legend: ✔︎ actual winner ✘ did not win. with this being a year where i’m fond of many actual entries, my favourite non-winning entry will also be included :)

• ✘ iceland: ég flýg í storminn - birgo
• ✔︎ luxembourg: la poupée monte le son - laura thorn // je danse - luzac

approximately ordered from favourite to least favourite entry. for cases where my favourite did not qualify to the final, or a superfinal structure of 5 or more songs is chosen (sanremo), more than 1 song is included

legend: ✔︎ actual winner ✘ did not win ☐ selection ongoing

• ✔︎ croatia: andromeda - lelek
• ✔︎ ukraine: ridnym - leléka
• ✘ latvia: te un tagad - kautkaili (#2)
• ✘ italy: stella stellina - ermal meta (#8) // che fastidio - ditonellapiaga
• ✘ lithuania: grįšim - vilnius voices (#5)
• ✘ luxembourg: eye to eye - shirokuro (#4)
• ✔︎ denmark: før vi går hjem - søren torpegaard lund
• ✔︎ albania: nân - alis
• ✔︎ finland: liekinheitin - linda lampenius & pete parkkonen
• ✘ estonia: rhythm of nature - uliana (#8)
• ✘ sweden: där hela världen väntar - klara almst..._add finalist_

✉️ : art is inherently political. attempting to compartmentalise and process recent events through the language of sociology, media studies + more.

• incredibly tempting to make a video essay/analysis of the fallacy of neutrality…thinking

on neutrality.

• genocide, neutrality and the university sector +
  • such silence is not neutral; it reflects alignment with settler-colonial logics that erase Palestinian lives and struggles, while masking complicity under the guise of institutional detachment. indeed, both silence and claims to institutional neutrality are important mechanisms for maintaining the status quo, an evasion of responsibility that enables institutions to profit from and perpetuate the systems of v...

⤷ to be honest, i don't see how people consider this a strong year (and i believe this assessment is shaped by the political state of the contest.) there’s many entries i would consider competent but adhere too closely to established musical tropes to be strong, while more experimental ones often felt messy on first listen.

• (i did not engage live & adhere to a financial boycott, this is for the sake of closure and not an endorsement of anything)
  • also i’m not motivated enough to solidify everything below #14

tier 1: masterpieces to be immortalised. for the acts i have an emotional investment in, which resonated with me most. (4.5/5 and above)

• 1. croatia