Eurovision: First Impressions #4

Hey lovelies! I know that I said I would have this post up on Sunday, however I seriously underestimated how busy I would be yesterday... but YAYYY!! Today is Monday which means that there's only a day left until the first semi final of the Eurovision Song Contest! I am super duper excited to finally get the chance to see so many of the amazing artists that I've been following for months now performing live, with their new and improved Eurovision-finale-worthy staging and choreography! Even though I will be boarding a plane to Lisbon tomorrow, it still doesn't feel like it's really happening! And as ecstatic as I am now, I don't think I will have reached my full capacity on the excitement scale until I arrive in Lisboa and that Eurovision sign is there to greet me in the airport (there better be a sign, Portugal! There was one in Stockholm when I visited in 2016 so I'm counting on it!). Obviously the ESC is something that I love and thoroughly enjoy investing several months of my life into, but at this stage in the competition it gets kinda stressful too! This is because you know that some of the artists you love won't make it into the final... there are going to be tears guys; I'm an emotional wreck so I'm sure of it, haha!

If this is the first of my Eurovision impressions posts that you are reading or if you're not really all too familiar with this wonderful annual contest, let me explain a little of how it works :) This year there are forty-three countries participating, six of them automatically get a place in the final (because they are the host country or part of the group of countries that helps fund most of the Eurovision), which leaves thirty-seven countries to compete! There are only twenty places available (meaning there's twenty-six artists in the final) for the last show which will take place on Saturday 12th May, and the artists are separated into Semi final 1 or Semi final 2, with ten qualifying from each show. I hope I explained that well! So yeah, those semi finals are going to be both incredible and a nightmare to get though, and I'm crossing as many fingers as I can that my favourites all qualify! 

This post is the fourth and final one in a mini series I've written to share my opinions of each of the songs entered into the 2018 line-up. I've discussed my thoughts and feelings, and likes and dislikes, of ten songs in each post, in the order in which the songs were released/confirmed. I will leave some links to my three previous posts at the end of this for those of you who would like to read more on the subject. Today's post is going to include thirteen songs  though, since that's how many I have left to chat about. I hope that you all enjoy reading, and if you are a fan of the Eurovision, I hope that you all enjoy the show on Saturday night!! Let me know who you're favourite performer of the night was over on twitter too! 

31. Belgium- 'A Matter of Time' by Sennek

It's a shame that I have to start off today's review with a song that I'm not really keen on. It's not a bad song at all, it's just that it isn't to my personal tastes. I feel like this could be a popular song for the viewers at home though as it sounds very similar to the types of songs that do well in the UK charts; it has some definitely Paloma Faith vibes. But I don't listen to much of that style of music so I could be way off, haha :D The singer, Sennek (Laura Groeseneken) has a cool voice! However I feel like the song drags on a bit and this makes me a little bored. Because of this, A Matter of Time is placed towards the bottom half of my Top 43. 

32. Croatia- 'Crazy' by Franka

Oops, this is unfortunately going to be another review much like the one above! In fact, this is my least favourite entry in the whole of the 2018 line-up (sorry Croatia!). Franka Batelic is stunning and has a great voice, but the song just doesn't do her justice at all! The line 'I will remember, roses and horses in the rain' just makes me giggle because it's incredibly cliché, even for a love song! I'm really not a fan of the chorus either with the whole 'l-l-l-love', and to be the honest the entire song just doesn't have anything unique, exciting or catchy about it. What do you think of this song guys? 

33. Australia- 'We Got Love' by Jessica Mauboy

This song on the other hand is a fabulous entry! It's all about self love and not letting people make you feel like you have to change who you are, to never give up! A message to just spread love and get along with one another ♥ This song is also powerful, especially with it representing Australia at Eurovision as in December 2017, the country finally passed the law to legalise gay marriage!! It feels like Jessica Mauboy is singing in celebration of this and that is fantastic, and makes the song even more special. I love singing along to We Got Love, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside :D haha!

34. Austria- 'Nobody But You' by Cesar Sampson

This is a really good song, the lyrics are sweet and I like listening it before I go to bed, because it's chilled. Cesar has a lovely voice, and sounds even better performing live from the snippets I've seen (as hard as it is, I am avoiding watching the official rehearsal videos on YouTube because I want a surprise!). I think this song was a grower for my friends, but I loved it from the start. It makes me a little sad whenever I've listened to it over the last few days because the realisation hit that it's in Semi Final 1, with so many amazing songs and even though it's great, there's definitely ten better songs! T_T Why can't everyone make it to the finals!? 

35. Ireland- 'Together' by Ryan O'Shaughnessy 

This song is beautiful, and the first time I watched the video, I struggled to hold back tears (I'm way too emotional!). The lyrics just bring back old memories and feelings for me, but that's not necessarily a bad thing; it can be very cathartic to feel so moved by a song like that. Everyone loves having a good cry along to stuff, right? Ryan O'Shaughnessy voice is so nice! Some of you might remember him from when he was on Britain's Got Talent and The Voice Ireland. The video to this song is great, mostly because it features two male dancers, and it's very refreshing to see same-sex relationships represented in more mainstream media. It is a cute video for sure! If this song doesn't make it through Semi Final 1, I'm gonna be gutted!

36. Sweden- 'Dance You Off' by Benjamin Ingrosso

My best friends & I were so invested in the Swedish National Finals this year, watching all of the shows and even having a little get together for when the winner was announced. Honestly, Sweden's Eurovision selection shows, named the Melodifestivalen or Melfest for short, just revile those of any other country! They are amazing and extravagant and the hosts, David Lindgren and Fab Freddie, were incredible! Melfest is just like one big party (across six shows: four contests, a second chance round for some of the performers, and a finale) and even though I can't understand a word of what's being said, well other than Second Chance and Yes, haha!, it's still so fun to watch. I was super happy to see the artists Samir & Viktor come back again with another awesome song, called Shuffla, so I was kinda disappointed when they didn't win, however Benjamin Ingrosso was in my top 3 so that's not bad at all. There were so so many incredible songs in the Melfest this year, including In My Cabana by Margaret and A Bitter Lullaby by Martin Almgren. The winning song is one of those that's impossible not to want to dance along to, and the staging was something different and very visually appealing, but I'll say not more about that because spoilers! 

