Australia AUSTRALIA 2020 - Montaigne - Don't Break Me

[escYOUnited]

 

[tuorem]

well if we are allowed to be nerdy about it, a good chunk of DNA is shared among not only humans but most animals and even all living beings so it just makes sense that all DNA songs share a good chunk of the same traits!!

Ok, but DNA is at the same time pretty much unique for every living being. I cannot see what is unique in the songs these guys write, but maybe that's just me.

 

[Sammy]

Honestly, not one song of the selection that really wows me...

 

[DanielLuis]

Montaigne's song on its own its ok I guess, and I think it could do well at Eurovision.
But it's a shame when you compare it with her usual music. She is so unique and creative, and they gave her such a by the numbers song for the NF...what wasted potential. Hopefully she can give it a bit of her own self identity in the live performance.

 

[Edweis]

So now that the last songs are out, I can say iOTA - Life is still my favorite. I love the beat, his high notes and the backing voices in the chorus. But let's be honest, it has no chance of winning so I will be enjoying it alone in my cave.

Even after the snippet I expected something more unique from Montaigne. I still like it, it's second in my ranking I guess, but there's nothing spectacular about it.

Rabbit Hole would be an interesting choice, but my only problem is with the chorus. Once it's okay, but it gets annoying after the second listen.

 

[HayashiM]

This had started real bad just to turn into something absolutely amazing for me. I have two faves:
2. iOTA - Life This is so uplifting! Putting it on repeat right now. Wig snatched. I wouldn't be mad if this got selected. Except I really would. I mean, the odds don't favour it anyway.
1. Didirri - Raw Stuff Yes please! This is so... personal, underpolished, intimate, ordinary in a good way... It's a love song without pretending that everything about love is perfect, it doesn't stuff polished romance down your throat (not that I could't enjoy polished romance as well). It takes its time. It has a very fitting ending. It's absolutely brilliant.
Please , select this. I know there's probably no chance you will. Please do it anyway.

 

[Mrm]

Based on studio versions:

1) Didirri – “RawStuff”
2) Casey Donovan – “Proud”
3) Montaigne - "Don't Break me"

 

[Mainshow]

Honestly, not one song of the selection that really wows me...

I agree! After their HoD's statement that they need to come up with something "extra-ordinary" because "Zero Gravity" didn't wow Europe that much because we already had such opera entries + them saying that they had several entries which could win... I'm shocked about their ability to receive reality: None of the entries is bad by any means but aren't they all kinda beige somehow? "Don't Break Me" and "Rabbit Hole" might be slightly more interesting and bolder but they didn't really dig deeper. I'm a bit disappointed. It feels like Denmark 2.0....

 

[njdevils94]

I think it will come down to Mitch vs Vanessa vs Montaigne.

Extended thoughts...

Hoping Jaguar can the pull the upset here and win. I guess Montaigne is the most likely to challenge of my top 4. It many not be that indie but I wouldn't mind it and it would probably be my favorite Australia entry if it won. That goes for iOTA and Jaguar too. Although iOTA seems extremely unlikely. Didirri has the best lyrics by far but its quite slow which could detract tele-voters from it. Mitch Tambo's entry is a real disappointment. If not for the Gamilaraay language it would be in the bottom two. Think it will be Vanessa that wins in the end though.

Rankings

Australia Decides 2020
1. Jaguar Jonze - Rabbit Hole
2. Montaigne - Don't Break Me
3. iOTA - Life
4. Didirri - Raw Stuff
5. Vanessa Amorosi - Lessons of Love
6. Mitch Tambo - Together
7. Jordan-Ravi - Pushing Stars
8. Casey Donovan - Proud
9. Diana Rouvas - Can We Make Heaven
10. Jack Vidgen - I Am King I Am Queen

 

[Kaz]

Who?

By the way, I'm counting on you to support Ms Jonze if you can. It's just a matter of live or death.
If you look for support, I'll be down the rabbit hole.

Seriously though, Jonze is the clear standout imo. As far as I know, the vibe she serves hasn't been done before in Eurovision. I like that she's a visual artist too, for she'll probably inject interesting ideas into her performance. I look forward to the staging. With a good presentation, I'm confident it could go places. And musically-speaking it would be refreshing coming from you. How disappointing it would be to come back to generic pop right after Zero Gravity, especially when there's a credible alternative on offer.

Don’t fret, my friend! You can be well assured that Miss Jonze will be receiving all my votes next Saturday, and I will be convincing as many of my friends as possible to do likewise.

 

[lavieenrose]

https://rave.dj/LPuPwGPaaxGSkw I can't fully explain *why* this had to happen, but I think y'all'll agree that it did.

