IRELAND 2024

 The Irish act and song was revealed on January 26th during a special Eurosong edition of "The Late Late Show". The scoring of a national jury, an international jury and nationwide televote (all with equal weighting) were converted into points and added together to produce a winner. The Irish song for Malmö is "Doomsday Blue" sung by Bambie Thug.

Cuntry Ray Robinson, AKA Bambie Thug, was born in County Cork in 1994. They initially showed promise as a ballet dancer and moved to London for a scholarship. However they sustained an injury causing them to change the focus for their studies to Musical Theatre. They have been releasing music since 2021 under the moniker of Bambie Thug with many of their first releases on the themes feminism, queerness and witchcraft. They created the term "ouija-pop" to describe their music; encompassing goth sensibilities, electro instrumentation and lyrical hexes. Bambie also mentioned in a previous interview that they were friends with last year's successful Serbian act, Luke Black.

Bambie is on stage with two dancers dressed in black catsuits with symbols written down the sides. These dancers also have protruding ears and elongated fingers like the Frank character in Donnie Darko. Bambie is wearing a gothic strapless dress with netting and frills, a white painted face and two different coloured eyes. The look is strange but not unfamiliar. The background screen fluctuates between gothic lettering, scribbled sigils, moody forests and fairytale castles. The song is composed of three main parts, each with its own feel and make up. The verses are chanted/rapped over a macro beat backing track. The bridge is more electro and juddering in the instrumentation whereas Bambie's vocal is repetitive, demanding and high pitched which increases the urgency. Finally the chorus is very melodic, shows off Bambie's rather distinctive singing tone as well as adding a touch of flair with the Spanish guitar earworm. The song ends with some cathartic shouting and metal-esque low growls.

This set up for the Irish NF has never been the best - although this edition had had a slight glow up - but the stage show of the winning act could easily be moved straight to Malmö. I would hope, however, that the choreography is made even bigger with double the amount of dancers on stage. I was quite impressed how Bambie took control of the performance with the lighting and camera angles. Personally this was not my pre-contest favourite however the live performance - as low tech as it is compared to other NFs - absolutely usurped the recorded version. I was impressed that the vocal was so doable live and the visual was well considered. This is not everybody's cup of tea - but it will bring people to the contest, and hopefully vote in the contest, who normally would not. This package will get people talking and watching and this will never be a bad thing. I don't actually think it matters if this qualifies or not. The fact is the Irish choices over the past few years, nay decades, have been safe and almost rooted in past glories. This is in-your-face, confident and shows a side of modern Irish culture and society Europe has never seen before.

ARTIST - Bambie Thug
SONG - Doomsday Blues
WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Olivia Cassy Brooking, Sam Matlock, Cuntry Ray Robinson,  Tylr Rydr

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SLOVENIA 2024

The Slovenian song was premiered on January 20th during a special show called "Misija Malmö" then the official video being available online. A month previously, RTVSLO revealed that they had chosen their singer and song internally. The Slovenian song for Malmö is "Veronika" sung by Raiven.

Raiven (aka Sara Briški Cirman) has an extremely well rounded arts background. She has studied (to degree level) classical, opera and jazz music as well as being an award winning harpist. She has performed in many festivals, orchestral collaborations as well as performing operas by Humperdink, Rossini, Handel, Bizet and Bernstein just to name a few. Raiven's debut album "Magenta" came out in 2017 followed by the EP "REM" which were both released to critical acclaim. In 2020  she performed with her own composition "Ti" with the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra at the Ljubljana Slovene National Theatre Opera and Ballet. In 2022 she premiered an electro-opera-pop project "Doloroso" However, she is probably most known for her many entries to the Slovenian "EMA" -  the former mechanism to chose the Slovenian Eurovision song and act. She placed second in 2016, third in 2017 and second once more in 2019.

The song - written in the Slovenian language - has a moody, dark electro quality and is very dramatic. In interviews prior to the song's release, Raiven talked the inspiration of the song -  the legend of Veronika Deseniška. She was the wife of Frederick II who was was accused of witchcraft. After a trial she was found not guilty, but was drowned anyway. The song has a primal quality, a good chanting outro and an instrumental balance between electro and folk. The first part of the song is slightly understated and starts quite low in the register. Verse two completely changes tune and starts to become vocally stronger for Raiven. The ending is a little unexpected and doesn't quite reach the frenzied or vexed ending one might expect. This being the official video, the song feels very produced, and very intertwined in the mix, and certain parts could sound much more chilling and urgent when sung live.

