As promised
here are my last comments about this year's acts (the big 5 and the host):
01. Germany: Germans do like their chanceless eye-rolling packages, don't they? :? S!sters and their song did justice to the legacy of Jamie-Lee and Levina tbh: "Sister" is a vocal mid-tempo track that leans towards musical drama, I thought it was okay at first, but when listening to it carefully, I find it cringe-worthy and borderline creepy with that music-box melody going on. I get there is a message there, but it's not lyrically conveyed in a way that would make me get into it. The development is rather poor arrangements-wise, the choruses are supposed to be powerful and anthemic, yet they fail to even leave an impression on me. The song literally goes nowhere. The girls are doing the job vocally, but their performance seemed more OTT than emotional imo. Visually, it was as basic as they could get with the girls walking on the catwalk while their faces were displayed on screen; well, at least it wasn't nearly as embarrassing as their original plan to showcase random pictures taken from the internet. I understand that getting zero points from the televote always is a shock - and it's sad for the concerned acts - but to be frank, out of all the zero pointers we've had since the new way of presenting the results (including Czech Republic 2016 and Austria 2017), Germany 2019 is imo the less surprising one, they were kind of asking for an abysmal result. No one would have payed to massively vote for that because it fit the mediocre and forgettable mould Germans have been liking to send these days, there is no mystery behind their result. Honestly, they were lucky they received so many points from the juries.
02. Israel: Just imagine me with a poker face, looking at my invisible watch every ten seconds and checking if my nails were cut properly... That's how uninterested and disappointed I was by the Israeli effort this year. After years of entries in English, I hoped we would have a song in Hebrew and sound-wise more personal than what they've sent recently... Not only "Home" was in English, but it also was totally devoid of personality. For some reason, I never liked any song called "Home" and this one is no exception. My disappointment may colour my judgement, but nothing appealed to me in this remake of Norway 2010: the melody, the arrangements, the structure... This is so vanilla, and I never was fond of this type of bombastic ballads. Kobi was fine, but neither his voice nor his performance were my cup of tea, a real cup of tea would be more likely to move me actually. Visually, this was classy of course, nothing particularly memorable though. And ditch that sparkle shower, for God's sake! Yeah, the Israeli completely lost me this time, I'm not surprised by their low score, it was too much of a typical host entry. Hopefully, they'll have something more exciting in store for me next year.
03. United Kingdom: please trust me when I tell you I'm SO OVER the BBC and their rubbish choices... xboring I'm so tired of seeing them send acts that are doomed to failure, like they had the nerve to call on the Swedes for this offensively dated, dull and forgettable X-factor mess called "Bigger Than Us". No need to describe the song since it sounds like every talent show contestant's debut song of the last fifteen years, with a finale that I found particularly annoying to listen to. I don't hate Michael, but it's clearly not the type of vocalists we should have from the UK, please let that for other countries with tiny music markets! Visually, it was a bunch of random ideas put together to pretend there was a visual at least, the stage looked empty af and that only emphasized how BORING this whole effort was imo. Last place is always harsh, but I can't say it's not deserved as far as I'm concerned. I'm done with the BBC, and don't get me started on the "they don't want to win" argument because sending a song that hasn't "bottom 3" written all over it doesn't mean the UK will win. There is such a thing as top 15, top 10, top 5... Why not try to send a song that could lead to decent results? Is that too far-fetched? See you next year for the brand new "Storm/You're Not Alone". ** Sigh **
04. France: if you followed Destination Eurovision, then you might know neither Bilal nor Seemone were lighting my fire. I feel the need to mention Aysat, Gabriella and the Divaz would have got my full support, but it seems like I'm never allowed to root for my country once in a while.
