Eurovision 2023 – The story so far (Part 2)

After starting our series on this year’s Eurovision Song Contest entries last week, now it’s time for the second round. Let’s take a look at the next nine entries of this year’s contest in Liverpool:

Shall we call this a comeback? Marco Mengoni won the Sanremo Music Festival for the second time, ten years after his first win, and will also be flying Italy’s flag at Eurovision for the second time in Liverpool, hoping to improve on the seventh place he achieved in Malmö back in 2013. His song, Due vite, is about a very specific kind of double life: the everyday life and the life of dreams and subconscious.

Musically, this entry sees Italy sticking to its guns: it is a classic Italian-language ballad that usually goes well with jury and audiences alike. And we don’t see why it should be different this time. The melody feels beautiful, excellently-crafted, with Mengoni’s powerful voice adding the touch of emotion to elevate it to the next level. Italy’s entry is almost always one to watch at Eurovision, and Due vite is no exception.

Latvia has struggled in recent years in Eurovision, as they last qualified for the final in 2016. Indie-rock band Sudden Lights will be the ones trying to right the ship this year with Aijā, a song conceived as a rock lullaby of sorts to help people sleep better by distracting them from everything happening around the world.

Honestly, we have our reserves about Sudden Lights’ chances in Liverpool. Aijā is a nice enough song but it doesn’t feel like enough to stand out from the pack in its semifinal. Unless the band absolutely nails the stage presentation, it feels like a borderline qualifier at best.

After crashing out in the semi-finals last year, Malta is looking to turn its fortunes around with three-man band The Busker. They will be bringing to Liverpool a funky-esque sound in Dance (Our Own Party), a song with a catchy saxophone solo and lyrics connected to themes of social anxiety and leaving a large-scale party in favor of a more intimate affair.

The track is a fun, radio-friendly romp that could easily qualify for the final if the presentation on stage is done right in Liverpool. How high it can get once there is a different story.

Faroese performer Reiley will be flying Denmark’s flag in Liverpool. Breaking My Heart is a song about a toxic relationship, based on Reiley’s own personal experiences with someone who was no good for him, but he still wanted to be with.

We consider this is a decent track – you might remember we placed it at #99 in the inaugural WMR 100 list two weeks ago -, but ‘decent’ is usually not enough in Eurovision. Also, after taking a close look at the national final performance above, we have serious doubts about the parts of the song that feature voice distortion, as we don’t really feel that they work well live.

Eesti Laul winner Alika will be off to Liverpool to represent Estonia with Bridges. The song is a piano ballad inspired by feelings of anxiety during a recording session.

We’re on the fence with this one. While the self-playing piano effect displayed on stage in the final looks great, we feel like not much else about the performance or the song registers. Maybe a few tweaks are in order.

Theodor Andrei will be flying Romania’s flag in this year’s contest after winning their national selection. The title of the song, D.G.T. (Off and On) is a play on the Romanian word for ‘fingers’, and the track itself revolves around a woman the singer knows is toying with him, but he finds himself too addicted to her to even think of giving her up.

The song is promising by itself as a curious blend of genres, but after seeing the staging from the national final, we think there is work to do in that department. Most of the time the presentation feels like there is too much going on on the stage, with a barrage of moving parts that ends up taking us out of the song’s story instead of adding to it as it should. There’s time to refine this, but until they do, we’re not really liking Romania’s chances in Liverpool.

Monika Linkytė will be stepping up to the Eurovision stage for Lithuania for the second time, eight years after teaming up with Vaidas Baumila to achieve an eighteenth place in Vienna. Her song Stay very narrowly won Lithuania’s national final Pabandom iš naujo! after using the jury results as a tiebreaker with Rūta Mur.

Honestly, this doesn’t feel like a standout track. It does remind us about a certain other Eurovision song from recent years, which didn’t come anywhere close to making the finals. Not quite a good omen.

Looking to turn things around after coming in second-to-last a year ago in Turin, France has recruited Québec native, French resident La Zarra. Her song Évidemment (‘Obviously’) has themes in its lyrics including determination in the face of adversity and moving on from a deceitful lover.

To us, this is definitely one of the best songs of this year’s contest. With the right presentation and no issues with the live vocals, the current WMR 100 #4 could easily achieve a high position in Liverpool, as the song has great energy and an excellent retro touch that screams ‘winner’. Watch out for La Zarra in Liverpool.

Just a year after coming in second in the Australia Decides national final, Voyager are selected internally for Liverpool as the first band to represent Australia in Eurovision. They will be presenting Promise, a track that blends pop and progressive metal and relays a story of setting out on an adventure.

Australia usually delivers quality songs at Eurovision, and Promise is no different. The instrumentation adds the epic feeling to elevate the lyrics of the song; Voyager could easily land on the top half of the board with the right presentation.

Part 3 is coming next week! Until then, as always, feel free to sound off in the comments and tell us your thoughts about these entries.