ESC Etc.

Country: Estonia
Artist: 5MIINUST and Puuluup
Title: (nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi
Songwriter(s): Estoni Kohver, Kim Wennerström, Lancelot, Marko Veisson, Päevakoer, Põhja Korea, Ramo Teder
Tempo: 145 BPM Mode: Major Key: D Duration: 2:47

Country: Moldova
Artist: Natalia Barbu
Title: In the Middle
Songwriter(s): Natalia Barbu, Khris Richards
Tempo: 114 BPM Mode: Minor Key: G♯/A♭ Duration: 2:59

Country: Denmark
Artist: Saba
Title: Sand
Songwriter(s): Jonas Thander, Melanie Wehbe, Pil Kalinka Nygaard Jeppesen
Tempo: 114 BPM Mode: Minor Key: E Duration: 3:01

Country: Lithuania
Artist: Silvester Belt
Title: Luktelk
Songwriter(s): Džesika Šyvokaitė, Elena Jurgaitytė, Silvestras Beltė
Tempo: 140 BPM Mode: Minor Key: B Duration: 2:41

Not to pat my own back BUT all countries choosing winners today picked acts I had singled out and analyzed in each of their respective national final reviews. I will also say that I really like (three of) these songs, leaving Germany and Finland as the only two countries to have really screwed the pooch so far this ESC season. 2024 stays on track to be one of the strongest ESC line-ups of all time. Yep, I said it.

Instead of reviewing the entries again, I would like to discuss staging and potential. Estonia really went with the only choice that made sense after thuy culled all the other good songs in the semifinals. We all knew this would be a two-horse race between 5M&P and Ollie (congrats to Nele-Liis), and I think in the end the televote made the correct choice. This track to me is a version of Trenulețul I can actually bop to, with the same energy and jouissance and a more assertive EDM beat that makes it feel a bit more current. It’s already gone viral in the fandom as the drug song (look up the lyrics), it’s got a simple, silly, and contagious dance attached to it, and it does in fact slap. This will easily qualify and it might contend for a Top 5 televote placement. Juries won’t be as enamored (there is no real vocal or staging attached to it) but that doesn’t really matter. This will perform exceptionally well.

Moldova chose Natalia Barbu, with the juries ultimately breaking a tie with Valeria Pasha in Natalia’s favor. We can debate ad infinitum whether juries should break ties over the televote or vice versa (I see arguments in favor and against) and I think both tracks were ultimately quite competitive, but in the end we got the more seasoned act with a much more polished and striking staging concept (the styling! The hair! The violins!) who also happens to be an ESC returning performer, and with the superior song (at least in my opinion), so I have no complaints. As this year’s token oligarch wife (she is actually married to a Romanian millionaire…slay), Natalia can and will pump all the money into this and she will arrive to Malmö in tip-top shape. We know the Moldovan delegation gets basically no funding from the national broadcaster, so at least this year that shouldn’t be a problem. I actually expect this to do well, and I think it has both jury and televote appeal.

Denmark(‘s juries) picked Saba, which was honestly the only sensible choice. DMGP‘s lineup this year was overall rather flavorless, and while Sand is a completely passable Scandipop powerballad, it is not particularly exciting or memorable. Saba performed it well, to her credit, but it was ultimately the staging that really sold this whole package to me. While I don’t need to have her propped up on what looked like a kitchen table, I otherwise found the idea of an elevated platform surrounded by mist and intricate, blinding light schemes very striking and well executed overall. I’m still not sure about its qualification prospects in a year where we are getting lots of great tracks and bombastic acts, but it’s competent and well executed.

Lithuania chose Silvester in a landslide, proving once again they’ve quietly become a force to be reckoned with at ESC. I just discussed this song yesterday, so my appreciation for it hasn’t really changed or evolved: it’s a great bop with flashy, modern staging and styling (the grand final performance looked particularly elevated to me), a reliable vocal, and plenty of memorable choreo. I’ll be bumping to this for a while. As I also discussed, it got drawn in a particularly hellish semifinal half at ESC that to me does not guarantee it an automatic qualification. The fandom has really taken to it (it’s currently 3rd in the community ranking on MESC behind Ukraine and Italy) but I am afraid that amidst the euphoric chaos of those first seven acts, casual viewers might overlook it. If this does actually advance to the final, I could then see it really hold its own against the immediate competition of Mustii and Olly, because there is plenty of jury appeal to this. Exciting stuff is in store!