on a club and people wouldn't pay much attention
Belgium: might get crucified for that, it only gets mildly better in the last part. I feel almost nothing for it and being a winner candidate makes me feel very detached from the average eurofan
Austria: I have no nostalgia for racing games in the 2000s. That sums up
Sweden: not /that/ hyped but everyone seems to agree it's good. To me it's unbuttered toast
Yeah I don’t get the hype around Lithuania either. I mean it’s a perfectly fine song, I don’t dislike it, but to me it’s just like average? It’s average for its genre.
I honestly think the reason people are into it is because they find him hot more than anything else
Lithuania was also in my “meh” bracket but since a week I absolutely love it, as with Spain. I’m all over the place and can’t get it out of my head. I just concluded that I absolutely adore Eurovision and all these different weird lovely artists gifting us their music.
Belgium
The song is so dated to me. The stage didn’t do much either. In such a strong semi with no juries I just don’t see how it can be a safe qualifier to some. It just doesn’t stand out in any type of way. I can’t see how will an average person watching ESC vote for this.
I stopped reading comments on Eurovision tiktoks because they were getting flodded by Greece stans, when the tiktok had nothing to do with Greece. And I like the freaking song, but some of the comments were just insane.
Oof yeah, the stans for those two are some of the most insane this year... I know they're just supporting their entry and artists, but I've seen some wild stuff on Twitter...
I feel like literally all Greece stans this year are Greeks lol, which makes them look even more embarrassing. I like the song and I LOVE Marina, and I really really hope it goes great for her, but I just realistically can't see that happening. I'm not even that confident in Greece qualifying.
I quite liked the Ireland entry. To be honest it might be my favorite, but I understand why others find it too weird so I don't have high hopes for them.
Thank YOU. For me it just strikes me as that kid in class who likes to dress weird and talk weird not because that's what they really want to do, but that's the only way they'll get attention.
I am in the huge minority I suppose but none of this is interesting to me.
Yeah controversies aside I just don't think it's a standout entry. Kind of the definition of "playing it safe" and just sending the kinda thing they knew would be a jury pleaser. I don't think it has anything that sets it apart from any of the other Girl In A White Dress Singing An Emotional Ballad entries and probably wouldn't get as much publicity as it does if not for all the controversy.
Greece. I’m trying to like the weirdness of it but it’s not working for me after weeks.
But I don’t forget that most viewers would see these acts for the first time on GF night so their take would be different to many of the songs.
IMHO Israel has just been sending boring stuff since Netta. Like, even if you don't like Toy (I loved it), it's at least not boring.
I guess Unicorn worked because of the dance breaks but as a song it was just messy.
Israel in sending “pretty girl” shocker 🙄
(mind you, I shouldn’t complain, they sent Michael Ben David not long ago and I think he NQd because he was an arrogant tool).
Hahaha true and last year unicorn was justified as I did actually think that was great but this year is just so dull and I don't like the political vibes I get from this entry, I think they just went and replaced the word October rain with hurricane because it rhymes
It’s a loud fan base coupled with thousands of paid/bot accounts. Israel could literally send a goldfish and they’d say it was the best thing since sliced bread. It’s patriotism or something.
Okay that's what I thought maybe it was spam comments but I just felt there are so many genuine ones saying she's going to win it all, not Croatia or Switzerland 😂😅 I was just so confused by people saying it's a front runner to win
I actually like most of the songs near the top / which are hyped - Switz being my personal fav but I understand where the support for Croatia and Italy is coming from. Even the Europapa support I do see its niche… although very much not for me.
I guess the one I’m surprised at given the relative position of the odds is Ukraine. I have never felt anything for the song that kinda meanders its way through the first half, then randomly there is a rap which is done quite well but I don’t really understand why it’s there.
Ukraine - it’s high quality etc but it’s such a dirge to me. It drags imo.
Italy - it’s quirky and I do like it but it doesn’t scream winner to me at all.
Eta Belgium - I want to like this, I really do, but it just doesn’t land for me, which is sad as Belgium is the country I’ve adopted at Eurovision and I really want to win it one year. But this year isn’t it.
Netherlands, I hate his over the top persona, then the music isn't that wow either and his fanbase bores me to death when they try to use an The Voice type of argument to defend the song (a sad life story).
I get that that’s your opinion, but I had to dig a bit (even though I live in NL) to understand Joost’s story. He absolutely doesn’t lead with it and it’s not the core pitch for Netherlands stans IME.
For me it's first of all Ireland, but it's because of my personal taste, I understand that some people can like it.
