With the live shows for the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest starting tomorrow, we thought we’d have a little go at trying to make our own jury scores for this year’s contest.
Rules
The 37 countries competing this year have been randomly sorted into seven segments. Each segment will be voted on by 5 jurors. They have assessed based on six categories: Melodic Impact, Artist Presence, Individuality, Attention Drawing, Vocal Fit, and Lyrical Impact. Exact specifications of these criteria can be found below. Our five jurors have given a score of 1 to 5 on each of the six topics, allowing each juror to give a maximum of 30 points to each song. In total there are up to 150 points available to each song. Once every song and score has been presented a full breakdown with a ranking of all 37 of this year’s entries.
Additionally, all of our jurors were asked to give one positive, and one negative comment about each song in a constructive manner.
These are our personal opinions based on the criteria outlined. This is in no way attempt to accurately predict what will be the outcome of next week’s shows and should not be taken as such.
Countries And Jurors For Part Four
The five countries that make up the third segment being voted on are: Greece, Poland, Romania, The Netherlands, and Ireland.
The jurors voting in this segment are: Helen, Euan, Angus, Isabelle, as well as our guest juror Tommy from Eurovoxx.
Voting Criteria
Criteria 1: Melodic Impact
How lasting is the beat of the track. The more the beat stays, the higher the ranking.
Criteria 2: Artist’s Presence
If a national final is used, how their presence on stage affected the performance. If an internal selection was used, and no pre-party of other live footage is available then their presence is assessed based on their history.
Criteria 3: Individuality
How different is the song compared to the rest of the acts participating this year.
Criteria 4: Attention Drawing
How drawn in are you by the song. Are you waiting for it to finish, or completely engrossed.
Criteria 5: Vocal Fit
Assessing the vocal fit of the artist to the song rather than judging their technical ability in full. ie. X singer may have a wider range to Y singer, though singer Y may utilise the range better in their song and therefore should be ranked higher than X.
Criteria 6: Lyrical Impact
How lasting are the lyrics to you. Has listening to it left you singing the song.
The Results
Greece
| Juror 1 | Juror 2 | Juror 3 | Juror 4 | Juror 5 | Totals | |
| Melodic Impact | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2.5 | 15.5 |
| Artist’s Presence | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 12 |
| Individuality | 3 | 2 | 2.5 | 2 | 1 | 10.5 |
| Attention Drawing | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 |
| Vocal Fit | 4 | 5 | 4.5 | 3 | 5 | 21.5 |
| Lyrical Impact | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 15 |
Positives
Angus: Victor voice and vocal delivery work really well with the song, I couldn’t imagine anyone else perform this track!
Helen: I think a lot of people will be surprised at Victor’s talent and particularly his vocal tone, which fits the instrumentation of the song very well.
Euan: Victor has a very captivating voice, and the hook does manage to stay with you for quite a while after the song is over.
Isabelle: The subject matter is impactful. I really hope he brings the strong music video visuals to the stage as it does a lot to communicate the emotional landscape of the song.
Tommy: Victor has great charisma when he is performing. The song feels quite authentic and personal to him.
Negatives
Angus: While the vocals are distinctive, the rest of the song treads well-trodden ground and is not particularly memorable or do much else to draw the listener in
Tommy: The cursive style of singing is quite grating and distracting.
Isabelle: The lyrics are touching in places, but muddled in others, and Victor’s singing style makes them quite difficult to make out in parts.
Helen: The transition into the hand-clap section at the song’s conclusion is a bit abrupt.
Euan: The style of singing hasn’t been received well and could hurt their chances substantially.
Poland
| Juror 1 | Juror 2 | Juror 3 | Juror 4 | Juror 5 | Totals | |
| Melodic Impact | 2 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 19 |
| Artist’s Presence | 1 | 3.5 | 2 | 2 | 3.5 | 12 |
| Individuality | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3.5 | 9.5 |
| Attention Drawing | 2 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 1 | 3 | 10 |
| Vocal Fit | 1 | 3 | 2.5 | 1 | 2 | 9.5 |
| Lyrical Impact | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3.5 | 9.5 |
Positives
Angus: The song has a strong hook and it is possible top sing along even on a first listen
Tommy: It’s a cheerful, happy, summer melody that is super pleasant to listen to.
Isabelle: The melody is very catchy.
Helen: It’s very radio friendly and fits with genres that are popular at the moment.
Euan: It’s so bloody catchy!
Negatives
Angus: While catchy, the song can at times feel overly repetitive
Tommy: The performance could have an even bigger impact with some attention to improving the vocals and the choreography.
Isabelle: It’s a shame to see something so derivative from an artist who isn’t a strong live performer – a great live vocal and/or engaging stage presence and choreo could have made this good fun, but Blanka hasn’t shown either of those qualities in her performances to date.
Helen: The live performance left much to be desired and her staging will need to be improved for Liverpool.
Euan: Her vocal performance at times has left a lot to be desired.
