The Michigan Cross-Country Review

  Cyprus was one of the first countries to announce their Eurovision entry this year, naming Silia Kapsis back in September. Her song "Liar" finally dropped today: About the Artist Silia Kapsis is 17 years old, born to a Cypriot-Greek family in Sydney. She doesn't have much of a discography because she is 17, but she's done some stuff for Nickelodeon Australia. Song Analysis This song has been around for a while - it was one of the internal selection options for Greece last year, and may have been shopped around to Russia previously. It's a perfectly fine girlbop in a year with several of them - for me, it gets a bit lost in the shuffle. Cyprus's History Cyprus has never won the contest, but they've historically been pretty solid - only two NQs since 2011. "Fuego" in particular remains a fan favorite and one of the most influential songs at the contest, even if it didn't quite win. Notably, they haven't sent anyone actually from Cyprus si

  Back in December, the Netherlands announced that Joost Klein would be representing the country in Malmö. Now, we have his song, "Europapa": About the Artist Joost Klein is precisely 5 days younger than me and comes from Leeuwarden in Friesland. He's a big name in the Netherlands, with four Top 40 hits and two top-5 albums.  Song Analysis Oh, it's a weird one. It's partially about his father, who passed away when Joost was a kid, but also about...the EU? Maybe? I'm still trying to figure out exactly what's going on here, but there's clearly some sort of meaning behind the silliness. The Netherlands' History Very hot and cold. Five wins all-time, but a dreadful 8-year NQ streak in the late 2000s only broken by Anouk and the Common Linnets. Since then? Pretty good, even if last year didn't quite go as planned. The Dutch tend to go with similar themes for a few years - country in the late 2010s, ballads in the 2020s, and now...something different

  Switzerland promised us that after four years in a row, we wouldn't be getting a male ballad. Instead, we got a non-binary...whatever this song is. It's Nemo  with "The Code": About the Artist Nemo Mettler is a 24-year-old rapper and singer from Biel, a lakeside watchmaking town in the canton of Bern (Omega and Swatch are both based in Biel). They've had some success domestically already, winning five Swiss Music Awards and competing in The Masked Singer Switzerland (as a panda).   Song Analysis I've listened to this like ten times already, and I still don't quite know what's going on here. Lots of genre mixing - operatic rap??? It's very catchy, though, and despite the delegation's promise, there's definitely some elements similar to previous Swiss ballads - if it weren't for the rap bits, this could definitely fit with Gjon's Tears. Arguably this feels more Belgian than anything, and that's a compliment. Switzerland's Hi

       Dora, Croatia's national final, was held on Sunday for some reason. Your champion, in an absolute runaway (more televotes than the other 15 acts combined), is Baby Lasagna with "Rim Tim Tagi Dim": About the Artist Baby Lasagna, government name Marko Purišić, is pretty new to professional singing. He'd been a guitarist for a long time, even placing 4th at Dora 2019 as part of the band Manntra, but he didn't release his first single until last October and hadn't sung on stage until earlier this month. He's taken major influences from Rammstein and helped write a number 1 album in Germany for metal band Mono, Inc. Marko is 28 years old and comes from Umag in Croatia's northwestern region of Istria. Best Things We Lost Along the Way Well, there's a reason nothing else got many televotes. Song Analysis There's a lot more going on here than just big glowing farm animals. "Rim Tim Tagi Dim" taps into a common experience in Eastern Eur

      Over 100 artists entered Una Voce Per San Marino , but only one will be going to Sweden. It's Spanish band Megara  with "11:11" . The final performance isn't up yet, but here's one from the earlier rounds: About the Artist Megara, a rock group from Madrid, aren't new to Eurovision - they finished 4th at Spain's Benidorm Fest last year. You may remember that the Spanish representative this year, Nebulossa, previously attempted to qualify for San Marino, making this the world's weirdest exchange program. Best Things We Lo.st Along the Way Not a lot. It's San Marino. Song Analysis Our first proper rock song of the year! It's actually not bad, and it includes some pretty clear references to not being selected for Benidorm this year.  San Marino's History Pretty bad, as you'd expect. Only 3 qualifications since their 2008 debut (fewer than the number of Valentina Monetta appearances), but some real hidden gems and fan favorites. Also,

     Belgium announced that Mustii  would be their artist all the way back in August, and we finally have his song. This is "Before The Party's Over": About the Artist Thomas "Mustii" Mustin is 30 years old and hails from the Belgian capital of Brussels. He's spent a lot of time in theatre and film, but evidently he also can sing. He also serves as a judge on Drag Race Belgique. Song Analysis There's some big Eurovision names in the songwriting list here - Nina Sampermans ( Estonia 2023 , Switzerland 2021 ) and Pierre Dumoulin ( Belgium 2019  which unfortunately struggled live, Belgium 2017 ). As you'd expect from that, this is a very  well-put together ballad. The first bit is kind of slow, but the last minute of this song rocks. If this comes together live...... Belgium's History Historically, Belgium's been pretty lackluster - 8 last places and only one win (1986). Recently, things have been much better, though - 6 qualifications out of th

