AZERBAIJAN 2022

The Azeri song was revealed on March 21st. On February 16th, İctimai Television revealed that Nadir Rustamli had been internally selected as their singer. His song is called "Fade to black" 

Nadir Rustamli studied piano at the Gulu Asgarov Music School for 7 years. As a singer he has particiaped in a number of different singing/song festivals such as the National Song Festival (runner up in 2017 and winner in 2019) and  the Youthvision International Song Contest (runner up 2019). Nadir then entered into the 2021 series of" Voice of Azerbaijan " and joined former ESC winner Eldar Qasımov's team. He got all the way to the final and won the series with over 42% of the vote.

The first verse is very fragmented with lots of short lines that seem to be more about the rhythm rather than the meaning. The pre-chorus is much stronger with additional strings and a much clearer, stirring vocal. However instead of carrying this trend on, the chorus comes in and this drops back to just piano backing before rising again for the 'I'm numb' finish. This goes straight into verse two and pre-chorus with a slightly more invigorated pace but again peters out for the chorus. This time the post-chorus leads into a bridge section which is possibly the most memorable part of the whole song. It has a proper tune, driving lyrics and gives Nadir a sense of direction with his vocals. The final few seconds are taken up by a shortened chorus -  this time with slightly different tune and the last line of the song being the title.

This song feels very weak to me. On first listen I totally missed the chorus because there was no build-up or hook to tell me it was there. I only discovered it was the chorus when it got repeated. There is no build up, no tension, no drama and by the end of it you start to have questions! This feels like a random collection of song parts that are not cohesive enough to make a memorable song. Although Nadir has a nice enough voice the lyrics are not 100% clear which also muddles the meaning of song. Being Azerbaijan, one has to wonder what intricate staging setup they have in store. The video is rather odd, including some extremely individual sartorial choices, none of which really helps us get a sense of who Nadir is or let's you know what kind of artist or person he is. I think this has the bare bones of a good idea but all the meatiness is totally missing.

ARTIST - Nadir Rustamli 

SONG - Fade to black

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Andreas Stone Johansson, Sebastian Schub, Thomas Stengaard, Anderz Wrethov 

ARMENIA 2022

The Armenian entry was revealed on March 19th. A week earlier it was announced that Rosa Linn had been selected by ARMTV as their entrant. Her song is entitled "Snap". 

Rosa Kostandjan - AKA Rosa Linn - started to learn the piano at aged 6. This love of music grew and she began writing and producing songs of her own. In 2013 she participated in the Armenian Junior Eurovision national final. Currently, Rosa is linked to the Nvak Collective and her latest release was a collaboration with electro-pop singer KIIARA. Her music style tends to me a mix  alternative indie pop genres although her Eurovision song has some acoustic country vibes too.

After a short intro, verse one starts straight away with a pattern of short/short/long lines. The song moves straight on into the chorus where the instrumentation is really ramped up. There is then a similar setup for verse and chorus two which has an extra bit of repetition at the end.  At the two minute mark there is a brief bridge, which is possibly the weak part of the song, but does lead nicely into the final - and longer - version of the chorus. As a bonus having the last word being 'snap' makes for a good excuse to it being a rather abrupt ending.

The song has an atmospheric quality and has a real drive in the backing track. The stopping and starting of the beat as well as the echoey backing vocals gives the song an ever-changing pace and a lot of depth. The chorus here is the star of the show and most of everything else is there to set that strength up. The use of counting is very clever as a lyric and the unusual warbling of the end line is very ear catching - not very singalongable but an earworm nonetheless. I would also say that the tune and the feeling seems to to precedence over the words which sometimes gets garbled or missed because of the production. I am no country music connoisseur but there is something about this track which feels very familiar. I don't know if this song borrows techniques from other songs or just has a very memorable quality. I guess a minor negative for me is that this song doesn't feel very Armenian. We have got every used to their tracks having some kind of ethnic quality and this has more of a whiff of the Swedish/American touch about it. I also wonder if the backing vocals will be doing much of the heavy lifting because they are so prominent. The video has an interesting visual concept with the floating house which could be translated into a pleasant stage design.