37. Norway- 'That's How You Write A Song' by Alexander Rybak 

As a Eurofan, it was impossible not to get excited about Norway's song as soon as we heard that it would be performed by Alexander Rybak. He was the winner of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest, with an brilliant song called Fairytale. Back then, we all fell a little in love with his cheeky personality, his cute Peter Pan-esque look, and his fabulous violin playing! I was super intrigued to find out what his new song would be like, and how he would sound/look 9 years later! The first glimpse of his 2018 entry that I got was when the official music video was released, and my first impressions changed as soon as I saw a live performance a few weeks after that. That's How You Write A Song is certainly catchy, but after watching the official video, I also thought it was a little too cheesy (it reminds me somewhat of the song Chico Time, who else remembers that?) and when compared his 2009 winning song, it was just too different and I wasn't sure what I really thought of it. But eventually my faith was restored when I saw the stage performance of it, Alexander Rybak has a really great stage presence and his characteristics shrine though in the way he performs! Obviously, his violin playing is a huge bonus too! It's not my favourite song in the contest, but it's still a good one. Also Rybak doesn't look like he's aged at all :D 

38. Israel- 'TOY' by Netta 

Up until this point, there was none of those classic Eurovision songs, the kind that are extravagantly random and unusual, the type of songs that you can't help but love because they are so wacky and weird! They are one of the reasons that I got so into Eurovision, because you just don't hear them in many other places, and certainly not in a competition with such popularity and prestige (This is why Eurovision is truly amazing)! So, I felt until this song was released that we were missing something this year... but then we were all hit with this fabulous, quirky song!! It's brilliant and I loved it right away... Netta is absolutely amazing, she's energetic and fun and has one of those attitudes that I admire so much, she just doesn't care what people think and is loud and proud. Her social media is so entertaining and she's always bursting into random song, and getting others to sing along with her. It's also awesome to have a beautiful plus-size woman in the competition to represent! The song is not only filled with unique dance moves and lots of chicken sounds XD (yes, chicken sounds!), but it also has an awesome message! I have spontaneously sang 'I'M NOT YOUR TOY... YOU STUPID BOY' quite a lot lately! Me & my sister cannot resist getting up and imitating those dance moves everything we listen to the song too!  Omg and Netta also mentions Pikachu in her song so yeah she's my favourite person now :) Toy is the best song performing in Semi Final 1 for me, and I would really love to hear what everyone else thinks of this song, so please have a listen and let me know in the comments. 

39. Russia- 'I Won't Break' by Julia Samoylova

Julia Samoylova was an entrant of the Eurovision Song Contest for Russia last year, but she was banned from entering Ukraine (where the 2017 show was hosted) because of some confusing political rule that she broke by or when entering Crimea several years earlier. Crimea is a conflict zone but I don't know much more than that on the subject. I can't say that I was too disappointed about her not being allowed to enter the competition because I really didn't enjoy her song, but it's still a shame that in a competition that is supposed to be about unity and have no political involvement. I'm not sure what I think about her being banned from performing, I don't know enough about the situation or what she even apparently did to deserve being banned though so? Anyhow, with the show being hosted in Portugal this year, Julia Samoylova is back with another song and upon first hearing it, I was impressed by how much better it was from last years song Flame Is Burning. 2018's song has a touching theme and speaks to me on a personal level because of my own struggles with living with mental illness. It is good to sing along to as well. But then, I heard a very short clip of a live performance of the song and really didn't like it! She's had time though since then to perfect her vocals and staging, so it will be interesting to hear it live in Semi Final 2 on Thursday. 

40. FYR Macedonia- 'Lost And Found' by Eye Cue

Macedonia's entry was certainly a grower for me. When I initially heard it, it wasn't that I thought it was a bad song or anything, it's just that it didn't stand out to me and there were lots of other songs that I preferred. I felt, and still do despite me now liking the song a lot more, that Lost And Found sounded a little weird. By weird, I mean that it sounds like two different songs mashed together... basically the chorus and verses could almost be different songs with the way they sound! Originally, I wasn't too sure if they fit well together and couldn't stop thinking about it everytime I listened to the song, which was sort of distracting me from enjoying it. Nevertheless, I started to appreciate the song the more I listened to it, playing it loud in my friend's car and having a sing-along definitely helped! It has a great beat and instrumentals, and I can imagine it being played in nightclubs so I feel like younger viewers will enjoy it. I prefer the verses to the chorus but it's still overall a nice song. I'm looking forward to hearing it live, but it's in Semi Final 1 so I'm not sure how much of a chance Macedonia has of qualifying for the final this year.  

41. Lithuania- 'When We're Old' by Ieva Zasimauskaite 

I really like Lithuania's song! It was a nice change to have a song of this genre/sound after so many upbeat and energetic songs, and those with amazing high notes and full of strong emotion. This song is definitely not lacking in emotion though, it just illustrates it in a different way and is beautifully put together. The lyrics are meaningful and all about love, but not in a stereotypical way. The video is adorable too :) Ieva Zasimauskaite has a very unique voice, that is lovely to listen to and sets her apart from the other performers. Even though it's a calm and slow song, it is still lovely enough that it won't get lost amongst the crowd, and I've been told that it sounds fantastic live in the rehearsals so I feel like it has a very good chance of qualifying, despite it being in Semi Final 1.

42. Bulgaria- 'Bones' by EQUINOX

Bones is certainly different, and I've never heard a song quite like it in the ESC before. I recently discovered the music of a US a cappella group called Pentatonix and I'm lovin' this sort of music right now, which meant when I heard Bulgaria's entry for this year, I was very impressed! Although it's not an a cappella song, it reminds me of one because there's not too much instrumental input and the song relies mostly on the different vocal tones of the five singers, with a simplistic beat in the background. I just love it :) I really like how well the different singer's voices compliment each other, and I think it will be incredible to hear live... I can't wait! I love all of the space imagery, and the meaning behind the lyrics is nice too. I don't have much to say about this song other than I think it's epic and I am sure that it will quality!!

