#junior esc

The celebration of all that is short and shrill is with us again. This is the 17th running of the show and it has grown from what was a children’s singing celebration to more children that are children but singing more adult sounding songs, but about flowers and birds and happiness.

I started listening to the songs on Spotify without paying attention to which country was which to sort of have an unbiased opinion. The entries are better; there are fewer songs that sound like ‘children’ songs, but there is some verbal aerobic this year; more than you’ve experienced in the past. Frightening.

So, a review of the songs from the 1st rehearsal:

ALBANIA

A ballad that is growing on me. It has an uplifting sound at limes, but laboured at others. If that is the dress she is wearing, it is a little heavy for the performance.

ARMENIA

Good upbeat song which skips along quickly. The performance is heavily choreographed and the outfits are what a little girl would wear versus what may have matched the song better.

AUSTRALIA

The song is a little ordinary and kind of forgettable in this bunch.  Jordan is better than the song. I don’t have high hopes.

BELARUS

A decent uptempo number which would be easy to listen to on the radio. The rehearsal looks modern and choreographed. Manga background is good.

FRANCE

This is a departure for France as it is not a ballad. Uptempo number that is a cheery and fun. They have given it an appropriately fun performance too

GEORGIA

The Georgian song sounds kind of jazz like and I don’t understand because no child listens to jazz. The rehearsal sounds different though, but I don’t see it winning.

IRELAND

An epic song which reminds me of ‘My heart will go on’. It’s another easy song, and pleasant. The performance may need more than a fancy background.

 ITALY

I don’t like her voice; it seems whiney. I  don’t particularly like the song either. The performance is very simple on the stage.

KAZAKHSTAN

I forgot about this one. It’s not a bad song, it’s just runs into everything else. The performance has dancers which is very nice. vocally forced.

MALTA

This could be a senior entrant and it’s a bit of an anthem. Odd assembly of garment, looks okay.

NORTH MACEDONIA

Dramatic ballad possibly best vocals of the rehearsals. Not sure about the dress.

POLAND

An interesting uptempo number for the home team. They wanted to put in a decent effort and they have done well.

PORTUGAL

A pleasant song, but not enough to be successful song. I really want them to go back and re-dress that girl. It looked very bad.

RUSSIA

That boy does not have a smoking habit (I hope). A nice pleasant duet from these two. Looks nice on screen too.

SERBIA

This is a good song. Somewhere I read it was a favourite and it could be up there. They have good staging and it is well choreographed.

SPAIN

Spain is returning for the first time in over ten years and they have selected a song that is a ballad, hits notes and is a full package. And then it went to the stage. To say that it went from decent to extraordinary is an understanding.

THE NETHERLANDS

This going to do well. It has a good feel and the stage performance is really slick.

UKRAINE

This one is nice and has a unique feel to it. I’m not sure how successful it will be. The stage presentation looks fine, but I don’t know about the pant suit.

WALES

Another song I’d forgotten about. It’s decent as songs go, but I think per staging needs something more.

Conclusion