ARTIST - Rosa Linn

SONG - Snap

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Allie Crystal, Jeremy Dusoulet, Courtney Harrell, Tamar Kaprelian, Rosa Linn, Larzz Principato

MALTA 2022 updated

The Maltese Final (Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2022) was held on February 19th at the Malta Fairs & Convention Centre in Ta' Qali, hosted by Stephanie Spiteri, Quinton Scerri, Ron Briffa, Josmar and Ryan Borg. The winner was chosen by jury (6/7) and SMS voting (1/7). On the night, the winner was Emma Muscat singing "Out of Sight" however on March 14th the delegation unveiled Emma's new entry. She will now be singing the song "I am what I am"

Music was a huge part of Emma's life from an early age. She enrolled at the University of Performing Arts; honing her skills in singing, dancing, and playing the piano. In 2016 she started uploading her songs and videos onto youtube. In 2018 she took part in the Maltese talent show "Amici di Maria De Filippi" finishing with fourth place in the singing category and winning a contract with Warner Music Italy. Since then she has released more singles and albums including duets with rappers Shade and Astol and featuring on songs by Biondo and Junior Cally.

After a brief piano intro Emma sings verse one quite low in her register and quite softly. Once into the chorus she sings much more fully with lots of runs and trills through the scale. The first part of the chorus has less going on in the backing but plenty of lyrics while the second part has a fuller backing track but with a more anthemic tune. This is then repeated for the second verse and chorus. This takes us to the 2 minute mark where there is a brief lull before a final chorus that takes us to the end.

This is a very radio-friendly piano-led song in the oeuvre of songs like "The way it is" and " A thousand miles". The video is very friendly and inclusive and definitely made to drill in the meaning of the song. Maybe we will be getting people's faces on the backdrop or something similar to try and mirror this on stage. I am sure Emma will find this no problem to sing and I am also intrigued to see if she stays behind her piano like in the video. Co-incidentally, after this song was released, it was revealed that "I am what I am" had been submitted for Melodifestivalen this year - and rejected - and boy doesn't sound like it. It feels very clean and very Swedish and very safe and very predictable. These aspects don't necessarily make it a bad Eurovision song but it gets tired very quickly. To the casuals at home this is the kind of thing that on first listen they will engage with immediately, but for those of us listening intently between now and the contest they may find it getting skipped. This is no better or worse than their original entry and I think those involved in the original national final should be very miffed at the situation.

ARTIST - Emma Musicat

SONG - I am what I am

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Julie Aagaard, Stine Kinck, Dino Medanhodzic, Emma Muscat

PORTUGAL 2022

The Portuguese final - known as "Festival da Canção" - was held on March 12th at the RTP TV Studios in Lisbon, hosted by Filomena Cautela and Vasco Palmeirim. Before the final there were two semi-finals, where 5 of the 10 songs in each show qualified for the final. A winner was chosen by a 50-50 mix of 7 regional juries and televoting which started on March 8th. The winning act and song was Maro with "Saudade, saudade" (Longing, longing)

Maro - full name Mariana Secca - gets her unusual surname from her Italian father. After her Portuguese schooling she studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston and whilst there created "Berklee People". This was a collaborative project created to facilitate the sharing and disseminating knowledge between students rather than competing against.. During her her first year studying in Los Angeles, Maro released six albums entirely self-produced and self-written. Through while publicising her work on Instagram that caught the eye of English jazz musician Jacob Collier, who asked her to join his touring band.

The song starts with a very low instrumental with just the repetitive rhythm of the effective bassline which carries on under the first verse which is in English. The backing becomes much more involved during the chorus with the presence of a 6/8 beat which keeps the song moving but in no way takes over. Verse 2 is in Portuguese, is longer and has a different tune to the first. The backing singers harmonise so well and really helps to keep that emotion coming through. At the two minute mark the chorus comes in and this time the 5 ladies join in with some clapping. The beat peters out back to the original ethereal tune over which Maro sings an outro similar to the very opening lines.

