Jaagup Tuisk – Beautiful Lie
According to the odds, this is the favourite to win by some margin. With this level of hype, there is an expectation to be blown away when seeing the favourite perform. This pressure is both unfair to the artist and a bit flawed.
Firstly, just because a song is a favourite to win doesn’t necessarily mean it has a ‘wow factor’ in the context of the main contest. I’d say the majority of Eurovision entries aren’t necessarily ‘wow moment’s, but most are ‘enjoyable’ in the very least. Further, by having incredibly high expectations for a song almost inevitably sets you up for disappointment.
I personally understand why this is predicted to do so well, but the inevitable Duncan Lawrence comparisons block me from having a ‘pure’ opinion of the entry. This all said, the performance is visually impressive and stands out massively in the line-up. The striking music video is transferred brilliantly onto the Eesti Laul stage, and seeing Jaagup’s rehearsal affirmed how seriously he is taking this. He is certainly in it to win it.
It’s also worth mentioning that “Beautiful Lie” has more staging than the other 11 acts combined, and sports pretty much every visual effect you can think of. Think lighting changes, augmented reality rain droplets, a rotating camera trick, a camera shake…the full works. All these elements shouldn’t work, but the bombast of it all suits the drama of the song itself. I expect this staging to elevate even further if this does make it to Rotterdam.
