POLAND
NETHERLANDS
GRAND FINAL
SEMI-FINAL 1
Song: Solo Performer: Blanka Songwriters: Bartłomiej Rzeczycki, Blanka Stajkow, Maciej Puchalski, Marcin Górecki, Mikołaj Trybulec POLAND Semi-Final 2 Televote total: 124 points 3rd place Grand Final Total: 93 points Juries: 12 Televote: 81 19th place • Clearly the televoters were more in tune than the juries. It was a great result for them in its semi-final coming third, but struggled to emulate that popularity in the Grand Final.
Song: Burning Daylight Performers: Mia Nicolai & Dion Cooper Songwriters: Dion Cuiper, Duncan de Moor, Jordan Garfield, Loek van der Grinten, Mia Nicolai NETHERLANDS Semi-Final 1 Televote total: 7 points 13th place • Considering the Netherlands has qualified for the Grand Final since 2016, this was a very bad result for the country.
A big disappointment for the Netherlands this year as Mia and Dion only got seven points and finished 13th in Semi-Final 1. Despite a song from previous contest winner, Duncan Lawrence, the pair performed adequately but with little chemistry and failed to engage with the voters. The duo was beset by problems in the run-up to Eurovision and even had to alter the song quite late in the day. A chart placing of 21 in the Dutch Top 40 did not make up for the first failure to qualify for the Grand Final since 2015. They might have spent the time better staying at the Amsterdam Hilton for the week as John and Yoko did in 1969 in their famous ‘bed-in’ as referenced in The Beatles hit The Ballad Of John And Yoko . Marcus Keppel-Palmer
Solo was always a song which sparked opinions from all sides. From the moment Blanka won the Polish national selection, it was clear that her course to Liverpool would not be the smoothest. However, when her pronunciation of the song’s opening line became a meme, she channeled her frustrations into her performance. The song’s updated staging had a little bit of everything from a vintage filter to a fish eye lens to a stage hologram of Blanka and a dance break thrown in for good measure. The song sailed through its semi and rode the wave of a Top Ten televote score to finish 19th. A respectable result for an act who will never be forgotten. Fin Ross Russell
PORTUGAL
NORWAY
GRAND FINAL
GRAND FINAL
Song: Queen Of Kings Performer: Alessandra Songwriters: Alessandra Mele, Henning Olerud, Linda Dale, Stanley Ferdinandez NORWAY Semi-Final 1 Televote total: 102 points 6th place Grand Final Total: 268 points Juries: 52 Televote: 216 5th place • The televoters in the Grand Final loved this song - only the Lithuanian public failed to give it any points.
Song: Ai Coração ( Oh Heart ) Performer: Mimicat Songwriters: Marisa Mena, Luís Pereira PORTUGAL Semi-Final 1 Televote total: 74 points 9th place Grand Final Total: 59 points Juries: 43 Televote: 16 23rd place • Getting two 12s in the semi-final certainly helped Portugal get to the Grand Final, but the points didn’t materialise on the night from the televoters.
If anyone had a guilty pleasure this year, the chances are it was this Moulin Rouge inspired offering from Portugal. Mimicat had the audience in the palm of her hand from the moment she took to the stage, while the red and black theme added to the slightly risqué but sophisticated performance. The semi-final revealed the song to be powerful perfection, but the Grand Final saw Mimicat throw caution to the wind with an even stronger performance, much to the obvious delight of the live audience and viewers of home. The dancers were professionally precise to the very last second, while Ai Coração combined Parisien sounds with traditional fado. A Top Ten semi-final finish was a great qualifying result, but coming 23rd in the Grand Final was far too low for such a stand-out and toe-tapping entry. Gordon Lewis
One of my pre-contest favourites and it came out of MGP , as most things do, oven ready and good to go. Alessandra can deliver it well but there is always some jeopardy as to whether she will. I didn’t feel that this was her best vocally speaking but it was good enough not to put her in the danger zone. I enjoy the somewhat operatic notion of this song, but I HATE the fact that the first words sung in this year’s contest were on the backing track - that rule needs to go and go fast if you ask me. Another strong year for Norway, surely their fourth win is approaching. Lisa-Jayne Lewis
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AUTUMN 2022 ● VISION
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