Our last review of the Grand Final
Now it's time to take a look at this year's performers of the Grand Final. The reviews should not be taken that seriously, as always.
01 Israel – Let The Sunshine In
What a great opener! This happy song will directly lead you to the sunny lifestyle of Tel Aviv. Imri is a cool and sexy guy with muscled arms and a great smile. He will definitely have his fans who will vote for him. Not every tone has been exact in the rehearsals, but who cares if the whole picture is positive and uplifting?
02 Poland – From Poland with Love
This Polish entry is a great contrast to the predecessor, a blond woman in a white evening dress is singing a sophisticated song with a very interesting verve and mood. It will take you into another world. The stage setting will support the message of the song with some peace doves. This is stunning!
03 Belarus – Hey hey, haj haj ja ho
Now it’s time to wake up! This irritating chorus has been sung in Kiev for at least 20.000 times. The very sympathetic duo from Minsk have put everything in the felicitous performance to reach the Grand Final. They are very proud of their heritage and not only show traditional clothes they even sing in their native language Belarussian, this is the first time in ESC history!
04 Austria – The man in the moon
This sympathetic young guy from Innsbruck, Austria has captured the hearts of the fans by a storm. The easy listening radio song is refreshing and positive, the stage design a matter of taste. At least it stands out. A silver moon has been made in Ukraine for Nathan to be a real man in the moon. It’s kitschy but lovely!
05 Armenia – Buddha Bar in Yerevan
The Armenian entries have always shaped up in high positions. They also love to show their traditional music roots. Even if there are Armenian song elements the entire presentation has an Indian touch. The way Artsvik is acting with her backing singers, the finger works is absolutely amazing. You either love or hate this.
06 The Netherlands – Wilson Phillips 2.0
These three gorgeous sisters have the best vocal sound of all the entries this year. From the first rehearsal, everything was perfectly arranged. Their voices are in perfect harmony. Unfortunately, the style of the song strongly reminds to the US band Wilson Phillips from the 1990’s. Nevertheless O'G3NE are phenomenal and will rock the stage in Kiev.
These cool guys from Moldova have already done it seven years ago in Oslo. This is something to dance and to have fun. Sunstroke Project really deserved to be in the Grand Final due to their unique choreography and positive attitude. They just want to have fun and the “Epic Sax Guy” is going to shine in this contribution. Absolutely worth to watch!
08 Hungary – World music from the finest
This is an absolute stunning entry from Hungary! For the first time history a gypsy is singing on the Eurovision stage. And the curiosity is that his Romany heritage is not appreciated well in Hungary. Therefore it’s a special situation we all should honour this in a special way. The song has a great rhythm and a dreamy melody which will delight a lot of people throughout the world. This is world music from the finest. Congratulations!
09 Italy – Summer, Beach and Gelato
Here we have a really great summer hit with a wonderful melody and a catchy and enthusiastic mood. The cool guy is named Francesco Gabbani we should all remember very well. He is the hottest favourite of this year’s edition of the ESC. All betting offices and fan clubs have predicted him to be the winner, without any doubt. He was the surprise or the year in the traditional San Remo Festival. Now Francesco will conquer Europe and Australia with this uplifting and positive song. Mille Grazie Francesco!
10 Denmark – Danish Barbie girl
Lovely Anja Nissen, who is Australian will represent the Scandinavian country. Her looks is stunning – a blond fetching singer will definitely generate a lot of attention by her looks. Her voice is good, but the song is average. The Australian jury and the televoters won’t forget her, but maybe the rest of Europe.
11 Portugal – Welcome to the 60’s
The most offbeat entry this year is the one from Portugal. Salvador is a charismatic singer who is suffering from heart problems. Therefore his sister has managed all his rehearsals. Salvador is so special that he will definitely stand out of all the others. The song is also out of time, it could also been have sung in the 1960’s. It’s a dreamy and touching love song, sung in the native Portuguese language. He is already being seen as the dark horse who could be the strongest competitor of Italian’s Francesco Gabbani!
12 Azerbaijan – A horse – a classroom – a skeleton
The entries from Azerbaijan are always something special to watch. This time we are going to see a kind of modern opera production with a guy on a ladder with a horse head and the singer finds herself in a class room. The pictures on the stage do not really match with the extraordinary song title “Skeletons”. There is something mysterious here.
13 Croatia – For special interest only
Jacques biggest dream was to represent his country at Eurovision. He had uncountable attempts in the past. Now his dream comes true as he qualified for the Grand Final by surprise. He is singing two voice parts so it appears that there are two singers, but this is his unique voice capacity! This schmaltzy ballad is also falling out of time. The chumming violin parts with the opera like elements is far over the top. So it’s a miracle who this entry could have made into the Grand Final.
14 Australia – Great voice and charisma
For the first time in ESC history a real indigenous singer is taking part. Isaiah’s roots are aboriginal and he belongs to the youngest and most talented singers this year. The attractive Australian with the great voice is representing a very radio friendly song which will definitely be one of the strongest in this year’s ESC. The stage setting is perfectly made for him and his friendly attitude will guarantee a lot of fans.
