12:51 About "Puppy: "Maybe they'll win me over with the live performance." Well, _that aged well._

Kuve has Spain's best shot at doing well at Eurovision. Familiar, just the right side of trashy, a foot-tapper, plus that whiff of Saturday evening glory about it.

I'm from Slovenia and am very unhappy with EMA. Internal selections were far better options for a good result at the Eurovision. Why regress to the previous format as it didn't work for us? I also strongly dislike the selection process: first the jury picks two tracks and the public is only allowed to vote for one of the two! The jury is bound to prioritise Klemen (he doesn't deserve this privilege), meaning that only one other song has a chance to compete, probably July Jones, the fan favourite. My personal favourite is Jan Vitezič. Unless a miracle happens, I can't see Slovenia progressing to the grand final this year, sadly.

Rooting for zelts😍

I really appreciate this selection of songs. It’s not great, quality-wise. But it is fun, and it is out there. It is an eclecti mix of oddities. We can get our arena anthems, girl bops, pop ditties from many many of the other countries. And let Slovenia really do their own thing :) Unfortunately, I do believe that the incredibly basic July Jones will win. Which is sad when songs like ”Niti”, ”O-ou” and, my personal favorite, ”Fredericks dead” is there.

Slovenia did so well internally, this selection is quite disappointing and useless in all honesty. But whatever makes them happy!

My favorites were: "Vse ti dam" (my only issue with this is that the mixing is terrible), "New Religion", "O-ou!", and "Frederick's Dead" (I know the lyrics are very repetitive, but there's something good about that instrumental)

Oh, damn--I'm surprised you liked "I'm a Queen", because I thought I was the only one. Honestly, I agree with nearly every one of your takes (I think only "La Pena" is where I disagree a bit, though I do understand your qualms, because all the autotuning does make me lose interest after a while). I'm probably not as much into "Besame" as you are, but you're absolutely right about the soundscape being insanely well-crafted. I think it's just her voice being sort of bland and I assume that she probably won't be a strong live singer. With that said, Benidorm is such a weird selection, because you can just assume that about 80% of performers can't sing their own songs live. Not sure why that is. It's probably better to not even think about what the live performance is going to be and just assess these entries as songs.

Viva Espana

Nothing special selection, atleast is better than Norway 😅

scarlett challengers is my most streamed song of this year and it was my favourite right from the start i genuinely dont understand what im hearing that other people arent but i dont think ive ever been so dumbfounded that a song is being ranked so low its so goooooodddd

Groot, will you be doing Serbia? Very interested in what your opinion is on those songs ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

I'm a wet blanket here. I don't really enjoy anything about "Espresso Macchiato". Like, I appreciate that the production quality is good, but it's just a weak joke to build a song around (sounds like the kind of thing they would have thought was funny 70 years ago) and not particularly fun for me. I haven't listened to these recently, but I know this selection has some very strong entries, like Minimal Wind and An-Marlen. I'm going to have to give them all a re-listen then come back and watch your full video. Not that anybody cares, but I'll let you know if I agree with your takes when I'm done! ;)

This is a pretty good selection, I think. Three songs in here are *very* good: "Sadzejot", "Zelts", and "Līgo" (that's how I order them for me). Beyond that, I think Citi Zēni's effort is worthwhile, and personally, I'm a fan of the entry by Bel Tempo & Legzdina, though I appreciate this doesn't stand a snowball's chance in hell. I'm warming up to Justs's song, though I know what you mean--almost anything was going to be a disappointment after "Heartbeat" (*great* Eurovision entry). I think "Bur man laimi" is fairly popular in the fandom, but for me, it's at the lower end of the songs that I think are the competitive tier here.

This entire selection kind of gets a shrug from me this year. I do appreciate what you see in "Fire", and maybe that's the one for Eurovision (either this one or VÆB), but I'm not too invested. I've seen a lot of love for "Stormchaser", but I actually don't care for this song at all. Bia's song is nice, but I don't have it on repeat or anything.

