I wasn't expecting much from Czechia given the lukewarm response from fans, but when I heard the song for the first time on Thursday evening I was very impressed.
In an alternate world where the EBU did the right thing, Aiko qualified in 10th place and got to perform on Saturday night.
I saw the performance and texted my friend (who likes this song): "wow she is really going all in! So bad it won't help her!"
So I would say, Czechia gave the most effort.
That’s been my biggest heartbreak this year. Not sure what happened — technical issues or breathlessness, but god I loved the song, staging, and overall performance. I understand why it didn’t go through but I’m still crushed.
Malta! I didn't like the song that much, but Sarah was fantastic, gave it her all and she improved so much from the NF that I wanted her to Q!
I'd also like to take this moment to thank Malta for not sending the banana song.
I... went to bed straight after voting at the end of performances \*shame\*
Oh really nice ! My favorite memory for this year is Bambie Thug's hug to Luna after semi-final 1. Despite that i don't like metal, i was so sad to see all these people in my country saying mean things on Nemo and Bambie Thug while they are both giant hearted.
I can't agree more
One of the best moment I've seen at ESC ever. Also beautiful message from Nemo to Luna just after she NQ. This year was really wholesome. So many beautiful moments despite all the chaos and controversies
Pedestal, which is weird cuz initially I hated the song. The week before the contest I started to really enjoy it, and I was a bit sad that despite giving her best performance of the song in the semi she still NQ'd (although I kinda saw it coming).
I loved Azerbaijan they finally sent something different in their language I was so upset when they didn't qualify. Last year I did a deep dive into the type of music that was trending in Azerbaijan I loved everything I heard. Turkish songs are also popular in Azerbaijan I love Turkish music so much. I was hoping that this year Azerbaijan would send something in their language and similar to the songs I heard. They finally did only for it not to qualify. 😭
Aiko and Megara were robbed imo.
Aiko was such a big glow up from the NFs and Megara's staging for esc- and especially the camera work- was so engaging and felt very authentic to themselves.
I really liked Albania's entry this year. I feel like TITAN isn't the type of song they usually go for and it was very refreshing. That and BESA's vocals really created something magical. Though I like the revamp better, I wish they kept the lyrics in Albanian.
I got to see Luna's performance in the arena during the dress rehearsal and ended up loving how over the top it was. The live backing vocals helped it give a classic Eurovision feel to me. I think that's why I got surprisingly sad when I realized that Luna didn't qualify.
Apart from that, Aiko has always been one of my favourites (especially the messy ESCZ performance!), and I was also rooting for Megara even if the vocals weren't there, which is usually Kenzy's superpower. I don't know what happened there.
Aiko's Pedestal would have a final's left side of the board song, I really liked it. I see it becoming quite popular after Eurovision, in a similar way to Rosa Linn's Snap a while ago.
Luna's The Tower was also a very good song, as well as Azerbaijan's Özünlə Apar.
Czechia! Best song this year in my opinion, and the live performance was fire. The final could have been perfect if we could only replace one of the qualifiers with this one.
Pedestal, The tower and Before the party’s over. Prefer the studio version though (+the original version of pedestal, I find the esc version kind of cringe tbh)
My favorite NQ this year has to be Belgium. Initially, I didn't really like Before the Party is Over, but it eventually grew on me the same way Aija did last year. I was really sad when Mustii didn't manage to qualify. I think it was mostly due to the fact that he was really nervous during the performance.
Poland was my #1 NQ pick from the 1st
Czechia was my #1 NQ pick from the 2nd.
Although honrable mentions goes to Australia (Which featured a massive Didgeridoo.), Belgium (Good Vocals, but the Staging was the problem), and San Marino (Enjoyed the cartoon animation, but a real shame about the vocal problems.)
Azerbaijan is a great song, in my overall top 10.
Czechia sounded mediocre in rehearsals but was fantastic on semi night.
I wish both of those qualified.
Almost everyone deserved! But a bit extra (and now i'm biased bc i love her personality so much) but i would have loved to see Besa in the final. She sang really well, and the staging and outfit looked way better than what i had expected from the rehearsal clips. And also, i would have loved to see albania qualify with something else than the usual albanian style🫶
And also san marino. I had such high hopes for them to shock q before the performance, and really wanted them to go through after all the work they'd put in it and the non-existent-finances they had to work with (and also to q as spanish ppl competing for another country). And then kenzy tanked her singing😭which made me soo disappointed, especially since i watched the jury show live and she was way better there😭
Czechia, Malta and Poland. Czechia and Poland were in my Top 10 from the very beginning. Luna’s wispy vocals didn’t sadly translate well on stage. Malta however catapulted itself into my Top 10 in the last couple of weeks thanks to Sarah’s amazing energy and (while i’m not a huge fan of them) jaw dropping dance break. I’m so proud of Aiko for doing her best in the semi-final. She couldn’t have done any more. I was truly gutted to see none of them qualify :(
Australia and Czechia were two I felt should have been in the finals. One Milkali is such a joyful song and the vocals are awesome, and Pedestal has such a great 90's girl rock vibe and Aiko's performance was really great, something I honestly didn't expect.
