Dare to Dream: The Race to Eurovision 2019 (Part XI: Albania, Norway, Netherlands, North Macedonia, and Azerbaijan)

Eurovision is underway! The first round of the semi-finals was on Tuesday and the results were shocking. I will talk about those results on Saturday along with my final predictions. This post features artists and songs from these three countries: Albania, Norway, Netherlands, North Macedonia, and Azerbaijan.

If you haven’t check it out already, please check out Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, Part VIII, Part IX, and Part X of the series. Those three blog posts feature songs from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Montenegro, Belarus, Cyprus, Finland, Serbia, Poland, Slovenia, Australia, Belgium, Estonia, and Iceland, Georgia, Portugal, Greece, San Marino, Armenia, Ireland, Moldova, Switzerland, Latvia, Romania, Denmark, Croatia, Sweden, Austria, Malta, Lithuania, and Russia.

Albania: Jonida Maliqi – “Ktheju tokës”

Jonida Maliqi is one of the most well-known singers in her home country due to her voice. As you can hear why in the song “Ktheju tokës” Return to your land, it’s strong, full of emotions, and has a distinct tone that is both warm and full. Although the lyrics deal about the issue of the Albanian emigration during the Kosovo War, “Ktheju tokës” will advance to the finals due to Maliqi’s amazing vocals.

Norway: KEiiNO – “Spirit in the Sky”

“Spirits in the Sky” is about the struggles for equal rights regardless of ethnicity, gender identity, and sexuality, given their long struggle in pursuit of equal rights.[1] One of the most interesting features in this song is the joik by Fred Buljo, who is a Sami who has faced discrimination for many centuries. If you don’t know about the Sami nation, as I did, they are indigenous people who live in Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Russia. You can find more information about these people here.

With the perfect combination of three wonderful musicians, inspiring lyrics, and a unique feature of Buljo’ joik, “Spirits in the Sky” will make the finals for sure.

Netherlands: Duncan Laurence – “Arcade”

Duncan Laurence has been slowly building his artistry as “Arcade” is his first single. He actually co-wrote his first song last year for the Kpop band TVXQ/Tohoshinki. He also participated in the Voice of Holland.

The beginning of “Arcade” is very pretty. I like this song as the melody is haunting beautiful. Even though the lyrics are very basic, “Arcade” will make to the finals due to the melody and maybe the tender, delicate tone of Laurence’s vocals.

North Macedonia: Tamara Todevska – “Proud”

“Proud” has a really inspiring message for women across the world: “Stand up proud and raise your voice”. The song is very basic as there the melody is more dictated by Todevska’s vocals part and it only features a string instrument and piano. But, because of Todevska’s powerful vocals packed with a lot of lovely vibrato and the strong message, this song will resonate to many across the world. “Proud” will most certainly make to the finals.

Azerbaijan: Chingiz – “Truth”

“Truth” is not my cup of the tea. The music video might be visually stunning, but I feel like the song is basic and something that has been heard before. There is no uniqueness, maybe only in the beginning instrumental break, and that is trying to imitate other Western songs. Chingiz has a great voice but this song is too bland to be considered for the finals.

So what do you think, which song is your favorite? Comment below!

And, since I have a lot of travel bloggers and readers from the world who visit this blog, what are your favorite memories or sites in these countries? Let me know in the comments below.

Since this is an ongoing series, I am going to share my prediction scorecard at the end of each post. It is a way for me to keep track of my predictions and see if they came true in May.

Semi-Finals First Round

I have edited the first half’s chart to add Belarus into the finals pool. The reason is that there should be at least 10 finalist in each half of the semi-finals in order to have 20 winners from the semi-finals and 6 pre-qualified contestants to make 26 entries in the finals.

Semi-Finals Second Round

References

[1] Johannessen, NTB-Gitte, and Ntb. “Gamle Helter Og Nye Stjerneskudd i Melodi Grand Prix-Feltet.” Smp.no, 25 Jan. 2019, www.smp.no/ntb/innenriks/2019/01/25/Gamle-helter-og-nye-stjerneskudd-i-Melodi-Grand-Prix-feltet-18315724.ece.