Cav's Place

As I was saying, since Israel still wasn’t banned alongside Russia and Belarus, I’ll once again replace what used to be my usual posts about Eurovision with one about FalastinVision which, just like last year, I’m writing a week after the show. This time around, I didn’t even try to watch any of it, just looking for the results after listening to the finalists on the site, and I’ll once again write a little comment about each entry, since there are just 16 of them. Not that they shouldn’t have just allowed all of the entries in the final, since there seem to have only been 20 of them, plus that I’d have definitely put all of the four that didn’t make it in the final instead of some of those that did make it. But the voters obviously had other preferences and criteria, and here I’m just presenting mine and trying to rank the entries accordingly, with the actual position added between parentheses, in the listed order even in case of the entries that were tied on points. But I didn’t try to actually score, so the ranking is just an attempt to order the entries at this moment and if you’d ask me again at a later point quite a few positions are very likely to change. And yes, I will admit that the fact that the top two artists are the same ones as last year was a way to make things somewhat easier for myself, the top four songs in my classification all standing out in some way.

1. (10.) Dúo Pepe y Mary – MESSAGE is once again the sort of thing that should be here. A good song overall, with nice vocals and lyrics that, while not in English, sound good enough in Spanish and are supportive without containing anything questionable. My choice isn’t as clear as last year, but I once again find myself drawn to the entry by these two.
2. (4.) LN Upstairs – Sumud is once again recorded at home and in poor quality, but I guess that I still won’t really hold that against it when I’m once again impressed by the voice and the overall sound. Such a nice, soft piece, and the lyrics are fitting as well.
3. (1.) Iranians for Palestine – Human, Where Are You? is a great entry and an entirely understandable pick. Good sound that includes elements from that area, which I’m personally not keen on but which obviously fit here, powerful video, and lyrics that also seem good, at least according to the translation, since the fact that they’re not in English is a problem. I raised an eyebrow at the band name, but there doesn’t seem to be anything questionable. And it’s one of the most professional entries here.
4. (11.) New Nobility -Rebel – Let’s Make a Better World actually sounds nice, and unexpected in a good way. Maybe it’s too positive, considering the circumstances, but that’s also refreshing, and the fact remains that it’s a pretty good song in itself.
5. (6.) LOREM – We Won has digitized vocals, at least in part, which is a problem for me, but it nevertheless sounds nice, you can actually sing along to this one, and it’s unusual in a good way for this competition, perhaps even in terms of message.
6. (12.) UGOXME – Little Boy surprised me. It’s not something I expected to hear here and the sound is quite nice, though the altered vocals definitely count against it. And the lyrics are general, also applying to the artist’s situation in Ukraine, for example, so I’d call it repurposed, but it’s still quite fine.
7. (2.) JC BIGFOOT – Your Silence Is Complicity is barely melodic, and with a bad voice at that, but the lyrics are in English, clear and on point, delivering a really good message, which should count for quite a lot in such a competition.
8. (8.) Frida – Mamma, vad gjorde du för Gaza? isn’t rap, I guess, but there’s little actual music there, so it’s still all about the lyrics, which aren’t in English. The translation says that they’re fine, but that’s about all I can say.
9. (5.) Annie G. Silva – Vento is in Portuguese and I always found that language ugly, and the sound also seems rather typical for something coming from there, which is another thing that I never liked. The voice is so and so, and I guess that overall it’s not bad for its genre, but I find myself just passing right over it.
10. (16.) Proletarian Poetry – Darkness is completely electronic, digitized, and while there’s obviously no rule against it, I don’t think that something like this should be here, even if the sound isn’t bad in itself.
11. (3.) Anton Berner – Befria Palestina is more rap that’s not in English. The translation seems all right, and the sound isn’t bad for the genre, maybe with the exception of the ending, but that’s about all I can say.
12. (14.) MzumO – Al Aqsa is another piece of rap. Definitely not crap, actually sounding quite nice for the genre, but there are a whole lot of lyrics that are once again not in English and any point is likely to get lost, even the translation being confusing and probably having mistakes. And what’s the point of rap that can’t deliver a message?
13. (13.) Maria Lumiere – Let Me Burn is just an atmospheric piece with next to nothing in terms of lyrics. Can be soothing, but otherwise it’s basically forgettable and I’m wondering why it’s even here.
14. (9.) Half Light – From the Wounds Emerges… Resistance! is growled, which would have been enough to chase me away even if I will admit that the vocals aren’t bad for the genre. But then there’s the idea behind the song as well, which I can understand under these circumstances, but nevertheless can’t support.
15. (15.) 10kr – We Forget Facts But Not Feelings is, basically, a piece of crap. In terms of sound, there are a few that are worse, but the vocals are also digitized, which is another negative aspect, and it’s just too harsh for such an event, even under these circumstances.
16. (7.) ASAT – A Star in the Sky sounds like complete crap. How could anybody vote for this is beyond me. No voice, utterly crappy sound; people simply shouldn’t have to listen to something like this.