Semi 2: 05 Malta

One of my longest standing dreams is to see Malta win and host the ESC. It's intriguing how often small nations like Malta and Iceland can come up with entries that work and attract points while some of the bigger ones with bigger music markets keep failing and failing.

The last Maltese entries have all been hooky, likeable and professional to an extent that allows you to almost forget how tiny this island state really is and how improbable it is that they will produce as many good songs as they do.

Well, here comes a reminder. Nobody can get it right every time, and the Maltese get quite a few things right also here. Amber is likeable (even if the range feels a little bit out of her reach at times) and the song is flawlessly produced and sounds like any modern pop ballad that could be played on any commercial radio station.

If it wasn't for the fact that the song in itself is little more than a whole load of nothing. It takes a while to discover just how absent any kind of chorus is, but once you do the whole composition just collapses. Voice, performance and production are just there to blur our vision and make us think Amber has been giving something meaningful to sing. Which she hasn't.

Qualifier:
No, I don't think so. It will take a lot to convince the people who want ballads since they have so many to choose from.

My grade: 1/5



Amber - Warrior (Malta 2015)

Semi 2: 04 Montenegro

People are ungrateful. Give them what they want for a long time and sooner or later they won't want it anymore and turn to something else for their amusement.

Denmark experienced this when the 1980's came to an end and nobody wanted their apple-cheeked uptempo songs anymore. It took a long time for them to find their way back to success.

A bit like the Danes, Željko Joksimović has it coming too. Eleven years ago "Lane moje" hit Eurovision and turned the Big Bombastic Balkan Ballad into the hottest thing since sliced bread. Eleven years is a pretty impressive lifespan for any musical style at the ESC, but it seems the audience's fascination is fading slightly.

Also, Željko clearly didn't pour his heart and soul into this one. Montenegro probably called him, he asked how much they would offer and wrote a song that reached up to that standard. Knez is a nice but unremarkable performer - very much like Sergej last year - and will need a cleverly staged performance to break through to the televoting crowds.

It's nice but it's no Lane moje, to put it simple.

Qualifier:
Yes, surely. This is likely to qualify and then place somewhere around the middle or slightly below in the final. Which is probably pretty much what it was designed to do.

My grade: 3/5



Knez - Adio (Montenegro 2015)

Semi 2: 03 San Marino

After three years, Valentina had finally had it with representing the Most Serene Republic in competition and I was hoping Ralph Siegel would have the wit to step down at the same time.

It would have been an excellent opportunity to do so. Making it to the final in Copenhagen would have allowed him to leave on a positive note with some of his former glory restored. Instead he decided to hang on to the contest and give all his detractors more ammunition than they could possibly carry.

The song he wrote isn't all bad - especially if you tend to like the kind of fluffy schlager pudding that was his 2006 entry for Switzerland - but it doesn't suit the young performers at all. This duo with precious experience from Junior Eurovision would have deserved to dig their teeth into something fresh and modern and exciting and all they are left with is this unfashionable mush about peace on earth and lighting up the candles in your heart.

For the first minute or so, the whole thing even sounds a bit promising. It isn't badly produced or anything. Which leaves me wondering why Siegel can't just produce the Sammarinese entry without writing it himself. Sad to see a legend lose his touch like this.

Qualifier:
No. The song is too messy and has nothing to make it memorable. San Marino deserves better than this. And so do these singers.

Grade: 1/5



Anita Simoncini & Michele Perniola - Chain of Lights (San Marino 2015)

Semi 2: 02 Ireland

I was around to see the Emerald Isle almost win this contest to death in the 1990's and have admittedly been a bit reluctant to liking their entries ever since. Childish, perhaps, but my initial gut reaction to Irish ballads have for many years always been highly negative.

I didn't think much of this year's entry either until I heard the studio version and saw the video clip and was totally blown away.