43. Georgia- 'For You' by Ethno-Jazz Band Iriao

The final song that was released, on Tuesday 13th March ,was from Georgia. I was super happy to discover that it was preformed in the Georgian language, bringing the number of songs sang in their native language to nine, which is fabulous. I want to see more in the future! For You is a nice song to listen to, very peaceful. I love the traditional feel of it with the ethnic sounds and instrumentals, it reminds me very much of something you might hear in a religious setting. I like how the song starts off calm with just one member of the band singing in the lead, and starts to change sound as the other members join in, adding their own unique tone to the harmony. My favourite part of the song though is two minutes in when it really picks up and the vocals get stronger, the song feels more powerful then and memorable. The seven guys that make up Ethno-Jazz Band Iriao have beautiful voices! The song will be performed in Semi Final 2, where most of my favourites from the 2018 line-up are also performing and even though Georgia's entry is lovely, I don't think it stands much of a chance when up against some of the other songs in this show. With it's unique twist on traditional music, I feel like it might not appeal to as many audiences.

So we have reached the end of my Eurovision Song Contest song reviews for 2018. There are a few songs this year that I am really not a fan of, but the majority of the songs that have been entered this time round have been great and so it has been super hard to choose which I prefer. Trying to sort my Top 10 was definitely a challenge!! These last few months have passed by so quickly, and tomorrow evening the ESC process officially begins with Semi Final 1. I still cannot believe that I will be there to witness it all. Wow! Eeeek it feels a little surreal that on Saturday we will find out who will win the entire contest; hopefully it's one of my favourites ;) I hope these posts have been a fun read for everyone, including those of my follows who don't watch the Eurovision. If I've helped you discover even one song that you enjoy, then I'm delighted :)

Thankyou for reading!

♥

What is your favourite song that I've mentioned in this post? 

Have a listen & let me know :) 

If you watched the Eurovision finale last year, did you have a favourite song? 

As promised, here are the links to my other Eurovision 2018 song reviews: 

| First Impressions 1 | First Impressions 2 | First Impressions 3 | 

Eurovision: First Impressions #3

Hi everyone! Wow, so it's already been three weeks since I shared the long-awaited Part 2 of my Eurovision Song Contest 2018 first impressions posts!! I have been super busy when it comes to preparations for travelling to Lisbon for the ESC finals, and I have been so engrossed in the excitement, that these posts just got sort of pushed to the back of my mind, oops! However, with the grand finale taking place in only a week tomorrow (OH MY GOSH!!), I thought I'd better get my head in the game and finally post my last two editions: Part 3 today & Part 4 will be up on Sunday :) I hope that you've all enjoyed this mini series of music review posts, and that I've helped to bring the Eurovision Song Contest to your attention if you'd never really heard much about it before reading my posts! It is such a wonderfully fabulous show, not only for the music but also for the artists, the community and all of the people it brings together, and friendships it helps to form, not just amongst the singers but also the fans! It really doesn't get as much hype as it deserves here in the UK, and I am determined to do my little bit to fix that, by constantly talking about it and sharing my Eurofan life with you all, haha!

I've explained all about how the contest works in my previous First Impressions posts so definitely go and check them out, but to quickly sum things up... There are 43 participating countries who have entered songs into the ESC this year. Six of them automatically go through into the finals, Portugal (because it's hosting the 2018 contest), and the UK, France, Germany, Spain & Italy (because these countries contribute the most financially to the Eurovision). The other countries will have a chance to qualify for the final in one of two semi-final shows, but only ten from each show will make it through! There will be a total of 26 acts competing to be the winner on Saturday 12th May in Lisbon, and I am so nervous and excited! So anyhow, here are my initial thoughts and feelings towards the next ten songs that were confirmed to be representing their countries at Eurovision. Enjoy! 

21. Romania- 'Goodbye' by The Humans

This song surprised me! Don't get me wrong, it started off as a lovely song and the vocals of the leader singer Cristina Caramarcu are great, however because of all of the fabulous competition up until this point, I was a little unimpressed with the first 1 minute 20 seconds of this song. But then the guitars and drums kicked in and I was like yasssss! From then on, I really enjoyed Goodbye. I am such a fan of the instrumentals involving cellos! The rock vibes of the song make it right up my street too :) As much as I like the song though, I also feel that it doesn't stand out against the other songs in Eurovision line-up and I'm thinking that Romania are not going to qualify this year, which is a shame! Have a listen and let me know what you think of this song guys. 

22. The Netherlands- 'Outlaw In 'Em' by Waylon

Here again with another country song for us is The Netherlands! When I first heard Outlaw In 'Em, I was lovin' it; mostly because we'd not seen anything like it so far this year. It is still the only song of this genre in the competition, but my opinions of it have changed a lot since my first time hearing it. As much as it appeals to my geeky side, with all of it's Wild West and bandits references, making me think of shows like Netflix's Godless, it is somewhat repetitive and just doesn't have that something that makes you feel uplifted, emotional or in the mood to party/dance, which is what for me what makes a good Eurovision song! Something that I do like about the song is Waylon's singing voice, it's memorable and something different. I still enjoy listening to it though, as I am a fan of country music with a bit of rock mixed in, and I am interested to see how it will do in the semi finals :)

23. Cyprus- 'Fuego' by Eleni Foureira 

I fell in love with this amazing song as soon as I heard it! My friend Aaron sent me a link to the music video along with a very excited message, and I could immediately see why just a few seconds into the song, haha. We were yet to have a sassy, sexy entry for 2018, and so this one rocketed into my Top 10 right away! My first reaction to the video was WOW THAT'S HOT! Eleni Foureira looks stunning, and I'm lovin' her various gorgeous outfits and all of the dancing in the official video. The song also made me laugh (in a positive way of course!), like when Eleni is laying on the floor with random fruit scattered around her. Only she could look so flawless doing that! I also love the line 'You got me pelican fly-fly-flying!' XD This song has remained a firm favourite of mine ever since! It's just one of those songs that makes you feel like you can conquer anything after listening to it. Does anyone else feel that?

