ESC Etc.

Country: Luxembourg
Artist: Tali
Title: Fighter
Songwriter(s): Ana Zimmer, Dardust, Manon Romiti, Silvio Lisbonne
Tempo: 94 BPM Mode: Minor Key: F♯/G♭ Duration: 2:55

When I wrote about the Luxembourg Song Contest, the newly established national selection to welcome Luxembourg back to ESC after 30 years, it was with a mix of excitement and concern. I’m overjoyed to have them back – duh – but I guess I was a bit let down by the selection of songs that, after months of submissions, auditions, workshop, you name it, essentially presented us with an array of well produced, generic pop that just sorta lacked any real perspective or insight. I think, in a way, this winning song is a perfect representation of that.

When I wrote about the Luxembourg Song Contest, I also did not feature this track among my Top 3. That is because it was actually in penultimate place for me and even though others seemed a bit more fond of it, no one was really actually checking for it or discussing it as a potential winner. The good: it’s a song! I think there’s definitely an audience for this sort of breezy, commercial sound. That said, in a year that is already shaping up to be the most competitive ESC lineup possibly…ever, I would have liked Luxembourg to send something just a bit more distinctive and with more of an edge to it. The lyrics, even in the French portion that actually does enhance the track to a degree, feel a bit ChatGPT (“Fight your battles/Believe in yourself/The world is out there/Set out to conquer it”), the production is just a bit dated and disjointed, the staging lacks focus (there’s time to actually put some thought into that, I guess), and the vocal is a bit all over the place. The chorus actually reminds me a bit of Wild Dances, except with none of the gusto and energy that went into making that track (of which I’m also not particularly fond) such a captivating stage show. I wish I had something nicer to say, but this one will probably keep hovering over my bottom 5 for the year. Which is OK! Not all songs have to be for me.

Jury Potential: Juries love polished, lux, modern pop entries. This track might realistically get points but struggle against actual polished, lux, modern pop entries.
Televote Potential: There’s French in it, which I think will appeal to a few neighboring countries, but I think voters at home might feel this is just a bit forgettable, especially this year.