The music video is very cinematic; full of camera changes, sweeping shots and use of light and dark. The visual embraces the four elements - earth, fire, water and air - and uses these in different ways but nearly always feeling like trapping forces. She also has the support of some dancers who keep very close to her. I feel that the music video, as evocative as it is, almost overshadows the song. At times, I feel like the song stayed in my brain more when I turned away and didn't watch the video. The inspiration of the song is so strong and I want to be able to feel that emotion and sense of urgency through the camera. Right now this feels like a very slick and well made video but more needs to be made on stage. The live performance needs to really sell the character of Veronika as a mythical/historical figure or as a metaphor for feminine strength and power. I hope that Raiven has an effective and eye-catching staging idea - I feel like the stage being almost in the round could be used to her strength.

ARTIST - Raiven

SONG - Veronika

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Sara Briški Cirman, Bojan Cvjetićanin, Klavdija Kopina

ALBANIA 2024

The Albanian act and song was announced on December 22nd 2023 at the conclusion of the 62th  "Festivali i Këngës". Although the winner of the festival was decided by the in-house jury, a separate phone vote was responsible for the act and song sent to Eurovision. Going to Malmö is Besa Kokëdhima with the song "Zemrën n'dorë" (Heart in hand)

Although born in the Albanian city of Fier, Besa spent some of her teen years in the United Kingdom. She released her first song in 2003 - a collaboration with the band Produkt 28 - and her debut self-titled album was released in 2006. As well as participating in many of the song festivals in Albania and the Balkans, Besa became a mentor on The Voice of Albania in 2016. In 2022, Besa released a song in French "En Equilibre" with a French language album potentially in the pipeline. This is not her first foray at Eurovision as Besa appeared in the 2009 edition of Selecţia Naţională in Romania reaching the semi-finals.

This composition is wholly in Albanian, had live accompaniment from the orchestra and extra vocal support from the off stage backing singers. The visual background had a fairy tale/space theme that doesn't 100% concur with the lyrics but does fit a loose lost and found narrative therein. Besa is alone on stage and is engaging to watch. This is a mid-tempo catchy pop song with some r&b qualities. Besa’s voice sounds very strong and clear throughout. The structure of the song is a little predictable at first but the staccato rhythms of the second verse keeps you on your toes. There is however a lot of dead air/long bridges which could be cut down or utilised more effectively. In particular the chorus has a great tune and is really very memorable. Repeating this more would be of benefit to the listener than instrumental breaks.

Besa performed her song twice during the festival - once in the semi final and once in the final. Her attire was extremely different both times and both memorable for very different reasons. Personally I liked the semi final outfit better as this really made a statement on stage. I liked the slicked back hair and the silver breastplate - one might even say this was a sexier take on Blanca Paloma last year. In terms of performance style, I feel Besa will need to connect much more down the camera and possibly not slip up on her dress during the performance! I don’t think this needs any more people on stage, apart from maybe some backing singers at the side. There has been some talk about a language change on the song as there is an English/Albanian demo of this song. Personally I feel like the song works as it is. Dual language versions can sometimes feel shoo-ed in and, as languages do not always structure the same, the tunes and hooks are lessened.

ARTIST - Besa

SONG - Zemrën n'dorë

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Kledi Bahiti, Besa Kokëdhima, Rozana Radi

CZECHIA 2024

The Czech act and song was revealed on December 13th 2023 although the selection show "ESCZ" was broadcast on December 4th. There were two strands to the online vote: 70% International online voting and 30% Czech online voting. Going to Malmö is Aiko performing the song "Pedestal".

Aiko, the stage name of Alena Shirmanova-Kostebelova, was born in Moscow but moved to Czechia  as a child where she took singing lessons and started to play the guitar. She took part in the 2015 series of "Česko Slovenská SuperStar" where she made it to the semi-finals. In 2022 she won the 10th edition of the Radio Wave Czeching competition. She has performed in multiple festivals and has supported Alice Morton on tour. Aiko has also released 3 solo albums. She currently resides in Brighton on the south coast of the United Kingdom.

