Czech Republic (We Are Domi – "Lights Off")
This is an incredible way to start the show and
We Are Domi, with
Dominika in particular, getting this performance off pat now.
She has no issues with the vocals at all, they all look great, Dominika is up there with Lauri from The Rasmus for performance energy and connection, plus it is obvious that the band has surpassed their wildest dreams as far as final placings are concerned.
8.00/10 tonight but that only left this entry
17th on my list, so good was the majority of acts in the Jury Final...
Romania (WRS – "Llámame")
My shock qualifier from SF2 is still a surprise mainly because of those nasally vocals that WRS has. The stage choreography however is exceptional and visually this is one of the best entries this year. The crowd loved singing along with the chorus but then again there are huge numbers of Spaniards there! There is a slight change in that the male dancers finish at the front of WRS, with the female ones by his side. Not that it really made much difference to me - 7.50/10 and 21st on my Jury list...
Portugal (MARO – "Saudade, Saudade")
Still a delight to hear these harmonies between all six singers plus experience the heartfelt solos by MARO herself. The compact nature of the B stage gives this such an intensity that I am sure will pass onto some of the jurors watching. I love watching them sing together and it brings a certain amount of pleasure whilst doing so -
8.50/10 should be getting points but there are so many great entries this year, so this is my
#14...
Finland (The Rasmus – "Jezebel")
It looks as though
Lauri has finally hit his vocal stride, as this Jury Final run was by far his strongest of any performance here in Turin.
We got the whole performance this time, with the small balloon sailing into the sky, the 'Jezebel' backing shout working perfectly and just so much energy coming from all members of the band. Being the one and only rock band in the Final gives them a niche and probably a lot of televotes too - for me tonight, it was another
8.50/10 and
#13 on my list...
Switzerland (Marius Bear – "Boys Do Cry")
Still endearing, still that lovely calm delivery in that beautiful crooner's voice and still the huge arm gestures! I got the feeling that
Marius knows that there won't be much for him in the Final, so he changed the vocal style up in the last 30 seconds of his entry, plus he did seem to have a small emotional crack in his voice at the end - still gave him
7.50/10 but that left him as
#22 on my list...
France (Alvan & Ahez – "Fulenn")
The first of the Big 5 on offer for us and
we still got the dynamic staging, the choppy camerawork, the intense looks and vocals plus that dancer who still barely features! Bags of energy with this entry and so original - I felt that the opening vocal for
Ahez was not as strong as I had heard it before but the rest of it was superb and the harmonies were great.
8.75/10 from me and my
#11, which would (spoiler alert) turn into
#10 and 1 point eventually if I had been doing this jury ranking for real as a UK juror...
Norway (Subwoolfer – "Give That Wolf A Banana")
Still visually stimulating, still a superb dance routine to watch and also a televote entry, not a jury one in my opinion. As I have said before, this takes us back to the days of 100% televoting where novelty entries reigned - that is what this is and I am certain that jurors will not appreciate the bizarre lyrics, the musical and vocal distortions, plus the fact that you don't know if they are singing live. I was generous and gave them
7.75/10 which placed Norway
#18 - their televote will be much stronger for sure...
Armenia (Rosa Linn – "Snap")
And so we got to one of my continuing favourites from the start of this process.
This is still a modern radio friendly song, it has that wonderful lilting quality about it and the staging is still the most creative that we have in Turin. All the hidden bit on the walls give a sense of excitement as they are found and the big reveal of the big hole to the audience is still that wow moment. If I was being picky, I would say that
Rosa's vocals weren't quite as loud as before but they were still clear and told that great story.
8.50/10 and just missing out on points as my
#12...
Italy (Mahmood & Blanco – "Brividi")
We have known that hosts
Italy have a reasonable first half draw, picked totally at random from all 25, and how that is now feeling like a producer-led selection of one of the favourites! You could tell it was the home town song, as every Italian in the venue seemed to be singing it and I suspect that all the crew were at least humming it,
it sounded so loud in the first part with Mahmood just singing. Everything about this emphasised why "
Brividi" won Sanremo -
the sublime vocals, the story telling and interaction between Mahmood and BLANCO, the youthful side of BLANCO singing on the piano, the believable chemistry between the two of them with this song about love across boundaries and the perfect balance of dark and light throughout. This is still the entry that caught my heart back in February and it is back to its best.
Real chills everywhere and I can see this being a Jury winner at least.
10.0/10 (the only one so far this year) and my
#1...
Spain (Chanel – "SloMo")
The middle of the running order has given us a true excitement peak - whereas
Italy gives us the love and emotion,
Spaingives us the action and excitement! According to friends there last night, there were huge numbers of Spanish fans in the venue and they blew the roof off during
Chanel's "SloMo" - I didn't need to be there as that was obvious on the livestream too!
