It’s raining songs!!! ESC season is ramping up with more and more countries releasing their entries and holding national finals, and because YES…I make a point to listen to every single song from from each and every selection, I figured it would be a bit more time efficient for me to combine stand-out tracks from otherwise slightly less competitive contests and move things along. When I say less competive, I mean that I am in particular really disappointed with Söngvakeppnin, which last year challenged Sanremo as the best national final in terms of overall quality and production only to have reverted back to a rather uninspired collection of disjointed and somewhat dated songs. If you know me, you know that the day Iceland releases their entries is but a national holiday in my household, and as someone who’s been actively rooting for them to win Eurovision since Yohanna‘s second place finish in 2009, I hate to see this long wait extended (although, as you’ll see below, there is one song that might do something).
As for Belgium and Ireland, I had high expectations for both countries for very different reasons – I really want Belgium to bounce back after last year’s flop, and I really want Ireland to keep the Doomsday Blue momentum going. Coincidentally, both national finals are called Eurosong 2025, which seems fitting in the sense that you could combine them into the same non-descript contest this year – most of the tracks are absolutely fine and passable, but I really did struggle to find a lot to get excited about. But I did find something in both. Without further ado:
ESC WINNER ALERT. Ok…ok. This is amazing. I did wonder for the longest time why Belgium was (and still is) leading the odds ahead of the Holy Trinity of Eurovision (Italy – Sweden – Ukraine) and then I heard this, and everything suddenly made sense. We got great rave-adjacent Eurodance last year with Kaleen, but Strobe Lights takes it to a completely different level – this is an incredible, unapologetic, sublime techno-rave fever dream with one of the most epic and iconic drops in the history of ESC (right as he hits the first of two F#5s, no less). On top of that, watching a queer person sing about just having a good time and getting lost in the moment is exactly what needs to be amplified at a time like this. I can’t wait to see this at the live show and in Basel – this will set the arena on fire, and Sebastian has a really strong point of view/aesthetic. With the right staging, the sky is the limit here.
Birgo – Ég flýg í storminn (English version title: Stormchaser)
This is the only option for Iceland this year. But it’s honestly a really, really good one. This is a lovely, anthemic pop midtempo with a cinematic feel, and Birgo’s soaring vocals and impassioned performance are world-class. I really do love the thumping beat that drops after the first chorus and accompanies the rest of the song with a really compelling synth line, and the use of percussion gives the whole track a folksy vibe that makes the production more complex and interesting. The song does follow a familiar structure that, since Tattoo‘s victory, has become the blueprint for a lot of dark pop (verse/chorus/verse/chorus/quiet bridge/huge climax, each section adding a layer to the production), but it’s a great, winning formula if used well, and it just works here. This would most certainly qualify BUT we need a bit more thought (and money) pumped into the staging compared to what we got these last two years.
Have you ever cried listening to a Eurodance bop? Emmy of MGP 2021 fame is back, trying to represent Ireland with a phenomenal, old-school EDM ass slapper about Laika, the adorable Russian stray dog that became the first living animal to orbit the Earth when the Soviet Union launched her into space back in 1957, a trip from which she never returned. Laika’s story has just sort of haunted me since I heard about her as a kid, and this song that just came from nowhere to celebrate her and her legacy, imagining her living forever in space having a never-ending party, just broke me. I don’t really know what else to say about this, but given the relative weakness of the field this year, this would make for a wonderful, inspired entry for Ireland (can you imagine the staging? I am crying as I type this). I hope she gets it.
ESC Etc. 
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