Review of ESC 2024 – Grand Final

  

Now that the semi-finals are over, it's grand final time! The biggest surprise was definitely Latvia qualifying as it was predicted to be the most unlikely qualifier in the odds. That said, I'd definitely consider it a deserved outcome as the vocals were top-notch.

In terms of non-qualifications, I was most gutted about Australia. Despite an off note or two, they had an amazing performance with otherwise great vocals, vibrant visuals, and a didgeridoo that gave me the chills. I would've loved to see them perform again on Saturday but alas, that was not to be. I was also expecting Belgium to qualify but the live singing was simply too weak. Azerbaijan is another entry that I would've liked to see in the final, though maybe the staging and the costumes felt a little disjointed.

Other than that, the semi-finals went rather expectedly and the shows themelves were great, as you'd come to expect from Sweden. Petra Mede remains a Eurovision legend and Malin Åkerman is also there. I'm surprised they haven't found a way to bring Måns out yet (he's like the Michael Bublé of Eurovision, every year he just pops out of nowhere), but maybe they're simply still defrosting him.

The interval acts were alright, just not on the same level as the past two Swedish-hosted contests. The segment about re-soundtracking Swedish film classics with Eurovision songs felt like a low-effort way to fill in a blank time slot, and the "We Just Love Eurovision Too Much" act somehow managed to read both self-depracating (yay) and condescending (nay) at the same time. While it started funny, it also just ran way too long.

All the same, Sweden still knows how to put together a show and that is something they do excel at, so props to them and thank you for a so-far marvellous Eurovision spectacle.

Yet, although the week peacefully enough all things considered, the situation has swiftly been devolving into a chaos over the past 24 hours. Italy's televote results for the second semi-final were accidentally leaked, showing a staggering 39% of the vote going to Israel (for reference, back in 2022 Ukraine received a 'mere' 24% share of the Italian semi-final televote). The results were apparently incomplete but together with Israel qualifying for the final, caused the country to spike in the odds.

Israel's participation has been a contentious topic this year and the tensions started showing in the press conference for the second semi-final qualifiers. Then the Dutch representative Joost Klein was reported to have been involved in an altercation of some sort with a photographer. The EBU has remained tight-lipped about what had transpired, which means that rumours are spreading like wildfire, but the Netherlands were then excluded from the rehearsals as well as the jury show.

Meanwhile, the EBU is rumoured to have had a crisis meeting about the situation, also cancelling a scheduled press conference with the automatic qualifiers. Executive producer Martin Österdahl was furthermore reported to have been absent in the rehearsals. To add fuel to the fire, there have been stories about Israeli journalists harassing and provoking people. And you know things have gone to shit when someone whips out John Lennon's "Imagine" as a way to soothe people (did they not learn anything from the pandemic times?).

How on earth did this all happen? Thing is not known. Despite the (now tame in comparison) Loreen vs. Käärijä drama last year, I sure bet Finland is happy they're not in charge of hosting this dumpster fire.

I am alredy dreading to see how things unfold come Grand Final night, but I'm here for the music first and foremost, and we've got a grand total of 26 finalists to go through, so let's get on with it.

Review of ESC 2024 – Semi-final 2

Now that we've got the first semi-final sorted out, it's time to take a look at what the second semi-final has to offer. Without further ado, let's move on to the entries!

Review of ESC 2024 – Semi-final 1

If you are getting a slight case of déjà vu with this year's Eurovision Song Contest, you are probably not alone – the parallels between this year and 2013 are almost comical in nature. Loreen won the competition with a dramatic dance-pop number (again), bringing the contest to Malmö (again), where the show will be hosted by Petra Mede (again). Also, they are apparently reusing the slogan from last year. Now, I know that Sweden tends to get some flak for constantly relying on a tried-and-tested formula but this is just downright silly!

Jokes aside, Loreen is obviously a spectacular performer – it's just that her second win felt a bit anticlimactic, especially with "Tattoo" failing to reach the heights of "Euphoria" or even her 2017 Melodifestivalen entry "Statements" (in my subjective opinion, anyway). Either way, she is an undeniable powerhouse and it'll be interesting to see what kind of a career boost becoming Eurovision's second-ever double winner will translate into. Just... please don't come back to compete again, yeah?

Last year also sparked a heated debate about the role of the professional juries and whether they should have equal weight (or any at all) in comparison to the televote. Personally, I think that the bloc-voting-riddled and gimmicky televote-pandering years of the mid-00s are reason enough for the juries to exist. Mind you, just last year "Solo" ranked third in its semi-final and eighth in the grand final based on televote alone. Yes, you read that correctly.

The issue I have with the juries is not their existence or even their equal influence in the grand final (if anything, I'd love to see them back in the semis) but rather their homogeneity. The juries seem to collectively favour certain genres and dare I say countries to such extent that I wish they were more diverse in their composition. Not in order to steer voting outcomes, of course, but rather to make them represent a wider range of tastes and genres while still keeping musical quality as the focal point.

