Time flies and we are already a couple of months before the start of the new Eurovision NF season. The first post of the season is always the toughest for me to write because I always take some time off and never post my thoughts for the season that finished just after the Final.
To create a bridge between the season that finished and the season that starts in a few weeks, I am creating this yearly post with the Report Cards of all participants.
The factors that determine each country's grade are the result, staging, potential and Jury/Televoting appeal.
I will start my classification going from the last entry in the ranking all the way up to the winner.
Feel free to comment and share your thoughts.
37. San Marino - E
Result: F
Staging: C-
Potential: F
Jury/Televoting appeal: E
Improvement from last year? No
Rank: 16th - 0 pts
Voted: 0/19
San Marino ended exactly where most of the people had them. 0 points might feel a bit harsh, but it is difficult to get any when you are the 12th-14th option of the televoters.
The staging was not that bad but was not enough to secure any points. They were heading for a car crash from day 1.
Teacher's Comments:
The '23 result is the norm for San Marino and last year was the back to reality moment for them.
The Semi-Final Televoting only score is ideal for a country like San Marino to shine. Croatia showed the way last year and if they keep Una Voce per San Marino format and opt for a Serhat/Achille Lauro type of artist, qualification should be within reach.
36. Romania - F
Result: F
Staging: F
Potential: F
Jury/Televoting appeal: F
Improvement from last year? No
Rank: 15th - 0 pts
Voted: 0/19
If you are trying your best to do everything wrong, Romania '23 should be your mentor! A NF that did not make any sense, an entry with no appeal, staged with so many red flags that failed spectacularly to get a single point in a Semi - Final with 3-4 that have a decent Romania diaspora. That says it all and creates more questions regarding what has actually happened in the NF.
Teacher's Comments:
TVR faces financial troubles and Eurovision is not a priority anymore and that is ok. However, Moldova next door with similar or inferior budget keeps producing entries that perform well.
There should be some kind of reform in the NF process for sure going back to the pre-2017 recipe. An internal selection with a popular and beloved artist could also work for them ensuring that they will have at least diaspora's support.
35. Malta - D
Result: F
Staging: C
Potential: C
Jury/Televoting appeal: E
Improvement from last year? No
Rank: 15th - 3 pts
Voted: 2/18
Malta missing the Final was not a surprise, but finishing penultimate with just three points it was. Performing at the #2 death slot might be the culprit. Malta was considered a borderline non qualifier that could do just enough to get through.
Televoters had a different opinion, and the cheesy staging felt a bit cringy in the end. Had they somehow been in the Final, they would have secured the Jury points needed to avoid at least the last place.
Teacher's Comments:
The country that suffers most with Televoting is Malta and that means trouble. They need to do a U-turn, ditch the Melodifestivalen rejects and opt for something more authentic. An internal selection could be a clever idea as well.
34. Azerbaijan - D
Result: F
Staging: B+
Potential: C+
Jury/Televoting appeal: D
Improvement from last year? No
Rank: 14th - 4pts
Voted: 3/18
No surprises here regarding the result. Azerbaijan is the main reason that the voting format changed in the Semi - Finals and there is a chance that they would have gotten away with it again if the Jurors were still voting in '23.
They did their best to improve their chances and the staging was good, but the problem was always the song that had minimum impact on televoters.
Teacher's Comments:
Bumpy road ahead for Azerbaijan that is always relying on internal selection and a Swedish production team for its entry.
The time has come for a NF that will be more in line with people's taste and will be more representative of the country's music culture.
33. Denmark - D
Result: F
Staging: C+
Potential: C+
Jury/Televoting appeal: E
Improvement from last year? No
Rank: 14th - 6 pts
Voted: 1/19
Denmark was a coin toss to qualify just a day before the Semi - Final and then suddenly the market decided that this one would the one to be left out with most people having it 11th in their list.
Another proof that apart from a clever staging and an ok-ish song, you need an artist that can actually sing.
Having a few million Tik-Tok followers in South Korea did not help either (0 ROTW points) ...
Teacher's Comments:
Denmark has one of the best produced NFs in the last decade and is such a shame that the level of the entries is so low. A change of pace and direction is needed with something bolder and more diverse in terms of music genres.
Finland and Norway should be used as blueprints.
32. Netherlands - C-
Result: F
Staging: D
Potential: B
Jury/Televoting appeal: C
Improvement from last year? No
Rank: 13th - 7 pts
Voted: 5/18
Netherlands was the other coin toss entry that went from 50/50 to a certain non-qualifier the day before the Semi - Final.
The good news for the punters was that its NQ odds were paying handsomely till the end of the show mostly because of its running order performing at #14.
The entry had lots of drama since the pre-parties' season, and it was inevitable to leave the criticism behind when it mattered. There were a few changes that improved the staging and the vocal abilities of the performers but were not enough to save them.
Teacher's Comments:
Netherlands' qualifying streak is over but is not the end of the world for them. It has happened in the past and they were able to come back and win the contest.
Avrotros will not have a problem to find a suitable candidate that will guarantee the return to the Final. A NF would not be a clever idea for Netherlands.
