The Michigan Cross-Country Review

      In classic fashion, Armenia took absolutely forever to reveal their choice for Eurovision this year. Finally, it was announced that Ladaniva , with the song "Jako" , would be heading to Sweden in May. Let's take a listen: About the Artist Ladaniva (named for a terrible Soviet SUV ), are the duo of Jaklin Baghdasaryan and Louis Thomas. Jaklin, the band's singer, is from Yeghegnadzor in southern Armenia; jazz musician Louis is French. Both currently live in Lille. Song Analysis Very different from anything else we've seen at this year's contest, and extremely true to both Ladaniva's discography and Armenian music. "Jako" is the Armenian equivalent of Jackie - Jaklin Baghdasaryan's nickname. The song is about how she was always told to be quiet and conform, and how she very much has not done that. Standard Eurovision lyrical content, but presented in a new, unique way. Armenia's History Despite never having won the contest, Armenia'

     Georgia announced a while ago that Nutsa Buzaladze  would be the nation's representative in Sweden. Her song, "Firefighter" , just dropped: About the Artist A truly international woman: born in Tbilisi, raised in Turkey, now living in Dubai. She's a relatively popular figure in Georgia, but weirdly may be well-known to some in our  Georgia after making top 12 in American Idol, a show that apparently is still a thing.  Song Analysis We have quite a few girlbops this year: Czechia, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland. This one stands out a bit, though? Maybe? It's a little less dancey, more instrumentally interesting. Or maybe I'm just wishcasting and thinking about khachapuri. Georgia's History Georgia consistently sends unique songs, much like their neighbors in Armenia and their extremely not-neighbors in Portugal. Unlike those two, they've been rewarded with six consecutive NQs and a best-ever placing of 9th (2010, 2011). Not great. For me, though

     They're here, I guess. Eden Golan and "Hurricane": About the Artist Eden is 20, and grew up in both Israel and Russia. She earned the right to represent Israel by winning the Rising Star  talent show ( HaKokhav HaBa) . Song Analysis This is the third iteration of this song; the first two were rejected by the EBU for being too political. That means the lyrics on Round 3 are very meh, and the song just doesn't do much to make up for it. Israel's History Four-time winners, including the first openly trans contestant/winner Dana International in 1998 and chicken-noise-maker Netta in 2018. Israel have only missed the final once since 2014. 39th  in my rankings - not a lot of entries that I really hate, but only 3 I really like. 1  Lior Narkis — “Words for Love” 2  Netta — “Toy” 3  Harel Skaat — “Milim” 4  Noa Kirel — “Unicorn” 5  Nadav Guedj — “Golden Boy” Prognosis Political voting's gonna be interesting. Current Rankings

         Festival da Canção, my favorite national final. A true celebration of Portuguese music, where all songs are written by the performers. This year's winner: Iolanda  with her song "Grito". Let's listen: About the Artist Iolanda Costa is 29, born in the northern city of Figueira da Foz. After studying at the University of Sussex in England, she made a few attempts at Portuguese singing competitions to little success. This was her first attempt at FdC. Best Things We Lost Along the Way João Borsch, "...Pelas costuras" , 2nd:  Sometimes Portugal can get really weird! This won the televote. Leo Middea, "Doce mistério" , 3rd: Faced a lot of backlash for being Brazilian, unfortunately. Very cool song. Rita Rocha, "Pontos finais" , 5th: Eurovision needs more harps! Maria João, "Dia" , Semifinals: Really, really unique. Maria is a well-regarded jazz singer of half-Mozambican descent, singing parts of this song in Tsonga. Song Ana

         Who will Sweden send to their home ESC after Loreen's win last year? That's your Melodifestivalen winners, Marcus & Martinus  with "Unforgettable": About the Artist Marcus and Martinus Gunnarsen are not in fact Swedish, but Norwegian! The 22-year-old twins from Elverum were child stars in their home country, but their grown-up career has been more in Sweden, including a win in Sweden's Masked Singer and a runner-up finish at Melfest last year with " Air ". Best Things We Lost Along the Way Medina, " Que sera ", 2nd: Sweden's best short-term hope to send something in Swedish again, with a very party song. We've got enough of that this year, though. Maria Sur, " When I'm Gone ", 7th: This deserved so much better, and I think it would've been the best choice to do well at Eurovision. Jacqline, " Effortless ", 9th: Beautifully staged, like so many Melfest songs. Fröken Snusk, " Unga & fria &

    On Thursday night, after a wild day of Eurovision news, Greece revealed the song that Marina Satti  would be sending to Eurovision. Here is "Zari": About the Artist Marina Satti, born in Athens and raised on Crete, is yet another Berklee alum. Her songs usually combine traditional Greek and Arab music with jazz influences. Song Analysis For once: something very Greek! Unlike many other Eurovision artists, Marina hasn't really changed up her style at all for the contest. Those Greek and Middle Eastern influences are extremely clear here. I'm not sure what she's singing about, because the lyrics aren't out yet as of this writing (this writing is as the song premieres), but "Zari" means "Die", as in the singular of dice. Greece's History Greece was one of the strongest countries of the 2000s, winning once (2005) and making eight consecutive top tens from 2004 to 2011. As they entered the 2010s and turned away from dance bops, though, t