Most of the songs in this selection are at least decent, and I don't think that for myself it's even worth attempting to sort them until I see live performances. If you want to know what I'm listening to, then it's Fïinka, Abiye, Ziferblat, Melodi, DK Enerhetyk, KRYLATA, Masha Kondratenko, probably in that order. Yeah, I've been listening to a lot of these. 🤣

I find "My Way" actively difficult to listen to, it's so messy.

My favorite is Powerplay by Bobbi Arlo. I think that would be a good entry for Ireland.

Once you praised Powerplay I was a happy man :) Like you have some concerns about the live, largely because I'm not sure what concept on stage she will go for but im crossing everything I have that she nails as I so desperately want this representing us at ESC!

Have you ever seen the film Mitt liv som hund? A wonderful movie using the metaphor of Laika to capture the sense of childhood drift.

Be nice Groot lol thank you for reviewing my neighbouring homeland. Adgy is from Donegal very close to me. His track had Ukrainian "stefania" involvement I've been a massive fan of Samantha Mumba since 2000. I love Bobbi as well and Bobbi is a massive Eurovision fan including nfs. She wrote this song in 15 minutes. I love the classic Irishness of Reyelta as well. I think Irelands nf is uber strong sorry Denmark and Norway Bambie gave Ireland a kick up the backside last year and im excited for this year. Roll on 7th February

Ah, I see you're an "Aina" truther. I've seen a lot of affection for this song amongst the Reddit fandom, but I find it numbingly boring.

Always interesting to visit your reactions after watching performances. As you said at the end, how a song is conveyed on stage can radically alter opinions. When I was watching, I realized that there was almost really only one option for Luxembourg ("La poupée monte le son"). Personally, I think my favorites songs from this lot were "Human Eyes" and "Stronger". "Stronger" *did* work live, I think, and would have been a viable Eurovision option, but maybe it did lack a little punch for something without much appeal as a pop song.

My tier list of Songvakeppnin 2025 (out of the one version of each for me): A-tier: Ég flýg í storminn / Stormchaser: aside from a slightly too intense high note the song has a great build-up and release and production with pretty good if highly-processed vocals. 9/10. Roa: a pretty high-energy club track that is so boppy and well-produced that will surely have a fun performance. 8.5/10. Eldur/Fire: this is just an insanely cool song with a killer rap verse and great vocals and a great mix between them. So well-produced and punchy and I love it. 9/10. B-tier: Frelsið Mitt / Set Me Free: a good rock track with amazing vocals but just doesn't punch me as much as it should. 7/10. Norðurljós / Northern Lights: the melody is really pleasant and reminiscent of something I have heard before. She has a pretty voice as is the song itself and it does feel uniquely Icelandic given the title and lyrical themes. 7/10. C-tier: Eins og þú / Like You: very cute song but doesn't do anything special or memorable for me. 5/10. Risum Upp: nice melody and progression but just doesn't give me enough interesting parts for me. 5/10. Flugdrekar / Carousel: amazing voice and the first minute intrigued me but the rest of it fell sort of flat. 5/10. Þrá / Words: cute song but again it doesn't draw me in enough and just leaves much to be desired. 5/10. D-tier: Aðeins lengur: forgettable love-you-girl schlock that is fine but so unimagined. 4/10. Overall this selection is good. Half of the songs could be left but the other half (especially my top 3) will stay with me for a long time. I hope that Stormchasert will win as if it is revamped and made more "current" and with great staging I think it would stand out at ESC. Roa and Eldur could also work, especially Eldur because Pop-rap is having a glow-up at ESC right now with Stefania and The Code winning and both having a pop-rap premise which this is and it would really stand out for Iceland as well. A solid selection for me overall and I hope they choose right.

