With Part 1, we covered Malta and Norway – now let’s turn to the other two countries choosing songs tonight.
SPAIN
I thought I didn’t care about Benidorm Fest. None of the songs grabbed me upon first listen. But then Nebulossa, an electropop band made up of two people in their 50s and a badass lady drummer, came out with this performance, and I was in LOVE:
If you’re wondering why the crowd is chanting “Zorra Zorra Zorra” during the chorus, it’s not just because they’re singing along. It’s because “Zorra” is a term that can mean bitch. Nebulossa have come out with a female empowerment anthem – and by this I really do mean a female empowerment anthem – describing the ways that society just criticises women, no matter what they do. This is what I looked like when I was reading the lyrics:
Is it going to win the whole thing? I would love it to! But it’s got tough competition from songs it didn’t face in Semi 2, namely, St. Pedro:
Sometimes, it takes a Festival da Cancao-style song to capture hearts, and that seems to be what St. Pedro has done here. He’s got a ballad, connected with it emotionally, and performed it beautifully. It also doesn’t hurt that he’s not lacking in the looks department. Sure, it’s a little too sugary sweet for my tastes, but the Spanish public seems to love it.
We also have some traditional flamenco with Maria Pelae’s beautiful Remitente, and a gender-swapped SloMo knockoff with Jorge Gonzalez’s Caliente (which I found caliente at the beginning but rapidly cooling once he got out of the sauna) But the song I’m most excited to see performed is Almacor’s Brillos Platino. Here’s how it should sound:
Yes, I’ve included the studio version of the song there by choice, because his semifinal performance of the song was…well, instead of platinum sparkles, it was more like glints of tin cans. But Brillos Platino is the song I’ve listened to the most coming into the competition, because it’s so much fun. When the January skies were grey and cold, Brillos Platino seemed to promise a carefree summer of dancing by the beach. Plus, I am a sucker for the chorus:
Any man who notices when a woman matches her dress to her gel nails should be rewarded for his powers of observation.
So there’s a lot I like about Spain, but nothing that will obviously crush my spirit if it wins.
UKRAINE
It is almost certain that Jerry Heil and Alyona Alyona have this one in the bag, with their song Teresa & Maria. Here’s a video of them doing a flawless live performance of it:
The song’s message is that despite being venerated as holy religious figures, both Mother Theresa and the Virgin Mary were once as human as the rest of us, having to struggle with the same temptations and frustrations as we were. (The Catholic church may have something to say about this, as the Feast of the Immaculate Conception is all about Mary’s being born without original sin, but this blog is about Eurovision, not catechism.)
While I appreciate the message of the song, it is just not yet hitting for me. A lot of it seems very repetitive, with beats (outside of the rap parts) that feel like a church hymn, and while this inspires trance-like devotion in some, it is leaving me cold. I know why Jerry Heil is no longer doing songs like Vegan, but boy, do I miss that side of her.
Rather, because I am a trash person who likes trash pop, I am super excited about the return of my Goth Vampire Son, Melovin, who represented Ukraine at Eurovision with the sometimes incomprehensible banger Under the Ladder. This time, he’s back with the song Dreamer:
Why do I love this song? It’s ridiculously maximalist, with Melovin throwing everything he has at it – an all-falsetto verse, lyrics that seem to have been written by people in rooms next to each other, and a wonderful, unexpected bridge:
Melovin, honey, you ARE a mess. A HOT MESS. And that is the best possible thing to be, if it gives us music like this. If Melovin set a piano on fire in Lisbon, I think he’d set the whole damn arena on fire in Malmo. It won’t win, but I wish it would.
Other good songs are also happening in Ukraine but I have to go answer quiz questions before Vidbir starts so you’ll just have to tune in to find out what they are.
dudepoints.fun 