This is a beautifully sung sad song and really takes inspiration from the heart of Portuguese music - Fado. However this song has a very mellow quiet quality rather than the dramatic impassioned performances sometimes associated with this genre. The staging also changed from the semi final into the final. At first Maro was stood alone on stage but now she is joined, on stools, by her female backing singers. It makes the song look and feel more full, almost supportive of one other, She even looks better in a more casual 'everyman' kind of outfit rather than in a shiny suit. The video projections are the same and I like the way it flickers, mirroring the gentle notes in the backing track. Maro's voice is so different and individual that the whole package stands out so much. People will really get the sadness and feel of the song; taking a few moments within the madness of many of the other entries, to be calm and just listen. People all over Europe may even personally relate to the lyrics, especially as many people will have different stories about 'longing' from the past 2 years, and I really hope this does well. 

ARTIST - Maro

SONG - Saudade, saudade

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - John Blanda, Maro

ICELAND 2022

The Icelandic Final (Söngvakeppnin) was held on March 12th at the RVK Studios in Gufunes, Reykjavík, presented by Björg Magnúsdóttir, Jón Jónsson and Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir. Before the final there were 2 semi-finals of five songs each. The two qualifiers from each were joined by a wildcard. The winner was chosen in two rounds of voting -  the first was to find the top two using half and half televote/jury) the these results were carried forward to the second round which was 100% televote. The winners were Sigga, Beta & Elín - now known as Systur - singing "Með hækkandi sól" (With the rising sun)

Sigríður, Elísabet and Elín Eyþórsdætur are sisters who were born into a family of musicians and have been singing and playing since childhood. In 2011 they formed the trio Sísý Ey releasing the electronic hit "Ain't Got Nobody" in 2013 in collaboration with DJ Oculus. As well as their success as a three-piece, they have also had some individual success. After their Eurovision, it was decided that the act would be called 'Systur' rather than their individual names.

The song begins with a short guitar intro - acoustic followed by electric - which sets up the mood of the song. They sing two verses in quick succession before the first chorus. After a short instrumental there is another verse and chorus. Now into the final minute the song becomes slightly darker and the girls - instead of singing in unison - are not performing slightly different parts of the song which really gives this part of the song a different feel. Then a final chorus before the song has a slowed down acapella ending.

This is very laid back has that slightly melancholy country feel too it. To many of the lay watchers, they may hark back to entries like "Calm After The Storm". In this song the girls' voices blend so well together and the whole thing looks and sounds effortless. The way the microphones are placed makes for some interesting camerawork. The Icelandic language also makes this song sound rather intriguing to the ear, especially with the whispery quality of the words and their vocals style. Visually it is a little bit dark and brown, which fits with the mood of the song but not very memorable. However this is somewhere negated by the clever camera shots, in particular the three-way split screen during the bridge. That all said and done, this ends up feeling like a rather uneventful song. There are a freakishly large proportion of country inspired songs this year and I am not sure how well this stands up in comparison. Part of me wishes there was a little more drama and maybe a bit more ooomph in the instrumentation - something to keep the interest going. This is a nice song - but nice does not guarantee points.

ARTIST - Systur

SONG - Með hækkandi sól

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Arnar Guðjónsson, Lovísa Elísabet Sigrúnardóttir

SWEDEN 2022

The Swedish Final "Melodifestivalen" was held at the Friends Arena in Stockholm on March 12th, hosted by Oscar Zia. Before the final there were 5 semi-finals getting the list down to a final of 12. The winner was calculated by adding votes of 8 international juries with phone app votes divided into age groupings as well as televoting. Representing Sweden at Eurovision this year will be Cornelia Jakobs singing "Hold Me Closer"

Cornelia Jakobs - full name Anna Cornelia Jakobsdotter Samuelsson - is from a very musical family. Her father is a rock musician and grandmother a conductor. She studied at Rytmus music high school in Stockholm  and at 16 she unsuccessfully auditioned for Idol. She was part of the girl band Love Generation - also known as Stockholm Syndrome - which participated in Melodifestivalen 2011 & 2012 and also co-wrote last year's participating entry " Best of Me " performed by Efraim Leo in 2021.

