1. Austra - I must say the start of this song kind of caught me off-guard. The rest of it is pretty fine, it is probably quite different-sounding in the context of the whole TSC, though we have 21 more songs to go. I prefer their older stuff like "Lose It," but I didn't mind this.
2. Boy Epic - The intro here is so awkward, jeez. The chorus here is really good, the verses are quite dull, but this was pretty good overall.
3. Ina Wroldsen - It has been awhile since she last had a good song (Lay It On Me). This has the reverse problem in comparison to the previous song, the verses are brilliant, but the chorus is quite disappointing. She is still trying to go towards that Sia-esque "Cheap Thrills/The Greatest" sound which isn't exactly a bad thing, but I know she can do better than that. Solid entry overall.
4. Aurea - I can tell she has a good voice, but she is completely let down by the songwriting - the tune builds and builds, but the result of that progression is just not effective. It's as if someone forgot to put the final chord.
5. Real Madrid - Thanks, but no.
6. Samantha Jade - I was about to say that this sounds quite dated until I realised that this came out in 2013. It's not bad by any means, but I probably wouldn't want to listen to this again, especially when she decides to do those vocal olympics which are completely unnecessary.
7. Courtyards - The band describes this single as anthemic and I am kind of strugging to find that here. It's not really my cup of tea, but it's pretty for what it stands for.
8. Elohim - Kind of doesn't meet my expectations during the chorus, but this is the first entry that I fully enjoyed so far. Great vibes.
9. Bülow - This song tries so hard to be edgy, but it just falls flat. We get 3-4 songs of similar type every contest, and they usually get placements between lower 8th-14th, and this fits that criteria perfectly.
10. Odette - The contrast here is that Odette straight on goes on with the song, which is nothing special, but it's a pleasant listen overall.
11. Britt Rion - The guitar solo part was the only remarkable thing about this. This whole buildup just resulted in nothing, and I am quite disappointed with that.
12. PJ Brennan - He is kind of cute, but musically this is a complete waste of my time.
13. Sigrid - There is nothing that makes me really interested in this song. It's not my least favourite song from her, but in comparison to "Strangers," this is such a drop in form.
14. Sondre Justad - There is nothing wrong with the song itself, but it is so unremarkable in a way that I just cannot imagine anyone ~really~ enjoying this song. Blah.
15. Elias - The start of this is extremely promising, but I am so disappointed with this chorus. It's probably one of the better songs so far, but it could have been even more than that. Could have done without the final 30 seconds as it drags a bit there. Ugh.
16. Jamie Lynn Spears - THIS IS SO FUCKING ICONIC, I HOPE THIS GETS TOP 10 AND ALL THE IRONY VOTES. JAMIE LYNN SPEARS ENDED BRITNEY.
17. Hyphen Hyphen - This song is extremely erratic, it doesn't know what it wants to be. When she sounds calmer it's not half-bad, but overall it's quite messy.
18. Rae Morris - She seems to have entered the balladzone Birdy, and congratulations, she just sounds as boring.
19. Empara Mi - The first thing I noticed about this is that the audio quality is really below par. The song is completely incoherent, there is no flow from verses to the chorus, it just happens suddently. Mind you, the chorus itself isn't great either, but the whole package just bothered me.
20. Aitana, Ana Guerra - Pretty sure if Spain ended up sending this, they would have performed similarly well like with Tu Cancion, but at least they wouldn't have embarrassed themselves. Finally something upbeat by comparison.
21. Jessie Reyez - There is a decent song hiding somewhere there, but it's completely buried by unnecessarily strained vocals which sound as if she was about to pass out.
22. Kiiara - I mean there is absolutely nothing innovative here except for this chorus, which is probably the only part that is going to be stuck in my head. Not bad, but nothing outstanding.