Category: Review
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Melodi Grand Prix 2024 – ESC Etc. Top 3 Songs from the Norwegian National Final
There’s a moment in Ulrikke’s Honestly (one of the 2023 MGP entries), around 0:55, where after a second of brief silence the orchestration suddenly drops all at once alongside a booming choir, punctuating the song’s soaring, thumping chorus in a burst of unadulterated pop deliciousness. I wanted to mention that…
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Albania 2024 Review: “Zemrën n’dorë” – Besa Kokëdhima
It took four gruesome nights (still one less than Sanremo will inflict on us) marred by poor audio, amateurish hosting, baffling interval acts, questionable judging, and more of the same accusations of vote fixing and corruption that have been plaguing Festivali i Këngës for a number of years now, but…
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Benidorm Fest 2024 – ESC Etc. Top 4 Songs from the Spanish National Final
The Benidorm tracks are here and can I just say…this is how you establish a national final from nothing: you set up a music festival and feed it and let it grow organically into a competition that would exist as a standalone event that is first and foremost meant to…
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Czechia 2024 Review: “Pedestal” – Aiko
After a week-long online vote open to the Czech public as well as international fans across the world, Aiko has emerged as the winner of ESCZ 2024, narrowly edging out Elly, and will now represent Czechia in Malmö. Aiko swept the international vote but only came in 5th place in…
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ESCZ 2024 – All 7 Songs from the Czech National Final Ranked by ESC Etc.
Czechia debuted their seven competing entries at Club Roxy in Prague earlier this week and as well know by now…it was an unmitigated disaster. Ghastly stage production, catastrophic sound mixing issues, vocals obtained under torture…I don’t recall another national final turning into such a huge dumpster fire in constrast to…
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Eesti Laul 2024 – ESC Etc. Top 4 Songs from the Estonian National Final
There’s just something about Estonia kicking things off in December that hits differently – it’s like ESC season is officially on. Eesti Laul released the 20 songs that will go head to head to represent Estonia at ESC 2024. 5 acts are fast-tracked to the February 17 final, while the…
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MESC 2024 – ESC Etc. Top 5 Songs from the Maltese National Final
4 semifinals, 36 tracks – I listened to all the songs vying to represent Malta at ESC 2024 so you don’t have to! Actually, no – listen to every song. There is a national final for you out there, I promise! That said, this wasn’t it. On balance, I found…
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France 2024 Review: “Mon amour” – Slimane
France went and dropped their 2024 artist and track pretty much on the same day, much earlier than anyone could have anticipated (this is the earliest a country has released their entry in I don’t even remember how long).
ESC Etc. 