There is something deeply sincere and sensual about this song, how it is juvenile and mature at the same time, and something in Molly herself and her way of performing makes me think of a very young Kate Bush at her piano.

In short, I haven't loved an Irish Eurovision ballad this much since Niamh Kavanagh won in Millstreet twenty-two years ago. And it breaks my heart that I have absolutely no faith in it doing well.

In this endless stream of slow tempo songs - many of which admittedly pretty bland - the chances of Ireland standing out in many people's minds by the end of this semi are low indeed. Placing this warm and personable little song at the second spot stands out as the injustice of the year, at least in my mind.

Qualifier:
Borderline. Hopefully the jurors will appreciate all the qualities on offer here, but what are the chances? I sure hope Molly will be the hit she deserves to be, regardless of the final outcome.

Grade: 4/5



Molly Sterling - Playing With Numbers (Ireland 2015)

Semi 2: 01 Lithuania

In a last moment decision, Vaidas and Monika decided to sing together instead of competing against each other in the national final. A move I think most broadcasters would have objected against had it happened in somebody else's national final.

Rules aside, it proved to be a clever thing to do. The song is deceptively simple but needs sparkle and conviction. Vaidas is pretty and sings well but has given quite a wooden impression on stage. Monika has been nice but unspectacular on her own. Put them all together and the sparks start to fly in a completely different way.

They still have work to do, though. Maybe they are as fond of each other as the lyrics imply but this is a televised song contest where you have to perform for the cameras and not for your singing partner. This duet must open up and stop excluding the audience watching them.

It's also unfortunate to perform a song as bouncy and cheerful as this one as the first one when there will be so many slower ones coming on later. Coming in after a few of them would have cemented this Lithuanian ditty in the final.

Qualifier:
Yes, probably. This one is ridiculously upbeat and silly-in-a-good-way and that should carry all the way, but perhaps not too far in the actual final.

Grade: 3/5



Monika Linkytė & Vaidas Baumila - This Time (Lithuania 2015)

Semi 1: 16 Georgia

We've had quite a few entries of this kind: the hard, energetic rock chick that is convincing and sensual at the same time as slightly aggressive and intimidating.

They've been in no short supply for the last ten years or so and so far nobody has done it better than Moldova's Natalia Barbu back in 2007.

Nina Sublatti isn't that far behind, though. Her song went through some pretty successful tweaking and sounds pretty convincing.

There is the risk that this one will come across as more high-pitched and screechy for anyone to particularly enjoy it, but in its current form it works quite well. It also has the lucky break of being the first of two songs with identical titles and similar themes.

What works against it is perhaps that this hardly is the chorus all Europe will sing along to or hum in the shower the next day. It's a bit volatile and not as catchy as it could be, but has the huge advantage of coming last in a semi final full of pretty but similar-sounding songs.

Qualifier:
Yes and not only thanks to its spot in the running order.

My grade: 3/5



Nina Sublatti - Warrior (Georgia 2015)

Semi 1: 15 Romania

Having songs with a message can be rather complicated. Singing about your wish for world peace, for instance. Or about children in need. Unless you have a perfect sense of fingerspitzgefühl you easily end up sounding cold and cynical. Like you don't really care but want to cash in.

Voltaj really manage to pull this one off, but then their narrative is pretty specific and unusual. Their song tells the story of a real problem, about how Romanians leave their country in order to find work and how many children subsequently are left longing for their parents who have gone somewhere far away without them.

That feels real and poignant. Not like something thrown together for the sake of selling records, but like a message that could resonate with a Romanian audience as well as the rest of us (some of which aren't very keep on welcoming the Romanians in the first place).

It is also a welcome return to form for Romania who contributed very light-weight entries for a number of years without really making use of their own musical capacity.

Qualifier:
Yes, beyond the shadow of a doubt. Not because Romania always qualifies but because this one deserves to.

Grade: 3/5



Voltaj - De la capăt / All Over Again (Romania 2015)