YUPPPPPPPPPPP Italy getting their DESERVED win 10 years after their return to Eurovision we honestly LOVE to see it. Italy have been robbed and deserved of a win literally so many times in the past decade, so seeing this phenomenal and iconic band lift the trophy tonight was cathartic. Personally, my heritage is mostly Italian so I always love rooting for Italy as if they're my own country, so this win is just perfect and so fulfilling. I love Damiano, Victoria, Thomas and Ethan and I just love everything about this. Eurovision rarely rewards my favorite songs, so I'm just loving this. Plus, the final in GENERAL was SO STRONG??? Honestly up there with Eurovision 2016 as one of the strongest ever. This was just so much fun with an exciting result sequence and great songs and I'm so happy that this Eurovision was fantastic, because it's what The Netherlands and what we deserved after missing the contest last year. Excuse that whole little blurb, I always write too much :) Now, onto my individual reviews.
-TOP 5-
Italy 馃嚠馃嚬 - Obviously, loved everything about this as I said in my initial review. M氓neskin are so iconic and I love everything they represent and love how we got a winner in Italian and also a rock song. This performance was basically flawless though, as I knew it'd be. Every member of the band serves their purpose phenomenally and Damiano is just perfect as the lead vocalist. Loved the pyros, loved the staging, iconic death drop, iconic bow, perfect. This is right up there with 1944 as my favorite recent Eurovision winner ever, but I think this one may edge out Ukraine. I just love M氓neskin and this performance so much and I hope this helped catapult their careers even farther.
France 馃嚝馃嚪 - This was literally SO powerful tonight. My heart breaks that France came so close to victory, but I hope this gives them an even larger incentive to try harder to get that victory. Barbara literally poured her HEART on that stage and I loved every moment of this performance. Just pure class and elegance and this is a fantastic runner up. Just a touching and timeless song that I'm so happy was able to do so well.
Switzerland 馃嚚馃嚟 - Really liked this tonight! Still not my favorite song per se, but the staging really is captivating and Gjon is such a great performer and vocalist. Also love seeing Switzerland thrive again, as they've been trying hard to achieve a good result and I'm happy they got the bronze!
Iceland 馃嚠馃嚫 - This really really grew on me. Still devastated they didn't get to perform live and I feel like this may have performed better if this was live, but this is still so much fun and so iconic. The entire vibe of the song is immaculate and the entire band just looks so pure and the staging is great. Love to see Iceland do this good!!
Ukraine 馃嚭馃嚘 - LEGENDS!!!! The fact that we all had Ukraine as a borderline qualifier and then they whip out a top 5 result... literal icon things. Just so iconic. Obviously loved everything about this, the staging is so fun and Kateryna is so powerful with every movement she makes I just love it. What I don't love is how the new voting structure doesn't emphasize that Ukraine placed SECOND with the televotes which we all deserve to know because of how iconic this is. Love my favorite Eurovision country and love that they continuously thrive year after year.
-NOTEWORTHY PERFORMANCES-
Malta 馃嚥馃嚬 - I feel SO bad for Destiny that this flopped in the televotes. I know Malta always struggles in the televotes, but this seems especially low for no real reason. I thought Destiny absolutely crushed it tonight as well and am slightly sad that this missed out on the top 5 because of a low televote score because Destiny deserved it. But still love that Destiny has served us iconic performances in both JESC and ESC now, which is all we can ever hope for.
Russia 馃嚪馃嚭 - legend snapped
Greece 馃嚞馃嚪 - Okay, LOVE that icon Stefania broke Greece's streak of bad results and got top 10. Did this deserve top 10 over Bulgaria?? NO!!! But whatever, happy for Stefania. Plus, I audibly laughed during the show because of how bad the green screen dancers looked, but once again, at least Stefania snapped and served vocals, which is all I can ever hope for.
Bulgaria 馃嚙馃嚞 - ROBBED OF TOP 10 I AM DEVASTATED :( Literally shed a tear during this performance because of how beautiful and touching it was and I never cry. Everything about this was phenomenal and I am LIVID that the televote paid this DUST. But Victoria will always have my heart and I'm so proud of her and all that she's achieved in the past two years. Will always love that I had the same winner for two years in a row and will always love and remember this wonderful performance :) Bulgaria is on the right track too, so I hope they keep this strong effort up.
Moldova 馃嚥馃嚛 - The fact that this was the messiest song of the night and got left hand of the leaderboard is both laughable but also iconic. I laughed throughout the entirety of this song from the mic drop to the "longest Eurovision note ever" but I guess I got my sugar.
Serbia 馃嚪馃嚫 - SUPERSTARS!!!! The jury will PAY for making this do bad when Sanja, Ksenija and Ivana were serving vocals the ENTIRE SONG!!!! Loco Loco remains my most played song this year and these girls will always remain legends, I would love to see them in the future because I love every single one of them and they really snapped.
San Marino 馃嚫馃嚥 - Please let me know why this flopped so hard I feel bad :// I thought the song was really elevated live and Senhit really poured her all in this so I'm slightly sad this didn't give San Marino their best result ever. Really hope they keep up this strong effort though because they really snapped this year.
-LAST PLACE-
United Kingdom 馃嚞馃嚙 - Zoinks... honestly did not envision a world where a nation would get 0 points after the introduction of the new voting in 2016 so I feel bad for James. The song isn't *bad* and it is a bop, I just don't think it's too enticing nor did it stand out amongst all these other songs. The United Kingdom really needs to reevaluate their entries and whatever they have going on because they really should not be flopping this hard every year...
-SEMI FINAL RESULTS-
All of the results make sense except one and we all know where this is going.
All I have to say is Albina was robbed in the highest regards ever and if that ploy for votes between Azerbaijan and Norway didn't occur that Azerbaijan would not have given a whopping TEN televote points to Norway and that Albina would have qualified in Norway's place. Yes, I am livid about this. Croatia deserved to be in the final so bad and the fact that they literally were in the top 10 of both the jury and televotes and still missed out... I hate this timeline. Justice for Albina every day of my life until she comes back with an even stronger banger, pulls a Poli Genova, but then wins the whole contest.
-FULL TOP 26-
1. Bulgaria 馃嚙馃嚞
2. Italy 馃嚠馃嚬
3. Serbia 馃嚪馃嚫
4. Ukraine 馃嚭馃嚘
5. France 馃嚝馃嚪
6. Greece 馃嚞馃嚪
7. Malta 馃嚥馃嚬
8. Russia 馃嚪馃嚭
9. San Marino 馃嚫馃嚥
10. Norway 馃嚦馃嚧
11. Cyprus 馃嚚馃嚲
12. Azerbaijan 馃嚘馃嚳
13. Israel 馃嚠馃嚤
14. Germany 馃嚛馃嚜
15. Albania 馃嚘馃嚤
16. Moldova 馃嚥馃嚛
17. Iceland 馃嚠馃嚫
18. Switzerland 馃嚚馃嚟
19. Lithuania 馃嚤馃嚬
20. Netherlands 馃嚦馃嚤
21. Belgium 馃嚙馃嚜
22. Portugal 馃嚨馃嚬
23. United Kingdom 馃嚞馃嚙
24. Finland 馃嚝馃嚠
25. Spain 馃嚜馃嚫
26. Sweden 馃嚫馃嚜
