Hello welcome to my series of quick takes designed to get you ready for Eurovision 2019. Just some quick thoughts / my take on each of the 41 songs this year. The countries are in alphabetical order so without further ado: Slovenia.

Country: Slovenia
Singer: Zala Kralj & Gašper Šantl
Song: Sebi
Personal Score: 31 out of 41
My Prediction: Q

I don’t get it.

There you go, its my hottest take. Maybe I am THE OLD now but this is completely and totally baffling to me and there is almost nothing about it that makes me feel comfortable saying its a song. I’ve read the lyrics and I think they are very nice and beautiful but the actual song is just a cleverly disguised ASMR video that they occasionally preform live as far as I can tell. This flat sing-speaking is actually becoming more and more popular and it lives side by side with “overly tuned vocals to the point of not quite human” as some of my least favorite trends in music today. If they do the same stage performance as they did at EMA I except the jury to be completely turned off and the audience to enjoy whatever it is the audience at EMA was tuning into. I’m always happy to see things outside the box show up at Eurovision so I’m not mad but this is never going to be for me. As far as I’m concerned this is more performative art than song which is fine but since the performance isn’t doing anything for me I’ll have to give it a pass.

Hello welcome to my series of quick takes designed to get you ready for Eurovision 2019. Just some quick thoughts / my take on each of the 41 songs this year. The countries are in alphabetical order so without further ado: Serbia.

Country: Serbia
Singer: Nevena Božović
Song: Kruna
Personal Score: 37 out of 41
My Prediction: Q

I was actually pretty disappointed in the Serbian National Finals as a whole even though I can’t say they choose the wrong song. Kruna is a perfectly serviceable ballad and Nevena is doing a great job making it look effortless but I haven’t looked up the lyrics of thing song and I never find myself in a rush to remember it. It’s a little too close to things we’ve gotten in the past and all of it delivered in a very standard and straight forward manner. I think the reason people are often so “down” on ballads is that Eurovision ballads have mainly not evolved alongside music for the past two decade. This song wouldn’t be shocking at 1999 Eurovision. Even if we talk about how all Eurovision upbeat songs sound the same it’s hard to throw them back into other years (for the most part) the same way that a ballad is a ballad is a ballad. That’s an unkind read to this particularly ballad but it just doesn’t give me anything to work with. There’s no hook, there was no staging, there were no (metaphorical) fireworks. You might note I put this as qualifying anyway because I know people love the ballads – there is a contingency of ballad fans out there and Serbia is the most likely to pass muster for them but at the end of the day this is going to end up low in the ranking even if it passes to the final. I hope its a wake up call too all ballad writers.

Hello welcome to my series of quick takes designed to get you ready for Eurovision 2019. Just some quick thoughts / my take on each of the 41 songs this year. The countries are in alphabetical order so without further ado: San Marino.

Country: San Marino
Singer: Serhat
Song: Say “Na Na Na”
Personal Score: 13 out of 41
My Prediction: NQ

In the running order, San Marino is in a great place but I still worry this won’t qualify because it’s San Marino and this is…a special type of cheese. Don’t get me wrong, this song does EXACTLY what it sets out to do and it does it well but you have to love cheese in a way I don’t think a wide audience is ready to embrace. If anyone proved me wrong it’s Moldova for the past two years who have been getting cheese into the final (and then doing well with it!) but I feel like the time might have run out for something like this.

Serhat is back again proving that he can join Queen Valentina from the happiest micro state on Earth and at the end of the day I’ll just be happy to see him at Eurovision no matter the outcome. The song is simple enough. It’s much better than Spirit of the Night but that doesn’t seem to actually matter in the big picture. The song is probably not going to win over the jury and there would need to be a substantial fan vote on top of a great stage show for this to get to the final but I think in a time when the world is a dark and scary place in so many ways and where we don’t have Turkey in Eurovision any more this is a sorely needed anthem for resolving a few of our troubles, if only for three minutes.

Hello welcome to my series of quick takes designed to get you ready for Eurovision 2019. Just some quick thoughts / my take on each of the 41 songs this year. The countries are in alphabetical order so without further ado: Russia.

