The ESC United “Expert” Panel 2018 – Austria

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It’s almost time to take a look at Austria’s entry for Lisbon, but we must stick with the A’s for now and see what #YOU thought about Armenia’s entry!

PeterLPZ (Forum) – “I have no idea where this song will end in May. For me 7 points.”

mauve (Forum) – “I don’t like the song itself much, but I think his voice is wonderful. Live he sounds great! So no matter if I like the song or not, I hope he makes it to the finals!”

Ezio (Forum) – “The song and the singer are totes adorbz… The children are listening to too much bop these days and dont recognize a gem when they see it.”

Some positive vibes coming the way of Armenia for Lisbon and they earn a ‘televote’ score of 54 points from the readers. We’ll see how this affects their score later. On to Austria!

30. AUSTRIA – Cesár Sampson – Nobody But You

10 points

Christian – “I love this song so much. When this song was picked I was just happy and KNEW why ESC 2018 was taking place and why I was going back to Eurovision in 2018. Because usually I have one track I fully like and fully support. This track just made me happy. The vocals are out of this world. The gospel and blues turning into a real powerful pop nugget that explodes is simply making me so glad. There are many great songs this year and this one of them but when it comes to a well crafted song with a brilliant singer this is it. I feel so safe and secure that we here have a singer that delivers a confident live vocal delivery. I honestly thought this would be my only song to give 10 points this year.”

Matt – “Austria, you did it again. There was a time when this country couldn’t even manage to qualify and now they are delivering year after year. This song is fantastic and Cesár is doing a great job delivering it. The gospel parts in particular are mind-blowingly good and it has an amazing bridge, probably the best in 2018. It’s totally my kind of music and I keep hitting that replay button over and over.”

Stefan – “Another amazing song coming from a professional team. I love the song, Cesar’s energy, I only mind the video that could’ve been done better. I have no doubts that he will kill it live. Just keep the performance simple and I think it will go to top 10.”

9 points

Connor – “My placement of this song in the final will change once I hear it live, just like Nathan Trent last year. But I’m a big fan of the Rag’n’bone Man meets Hozier meets Nano vibe that Cesar is putting down here. I have a feeling that Austria won’t disappoint this year.”

8 points

David – “Quite the success that Cesar has had with Bulgaria the past 2 years, and now he’s the one in front for Austria. I’m very happy with this decision, cause now we get this awesome song from Austria. A gospel-ish pop song, that just harmonizes everything together and so we stand with something very unique. The flow of the song is just perfect, and you just go with it as it goes. What keeps me holding back is the lacking feeling to come back to the song by myself. I want to come back to it multiple times, but when it’s done I just move on. Like I said, you just go with the flow of the song.”

7 points

Efe – “To me, Cesar’s song “Nobody But You” appeals for everyone who cannot decline the love and that person in our heart. I got so emotional, I don’t know why. Anyways, I quite liked Cesar’s live performance of the song. I think this year’s dark horse will be Austria. Good luck!

6 points

Calvin – “The verses of the Austrian entry feel incredibly cliche. I especially don’t like the beginning, where the focus is intimately on Cesar. But I do enjoy both the chorus and the bridge, especially later in the song as it expands. Heavy backing vocals, often misused, are a really nice touch here which bring something quite warm to the listening experience of the song. I’m conflicted overall but appreciate a lot here.”

Zack – “Austria seems to have mastered the middle of the road pop approach. As with Zoe in 2016 and Nathan in 2017, Cesar is a very talented and likeable singer. The song makes good use of backing vocals, but I worry how replicable it’ll be on stage in Lisbon. This will likely be another borderline will/will not qualify.”

5 points

Sean – “The Austrian entry is certainly dripping with quality and he has a fantastic voice and stage presence. All of the ingredients for a fantastic entry are there then, but there’s just something missing from this for me. It’s soulful, different and has hit potential but it’s a little bit too generic with few big moments for me and as a result I can only give this a middle score.”

4 points

Robert – “Given this song was written by the authors of last year’s Bulgarian entry, I was hardly holding my breath for this song. I think I was perhaps a touch pessimistic… But only a touch! It’s alright I suppose. It’s not really offensive or anything, but it’s a bit flat as entries goes. The verses have little to recommend them and whilst I enjoy the build into the chorus, the chorus itself is a bit of a let-down once we get there. It feels as if it could do with a revamp just to bring it a bit more alive for me as it certainly has elements I enjoy. It’s just not there yet for me.”

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A massive score from our jury for Austria, who receive 75 points! Could they be a challenger for Israel in the scoreboard when the points are added tomorrow?

Let’s see how the current scoreboard looks!

1. 🇮🇱 Israel – Netta – Toy (157)
2. 🇫🇷 France – Madame Monsieur – Mercy (153)
3. 🇧🇬 Bulgaria – Equinox – Bones (153)
4. 🇲🇰 (FYR) Macedonia – Eye Cue – Lost and Found (153)
5. 🇵🇹 Portugal – Cláudia Pascoal – O jardim (144)
6. 🇫🇮 Finland – Saara Aalto – Monsters (142)
7. 🇳🇱 Netherlands – Waylon – Outlaw in ’em (137)
8. 🇨🇾 Cyprus – Eleni Foureira – Fuego (130)
9. 🇨🇭 Switzerland – Zibbz – Stones (129)
10. 🇭🇺 Hungary – AWS – Viszlát nyár (127)
11. 🇷🇴 Romania – The Humans – Goodbye (127)
12. 🇨🇿 Czech Republic – Mikolas Josef – Lie to Me (120)
13. 🇩🇪 Germany – Michael Schulte – You Let Me Walk Alone (120)
14. 🇸🇪 Sweden – Benjamin Ingrosso – Dance You Off (118)
15. 🇦🇲 Armenia – Sevak Khanagyan – Qami (116)
16. 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan – Aisel – X My Heart (116)
17. 🇦🇱 Albania – Eugent Bushpepa – Mall (115)
18. 🇭🇷 Croatia – Franka – Crazy (113)
19. 🇪🇸 Spain – Alfred & Amaia – Tu canción (112)
20. 🇷🇸 Serbia – Sanja Ilić & Balkanika – Nova deca (109)
21. 🇲🇹 Malta – Christabelle – Taboo (107)
22. 🇱🇻 Latvia – Laura Rizzotto – Funny Girl (107)
23. 🇬🇧 United Kingdom – SuRie – Storm (104)
24. 🇱🇹 Lithuania – Ieva Zasimauskaite – When We’re Old (102)
25. 🇧🇾 Belarus – Alekseev – Forever (96)
26. 🇲🇩 Moldova – DoReDos – My Lucky Day (96)
27. 🇳🇴 Norway – Alexander Rybak – That’s How You Write a Song (88)
28. 🇮🇸 Iceland – Ari Ólafsson – Our Choice (81)
29. 🇸🇲 San Marino – Jessika ft. Jenifer B – Who We Are (76)
30. Austria – Cesár Sampson – Nobody But You (75)

Armenia move ahead of Azerbaijan due to a superior televote score, however both sit on 116 points. Austria are only a point behind San Marino’s full score already, so how far could they be boosted tomorrow?

It’s now over to #YOU! What are your thoughts on the Austrian entry for Lisbon? Share your thoughts in the comments below, on our forum HERE and on social media @escunited and we will feature the best tomorrow! As always, don’t forget to vote in our poll below to help decide the Austrian score.

Next up we review the last of our big five, as Italy face the panel!

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