15 Greece – The Queen of Water
Demy is the most beautiful singer this year. Her blue eyes and her smile will capture the European hearts by a storm. On the other side her song sound a bit cheap and has the typical Euro-Disco sound from the 2000’s, which is absolutely out of time in 2017. Let’s hope she is not going to have wet hair on stage, as the entire setting is built on water.
16 Spain – Surfboards and campfire
The Spanish entry has caused a lot of trouble in Spain when there was the national final. The fans even complained at the national parliament that there was corruption by the jury. Therefore, Manel does not have the best support of the Spanish fans. Nevertheless, he does not really care and performs his unambitious summer song. It all should look like a summer holiday scene with surfboards and great fun, but nobody will remember this song.
This is a real contemporary song in the contest. The cool guys from Jowst do the utmost to fascinate the TV viewers with spectacular illuminated masks. The radio friendly song does stand out of the others and really shows the modern approach of today’s ESC festival.
18 United Kingdom – Something to watch
What a wonderful surprise to see that the UK has found back to the class they used to have! The UK has chosen a really good singer who can be taken really seriously. The song is a ballad co-written by the ESC winner Emmelie de Forrest, and a beautiful one. The stage setting is absolutely stunning. You should not underestimate the UK this year!
19 Cyprus – Cool and non-Cypriot
Normally you would not guess that this song comes from Cyprus. The sound has nothing to do with the traditional Cypriot music. No wonder, the Swedish music writer Thomas G:sson has composed and produced this entry. For Hovig a dream comes true to represent his country at the ESC, as he had various attempts in the past. The choreography remind of last year’s Russia entry. If such a copy will be enough to convince the juries and televoters?
Many people still question how this entry made it into the Grand Final. The answer is easy, as Romania always qualifying thanks to the diaspora voting. No matter if the song is good or bad, Romania will find a place in the Grand Finals since 1994. This time it’s a yodel song with a combination of rap. That kind of music will have a certain target group. Due to the fact that half of the people will either love or hate it, a place in the middle field will be realistic.
21 Germany – Good singer, weak song
After two last places in the previous years, Germany is under big pressure. This year Levina should bring Germany back to previous successes. The lovely singer with the longest legs in the contest is very sympathetic and has a unique voice. The song is written by a US team, but it’s quite replaceable. If Levina would had a really good song, her rusty voice could be utilized to the max and a top position would have been possible.
22 Ukraine – Hard tones from the host
Whenever Ukraine wins the ESC, the year after when it comes to the Ukrainian host entry there is a rock song. This has not worked back in 2005 and it will not work this time. It’s obvious that Ukraine is not going to intend to win again this year. This is the only real rock song in the contest. The melody is hardly to remember even if the guys looks sympathetic and the silver head on stage has a certain style it won’t convince the majority of the jury members and televoters.
23 Belgium – The fall of the Queen
What an interesting entry from Belgium this year! Judging by the video clip this song has gained a lot of fans. The electro pop song with the monotonous voice of Blanche has something special, never heard before. She immediately was handled among the favourites. Unfortunately, on stage in Kiev everything looked a bit different. Blanche appeared shy and juvenile, nobody really thought that she would stand the pressure. Blanche has no backing singers or support and she looks lost on stage. This entry could have been the coolest of the year. But what can we do. Let’s cross the fingers she won’t be last.
24 Sweden – Dancing in the gym
It all begins backstage, where Robin Bengtsson and his dancers start their cool performance. This might be irritating for the viewers in the arena, as the stage is empty in the beginning. Nevertheless – this is 100% Swedish perfection! The choreography has already proofed as a big success in Sweden, so they did not change anything, just the background dancers have been exchanged, as they also need to sing. All are dressed up in suits and it ends up on treadmills, which run in all directions. Sweden belongs to the favourites again!
25 Bulgaria – Best stage of the year
Bulgaria really made a great effort to invent a new music style à la Bulgaria. Since last year, Bulgaria belongs to one of the strongest countries in the ESC, and this year it’s the same. It’s all due to the professional production team, who really see to make the best of the stage setting, clothes and presentation. The young and sympathetic singer Kristian really deserved to be in the Grand Final and a top position will be granted for sure. Bulgaria you are on the right way!
26 France – The melody of the summer 2017
It’s obvious that the French production team has also learned from the past. Now we can see very good and contemporary French entries. Last year Amir’s song was a hit, and so is Alma’s song “Requiem”. The song has the special French music touch combined with a very interesting rhythm and chorus. This could be a real summer hit in Europe. Unfortunately, Alma sings one verse in English, which does not fit to the song.
Related News
The Video Clip
The Show
62nd Eurovision Song Contest
Semi Final 1 - 09th May 2017
Semi Final 2 - 11th May 2017
Grand Final - 13th May 2017
Location - International Exhibition Centre / Kyiv
Hosts - Oleksandr Skichko, Volodymyr Ostapchuk & Timur Mirochnychenko