My tier list of Vidbir 2025: S-tier: Honour: god this is such a sick song that is so well-produced and it has such a unique structure that just floored me on first listen. I love everything about this. Such a different song to Call For Love but it just has a much different vibe that I love equally and I know it'll be performed the hell out of. 10/10. No Time To Cry: a fascinating progression and omg the video is just a thing of experimental Ukrainian beauty as is the song and I love everything about this. 10/10. A-tier: Bird of Prey: is just an awesome song with a sick mix of modern and ethnic that is just mindblowing for the whole time. 9/10. B-tier: My Sea: the song is fascinatingly arranged and the mix of Ukrainian and Engish is perfect but it doesn't do anything insane for me. 8/10. Dim: this is a great song with a very fresh style that doesn't suit my usual taste but I like the characteristic of the voice which makes the song very intriguing. 7.5/10. Kultura: better than her previous entry because the hook has such a rhythmic catchiness that has such an ethnic vibe and I just enjoy this pleasant little foot-tapper that is incredibly characteristic melodically and rhythmically. 7/10. Sil: this feels like something that'd be played on Triple J (Aussie indie music radio station) in my country and I love its vibe. It is not the most intriguing song but I just love its vibe and the vocals are quite solid. 7/10. Stay True: I love the melody but it does annoy me a bit because the Ukrainian bit sounds so similar to another song that I recognise somewhere but the song itself is very nice and pleasant and enjoyable to listen to. 6.5/10. C-tier: Wind of Change: Scorpions reference in the title which was fun for me. But yeah this is not nearly as good. It is cute and decent vocally but the song does nothing for me tbh. 5/10. D-tier: Waste My Time: very forgettable even with its ungodly amount of repetition and a decent vibe that is repeated throughout making it slightly tiresome, not annoying though. it is pleasant background music at least for me. 4/10. This is a great selection as Ukraine always gives us. Such a perfect mix of ethnic and modern like they always do. I enjoy almost every song here and it has definitely hit what I expect from Ukraine.

Odyssey + play it >>

👍

I absolutely believe this has very high chances of being top 10

Best review I've listened about this song so far. I hope they make it to the top, but I am ignorant as mostly don't bother with Eurovision. But I guess I will this time just because of Shkodra Elektronike, since I've been a fan since they got together in 2019. Here's one of my favorite songs from them. kzbin.info/www/bejne/g6qZhWmwlNt6Y80si=sfRtQkFajr6JoOSj

The worst Sanremo

Good job! Külm 😊 I love your guitar 😊😊😊❤❤❤

With the natural televote, I think Masha could win Eurovision if they send her. The Eurovision twiteratti are saying this isn't a great selection, but I think it's the usual excellent Ukraine quality.

Thanks for yet another great ranking. Krylata is my favourite this far, with Dim coming in 2nd, but there are quite a few gems in this year's Vidbir.

Bird of Pray 💪🙏

My favorite has to be My Sea. I quite like Dim, too, but My Sea for me is a clear S tier. Again, Ukraine is setting the bar really high. Take care, kära!

Omg I love the guitar covers! Especially when they cover my favorite song of this years Eurovision season!😍

Bravo Groot, this has helped me deal with the storm earlier in Ireland. Thank you and much love

I'm rooting for song ten. It has a very cool Cure vibe which hits with me. The vocal does not try to be Robert Smith like, though, and after it initially sounding a bit coarse, I grew to appreciate it a lot. The selection as a whole is strong but only that one found its way into my S tier. Meanwhile Birds of prey ended up in my F tier

Coolest and most Interesting Eurovision content creator. So proud to be a long time supporter. Here's to another successful year of overwhelming Grootiness! ☺️

Love Külm! Good job! 😍And I love that you're back with the guitar covers. 🥰

Dim is my favorite too, followed by No Time to Cry and Sil. I am going directly back to Sil for a re-listen and to think about what your thoughts on the song; my current feeling is that it is quite accomplished, artistic, and meaningful. Could I say that he seasons the song with his voice like salt and it work for me.

Groot i'm really sorry for the off topic here but... Fdc is so strong this year... Cant wait to see you reviewing it!

I hope Tommy will win, & I also hope the stagework for "Espresso Macchiato" will be just as good as the song, if not better (somehow), in order for Tommy to win.