But Cyprus and Malta are also high on my list of songs I don't understand the hype about
I've got a list:
|Country|Reason|
|:-|:-|
|Estonia|The song is too chaotic for me and they sound like they're arguing in the chorus. I'm also not a fan of their staging in the NF, although the ESC staging is a huge improvement|
|Greece|The song is a mess and the first few seconds are genuinely grating (at least on my ears). The only part I like from the song is the ending. Just like you said, I won't be surprised if it NQ's|
|Ireland|It's the main example of "unique doesn't necessarily equal good". Also, something about the contrast between "I know you're living a lie" and "you'd have a star to the moon" just confuses me (for the lack of a better word)|
|Switzerland|I never liked that song and it honestly makes me feel anxious. Also don't get me started on the staging since those pics aren't convincing me at all|
|Netherlands|It's one of those Italy 2018 situations for me (aka "I get that the message is important but that doesn't make the song any better")|
Same Netherlands sounds like bunch of radio songs I've heard. I also don't like Switzerland, I liked in the beginning, however as time passes by it's going further down. It's too much yelling and wanna show my vocal abilities and less of a meaningful song. On the other hand Greece and Lithuania grew on me, whereas Croatia/Italy stayed on top for me.
Ukraine. I've tried to get it, but I just can't. It's a nothing song to me & it's very disappointing following their last few entries being really good. I'm expecting it'll qualify but I just don't get it.
The UK. I'm not sure why it constantly scores higher than songs like Portugal and Serbia. It's so generic and bland to me, and I would even go as far to say that it's very below average.
Croatia. Baby lasagna seems cool and all but the song doesn’t go anywhere IMO. It has so much potential but doesn’t build to anything for me. The rim tim tagi dim part is cute but gets tired fast and the chorus is so generic and bland to me. I feel like I’m taking crazy pills when people compare the quality and vibe of this song being close to Cha Cha Cha. I wanna like it but I don’t. Sorry.
It kinda was lol. Marko created it at home all by himself as a filler song for his album, never dreaming of actually performing it on Dora, let alone ESC (he was a reserve, entering the competition only because Zsa Zsa dropped out at the last minute).
France.
She's cute, dramatic and vocally beautiful, but just another one of the yearly powerballads about love that either do fantastic or get easily overshadowed by the next one. 6th in the odds is crazy talk imo
Netherlands. I know you said it, but yeah thats the one that isn't hitting me in any way. The thing I like is the last part with the bass or whatever. But thats such a small part of the song and it doesn't make me impressed by the overall package at all. And I don't like Joosts whole shtick...
Agree Greece. If I hadn’t looked at social media at all I’d barely consider it.
To a lesser extent Italy although it is a bop. I think she is making it popular more than the song.
Croatia isn't for me, but I get the hype around the song. I do like the theme, and the lyrics are fun. I've been known to bop my head to it and sing along, it's just not winning material for me.
This year's competition is the most fierce I've seen it since I started following ESC in 2020. We have so many excellent entries that appeal to a wide variety of audiences. I'm loving this year so far and hoping that we have solid performances from everyone!
I always find it funny that the one person advocating for positivty still gets the "well if you don't like it move on" treatment. As if everyone is a sparkling rainbow constantly asking for positive things. Actually kinda surprised you aren't downvoted into oblivion.
Although I love a good hot take from time to time and not everything needs to be sunshine and rainbows, I agree the negativity has been a bit much lately. Maybe I spend too much time lurking in the live thread, lol. Ahhh what do we expect eh?
Croatia. It really was my top 3 at the beginning. Maybe because I love music video. It's just perfection. But now it's my top 15 at best. The song is too simple and the chorus is just... meh. The more I listen the more I dislike it.
That's my most consistent issue with it; from the beginning I said it was too repetitive. I like it more now, and I like him. I wouldn't mind it winning, but I wouldn't mind some variation in it either.
For me Armenia 100%. Just something about repeating la-la-la for most of the song annoys me so much that I can't appreciate anything else about this song (like ethnic vibes and instruments)
Croatia - it's literally my 37th. It's sooo annoying & always just a hard watch.
Greece - Repetitive & again, annoying.
France - To be honest I don't see a huge amount of hype over it, but again it's a hard watch & I hate everything about it.
Idk if this counts. Because it is Abba's 50th anniversary of their Eurovision win I'm expecting a lot of Abba tributes during opening/intermission acts. I just don't care for them. I find their music boring and low-key annoying, but everyone seems to love Abba
I don't mean to be seen as contrarian to the current odds or anything, but it just falls this way. I appreciate and like the Swiss song, but I don't understand its hype. It's an oddball kind of song with a lot of experimentation. But for me it's just messy and chucks in everything and everywhere. I like more mysterious and dramatic moods in songs.