Country: Russia
Singer: Sergey Lazarev
Song: Scream
Personal Score: 29 out of 41
My Prediction: Q

This song confuses me. Sergey isn’t the worlds strongest singer and this song is basically a vocal showcase song. I don’t know what they’re angling at but I do know this will qualify probably no matter what. I’m very interested to hear this live and I wouldn’t be shocked if there’s some elements on the stage which move around him so that he can stand perfectly still and do his best belting. I’m a big fan of Sergey, he just has one of those friendly puppy attitudes that makes him get along with nearly everyone and this song, is fairly good as far as songs go. However, this is nothing to write home about and the literal only part of the song I recall is “they screeeeeeaaaammmmm” which bodes badly for cracking the top 10. All that being said, this is Russia and like Sweden before them, they will likely easily crack the top 10. This song could be a jury bait song with the right vocal precision and staging and it will vacuum up plenty of extra votes since Ukraine pulled itself out of the running but like “A Million Voices” (Russia 2015) I don’t think its high placement is really going to be all that deserved. I wish Russia could deliver more modern sounding songs alongside their big personalities and stage shows instead of something as middling and forgettable as this.

Hello welcome to my series of quick takes designed to get you ready for Eurovision 2019. Just some quick thoughts / my take on each of the 41 songs this year. The countries are in alphabetical order so without further ado: Romnia.

Country: Portugal
Singer: Ester Peony
Song: On A Sunday
Personal Score: 5 out of 41
My Prediction: Q

This song was not even in the running for me going into the Romania National final but Ester completely blew me away with her slightly revamped southern Gothic inspired folk scorn vocals that night and I think this is a fantastic addition to Eurovision this year.

There is something so magical and memorable about this simple little song that makes it more than just your average song. Something is Ester’s strong commitment to the vibe of the song, or the twang, or just the simple and effective lyrics it all comes together to form something that is both over the top dramatic but also so easily relatable. Anyone who has come out of a bad relationship can find themselves in this song where it feels like its equal parts lament and anger at something just not working out. There’s plenty of places where vocals get played with but easily the stand out line is “loving you is a hard price to pay” and Ester nails it with a nice tinge of regret in her voice. If she preforms anywhere near as well as she did at the national final I see this as a crowd favorite and it should win some moderate love from the jury as well, enough for maybe a top 10 if the staging is just right. Romania is back baby!

Hello welcome to my series of quick takes designed to get you ready for Eurovision 2019. Just some quick thoughts / my take on each of the 41 songs this year. The countries are in alphabetical order so without further ado: Portugal.

Country: Portugal
Singer: Conan Ósiris
Song: Telemóveis
Personal Score: 28 out of 41
My Prediction: Q

I don’t get this. I vaguely don’t hate it but that’s about all the emotion I can muster for what feels like an art piece that I need explained to me. I think this might qualify just on the basis that what its doing is so outside of what anyone else is going to do. I do hope that the performance at Eurovision is more refined than the one at Portgugal’s national final but I guess at the end of the day, in my heart of hearts, I’m just happy that Portugal isn’t sending fado. This is a really interesting song that I don’t quite like but when I talk about evolving and changing trends in music coming to Eurovision this is something I would certainly like to see more of. I feel like this is well executed and interesting even if its not to my taste and its great to see an artist bring their vision to the stage. I’m excited for this in the final because I’m unsure how a wider audience might respond to something as experimental and off-kilter as this.

Hello welcome to my series of quick takes designed to get you ready for Eurovision 2019. Just some quick thoughts / my take on each of the 41 songs this year. The countries are in alphabetical order so without further ado: Poland.

Country: Poland
Singer: Tulia
Song: Pali się
Personal Score: 19 out of 41
My Prediction: Q

Despite being ranked in the middle of the pack for me this song is a grower and every listen it draws me in a little closer. There is something really interesting and dare I say, arresting about this song. I haven’t looked up the lyrics yet (I thought I heard a little English at the end of the song but I can’t really be sure) but I don’t feel like I need to ever understand what they’re saying because the song has such a good melody that I find myself rolling it over and over in my mind all day anyway. The rhythm and strength of their harmonic voices is actually quite mesmerizing and I hope that they can bring that alive at Eurovision. This song has the potential to be see as “boring” or “static” so the key to drawing in the audience will probably be (contrary to the video) colors and movement but I think that this has the ability to really draw people in. I kind of wonder if whatever I see in this song is what many other people are seeing in Slovenia’s song as both have this trance-like quality to them that can be, in the wrong light, a complete turn off. I’m unsure if the appeal will get them higher than 20th in the final but it’s always nice to see folk music that has a more modern evolution to it at Eurovision and I wish Poland well.

