I loved Sigur Ros when they first broke the scene around 1999. I thought it was so beautiful, and angelic, and weirdly transcendent. I wondered what beautiful poetry was being sung in this mystical Icelandic language I did not speak. Then, I learned that it’s not Icelandic. It’s not anything. It’s a made up language that means nothing. It shouldn’t really bother me, but I felt like I had been tricked, and haven’t been able to get past it.
My German is limited to what I remember from taking high school German nearly 30 years ago (basically cursing and asking how much the calculator costs), so I figured it was safe for me to post them.
Stefania by Kalush Orchestra (Ukraine) was the winner this year, only partly because of the invasion. It was probably in most people’s top 3 anyway, and it got such a huge percentage of the votes that it really skewed the rest of the results. (Fun fact, the flautist/lead in this song is the same flautist from SHUM in 2021)
ESC 2023
Cha Cha Cha by Käärijä (Finland) is a TREMENDOUS bop. It’s so catchy. As he was touring around before the actual semi-finals he lost his trademark lime green jacket, and fans made and brought replacements to shows for him until it was found.
Mama ŠČ! by Let 3 (Croatia) is beyond weird but really catchy. They’re the most charismatic artists ever to fake pooping themselves during an interview.
ESC 2024 is in National Finals season now, where each country chooses their entry, usually with a reality show contest. The semi-finals are 7 and 9 May and the Finals will be on 11 May. You can stream on Peacock, or hop on a VPN and watch the live feed from Sweden or Denmark or somewhere.
It makes me happy to see songs in their natives languages, but since the rules changed to allow more English songs, we see countries sending them with the assumption that they’ll get more attention from countries other than their own.
The most important rules change to me would be to revert the 2020(?) loosening of recorded vocals restrictions. In the last two or three years we’ve noticed lots of countries where the recorded “background vocals” include the lead part to cover up bad live performances. Heck, I’d even support live instruments too.
When that show was new, I could sing them all. Kinda. I certainly had no idea what the words were, but I listened to them enough that I could fake it lol
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