Yes, you read the title correctly - my 'Winners'. And I include Carlotta and Laurita of S!sters in that category purely because of all the artists in Tel Aviv, these ladies appeared not to really care about the result they ended up with (25th). What I always saw with them was the absolute joy with which they lived their partnership, from the moment they went into the lead during the voting of "Unser Lied für Israel", through the promo parties which they clearly loved performing at and to the Jury and Grand Finals, where they were joking with the crowd during their postcard whilst waiting to sing. Their careers, whether together or apart, will not suffer because of Eurovision as they had obviously decided to enjoy every moment of their 86 days as German representatives. Good luck to Carlotta Truman and Laurita Spinelli in their future endeavours - you truly 'dared to dream'!
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Having got Germany out of the way, I will now concentrate on my picks of those nations that I felt were 'winners' in Tel Aviv - whether that was due to exceeding expectations position-wise, slipping under the radar with a solid placing that nobody really noticed, entries that proved me wrong by getting to the Final or just 'flipping the bird' to many in the Eurovision fandom, some of whom had developed a very unpleasant attitude this year...
Hopefully there won't be any of my regular readers or listeners in that category! Only one of my picks falls into that category but most fans seemed to see the light by midnight on May 18th. You'll work out who that is at the end of the review - the entries selected are in my order of ascending preference, the first two being way down my list of 41 but in the end, even those entries that annoyed me to start with can have some redeeming features! First up is the 'Daddy of 2019 - he's not keen on Granddaddy...
San Marino
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The Granddaddy Daddy of Cool himself, Serhat might not have had the best vocals of anyone at Tel Aviv (anyone else not hear his SF2 performance?) and the lyrics of "Say Na Na Na" were incredibly basic (if I were being generous) but he sold the entry perfectly on stage. The visuals were fun, the musical hook was infectious and he is the consummate professional and very charming during interviews. Because of all that, and despite this still being my number 41 for 2019, I still was secretly delighted that San Marino had secured only their second Final qualification and getting 19th was a real bonus for what, as the man himself said in plenty of interviews, was his last Eurovision as a performer. And for that we should be truly grateful! Well done to San Marino - just for sheer perseverance, you deserved this 'win'...
Belarus
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When I saw ZENA on the Orange Carpet, it was obvious that all eyes would be on her there and on stage. As far as Belarus are concerned, getting to the Final is the goal, anything else a bonus - ZENA got them there with her well constructed stage show and solid live vocals, despite the generic nature of the song. She has professionalism beyond her 16 years and that was shown big time in her postcard, which was possible the slickest routine of all the 41 acts, given that she has probably had choreography much like that in her career to date. The pop video simulation on stage would appeal to a 'Radio 1' (15-24 year old) audience, a demographic group that is growing and tuning in to Eurovision in greater numbers. I fully expect to see her again at Eurovision when out of her teens (in about 3-4 years time) - solid result for one of Eurovision underachieving nations...
North Macedonia
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The lady above looking so chic and 1950s glam on the Orange Carpet was potentially the 'biggest winner' of everyone at Tel Aviv. When Eye Cue said to me in their Eurofest interview that Tamara Todevska was the best artist to send to Israel in order to secure a Final placing for North Macedonia, they weren't kidding! Not only did she take her nation to their first Saturday night in their new guise, we found out that she had come second in SF2 AND she won the Jury vote in the Final. I had this slight worry that Sergey Lazarev was going to scupper yet another female soloist with similar staging but the purity of Tamara's voice, her passionate delivery and her commanding onstage presence all charmed the juries on Wednesday and Friday night. I was absolutely delighted for her and for the North Macedonian delegation who have had so many downs in the past to cope with - it was an absolute pleasure to shake Russell Davies' hand at the SF2 Qualifiers Press Conference and see his emotion as he did so. Definite winners all...
Czech Republic
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Contemporary staging, contemporary song, deserving of a decent finish - Lake Malawi proved that Mikolas Josef was not a Czech 'flash in the pan' but potentially the progression of a new successful Eurovision path for that nation. Forget analysing "Friend Of A Friend", this was one of the catchiest tunes of the night and Lake Malawi's visibility as Festival Band and social media experts were heightened to the full with their 11th place in Tel Aviv. After two online NFs, 2020 will see a live one for the Czech Republic, if their Press people are to be believed - having three Final finishes in four years has propelled Czechia up the Eurovision charts, perhaps even enough to get the locals interested! Another winning entry...
