JESC 2018 Part One - The songs

Good evening, and welcome back to another Eurovision review! This post is taking us back to the 2018 Junior Eurovision contest. Many of you may be aware of it, some of you not. It's basically a children's version of the main contest. While its definitely not as camp as the main contest, it's seen a spring board to an appearance in the main contest, with several former JESC contestants taking part in the main contest, albeit with varying levels of success.

The contest is hosted in Minsk, Belarus, a county which has had considerably more success in the youth contest than in the main contest. 

We start with the traditional flag parade, accompanied by a multitude of shiny objects and dancers in shiny costumes, while the contest song Light up is sung. You May recognise one of the singers, her name is ZENA, she is not only hosting the contest, but will also represent Belarus in the 2019 main contest. Also, most interestingly, two countries are debuting this year, Wales and Kazakhstan. Wales has been represented by the United Kingdom before, but for Kazakhstan this is completely new. And I look forward to their entries.

And now we get to meet our hosts, Evgeny, ZENA and Helena. Already, I'm finding them too shouty, and there is a huge height difference, which makes it feel a little off when you see them together. They are explaining the voting, and here is where JESC differs from the main contest. Jury vote is the same with 5 members (although it's 3 music professionals and two kids) but the public vote is different. Its done in a proportional way, with countries sharing the total of points based on their percentage of the votes.

The postcards are fun, you step into a VR world to experience Belarus, and in high Eurovision fashion, the organisers use it to promote Belarus as your next holiday location. That I'm not too sure of.

But anyway, first up is Ukraine, represented by Darina Krasnovetska, with the song "Say Love". Even without translating it, you can tell there's a political theme, with the red megaphone in her hand. The song is an ode to peace, saying to "Say love, not war". To be fair, its performed well, and Darina has a great voice. I also like how at times she is grayed out, with just the hints of red highlighted. This will do well.

Portugal is up next, and it has a very heavy opening that woke you up if you were drifting off.  Rita Laranjeira is perforating the song "Gosto de tudo (ja nao gosto de nada) which is the longest title of the night. The song is very generic, I feel like it is something I've heard many times. I'm not getting the random chair on stage, that she sits in, to jump out of two seconds later. There also seems to be a few too many shots of the back of her head..

And we have the first of our two debuts today, this is Daneliya Tuleshova, representing Kazakhstan with the song "Ozine sen". Straight away, you know this girl can sing, beautiful control of her voice, moving up and down. The song starts off slow, then bursts into life, with some lovely graphics of eagles flying in the sunset. I think this is another song that will do well. It also poses the question, will we see Kazakhstan in the main contest one day? She finishes the song with a wonderful long note.

Just a side note, why must You Tube almost put an advert in the middle of the song, why can't it be at the end, and before the postcard?

Efi Gjika is representing Albania, with the song "Barbie". Has she got permission from Mattel for this song? I'm not getting the song at all, and at times the vocals are very shouty. "Why you call me Barbie doll, I'm a smart girl" is perhaps the highlight lyrically. This won't be a song I listen to again.

Russia is up next, with the song "Unbreakable" by Anna Filipchuk. The song performance and staging feels like it's been lifted straight from the main contest. It feels very put together and well though out. The song is nice, but perhaps could be stronger. She performs it well though. Especially love the background with videos of kids singing along. It seems to be a crowd favourite too. 

"Samen", is the Dutch entry this year, and is sung by Max and Anne. I'm not going to lie, I had to double check the title for a second and a third time because I thought it was something else. It's a typical ode to love and friendship, and although sung well, is very bland. 

Fidan Huseynova is representing Azerbaijan with the song "I wanna be like you". It's quite similar to the Dutch entry, with its positive message, but also similarly to the Dutch entry, its very bland, if a little bit more up-tempo. 

Host's Belarus are up next, with the song "time", sung by Daniel Yastemski. There's some fun geometric visuals that interact with the dancers to start off with, and the visuals only get better as the song goes on. There's great use of  props too. It's a quite a laid back song, but has a fun vibe. The Belarusians really used every trick in the eurovision book for this one, and I think it will pay off. 

Ireland is represented by Taylor Hynes, with the song "IOU". Its a high energy song, which seems to get the crowd going. It's quite fun, if very, very cheesy. There's is a really good but short dance break in the middle. 

