Ireland 1991

“Could It Be That I’m In Love”, performed by Kim Jackson.
Composition by Liam Reilly.
Lyrics by Liam Reilly.

Here’s a rarity, a weak song and poor result for Ireland in the 1990s. Coming off a second place with Liam Reilly’s “Somewhere in Europe”, Reilly wrote the 1991 song for his 1990 backing singer Kim Jackson.

Although Jackson had experience of the Eurovision stage, the performance in Rome was not one that had any confidence or panache. It’s a very flat performance. To be honest it feels more like a rehearsal to check all the tech is working, rather than a broadcast across all of Europe.

It’s not helped by a composition where the construction feels so obvious. I can’t help to hear the joins between the various musical phrases, and once that happens the magic is lost.

Ireland will come back stronger - much stronger - but not with Jackson.

Points: 47. Placing: 10th.

Denmark 2020

‘Yes’, Performed by Ben and Tan.
Composition: Emil Rosendal Lei, Jimmy Jansson, and Linnea Deb.
Lyrics: Emil Rosendal Lei, Jimmy Jansson, and Linnea Deb.

I find 'Yes’ both enticing and exciting. I think that’s down to the strong beat that carries through the song, especially on that snare. Everything is incessant, everything is about moving forwards, and that gives this Danish entry a lot of momentum.

There’s also a dash of celtic flavour in here. Given the last time Danish broadcaster DR went down this route it picked up a win with 'Only Teardrops’, you could argue that 'Yes’ is one of Denmark’s signature winning sounds.

I’d be hesitant to change the music, but 'Yes’ needed more work on the visuals before it could have been considered a contender.

The staging seen at Melodi Grand Prix showed a lot of promise that could have been ironed out before reaching Rotterdam - it feels a little unbalanced. I love the opening framing shot where Tan is in charge, but once Ben arrives in the narrative his guitar and mic stand become the focus and he dominates the visuals. 

I don’t think much would have changed, given how close 'Yes’ was selected to the submission date, but as it stands the cancellation of Rotterdam 2020 means we’ll never know if the potential on show would have delivered.

No performance due to Contest cancellation.

Greece 1990

‘Horis Skopo’, performed by Christos Callow & Wave.
Composition: Yiorgos Palaiokastritis.
Lyrics: Yiorgos Palaiokastritis.

I doubt it will come as a surprise that the studio version of 'Horis Skopo’ has a lot of pop synth in the mix (and it looks like it was filmed by Garth Marenghi). Neither will it come as a surprise that the Yugoslav orchestra struggled to replicate the sound.

There’s one electric guitar that does one riff and an opening few bars as a nod to the pop, but the orchestra has made no effort here to try and fit a modern style with any panache. And I think that’s reflected by Callow himself.

The whole performance feels falt, as if this is a run through to block out the camera moves… not the actual live performance going out across Europe. Callow’s live vocals are missing the range that the studio version has, and there’s no brightness or enjoyment in his voice.

When you know something isn’t working, you know. And I think Callow knew that on the Eurovision stage, this wasn’t working.

Points: 11. Placing: 19th.

Sweden 2019

‘Too Late For Love’, performed by Jon Lundvik
Composed by John Lundvik, Anderz Wrethov, and Andreas “Stone” Johansson.
Lyrics by John Lundvik, Anderz Wrethov, and Andreas “Stone” Johansson.

We’re here to review the songs, so I’m going to put aside the callous nature of the final split-screen voting; although I’m not going to forget it… I want my Eurovision to be a celebration, not a cruel circus).

'Too Late For Love’ is a highly polished piece of R&B, taking fifth place in the Tel Aviv Contest, but I think it left a lot of potential points on the table because someone was overthinking the staging. Simply put, this is far too dark, and strips away many of the indications that this is a live performance.

The handful of audience shots are always in darkness, meaning the audience cheers feel piped in. The idea of using negative space to represent something missing is a powerful piece of cinematography if it’s not blatantly obvious. It’s blatantly obvious. Without those connections this looks like someone decided to play a music video instead of watching an arena performance. 

Which is a shame, because Lundvik is fabulous on camera. He knows how to connect with the audience at home, and he provided the perfect gif moment at the end of the live performance with a cheeky wink down the lens.

I come back to that word clinical. The look feels far too polished, the song feels like a tick box exercise of moments, and once the jury note is delivered  the last minute or is packed full of vocal exercises hiding as technique. I’d prefer a bit less spectacle, and I think that would have improved the whole package.

Semi Final: Points: 238. Placing: 3rd.
Grand Final: Points: 334. Placing: 5th.

Luxembourg 1974

‘Bye Bye I Love You’, performed by Ireen Sheer.
Composition by Ralph Siegel.
Lyrics by Michael Kunze.

“To be memory holed” in the parlance of reality TV is to be placed right after a hugely memorable act in such a way that the performance cannot be recalled. Ireen Sheer has a strong claim to be one of the biggest memory holes in history.

Singing for Luxembourg at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974, she had the challenge of going out on stage after ABBA performed 'Waterloo’. To gather a fourth place after that suggests a strong song.