Switzerland
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Not an image of an astronaut from some Martian movie, although in recent history that was more likely than a top five placing for Switzerland at Eurovision! Normally we are debating whether the Swiss will need accommodation at the host city much past midday after their SF performance, this year the need to book flights for Sunday was assured as soon as we knew that Luca Hänni was singing "She Got Me". This was only beaten as the biggest 'win' of the night by North Macedonia - a solid fourth place with such a superb routine that every non-fan I spoke to loved was a deserved finish for this nation - all they have to do now is repeat it next year and not end up next year reverting to type, much like their neighbours to the north! I read from someone who was in the Green Room on Final night that the Swiss delegation were as delighted as the Dutch, a sofa of red hugging each other and delighted with their success. Having met him on the Orange Carpet, Luca seems such a nice chap as well - here's to continued 'winning' for him and Switzerland...
The Netherlands
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Some would say the biggest winner of the night but ever since Duncan Laurence revealed his song and THAT video, Eurovision 2019 was really his to lose. There was never ever any question that his vocals would be anything other than perfect - it was the staging above that was the only question mark. I watched him practice during the Press rehearsals and even then there was a real edge to his delivery, a thoroughness to detail that was obvious (he did four runs and changed a staging aspect each time - the perfect combination was evident in the Final). "Arcade" was truly haunting and his command of every word made it clear that we WERE going to The Netherlands for the first time in 44 years - what an incredible achievement for an artist who was presenting his first released song. Not my biggest winner of the night on a personal level as Duncan didn't have many hurdles to clear but a worthy Eurovision champion...
Iceland
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Respect due to Hatari for putting themselves forward for Söngvakeppnin 2019, to RÚV for deciding the band should be one of the ten acts in the NF, to the Icelandic/International juries and public for voting for their music/look/staging and to Eurovision juries and the public for placing them 10th. It was potentially a huge gamble at every stage and yet it worked brilliantly well, perhaps not as much as some pundits hoped for but compared to Ari's "Our Choice" from Lisbon, 2019 was an incredible bonus for Iceland. It broke a four year Final DNQ and garnered huge PR across the globe (the odd bit of bad with their scarves) - will this be a blip or will Iceland go 'out there' every year? Söngvakeppnin 2020 will be a very interesting watch...
Italy
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So angry and intense on stage and yet so quiet and calm off it - Mahmood liked his expensive shirts for the Orange Carpet and the Eurovision stage and ended up third with both juries and public but second overall. He also deservedly was awarded the Composers Award at the Marcel Bezençon ceremony - "Soldi" proved to be a venue favourite wherever Mahmood was performing, the numerous claps were infectious and perfectly timed! Yet again, Italy are far and away the best performing nation of the Big 5, Sanremo proving that if you can attract your best artists to one event, you will get class and a brilliant result at the Contest. I'm still not convinced that RAI really want to win Eurovision but Mahmood clearly did - his win is the massive popularity that "Soldi" has in his home nation and amongst us fans, together with the powerful personal message that was broadcast to the world, probably the end goal for him when he wrote the song itself...
Norway
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Massive fan favourites can often bomb on the Eurovision stage and KEiiNO's "Spirit In The Sky" was already drawing comments from many deluded doubters that the entry wouldn't even make it out of SF2, you know, the SF that also had Sweden and Denmark in it? Needless to say, I had great delight is telling several fans "I TOLD YOU SO" when Norway not only qualified for the Final (being top of the televote there, we learnt later) but also came top of the televote in the Final, finishing 6th overall. Not bad for a song that supposedly sounded like "Monsters" (25th in 2018) - not that I think it does at all but that's a real improvement in a year, isn't it, if your internal music tuning really is that poor? In a way, KEiiNO's placing partly made me a 'winner' in predicting their success when I first heard their song in the run up to MGP, standing by my conviction that it would qualify and experiencing sheer delight at Pavilion 2, Expo Tel Aviv, when everyone in the venue were on their feet (at least those standing and in seating areas) and singing and clapping along to this song. Alexandra, Fred and Tom Hugo have all gone on record saying that they were emotionally humbled by the response they and the song got from the venue, that they knew that "Spirit In The Sky" wasn't a 'jury song' but that winning the public vote was as good for them as winning Eurovision. Definite winners in my book - perfect ambassadors for Norway, the Sami people and the Contest too...