Also to add in Lithuania. It's flat the whole time until the dance break at the end. There isn't much going on with the singing aspect of it. The chroegraphy is also a bit lame.
I actually have several songs that I don't understand the hype about this year! Ireland, Greece, Portugal, and I guess to an extent Georgia. But I can still see positives in all of them.
Ireland, I've really tried getting into it but I just can't. I can appreciate how unique it is but I can't see how anyone would want to listen to it for more than a minute. The performance looks cool though and I'm very glad that Ireland is trying something COMPLETELY different this year!
Greece, also unique but to me it sounds unfinished. I don't like the chorus, it feels like I'm listening to a broken CD and it just annoys me. The performance (from what we've seen) looks nice, and she is clearly an extremely talented singer, but I don't understand why people see it as a contender for the win.
Portugal, I know it has a fanbase, but I just can't connect with it. I've had several people explain the song and performance to me, but it just does not click at all to me. But she has a very nice voice.
Georgia, to me, is the most anonymous song of the year. Nutsa is a great singer and the staging looks great, but I can never remember the song after it's done, and most times I forget that it's competing. Which is weird, because I SHOULD TECHNICALLY LOVE THIS! Still, I cannot see a world where Georgia does not qualify, but maybe it'll stick in the future.
France, it’s just a bit boring for me
I feel like France is rated perfectly. It's a predictable and boring french song, and I really haven't seen any hype for it around here.
Completely agree. Never seen anyone say anything else than him being a competent singer that will do well with juries. He's adequately rated.
Same, the instrumental just feels really boring, song doesn't go anywhere, I had the same feeling about Italy's entry last year. I like ballads too, they often give me chills if done right (Voila, Ramonda), but this is just so boring and will unfortunately eat up like a quarter of the jury votes.
Latvia. Just sounds like AI ESC
Same
Belgium. Every single live version we’ve seen - whether a pre-party or a TV thing or an acoustic set folks have made excuses for the vocals/performance being off. The studio mix is great, sure. And the music video is also solid. But there is a BIG difference between pulling something off when you have multiple takes with producers/directors all around you and performing live in front of an audience by yourself. I know he’s an actor, but that doesn’t mean he’s a great performer as himself onstage - you can be both an incredible actor and a terrible showman - they’re two different skillsets (think of how many musicians are absolutely awful when they try acting - Lady Gaga is a massive exception to the usual Mariah Carey rule).
>the usual Mariah Carey rule Never did I expect to see a Glitter drag on r/eurovision. Glitter the movie was an absolute abomination. Glitter the soundtrack is a guilty pleasure with possibly the worst picked release date in history.
But have you seen Mariah Carey in Precious? She plays Ms. Weiss perfectly and that is a character she probably doesn't have much in common with.
It wasn't even about the not-on-point vocals for me, I never really got the appeal of the studio version. An annoyingly thumpy beat, generic and repetitive, a build up to nowhere. It's solidly in my 37th place this year. (Nothing against Mustii, guy looks pretty cool, it's the song I have a bone to pick with)
It bores me to death. It builds up to basically nothing, repeating the song title over and over and way too enthusiastically.
When I did my Eurovision rankings this year I described this song as a dirgey wall of sludge and I stand by that. It feels like musical quicksand
I genuinely never got the hype for Belgium. The song builds to...him repeating the title over and over without any variation? It's not my 37th place, but if I would've based my ranking solely on my enjoyment of the songs themselves, it would've been a solid 37th place.
Easily Belgium for me as well. I never understood why people considered this song to be a potential winner. I guess people got too excited over the music video.
The moment when Belgium gets to reexperience 2018
Now, I was in the camp defending him during the London party - 1hr’s sleep and not great sound will generally diminish the performance of someone otherwise excellent - but now I’m starting to concede to similar thoughts sadly, the more I see, and I like the guy and the song now (initially was meh about the song). I don’t think his showmanship for me is in any question, but I’ve noticed across the performances that he’s consistently had pitching issues with the higher notes in particular. They’re consistently up to a semitone sharp. I figure his vocal coach is working on stopping this with him, and I will say that it *needs* to, at this point in the run-up now. If anything’s going to make the performance flop, it’s that (see Reilley, Denmark 2023 for similar) On that note too, I feel similarly frustrated with Päevakoer from 5Miinust (Estonia) not nailing the rhythm of the beginning of their song by now. Like mate, come on - this sets the tone, and could be the difference between a mess and brilliance - practice and nail it! 😅😅😅😂
It’s Belgium for me as well. For me it’s just a very unremarkable song which we’ve heard a thousand times before. Whenever it starts playing I can’t remember if it’s Latvia or Belgium.