24. Finland- 'Monsters' by Saara Aalto 

Finland had already confirmed that they were sending Saara Aalto to represent them at Eurovision this year. Some of you guys might recognise her name if you enjoy watching X Factor, I don't personally watch it but I do remember being shown Saara's audition by a family member and hearing that she almost won the show! The way that the Finnish national final works is super interesting, Saara performed three songs and then the country voted on which they preferred. Luckily for us, these songs were released online prior to the performance (well two were released and we had to wait ages for the third!) and so we could have a good listen before any final decisions were made. The three songs were 'Queens', 'Monsters' & 'Domino', and due to the latter two being released first, there quickly developed a Team Monsters or Team Domino amongst Eurofans. I was in Team Monsters, so I was over the moon when I found out that it had won! Although the song itself was my preferred of the two (Domino was a very close second, because it's a fantastic song), I feel like the video definitely made me like it even more. I just love all of the colours and gothic-esque extravagance! I NEED to see those dancers on the stage at Lisbon! I really do hope that the staging reflects the vibes in the video! When I saw the videos from the Finnish NF's, I wasn't too keen on Saara's outfit but there's been plenty of time for her to change it to match more with the official music video (fingers crossed, haha!). Not only is the song great for a party, but the lyrics are relatable for me as they make me think about how far I've come from how I used to be with the way I feel about myself. I am very much looking forward to seeing this live next week!

25. Estonia- 'La Forza' by Elina Nechayeva

WOW so this song is just incredible! It might not be my favourite in the line-up, but it's still up there in my Top 10 because it's beautiful! La Forza is the first song of it's kind to enter the competition and it was certainly a big wonderful surprise to me when I first listened to it! I'm so happy to see an opera song in the Eurovision, and I cannot wait to see it in the finals (I mean, how could it not qualify!?), for it to bring the genre to the attention of millions of people watching the show at home. Everything about the performance is breathtaking: the vocals, the staging, THAT DRESS!! Seriously what an epic dress, I've never seen anything quite like it! I love how the lighting projected onto the dress reacts and changes in accordance to the music itself. I am really happy that the song is performed in Estonian too... we are seeing so many songs performed in their native language this year and it's fantastic! 

26. Poland- 'Light Me Up' by Gromee ft. Lukas Meijer 

I watched the Polish national finals, the Krajowe Eliminacje 2018, straight after Melfest on Saturday 3rd March and was absolutely thrilled when Gromee & Lukas Meijer won! It was by far the best song to have entered for Poland this year, although I did also enjoy another song in the NF's called Don't Let Go by Happy Prince. Light Me Up is a super catchy song, and I really like the beat and energy of it! I could see a song like this in the Top 40 charts, and I'm sure the audience watching at home are going to love it. The vocalist, Lukas Meijer, has an awesome voice and such great charisma, especially seen in the way he interacts with the audience during the live performance of this song. Another fabulous song that of course makes it into my Top 10!

27. San Marino- 'Who We Are' by Jessika ft. Jenifer Brening 

I don't really like this song much at all, oops. Jessika Muscat has a nice voice but I don't feel like this song gave me the opportunity to appreciate it, because I didn't enjoy the way the song was performed, if that even makes sense. Music reviews are not my forte, haha. I just don't feel like the song flows well, and even though the lyrics share an important message of self love and being true to yourself, I just can't get into the song. There's also what I feel is a very random addition of a rap artist into Who We Are, that feels so out of place in my opinion, plus I think the singer than tries to be cool and dance/sing along with the rap, which just comes across like a parent trying to act cool at their kid's birthday party XD I just don't start to enjoy the song until towards the end, so for me it's one of my least favourites of 2018. There was a song in the 1 in 360 show (San Marino's National Final) which I absolutely adored and I cannot understand why this wasn't the winner! It's called Out of the Twilight by Sara de Blue. If this would have gotten through, I know that it would now be in my Top 10 *cry cry*.

28. Iceland- 'Our Choice' by Ari Olafsson

Ari Olafsson, Iceland's artist competing in the ESC 2018 is so cute and funny on social media, and I've loved watching him form friendships with the other contestants. His reaction when it was announced that he'd won the Icelandic national final was adorable :) He has a lovely voice, and the song is relaxing with a sweet and important message. It's one that you cannot help but sway along to, but for me when compared with everyone else in the line-up this year, the song is forgettable, in that it gets lost amongst the stronger songs in the competition. Aww, I hate saying that because of how nice Ari is! I think his voice is a great one for musicals and I do still like the song, however I would like to see Ari come back to Eurovision again in the future with another song that helps him to stand out and shows off his talents more :)

29. Azerbaijan- 'X My Heart' by Aisel

Okay, I just love this song! I don't fully know why, but as soon as I listened to it, I was like omg I wanna sing along! The lyrics are simple and so easy to remember, making it a catchy song. I've found myself singing 'Luna moon me up, to the to-o-op!' quite a lot since first hearing it. Most of the lyrics, like the line I just mentioned, are a little random, but I don't care, I'm lovin' all of the spontaneous space imagery! :D The song just has those feel good vibes for me, and I can't help but enjoy it. I really want it to qualify, but it's in semi final 1 (and performing first, eeek!) and as my fellow Eurofans will already know, this stage of the competition is going to be hell! So many amazing songs but only ten places... I'm scared T_T

30. Portugal- 'O Jardim' by Claudia Pascoal 

This is a pretty song, but it's really not for me. It just isn't my cup of tea. You can tell you really don't like a song when you sit down to try and write about it and you realise that your favourite thing about it is that the singer has lovely pink hair, haha! :D The song does get a little better for me when the other singer (and also the writer of the song), Isaura Santos, joins in and it's a shame we only get to hear her subtly and for a very short amount of time. I feel like this song is following in the footsteps as far as sound goes of last year's winner of the Eurovision Song Contest, Salvador Sobral. I did not like his song either... so yeah, that's all I can think of to say about this song. 