The first verse starts with very quiet violin backing which continues through the lengthy pre-chorus. It also continues under the chorus but is much more noticeable and soaring in the mix. Into verse two, the backing track is joined by a stable beat which gets bigger as the verse, pre-chorus and chorus follows though. As we pass the two minute mark, the backing disperses before regathering during the bridge with an almost rock/dance edge. The song finishes with an elongated version of the chorus before finishing suddenly.

Although I watched very little of MelFest, I took time to watch the final and I was underwhelmed to say the least. There was so little breadth in terms of genres and displays that felt like over-rehearsed faux music videos rather than part of a live music show. The presentation of this song, however,  is quite personal and a bit more intimate than past entries have been. Cornelia does a good job of keeping her eye on the camera while she navigates her way around the floor, the rotating glowing disc and the microphone stand. The jittery camerawork is trying build tension and atmosphere when it should be coming from the singer and the lyrics. The song doesn't really need that much and by having little staging you have nothing else to focus on but the song.  But for my taste there are some things that I can't quite get past and turn me off straight away. I don't like the way she sings the start as to me it comes across as a bit whiney and self indulgent. This is not helped by the lack of honest body language because Sweden cannot help but choregraph everything within an inch of its life . Co-incidentally her reprise after being announced the winner felt so much better than her competitive show. The lyrics are incredibly basic and possibly does not help show more emotional depth. This is not a bad entry and compared to many of the potential entries available it was possibly their best choice for the night. However, in a semi final full of eclectic and individual choices this might end up being 'the right one... but at the wrong time'

ARTIST - Cornelia Jakobs

SONG - Hold Me Closer

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Cornelia Jakobs, Isa Molin, David Zandén

AUSTRIA 2022

The Austrian song was revealed on March 11th. In February it was revealed that LUM!X featuring Pia Maria had been internally selected by ORF to represent Austria. The song has its radio premiere on Ö3-Wecker and the video was released shortly afterwards. Their song is called "Halo"

Luca Michlmayr (a.k.a. LUM!X) started making and uploading his self made tracks music very early on. From here Swedish label Bounce United discovered his work and signed him and released a number of songs including many collaborations. His breakthrough came with the song "Thunder" which was remixed with Eiffel 65 member Gabry Ponte and charted in many European countries. With more than 70 weeks in the German single charts, Monster is also one of the songs that stayed in the German single charts the longest. Since 2020 he has had hits inspired by Iggy Pop's "Passengers", "Major Tom" by Peter Schilling ,and Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" 

The song starts fiercely with a shortened version of the chorus. Going to into verse one the beat kicks in under a pattern of short-short-long verse lines which keeps the pace and the variety of rhyme high. After this is a very repetitive pre-chorus which has a very earwormy tune. From here we have a full version of the chorus which leads straight into verse two and into the same pattern as before. Will a minute to go we have a very brief respite with a la-la-la version of the pre-chorus over the same relentless beat. This sets up the 'We will rock you" inspired clap-along chorus as the beat drops out and comes back in again for the second half then comes to a slightly awkward end.

The video to the song is really eye-catching and although it does not necessarily fit the style or message of the song it is an interesting aesthetic. I almost feel like this is a millennial version of "Rock me Amadeus". Alternately I could see them going do the Eurodance 90's club route which would also be really different. Both performers seem to have good charism with each other and down the camera so I think this might look really good on stage. This is a very busy song with loads of layers and different part of the backing track. A lot of the vocals overlap each other so it will be very interesting to see if she sings the song differently so they don't OR if some of these vocals can fit under the 'backing vocals' rule. On first listen I was a little underwhelmed if not a little bit surprised by the song. But this has grown on me a lot, especially as this has such a different feel to almost anything else on the Eurovision menu right now. this could go down so big in the hall, especially with the parts where the audience can interact, and it could be the party track we've been waiting for.