The music video snippet is so impressive, with the gold body and the mirror and the dramatic flailing… I was sure this would be one of the top favorites, but listening to it, it just takes so long to build… 2 minutes before anything happens, really. People might take a bathroom break 😬
My daughter thought he was Ken and that it was a new Ken song. 😂
Austria
It's catchy in the tackiest, trashiest way. Her vocals might keep her in the semi-final.
I grew up with this kind of music, and I can say that she is not trashy enough to make the song a whole package. I'd love her to go full tacky like a true 90's "cani"-parking-lot diva!
Absolutely agree. Too glam for the song. I would love more trash and less glam
It's also very repetitive. A good chunk of the song is the chorus.
This! I really liked it when it came out, but I got tired of it very quickly
Either you have some guilty pleasure feeling combined with nostalgia about this type of music (pure europop) or you don't. If you don't like it, it will not grow on you
Same. When it was released, I saw people saying it was a potential winner, and I just never understood why.
I’m incredibly nostalgic for Cascada
It makes me wonder what "rave" really means in Eurovision-speak.
You wear black, glitter and there's a lot of flashy LED lights.
Aww I love it! It’s all about the “ram de dam de dam” part, the fusion of Moonlight Shadow in the verses and Ice MC in the refrains. Tacky as you can get but it’s a fun call back to 90s Eurodance.
This is easily my answer. A friend in my group chat said this was her FAVORITE ACT OF THE YEAR, and I was floored. She tried to explain it to me and I still didn't get it. And the thing is, it isn't even close to being one of my least favorite songs of the year, but there are songs I like less than Austria that I immediately understand their niche, and what they bring to the table that no other act does. And that's not the case for Austria.
It’s my fav out of the studio versions cause it’s a danceable catchy bop with a nice earworm quality, the live on the other hand… no comment
I can dig it, but it’s just ”perfectly fine“ within it’s genre, it seems to be lacking that little something extra that makes it stand out.
For me, is the song and the performer. The song: Definitely it is a reference to 90's and 00's, so people are enjoying it. However, there are better entries that remind this period, such as Netherlands. The performer: She is beautiful but she is going for sexy, and when she is on stage I see just super open eyes, almost as she is scared of something. I don't feel anything unfortunately
Also netherlands looots of people love it (I kinda get it a bit tho) but I guess his push-y-ness in regards to getting this song viral kinda went overboard and when that happens it tends to achieve the opposite effect with me. Its like seeing an ad on YouTube too many times
Same. I actually like the song and listen to it quite often, but I'm just tired of the hype
I think I probably would have liked Netherlands more if I hadn’t heard Finland first.
Am i the only one that is not a fan of some top songs but gets the hype for all🤣?
Hey, bro 🙋not the only one
I'm sorry but France does nothing to me. I wanted to like it (as I love ballads) but I couldn't as it seems kinda boring and predictable to me.
Italy. I was really surprised to see how much people love it. It’s not bad but I just would not have imagined it would be so popular.
It's funny cause Italy (alongside Belgium if he can pull it off live) is my favourite, but even I am surprised that Italy is so popular. It doesn't strike me like something that so many people should enjoy, or at least outside the Eurobubble, and I'm scared that it'll underperform in the televote and jury. I kind off had the same feeling about Barbara Pravi, where I just couldn't believe that other people would also have such good taste haha :p Another song that I like (albeit to lesser extent), but where I'm suprised about its reception is Croatia. I'm surprised that it's THAT popular, whereas I can see for example why the Netherlands is so popular.
I feel the same about Croatia. I enjoyed it at first, the video is fun and his performance is fun too, but the music is just so... Bland? Like some kinda Christian rock a la Skillet. I hope the cat meows back though
That bc Angelina never misses it with her live performances. The song itself is far from my favorite, but her stage presence is magical and completely lives up to the hype. Some of the other hyped artists can't live up to their studio version and fall flat in their live performances.
Same. It's absolutely not bad, nothing against her but it's... Just pop? I do not see what's above average about this song to be considered as a potential winner.
Is the genre actually pop? Justa asking a serious question here
Ukraine.. the rapping doesn't sound good (imo) and the end is very repetitive. France, oh France.
I really like the singing part of the Ukrainian song! I agree the rapping isn’t the best. Their outfits are really nice though!
I like it enough to be in my playlist but it is not that great as people say it is. Edit: I mean Ukraine, France put me to sleep in a nano second...
THANK YOU, this is the most boring song Ukraine's sent in a decade, I absolutely do not understand why people think it has a chance of winning.
I have no idea why Ukraine is rated high this year. One of their weakest entries in years for me. It doesn't..go anywhere?
