Review: Madame Monsieur - Mercy - France
7 Day YouTube Views: 267,317
7 Day YouTube Likes: 8,139
Based on the plight of a newborn refugee, France present Mercy, named after the child. The song highlights the tragedy and suffering of those escaping the poverty and strife of their home countries by attempting to cross the Mediterranean. The music video features (predominantly white) people representing refugees walking around major European cities in life-vests and foil hypothermia blankets. The obvious implication is that these people could be any of us and we should extend our sympathies - as of course we should.
Unable to stomach singing in English, the song is in French. The first and obvious problem arises in the fact that the baby the song is written about is named "Mercy", now, if you're unaware of the inspiration behind this song (which is 99% of the Eurovision audience), you'll simply think this song is saying "thank you" over and over. Unlike Italy with it's aggressive anti-war tone, France could be really be singing about anything. It's likely France will attempt to get the message across by showing images of refugees, but will that help? I really think a French person singing a song with an emphasis on the word "Mercy" is a problem...
As for the song itself, the first three quarters are good, the verses build into a pleasing and catchy chorus. However it's always most important to finish on a high - France fail to do this in the final quarter of the song. I found the change in tone and quality quite jarring with the lyrics basically just the word "Mercy" repeated for 30 seconds. Overall though it's a decent song but there are doubts as to whether it will really stand out at Eurovision - stick this song just before Hungary or Norway in the running order and then ask the Eurovision audience which song they still remember by the end of the night.
Mercy had an initial run of hype which died down only to resurface later, they're now 3rd in the betting markets. I for one am a little perplexed at this, 90% of this song is the message and 90% of the audience either won't understand that message or perhaps won't even agree with it. Again, let's not get lost in our Western bubble, there are plenty of places in Europe not nearly as progressive as we are who may not be on board with the pro-African refugee message.
This song for me is the big false favourite, lacking the punch of Israel and the Czech Republic, the quality of Estonia, the Disney-esque mindless-happiness appeal of Norway - it just doesn't fit. Mercy is currently considered 3rd most likely to win the entire contest, I don't see it happening, France's YouTube hits have also been dismal compared to other songs in the top 10. On purely a musical level, what a poor year it'd be if this song went on to win.
Review: Benjamin Ingrosso - Dance You Off - Sweden
7 Day YouTube Views: 816,286
7 Day YouTube Likes: 15,023
With a chill-out vibe, yearly favourites Sweden return with Dance You Off sung by Benjamin Ingrosso.
Reminiscent of Justin Timberlake, Bruno Mars or Pharrell with a healthy dose of funky bass, Dance You Off is what you might hear at 3am in a high-end bar in London, not too trashy but not too mainstream either. It's an unusual choice for Eurovision though, a dance track that doesn't excite you enough to actually get you dancing, the "Da-da-dance you off" hook is also fairly weak and doesn't provide a defining moment in the song.
Sweden know how to do Eurovision, Loreen and Mans being good examples in recent years, their delegation clearly know this song lacks a bit of meat and are trying to top it up with an LED staging concept that's sure to flush out any epileptics watching. However it's unlikely to be enough and a 7th - 11th place finish is what I'd expect. Reading through people's general feedback, the consensus is more or less that the song is fairly average but because it's Sweden that means it'll do well anyway - and they're probably right. Of the top 8 or so songs in the betting, it'd be safe to say that Sweden has probably received the least amount of attention than all the others, compared to Israel, Norway, France, Australia, etc.
Sweden are currently 8th favourite in the betting markets but if it were any other country, it'd be around 18th in the running. To it's credit though, it's YouTube stats are very high, 15,000 Likes and 800,000 Views in 7 days isn't too bad at all. I personally find the song quite featureless and difficult to critique, I feel myself switching off about halfway through and besides the "Da-da-dance you off" bit, can not recall any of the lyrics. Despite this, they sing late in the weak second semi so qualification won't be a problem.
Review: Amaia y Alfred - Tu Cancion - Spain
7 Day YouTube Views: 1,225,570
7 Day YouTube Likes: 41,317
The first (of many) hyped acts in this year was Spain with Tu Cancion, sung by Amaia and Alfred, a real life couple. Tu Cancion ("Your Song") is a simplistic ballad where the vocals carry the song forward far more than the piano and strings.
The song reminds me very much of "Come What May" from Moulin Rouge, the young couple staring into each other's eyes and professing their love. That Amaia and Alfred are actually dating is a crucial factor, this effect wouldn't work and would be intensely uncomfortable if it were just singers pretending to be in love, the chemistry is what makes it.
The music builds over the course of the song, the melody is accessible and unlike so many other native-language songs this year, the message is crystal clear to all who listen. My understanding is they're keeping the staging simple, just the two lovers singing to one another - definitely a good move, however with nothing to distract the audience it means their vocals will have to be on point.
