ESC Etc.

Country: Greece
Artist: Marina Satti
Title: Zari
Songwriter(s): Gino the Ghost, Jay Stolar, Jordan Palmer, Kay Be, Marina Satti, Nick Kodonas, OGE, Solmeister, Vlospa
Tempo: 102 BPM Mode: Major Key: C Duration: 3:01

The art of the ESC internal selection is a hard one to hone and master. If you announce your act and song too soon, you have to keep the buzz alive for the whole season. If you announce late, you need to live up to mounting expectations nearing the end of said season. Then there are countries that announce the artist first, lauching the search for a song to come at a later date. That’s exactly what Greece did this year: Marina Satti was one of the first acts announced for the 2024 season – to the overwhelming delight of the fandom – and we had to wait 4 whole months for her track to drop while navigating reports that hundreds of songs were being submitted to her only to all get rejected. “Great!” we all went. “She’s not compromising on her standards!” We all thought.

So…this is what she went with? It’s hard not to be a bit disappointed with a track that feels at once somewhat underbaked and derivative. I definitely like the vocal that accompanies the song, which sounds effortlessly soaring and punchy when it needs to be, but so much of this sound/production/instrumentation is lifted directly from Rosalia (Chicken Teriyaki in particular comes to mind) while also chaotically nodding at urbano and Latin pop in ways that just sound a bit uninspired and generic, that I sat through these three minutes mainly going…”really?” The addition of the zurna, which should feel like an organic celebration of the ethnic sounds of this country, comes across as a cloak to make the grift a little less obvious instead. To be clear, there’s an energy here supporting the track and the music video that I do appreciate, but the song just does not resolve for me, and I was ultimately asked to wait too long to be given too little. I’m hoping staging will be able to redeem this at least in part, but Greece’s spotty track record with their visuals doesn’t make that a guarantee, either.

Jury Potential: Should this qualify, it will suffer massively from a comparison to Italy, which delivers a similar vibe in a way that feels much more fresh and authentic and, as far as juries go, also more radio friendly.
Televote Potential: This is definitely more of a televote song. 2024 just so happens to be stacked with acts that will dominate here with the addition of also having great jury appeal.