"Svet" is the Serbian entry, sung by Bojana Radovanovic. Its a nice song, but has trouble standing out. Beautiful vocals, and I love the way the stage lights up as the song gets going. Its a typical Balkan style ballad that Serbia is so well known for. It just needed a stronger ending. The music kind of stopped, then faded and I was waiting for a final bridge or something like that.

We go back to Evgeny, giving his spiel about voting, and how you can vote for 3, 4 or 5 countries. Again, we see ZENA and Helena, and everyone is shouting again. I love the phrase Helena use, "I wish you only good luck". Isn't that only what people wish for others? 

Next up is Italy, with Melissa & Marco singing "What is love" Pray do tell us children, what exactly is love? The song starts slow, and really kicks up a notch. There's some soaring vocals, and the song actually works quite well. Its not a bad song either, its growing on me as I type this.

Australia is next up, with the song "Champion" by Jael. Its a motivational song, which really seeks to raise everyone's self belief. While again, its a bit of a bland song, it's performed very well, and Jael has an incredible voice. This is someone I have a feeling we will be seeing at the main contest one day, and she will do very well.

"Your voice" Is the Georgian entry, performed by Tamar Esilashvilli. Having her laid in the lit up circle is a nice start, but its making me think about that pedro pedro pedro meme with the racoon. Once the song gets going, and its not bad, vocally is good, although is a little shouty at times.

Up next we have Noam Dadon, representing Israel with the song "Children like these". It's quite a nice song, its nice to have an understated song performed well. I also love the slight ethnic elements in the track, which gives it a really nice added layer of complexity. Really enjoyed this song.

France is next, and its Angelina, singing "Jamais sand toi". This is a fun song, with a really great vibe. And of course, that little known landmark of Paris, the Eiffel tower is in the background. Now, Angelina and the two dancers look like they are not only having fun, but are genuinely friends. To be fair, you wouldn't need to be told this is a French entry, language aside. She got denim overalls with a red headband, there's an ice cream cart and a bench that looks like it was ripped from the Jardin Du Luxembourg. I'm planning on going back to Paris at some point, Ill look for the gap where that bench once was. This could be a winner.

The postcard for Macedonia is brilliant, that castle looks fantastic. It's called the Mir Castle, and if I ever go to Belarus, thats going to be my first stop. The song from Macedonia is called "Doma (home" and is performed by Marija Spasovska. This is another Balkan Ballad, but its better than Serbia's. There's a lovely shot of her reaching out towards the light and the hood dropping back. The hooded cloak is dropped away to reveal a white dress underneath. It's a little underwhelming, we've seen that a hundred times. But its a good song, very well sung and nicely staged, especially with the shot of her walking towards the graphic of the family on the bridge. This is another performer I think will appear at the adult contest in the near future and do well. 

Levon (Performers name) is performing "L.E.V.ON (song)" next for Armenia. I was getting a little confused over his name and what the song was called. Instantly the song hits you with a catchy backing track. Just a shame he isn't wearing socks with his dress shoes. This song is fun, and gets the arena going.  Then, he whips out a trumpet from somewhere for a little solo. This is a song that I imagine could have been a hit across Europe, and will no doubt do very well in the televote.

Our favourite neighbours are up next, and if my research is right, this is the first time we have heard Welsh on the eurovision stage before. Manw is singing "Perta". I'm already concerned, everyone has crimped hair. The song just doesn't seem to go anywhere, its very one note all the way though. Even the key change at the end doesn't add much value to the song.  Without wanting to sound horrible, it makes me think that its one of those songs they put on the credits of a bad children's film. Not the first song, but the second song. Yes, I really went there.

Malta is up next, with the song "Marchin' on" by Ela. She seems like a bit of a copy of Destiny, who won a few years back for Malta. Its another bland song, but she performs it well, until she disappears behind the piano and we lose her for a bit. She comes back to the main part of the stage, and now the song really starts to lift, and her vocals really bring it all together. Its a shame it took a while to get there.

And lastly, we have Poland. (Its felt a bit of a long show so far hasn't it?). This is Roksana Wegiel, with the song "Anyone I want to be". Straight away, this song grabs your attention, it feels very contemporary, with the black and white staging and camera work.  Its well staged, with a lot of movement and some good vocals. The song itself doesn't do much for me, and I'm a bit distracted by the yellow edging that seems to be everywhere.

And thats it! All 20 songs have performed. I'll say this now, although not all of the songs were my cup of tea, the vocals across the night have been very good, with no real bad notes anywhere. 

While Europe votes, I will also vote, and in part two I'll share my results, as well a the results of the contest. See you then!