[LMBTO] "Let Me Be The One" Show 83 - Completing the Eurovision 2020 Line-Up (almost)...

Elisa covered in golden confetti

I suspect that Festival da Canção might be the only event where this lady and that celebratory shower will come together in 2020 but this favourite of the fandom may well do better that I think (37 out of 41, now that we have all 41 entries in the bag). What is certain is that she will always have this moment, the chance to be Portugal's winner and have that adulation. She was one of the thirteen artists whose songs you heard as WINNERS on show 83 of Let Me Be The One - only four to go next week, catch up with the episode if you missed it in Tuesday right here...

BEN & TAN took the Danish title is what seemed to be an odd one-off way but what with the current health crisis that is hitting all parts of the globe, performing in an empty arena could be the norm for all the Eurovision 2020 artists, whether that be in Rotterdam or in a tv studio closer to their home. VAL and Afrojack also add to the list of singers who will be performing during the shows - here is who was on the show...

"Feker Libi" - Eden Alene

"Répondez-moi" - Gjon's Tears

"Grow" - Jeangu Macrooy

"Alive" - Vincent Bueno

"Story Of My Life" - Lesley Roy

"Running" - Sandro

"Tears Getting Sober" - VICTORIA

"Looking Back" - Aksel Kankaanranta

"Move" - The Mamas

"YES" - BEN & TAN

"Medo de sentir" - Elisa

"YOU" - Vasil

"Obsessed" - Senhit

"Freaky!" - Senhit

"Da Vidna" (acoustic version) - VAL

"Ten Feet Tall" - Afrojack ft Wrabel

"Bim Bam Toi" - Carla

"Riverdance" - Bill Whelan

"Empire" - Blanche

"I Think Of Fire" - Michel van der Aa ft Kate Miller-Heidke

"Teardrops" - Brendan Murray

Eden was up first, a week after her song "Feker Libi" had been chosen for her on the show "Hashir Haba La’Eurovision 2020" ("Next Song For Israel"). In the SECHUK Jury that I participate in, my catchy phrase was "Better than Netta!" and I absolutely believe that - no gimmicks of a vocal looper here needed to win, just a great voice, such stage savvy and a really fluid performance with her dancers and backing singers. Totally get why this won the day ten days ago and it is always good to hear an entry in its native tongue, something that helped push this up to my 6th place at the moment. These live performances are really getting me interested and grab my attention more than some of the official videos I am seeing this year, especially this one from Switzerland:

Gjon’s Tears singing "Répondez-Moi" has great promise but didn't grab me whilst watching his admittedly classy and artistic video. That is what drew me to comment the way I did on the show because we hadn't seen a live video that proved he could hit those huge notes live. What did was this video yesterday (13th March):

OMG, WOW and any other three letter acronyms you might care to find! How on earth does he hit all those notes in what appears to be a dark pub type venue, exactly the same way as he obviously does in a high tech recording studio? A jump of 13 places in my 41 from 24 to 11 was the result after watching that live show by Gjon's Tears - but not from 28 to 7 as this guy did after his live showing:

De Wereld Draait Door was where the epiphany happened for The Netherlands and their chances for an unlikely successive win - just watch this performance and don't say that it is as good as the official video:

How amazing was that? Those first two minutes that sound absolutely wasted in the video are filled with this guy's passion, his emotion and his stage presence, even within the confines of a tv studio. In my opinion, Jeangu Macrooy and "Grow" are definitely up there with the best of them this year and performing this in a enclosed setting might be apt, given what might happen soon. Hopefully this singer will tour after Eurovision 2020 - if so, I'll be looking to get tickets! Next on the playlist is a song that really took me back to a mix of "Virtual Insanity" and "Seven Days In Sunny June" - give this guy a bigger hat and he'd be Jay Kay:

Vincent Bueno exploded back onto the Eurovision schedule with his video release of "Alive" and what a reveal that was! Possibly the purest pop release we have in Rotterdam this year, we go from a roar to soul to funk all in three minutes - some might say it is a bit all over the place but I'd say it is interesting and I have my fingers that the live version at least matches the studio one, for Austria's sake. As for Ireland's, I love the studio version and I can only hope that the curse of 'the live performance on The Late Late Show" does not stick with Lesley Roy:

"Story Of My Life" is definitely a 'banger' as accurately described by the Irish Head of Delegation and Lesley is definitely a singer with an incredible amount of chutzpah and energy, if her live performances are anything to go by. I would have to say that perhaps she might need to just play that side of things down a touch as her live vocals have suffered a touch but this is perhaps one of the ultimate earworm of this year's Contest. I have even played the Irish song on my latest Drivetime show on Bradley Stoke Radio, so in touch with songs produced by Katy Perry and Kelly Clarkson that this entry is. I can't remember the last time I had Ireland in my top ten but that is where they are after all 41 entries have been revealed - if that happens in Rotterdam, I am sure that nation would be ecstatic! Unfortunately I don't have such high hopes for this next entry...