Romania
| Juror 1 | Juror 2 | Juror 3 | Juror 4 | Juror 5 | Totals | |
| Melodic Impact | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 13 |
| Artist’s Presence | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 16 |
| Individuality | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 15 |
| Attention Drawing | 3 | 3.5 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 14.5 |
| Vocal Fit | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 20 |
| Lyrical Impact | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 11 |
Positives
Angus: Theodor´s powerful vocal delivery really hammers home the already memorable melody
Tommy: His voice fits the style and the sentiment of the song quite well.
Isabelle: Theodor Andrei has such a fantastic blues-rock voice that fits this song perfectly, and it’s refreshing to hear at ESC. His best performances of it imo have been when the staging is pared back and his voice is the focus.
Helen: The concept for Theodor’s staging is very avant-garde and it is great to have a song in Romanian back in the contest.
Euan: Theodor does have quite a good stage presence and feels very natural on stage.
Negatives
Angus: The song is much more interesting and unique musically than it is lyrically
Tommy: Apart from the sexualised theme of the national performance, there is little for the viewer to engage with.
Isabelle: The song’s subject matter and lyrics feel adolescent, which makes sense given the artist’s age! But at times it feels like reading a diary in kind of an uncomfortable way.
Helen: The messaging is a bit muddled and could be lost on the audience, especially if he is forced to change some of the costuming to meet decency standards.
Euan: It does come off as rather messy at times which I think could leave a bad impression with people.
The Netherlands
| Juror 1 | Juror 2 | Juror 3 | Juror 4 | Juror 5 | Totals | |
| Melodic Impact | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 17 |
| Artist’s Presence | 5 | 1.5 | 3 | 3 | 3.5 | 16 |
| Individuality | 4 | 2 | 2.5 | 2 | 4 | 14.5 |
| Attention Drawing | 4 | 1 | 3.5 | 2 | 4 | 14.5 |
| Vocal Fit | 3 | 4 | 4.5 | 4 | 5 | 20.5 |
| Lyrical Impact | 5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3 | 4.5 | 19.5 |
Positives
Angus: Dion and Mia sound excellent together, and the melody enhances this duet even further
Tommy: Simple, beautiful, classy and relatable; almost perfect in its composition.
Isabelle: Mia and Dion’s harmonies sound super pretty as written, i.e. on the studio version, and I love the potential this has to deliver a quiet, intimate moment similar to past ESC duets like Sebi and Calm After The Storm.
Helen: The emotional nature and lyricism have won me over, as well as Mia and Dion’s vocal capabilities here. It washes over me like a warm hug.
Euan: Despite having not worked with each other for very long, they both have quite a good connection on stage and carry themselves well.
Negatives
Angus: There is nothing wrong with familiarity, but the song at times feels like it is lacking its own identity
Tommy: The song requires to spend some time with it in a specific headspace to fully appreciate, but it is fully worth it.
Isabelle: Unfortunately, the artists’ vocals in the live performances we’ve seen so far haven’t quite hit the mark, so we aren’t getting the emotional connection that comes from those beautiful harmonies delivered at the right level.
Helen: I worry about it’s chances of qualifying out of a televote-only semi, especially with its’ running order position between Czechia and Finland.
Euan: The song is extremely forgettable. I struggle to remember much about it even after immediately listening to it.
Ireland
| Juror 1 | Juror 2 | Juror 3 | Juror 4 | Juror 5 | Total | |
| Melodic Impact | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 13 |
| Artist’s Presence | 1 | 2 | 3.5 | 4 | 3.5 | 14 |
| Individuality | 1 | 1 | 1.5 | 2 | 1 | 6.5 |
| Attention Drawing | 1 | 2.5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 9.5 |
| Vocal Fit | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 2.5 | 17.5 |
| Lyrical Impact | 2 | 2 | 1.5 | 3 | 2.5 | 11 |
Positives
Angus: The melody is nice and Wild Youth’s experience shines through when they are performing the track live
Tommy: The sentiment of the song is laudable.
Isabelle: We Are One really comes alive in performance, where the band’s stage presence and voices combine to convey the song’s uplifting message in proper anthemic fashion and I find it genuinely surprisingly touching.
Helen: It’s competently put together and there is a sizable audience that will go for this genre of rock, particularly with an anthemic chorus.
Euan: It has a nice tune to it.
Negatives
Angus: While easy and fun to hum along to, this song doesn’t do much to stand out from what else is at Eurovision or played on the radio
Tommy: The melody, style, song structure, and lyrics are both predictable and cliche.
Isabelle: The lyrics lean a little generically into the message of unity and “love love, peace peace,” for want of a better descriptor. This kind of thing can feel overdone.
Helen: This seems like a choice meant to appeal to everyone, but this then runs the risk of being everyone’s 11th or 12th favourite song at most and not picking up any points.
Euan: The lyrics feel a little tired and cliched.
What do you think of our scores? Are there any countries you’d score differently? As always, let us know what you think by commenting below. Also, be sure to follow “That Eurovision Site” on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Tiktok as we cover the rehearsals of Eurovision 2023!
Information Source: That Eurovision Site
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