ESC Etc.

More countries! More hot takes!

FRANCE

I miss the days of Destination Eurovision and Eurovision France, c’est vous qui décidez! that gave us my favorite song of the 2018 contest, a second place finisher at ESC 2021, and other various little musical masterpieces of different genres and ilk (this one still makes me cry, and this one still makes me horny). So what happened? It seems to me as though following the inexplicable flop of Fulenn in 2022 (a bop so fearsome we’re still not worthy), the French delegation decided that continuing with such a time-consuming endeavor wasn’t worth the effort and the money. We have no updates in relation to 2024 yet, but it is fair to assume France will once again go internal, which saves money but doesn’t really work in terms of establishing and breaking in one specific selection method through thick and thin over time, which is how you ultimately shape a winning formula. France had a solid entry last year which was ultimately undone by the staging, placing an already apprehensive performer on top of an ascending plinth like an immovable, sparkly gargoyle. We did still get this absolutely iconic moment, though, so that’s something.

GEORGIA

Georgia is tied with Latvia for the current longest non-qualification streak in the contest, having failed to advance to the final for the last 6 years (not counting 2020, obviously). Their song this year was a bit of a mixed bag, drawing praise for the atmospheric, experimental sound and vocal, as well as some criticism for the fact that, uh…it read like it was written by an AI on methamphetamines. I was really bummed to see Iru, a former JESC winner, so crushed after her missed qualification, and on balance I thought that the song itself would have been more deserving than some of the acts that actually advanced, although I didn’t feel it was particularly competitive overall. I would be supportive of Georgia sending another act with a similar outré sound and taking a bit of a risk, as opposed to going back to the more safe but equally unsuccessful route of the sad boy ballad. Ultimately, streaks like these need to be broken because they might realistically discourage these countries from continuing pumping time and money into their participation, and we don’t want that.

GERMANY

Germany’s main goal at this point – and what I would personally consider a victory – is to get themselves out of the bottom 5 (they’ve come in last place in the final 4 times since 2015). I was actually a big fan of Lord of the Lost this year, and I think both juries and televote ultimately failed to recognize the quality of their entry and the skill that went into crafting, staging, and performing it. That’s for 2023 – there is no conceivable justification, however, for whatever this was that they inflicted upon us in 2021. I find it very encouraging that, in spite of this year’s result, the delegation will be sticking with their national final, Eurovision Song Contest – Das deutsche Finale 2024, which I thought was very well organized and featured a number of interesting, diverse acts and sounds. My feeling is that, with the way a chunk of the fandom got behind Will Church this year, we will be getting something closer to what Michael Schulte presented in 2019 (missing a Top 3 finish in the final by a mere 2 points, to his credit) although I still maintain that a track like Violent Thing, which didn’t get to compete in 2020, is representative of a much more current and interesting sound that would do well with both juries and voters at home.

GREECE

Greece just announced Marina Satti as their 2024 ESC representative, and I’m very relieved for two main reasons: first of all, she’s an adult, and second of all, she seems to be an established, experienced artist with a dedicated following to go with a very interesting musical perspective that blends an urban sensibility with a more traditional Greek/Arab sound. I’ve been on a bit of a downward trajectory with Greece since their 2019 entry, which I loved and still love oh so much, and I really was not a fan of either Die Together last year which, in spite of its popularity, just sort of came across as a punishing, self-important dirge to me, or What They Say this year, which had a bit more of a pulse but was much better suited for JESC for what it was and the way it was ultimately staged and performed. We don’t really know anything about Marina’s ESC song yet, but I would feel comfortable predicting a fairly easy qualification for Greece in 2024, and possibly even a left side of the board finish.

ICELAND

I’ve already gone on record about this, but I don’t mind repeating myself: there is no country I want to get their first ever ESC win more than Iceland. I’ve been similarly very vocal on the podcast about how much Iceland loves the contest and wants this, and the fact that, in spite of some logistical/infrastructural concerns, they would make for a fantastic host. The issue specific to this country, which (as some people might not realize) has a significantly smaller population than places like Malta or Luxembourg, is the fact that we seem to get one particularly competitive year where Söngvakeppnin, the national final, gives us winners like Hatari or Daði Freyr (who would have won in 2020, by the way), followed by a couple of years where it’s more slim pickings and work with what you have. I also think that, for the sake of having a few more options, it would be in their best interest to add a few more songs to the final roster – even just five – and perhaps revise the Grand Final format to give international juries a bit more space. I think we’re due for another strong national final in 2024, and I can’t wait for the songs to be revealed. That’s the kind of day where for an hour the world shuts down because I need. to. know. if we’re going to Reykjavík next year.