"Pedestal" is a pop-rock song focusing on themes of self-esteem and toxic relationships. Aiko is on stage with two instrumentalists and two female dancers all dressed in different black outfits - Aiko's cutaway catsuit is particularly memorable! The song has a good driving beat and a very shoutable chorus which gets the crowd going. Aiko and her dancers writhe and jump about the stage with a lot of attack which mirrors the immediacy of the backing track. The instrumental is also highlighted by thin red lights strobing in time with the music at the back of the platform. The stage at ESCZ was very small and basic and the fact they were able to do so much with such tight parameters might hint towards a heightened and more free performance on a bigger stage.

Aiko's win was not a big surprise as the song had gone down with fans when the songs were first released but the live show did raise some questions with the fandom. The performance on the ESCZ stage was a little chaotic: a full on dance routine with backing dancers, the encouragement of the crowd and the nerves and adrenalin of live tv all conspired to make her vocals rather shouty and breathy. A larger stage may also open the door to a much fuller stage show - including more dancers. More dancers or not,  I feel Aiko's choreo could be made more gestural/positional. This would not only open the way to some memorable camera shots and silhouettes but also, more importantly, to save her voice. This entry has a lot of potential and, thanks to the early running of this national final, the team has plenty time to hone this into something stronger. Plans have already been laid out to improve the song - including making the song longer (it's currently 30-ish seconds short of 3 minutes) and making the song more impactful. I hope they do not interfere too much with the essence of the song as it does have a good core and a memorable spirit.

ARTIST - Aiko

SONG - Pedestal

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Steven Ansell, Alena Shirmanova-Kostebelova

FRANCE 2024

The French act and song was revealed on November 8th 2023 - first via posts on social media, then with the première of the song during the France 2 news bulletin show "20h". The first song selected for Malmö is "Mon Amour" (My Love) sung by Slimane.

Slimane Nebchi is no newcomer to singing competitions: Nouvelle Star in 2009, X Factor in 2011 and Encore Une Chance in 2012 and season 2 of Je Veux Signer Chez AZ. In 2016 he won The Voice: la plus belle voix as part of Team Lorent Pagny. His discography includes multiple single releases as a solo or featured artist and 4 albums - all of which reached the top 10 in France, Wallonia and Switzerland. Days after his announcement as the 2024 French representative, Slimane won the NRJ award for best French-speaking male artist.

The song is a slow growing ballad sung entirely in French. During the premiere performance, Slimane is alone on a small pedestal amidst a slightly larger space. He is wearing a black outfit with a mirrored vest over the top. This is used to good effect later in the song as it creates swirling and swooshing effect against the lights as the song builds. Slimane's vocal is almost faultless and there us a lot of emotion behind the voice. Verse one begins in a soft voice with piano backing and by the final chorus there is a full orchestra and real power and urgency behind Slimane's vocals.  In a short amount of time we get to hear the whole gamut of Slimane's range and vocal dexterity. The ending is, however, slightly unexpected and a slight let down given the how well the song has built up. This said, during his New Year Eve performance in front of a huge crowd in Paris, the song's construction was slightly different - including a longer intro and ending on a more powerful note. One of the benefits of declaring early is one can 'test out' versions of the song before declaring the specific version on March.

The video production is simple but effective and has a less frenetic "Voila" energy about it. There was a good balance between Slimane looking directly down the camera and performing outwardly to the hall. The sweeping shots made the song intimate and I can imagine the shots sweeping 360° so that the audience is also in view. This measured and commanding show proves that a good song and performer is absolutely enough to make a mark - something of quality needs very little extra to shine. On the other hand, the production could be made more memorable visually with an more honed stage or light show. I hope the objective of the song is not lost in any visual revamp but it may need more direction, especially taking into account the vastness of the Malmö stage and the fact that this entry is a one-man show. 

ARTIST - Slimane

SONG - Mon Amour

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Slimane Nebchi, Meïr Salah, Yaacov Salah