We now have heard all the MGP artists...
Skrellex and co will fight it out for the win in Norway!
MGP 2023 has now completed the set of 21 entries this year and all of them have been played on LET ME BE THE ONE! It is becoming a regular part of the show to play everything from Norway and the latest set of seven are as good as the previous 14. I have to say that Eline Thorp's "Not Meant To Be" is one of SF3's highlight's, along with the artist above. Skrellex has brought one of the uplifting joyous tracks to MGP this year and I have to again thank Highkey Music and Michael James Down in particular for supplying "Love Again" for me to be able to play it on this week's show. Have a listen:
And the playlist...
"Love Again" - Skrellex
"Break It" - Tiril
"Triumph" - Akuvi
"Masterpiece" - Atle Pettersen
"Not Meant To Be" - Eline Thorp
"FREYA" - Maria Celin
"Someday" - Stig van Eijk
"So Low" - Rūta MUR
"Šauksmas" - Gabrielius Vagelis
"NEED MORE FUN" - Justė Kraujelytė
"Odaát" - AWS
"Fallen Angel" (Karaoke Version) - TIX
"MARK CHAPMAN" - Måneskin
"No Business On The Dance Floor" - Keira
"Hoida mut" - Benjamin
"Girls Like You" - Robin Packalen
"Something To Lose" - Lxandra
"Cha Cha Cha" - Käärijä
"Ylivoimainen" - KUUMAA
"Samaa taivasta katsotaan" - Portion Boys
"Mata Hari" - Efendi
"Help Me Out" - Poli Genova
"Energy" - Nuša Derenda
"Let Me Be The One" - The Shadows
Given the delay in bringing this article to you all, MGP SF3 has been broadcast and we know the NINE entries in the Final on 4th February. Based on the live shows that are helpfully put together here in this playlist (in order of appearance across the three SFs):
I have come up with my personal top ten preferences for the Final of MGP 2023...
One nation that I have been watching more and more as the years has passed by is Lithuania. Pabandom iš naujo 2023 has now had its heats and Heat one was looked at on Tuesday, with the artist above getting perfection as far as marks were concerned. Rūta MUR has an incredibly distinctive look and also a very unique voice - "So Low" will be up there as one of the contenders for the Lithuanian spot in Liverpool, for sure. One of the talking points that I raised in the group was from the following entry - have a watch and see what is unusual about it:
105 seconds is when we first see Justė on stage, despite her singing just off stage beforehand. The visual focus until then had been on her three dancers and when I first watched the performance, the fact that she appeared like that for the last 75 seconds threw me out so much that I had to watch it again!
It is certainly novel and it was a great performance and vocal but it was all so very odd. I suppose you just get used to the artist being on stage from the first second!
She is through to the SF stage, coming 4th in the Heat. Heat 2 has happened but I have yet to play any music from it, so I'll chat about that next week. What I will move onto now is Finland - all the seven UMK entries were commercially available, so it seemed a good time to play them on the show. The other regular item that is now becoming a tradition as far as UMK is concerned is the Entry Review by the artists of their competitor's songs. Have a watch at total professionalism by all...
This is the fourth season that UMK have had this video and it is always a lesson in professionalism and mutual respect. Of course the artists all know it is going to be seen by loads of voters, so they won't go insulting other entries in a direct way, but all of the artists seem genuinely interested in the other songs and most have a good go at trying to identify who is singing. Admittedly this is the first one where one of the singers gets the sex of another one totally wrong but that was still good hearted when the production team told him who it was! Showing this here is adding to the Finnish experience you had on the show, with all seven entries played. It was all a bit earlier than it needed to be with UMK 2023 being on Saturday February 25th but if a nation is motivated enough to get their entries released then you'll hear them on LET ME BE THE ONE. My current preferences based on the studio versions?
And then an important milestone in a Slovenian singer's career...
That looks a really great concert to attend - if you in or around Slovenia, I'd go for it!
You want to hear the results of the draw?
You want to hear the Irish and the Czech entries?
Join me on Tuesday 31st January on LET ME BE THE ONE!