Hello welcome to my series of quick takes designed to get you ready for Eurovision 2019. Just some quick thoughts / my take on each of the 41 songs this year. The countries are in alphabetical order so without further ado: Norway.

Country: Norway
Singer: KEiiNO
Song: Spirit in the Sky
Personal Score: 2 out of 41
My Prediction: Q

This is the total package. It reminds me of Euphoria because no matter who I play it for, they seem to get into the spirit of it right away (pun probably intended but I’ll leave it for you to decide how cheesy I am). This might not be a winner in the space future of 2019 in our post “1944” as Eurovision winner world but it certainly isn’t JUST a piece of plastic produced cynically which makes it absolutely worthy of the attention its getting from betting and fans alike. This song is a bop and its more Swedish-style dance music than your average song but bringing in nice touches of that Norwegian flare and an honest to go joiker blends modern and traditional in a way that is sure to win people over.

I don’t have a lot to say about this song despite how much I absolutely adore it, I think it will simply speak for itself as it combines a lot of good elements into something better than its parts. The upbeat and pleasant sound, the positive message, and the ties with Sami people are all big pluses and I see it easily passing into the top 10, possibly the top 5 with the right staging. Really happy to see Norway bringing their A game this year.

Hello welcome to my series of quick takes designed to get you ready for Eurovision 2019. Just some quick thoughts / my take on each of the 41 songs this year. The countries are in alphabetical order so without further ado: North Macedonia.

Country: North Macedonia
Singer: Tamara Todevska
Song: Proud
Personal Score: 36 out of 41
My Prediction: NQ

This song hits a bunch of my pet peeves. It’s the token lip service “girl you’re so strong don’t let people tell you know” ballad. A lot of countries looked at the top five of last year for inspiration of what to send this year and while so many countries leaned into the “Fuego” route, people at least recognized that trying to copy “Toy” was a much more monumental task. North Macedonia looked at them and then immediately mushed together Israel and Germany’s songs and got…this thing. The message is on point but the execution is so sloppy that it comes off as even worse than pandering, insincere and forced. I don’t have a lot to say about this song because it feels very minimal. Minimal music, minimal vocals, and what I assume will be minimal staging. There’s very little to disagree with because I like the message and Tamara has beautiful vocals but there’s absolutely nothing about this song that makes me want to return to it.

Hello welcome to my series of quick takes designed to get you ready for Eurovision 2019. Just some quick thoughts / my take on each of the 41 songs this year. The countries are in alphabetical order so without further ado: Montenegro.

Country: Montenegro
Singer: D mol
Song: Heaven
Personal Score: 39 out of 41
My Prediction: NQ

I feel kind of awful about how much I don’t like this song. It’s sung by several 18 and 19 year olds who deserve much better than this extremely tepid outdated soft ballad. This is something I would almost expect to hear on a soft Christian spotify channel and it would make me cringe less than its place in Eurovision.

The only way to stage this is basically for them to all sing in a line or maybe turn and sing to each other but even if the song material wasn’t vapid and vaguely religious, the problems with this song are numerous. I’ve seen this live and no one is the “star” in this in that everyone is about high school chorus good. There’s nothing exceptional about anyone’s voice or performance, there’s nothing exceptional about the song, and worse yet, this is a song that would probably be much better served as a solo or a duet and when you add more people to it you lose all potential and interest. There’s a reason most ballads are solos or duets and its because you end up with something like this if you add more people. It reminds me (uncharitably) of Argo’s “Utopian Land” (Greece 2016). It has the same muddled vaguely ethnic-ness about it, the same too many cooks in the kitchen, the same lack of counter point to bring any interest to the song. Anyway this is three minutes of white noise basically and I don’t think that’s a fair thing to do to under 20s.