Preface:
As I mentioned in a previous post (Random Thoughts Thursday: Eurovision), I’m going to start reviewing and making my predictions for ESC2022 as countries begin to name their artists and release their songs. While these songs will be performed at Eurovision, countries have some time to revamp the song (mainly to fit it into the 3-minute window) and staging.
In addition to making comments about the current entry, I’ll provide information about the country’s entry from last year’s Eurovision just as a comparison.
Sheldon Riley – Not the Same
Thoughts:
OMG. I’m actually speechless because this song (and performance) is so powerful. I mean, you can sense that he is actually feeling the song instead of just performing it. In fact, it’s so powerful that I wish that it was longer than 3 minutes. For Eurovision, live songs must be no longer than 3 minutes. I really hope that my five-star rating will not jinx his standings in this year’s contest. In terms of ESC2022, I think he will do well with the national juries, but I’m not too sure about the public votes. Everything is great with this one – the vocal, the staging, the performance itself. I still have goosebumps from this one.
Australia definitely is in it to win it. So what happens if Australia wins when it is not located in Europe? If Australia wins, the country has to cohost with a European city.
Quick LOL moment: At the end of the contest, ESC goes live to all of the participating countries to receive their national juries votes. It always makes me laugh a bit because it’s still nighttime in Europe, but early morning in Australia.
Australia in last year’s Eurovision:
Montaigne – Technicolour
- Semi-final results: 14th place out of 16 performances (28 points – 26 national juries and 2 public votes)
- Final results: Since she did not land in the top 10, she did not advance to the final
I could not find any live ESC performances for this one
First, I have to say that I felt so bad for Montaigne. Because of Australia’s COVID restrictions, she could not leave the country and travel to the Netherlands for the contest. Her delegation sent a live-on-tape video for her performance, which I think took her out of the running in the contest. Since the staging and arena were completely compared to what we saw from the other performers that were physically at ESC, it felt like we were watching two different shows.
While she had some vocal issues in her performance, I did not think the performance was that bad for her to receive only 28 total points. Climbing those octaves (around 2:11) was extremely difficult, and she was moving through most of the performance. It’s kind of interesting/weird that she receive her public votes from only Ukraine and Russia. Then again, I guess I can understand because she was in a very strong semifinal heat. In this heat, Malta, Ukraine, Russia, and Lithuania did very well in the public vote.
Oh interesting ESC2021 trivia, Montaigne hit the second-highest note this year’s contest.
Social Media Plug:
Run There, Drink That 