Australia
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Did you expect me NOT to have this entry as a 'winner'? Let's deal with the possible negatives first though. Yes, perhaps Australia have provided us with two entries in their first two goes that finished higher (pardon the pun) than "Zero Gravity". Yes, perhaps finishing 9th in the Final was a slight disappointment for the Australian delegation, given that Kate Miller-Heidke actually won SF1. But that is only nit-picking - after finishing 20th in the Final last year, Australia did amazingly well with what can only be described as an incredible visual and audio feast! I have already discussed the fine details of the performance and the vocals by this incredible team, Kate and Strange Fruit, and explained my emotions when viewing this spectacle in the hall, an even more stupendous experience than seeing it on tv and that might be one of the best pieces of performance art that I will ever see at the Contest. Just for the overall concept of the show not only in Tel Aviv but also moving on for the one in the Gold Coast, for Kate's vocals whilst swaying in the air and for her and Keir's songwriting skills in coming up with such thought-provoking prowse, this was my ultimate 'winner' of 2019. That and the fact that I backed this all the way from first listen of the song, contrary to many critics (see Norway) - it was also nice to have my number 1 entry for the year make the Final, first time since Maaraya in 2015! In summary...
Have a gander at my ten 'winners' in action:
So those were my 'winners' - I have a few 'honourable mentions' for three other nations:
Albania - I am delighted that Jonida made the Final against all the odds and proved to her nation and Eurovision artists to come that singing in Albanian works for anyone, not just for Eugent Bushpepa!
Slovenia - despite nobody other than Slovenians knowing what the song was about on first listen, emotional intensity and tight camerawork pulled Zara and Gašper through to give their nation their third best SF placing and a solid Final result
Denmark - scraping through to the Final by a point was unknown on Saturday when Leonora gave her most charming and warmest connection with the public to push "Love Is Forever" into a decent 12th place.
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I have dispensed with being overly critical of any entry or act after the event - postmortems are for delegations and broadcasters who pay the bills and need to work out what to do to be more successful next year. You won't be getting any 'losers' here. Just to say that nobody was horrendous, nobody looked awful and we had a relatively tight competition at the top. I will explain more my feeling of it all in a future article but praise was due to certain nations and I hope that I have done those above justice. Tel Aviv was well worth the trip in my eyes...
"Our favourite didn't make it in the NF so we are going to hate who qualified, irrespective of how good it is"
Hopefully there won't be any of my regular readers or listeners in that category! Only one of my picks falls into that category but most fans seemed to see the light by midnight on May 18th. You'll work out who that is at the end of the review - the entries selected are in my order of ascending preference, the first two being way down my list of 41 but in the end, even those entries that annoyed me to start with can have some redeeming features! First up is the 'Daddy of 2019 - he's not keen on Granddaddy...
San Marino
Belarus
North Macedonia
Czech Republic
Switzerland
The Netherlands
Iceland
Italy
Norway
Australia
Kate Miller-Heidke
I salute you and will be following your career with interest from now on,
having marvelled at your back catalogue already.
Have a gander at my ten 'winners' in action:
So those were my 'winners' - I have a few 'honourable mentions' for three other nations:
Albania - I am delighted that Jonida made the Final against all the odds and proved to her nation and Eurovision artists to come that singing in Albanian works for anyone, not just for Eugent Bushpepa!
Slovenia - despite nobody other than Slovenians knowing what the song was about on first listen, emotional intensity and tight camerawork pulled Zara and Gašper through to give their nation their third best SF placing and a solid Final result
Denmark - scraping through to the Final by a point was unknown on Saturday when Leonora gave her most charming and warmest connection with the public to push "Love Is Forever" into a decent 12th place.
There are some 2019 performances and results
that I will remember forever!
that I will remember forever!