ARTIST - LUM!X ft. Pia Maria
SONG - Halo
WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - flyckt, LUM!X, Anders Nilsen, Gabry Ponte, Sophie Simmons

GREECE 2022

The Greek song was revealed on March 10th. Back in December it was revealed that Amanda Georgiadis Tenfjord had been internally selected to represent Greece. The song and video was aired for the first time on ERT’s programme "Studio 4". Her song is entitled "Die together"

Amanda Georgiadis Tenfjord (sometimes just known as  Amanda Tenfjord) has a Norwegian mother and a Greek father and spent much of her childhood between those two countries. She was inspired to take up music by Sigrid who was also at her school, however still continued her medical studies in Trondheim. In 2016, she participated in "The Stream",  a Norwegian singing show and got into the top 30. She has also honed her skill and craft though touring and the festivals circuit and has released numerous singles and two EPs.

The song starts in a very unexpected way and keeps on going for the first half of the song. Amanda is singing on top of a synthesised/vocoder version of herself which give the song an uneasy texture. Very reminiscent of Laure Anderson's "O Superman" This continues through verse on, pre-chorus and chorus before the a very loose and wispiish backing track comes in and the vocoder departs. Verse two is much shorter than verse two and goes straight into another chorus. After this there is a bridge which a very different tone and pace and is super catchy before a final chorus which has a slightly different tune before suddenly stopping.

This is a very contemporary ballad and one that has made some very interesting stylistic choices. First of the the first minute or so is going to be quite challenging: many will revel on such an opening gambit but many will be wondering if there has been a cock-up on the backing tape. I am the biggest critic of pre-recorded backing vocals but one has to applaud those countries really taking this rule to its limit. The video is half love story, half tourist video and I found myself a little bit lost in the whole thing to actually pay attention to what was going on. I am hoping for something very pared down in the fist half then getting bigger, possibly even some contemporary dancers. The song has some really good and memorable rhythms, in particular the repetitively building bridge, and the use of long notes followed by short sharp lines really gets your ears up. This is a bit of a weird one because on one hand there are lots of surprising things whose impact lessens time after time but the tune becomes more familiar after every listen. This could go either way - too odd to vote for or so unusual it packs a punch.

ARTIST - Amanda Georgiadis Tenfjord

SONG - Die Together

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - Bjørn Helge Gammelsæter, Amanda Tenfjord

UNITED KINGDOM 2022

The UK song and entrant and were revealed on March 10th.The entry and entrant was revealed by Scott Mills on BBC Radio 1's breakfast show with Greg James followed by a performance on "The One Show on BBC One. Going to Turin will be Sam Ryder with the song "Space Man".

Sam Ryder Robinson, better known as Sam Ryder, began his career on the rock and metal circuit as a singer and rhythm guitarist. He fronted groups like the Morning After and Blessed by a Broken Heart before starting a solo career as a pop artist. During the lockdown of 2020, he started posting short videos of himself singing and his popularity skyrocketed. He has posted videos on youtube and tracks on sound cloud but has garnered the most fan interest on video sharing app TikTok. After this resurgence, he was signed to Parlophone, which issued a number of tracks in 2021 and 2022. His more recent work has been pop based but has a strong and raspy rock-edged tone.

(This is based on the shorter version as performed on The One Show rather than the official video)

This entry has a very, very basic structure with verse-chorus-verse-bridge-chorus-outro. The song starts very promptly straight into verse one and sounds almost acapella which really hones the listener to the different textures of his voice. During the chorus he is joined by a drum rhythm but everything else still feels quite low in the mix. This feeling continues during verse two an the chorus but this time ends with some slightly sinister strings and pulls the mood slightly down into the bridge. This part uses his lower range as has a slightly Beatles feel to it helped by a really full feeling to the music. For the last 50 seconds or so we have renditions of parts of the chorus as the backing track lowly wands down to almost acapella once again.