The first half of the song seems kinda empty to me, like there's almost nothing happening, idk if that's just me
I kind of get it, I think the harmonies are really beautiful. My issue is that the song kind of flatlines and doesn’t really go anywhere after a strong start.
Europapa isn't really clicking for me no matter how hard I try. So I'm just happy for all you enjoyers and fans. :)
Sadly Italy, I really want to like the entry who has a big chance of winning, but I can't get into it.
Same. It's not my music style. :(
Same. I’m not getting the hype.
Austria. It feels old, generic and uninteresting.
The 'old' sound is literally the purpose of the song
I know, but it doesn't work for me. It doesn't feel "old" in a good way. I like the old sound from Netherlands, but Austria feels dated to me.
Cause the Netherlands and Finland put a fresh twist on the nostalgia, but their songs are not like straight from a 2008 disco hit CD.
Yup. Netherlands and Finland feel nostalgic, but Austria feels dated to me.
Austria and Netherlands feel nostalgic to me
It feels like Cascada.
That’s literally exactly what I like about it haha
It’s very 2008 Eurodisco.
I would argue the sounds are more from mid 90s.
I've been calling these songs "the Gustaph effect" 😂😅 and honestly I loved Belgium's entry from last year so much more than this years! 😂😅 it may not be as serious or polished but it had so much heart and fun vibes
What I really don't get is how music styles from the past are always slammed as "dated" or "old". The 80s never stopped being great and I love Retrowave / Outrun a lot. Same with songs like Europapa or We Will Rave. I am actually very sad that this genre fell out of trendy and I don't get current popular music at all. I am glad that music like this shows up again.
I agree with you. It comes down to taste most likely. Probably Austria feels dated to me because I wasn't a fan of the genre to begin with.
Italy, she’s a superb performer and not for a lack of trying to like it, but I just find the song la-nnoying.
I see what you did there. And I giggled.
Switzerland
Agree with this. I mean I like it, it’s a good song, but I’m not understanding the “oh this is for sure winning”’hype around it.
Yeah, I can imagine it doing quite well with both the jury and public, but nowhere near being a runaway winner (or a winner at all) with either.
The rap part is very uh actually kinda cringe
+1 Too many different things & styles in one short song that make it sound as a disjointed mish-mash that it is. Also, overly melodramatic for my taste.
Yes! I have a feeling the song is popular because using a bit of opera singing style means high art in eurovision (wrong it does not automatically). Also the lyrics is about cracking gender norms which seems to be a magnet for a part of eurovision fans, but I care very little about it, so no hype from me. To sum it up it I really don't understand why this song should be winning material, especially with the strange staging.
Never liked that one lol
Ukraine, at first I thought it would be one of those songs that got better after listening a few times, but it's only getting worse for me.
The code...
Switzerland, I respect Nemo and his song and I wish him the best possible result, but that song simply didn't reach me or give me any feeling :/
Nemo is too much of a theatre kid for me to fully get into it.
Something about Nemo annoys me for some reason
Same, for me it's not Nemo, just the intro verse of the song and the rapping in the song. The intro lyrics are just so out of place it annoys me, "you better buckle up, I'll pour another cup" just makes me cringe every time for some reason. And the transition into rap also annoys me. The rapping would seem less out of place if it wasn't followed by the operatic parts. I like the chorus and operatic parts, but there's just too many ideas and genres thrown into this song that the messiness just doesn't connect with me at all. Extremely surprised that this is the frontrunner, and it is usually the case with me if I don't like the song and it is the favorite, I will tend to dislike it even more. Which is a shame because I listened to Nemo's other songs and I like them.
The rap to me also sounds like they’re making fun of rap, like being shit at it on purpose, which doesn’t help it sound not out of place
Interesting how different perceptions can be, bc my first thought was that the rap part is just what a theatre kid would understand as rap :D it's giving me 'Hamilton' vibes
That's exactly how it felt to me too!
*wish them. Nemo uses they/them pronouns
Georgia. I really just don’t like and I don’t see what’s better than other girlybops about it. Truly cannot understand it.
Totally agree. Happy cake day!
Italy. It’s not that I think it’s bad, it’s just that I don’t see it being any different from any other basic (girl) bop in the competition when it comes to me enjoying it for three minutes. Three LONG minutes. She sure can perform the hell out of that song though so I’ll give her credit for that.
Switzerland's 'The Code' by Nemo is everything I dislike about modern pop. The lyrics give me nothing, the music video gives me nothing, the actual song lacks build or development, it feels like it was produced by a guy who does movie trailers. The only factor that has any virtue is his voice, which blatantly rips off a famous riff of Vito's 'The 7th Element'.
