Just as soon as it began, the Eurovision season has ended. But don’t be heartbroken! We still have the rest of tonight to celebrate. Let’s start by finishing off these reviews.
Round 4:
- Bzikebi — On Replay (Georgia)
- Alexandra Căpitănescu — Choke Me (Romania)
- Dara — Bangaranga (Bulgaria)
- Senhit ft. Boy George — Superstar (San Marino)
- Eva Marija — Mother Nature (Luxembourg)
- Atvara — Ēnā (Latvia)
- Søren Torpegaard Lund — Før vi går hjem (Denmark)
- Linda Lampenius x Pete Parkkonen — Liekinheitin (Finland)
Søren Torpegaard Lund — Før vi går hjem
“Før vi går hjem” is a flawlessly built song. Søren Torpegaard Lund’s voice starts off gentle while the soft but insistent percussion frames the fragility and fraughtness of his words, begging to have his heart broken yet again. His pleas become increasingly piercing as the song progresses and the percussion once again rushes to support him, this time by punctuating each line. With every passing second, this song continuously won me over. Phenomenal song from Denmark.
Atvara — Ēnā
A lonely piano and ghostly vocals accompany Atvara as she sings about abandonment in “Ēnā.” If you don’t let the loud screech after the chorus scare you away, you will realize that it is only a deep sadness peeking around the corner, wishing to be heard. Throughout the song, Atvara’s anguish grows until she releases a series of wails that could cross an entire ocean. But it makes no difference as the person whose attention she truly longs for will not see her. Overall, a deeply moving song from Latvia.
Linda Lampenius x Pete Parkkonen — Liekinheitin
In “Liekinheitin”, Pete Parkkonen greets us with raspy and angsty vocals while Linda Lampenius waves through the window with her violin. Bridging the two together are vocal distortions and emotionally charged percussion. While Lampenius and Parkkonen are both impressive in their own right, I am not fully convinced that their partnership works. When Parkkonen sings, the song sounds complete and full of scorn. When Lampenius plays, it sounds like an equally engaging instrumental rendition of the song. They don’t sound like two halves of a complicated relationship like I expected them to. Regardless, this song from Finland has all the spectacle and heat a listener could want.
Rankings
- Denmark
- Latvia
- Montenegro
- Belgium
- Australia
- Lithuania
- Croatia
- Portugal
- Finland
- Czechia