And there we have it, my thoughts on the next ten songs competing for a place in the Eurovision Song Contest. I'd love to hear what you guys think of my music reviews, and also which of these songs is your favourite and why? I cannot believe that it's all taking place next week. This last month has gone by so quickly and I'm flying to Lisbon with my two favourite people on Tuesday... yayyy! 

Thankyou for reading!

♥

Are you a fan of the Eurovision Song Contest? 

Also, what's your favourite song preformed in a foreign language, Eurovision song or not?

Here are the links to my previous Eurovision First Impressions posts:

| Part 1 & Part 2 |

Eurovision: First Impressions #2

Hello lovelies! It has been soooo long since I said that I was going to share a series of posts all about what I think of each of the songs that have been chosen to represent their countries at the Eurovision Song Contest this year, which will be take place in the capital city of Portugal on Saturday 12th May. If you're a regular follower of my blog, you'll probably know something about the things that I've been dealing with so far this year, the reasons why there's been so few posts on here lately. I wish that I'd been able to blog more, but my mind has just been all over the place, and for that I'm sorry guys! However, here is the long awaited Part 2 of my Eurovision impressions posts. If you didn't know it already from my twitter, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the ESC, and I have not shut up about it for the last couple of months! We only have a month to go now, and I am super excited. You can check out my first Eurovision 2018 post here if you missed it :) Even if you're not a fan of the Eurovision or have never watched it before, why not have a read and introduce some new fabulous and interesting music into your life? You never know, this time next year you might find yourselves invested in the hype and a fellow Eurofan! We may not have cookies, but we have quirky music and lots of drama so that's almost as good, right? XD 

Since writing my previous post back at the end of February, all of the forty-three participating countries have now revealed who they will be sending to the semi-finals in May. Only twenty countries, ten from each semi-final, will make it to the grand finale, to perform alongside the 'big five' countries: France, Spain, Germany, United Kingdom & Italy, as well as Portugal's act since they are hosting the show :) Even though by now I have obviously listened to all of the songs, I will still be sticking to just ten songs per post, in the order that they were announced. So without further ado, here's what I thought of the next ten ESC 2018 songs... 

11. Belarus- 'Forever' by Alekseev 

Me & my friends watched the Belarusian final and I'm not gonna lie, we really weren't fans of Alekseev's performance. It was so whiny in parts and seemed kind of out of tune. It was just one of those songs that you want to be over as soon as you start listening to it, oops! The song itself isn't bad but I really didn't enjoy the way it was sang. Since first listening to it though, I cannot deny that it's grown on me, thanks to the studio version of the song. Unfortunately though, it is still ranked towards the bottom of my top 43 because I cannot forget my first impression, and I am apprehensive about hearing it live again. Hopefully Alekseev has upped his game by then! Even though I definitely didn't like the revamped version, it's just so slow and makes the song feel like it drags on for longer, haha.  Fellow Eurovision fans, what do you think of the revamp? 

12. Montenegro- 'Inje' by Vanja Radovanovic 

Overall, this isn't a bad song; It just doesn't have that something special that would make me want to listen to it again and again. That being said, the chorus is nice and feels very heart-felt. Which makes sense now that I know the song is all about a lost love. The song somewhat reminds me of Disney song. The video that was released later for Inje has definite fantasy/period drama vibes, with it being set in a gorgeous castle and having lots of Princess running through the forest imagery. This for me made the song much more enjoyable than the live version I heard first. Personally, without the help of the video, I just find the song a little boring, and due to the fact that there are so many amazing songs in the contest this year, it unfortunately means that this song is ranked in the bottom ten of my list. 

13. Serbia- 'Nova Deca' by Sanja Ilic & Balkanika

I fell in love with this song literally as soon as I heard it! It is just such a unique ethnic ballad! I've never heard anything quite like it before :) It's so catchy to sing along too as well (apologies to my family hahaha)! I adore all of the traditional Balkan sounds/instrumentals, and to make it even more epic, it's performed in Serbian! I love that so many of the songs in the line-up this year are sung in different languages ♥ The vocals of the three singers are fabulous, especially when they are singing together. They complement each other so well! I'd like to add that the male singer of the band, Mladen Lukic, is gorgeous so that just makes me love the song more hahaha :p I have listened to this song at least three times a day since I first heard it, and I am soooo excited to see it performed live! 

14. Germany- 'You Let Me Walk Alone' by Michael Schulte 

My friends & I wanted to watch as many of the National Final shows as possible this year, and I love Germany so it was one of the shows at the top of my list to watch! It can get very hectic to keep up with all of the shows, especially with many of them airing on the same night! My fellow Eurofans will remember the hell that was Saturday 24th February XD My favourite songs going into the German final show, 'Unser Lied Fur Lissabon', were I mog die so by VoXXclub & Jonah by Xavier Darcy. I really really wanted to see VoXXclub sent to support Germany at the ESC! The song was so catchy and upbeat. The band of five guys are really energetic, so the song just makes you want to dance along! I was also so happy that it was performed in German, vs English like all the other competing songs. I am learning German right now and I just love the sound of the language! However, none of my favourites won the show so that was pretty disappointing! But I have to thank the show for bringing VoXXclub to my attention because I listen to their music quite frequently now :) 

You Let Me Walk Alone is actually a really good song and I ranked it third after Jonah before watching the live National Final. It is a song that I could very much see in the Top 40 charts. It has serious Ed Sheeran and The Script vibes! It's a lovely song to listen to as you're going to sleep in my opinion, it's relaxing. It's full of emotion, and that makes it an endearing hit. For me though, it is one of those songs that doesn't scream Eurovision. One of the reasons I love the ESC so much is that it brings songs/artists into my life that I wouldn't find otherwise. I like foreign songs, folk and ethnic sounds, something unique and fun and often too 'out there' for non-Eurovision fans. This song is not very different and although I can't deny that it's a great song, I just think that it gets lost amongst the other songs in the competition this year for me. With Germany being a member of the 'Big 5' this song is automatically sent to Eurovision, and I feel like it's got a very good chance of scoring high points with the viewers at home because of it's familiar sound. 