Greece (I like it now but it took quite a while for it to get there) so I dont understand how people instantly connected with it.
Actually,at first it had mixed reaction. It did grow to many and now it's a fan favourite.
Ukraine.
Lithuania: I like it, I really do, but top 10 material? It just feels like a random song that would play on a club and people wouldn't pay much attention Belgium: might get crucified for that, it only gets mildly better in the last part. I feel almost nothing for it and being a winner candidate makes me feel very detached from the average eurofan Austria: I have no nostalgia for racing games in the 2000s. That sums up Sweden: not /that/ hyped but everyone seems to agree it's good. To me it's unbuttered toast
To be fair it does seem from everything that Lithuania has lost a lot of hype compared to when the song was officially announced
Yeah I don’t get the hype around Lithuania either. I mean it’s a perfectly fine song, I don’t dislike it, but to me it’s just like average? It’s average for its genre. I honestly think the reason people are into it is because they find him hot more than anything else
Both Lithuania and Belgium are in my “Mehh” bracket…
Lithuania was also in my “meh” bracket but since a week I absolutely love it, as with Spain. I’m all over the place and can’t get it out of my head. I just concluded that I absolutely adore Eurovision and all these different weird lovely artists gifting us their music.
France.
Belgium The song is so dated to me. The stage didn’t do much either. In such a strong semi with no juries I just don’t see how it can be a safe qualifier to some. It just doesn’t stand out in any type of way. I can’t see how will an average person watching ESC vote for this.
Netherlands and Greece stans are unbereable this year.
I got told to die cause I don't like the Greek song 😭
I stopped reading comments on Eurovision tiktoks because they were getting flodded by Greece stans, when the tiktok had nothing to do with Greece. And I like the freaking song, but some of the comments were just insane.
I'm the same with Instagram comments because of the Netherlands stans
Oof yeah, the stans for those two are some of the most insane this year... I know they're just supporting their entry and artists, but I've seen some wild stuff on Twitter...
Add Croatia to the list
I feel like literally all Greece stans this year are Greeks lol, which makes them look even more embarrassing. I like the song and I LOVE Marina, and I really really hope it goes great for her, but I just realistically can't see that happening. I'm not even that confident in Greece qualifying.
Ireland
I think it’s underrated , i just haven’t seen much about it anywhere other than here ( in ireland )
It's 12th in the Reddit poll and 11th in the Discord rankings. It is rated by a lot of people
I quite liked the Ireland entry. To be honest it might be my favorite, but I understand why others find it too weird so I don't have high hopes for them.
Thank YOU. For me it just strikes me as that kid in class who likes to dress weird and talk weird not because that's what they really want to do, but that's the only way they'll get attention. I am in the huge minority I suppose but none of this is interesting to me.
Finally someone said it!
Israel
Yeah controversies aside I just don't think it's a standout entry. Kind of the definition of "playing it safe" and just sending the kinda thing they knew would be a jury pleaser. I don't think it has anything that sets it apart from any of the other Girl In A White Dress Singing An Emotional Ballad entries and probably wouldn't get as much publicity as it does if not for all the controversy.
Greece. I’m trying to like the weirdness of it but it’s not working for me after weeks. But I don’t forget that most viewers would see these acts for the first time on GF night so their take would be different to many of the songs.
Switzerland, Netherlands..
Same for me. I don't get these two at all.
France, idk, I just find it boring. And him standing half a kilometer away from the mic is just weird for me 😅
Croatia, unfortunately. I'd love a Balkan country to win for MANY reasons, but this one isn't for me.
Georgia, im sorry but i feel like she will nq
Israel, every comment is people saying it's the winner? I don't get it, a pretty girl singing a basic Ballard isn't winning
IMHO Israel has just been sending boring stuff since Netta. Like, even if you don't like Toy (I loved it), it's at least not boring. I guess Unicorn worked because of the dance breaks but as a song it was just messy.
Yeah Toy wasn't my winner but I can agree it was fun and definitely not boring
Israel in sending “pretty girl” shocker 🙄 (mind you, I shouldn’t complain, they sent Michael Ben David not long ago and I think he NQd because he was an arrogant tool).
Hahaha true and last year unicorn was justified as I did actually think that was great but this year is just so dull and I don't like the political vibes I get from this entry, I think they just went and replaced the word October rain with hurricane because it rhymes
Hard agree. All politics aside, I just find it such boring arse gravy.
Michael Ben David was possibly the most annoying contestant ever.
So punchable
It’s a loud fan base coupled with thousands of paid/bot accounts. Israel could literally send a goldfish and they’d say it was the best thing since sliced bread. It’s patriotism or something.