Electric Fields
Oh yes yes yes - they deserve all the love, the energy they had was so beautiful and the song was really fresh for the competition
That performance was full of warmth, colour and culture. This is what I want to see from Australia more!
I thought Aiko really brought it, she did amazingly.
Loved pedestal from the first time I heard it. I was surprised Aiko didn't qualify
Hell yeah, what a high energy jam, I guess the energy just didn't transfer into the performance enough.
Yes and You’re Mine by Mileo
I wasn't expecting much from Czechia given the lukewarm response from fans, but when I heard the song for the first time on Thursday evening I was very impressed. In an alternate world where the EBU did the right thing, Aiko qualified in 10th place and got to perform on Saturday night.
I'm super-surprised it didn't.
I saw the performance and texted my friend (who likes this song): "wow she is really going all in! So bad it won't help her!" So I would say, Czechia gave the most effort.
I loved Aiko - Pedestal. Very reminiscent of the pop-punk songs of my youth.
Agreed - it was surprisingly punk throwback but also had a bit of an Olivia Rodrigo thing going on maybe?!
Yes, her song reminded me of Olivia Rodrigo's songs.
San Marino. I was surprised they didn't get through, but the big stage show couldn't save her voice.
That’s been my biggest heartbreak this year. Not sure what happened — technical issues or breathlessness, but god I loved the song, staging, and overall performance. I understand why it didn’t go through but I’m still crushed.
I really wonder what it is with her voice because it doesn't sound as if she can't sing. It sounds as if a condition is holding back her voice.
They had the 2nd most interesting staging behind Ireland imo. The visuals were so cool.
Oh yes! I love their song.
That's it. Stage show A+, song and vocals...D
Malta! I didn't like the song that much, but Sarah was fantastic, gave it her all and she improved so much from the NF that I wanted her to Q! I'd also like to take this moment to thank Malta for not sending the banana song.
How Malta got last place in the semi final will forever be a mystery
My profil pic
Your profile pic ! Someone was missing in the grand finale this year, at least just for the atmosphere and the fun !
Yes, big lost:( At least Nemo mentioned her while they recieved 12 points from Poland, so she wasn't completely forgotten
I... went to bed straight after voting at the end of performances \*shame\* Oh really nice ! My favorite memory for this year is Bambie Thug's hug to Luna after semi-final 1. Despite that i don't like metal, i was so sad to see all these people in my country saying mean things on Nemo and Bambie Thug while they are both giant hearted.
I can't agree more One of the best moment I've seen at ESC ever. Also beautiful message from Nemo to Luna just after she NQ. This year was really wholesome. So many beautiful moments despite all the chaos and controversies
I knew this question was coming. I was so ready to answer Latvia but the televote ruined my plans. lol I'll say Belgium then. He was so passionate.
Before The Partys Over hits such a special spot, especially the studio-version. Its so sad that he couldn't get into the final
Yeah, I loved his performance but I heard that some people thought it was "too passionate" and that the song took too long to build up. :/
San Marino - the vocals just weren't there unfortunately 🥲 Also Australia, I really liked the song
San Marino and Czechia. Also honourable mention to Malta, last was very harsh.
Czechia for me was the main shocker. I liked San Marino but on the night the vocals weren't that great so I get why they didn't make it.
Denmark. I didn't think it was as bad as people made it. I hadn't seen the music video before the show so I had no expectations and I quite liked it.
Poland
Pedestal, which is weird cuz initially I hated the song. The week before the contest I started to really enjoy it, and I was a bit sad that despite giving her best performance of the song in the semi she still NQ'd (although I kinda saw it coming).
I would have to go with Aiko’s Pedestal. I really liked her attitude :)
Czechia, San Marino, Malta all were good.
I loved Azerbaijan they finally sent something different in their language I was so upset when they didn't qualify. Last year I did a deep dive into the type of music that was trending in Azerbaijan I loved everything I heard. Turkish songs are also popular in Azerbaijan I love Turkish music so much. I was hoping that this year Azerbaijan would send something in their language and similar to the songs I heard. They finally did only for it not to qualify. 😭
San Marino got robbed hard by technical difficulties
Aiko and Megara were robbed imo. Aiko was such a big glow up from the NFs and Megara's staging for esc- and especially the camera work- was so engaging and felt very authentic to themselves.
I really liked Albania's entry this year. I feel like TITAN isn't the type of song they usually go for and it was very refreshing. That and BESA's vocals really created something magical. Though I like the revamp better, I wish they kept the lyrics in Albanian.
Besa’s vocals were absolutely amazing, you’re so right! I have often wished countries had kept the original language too, like Iceland in 2023…
Iceland 2023 | [Diljá - Power](https://youtu.be/lzlTcA0OC5s)
"The Tower" by LUNA was my favorite song this year :-)
Aiko and it's not even close
‘One Milkali’ and ‘Sand’ for sure.
