Eurovision rehearsals are about to begin and we werenât able to complete full reviews of all of this yearâs entries in time. So letâs take a deep breath and cover all the rest in one go!
Finland: Darude feat. Sebastian Rejman â âLook Awayâ
Darude had a global smash hit 19 years ago with âSandstorm.â Now heâs representing Finland at Eurovision. We mock the United Kingdom when they do stuff like that and we see no reason to spare Finland our snark. Especially when the U.K. nostalgia acts send better songs.
Belarus: Zena â âLike Itâ
Zena offers up a slightly generic, but still quite enjoyable pop song. We… well, you know… like it. Not sure if it’s going to do well for Belarus, but with the right staging, or at least the right Belorussian staging, maybe it could surprise us.
Serbia: Nevena BoĹžoviÄ â âKrunaâ
Nevena is a veteran of Moje 3, the Barbara Dex Award-winning act from 2013. Sheâs back with a bland ballad, but she made it soar at Beovizija 2019. We expect more vocal fireworks in Tel Aviv. And better costumes.
Belgium: Eliot Vassamillet â âWake Upâ
âWake Upâ reminds us of âCity Lights.â We didnât like âCity Lights,â but it seemed like everyone else did. We like âWake Up,â but it seems like no one else does. Go figure.
Georgia: Oto Nemsadze â âSul Tsin Iareâ
Oto brought a wide-eyed intensity to his performance of âSul Tsin Iare.â It worked for the judges and the people of Georgia, but we canât say itâs going to work for the rest of Europe.
San Marino: Serhat â âSay Na Na Naâ
San Marino has sent disco songs for three of its last four entries because this one time, die hard Eurovision fans convinced them thatâs what we want. Maybe we should tell them that we like other genres too.
Armenia: Srbuk â âWalking Outâ
Srbuk looks a lot like my mom did when she was 18 and Iâm struggling to get past that.
Ireland: Sarah McTernan â â22â
We are not particular fans of Meghan Trainor’s oeuvre, so anything that resembles her output is not going to rank high with us. But at least itâs not another earnest ballad.
Moldova: Anna Odobescu â âStayâ
Moldova is following up successive classic Eurovision contributions with a song that we will probably forget about shortly after the Song Contest is over. Sigh, it’s hard to generate memes every year.
Austria: PĂŚnda â âLimitsâ
âLimitsâ is a great song to listen to at 3 A.M. when itâs gently, but audibly raining outside and youâre feeling a little sad and need a good cry. Thatâs usually not the atmosphere Eurovision provides, which may hurt Austriaâs chances.
Lithuania: Jurijus â âRun with the Lionsâ
Jurijus is this dreamy guy singing an anthemic song about believing in yourself and dreaming big. Itâs a pleasant three minutes made better by Jurijusâ inherent likability.
North Macedonia: Tamara Todevska â âProudâ
âProudâ is an old fashioned ballad about empowering girls to believe in themselves and dream big. Itâs a lovely three minutes made better by Tamaraâs vocal star quality.
Israel: Kobi Marimi â âHomeâ
Israel is happy to have won Eurovision and is also not interested in winning again this year.