15. Moldova- 'My Lucky Day' by DoReDos

This is another song that has been such a grower for me! It wasn't even until very recently, and I mean within the last couple of weeks, that my opinion of it changed. Me and my friend listened to it on a drive through the countryside and sang along, and in that moment surrounded by picturesque fields with the sun shining bright, I decided that I in fact didn't find the song too bad at all! It was very fun and uplifting, I mean it just makes me want to celebrate! That being said, I can't forget my first impression of the song. After listening to the live performance of it, I was honestly like 'what the heck did I just watch?' XD The staging was very interesting... there were lots of moving mirrors and then a random outburst of traditional dancing :D It was one of the worst that I'd heard at this point VS other songs so I was bound to have a lower opinion of it. Now though with all 43 songs confirmed, it's no longer in the bottom ten of my ranking, and I find myself listening to it more and more.  With better staging, the song could certainly go up in my books. In the official video, we see the artists in an array of colourful outfits and I'm hoping they bring this flamboyant energy to Lisbon! I'm actually looking forward to dancing and singing along to it at Semi Final 2. 

16. Slovenia- 'Hvala, ne' by Lea Sirk 

My immediate impression of this song was 'Ooo this is sounding like it could be really good'. I thought that the singer looked pretty quirky and her voice was nice, so I was looking forward to finding out how the song would play out. At around a minute in, the song was sounding like something I would enjoy. Then suddenly, the chorus just ruined it all! haha :D I'm not sure what to really say about it! It has a very bad sound that makes me wish the song would stop... followed by some crappy attempt at rapping. There's also a lovely screeching sound when the singer tries to sing a high note towards the end of the song, eeek. The dancing looks pretty rubbish too, as well as the strange outfit Lea Sirk is wearing. It reminds me of wearing a bin bag as a cape for Halloween when I was a kid, oops! All of these things can be improved though before May, but I'm not sure what can be done to save the actual song in my opinion. It's right at the end of my top 43, just above my least favourite song, and I don't see it moving unfortunately. 

17. Ukraine- 'Under The Ladder' by Melovin 

This song is in my top three, I just LOVE LOVE LOVE it! The voice of Melovin (Kostyantyn Bocharov) is just something I wasn't expecting from such a young person; he's only 21. It has a definite 80's feel to me and I am a big fan of 80's music! Alongside that, it is an alternative song. The singer is certainly alternative- he wears a white contact lens in one eye which is very cool too :) I also really love the staging of this song... especially two minutes in when we see Melovin climb a random set of stairs leading up to a piano. In the official music video, we get a very awesome camera pan looking down these stairs, and the effects are just epic! It looks like a spiral vortex into hell or something XD Right up my street as far as aesthetics go! 

The song goes calm for a moment when Melovin starts to play the piano and following that the loveliest high note! He plays that piano with such passion, and it's awesome to see his head bobbing along to the beat. Then suddenly we get FIRE STAIRS!! And I am now livin' for this performance! I am praying that he's allowed to recreate this on the stage at Lisbon. It is by far my favourite staging in the ESC 2018 line up! Under The Ladder was immediately one of my favourite songs and it has stayed in the top three of my ranking ever since :) I never thought after 2016's  winning song, 1944 by Jamala (of which I really wasn't a fan) that Ukraine would be so high on my list ever! Just shows how fantastic Melovin is! Even though most of us fans still don't know what he's singing for the majority of the song, you can't deny that it's brilliant and if you don't agree, you're wrong :P 

18. Hungary- 'Visziat Nyar' by AWS

This year is a first for Eurovision fans! We've seen several awesome rock hits representing their countries in the competition over the years, straight away the winner of 2006 comes to mind, with the legend that is Lordi taking the title home for Finland with Hard Rock Hallelujah! (This is song is actually the reason I first fell in love with the Eurovision Song Contest when I was in my early teens!). However, 2018 brings with it the first ever metal/screamo song! It is something I never thought would be sent to represent a country for Eurovision and I'm all about it!! As you guys know by now, rock/metal is my preferred genre of music so I was delighted to see such a song selected by Hungary.

Even before this song was announced, I'd been listening to quite a bit of Hungarian rock music thanks to Spotify :) I just want to say that Hungary should be very proud of it's alternative artists! Fingers crossed this song will make it into the final. It's memorable, full of energy and boosts some fabulous growling ,that reminds me of my teenage years when your ability to growl was something to be shown off amongst my friendship group XD ahh, those good old emo days, haha! I am also super happy to see another song preformed in it's native language this year! It seems that Salvador Sobral winning with his Portuguese song, Amar pelos dois, last year does have some positives after all! 

19. Latvia- 'Funny Girl' by Laura Rizzotto

After being gifted with the likes of AWS, Melovin, SuRie, Rasmussen and all of the other wonderful, super talented artists in the competition so far, Latvia's entry just seemed so boring to me, and I have maybe listened to it again twice after the initial time hearing it. It's not a song that's catchy or one I want to sing along to or is it eye-catching in any way for me. Laura Rizzotto does look stunning in her red dress though! Funny Girl is not memorable and without sounding too harsh, I just don't care about it. The singer has a lovely voice so I feel like she deserves a much better song to showcase her musical abilities! The lyrics do represent something that can suck to experience... when you're only seen as the 'funny one' by people you have a romantic interest in, or when your friends all seem to be getting the attention of people when you're just only ever viewed as the friend VS the girlfriend/boyfriend. It is something that people can relate to, but despite the familiarity of the lyrics, the song itself just doesn't do it for me. Not gonna lie, I just forced myself to re-listen to it for this review, and its' actually gone down in my top 43 ranking :D yeah, not a fan! (Sorry if you are! Don't hate me >.<). 

