ESC Etc.

Country: San Marino
Artist: Megara
Title: 11:11
Songwriter(s): Isra Dante Ramos Solomando, Roberto la Lueta Ruiz, Sara Jiménez Moral
Tempo: 136 BPM Mode: Major Key: G  Duration: 3:00

Full disclosure: I more or less decided to boycott this national final after it was announced they would team up with an AI startup and fast-track an AI-generated song into the final (not gonna link to it or name it – if you’re curious, it came in 7th in the final ranking). I’m very disappointed the EBU didn’t outright shut that whole business down after saying there were plans to ban AI tracks from ESC. This needs to happen yesterday, and it is not a direction I want Eurovision to be looking in.

Don’t have a lot to say about the show itself – it’s an absolute disaster year in, year out, and this time around both hosts looked particularly defeated towards the end. In the end, Megara barely edged out Loredana Berté (at least that’s what we were told – there’s essentially no accounting for what actually happes voting-wise in this final) who, after finishing 7th in Sanremo earlier this month, entered this contest with the same song (which is apparently allowed, in spite of me being fairly sure that I read it wasn’t at some point). ESC fans obviously know Megara from Benidorm 2023, where they were vying to represent Spain at ESC with a phenomenal electro/metal track titled Arcadia. While 11:11 isn’t as immediately catchy, it does retain some of the same appeal in terms of sound (some of their other tracks flirt with hard rock a bit more directly) and especially visuals, since their flashy, neon tone, punk aesthetic was on full display on stage and really helped them stand out. I do like the lyrics and how they very overtly reference the Benidorm experience from last year, repeating over and over that “if you don’t want me, someone else out there will,” and the bridge fusing flamenco with a dance beat is particularly fun and effective. I do wish the chorus had a bit more of a hook to it, but all in all I feel like this is one of San Marino’s best offerings as of late, and that they have a pretty decent, realistic chance at advancing especially thanks to a particularly favorable draw in semi 2, which is considerably less stacked than the other one. You know it’s a strong year when even the weaker countries end up delivering quality.

Jury Potential: There’s a level of polish here that I think will help them score a few points here and there even if this isn’t exactly what juries tend to go for.
Televote Potential: This is where San Marino should bank on scoring the biggest chunk of their point total, and I could see this being a Top 10 finisher there if the staging gets further elevated.