Okay that's what I thought maybe it was spam comments but I just felt there are so many genuine ones saying she's going to win it all, not Croatia or Switzerland 😂😅 I was just so confused by people saying it's a front runner to win
Loads of bots replying on those posts, all with zero followers.
Ukraine
I actually like most of the songs near the top / which are hyped - Switz being my personal fav but I understand where the support for Croatia and Italy is coming from. Even the Europapa support I do see its niche… although very much not for me. I guess the one I’m surprised at given the relative position of the odds is Ukraine. I have never felt anything for the song that kinda meanders its way through the first half, then randomly there is a rap which is done quite well but I don’t really understand why it’s there.
Ukraine
Ukraine - it’s high quality etc but it’s such a dirge to me. It drags imo. Italy - it’s quirky and I do like it but it doesn’t scream winner to me at all. Eta Belgium - I want to like this, I really do, but it just doesn’t land for me, which is sad as Belgium is the country I’ve adopted at Eurovision and I really want to win it one year. But this year isn’t it.
Croatia 🫣
Croatia
Sorry... for me it's Greece. 😅 Love the video! Think it's super fun, but the song doesn't do anything for me and I find messy.
Greece. I hate the chorus. It sounds like someone is getting hit and she just says “ta, ta, ta…”
Netherlands, I hate his over the top persona, then the music isn't that wow either and his fanbase bores me to death when they try to use an The Voice type of argument to defend the song (a sad life story).
I get that that’s your opinion, but I had to dig a bit (even though I live in NL) to understand Joost’s story. He absolutely doesn’t lead with it and it’s not the core pitch for Netherlands stans IME.
For me it's first of all Ireland, but it's because of my personal taste, I understand that some people can like it. But Cyprus and Malta are also high on my list of songs I don't understand the hype about
Switzerland
Switzerland
I've got a list: |Country|Reason| |:-|:-| |Estonia|The song is too chaotic for me and they sound like they're arguing in the chorus. I'm also not a fan of their staging in the NF, although the ESC staging is a huge improvement| |Greece|The song is a mess and the first few seconds are genuinely grating (at least on my ears). The only part I like from the song is the ending. Just like you said, I won't be surprised if it NQ's| |Ireland|It's the main example of "unique doesn't necessarily equal good". Also, something about the contrast between "I know you're living a lie" and "you'd have a star to the moon" just confuses me (for the lack of a better word)| |Switzerland|I never liked that song and it honestly makes me feel anxious. Also don't get me started on the staging since those pics aren't convincing me at all| |Netherlands|It's one of those Italy 2018 situations for me (aka "I get that the message is important but that doesn't make the song any better")|
Same Netherlands sounds like bunch of radio songs I've heard. I also don't like Switzerland, I liked in the beginning, however as time passes by it's going further down. It's too much yelling and wanna show my vocal abilities and less of a meaningful song. On the other hand Greece and Lithuania grew on me, whereas Croatia/Italy stayed on top for me.
Croatia
Ukraine. I've tried to get it, but I just can't. It's a nothing song to me & it's very disappointing following their last few entries being really good. I'm expecting it'll qualify but I just don't get it.
Finland baffles me. Like I can see a scenario where they don’t qualify
The UK. I'm not sure why it constantly scores higher than songs like Portugal and Serbia. It's so generic and bland to me, and I would even go as far to say that it's very below average.
I honestly don’t like Croatia that much
Croatia. Baby lasagna seems cool and all but the song doesn’t go anywhere IMO. It has so much potential but doesn’t build to anything for me. The rim tim tagi dim part is cute but gets tired fast and the chorus is so generic and bland to me. I feel like I’m taking crazy pills when people compare the quality and vibe of this song being close to Cha Cha Cha. I wanna like it but I don’t. Sorry.
Even as someone who likes the song it feels a bit like it was made in GarageBand lol
It kinda was lol. Marko created it at home all by himself as a filler song for his album, never dreaming of actually performing it on Dora, let alone ESC (he was a reserve, entering the competition only because Zsa Zsa dropped out at the last minute).
Switzerland and Greece
Croatia
France. She's cute, dramatic and vocally beautiful, but just another one of the yearly powerballads about love that either do fantastic or get easily overshadowed by the next one. 6th in the odds is crazy talk imo
Suisse. Its outfit convinced me about that.
Greece and Georgia
Belgium, sadly it just does no impact for me in live
Serbia, there are better ballads
Netherlands. It’s just 90s style Eurodance. It feels like the sort of thing that would have been entered fifteen years ago.