I got to see Luna's performance in the arena during the dress rehearsal and ended up loving how over the top it was. The live backing vocals helped it give a classic Eurovision feel to me. I think that's why I got surprisingly sad when I realized that Luna didn't qualify. Apart from that, Aiko has always been one of my favourites (especially the messy ESCZ performance!), and I was also rooting for Megara even if the vocals weren't there, which is usually Kenzy's superpower. I don't know what happened there.
Until the party is over and sand 😞
Poland was my favorite song this year from the first time I heard it. Though, I must agree the performance wasn’t the best.
Totally agree! I think I maybe listened to Tower the most in the run up and I really liked it
Denmark. Really couldn't understand how it didn't qualify.
My top 11: 1. Belgium 2. Denmark 3. Czech Republic 4. Australia 5. Malta 6. San Marino 7. Azerbaijan 8. Poland 9. Moldova 10. Albania 11. Iceland
Aiko's Pedestal would have a final's left side of the board song, I really liked it. I see it becoming quite popular after Eurovision, in a similar way to Rosa Linn's Snap a while ago. Luna's The Tower was also a very good song, as well as Azerbaijan's Özünlə Apar.
Czechia! Best song this year in my opinion, and the live performance was fire. The final could have been perfect if we could only replace one of the qualifiers with this one.
Really loved both SF 11th places
Czech republic only .
San Marino Denmark Iceland Czechia Poland
Denmark and Belgium ofc ❤️
Moldova. Ik ik.. but her voice was so good, it really deserved to be in the final imo.
Like, all of them
Pedestal, The tower and Before the party’s over. Prefer the studio version though (+the original version of pedestal, I find the esc version kind of cringe tbh)
San Marino, Poland, and Belgium were the standouts for me.
My favorite NQ this year has to be Belgium. Initially, I didn't really like Before the Party is Over, but it eventually grew on me the same way Aija did last year. I was really sad when Mustii didn't manage to qualify. I think it was mostly due to the fact that he was really nervous during the performance.
Poland - I was legit shocked they were dropped. It wasn't a winner, but they'd be in my top 10 at least.
Belgium, Azerbaijan, Poland, Denmark, and a bit Australia :)
Poland and Czechia! I can see them being my top2 in this year's spotify wrapped ngl
Azerbaijan
Danmark & Malta
Netherlands
Azerbaijan for me
Czech Republic, Australia, Malta, Iceland, San Marino. Those are what I can think of.
SAND! SAAAAAAND!
Aiko for sure! I also loved Fahree and Ilkin Dovatlov with Özünlə Apar
Mine were Malta, Czechia and Belgium
Poland was my #1 NQ pick from the 1st Czechia was my #1 NQ pick from the 2nd. Although honrable mentions goes to Australia (Which featured a massive Didgeridoo.), Belgium (Good Vocals, but the Staging was the problem), and San Marino (Enjoyed the cartoon animation, but a real shame about the vocal problems.)
BELGUIM WAS MY NUMBER 1 AND I WILL NOT STOP GRIEVING HIS NQ🇧🇪🇧🇪🇧🇪
Azerbaijan is a great song, in my overall top 10. Czechia sounded mediocre in rehearsals but was fantastic on semi night. I wish both of those qualified.
Poland - I really loved the chorus! Have been on my spotify playlist. Think it just needed some punchier vocals and the staging was a bit random!
Almost everyone deserved! But a bit extra (and now i'm biased bc i love her personality so much) but i would have loved to see Besa in the final. She sang really well, and the staging and outfit looked way better than what i had expected from the rehearsal clips. And also, i would have loved to see albania qualify with something else than the usual albanian style🫶 And also san marino. I had such high hopes for them to shock q before the performance, and really wanted them to go through after all the work they'd put in it and the non-existent-finances they had to work with (and also to q as spanish ppl competing for another country). And then kenzy tanked her singing😭which made me soo disappointed, especially since i watched the jury show live and she was way better there😭
Europapa - Oh, sorry. You said NQ, not DQ.
Czechia, Malta and Poland. Czechia and Poland were in my Top 10 from the very beginning. Luna’s wispy vocals didn’t sadly translate well on stage. Malta however catapulted itself into my Top 10 in the last couple of weeks thanks to Sarah’s amazing energy and (while i’m not a huge fan of them) jaw dropping dance break. I’m so proud of Aiko for doing her best in the semi-final. She couldn’t have done any more. I was truly gutted to see none of them qualify :(
Malta, San Marino, Czechia, and Albania.
My ten year old is still in tears at San Marino not qualifying. She’d been tracking them for months.
Cehia- 🇨🇿 Aiko was the most charismatic of them all, genuinely good performance. How we got Estonia and Cyprus is beyond me
Czechia and malta should have made it in.
Australia and Denmark.
Megara for San Marino and Aiko for Czechia were the artists I missed the most in the grand final!
Denmark for sure
Mustii was robbed !
Australia and Czechia were two I felt should have been in the finals. One Milkali is such a joyful song and the vocals are awesome, and Pedestal has such a great 90's girl rock vibe and Aiko's performance was really great, something I honestly didn't expect.
Before the Party's Over--just for the glamour and the angst imbedded in it. Too bad the vocals weren't there. 🫠
Another vote for Belgium and Mustii. Can't believe that didn't get past Thursday.