After some heavy listening over the weekend I have mixed feelings and a little less confidence in a qualification for Ireland this year. Really hope the public & juries make the right call on Friday.
Samantha Mumba - My Way 0/10
Quite forgettable. I didn't have the same expectations as many had from Samantha as I was never a fan but as the entrant with the most professional experience here overall the whole package is poor. I dread the thought of a repeat Wild Youth effect from the Irish public.
Reylta - Fire - 1/10
Personally I can't stand this song! Reylta's vocals are far too synthetic for me combined with the corny lyrics leaving me with the feeling of a bargain-basement Aurora / Florence try hard novelty attempt that Will Farrell would be all over as an opener for his next Euorvision movie.
Adgy - Run Into The Night - 6.2/10
Overall this isn't a bad radio song, there are elements I like but it lacks power. I was a big fan of Adgy's previous entry into Eurosong Too Good For Your Love, until I seen the cringey amateurish live performance on the LLS. I don't think he's had enough stage/crowd experience since this so I'm not expecting a huge improvement (unless of course he absolutely throws himself into it). Also I can't get over the little ick I have with him performing this love song with his sister.
EMMY - Laika Party - 7.7/10
This song is an absolute ear-worming snappy nostalgic bop that continuously occupies my mind! The problem is Ireland would be taking 100steps backwards if we send it.
NIYL - Growth 8/10
There's a really slow unnatural start to the song that I feel is not grabbing the listener, but as soon it starts to build towards the end of the first verse, it's quite captivating and clever in a way as we're literally hearing & feeling the growth as the song progresses. It's a journey for sure, only question is will it be able to hold the audience - I hope so! I hope we're mesmerized by NIYL's performance which I know he's capable of achieving and for the same reasons I think the fans are sleeping on this a bit, I do think the Irish public will eat this up especially with the Dermot Kennedy-esq vibes.
Bobbi Arlo - Powerplay 8/10
This is the song the fans THINK they want! Me included!! Yes it's an edgy-pop song at its core with nothing really wrong with it, we just need MORE and there's 20odd seconds to do just that! I think there's plenty of room to build on this and hopefully the result will be an epic, explosive, high energy monumental spectacle of a performance!
There's no clear winner here like last year, it's quite hard to predict what way the voting will go on Friday but if you ask me there are only 2 real possibilities of an Irish qualification in May. And lets be honest we're still playing THAT game! Lets not get comfortable folks!