Norway remained my fave even after hearing the rest of the entries, and they came in 5th! Good showing, My favorites are not usually the voters’ favorites, so I am unreservedly happy for them.
Finland’s runner-up song was not my jam, but considering how perfectly on-brand it was for Eurovision nonsense, and how much the audience overall clearly loved it — yeah, they got robbed.
Also: Sweden’s winner was so forgettable! If you played me the “10 seconds of each song” montage, no intros and no video of the performances, I swear I wouldn’t be able to pick it out. (With video, at least I would recognize it as The Literally All Beige One.)
Aside from Norway, the one that’s going to be stuck in my head the most is Austria’s bop:
I’m still in the Moon Knight zone, so: considering that the MK guys are played by the same actor as Poe Dameron, please imagine Steven just happily singing this to himself around the house, and Secret Fourth Headmate Poe going “…how the kriff did he figure out about me??”
Alternately, imagine Secret Fourth Previously-Unnamed Spacecraft-Pilot Headmate overhearing the song and thinking “oh hell yes, that’s my name now.”
Finally: New Zealand still hasn’t gotten invited to join Australia in the ESC, so they put together this unofficial entry. Catchy beat, some impressively creative rhymes, more appealing than half of the actual finalists:
Youtube commenters are calling it “the best song about Eurovision since Love, Love, Peace, Peace.” They’re not wrong. If NZ doesn’t still doesn’t get into ESC 2024, at least invite these folks to do an interval act! They’ve earned it.
Humanist+Humorist 