UKRAINE 2024

The Ukrainian act and song was chosen on February 3rd through their annual the selection show "Vidbir". The ranking of a jury (whose make up was chosen itself by a public vote) was combined equally with that of a national televote to find a winner. Although the songs were presented on the 3rd, the result was not announced until the next day due to technical difficulties. Going to Malmö is Alyona Alyona and Jerry Heil  performing the song "Teresa & Maria"

Aliona Olehivna Savranenko (aka Alyona Alyona) is 32 years old and before she found her footing in the Ukrainian rap scene she worked as a kindergarten teacher. She has 4 albums to her names and has reocrded collaborations with numerous Ukrainian figures such as Kalush, Aliona Pash and Jamala. Over the last 5 years she had been nominated for numerous music awards and was recently placed number 44 in a list of Ukraine's most influential women. Yana Oleksandrivna Shemayeva - professionally known as Jerry Heil - is 28 and started out in the music industry posting covers on her youtube channel. In 2017 she signed a record deal and then found herself on X Factor Ukraine, only getting as far as bootcamp.. Her most famous song is "Okhrana, otmyena" which won a Jager Music Award and a YUMA. Jerry participated in Vidbir twice previously in 2020 and 2022 coming third in the latter.

The staging is rather pared back compared to Ukrainian entries of yore. The set is black as are the outfits of the two performers. Around them are 4 backing singers and the background wall projects a stylised video of a woman shrouded in black flowing shiny fabric. Jerry starts centre stage by herself with an introductory verse before starting the chorus by this time joined by Alyona. They start singing outwards, back-to-back The chorus had a very familiar feel - almost slightly folkish - and the predictability of the way the note go low to high then back down again is very natural and unforced. Alyona Alyona's meaty rap adds an extra layer or rhythm and pace to a song that might come across as a bit plodding. The non-stop words seems to plow easily in a similar way to the rap parts of "Stefania". The song ends with a couple of chorus renditions to wind down to the end.

The parts Alyona Alyona does are great and is direct down the camera. The parts Jerry Heil does are well sung and the emotion is conveyed. However there is a lack of stagecraft between the two of them and this disconnect needs fixing. Yes, the stage was rather basic but other acts were able to conjure up some feeling using dancers and video techniques. If not, the song will otherwise feel like two people performing on the stage at the same time rather than a duet. Because of the song's message, I feel like this is not an entry that can be made better with a gimmick. The singers need to be somehow 'together' and make their parts feel cohesive. I need them to be interested in each others words in relation to the song. I'd like to see them singing to each other, maybe holding hands or even singing with their backs touching rather than just turning away from each other. This needs a lot of work but Ukraine has  a depth of staging experience and I really hope they can turn this piece of jet black coal into a real diamond.

ARTIST - Alyona Alyona and Jerry Heil

SONG - Teresa & Maria

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Anton Chilibi, Ivan Klymenko, Aliona Savranenko, Yana Shemaieva

 

MALTA 2024

The Maltese act and song was chosen on February 3rd through their national final "Malta Eurovision Song Contest". Back in October and November, a number of semi-finals were held with nine acts performing in each show. The most voted for 12 songs were selected as finalists. The final was preceded by the premiere of the finalists' music videos. The winner was calculated by adding a jury score with (7/9 weighting) to the televote score (with 2/7 weight) Going to Malmö is Sarah Bonnici performing the song "Loop".

Bonnici is from the island of Gozo. Her father is Marcel Bonnici, CEO of Mercury Towers (Malta's tallest building) and owner of football club Ħamrun Spartans the reigning Maltese Premier League champions). Aged 11, Sarah competed in the Maltese national selection for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest and finished a credible in third place. The following year, she won her age group category of the L-Għanja Tal-Maltin Song Festival, competing with a song written by former Eurovision competitor, Miriam Christine . She also returned to the Junior Eurovision selection show but came 7th but still did go the jESC that year as a backing dancer for Nicole Azzopardi. Bonnici participated in Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2022 with "Heaven" placing 12th in the final.

During the national final live performance, Sarah was wearing what seems to be this year's Eurovision uniform - a black cutaway mesh catsuit! She is joined in the studio by 4 male dancers who are also wearing black tops with an illusion neckline, which is extremely off-putting. The stage is also predominately black with some pink/purple strobes of light throughout. With everybody wearing black, it is sometimes hard to see where everyone is! Sarah starts on her own with some soulful vocal gymnastics before going into the verse and chorus followed by a shortened second verse and full chorus. Up to this point Sarah had been dancing while singing, but here there is a long pause for more involved dancing. There is then a brief stop for vocal gymnastics finishing the song with a final chorus and a last second dance break. Sarah's vocal is not bad considering how much work she is doing on stage, is maintained throughout although at times you can hear her stopping to catch her breath.