Coming after "Fuego" and "Replay" is a tough burden to bear and I don't think that "Running" will be matching those heady heights anytime soon. Sandro seems a nice guy and has great live vocals but there is something about the song that just doesn't grip me and get me moving. I can see this being a DNQ, the first time that Cyprus will have been in that position since 2013 and this entry is way down my list in 39. Having said that, I had Eleni Foureira down in the 20s before Lisbon - I have the current bookies favourite down at my 25...

First prize for best photo still of the season to VICTORIA from Bulgaria, frozen in time from her one take video shoot for "Tears Getting Sober". I get the sensitivity and the thoughtfulness about the entry, and musically it is wonderfully crafted. Whether it is the Disneyness about it, I don't know, but this just didn't move me as I expected it too. This and "Alcohol You" have been given the Billie Eilish'tag' this year and for me ROXEN is the pick of these and the one that I could see really making waves by winning Eurovision. Don't get me wrong, Bulgaria's entry is not a bad one - I gave it SEVEN! as Len from Strictly would have said - and perhaps a live vocal might make me sit up and take notice, perhaps as Jeangu and Gjon's Tears did. It doesn't always do that - Finland's winner is a case in point...

Aksel Kankaanranta's "Looking Back" has the touch of Arcade Fire's "We Used To Wait", which is ironic given the subject matter of both songs. This Voice of Finland runner up has a superb voice and decent stage presence but I fear that this will get lost in the race to make the Final, purely as it is not the best ballad in the pack this year. Finland not qualifying again would not surprise me and perhaps we might get a better pack to choose from in 2021. What will be qualifying for certain are the winners of Melodifestivalen who have done it all before - just nine months ago:

It was perhaps a bit of a shock, given how much of a favourite to win Dotter was in the lead up to the Final but The Mamas took the day with "Move", their solos and harmonies being the best on the night and their stage routine catching the eye of both jurors and public. Nice touch to have John Lundvik award his backing singers from last year the prize for winning in Sweden - maybe we will have a Swedish act that get a decent televote at Eurovision? That might be needed as they weren't the overall favs for the international juries but hasn't everyone been arguing that Sweden go too jury friendly? I think that a top ten is pretty well nailed on but some stabilising of the vote might lend itself to no more than that. At least they got to win in front of a huge Melodifestivalen audience - the winners in Denmark played to a production crew, musicians, fellow artists and nobody else:

It is the hypnotically catchy "YES" by BEN & TAN that won the day in the Royal Arena in Copenhagen that looked superb inside but obviously had little atmosphere - a foretelling of things to come at Eurovision? Could be - the duo coped with it admirably and I think this could be a decent outside bet for the win in Rotterdam, especially if we have a close Contest across several acts like in 2011. A tv studio gig would suit this entry down to the ground, given their X Factor background and for me, I would be delighted, given my love of Denmark.

Elisa completed the 2020 NF season with her song "Medo de sentir" and this distinctly Portuguese feel to their entry will appeal to the traditionalists but will probably leave Portugal with their usual DNQ, given the strength of the other ballads in SF2. Just internal selections to go now (sort of, see San Marino below) - North Macedonia next:

You can just make out Vasil there on the floor of the 'pub' in the official video and this entry returns to the multi-genre song style that we had with Eye Cue in Lisbon, although not as jarring or eclectic. "YOU" is something to dance to and groove with and might stand out enough for a Final place, although Vasil now has a very hard act to follow after Tamara in Tel Aviv. The video is superbly thought out and I hope that the live version catches the eye just as well. What probably will catch the eye will be this lady who provided us with a last minute mini-NF for two songs:

Would it be "Obsessed"? Would it be "Freaky!"? It was the latter - just. It was impressive that about the same number of Eurovision fans voted in this online battle as residents live in San Marino - "Freaky!" won the day with its nod to electro-pop and disco. Hopefully Senhit will do better with her nod to the 1970s genre than Valentina and Jimmy did in 2017 but SF2 is already packed with bigger uptempo tracks so there will need to be lots of crossed fingers to get San Marino their third Final appearance. So that was all the current 2020 entries - a VAL acoustic, some Afrojack and the catchiest track from JESC 2019, "Bim Bam Toi", later, we moved onto perhaps one of the weirdest news stories related to Eurovision ever:

Yes, that's right - gigantic deer with huge antlers doing Irish Dancing to 'Riverdance'! A new film is coming, based on the incredible music we all first heard (if you were alive) in Dublin at Eurovision 1994. Probably worth a watch, at least online whenever that gets released. Baring playing a couple of new releases from Blanche and Michel van der Aa & Kate Miller Heidke that lasted almost 12 minutes (!), that was almost everything from show 83. As for show 84, we have three new entries plus a major revamp...actually, make that four with Albania...

The incredibly photogenic Arilena Ara is back and her entry "Shaj" that won FiK is now "Fall From The Sky" and will be on next week's show, along with the entries from Azerbaijan, Malta and Russia. All 41 songs will now have been played on Let Me Be The One in their original form - there are going to be some revamps and if they turn up on a download service before the official CD gets released, you'll hear them straight away. We started with Eden from Israel and already her revamp has been released so that will be played, along with the lady who delighted me and several others at the Hoxton Colours in November:

Katerine Duska

"Sanctuary"

Hear it on show 84 of Let Me Be The One!

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