ANOTHER “SUPER” SATURDAY?

Another weekend in February passes and naturally, that means the Eurovision playlist continues to grow. I’ve been, and continue to be, optimistic about the Contest we’ll be treated to in May. Having said that, even I don’t think Saturday 19th February 2022 will go down as one of those legendary nights of national finals. There are still some decent entries in there though so let’s take a look at the six new additions to the Eurovision family.

NORWAY 🇳🇴

Prediction – Subwoolfer, Give That Wolf a Banana ✔️

NRK kicked off the night with the final of MGP. The much anticipated fight between Elise Bay & Subwoolfer…didn’t quite pan out. Turns out a love of boybands is still strong up north meaning NorthKid were the surprise finalists at the expense of Elsie Bay. At this point the only surprise was just how close the final vote ended up being. Subwoolfer still managed to edge out NorthKid to take the ticket to Turin, and I for one am delighted they’ll be a part of the Contest. Best bit of the night, though? Seeing a much-missed love return to our screens.

POLAND 🇵🇱

Prediction – Krystian Ochman, River ✔️

It’s at this stage I’d like to offer a correction & apology regarding the Polish national final. I had claimed that Krystian Ochman’s River was the only stand-out entry. Whilst it earned a deserved victory it was most certainly not the only stunning act. Due to my own error, I had missed Unmute off my Polish spreadsheet and therefore only saw it for the first time on Saturday night. Głośniej niż decybele, performed entirely in sign language, was possibly the most powerful moment of the evening. It’s a shame this didn’t win through, one can only hope a similar act will make it to Eurovision in the not too distant future.

CROATIA 🇭🇷

Prediction – Mia Negovetić, ❌

Croatia had one truly wonderful song from a young, yet hugely powerful performer. After narrowly missing out in 2020 and now third place this year I really hope Mia will have her shot at the big time soon.

SLOVENIA 🇸🇮

Prediction – July Jones, Girls Can Do Anything ❌

Slovenia, ever the tricky ol’ beast to get right. My prediction, 5th & the fan favourite in 4th. Slovenia is a little like Portugal in a sense they pick the entry that’s right for them and how it does at Eurovision is a secondary concern. Coming all the way from EMA’s newcomers’ section the victory for LPS and Disko is something of a fairytale win. I could see this flopping but equally, and speaking of Portugal, I could see it doing a Black Mamba. It’s a style of song not oft at seen at Eurovision and if they give it a solid stage show, who knows how far this could go?

MALTA 🇲🇹

Prediction – Nicole Azzopardi, Into the Fire ❌

Key takeaways from watching MESC over a couple of nights:

• I will be visting Gozo, it looks lovely.
• Even cute ducks want to visit Disneyland.
• Ira Losco has very fancy hobs.
• Hamilton Travel.
• Oh yeah, and apparently some songs happened too. One of which was very popular.

San Marino 🇸🇲

Prediction – Fabry and Labiuse feat. Miodio, Blu ❌

I’ve already made my thoughts clear on Una Voce Per San Marino in my review yesterday. My prediction of Miodio taking the win was rightly very wide of the mark, they were probably the biggest disappointment. I didn’t predict Achille because I didn’t think something as iconic would happen. I should’ve known though, San Marino doesn’t know how to not be iconic.