This is an extremely full-on entry with many strengths. Sarah, as I have already stated, has a clear voice and she moves well on the stage. However on a very simplistic level many will see the show as heavily derivative of Chanel's "SloMo" and Noa's "Unicorn". One may even say this is a weaker entry compared to both of these but this may be due more to technical details than any lack of promise and talent. There are two main things I feel they need to work on to get the impact right. First one is to properly highlight the name of the song. The title is lost in the mix and either needs to be audibly louder or the words prominent on the stage. It would help is Sarah sang the word rather than just being on the backing vocals. Secondly they need to revamp the staging because it is too dark and gloomy. There was so much dancing that could not be appreciated properly because of the bad lighting and the poor camera angles. The gimmick of the blindfolded flip is honestly not worth it; the time taken to set it up was not worth the pay off. It would be nice to have something a lot more colourful as this is a great fun dance tune. The video clip that went along with the song was very dynamic -full of snappy camera changes and swooping shots - if only they could create such power on a static stage. This is definitely a Eurovision song for the modern age and might provide a bit of familiar relief amongst the niche entries.

ARTIST - Sarah Bonnici

SONG - Loop

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Leire Gotxi Angel, Sarah Bonnici, Michael Joe Cini, Kevin Lee, Sebastian Pritchard-James

SPAIN 2024

The Spanish act and song was chosen on February 3rd through their recently revamped "Benidorm Fest". Earlier in the week 4 songs qualified from each of the two semi-finals. During the semis and final the voting weighting was 50% jury and 25% each for the national televote and the demoscopic panel. Going to Malmö is Nebulossa performing the song "Zorra" (Bitch).

Nebulossa is a Spanish electropop duo from Ondara in the community of Valencia. The duo consists of  Maria "Mery" Bas - the singer - and Mark Dasousa - keyboard player and producer. They are married , have been together for over 20 years and have two children. This all said, the project of Nebulossa has only been in force since 2018. Their only album to date is "Poliédrica de mí" which was released in 2021. In 2022 they participated in the preselection round of "Una voce per San Marino" as a trio, along with singer Ophelia Alibrando, but did not get to the finals of the competition.

The duo are joined by a female drum player as well as two male dancers initially dressed in suits but then reveal underneath thigh-high boots and a corset. On set was also a large red two tiered circular pedestal - doubling as a performing platform and as seating. The song starts with a very immediate and pulsating 80s style opening which really gets you hooked. The first half of the song fits the normal verse chorus, verse chorus structure however the second chorus then turns into an elongated bridge until the end. It does not go on too long, or feel too repetitive, and does cement the rhythm of the chorus in your head. The sung parts are more measured and purposeful than the beginning instrumental might suggest. Mery's sung parts have a very calm quality to them which, at times, is at juxtaposition to the words. However, her performance comes across as measured and confident which absolutely fits with the words she's singing. 

 

The Benidorm Fest stage was extremely versatile and reminiscent of the 2003 Eurovision stage. The main lighting colour was red, possibly to emphasise the angry and defiant tone of the storytelling. The word 'zorra' was predominantly displayed on the backdrop and the Spanish crowd were singing along very noticeably. Mery looked regal in black and I loved the way the mesh flourish on the sleeves caught the red lighting and also interacted with the platinum blond Hollywood glamour hair! Mery's voice does struggle a little on the high notes of the bridge but I think with more practise and breath control this could easily be remedied. The song works really well as a whole although I feel the rhythm of the verses are stronger than the chorus. The staging would work really well 'in the round' of Malmö  but they may been to think about making the instrumentalists more prominent on stage. This is a fun song with a serious message and the audience on the Saturday night will be vocal about their support.

ARTIST - Nebulossa

SONG - Zorra

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - María Blas, Mark Dasousa

NORWAY 2024

The Norwegian act and song was chosen on February 3rd through their long-running national final "Melodi Grand Prix". Before the final there were three semi finals with three songs qualifying from each. The winner was selected by a 60/40 combination of public televoting and an international jury. Going to Malmö is the band Gåte performing the song "Ulveham" (Wolf skin).