This year also sees slight changes in how the televote works. The Rest of the World voting now starts 24 hours in advance for all three shows and in the grand final, the remaining televoters too can start voting before the first performance even starts. This is absolutely ridiculous to me. Previously, the live performance was always a make-or-break moment for any given song. Successful stagings have launched overlooked entries to the top of the scoreboard, while lacklustre performances have sunk fan favourites regardless of their pre-contest hype.

While this might be just an attempt to increase viewer engagement and televote revenue, taken together with the allowing of pre-recorded backing vocals, this change continues to erode the importance of actually great live vocal performances and I find this trend concerning. Theoretically, all televoting in the grand final could take place before a single note has been sung. Not to mention that many casual viewers skip the semis altogether, meaning that they might not even have seen any of the performances before casting their votes. I can't say I am a fan of this. Or the new 'Producer's Choice' shenanigans, yet another instrument of producer interference in the running order.

Although as a silver lining, there is one very welcome change: starting from this year, all automatic finalists will perform their songs in full during the semi-finals, giving them an equal opportunity to hone their live staging and leave an impression before the grand final. Anyway, seeing that we're already on paragraph #7 with no discussion on the entries themselves yet, let's take a look at some actual songs now, shall we?

Review of ESC 2023 – Grand Final

Now that the semi-finals are done, we finally know our Grand Final line-up! As mentioned before, this year's semi-finals were all about the televote, which probably didn't rock the boat all that much. The advancing countries were mostly predictable, with Croatia (yay) and Poland (nay) being the most surprising qualifiers and the entries that likely benefitted the most from the televote-only rule.

The flip side is that some entries that might normally have been carried through by the juries were now left in the semis, such as Georgia (it is not a secret that I love Georgia as an Eurovision country) and in particular Latvia. (Seriously, how did that not qualify with such a great live performance over so many shaky qualifiers? "Aijā" was my absolute favourite this year so Europe, you are cancelled to me).

Regardless, the show must go on and the Grand Final is drawing nearer. So, let's see what we're working with!

Review of ESC 2023 – Semi-final 2

Now that we have gone through the first semi-final (you can find my review of it here), it is time to move on to the second one. It features 16 participating countries, 10 of which will advance to the Grand Final. But which countries are they going to be?

Just like in the first semi, I haven't really heard any of the songs beforehand so these reviews will be based on first impressions. The official live versions (from national pre-selection competitions or the like) will be used whenever possible. Each contestant is rated on a five-star scale and in the end, I will list the 10 entries that I consider the most likely finalists. Alright then, let's listen to some songs, shall we?

Review of ESC 2023 – Semi-final 1

Good evening Europe and welcome to Twelves Across The Board, a brand new music blog dedicated to the eccentric fabulosity that is the Eurovision Song Contest! I am someone who, after running another music blog for years, noticed that the only thing that kept me coming back to writing was the Eurovision season. So, in the end I decided that I might as well start a new blog solely for that purpose – and here we are. But enough about me!

Last year, perhaps rather unexpectedly, we saw the anthemic "Stefania" capture the hearts of Europe (and rightfully so, might I add – the song remains a banger and a half). Just as unexpectedly, war-torn Ukraine found itself unable to host the contest. The hosting duties were then assigned to the runner-up, namely the United Kingdom (who placed second in Turin, thanks to TikTok star and golden retriever in human form Sam Ryder).

Eventually, Liverpool was announced as the host city and "United By Music" as the official slogan. After a global pandemic and a brutal war emerging on European soil, the way the Eurovision Song Contest brings people together across the continent feels perhaps more magical and important than ever before, so it is indeed a fitting theme. Not sure about the migrainous colour scheme theme, though (even if the prominence of blue and yellow is obviously a nod to Ukraine).

There are also notably some changes that were implemented in the voting system this year. Firstly, semi-final results are now entirely dependent on the televote. This consequently means that the jury vote only comes to play in the Grand Final, where they "will, as before, be combined with viewer votes to decide final result". Finally, global viewers in non-participating countries will now be able to vote for their favourites online, with their votes being added together and converted to points equivalent to one participating country. This applies to both the semi-finals and the Grand Final alike.

The contest is clearly trying to branch out to a more worldwide audience while also placing more emphasis on televote appeal. I get the latter point (although I still think that the juries have their place), but I am a little sceptical about the former trend – I just hope that the Eurovision doesn't lose its very special and very specific identity while trying to attract an ever larger global audience. I mean, they already tried and flopped with the American Song Contest, so...

In any event, the BBC will undoubtedly treat us to a phenomenal show with top-notch production value, and hopefully we see a lot of Ukrainian involvement in the show as well. But at the end of the day, it is the music that truly serves as the heart and soul of the contest – so how is our song selection like this year? Let's have a look!