Beatriz Roque Aleixo for the win 💪🇵🇹

Ok so i was wrong about "nothing above the B-tier" but I'm glad we had the same favorites (Stormchaser, Fire, Words).

I My favourite from this selection is BIA. I am sure Groot will dismiss it as generic, though. 😉

My prediction is that you won't have anything above the B-tier. I'm excited to see what you think because, personally, this is one of the worst NFs this year.

My tier list for Supernova 2024: S-tier: Zelts: this is a simply beautiful song with spellbinding harmonies and a haunting instrumental that just pierces my soul and sends me into a heavenly trance. 10/10. Scarlett Challenger: this song is so unique and compelling in its sound, I love her vocal tone and the song just entrances me. 10/10. Sadzejot: I love the unique feel for this and the Latvian language is absolutely beautiful here. The vocals and instrumental also perfectly work here to a song that is immensely satisfying by its end. 10/10. Ligo: just a great house banger with a great ethnic chant chorus and engaging verses that just excels at and knows exactly what it is. 9.5/10. Bound By The Light: this is ethnic mixed with modern to the highest order with a beautiful arrangement, lyrics and vocals. 10/10. A-tier: Romance Isn't Dead: I just love the (The) 1975 vibe this gives me with the punchy instrumental and a great vocal with very timely lyrics that I find really smart and true. 8.5/10. Fit Right: I love the progression and the production of this and Justs is clearly great here. He is closer to where he was in 2016 here, definitely way better than Strangers from 2022. 8.5/10. Ramtai: this is a different song than Eat Your Salad but it works after a few listens. It is produced really well and the vocals have great variation and I do love that rap verse. I do feel like the non-vocal chorus totally works. 8/10. Monster: what a great instrumental vibe and production with an interesting lyrical approach with a lot of character to her approach and lots of catchiness. 8/10. B-tier: Heartbeat: I do love the lyrics and the vibe but the progression and melody (aside from the catchiness) leave me wanting a bit more. 7/10. The Water: I love the vibe of this song and the vocals are great but it doesn't really evolve a lot but the vibe is quite pleasant and the lyrics are sweet. Very Latvian as well which I love. 7/10. Electric Love: good dance-pop track with good production and a unique voice but it does not have loads of progression to it which ruins it slightly for me. 7/10. Lovable: a grower with cute lyrics and a fun, bubbly beat that I love that doesn't evolve much but is nice while it lasts. 6.5/10. Delusional: a solid pop-punk tune with a bit of a muddy production that works but with its lack of punch in vocals and sound it just ends up being nice and not amazing for a song like this. 7/10. Chemical: this is a nice song but it doesn't entirely work with the dubstep production that dates it a bit but it offers a nice progression with solid vocals and lyrics. 7/10. Domaju Tu Nac: a beautiful ballad that is great vocally but parts of it feel sort of generic and in terms of its style it isn't the best at what it tries to do. 7.5/10. Bigger Than This: a fun song that is well-produced with a cool drop and a cool 90s throwback that works but it kind of loses me in the random ending. 7/10. D-tier: Stronger: the verses are good but god the transition from the verses to the chorus just doesn't gel for me at all. It feels like two songs pasted into one with solid vocals and instrumentals that make it quite a disappointment. 4/10. Something in the Water: this is totally not my vibe and I just find it super snoozy but everything about it is fine. 4/10. Bur Man Laimi: the song is just so drowned out for me and given the strong harmonies the vocals are good but the whole approach of it doesn't work for me overall. 4/10. Overall this selection is incredible. So many of the songs work so well for me and are all very unique to each other and I love that they still stay true to their identity in Eurovision while being able to polish up the quality for me but obviously, it isn't to you but who knows the performances night make some of the songs grow on you. I love many of these songs and they caught me the first time but for someone like you who is all about production might need live shows to really get a fuller vision beyond the recording.

I would have voted but a) my pick wasn't on the ballot and b) too many songs on the ballot I wanted to give +3s to.

Viivi would be an amazing representative for Finland.