    After a maybe-rigged vote last year, the new-look TVP (thanks, Polish election!) went for an internal selection this year. Their pick: Luna , with her song "The Tower". About the Artist Aleksandra Wielgomas, known as Luna, is a 24-year-old from Warsaw. She chose her stage name because of her sleepwalking. Björk is apparently her biggest inspiration, which checks out with her ethereal pop music. Song Analysis It's a very ethereal pop song, as expected, but a bit disappointing compared to some of her prior music - definitely a case of an artist pivoting towards the mainstream for Eurovision. It's better than last year, but still not quite where I'd like Poland to be. Poland's History Poland finished 2nd in their 1994 debut, but they've struggled since then despite strong televote numbers, placing no better than 7th since 1994. Despite my heritage, I generally don't like Poland at the contest - it's 42nd  of 48 countries since 2000. A few semi-bri

     LUKTELK LUKTELK, IT'S SILVESTER BELT About the Artist Silvestras Beltė is 26, from Kaunas, and openly bi. He lived in London for a while and won some sort of singing competition as a kid. Yay! Best Things We Lost Along the Way eh Song Analysis There's a reason this dominated the national final. It's really good! Lithuania's History Latvia and Estonia each have an ESC title; Lithuania hasn't finished better than 6th. Not great! But recent years have been pretty kind to the basketball-mad nation, with three straight qualifications. Well, I do really like "Sentimentai". Otherwise, not much for Lithuania - they're 33rd  of 48 for me. 1  Monika Liu — “Sentimentai” 2  Monika Linkytė & Vaidas Baumila — “This Time” 3  The Roop — “Discoteque” 4  Monika Linkytė — “Stay” 5  Donny Montell — “I’ve Been Waiting For This Night” Prognosis Lithuania's got a bunch of televote friends, this will qualify. Current Rankings

     Denmark is a giant mess, here's the only video we have of the winning performance - Saba  with "Sand": About the Artist Anna Saba Lykke Oehlenschlæger was born in Ethiopia and adopted as a baby, along with her twin sister. I am tired. Best Things We Lost Along the Way Nothing else is posted yet, unfortunately. Song Analysis ehhhh Denmark's History Overall, not that bad - wins in 1963, 2000, and 2013. Post-Emmelie, though, Denmark's been the laughingstock of the Nordics, just as Finland and Norway have started to put it together. One top ten since 2014 and three straight NQs. I wouldn't think of myself as a Denmark appreciator, outside of 2018 and 2013, but they're 17th in my rankings nonetheless. Curious. 1  Rasmussen — “Higher Ground” 2  Emmelie de Forest — “Only Teardrops” 3  Basim — “Cliché Love Song” 4  Leonora — “Love Is Forever” 5  Lighthouse X — “Soldiers of Love” Prognosis Four straight NQs. Current Rankings

     Eesti Laul was an awesome final once again, and your winners in 2024 are 5miinust & Puuluup , singing, uh,  "(Nendest) narkootikumidest ei tea me (küll) midagi" [ "We don't (yet) know anything about (these) drugs"]: About the Artist Two groups of people here! 5MIINUST ( Estoni Kohver, Päevakoer, Põhja-Korea, Lancelot) are a hip-hop group who have twice been Estonia's Artist of the Year. Puuluup (Ramo Teder, Marko Veisson) are a folk duo playing the talharpa . No idea why they're working together, but it was a great choice. Best Things We Lost Along the Way A few good things here!  Ollie, " My Friend ", 2nd: Two straight runner-ups for Ollie. He'll get there soon enough. This was clear ahead of everything else (other than nendest...). Nele-Liis Vaiksoo, " Käte ümber jää ", 3rd: Estonia clearly wasn't in a ballad mood again this year, but this would've been a respectable choice. Anet Vaikmaa, " Serotoniin "

    After yet another deeply weird Etapa Națională, Moldova has selected their Eurovision representative. For the third year in a row it's a returning artist - 2007 representative Natalia Barbu  singing "In the Middle": About the Artist As mentioned, she's done this before, placing 10th in 2007. She's got a few #1 hits in Moldova and Romania, so she's not just one of those Moldovan artists who only exists for Eurovision. Best Things We Lost Along the Way Well, it wasn't the greatest national final ever, and it's mostly not on YouTube yet. The audition round is, though, featuring: Tudor Bumbac, " Tudorel ": yesssssss, this beat two songs Song Analysis Moldova usually sends something fun and wacky...this is not that. It's unique, I guess, but just feels meh to me. I'm also very tired and in an airport, so. Moldova's History For being the poorest country in Europe, Moldova does pretty well. They're consistently a televote favorit