01) Janice - She sounds great as usual. Not as raw as her previous work, but still pretty enjoyable.
02) Trisha Paytas - We're still doing THIS? I love her despite her music, not because of her music. Granted, it's the best thing from her that's been here, but that's really not saying much.
03) Bengal Lancers - Interesting voice, but not one that I'm quite sure that I enjoy. Really not any elements of this that really resonated with me. For a song less than 4 minutes, it truly felt like an eternity.
04) The Cranberries - Not my thing. Dolores sounds lovely as usual, but it's like musical Ambien to me.
05) Salt Ashes - LOL, I heavily considered sending this the other day after it sat on my list for a while. I worried that it could struggle because it's not really overly exciting or punchy and it's more of a cool vibe song. A really cool fucking vibe, though.
06) 303 - The girl in the front looked like Seinabo Sey in the still shot and that really excited me. Pretty run of the mill R&B, have heard it all before and executed much better, but it's chill.
07) VÉRITÉ - Had very minimal interest in this until the chorus, which really drew me in. Solid.
08) Gavin Lurek- LOL, pretty early on I thought this sounded like it was from a H&M playlist, I'm glad Patrick basically said the same thing. As someone who used to browse new music for TSC through H&M playlists, I -know- these things. It's cute.
09) RAYE - Was informed this was sent before I got the chance to send it this week. Had my reservations about sending it because I'm so in my head about TSC taste these days, but hearing it now, I do think it could win. Good stuff.
10) Michael Schulte - Slightly toe-tappy, but a genre that is mid-tier(ish, maybe lower than that) to me, and has been done infinitely better.
11) Joseph - Vocally enjoyed it, but it's lacking a bit of punch. It's fine.
12) KEiiNO - The joik guy is my least favorite part of KEiiNO, so naturally the song starts off with him. Alexandra sounds great. It lacks in character compared to their ESC entry, but it's much less annoying (sorry Spirit in the Sky stans). Minimal joiking was a big plus for me.
13) ARLO - I feel very catered to. The production isn't doing a lot, but it really works for me. Dig it!
14) chloe mk - Her voice sounds so fucking familiar, but I can't place it. Think the chorus could have been stronger, but I like it fine enough as a whole.
15) Kara Marni - Caught my attention right away because girl sounded like she MEANT what she was singing. Thought it was going to build to something different, but it still progressed well. Really into it.
16) Cold Kingdom - I was actually pretty solidly into it for a rock entry for a bit, but it wore on me, as this type of music tends to do. The people that are into this stuff should like it, though!
17) Phoebe Green - I was bored to death until the chorus, where that little brooding part of the production really amped this up. I wish it was stronger as a whole, but that part feels like it's going to be stuck in my head even after this is over.
18) Nicola Roberts - Well, that production really came out aggressively annoying really quickly, huh? It gets progressively less annoying as I get used to it, but I still think annoying wins out on the fine line of "annoying or a bop?"
19) Ava Max - It didn't feel like it would stand out enough to CLICK RACE for it, but it's a solid pop song in a (to me) MOR contest, so it should do well.
20) Molly Hammar - She sounds great as usual. On paper, nothing about this should be special, but I'm really into everything about this.
21) CeCe - This sounds like it could be a stompa. Yeah, it's a bit of a stompa. She's REALLY going for that vocal, feels like it's right on the borderline of doing too much at points, but she's really feeling it so I'm not gonna fault her. It's cool.
22) Anna-Lisa Kumoji - My MGP favorite from this year, though I'm still not sure if it's ironic at all, lmfao. It's a mess, but I was still feeling it. Kill me!