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TIER: POINTS!
(12) KINGDOM OF CRICKETS OUTSIDE PEG'S WINDOW -- Official髭男dism {Fire Ground}
-- @mod please do not cut P'jager from these contests. This is a proper pop song that brings the energy it wants to inspire in the listener. I'm not on fire over this but this is definitely the first entry from this Contest I'd like to listen to again. Although I wonder if that's just my bias for the genre :/
(10) MACAU -- The Marias {Basta Ya}
-- This entry grabs my attention and holds onto it with the hypnotic style. The sax in the background may be overdoing it but I can see how someone likes it. Each time I've listened to this song, it ended while I wanted more.
(8) ARMENIA -- Mon Laferte {Tu Falta de Querer}
-- I like this voice and the sass, and the vocalist's clear diction strikes me. The guitar solo was surprisingly not very ambitious.
(7) IRELAND -- Electrelane {The Valleys}
-- This is interesting! The powerful openings to the chorus lines are the best parts, I think. There are a few really strange notes in there that distract me, but I like what this is going for.
(6) HUNGARY -- Dan Seals {Addicted}
-- '80s rock guitars and synths with a very clean country voice is a combo that will get points from me. Thank you for showing me this!
TIER: POINTS
(5) BULGARIA -- Kristian Kostov {Beautiful Mess}
-- This guy has a great voice, and he's doing a creditable job with these falsetto breaks. The stringed instrument's lazy slurs don't really work for me, but whichever. I'm not jumping out of my seat for this - in particular I find it kind of repetitive; it doesn't need to be five minutes long - but I also recognize the classic talent on display here.
(4) SELEUCID KINGDOM -- MALINDA {with that being said}
-- >when your best friend gets married
This here is an excellent voice, and the presentation helps a lot. I actually don't hate these lyrics based on my life experience, but I would probably have a more pessimistic take on it. I know I say "white guy with guitar attempting to emote" like twice a contest but this is how you do the genre properly.
(3) USA -- sumika {フィクション}
-- Happy J-incidental seems to be a pretty popular genre. I admit my first response was "didn't I hear this song two Contests ago?" but this is perfectly listenable. The amount of joy these people radiate is actually really enjoyable.
(2) CROATIA -- Breaking Benjamin {Breath}
-- I'm biased in favor of butt rock. This one's decent enough but if I heard it on the radio I'd say "hm that was pretty okay" and move on.
TIER: POINTS?
(1) LLANOWAR -- JerryTerry {No one's around to help.}
-- I unironically like this given the context. It's a strange pick for a Song Contest but I see this winding up at the top of the POINTS? tier and/or getting my meme point. It's just coincidence that I'd rate this here anyway. Also, being kinda real, giving this a point in response to Cyril is its own reward.
GERMANY -- Northwest Sinfonia {Dota2 Reborn Recording Session}
-- One of the horn players is kinda splatty. Background music is kinda background and I'm not sure it's a good choice for a Song Contest; I respect this more than I like it. It's a fair amount of respect, though. The dynamic control on the brass is pretty impressive.
CHINA -- The Flatliners {Tail Feathers}
-- ALL RIGHT JACK, TIME FOR YOUR LOBOTOMY
This is okay. It's a rock song. I'm not offended by this but it's also not getting through to me.
CHAD -- Happy Hour {Twenty-Six}
-- My desire to listen to this was inversely correlated with the post-hardcore influence on display, and I'm sad that this wasn't the song I was hoping it would be at first. Still, better than the usual fare from the genre.
ANKH-MORPORK -- DarkEco {Extinction Party}
-- I recognize the original song, which may not be the best news because I know there was much more to work with than was used here. I very strongly feel that this song could have rolled way, way, way, way, way harder. But it's okay. Please turn up the bass. This is not the song that plays in "Now Use Miners and Climbers" :<
THE PHILIPPINES -- ClariS {border}
-- Standard J-rock. It's okay. For a brief moment I thought it was going to segue into the Fire Emblem theme.
GRAN COLOMBIA -- Talking Heads {The Book I Read}
-- This is not a band I "get", and I hated the previous Contest entry for the Heads. This one's better than the last one, and I appreciate the energy here, but it's not something I want to listen to again for a variety of reasons.
TIER: NO POINTS
BAHAMAS -- Beck {Lost Cause}
-- White guy, guitar, not sure if attempting to emote. It's a mood song and this mood isn't really my favorite. Best YouTube comment: "this one hits really close to home because the year it came out i was going through a pretty rough experience working as a giant pyrotechnic pinata. still hurts"
FLAVORTOWN -- A Wake In Providence {The Blvck Sun|}
-- I might rate this higher if it was a poetry slam; it feels like the lyrics were generated first (with no indication that they would be used in a song) and then they composed everything else around it. I respect that vocal cords can make these sounds.
EAST AFRICAN FEDERATION -- Elza Soares {A Mulher Do Fim Do Mundo}
-- Portuguese is an unusual language for this Contest. I feel like I'd need more context to appreciate this voice and this range. Everything past the second verse probably wasn't necessary.
CANADA -- Teyana Taylor {Gonna Love Me}
-- I don't hate R&B but this is a really weird example of the genre. Like the tendency to start lyrical lines off the beat is probably more
than it should be, and it reduces the appeal of this song to people who already like R&B. This is this low because I got
real
damn tired of the falsetto sample during this song's 167-second run time.
EGYPT -- Maurice Ravel {Rapsodie Espagnole (4. Feria)}
-- Unusual thing to take to a Contest. Speaking as a band geek, one of the things I dislike about old orchestral music is that it feels like all of it was devised before anyone composed the concept of a narrative. I don't really know what I'm supposed to hold onto in this.
NIGERIA -- He Is Legend {China White}
-- Standard post-hardcore song. I don't feel that this really elevates the genre, but it's pretty light on the obligatory harsh vocals, so whatever.
GREECE -- Nerina Pallot {Love Will Tear Us Apart}
-- White woman with piano attempting to emote? This is a song that relies heavily on the vocalist and I don't like this vocal style, and in a clash of genres I think I'm giving this one to the post-hardcore.
ANGUILLA -- Blu & Exile {First Things First (feat. Miguel)}
-- I'm not in love with the style of the chorus or the snare hits. The lyrics move me but not in a good way. I don't really take anything from this.
TIER: NO POINTS.
HINAMIZAWA -- Amine ft Slowthai & Vince Staples {Pressure In My Palms}
-- This song is obnoxious af. This is like not-funny pop culture references stacked on top of each other trying to be that hilarious kind of obnoxious. Like I kinda feel this is the rap equivalent of South Park or Seth McFarlane energy.
BRAZIL -- Huey Lewis and the News {Do You Believe In Love}
-- I'm the first person to enter this band after 154 contests. What, is the "bar band made good" too lowbrow for you? Honestly I've always liked this band's sound, and I think their breakout hit does the best job with its minor 7ths. Probably the worst thing about this song is that you've already heard it before.
I genuinely apologize for this music video. Sometimes the '80s cringe really is unironically cringe. I'm probably leaving 20 points on the table for not linking an image of the album cover instead; I have self-sabotaged and I have
regrets
.
than it should be, and it reduces the appeal of this song to people who already like R&B. This is this low because I got