08 May 2024

The 2024 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö, Sweden, kicked off with a visual spectacular in the first semi final. Vibrant colours, beautiful graphics, and a stunning stage made the show a real feast for the eyes. Sadly, the aural component was no where near the match with a similar hollow sound and low volume that hurt last year’s event in Liverpool. With my soundbar cranked up to the maximum volume of 100, it still wasn’t loud enough, and lacked the required punch. The vocals in the opening act were barely audible. Not sure if it’s in the source feed or dampening by the host broadcaster, SBS, for their commentators to be heard over the top of it because, unlike last year, the Youtube videos sound fine.

Fifteen songs contested the first semi final and, as expected, it proved a semi final of few big highlights, while nearly all entries had some redeeming qualities to them. With 10 songs progressing, there was no excuse for any that missed out, and I suspect positions 8 to 12 were probably quite close on points. Just a tweak here or not doing something there, was likely the difference between a grand final spot or going home early. Despite the audio problems, the first 5 songs all qualified, so perhaps it was limited to Australia or there was a quick adjustment.

Results

Qualifiers (as announced)

02 Serbia – Teya Dora – Ramonda
14 Portugal – Iolanda – Grito
09 Slovenia – Raiven – Veronika
05 Ukraine – Alyona Alyona & Jerry Heil – Teresa & Maria
03 Lithuania – Silvester Belt – Luktelk
10 Finland – Windows95man – No Rules!
01 Cyprus – Silia Kapsis – Liar
07 Croatia – Baby Lasagna – Rim Tim Tagi Dim
04 Ireland – Bambie Thug – Doomsday Blue
15 Luxembourg – Tali – Fighter

Non-Qualifiers

06 Poland – Luna – The Tower
08 Iceland – Hera Björk – Scared of Heights
11 Moldova – Natalia Barbu – In The Middle
12 Azerbaijan – Fahree feat. Ilkin Dovlatov – Ozunle Apar
13 Ineligible Associate Member

Review & Score

01 Cyprus – Silia Kapsis – Liar (7)

The flat audio didn’t cause much suffering for Australia’s own Silia Kapsis as she set an early high standard with flashy stage graphics, excellent choreography and a catchy song.

02 Serbia – Teya Dora – Ramonda (7)

Again, the staging looked stunning, especially the water graphics, and the lighting and smoke effects, that it made it look like a misty sea or lake in which Teya was sitting on a rock. Teya’s sultry voice was quite magical too.

03 Lithuania – Silvester Belt – Luktelk (5)

The first flat one of the evening, and somewhat repetitive in nature. Lithuania was a bit of a fan favourite all along so no surprise to see them qualify.

04 Ireland – Bambie Thug – Doomsday Blue (7)

Very theatrical and entertaining. Ireland composed the best presentation of the night and the witch actually sung the blues bits quite well. Still not a fan of the screaming.

05 Ukraine – Alyona Alyona & Jerry Heil – Teresa & Maria (6)

Staged well, especially the finale and the graphical effect of the duo lying down among a mass of other women. A moody and evocative song that I’d appreciate much more without the rap.

06 Poland – Luna – The Tower (7)

My third favourite song coming into Eurovision, and therefore disappointing to see Luna go. A stunning and beautiful stage setting to begin the song, and then it probably got a bit over complicated, especially with the horse. Not sure anyone would understand the chess references, except the rook piece is meant to represent a tower. So could an actual tower! For such a stylish a song, the staging needed a stylish match, and I’m afraid Luna’s quite soft voice did not resonate well, with it the one entry that really sounded muffled.

07 Croatia – Baby Lasagna – Rim Tim Tagi Dim (9)

Wow. Best use of not just the entire stage, the entire arena too! Vocals were vastly improved from the national final, and it helps to have the entire audience on backing! I was skeptical Croatia could be a winner. Now they really must be a strong chance, as long as the jury doesn’t do anything ridiculous like they did to Finland last year.

08 Iceland – Hera Björk – Scared of Heights (5)

Hera tried her best with an average song that no one good could save. Good to see her back.

09 Slovenia – Raiven – Veronika (6)

Stunning body with vocals to match. Dramatic performance that was difficult to understand, even after reading about Veronika of Desenice, and the finale was a bit long on the squealing. Otherwise, intriguing. Slovenia’s qualification made it a Balkan trifecta. Good to see!

10 Finland – Windows95man – No Rules! (7)

As fun as ever, with a few new tricks added from the national final performance to keep it interesting enough to watch again.

11 Moldova – Natalia Barbu – In The Middle (8)

Stunning all round. The visuals, and the vocals, especially the vocal variety. Also stunning was goddess Natalia Barbu herself. What a change from the national final of peroxide blonde hair with a group of similar looking women on stage to the solo brunette in Malmö. It was a big shake up to see her stuck alone, “in the middle”, and probably, in hindsight, a couple of extra performers appearing later on would have added the extra stage activity and variation to get Moldova through. The audience really got into the song, especially the chorus, and the finale was epic. This could have been an entry that would need a jury to help advance it to the grand final. Curiously, the postcards, which showed two clips of older Eurovision performances for the country, did not show Natalia Barbu from 2007 with Fight.

12 Azerbaijan – Fahree feat. Ilkin Dovlatov – Ozunle Apar (5)

Followed Sweden’s performance, and proved quite forgettable in comparison, even with the impressive staging. Sweden were one of three grand finalists that performed live during the semi final. The other two were United Kingdom and Germany.

13 Ineligible Associate Member (3)

14 Portugal – Iolanda – Grito (5)

Impressive, minimalist staging at the start, and then just seemed to be just going through the motions. The surprise qualifier for me, especially ahead of Moldova. Come on!

15 Luxembourg – Tali – Fighter (6)

Last to perform and last to be called. It would have been heartbreaking for Luxembourg to return after 31 years and miss the final. In truth, there was nothing impressive about the entry; just a solid presentation of a decent dance song.

My Top 10

Croatia 9
Moldova 8
Poland 7
Cyprus 7
Serbia 7
Finland 7
Ireland 7
Luxembourg 6
Slovenia 6
Ukraine 6

Then…

Lithuania 5
Azerbaijan 5
Portugal 5
Iceland 5

The only changes from my Top 10 before Eurovision is Ireland and Ukraine in for Lithuania and Azerbaijan. All of my favourites reached the final except for Poland and Moldova (Lithuania and Portugal replaced them). In terms of predictions from my preview, I picked them all except Portugal (in for Poland). Given that 10 of 15 progressed, not really a difficult task to predict most of them.

An average score of 6.2 for this semi final, so nothing special. The better shows hover around 7. It rated a bit higher than expected due to the visual quality. Every act really brought something impressive to see, and a few them certainly got an extra point for that.

A final word on the Ineligible Associate Member. Always a weak song. Choreography was a mess with random people walking around and the didgeridoo a poorly implemented inclusion. It was barely heard throughout and the aboriginal guy was reduced to being a prop. A token effort all round, just like the effort by SBS the past two years. Show more care and effort towards Eurovision or leave.

Malmo 2024: Full Preview, Betting Odds & Predictions

Malmo 2024: My Top 37 – All Songs Reviewed

Why I am boycotting Australia at the Eurovision Song Contest