Sam has a very distinct voice which is absolutely shown off in its best light. The lyric journey is also very clever as it works on a surface level - actually being a space man -  as well as being a metaphor for winding your way through life. Either way I feel many people will be able to bond with this as the language is easy to understand and uses repetition and rhyme. If I had any complaints about the track I would like to see more guitar or at least more light and shade throughout the whole song - not just during the last minute. The tune feels very familiar but not in a kind of 'rip-off' way and is very radio friendly. This track was Radio 1's 'song of the week' on the lead up to it being revealed at the Eurovision entry. I have no fear that Sam with kill this song on the night and will go down a storm in the hall but does this song compel the people at home to vote? It's probably the best chance we've had for a while and will be hugely dependent on the staging. I actually don't think this needs a lot of staging and could work well with just him and a backdrop as well as nailing his looks to camera. Unfortunately the UK's track record of getting staging right is very poor and can see this as defeat snatched from the hands of victory (victory being not in the bottom 5)

ARTIST - Sam Ryder

SONG - Space Man

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS - KOZ, Sam Ryder, Amy Wadge, Max Wolfgang

BELGIUM 2022

The Belgian song was revealed on March 10th. Back in September the Walloon broadcaster RTBF revealed that Jérémie Makiese had been internally selected to represent Belgium. The song was revealed via its first radio play on Vivacité, then the video premiere on channel La Une and its official release on the official Eurovision channel. His song is entitled "Miss you"

Jérémie was born in Antwerp and is of Congolese heritage His family moved around Belgium and learned both Dutch and French. Although his talent for singing was honed through singing at church, at the age of 13, he started to play as a goalkeeper for BX Brussels and has since played for numerous different clubs. In 2021, Jérémie auditioned for "The Voice Belgique" and after all four of the judges turned he chose too join Beverly Jo Scott's team. After tackling artists just as James Arthur, Bruno Mars, Gregory Porter and Christophe Maé, he became the series winner. HIs musical style is pop but with a soul and R&B leaning.

The song starts with a brief but dramatic violin intro before going straight into the piano-backed first verse. During the pre-chorus and chorus the strings join in but you also get the feeling Jérémie is not giving his all (yet) to the performance. At 50 second in we are already into verse two and although the tune and structure has not changed there is a very dominant beat and the pulsing of an electric guitar which replaces the piano. After the pre-chorus and chorus there is a short bridge before entering a last chorus, some odd freeform bits then a final recall of the first verse with some riffing and vocal gymnastics to end.

On my first consumption of this song I felt very confused and bewildered and really not so sure what to think. It suddenly dawned on me that this video is just AWFUL. I get that this is an urban style ballad but the chorography and outfits are much more suited to something more robust and lyrically harder than this. Therefore I would suggest to anyone about to watch the video that they just listen to it! After my brief confusion I realised the song really is not bad at all. Lyrically it is simplistic but in a way that makes it memorable - the repetition of 'sometimes' in the first verse and the refrain of 'no' in the chorus'. The chorus in particular is very clever and creates an interesting dynamic of fast and slow, call and response that I could see being copied in the hall. This song feels very contemporary, modern and unlike anything else on the palette this year. The structure of the whole song means it speeds along quite quickly and you get a lot of song for your 3 minutes. However, this entry is going absolutely nowhere with that bad boy/krump aesthetic in the video. If they go with the soul boy in a nice suit version they might just get away with it.

ARTIST - Jérémie Makiese

SONG - Miss you

WRITING/PRODUCTION CREDITS -  BGRZ, Paul Ivory, Jérémie Makiese, Silvio Lisbonne, Manon Romiti