31. Ireland - D
Result: D
Staging: D
Potential: E
Jury/Televoting appeal: D
Improvement from last year? No
Rank: 12th - 10 pts
Voted: 5/18
The first entry that has outperformed and finished higher that it was expected. If we rely on the ranking 12th is very respectable, however receiving just ten points implies that the bar was low.
There is nothing better that Ireland could have done to elevate its entry to qualifying level. That should have happened in their NF night when there was a better option on the table, and they passed it.
Teacher's Comments:
Ireland needs to change everything regarding their selection process. NF being part of a famous late show, with non-existent staging and a national Jury that is trying to sabotage its entry is not the way to move forward.
30. Greece - E
Result: E
Staging: F
Potential: C
Jury/Televoting appeal: D
Improvement from last year? No
Rank: 13th - 14 pts
Voted: 2/19
The most impressive Greek car-crash ever, deservedly the worst Greek result in Eurovision ever. I was quite optimistic about this expecting the many Greek allies and friends to lift it and secure enough points to make it to the Final.
This has been by far the most amateurish Eurovision staging that we have seen for a very long time and Victor's vocal abilities were very limited. He could be the argument for those asking for an increase at the minimum age limit for the participants.
On the other Greece's and Romania's results this year is a good sign that allies, friends, and diaspora still need a reason to support you and you cannot get away with it if you send a mediocre song.
Teacher's Comments:
I hope that ERT learned their lesson from last year and will opt for a different format this year. The easy route would be to go back to the 00's recipe, a bop entry with ethnic elements and get back the diaspora and stereotypical televoting points or continue with the '19-'22 recipe that guarantees some jury points. If they could combine the two recipes that would be better.
29. Georgia - C-
Result: D
Staging: B-
Potential: D
Jury/Televoting appeal: C-
Improvement from last year? Yes
Rank: 12th - 33 pts
Voted: 10/19
The shocking NQ of the year. The only country that was inside market's Top-10 and failed to qualify. To be fair there was a big movement in the market the last two days and the 5.50 to not qualify fell all the way to the 2.50-2.75. This was my first bet in any Semi -Final for this year and I was really happy to get the value that came with the 5.50.
Georgia's main and only problem was that they forgot to send an actual song this year. The whole 3 minutes is a display of Iru's vocal abilities which had no impact on a Semi - Final where jurors do not vote.
Apart from Armenia and Greece that traditionally support Georgia it got a few 1-3 points here and there being a double score and eight points away of the qualification margin.
Teacher's Comments:
Georgia has not been in a Final since 2016 and the pressure is on. No doubt that they have a tradition sending alternative entries that are interesting, however they fail to grab audience's attention and are too left field for the jurors to like.
It still puzzles me why they are not using their junior Eurovision approach here as well.
28. Latvia - B-
Result: D
Staging: B
Potential: B
Jury/Televoting appeal: C
Improvement from last year? Yes
Rank: 11th - 34 pts
Voted: 11/18
There is only one country in the '23 lineup that has the right to say that they were unlucky and that is Latvia. They were in the wrong place in the wrong time. If Croatia was in SF-2 or any of Estonia/Lithuania performed in SF-1, they would have been in the Final. The same would have happened if they had performed in the second half of the Semi - Final.
They were only three points behind Serbia and any of the above circumstances would have sent them in the Final where the jurors could have lifted this entry maybe to a near Top-10 result.
Teacher's Comments:
There was nothing else that they could have done to save themselves. They did have the handicap of being a jury-based entry and they paid the price for it. It was an improvement compared to their last 4-5 entries though.
27. Iceland - C
Result: C
Staging: D
Potential: D
Jury/Televoting appeal: C
Improvement from last year? No
Rank: 11th - 44 pts
Voted: 12/19
Iceland did break their ceiling by finishing 11th when most of the predictions had them in bottom-3. They took advantage of Denmark's and Greece's no shows and secured 44 points that were good enough for the 11th place. They were voted by 12 countries however, with the exception of Albania that was voted by 14 countries, all the other Top-10 entries were voted by 17+ countries each.
Teacher's Comments:
Dilja' is a talented performer that brought energy to the stage but the choreo was non-existent. It is a shame because Iceland made the same mistake back in 2017. I am not sure though that the staging is responsible for their non-qualification.
And that concludes Part 1 of the Report Cards for Class '23. What is very apparent by looking at the results is that the new format makes the Semi - Finals more predictable and less competitive.
There were 8 entries that got 0-14 points, 2 entries with 33-34 points and just one entry with 40+ points but 30 points away from the qualification threshold.
Traditionally every Semi - Final had at least an entry that was saved by Juries and another entry that was saved by the televoters, sometimes more than one. That condition was giving more exciting results with at least 12 countries competing for the qualification.
Let's hope that '24 will have more countries adapted in the new reality and send more televoting - based entries to make things more interesting both for the viewers and the market as well.
I will be posting Part 2 next week, having a look at the bottom half of the finalist. Stay tuned!
