[LMBTO] Eurovision Catch-up! The National Finals (Part 5)...

Never mind Margaret and Edyta, there's always next year!  A lot of fans felt that this summed up Poland's selection process but I still think that Michał Szpak might prove a lot of the Eurovision doubters wrong this year - we shall see whether his powerful love ballad hits the spot in Stockholm and if the Polish diaspora help him into the Final.  As for the last lot of National Final qualifiers, I have decided to cover all the rest in this one article, including the winner of the 'big one' and the winner of the most drawn-out qualification processes there is.  I'm also be looking at two nations who chose their original entries a long time ago but now are sending something so different that I need to cover them again!  Stick with me...


ROMANIA



Now this is a tragedy - I know that this wasn't everyone's (okay, most fans) cup of tea but I was looking forward to seeing Ovidiu perform this overblown masterpiece in Stockholm.  I had already labelled this as 'Game Of Thrones - The Musical', a pastiche of every overblown rock video you have ever seen.  The man with the sword, the backing singers all serious and solemn behind this amazing vocalist who gave it everything in the Romanian NF:
Showmanship in spades, Ovidiu squeezed out every possible facial emotion possible.  Maybe better as an interval act than an actual Eurovision entry, this would have given superb entertainment on SF night - maybe it still could?  I hope that SVT do the right thing and allow this guy to perform somewhere during the proceedings in Sweden.  7.0


LITHUANIA


Well it can't be said that Donny didn't have enough practice during the Lithuanian selection process!  From the first show, it was fairly obvious that this was going to win and that I didn't mind.  Donny gives this everything - it's memorable, a standout high-tempo pop song that is performed superbly well and that makes full use of his onstage charisma:
He is another artist that will make full use of The Globen stage and I suspect this will be a crowd favourite.  Assuming it gets to the Final, I fully expect this to be opening the show - how could Christer resist with a song title like that?  Maybe that will also be an omen for Lithuania getting their first win - in a potentially close year such as this, a full on pop fest like this might sneak into the top spot... 8.0


SWEDEN


Has Sweden double-bluffed everyone this year?  Will this anti-love song performed by a smiling teen, singing in a surly, annoyed, even petulant way, take the Eurovision crown on home turf?
It's definitely not Europop or AOR and appeals more to the current chart listener than to the average Eurofanatic - 'If I Were Sorry' is also very 'Marmite'.  As far as that spread is concerned, I love it and I really like this too!  It is very, very lyrically clever, reminding me of the early material by Mike Skinner and The Streets in style and content.  This entry gives us something different to what is in the Contest this year and if the voting public were similar in make-up to Radio 1 listeners, this would win by a mile.  The problem is whether listeners will 'get it' - the dry humour really only comes through after a few plays.  This is possibly the most radio friendly contemporary song in Stockholm this year and it is the most popular Eurovision entry on many iTunes/Spotify charts - if enough countries have this song on their radio's playlists, this could bring Sweden its first ever back to back wins.  8.0


ITALY



Every year there is one song in the Eurovision line-up that everyone loves, thinks is amazing, wills to win and more-or-less wets themselves over...all except me!  Yes, Francesca sings this well.  Yes, she shows a huge amount of emotion when singing this.  And yes, Francesca is very cute:
None of those factors have helped me to warm to this song at all, even when I saw it sung live at the London Eurovision Party.  It doesn't grip me and I lose interest before we get anywhere near the end of the song - I wouldn't be surprised if this ends up being a poor mid-table finisher but I suspect I am more likely to see it finish top ten, if the rest of Eurovision fandom get their way!  5.0


ALBANIA



Here we go, Albania taking a very interesting and enchanting song in Albanian that won FiK and removing all of the best points whilst converting to English.  Hersi did it a couple of years ago and Eneda has done it here - the powerful passionate roller-coaster of a song with lots of interesting nuances to listen to have all gone, leaving a repetitive low-key ballad which no longer holds my attention when listening to it.  The only saving grace is Eneda herself - she 'gives good face' live and is a superb vocalist:
Her performance skills alone may be the only reason that this entry makes it out of its SF.  5.5


MALTA


From a country who revamped their song and stripped away anything good about it, to a nation that realised that the song they chose during their NF might not have the legs to make it into the Eurovision Final and completely changed it for the better!  To be honest, Ira Losco could have sung the word 'Hello' over and over for three minutes during the Maltese selection show and she would have still won, the song really being irrelevant.  As I said during my review of their NF, I much prefered her other SF song to Chameleon so I was not that unhappy to see her decide to pick another entry.  And what an inspired decision that was!  Ira has always had a superb voice and range, given the right song, which WOW is (unlike Chameleon) and this is now combined with a very contemporary sound that is very radio-friendly.  She sings this superbly live and connects with the audience in a way that only a true long-standing professional singer can:
This is now a definite qualifier and if the wind blows in the right directed, a possible outsider for big things in Stockholm...  8.5