Gåte is a progressive folk-rock band who perform Norwegian folk music with metal and electronica leanings. Many of Gåte's songs are rearranged versions of traditional Norwegian folk tunes. Their self-titled EP was released in 2000 and this garnered success in their homeland and many other European nations - as did their debut album "Jygri". However after their second album, the band declared they were going on a hiatus mainly due to the singer, Gunnhild, wanting to devote time to solo projects.  There was a brief reunion in 2009-2010 as the band conducted a mini tour or Norway billed as their final farewell. However, Gåte made a full comeback in 2017 with the EP "Attersyn", followed by the album "Svevn" and the announcement of full tours.

The staging for the act is simplistic yet effective. The stage is dark, with a slight green/blue tinge. There is effective use of strobing lights & lasers to create movement. The mystical feel is further strengthened by the use of scenic settings overlaid on the screen. The instrumentalists are situated around the stage while singer Gunnhild is in the middle on a small rotating platform. The song shifts between an enchanted bassy beat, a strong guitar metal sound and a background of interesting folky instruments. The song is wholly in Norwegian and Gunnhild's haunting vocals adds to the atmosphere. Although one would not really understand what the song is about, the feelings conveyed in the song are visceral but also full of wonder and beauty. The vocalisation between the worded parts further shows the singer's mastery of the higher notes and folkish tinge she has to her vocal style.

The lead up to the final was rather more frenetic compared to the other finalists. After their semi final performance, NRK asked band to change the lyrics as the text was based on a 1000 year old ballad and therefore could be construed as plagiarism. They duly complied but to the casual watcher, especially one uneducated in the Norwegian language, one may have not seen any difference. I feel like this song, in the midst of the Melodi Grand Prix show was very much different and identifiable from the finalists. The staging as is is perfect for the song and I would work on any size or shape of stage. I don't want to say that the song is not memorable but the song is ultimately elevated by the band 's performance and the singer's engaging vocal style. One change they may want to make is to bring more wolf imagery to the graphics creating a more obvious link between the song, the lyrics and the title - commentators may allude to before the song begins. I feel like juries will appreciate the vocals of this track while the people at home will enjoy the ambience of this entry.

ARTIST - Gåte

SONG - Ulveham

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS -  M. Børmark, R G Janssen, M J Lillebuen, J E Schärer, G. Sundli,, S E Sundli

LUXEMBOURG 2024

The Luxembourgish act and song was chosen on January 27tth during the selection show "Luxembourg Song Contest". There were two rounds of voting. In the first round, the ranking of an international jury was combined equally with that of a national televote to create a top 3. The vote was then reset - the juries and televote reopened with the scores combined to find a winner. Going to Malmö is Tali performing the song "Fighter".

Tali Goldergant was born to an Israeli mother and Peruvian father and Spanish was the language she spoke most at home. At the age of 7 her family settled down in Luxembourg where young Tali learnt French and English. From a young age she was interested in songwriting, acting and playing the piano. She went to school in the International School of Luxembourg then went on to study musical theatre at Marymount Manhattan College in the city of New York and now lives there. She has also been touring her home borough with her band called Blue Stripes. She has been releasing music onto streaming sites since 2020.

Tali is joined on stage 6 dancers - 4 male, 2 female - and they are all dressed in a kind of strappy leatherette/mesh clothing. The visual look is a little distant from the song's meaning but is at least a cohesive look. The song starts with a close up of Tali's face which is being manipulated cleverly by her dancers' hands. The song is mainly sung in French with part of the chorus and a small bridge at the end in English. The English part gives the song a memorable earworm while the French parts have a nice rhythm and uses some familiar French word endings/rhymes. This is a mid-tempo song with a slight Mediterranean feel without feeling too much like it should come from a certain country or culture.

The stage was very simple with a long video screen runway. Throughout her song, the screens showed various pulsing geometric shapes varying in shades of colours. I feel like the inconspicuousness of this makes one focus on is what is happening on the stage. The dancers frame Tali, who moves well but does not do a lot of the group choreography. I don't think this matters too much as the sweeping camera shots gives the visual more depth and movement, The visuals will need some tightening up. They will need to drop a dancer and ensure the choreo is purposeful throughout. Personally I'd like to see the dancers used to create levels i.e. standing on them like a staircase or being lifted up in the air. Tali needs to keep the focus on her vocal. During the fast part of the chorus you could hear her struggle to catch up and catch her breath.; if she cannot do this part properly then an alternative solution needs to be found. Overall this comes from a good starting point but needs to have laser-focused direction in a contest that is already looking to be a diverse one.

ARTIST - Tali

SONG - Fighter

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Dario Faini, Silvio Lisbonne, Manon Romiti, Ana Zimmer

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