Finals upon Finals this week and last weekend! many strong competitors from last year’s Eurovision have released their new songs for this year, while the bottom two countries are trying to redeem themselves.

Israel

And the winner is…Michael Ben David with I.M. the song has an amazing beat, and no one can deny it’s a high energy performance. The actual song however…it’s not the greatest. many people have compared it to a RuPaul’s Drag Race song, which tend to have less then quality lyrics. many people had this song in the bottom of their list to win, myself included. However, with the performance being as exciting as it is, it still has a small chance to qualify.

Ireland and North Macedonia

North Macedonia is attempting to come full circle from their 2019 top ten finish with “Circles” by Andrea. The song tied for first in the national final and (thank God) was chosen over the abysmal “superman”. Andrea has already confirmed that the song will get a revamp and a more professional music video which it desperately needs. Ireland, last year’s last place, is trying make the final with “That’s Rich” by Brooke. Last year’s entry “Maps” by Lesley Roy was one of my favorite songs of the year. It was well liked by fans and was said to have “innovative staging”. said innovative staging ended up being messy and made it hard for the singer to hit notes as she was running on a treadmill the whole time. Brooke luckily has very average staging and a fun pop song that is sure to at least top last year’s placing.

Austria

The 19-year-old LUM!X featuring Pia Maria for Austria. LUM!X is one of spotify’s top 500 artists with 10 million monthly listeners and over half a billion listens. the 19-year-old will reveal his song “Halo” within the coming weeks. Many people have expressed their confusion as to how LUM!X is a top 500 artist, yet nobody has really heard of him. After listening to his songs, i discovered a few have been used as popular meme sounds and TikTok audios.

Italy

Second time’s the charm for Mahmood and Blanco with “Brividi”. The song shot up to top 3 on the Spotify global top 50. The song is extremely beautiful and has received high praise by reviewers and fans alike. Italy won last year’s contest and is looking to win again.

Iceland

Iceland has released their potential songs for Eurovision 2022. This year, all the entries were released in both Icelandic and English, allowing the artists to choose which version to send to the semi-finals. the current favorites are “Then Again” by Katla and my personal favorite “Keep it Cool” by Suncity & Sanna.