Eurovision 2022 Finals Ranking

 We have our 25 finalists!

Needless to say the semi finals ended up being rather divisive and we ended up with some rather *ahem* skewed results... but maybe that's a topic for another day ! Although I made a top 40 ranking, now that we have seen all the songs on the actual stage and seen how they look and sing, my views and feelings have changed just a little.

A few songs have move down the list drastically The Finnish entry felt very laboured to me and nowhere near as exiting as the national final. I have had a bit of a rollercoaster with Azerbaijan as the song (second half mainly) has grown on me but I find the staging rather pedestrian and rather distanced from the song's lyrics - which probably means it's too deep for my tiny brain to fully compute. Sheldon's song gets too shouty for me at the end and I much prefer it when he's giving light and shade. Poland's staging and use of visuals is a bit too much 'kitchen sink/desperate to be noticed.

On the positive side Iceland's song has been my ear worm for the last few days. I feel comfortable and at ease watching them and I still love all the clever angles. Armenia's song is very cleverly staged. Rosa Linn has a decent voice and a personality that really does work down the camera. How she dealt with the almost staging malfunction has to be applauded. The song that absolutely blew the room during the semis was Moldova. Although many were sad of the lack of staging the Moldova tourist board graphics (THEY REALLY ARE!) make for a great backdrop mirroring the folklore/rock 'n' roll lyric. Their passion is infections and the brothers look cool in their matching suits!

As this is a list of my faves, one thing NOT taking into account in this list is the running order. If I did I would probably rank everything ever so slightly different. I think Czechia have a memorable spot opening the show but Portugal have been planted in a bit of a blind spot. The run of slower songs near the end (Sweden, Australia, UK, Poland) could say this has given them a boost; others may say being next to each other will ultimately benefit whoever does the better job OR even cancel the whole lot out. The lack of up-tempo songs, especially in the second half, may well benefit those songs with earworms that get in your head or memorable staging.

Soon we will know who is the best
In the Eurovision Song Contest !

ESC armchair at BBC Radio Bristol

 On 8th May, Ann once again visited the studios on Whiteladies Road to have a chin wag about Eurovision with Steve Yabsley. During the discussion we touched on subjects such as the history of the EBU, our changing television habits, the Catch-22 of some Russian participants and this year's contest as well as a in-depth discussion about my role in school over the pandemic.

Hope you enjoy ! 

https://archive.org/details/esc-armchair-with-steve-yabsley

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Eurovision 2022 ranking

With rehearsals underway I thought it was about time that I started ranking this year's 40 Eurovision entries... And as every good well-informed fan should, I used Mr Gerbear's wonderful sorting mechanism to help me do so! If you would like to to work out your own ranking you can do so here -   https://esc.gerbear.com/sorter2022.htm

As I have stated on our own Eurovision podcasts, as well as other media I have shared my views on, I have found judging and comparing this year's contest really tricky. With an almost equal amount of female solo, male solo and groups; twinned with possibly the widest range of styles and genres we've had in a while, this makes choosing which is 'best' almost impossible.

To put a last caveat to this post I think that the standard of this year's entries is really good and have a great batch of performers too.. Therefore, I feel a bit sorry for those songs in the bottom half of my rankings because I quite like almost all of this year's songs. It's pretty much down to some countries just not being quite my style although I very much appreciate their talent and story.

 

I am pretty content with my top 4 and my bottom 4 but basically the rest is a big fat mush which changes day on day depending on my mood or what I am up to. Do I think this will mirror any semi/finals predictions - HELL NO  aaaaaaaand don't confuse it as such either ! This is just what I like!