20. Armenia- 'Qami' by Sevak Khanagyan 

When listening the 2018 Eurovision songs on YouTube beforehand, my friends & I discovered that there were so many amazing artists competing to represent Armenia and just got so invested in Depi Evratesil (the Armenian semi-finals and national final show). We watched every one of them and were rooting for all of our favourite songs: Puerto Rico by Kamil Show, You & I by Asmik Shiroyan, Poison (Ari Ari) by Tamar Kaprelian and of course, the fabulous Qami.  I have to admit that my favourite song in the selection was the one by Asmik. It was one of those songs that fills you with that immediate 'feel good' feeling. It was a great song to sing along with and I really wanted it to win when I was basing my opinions solely off the studio versions of the songs. But when it came to the live shows, Sevak's song just shined through as the best vocally and performance-wise. The power and passion in his voice was amazing to hear! It is a fantastic ballad and again, I loved that it was sung in countries native tongue. Armenian sure does sound beautiful :) 

Qami is a song that really builds. It starts off calm and slow, and then Sevak just belts his best voice out with such strength two minutes into the song... and you're just like wow! HELLO THERE YOU! ;) My first impression was that I would be very happy if it won, but because of the pop vibes and energy of the other songs in the line up, I thought that it would be overshadowed for the voters at home. But Thank goodness! The Armenian people really came through! I was sure that Qami was my winner as soon as I listened to it live! As much as I loved Asmik's song, she didn't perform as well as I had hoped she would. And Tamar's song that I was sure would win because it was a popular hit with fans... pretty much flopped live! For some reason, she sang it with not much power at all and really slow compared to the studio version. Why girl why? But yeah, Sevak's song is amazing! Even better than his studio version. I was lovin' the song so much right away, and so was over the moon when he won! 

So, that's what I originally thought of the next ten confirmed songs competing for a place in the Eurovision Song Contest finale this May. Again, I'm not sure how well I write these music reviews but nonetheless, I hope they make for an intriguing read! I promise I won't leave it this long to share my next ESC impressions post! It will be up some time next week, so if you're interested please check back then :) We are getting closer and closer to the final and I am too excited!

Thankyou for reading! 

♥

Do you watch the Eurovision Song Contest?

What's your favourite song out of the ones I've mentioned in today's post? 

Want to learn more about the ESC? Then have a read of these posts :)

| Eurovision 2017 | My Trip To Sweden 2016 | 

Eurovision: First Impressions #1

Hey everyone! If you follow me over on Twitter, you have probably noticed that I am tweeting a lot about the Eurovision Song Contest lately, using so many different hashtags that it's difficult for even me to keep up with them all! If you hadn't already guessed by now, I am a pretty big fan of the ESC. I just absolutely adore the variety of music that is involved every year, and it's just such a fun and exciting experience! Ever since graduating from university and having more time to focus on my hobbies, I have spent April-May each year celebrating Eurovision. I even went to watch it live in Stockholm, Sweden back in 2016! You can read all about that here if you're interested :)

I usually wait until the week of the show to listen to all of the contending songs in the two semi-finals, but this year, I finally decided to join in with my fellow Eurofans from the very start and I am so glad that I did! I have been watching as many of each participating countries semi-finals and national finals shows as I can, as well as following the release of their songs. It has been super fun (albeit a challenge with so many shows on at conflicting times!) to follow it like this, because I feel much more involved and so much great music is being brought to my attention. Usually I just hear the song that each country has nominated to represent them in the contest, and not all of the other artists who entered for a chance to represent their countries too and so it's been wonderful to hear those hidden gems that I would most likely have missed. It's also been fabulous to join in with the live-tweeting and other Eurovision tweeter conversations with all the other fans! 

So far, fourteen countries have chosen who will represent them in the Eurovision Song Contest and considering how ESC has literally taken over my life right now (my best friends & I have managed to get tickets for semi-final two, and two days ago booked our flights to Lisbon!), I thought I would share my love for this magnificent show with you all! If you personally prefer to wait until the main show is broadcast on TV to hear the songs, then don't read on because there will most certainly be spoilers! I'm planning to share a new post for each ten songs confirmed, and tell you all what I think of them :) So, here's the first ten! Enjoy! 

1. Albania- 'Mall' by Eugent Bushpepa 

What a fabulous song to kick start the Eurovision year! One of my best friends who is literally a Eurovision super fan brought this song to my attention when it was still one of several contenders to preform in the Albanian national final, and right away I knew it was going to be one of my favourites in the competition this year. So I was over the moon when Mr Bushpepa won the final! It is a lovely alternative ballad, and I really like that it is sung in Albanian (which Eugent has confirmed is going to be the case for Eurovision too!).  The staging is very simple, however for a song with such power like this, I don't think it needs much more. It will still be interesting to see how it is going to be staged for the main event, even though I like it how it was in Albania's national final, with musical notes starting off in monochrome and as the song intensifies bursting out in a vibrant red. Hearing Mall for the first time got me very much excited for the Eurovision season to begin! 

2) France- 'Mercy' by Madame Monsieur

My friends & I watched the French finals and were pretty invested in our favourites, one of which was Mercy. I'm not gonna lie, I was disappointed that my number one favourite song, Eva by Lisandro Cuxi didn't win! However, Mercy is still a nice song, with a super catchy chorus. For me personally though, I don't think it stands out and will likely be lost amongst some of the more powerful songs as the competition goes on. I also feel like the staging needs improvement. I'm not a fan of the plain black full-body suits with the trainers; it almost looks like the performers Emilie Satt & Jean-Karl Lucas are going to burgle a house after the show and need those trainers to make a quick getaway! Still all in all, it's not a bad song and I'm looking forward to seeing how they might improve the staging and their stage presence for the Eurovision Song Contest. Being one of the countries which are known amongst Eurofans as the 'Big Five', they have automatically got a place in the main show too. 

3) Czech Republic- 'Lie To Me' by Mikolas Josef 

I LOVE this song! It is currently at second place in my favourites so far this year, because it is just so upbeat and catchy. It makes me want to dance everytime I listen to it (and dance I do haha!) It has a very modern vibe to it and sounds like a song you would hear in any countries Top 40 music charts. It very much reminds me of Macklemore. Who agrees? The studio version of the song was maybe the fifth Eurovision song I listened to, and it has remain a firm favourite ever since! There's a saxophone in the song, which makes it go up in my books straight away. To be honest though, the random camel in the music video was fabulous and made me love the song even more, haha! I'm curious about if and how it's going to be changed to make the lyrics a little more family-friendly before the show, but I love it how it is now and can't wait to see it. Fingers crossed I can get some tickets for Semi Final 1. The staging that I've seen for the song is very colourful and funky too. Eurovision 2018 is lovin' it's shapes that's for sure! 