"Roi" is Madame Monsieur's doing: a standard power ballad that draws inspiration from "Rise Like a Phoenix" and Michel Berger's "Seras-tu là ?" during its piano-driven verses. To me, the melody is just dull, it's listenable yet not doing much for me. Lyrically, I can say the switches between French and English reflect Bilal's way of speaking in real life, the message though is very "been there, done that" imo and we've had it better formulated in the past. Vocally, I admit I do like Bilal's slightly veiled tone and think he could do great things with it if he learned how to sing properly and were interested in jazz music... which will never be the case, so let's move on
He doesn't possess a powerful voice, hence why imo "Roi" was an ill-fitted choice for him. Not to mention his music style is more bitchy and upbeat than low-key and emotional, which makes me wonder if it was simply a strategic move to win DE given how chanson-oriented French televoters are. Anyway, the performance was what I expected: he delivered with the lower-pitched revamp, yet unsurprisingly was outshone by better vocalists. Visually, I'm conflicted: I'm glad because we finally had a staging with an actual concept, as well as polished backdrops and camera angles, HOWEVER they felt the need to sugar sugar with elements that made our effort look even more try-hard and in-your-face than before (the "unconventional" dancers, the big random words in the background...), it was too much, it's a song about acceptance, OK WE GET IT! Can't say I'm surprised about our result, there were much better options vocally and musically, and our staging ended up being counterproductive due to its blatant unsubtleness imo. I don't think we were robbed at all, if anything we beat much better songs imo. I don't know what we'll send next year, but I'd love us to stop sending messages of tolerance and whatnot, especially when it's done at the expense of musical merit. Let's focus on the music and live performance, shall we?
05. Italy: You know I loved me some Loredana Bertè in San Remo
but Mahmood was actually in my top 3, so I was glad to see him win during this horrid situation when Ultimo and Il Volo were potential winners... :? "Soldi" - as a beat-driven R&B track - was a stand out effort and a clear contrast with the classic San Remo style of the usual winning songs. The studio does lack a bit of power to me, but the live performance showed the full potential of the composition. Mahmood sang well as usual, I found it annoying that many people blamed him for not looking cheerful... I mean, unlike Leonora (who definitely should have smiled more), there was no reason for him to smile like an idiot given the lyrics. Anyway, visually Italians were criticized for allegedly ruining their chances of winning with the staging: well, personally I really liked it. Firstly, they did the tricky blue/red colour scheme right, secondly the camera angles were on point, thirdly, the visuals were pared-down yet effective enough as far as the storytelling is concerned, it gave me a "Godfather" vibe and I had to bow down when I saw the Grand Theft Auto font on the backdrop
(I don't know if Mahmood is a gamer
if so, please marry me!). Only the dancers weren't that necessary imo, but they did have some use (during the bridge) and didn't distract from the singer anyway, so no issue for me. Styling-wise, I say yes: I want Mahmood's outfit. Another year, another strong package from Italy, that second place didn't surprise me at all, the song was so strong people couldn't forget how much of a vibe it was. At this point, I'm super happy for Mahmood yet disappointed he didn't win: at least we would have had someone who sounded like a winner and "Soldi" could have been an iconic and refreshing winning entry. The winner we needed, not the one we deserved. Pity. Glad to see his grand final performance is getting more views than the arcade boy.
06. Spain: Spaniards tried something a bit different this year, and unfortunately I'll have to be biased here because it's not my thing. "La Venda" is a super upbeat party song that I'm sure is what Spaniards do listen to a lot. It's indeed rather catchy and energetic, but I can't help finding it cheap for some reason, it's a bit too "local funfair" for my liking. Vocally and theatrically, Miki was the perfect performer for that, the track didn't require demanding vocals but he was on point from start to finish and gave a lot energy on stage (Tamta, Michela and friends should take notes
). Visually, I really dig what they did on stage apart from the puppet (that was weird): it was super colourful, the camera angles were good, the dancers were on fire and the house prop was a striking choice. I did enjoy the performance a lot despite not liking the song, which means the Spaniards must have done something right
Result-wise, I don't understand why Miki was second-to-last with the juries
especially when S!sters and Michael were begging for no points... For once Spain did okay with televoters, they remain in the bottom 5, that was undeserved.
Overall, not a thrilling year for the pre-qualified nations. Here's my ranking:
1. Italy
2. France/Spain
3. Israel/Germany/United Kingdom xhand