'Bye Bye I Love You’ straddles the two dominant Eurovision styles of the seventies. On one side you have the chanson styled presentation and soaring voice. On the other side you have the lighter side of the seventies with a strong bubblegum beat keeping it light. And do I detect a threat of breaking into “My… heart… goes… Boom Bang-a Bang…”?

Sheer would be back in 1978 and 1985, but this would be her best result. She brings her best game to the Brighton stage, but there’s no bite to 'Bye Bye I Love You’ and this little fluffy number is blown away by a Swedish hurricane. 

Points: 14. Placing: 4th

Switzerland 1965

‘Non, À Jamais Sans Toi’, performed by Yovanna.
Composition: Bob Calfati, and Jean Charles.
Lyrics: Bob Calfati, and Jean Charles.

Yovanna took a rather circuitous route to the Song Contest. The Greek singer won Sopot, built up a fanbase in Russia and Georgia, and started to work closely with Radio Geneva. With national and international appeal, plus an experience of singing contest, she was selected to represent Switzerland, in Italy, with a French chanson.

'Non, À Jamais Sans Toi’ is clearly a chanson style, but the beats of the song feel in conflict with the lyrics; as if the orchestra has a different idea on how the first thirty seconds should go. A quick check on the studio version and Yovanna is higher in the mix while the instrumentation is lower and lighter. It works there. It doesn’t work in Naples.

If Yovanna could get the orchestra to sit in her musical pocket, this would be a fantastic number. As it is, this Swiss entry doesn’t know what way it wants to go.

Points: 8. Placing: 8th.

Iceland 2017

‘Paper’. By Svala.Composition by Svala Björgvinsdóttir, Einar Egilsson, Lester Mendez, and Lily Elise.Lyrics by Svala Björgvinsdóttir, Einar Egilsson, Lester Mendez, and Lily Elise.

In Svala, Iceland had an established star, who had the skilsl not just in musical performance, but also in the langugae of music on the TV thanks to her time  juduging The Voice. Musically, Paper’ has an an electro-pop with just a hint of hip-hop as a garnish.

If you’ll pardon the pun, on paper this should have worked.

The performance from Songvakeppnin fell a little short of its potential. With hindsight the Eurovision community heard a great studio song, declared Icelandic broadcaster RUV as 'back’, and decided that once Svala made it to Kyiv the performance would be punched up, the visuals would be on point, and 'Paper’ would sail through to the Saturday night.

That wasn’t to do. The Eurovision performance was solid, but it was still lacking anything that helped it to stand out.

'Paper’ still feels like a missed opportunity, but also feels like it had reached its potential.

Semi Final: Points: 60. Placing: 15th.
Grand Final: Did not qualify.

F.Y.R. Macedonia 2018

“Lost And Found”, by Eye Cue.
Composition by Bojan Trajkovski, and Darko Dimitrov.
Lyrics by Bojan Trajkovski.

This is a fascinating Eurovision case of “why didn’t it work?”

‘Lost and Found’ is the sort of song that is me personal catnip. It’s shifting around with rhythym and tempo, it flits between genres, and it builds up to a fascinating energy. You than have an official video that follows those same artistic decisions of constantly shifting, building up, and the whole package is engaging.

When it arrived on the Lisbon stage for the Song Contest, all that was stripped away.

The inventiveness of the lyrics and the visual impact of the video are missing. What we get is a basic camera effect with some awkward 'static burst’ transitions. There’s an off-camera costume change into an outfit that is… a choice. The same song suddenly lacks energy in the back half of the song.

What could have been a potential diamond in the rough to… rough.

There’s a reason I’ve embedded the studio version.

Semi Final - Points: 24. Placing: 18th.
Grand Final - Did not qualify.

Greece 2014

‘Rise Up" performed by Freaky Fortune feat. RiskyKidd.
Composition by Freaky Fortune.
Lyrics by Freaky Fortune, RiskyKidd.

I suspect that Freaky Fortune had a relatively straightforward brief… make us a really good party song. The result was 'Rise Up’ and it delivers. There’s a huge amount of energy in the song, and singing live all of that energy is on show. It’s bright and vivacious, and very much a feel good song.

It’s also quite a low tariff song in terms of the Song Contest. The excitement and dance floor filling beats don’t actually go anywhere, there’s no emotion beyond 'happy’ and without the bounce given by the trampoline, the last minute can be a repetitive listen at home.

Sometimes you don’t need deep and complex songs in your lift. That’s the time when 'Rise Up’ is perfect.

Semi Final - Points: 74. Placing: 7th.
Grand Final - Points: 35. Placing: 20th.

Poland 2007

‘Time To Party’, by The Jet Set.
Composition: Kamil Varen, David Junior Serame and Mateusz Krezan.
Lyrics: Kamil Varen, David Junior Serame and Mateusz Krezan.

Oil and water don’t mix. The Jet Set decided to try a similar trick with motown and rap… and achieved similar results. 'Time To Party’ not only fails to find a musical balance with its opening genre choices, but also decided to throw in a dash of swing jazz for the chorus.

There’s allso a curious staging choice to fire off some pyro at a point where even the pyro looks confused about why it is there.

This is not an easy song to listen to. It never feels comfortable, and without that comfort you’re never going to get a moment where you can easily think “Yes, I’m going to vote for this.”

Semi Final - Points: 75. Placing: 14th.
Grand Final - Did not qualify.