Netherlands. I know you said it, but yeah thats the one that isn't hitting me in any way. The thing I like is the last part with the bass or whatever. But thats such a small part of the song and it doesn't make me impressed by the overall package at all. And I don't like Joosts whole shtick...
croatia 🥶
Agree Greece. If I hadn’t looked at social media at all I’d barely consider it. To a lesser extent Italy although it is a bop. I think she is making it popular more than the song.
Switzerland. To me the song just sounds like a disjointed annoying mess made for TikTok.
Croatia
Switzerland like why, I don’t get it
I like pizza
Why can't we have negative opinions though? There will always be people who don't like a song/movie/tv show/book you like.
Feel free to create one!
I just did and somebody took my pizza
Croatia isn't for me, but I get the hype around the song. I do like the theme, and the lyrics are fun. I've been known to bop my head to it and sing along, it's just not winning material for me. This year's competition is the most fierce I've seen it since I started following ESC in 2020. We have so many excellent entries that appeal to a wide variety of audiences. I'm loving this year so far and hoping that we have solid performances from everyone!
[удалено]
I always find it funny that the one person advocating for positivty still gets the "well if you don't like it move on" treatment. As if everyone is a sparkling rainbow constantly asking for positive things. Actually kinda surprised you aren't downvoted into oblivion. Although I love a good hot take from time to time and not everything needs to be sunshine and rainbows, I agree the negativity has been a bit much lately. Maybe I spend too much time lurking in the live thread, lol. Ahhh what do we expect eh?
Croatia. It really was my top 3 at the beginning. Maybe because I love music video. It's just perfection. But now it's my top 15 at best. The song is too simple and the chorus is just... meh. The more I listen the more I dislike it.
That's my most consistent issue with it; from the beginning I said it was too repetitive. I like it more now, and I like him. I wouldn't mind it winning, but I wouldn't mind some variation in it either.
Austria probably because it’s clearly a eurodance song and as an american thats just 2014 edm kpop music like sugar free by t-ara
Still hits hard but I don’t understand the hype for it and how some people think it’s a winner/top 5 song it’s a good 12-17 if it qualifies
France
Sorry all, but it's got to be Eesti 🇪🇪
Serbia and Estonia
For me Armenia 100%. Just something about repeating la-la-la for most of the song annoys me so much that I can't appreciate anything else about this song (like ethnic vibes and instruments)
Netherlands' song is just weird to me...
Switzerland, i dont understand whats so good about it. to me its just messy and shit
Croatia - it's literally my 37th. It's sooo annoying & always just a hard watch. Greece - Repetitive & again, annoying. France - To be honest I don't see a huge amount of hype over it, but again it's a hard watch & I hate everything about it.
Switzerland. It's kind of... repetitive?
Lithuania - I'm not a fan of the heavy beat that everyone else loves. I do quite like the verses though.
Idk if this counts. Because it is Abba's 50th anniversary of their Eurovision win I'm expecting a lot of Abba tributes during opening/intermission acts. I just don't care for them. I find their music boring and low-key annoying, but everyone seems to love Abba
I don't mean to be seen as contrarian to the current odds or anything, but it just falls this way. I appreciate and like the Swiss song, but I don't understand its hype. It's an oddball kind of song with a lot of experimentation. But for me it's just messy and chucks in everything and everywhere. I like more mysterious and dramatic moods in songs. Also to add in Lithuania. It's flat the whole time until the dance break at the end. There isn't much going on with the singing aspect of it. The chroegraphy is also a bit lame.
I actually have several songs that I don't understand the hype about this year! Ireland, Greece, Portugal, and I guess to an extent Georgia. But I can still see positives in all of them. Ireland, I've really tried getting into it but I just can't. I can appreciate how unique it is but I can't see how anyone would want to listen to it for more than a minute. The performance looks cool though and I'm very glad that Ireland is trying something COMPLETELY different this year! Greece, also unique but to me it sounds unfinished. I don't like the chorus, it feels like I'm listening to a broken CD and it just annoys me. The performance (from what we've seen) looks nice, and she is clearly an extremely talented singer, but I don't understand why people see it as a contender for the win. Portugal, I know it has a fanbase, but I just can't connect with it. I've had several people explain the song and performance to me, but it just does not click at all to me. But she has a very nice voice. Georgia, to me, is the most anonymous song of the year. Nutsa is a great singer and the staging looks great, but I can never remember the song after it's done, and most times I forget that it's competing. Which is weird, because I SHOULD TECHNICALLY LOVE THIS! Still, I cannot see a world where Georgia does not qualify, but maybe it'll stick in the future.
Lithuania: I tried to like it. I really did but it does nothing for me. Just basic, why people rate it so high?