IRELAND

I am going to be as brief and clear as possible here – for Ireland to be able to do anything at ESC again (they have qualified once since 2014) RTÉ needs to be placed into a space rocket and shot into the sun and the EBU needs to put TG4, the other Irish broadcaster overseeing Ireland’s (much more successful) participation at JESC, in charge. ESC Tom published a very interesting and thorough analysis of Ireland’s fall from grace at ESC, but if you want to spend the most cringe-worthy 60 minutes of your life getting the scoop straight out the horse’s mouth, Éirevision recently published an interview with Michael Kealy, the Irish head of delegation, who, over the course of an hour-long line of questioning that felt like watching a hamster trying to give birth to a cow, pretty much said that he’s only working on ESC part-time, the broadcaster doesn’t care and doesn’t have any money, and nothing is going to change in the foreseeable future. If you think that big name artists like CMAT or Sinead O’Brien, who are booked and busy, are going to agree to go perform on the Late Late Show on a 2×2 stage in front of an audience of fives of people as part of an attempt at a national final whose main focus is a peanut butter giveaway…God bless you.

ISRAEL

I honestly don’t know if, given what is currently going on, Israel should even compete. I don’t know to what extent the EBU is going to get involved in the matter, if at all. It is unclear if a national final will even happen, at this point, and the first episode of HaKokhav HaBa, the reality singing competition once again designated to pick a representative, has already been postponed to a date TBD.

ITALY

Italy, Sweden, and Ukraine are the ESC holy trinity – the three powerhouses that also happen to be the last three winners of the contest. The Sanremo Festival is the longest-running annual TV national music competition in the world, pre-dating even ESC that was in fact based on it at its inception, and it gives the winner the right of first refusal to represent Italy at Eurovision. Italy is on a six-year streak of Top 6 placements in the final, which is an ESC record, and Sanremo manages to consistently attract the biggest names in Italian music, thus creating a pretty much foolproof selection method whose results speak for themselves. So…of course Italy will deliver. The rumored line-up for Sanremo 2024 appears to be particularly loaded, with acts like Annalisa, La Rappresentante di Lista, Irama, Mahmood, and Il Volo seemingly in talks to return. 2024 is set to be the last year Amadeus will be serving as the festival’s artistic director, and I just have a feeling that he’s going to go all out. We might realistically get an act that is once again in contention to win the whole thing in Malmö, especially if they manage to deviate from the Italian ballad formula of Due Vite toward something a bit more uptempo. Give us a party even just for one year. Please.

LATVIA

As I mentioned above, Latvia is tied with Georgia for the current longest non-qualification streak, having missed the ESC final for the last 6 years. That’s not good. If you know me at all, you know about my undying love for my Latvian ladies – Aminata, Triana Park‘s Agnese Rakovska, Samantha Tīna – and the songs they brought to Eurovision, but there is no denying that over the last few years, the Latvian national final Supernova has approached the selection process for ESC in dubious ways, from judging panels making very questionable choices (That Night remains one of the most inexplicable entries any country has even sent to ESC, and if you have managed to listen to it for over a minute then congratulations, you are now deceased and this is the soundtrack to your afterlife) to lack of foresight in terms of supporting their entries with appropriate production and staging efforts (Sudden Lights deserved more than a slightly upgraded version of their national final performance). I think that, in order to break that streak, it might be worth considering restructuring the national final to approach the Eurovision format more directly as a blueprint, giving more space to international juries just to get a sense of each song’s crossover appeal and potential. Or just send Aminata every year. That’s also an option.

LITHUANIA

Lithuania last failed to qualify in 2019 (Jurijus remains husband material regardless of the fact that his song was so bad it probably violated the Geneva Convention) but it seems as though Europe has started to pay more attention to their entries after The Roop made such a splash in 2020 (and 2021). They are the only Baltic country to have never won the contest in spite of a much stronger qualification record than either Estonia or Latvia since the introduction of the semifinals at ESC in 2004, and Pabandom iš naujo! 2023 felt like an exceptionally competitive national final this year, with two songs (Let Me Think About Me and So Low) that were pretty much ESC ready both in terms of performance and staging and, I think, would have done even better than Stay (which was still overall my third favorite song at ESC 2023). The national final is rebranding itself as Eurovizija.LT! in 2024, and there just seems to be enough money and enthusiasm behind it to warrant keeping an eye on Lithuania in Malmö, even if we do not currently have any updates in terms of participants or rule changes. I’m excited!

FP