Moral of the story: Every vote matters. However, I am living for the historic moment we witnessed.
My thoughts on the semifinals. The post will be updated with the voting grids later, but here is a sample of what you will see in the semifinals grids.
SF1: 10th place by 2 points! Really close to making it. Would've been a worthy finalist.
Devastating result.
from the Rest of the World, but could only muster up 11th place. Would have done very well in the final.
SF2: I was so close to qualifying. I would've swapped out Canada and put myself among the qualifiers. I did fairly well with the RotW, too.
Ouch! 17th in the semi, but got
from the RotW.
Btw, there's a big gap in scores between
Trinidad (7th, 81 pts.) and
Canada (8th, 65 pts.)
SF3: Missed qualification by one point!
It was a single-digit score... and it's justified imo.
It's an okay song without anything special. It's not my personal last place, but I saw the last place coming.
VERY shocked to see this be second-to-last. It's a nice and catchy bop with good beats. Undeserved placement.
This song tried too hard. It started at a 10 and stayed there. Too many peaks, very few valleys.
I wish this was stronger in the production aspect because it has a good melody.
Not a fan of this kind of cutesy/quirky sound. It's juvenile and shallow. Would rather have left this behind in the semifinals. I prefer something with the right amount of 'tude.
A solid but not outstanding Arab bop.
Tsar B's weakest NNMC song, but it still deserves its place in the final. Her past three NNMC entries have more grit and are all far better than this, so this placement is appropriate.
It's a good pop banger, but there are other pop bangers in the final that go off harder and are way catchier.
My
. Underrated. The background synths in the song's climax elevate this song and enhance her smooth voice.
Beautiful voice! Came very close to my Top 10. Should've placed more in the middle of the board.
My
. It's a banger done right. Fierce vocals helped by a great instrumental. Should've been higher.
I'm indifferent towards this. This placement is fine for it.
My
. SO ROBBED of a spot in the Top 10. Well-produced, strong beats, vocals integrated seamlessly through it all.
My
. Best drop of the edition. This song focused a lot on the beats, and it delivered on it VERY well.
This was really good, too! So close to my Top 10, but I've heard songs like this before, so that's why it fell off.
My
. Another song that deserves to rank higher. It's so atmospheric, so cinematic. I can feel a story from this despite me not knowing Polish. Songs like this are among the most interesting for me.
Although not one of my favorites, I enjoy the feel-good vibes this track is giving. I respect this result.
My
. Another amazing pop track. The attitude these girls brought to this solid banger is what sold me to give it points.
Based on the votes you got, this is the most polarizing entry of the edition. Only 7 countries voted for you in the semifinals (is that a record?). You either got high points or no points at all, which was clearly enough to qualify. I would have left this in the semifinals personally. It's too light and airy. I want more depth and weight.
I like the emotions she's giving for this song, but the track overall is basic for its genre. 11th is too high. Should be lower.
Like Iran, this song is basic for its genre. There are plenty of tracks that sound like this. It's good, but it's formulaic. I have to acknowledge that you finished first in your semi, so 10th place is a bit of a shock. A Top 10 result is still pretty good, so well done on that.
My
. Dutch indie-pop is popping off right now, and I'm here for the ride. This song has a coolness and edginess to it that makes it stand out. Happy for the 9th place.
It's a solid pop ballad, but not strong enough that I would vote for it. It's not gripping enough to resonate with me emotionally. Overrated, but congrats on another Top 10, Gregory.
FIERCE! Bree Runway will always serve the attitude and I feel that. However, the whole song is one-note. I wanted more
BANG-
bang-
BANG, but we just got a
bang-bang-bang. Still, I respect this result.
My
. Priya Ragu continues to serve South Asian excellence. This song balances energy and chillness so well, and that fascinates me. I'm very happy this placed so high in the final result. Congratulations!
Top 5 is a little too high, but I think Chanel gave a solid follow-up to SloMo with this. I certainly know the title of this song with how much she repeats it. It's not that outstanding to warrant a high place. It's standard Latin pop, but it's a tad batter than Mexico.
I had my reservations about this. I thought it would be another Trini-flop.
However, I'm glad I was proven wrong. It's catchy enough, it's campy enough, and that makes it iconic enough overall. Being denied an AQ is kinda hilarious though.
My
. The song that should've won. Incredible hook, incredible production. You scored big as the winner of your semifinal, so I was on board for a Czechia win. As someone said in the results presentation, this is one of the discoveries of the edition. The fact that this is a song from the Czech Republic is even more impressive because I did not think a song of this caliber could even come from that country. So happy to see this in the Top 3 at the very least.
The runner-up I did not see coming. Serbia had been leading for most of the voting period. When the last surge of votes came in, however, Portugal suddenly made it neck and neck. And when the last set of votes came in
(Selvin, I'm exposing you), I was like "OMFG!". History was made. If I had to choose between Portugal and Serbia, I would choose Serbia. Portugal's song? I love how ethnic distinct it is to Portugal, but the mid-tempo speed of the song held it back from getting points from me. It's serving attitude, but others served more attitude. All in all, this is a result to be happy with. If you can come this close to winning, I imagine a Portugal win is in the horizon. Keep it up!
My
. I'm kinda curious how the Croatian user will react to this since Nikolija was sent for Croatia before. Personally not one of my winner picks, but I saw the writing on the wall even before the edition started. I think the instrumental is nice (love the ethnic touch), but the biggest selling point for me is Nikolija herself. The way she sounds has a lot of passion and energy. It's that word again: attitude. Probably the best display of attitude from a Balkan entry since "Lava" from Sara Jo (imo still the best Serbian entry). All in all, that was enough for three points. With that said, congratulations Serbia, and congratulations Domas on getting this country their first win.