4) Spain- 'Tu Cancion' by Amaia & Alfred

Don't get me wrong, Spain's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest this year is lovely, very cute, however it doesn't do much for me and is not very memorable. Alfred has an unique voice that reminds me somewhat of Salvador who won the contest for Portugal last year. I think it's certainly an adorable song, it's very sweet when they are singing into one another's faces, and the piano intro is nice but yeah I don't think it's got much of a chance of winning in May, but we'll see! Eurovision likes to surprise me XD

5) Malta- 'Taboo' by Christabelle 

Okay so I don't really like this song much at all! I was very much rooting for Brooke to win with Heart of Gold, or for Song for Dad by Richard & Joe, and I was super gutted that neither of them won. Brooke's performance was fantastic, and she was so close! Instead, Christabelle won *cry cry*. I sat through Malta's entire national final, in which I got to see more advertisements for random foods and kitchen appliances than I did songs, and endured a ridiculous amount of song recaps, to be rewarded with a song I didn't like winning! It was tragic :D The song isn't too bad, but I think that's mostly because of the beat. It is a song that I could happily dance along to. However the lyrics are pretty crappy in my opinion, they don't make sense in some parts of the song. The staging was kinda cool, but very unrelated to the song itself. I wouldn't choose to listen to it again. Sorry to anyone who's a fan of Taboo! 

6) Switzerland- 'Stones' by Zibbz

Zibbz was my favourite song from the Swiss line up from the start, so I was super happy that that this brother & sister duo did so well in the national finals. It is another entry this year with a very modern sound, so I think that viewers at home are going to enjoy it. Corinne has a great singing voice, and fashion sense too... I liked her outfit in that final's performance a lot. I'm lovin' the blue and red triangles on stage, and I really hope that they bring them to Eurovision! It is also nice to have a song in the mix that isn't all about love or war/peace. 

7) United Kingdom- 'Storms' by SuRie

I am very happy with my country again this year, for choosing the best of the entries that participated in the Eurovision: You Decide show this year. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole show, mostly because of the legend that is Mans Zelmerlow hosting alongside the hilarious Mel Giedroyc. They were fantastic, and I especially loved Mans cough*Brexit*cough line XD There were some great songs in the line up, but for me SuRie really stood out as the best from the start, and I was so happy that my fellow Brits voted for her!  I was a fan of SuRie as soon as I heard her say on one of the BBC's introductory videos that 'Eurovision is rainbows, dancing and unicorns' XD I really like the message of the song, it's lovely. The staging was pretty, and eye-catching with the colour changing background throughout the performance. I think that we might do very well this year with SuRie even though it needs a bit of a revamp (I just felt like there was a little something missing), and I am excited to see how she gets on in the final! 

8) Denmark- 'Higher Ground' by Rasmussen

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this song! It is by far my absolute favourite song to be confirmed so far and I don't think any other is going to top it for me if I'm honest. It just has everything that I could ask for! I am a history geek through and through, and this song just screams Vikings from the get-go. Jonas Rasmussen reminds me of Tormund Giantsbane from HBO's Game of Thrones right away, and all my readers know I adore GoT (he is not as gorgeous as Mr Hivju himself though!). The song is very much my cup of tea and makes me think of some of the songs by the metal band DragonForce with all of the history/battle imagery. Higher Ground is more of a ballad, but it definitely does have alternative vibes. I am in love with the staging, with all of the dark colours, the watery background on the screens, the smoky effects and those epic Viking-esque ship sails! I really like the Nordic sounds created by the backing singers too. I just love this song, and I am sooo happy that I have tickets for Semi-final 2 in May so I can see it performed live in Lisbon!

9) Italy- 'Non Mi Avete Fatto Niente' by Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro

I am seriously not a fan of this song, especially after Italy sent the fabulous Francesco Gabbani with Occidentali's Karma to Eurovision in 2017. Gosh, I adore that song and according to my Spotify, it was one of my most listened to songs of the year, haha!  In comparison to Francesco's song which was cheerful and one that I couldn't help but sing along to, Non Mi Avete Fatto Niente is boring to me. I don't like the way it is sang. One guy is no more singing than he is talking very fast into the microphone, and the other is shouting the chorus. The message of the song is an important one associated with war, so at least that's a positive to the song. It is likely going to be in the bottom of ranking for Eurovision this time around. 

10) Greece- 'Oneiro Mou' by Yianna Terzi 

The tenth song confirmed and the final one I'm going to talk about on today's post is a great note to end on, because this song is actually stunning! It is a unique and beautiful love-themed song. I was so happy when I discovered that it is sang in Greek, and it has lovely traditional sounds and instrumentals. I hope that it is going to be kept in Greek for Eurovision, and I am hoping that I get a chance to hear it in person. I don't know what else to say other than it is awesome :) 

Well, I hope that you have all enjoyed reading all about my  first impressions of the first 10 confirmed entries from the Eurovision Song Contest 2018. I have never really reviewed music like this before, so I hope that it was fun to read and that I didn't ramble, haha! Tonight is basically Euro Hell  for my fellow fans & I because there are five nationals on all around the same time!! Plus two semi-finals as well, one of them is Sweden's Melodifestivalen show, which is a must for me! It's going to be so hard to keep up with everything happening tonight, especially because I only have one laptop to work with! Eeeek :D Anyhow, have a lovely weekend everyone! 

Thankyou for reading! 

♥

Are you a fan of the Eurovision Song Contest?

What was your favourite song in 2017's ESC?

If you're following the national finals this year, who's your favourite thus far?

If you enjoyed this post, then why not check out these too? 

| Eurovision Song Contest 2017 | My Trip To Sweden Part 1 |