After seeing a few runs now of the 'more traditional' version with the flamenco start, the fan, the high note and the added dance moves, this has not been sullied - this is now a visual and audible masterpiece! If the crowd boost this tonight as they did in the Jury show, this will not be forgotten and the televote will be huge.
Chanel looks amazing and exudes her flirty nature and sexuality throughout the piece - combine that with the slickest ever dance routine known to humanity and this is one of the highlights of Eurovision 2022.
9.50/10 on the night and
#4 from me...
Netherlands (S10 – "De Diepte")
And the peak of mid run Eurovision 2022 does not let up, at least not as far as jurors are concerned - I am sure that everyone in the venue needs a calm down after
Spain got their heart pounding! Having said that,
this is not calming in a lullaby way, this is stimulating a different set of emotions, those that make you want to listen to S10's story and believe it, to suddenly realise that this is someone who needs a listener, who needs to help with her situation.
The mood is perfect with mix of black and white on stage, with black clothing plus S10's blonde hair and bare stomach as a human contrast. Even the look of the uneven clothing adds to the fact that this is such a big deal for her, to be singing in this way on the biggest stage in the world.
Still perfect vocals, still the vocal connection and now the added look on her face that suggests she will start to break down at any moment - another perfect performance,
9.25/10 and my
#7...
Ukraine (Kalush Orchestra – "Stefania")
Now this being placed at 12 in the order suggests that the producers know something we don't - as late as a first half draw can be staged, as close to the big hitters in the second half as possible.
KALUSH ORCHESTRA are still the runaway favourites as we enter Final day and yet I saw yesterday that at least four other entries do have the edge now on them vocally and/or visually.
Don't get me wrong, this is still superb - the acapella at the start, the mix of traditional and modern, the earworm of a song, solid staging for a rap crew - but I fell that we could have a 2017 scenario again, where the favourite for months (
Italy) fell at the last, the Final coming perhaps a week too late. The situation is totally different in 2022 but I wonder
if the impact that this had before the addition of the Big 5 (in particular Italy, Spain and the UK) has faded. It has for me on a Jury ranking basis - still
9.00/10 but now my
#10...
Germany (Malik Harris – "Rockstars")
Ah, Malik - the everyman who is enjoying all of his time here and gives it his all every single show. This is not standing out at all and comes after the huge four performances before it, which makes it even less so but "Rockstars"does stick in your head and there is a real likeability about him and the whole staging. If authenticity and 'looking most like a gig' were the basis for points, Germany would be top 5 - you believe that this is one of his shows or even his studio. He will not shame his nation at all tonight but I did have him as my #20 with 7.50/10, so I don't think we will see a lot of him during voting time...
Lithuania (Monika Liu – "Sentimentai")
Azerbaijan (Nadir Rustamli – "Fade To Black")
Belgium (Jérémie Makiese – "Miss You")
Greece (Amanda Georgiadi Tenfjord – "Die Together")
Iceland (Systur – "Með Hækkandi Sól")
Moldova (Zdob şi Zdub & Advahov Brothers – "Trenulețul")
Now we have got to the sharp end, Moldova's entry is never going to be competing for jury points when we have so many more songs that will appeal to music professionals this year. ZDZ and their two friends have their time to come in the Public Final, where their insanely catchy polka and earworm stock phrases will bring them televotes by the trainload! Everything appeals to the public - the bright colours, the song, the pace of music mimicking a train, the guitar solo and the fun an enjoyment of it all. I am not saying it won't appeal to musos but if you are looking for precise vocals or originality and outstanding composition, you will find at least ten better examples elsewhere and that means no jury points. 7.25/10 and my #23 but their time to shine is to come...
Sweden (Cornelia Jakobs – "Hold Me Closer")
Australia (Sheldon Riley – "Not The Same")
United Kingdom (Sam Ryder – "SPACE MAN")
Poland (Ochman – "River")
Serbia (Konstrakta – "In Corpore Sano")
Estonia (Stefan – "Hope")
So there you go, all my thoughts on the Jury Final performances. Where did that place them all in my rankings?
As you will have seen, all my top ten got scores of9.00 or above, so we are talking about the tiniest of margins between each of them. If I had been an actual UK juror then obviously I could not vote for my #3, so move all of those ranked 4-10 up one and give France a point! Of those out of the top ten, I can safely predict that Norway and Moldova in particular will do far, far better with the public than I have them down with me (and I suspect the actual jurors), but I don't see them as Eurovision 2022 winners. There are two scenarios being proposed at the moment for who might win Eurovision this year...
