So far we’ve seen decent showings all round. Both Iceland and Russia scored reasonably yesterday, but what can Greece and Norway do? Both countries have pretty decent track records, but will they keep form this year? Or at least, should they? Find out below!
GREECE
Maria-Elena Kyriakou – One Last Breath
Nathan: This was not the right selection for the Mediterranean country to make. we didn’t need another female led dreary delightfully boring ballad but we got one. yawn, next.
Score: 2/10
Simon: A proper ballad, that sticks in the mind, even if it is no potential winner. She can sing.
Score: 6/10
Rinor: I just don’t get the hype about this song. Yeah, Maria’s voice is strong, and that’s probably why they’re going to qualify again. But I can’t see this anywhere close to the Top 10. Sorry Ellada!
Score: 5/10
Rodrigo: In a year full of ballads, this stands out for me as the best of them all. Melody, lyrics, voice, they all come together to deliver a power (timeless) ballad that builds up perfectly. In my books, simply the best entry of the year.
Score: 10/10
Nick: Now this is a song I really enjoy. It’s one of the better ballads this year, Maria Elena is an amazing performer and the song builds perfectly. If this becomes Greece’s first non-qualifier, I’ll punch someone. What a voice, such perfection.
Score: 9.5/10
Peter: I love a big old dramatic Eurovision ballad, and this fills the gap left by ‘Diell’ (Elhaida Dani’s withdrawn Albanian entry) very nicely. It has a fantastic dramatic build, although I just wish it would do more in the first half as I fear voters will lose interest.
Score: 8/10
NORWAY
Mørland & Debrah Scarlett – A Monster Like Me
Nathan: This really was the weakest song that made the superfinal. no stage presence, no charisma, no interest, no points.
Score: 0/10
Simon: I really like what the’re trying to do here, but for the benefit of one-time viewers I wish they’d have a bit more rise and fall in the emotion of the song. How will the vocals hold out?
Score: 7/10
Rinor: Loving Norway’s contemporary ballads these past two years. I think this is a little dark, but a lot of people can relate to it. It’s well sung, and with a good staging, it could secure Norway another Top 10 spot.
Score: 10/10
Rodrigo: And off we go to the second best ballad of the year. The darkness of it makes it hard to overlook. They both have amazing voices that blend together very well to end up with a fantastic entry that reminds me why I (usually) love Norwegian entries so much.
Score: 9.5/10
Nick: During that national final, I was all for Tor&Bettan, but this is obviously a stunning ballad with possibly the best lyrics of the year. They work together nicely (unlike some other duets), but need to work on that staging.
Score: 8/10
Peter: I really liked this one in the context of the Norwegian selection, but it’s kind of grown off me a little bit. Hopefully they can improve on their MGP performance and my love for it can be rekindled, but right now I don’t see it challenging.
Score: 7/10
The story so far…
Some extreme scoring there, with both entries scoring at least one 10/10 (Greece from Rodrigo, Norway from Rinor), but Nathan obviously isn’t a fan, scoring Greece 2/10 and Norway 0/10. That means both entries settle in scores we’ve seen a lot: between 6 and 7. Norway narrows out Azerbaijan for fifth, Greece comfortably sits in seventh currently.
- Belgium – 8.50/10
- Italy – 7.83/10
- Australia – 7.67/10
- The Netherlands – 7.00/10
- Norway – 6.92/10
- Azerbaijan – 6.92/10
- Greece – 6.75/10
- Iceland – 6.29/10
- Montenegro – 6.17/10
- Belarus – 6.17/10
- Austria – 6.08/10
- Germany – 6.00/10
- Russia – 6.00/10
- Latvia – 5.83/10
- Ireland – 5.64/10
- Serbia – 5.43/10
- Czech Republic – 5.14/10
- Hungary – 5.08/10
- Malta – 4.83/10
- Lithuania – 4.79/10
- Israel – 4.64/10
- FYR Macedonia – 4.14/10
- Armenia – 3.71/10
- San Marino – 3.08/10
- Moldova – 2.79/10
- Finland – 2.17/10
It’s time for a total Scandinavian fest tomorrow. We’ll be reviewing eternal fan favourite and current #1 with bookmakers: Sweden’s Måns Zelmerlöw, as well as last year’s host country Denmark’s Anti Social Media.