More than just the song, the entire feel of Tu Cancion feels like a breath of fresh air in a field of plastic pop, pretty boys, incomprehensible ethnic songs and random crap, this stands alone as a unique entry of the 43. It's not singing about love in general, they're literally singing it for one another. With the dancing, lighting and costumes on the night, a song like this definitely brings everything right back down to the basic level and I appreciate that. The nearest comparison would be Lithuania, but that song went so simple it's incredibly boring.
As mentioned, Spain were the first hyped act this year before dropping down as other acts revealed their songs. This year has been pretty crazy in the betting, Israel has lead since it's release but around 7 or 8 songs have taken 2nd favourite before giving it up to another country. The reason for this is simple, all of those songs have a crucial, individual element that's just wrong, like 90% of the song is great but that 10% is what instills doubt and this year a lot of the top tracks are like that - especially after first rehearsals. The reason I say this is because I'm not sure Spain's drop in the market odds is merited, for me it does exactly what it says on the tin, stands alone in it's genre, has that element of the real-couple and the song is pretty good to boot. This should be higher in the markets if you ask me.
The YouTube stats for Spain paint the same sort of picture, 2nd highest Views and Likes after 7 days behind Israel on both counts. 41,300 likes is especially significant, Equinox for Bulgaria got around the same number of views after 7 days as Spain, but only half the Likes. Spain currently sit at 11th favourite in the market which to me is far too high, this song is in my top 5 - with the later tracks being released, did punters take their eye off the ball?
Review: Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro - Non Mi Avete Fatto Niente - Italy
7 Day YouTube Views: 175,031
7 Day YouTube Likes: 7,820
After a let-down last year with "Occidentali's Karma", Italy return in 2018 with Non Mi Avete Fatto Niente ("You haven't done anything to me"), an anti-war pop-rap hybrid.
I do want to touch first on the theme of the song and the music video - featuring images of destroyed cities, refugees, missiles being fired and even footage of people's last moments. A powerful message and of course something we should all care about.
My criticism of this approach in Eurovision is on a few levels, the first is purely on the musical level, as someone who doesn't speak Italian, had I not watched the video I'd not have had a clue it was about war and suffering, it'd just be a guy singing a fairly angry sounding song and I suspect that this will probably be the case on the Eurovision stage, worthy a cause as it is, the message will likely be lost.
My next criticism is that we should be careful not to politicise Eurovision, Jamala's 1944 was an internal cry about the history of her country, it was a story of something that actually happened as a historical fact - whereas 'Non Mi Avete Fatto Niente' is more of a general political statement and I feel this is a dangerous route to go down if each country starts spouting it's politics. My final critique is simply about how appropriate the entire song is, the Eurovision Song Contest was bourne of a post-WW2 need to reunite Europe in friendship and fun. I can turn on the news at any time to be reminded that I'm a member of a species capable of heartlessly causing suffering and death, do I need it in Eurovision too? And if you didn't care about all this before, is this Eurovision song really the thing that will wake you up? People are likely to vote for this because they agree with the politics, rather than the merit of the song itself.
As for the track, the pace increases and the song builds but because it's largely rap, there isn't any real melody to latch to and being sung in Italian, it's impossible to sing along with the chorus. I really feel this song will struggle in the televote - though it'll likely get points from the juries for it's message.
Italy is currently 10th favourite to win the contest, again, this feels overhyped and unmerited. As a member of the Big 5, they're another country that don't need to worry about semi-final qualification. My prediction though is that anyone betting on Italy to be Top 10 will be in for a tense evening.
Review: Michael Schulte - You Let Me Walk Alone - Germany
7 Day YouTube Views: 126,583
7 Day YouTube Likes: 4,370
Another of the Big 5, Germany present Michael Schulte singing You Let Me Walk Alone, with a Sheeran-esque voice and the piano-backing of an Adele track he presents a solid, if unoriginal ballad.
Fishing from the same pool as Ireland, Germany's track could easily be coming out of Ed Sheeran's mouth, Michael Schulte's already halfway there if Sheeran decided to grow his hair out. However, Ireland is considered a bit of a no-hoper with question marks over whether it can progress past it's semi, so assuming Ireland doesn't qualify the next most comparable singer is Cesar Sampson for Austria - my personal feeling is that Austria's song is better. We gave Austria just one star in our review, but that was mainly for a lack of originality. Germany's song also suffers from this and you can easily see it being completely eclipsed in the memories of the Eurovision audience if it were followed by Cyprus or Israel.
As for the song itself, it's difficult to say too much about it, just a fairly simple song with standardised verses and chroruses, it's another track that never builds but simply plods on at a regular pace throughout. You Let Me Walk Alone is also another track that you could hear within 10 minutes of switching on the radio anywhere, it doesn't provide the audience with anything they don't already have. It's difficult to imagine how staging can really spice things up much either.
Germany is a Big 5 contestant so doesn't need to worry about the semi-finals. It's currently considered to be 18th favourite to win by the betting markets. I think that's a little generous as I definitely prefer many of the songs that are below it in the odds, such as the United Kingdom and Ukraine. We think this'll be a right-hand side finisher in the final.