 

[Uto]

I have finished listening to the Australian entries and it's pretty underwhelming to me. There was not a single song that did anything for me and although some songs are obviously growers it's just not going to cut it at a competition like Eurovision. You need to win over an audience in 3 minutes. Have to say that Rabbit Hole was pretty interesting, but there's a pretty long history at Eurovision of entries like this just failing to impress a wider audience. It would be a brave choice, not a good one.

All things considered I think the best choice would be Montaigne. Not a fan of the song but there's really nothing wrong with it and ticks a lot of boxes. Production is unoriginal but is aimed at creating space for the vocals. Vocals then are completely fine, couple of nice melodies, simple but effective hook in the chorus. It's not a particularly good song, but it works and if Australia can produce a professional staging effort this should do pretty well in Rotterdam (top 15 I'd reckon).

 

[Mrm]

Didirri's entry is awesome..

 

[thero]

Awesome to fall asleep to.

 

[Kitakaze]

Montaigne is the best of a fair to middling bunch for me. Nothing here with the instant impact of Zero Gravity or 2000 and Whatever, but Don’t Break Me could still finish with a respectable, mid-table result. In the potential bloodbath of semi 1 this year, I slightly fear for Australia’s qualifying chances, as early as it is to speculate.

 

[Teaisloveable]

My current number one is Lessons of Love by Venessa Amorosi, but I agree, the selection doesn't seem as strong as ESC 2019, but I still reckon they could qualify (though it is still too early to say with the lack of songs known)

Also a quick question: What time will Australia Decided 2020 be on in UK time?

 

[Ewigkeit]

Rabbit Hole is the best choice possible.

 

[Leydan]

ok So I think I made some sort of rank at some point here, but with just some of the songs. Here is my full rank for all of the songs:

01 || Casey Donovan - Proud 6 / 10
02 || Jaguar Jonze - Rabbit Hole 6 / 10
03 || Jordan Ravi - Pushing Stars 6 / 10
04 || Vanessa Amorosi - Lessons Of Love 5 / 10
05 || Montaigne - Don't Break Me 5 / 10
06 || Diana Rouvas - Can We Make Heaven 5 / 10
07 || Jack Vidgen - I Am King I Am Queen 5 / 10
08 || iOTA - Life 4 / 10
09 || Didirri - Raw Stuff 3 / 10
10 || Mitch Tambo - Together 3 / 10

I've been putting it off and putting off as this NF seemed so uninspired and bland. Well as you can figure from my scores out of 10 nothing really jumped out at me. Some of you seemed to be getting excited over Rabbit Hole song, while it is definitely one of the better ones it's really not all that tbh and Montaigne isn't very good either. The worse case for me with the majority of these is not just the underwhelming builds and such, but the tragically dull and highly repetitive lyrics. This entire NF honestly screams Eurovision: You Decide more than it does DMGP. I'm hoping some of them look and sound better live, but in the studio format. It's one big average no.

 

[LoveTw]

There is only one chance. MONTAIGNE! People hyped Zero Gravity like crazy after the rehearsal but didn't even be in top 5 or even beat Dami's record. Europe still loves good pop tracks based on the ranking last year. Australia can go back to this pop but strong track and do well. If the slower and boring Beautiful Mess (yes, it's boring for me) can do so well, this also can if she slays live. That repetitive fanwank indie track will end up like Conan if it's chosen, imo.

 

[LastDreamer]

First impressions :
It's very weak selection and step down after 2019 NF (Watch my rate in 2019 thread).
Jordan, Didirri and maybe Vanessa have 4 / 10 songs, the rest are even worse.
Iota is not so bad, but very freakish (based on the official video).
I will put Diana and Mitch in the middle, nothing interesting.
Bottom 2 : Montaigne (it's everything, which I dislike in chart music) and Jaguar Jonze.

- Jordan
- Didirri
- Vanessa
- Mitch
- Diana
- Iota
- Casey
- Jack
- Montaigne
- Jaguar

 

[Kairit]

There's certainly ... no Zero Gravity or 2000 and Whatever in this year's selection. It feels like there's two, almost three directions here. The indie route (and I do love that they've put some of these songs here for variety), the commercial radio pop and the god-damn-this-could-have-been-cool-but-it-just-isn't route. A lot of these songs and artists actually have potential, they just haven't used it fully. It's definitely going to come down to the live performances.

My ranking:

1. iOTA – Life ... This just makes me hella happy. So uplifting and fantastic. There's a freedom to this, it's not confined to anything and I like that.
2. Jaguar Jonze – Rabbit Hole ... It's a really cool and ~edgy entry without feeling like it's forced, love that it's something different and people are backing it. It stands out. But I feel it gets a bit repetitive and heavy by the end of the song and it's not quite dynamic enough for me.
3. Vanessa Amorosi – Lessons of Love ... It def sounds like the most competitive, Sia-reminiscent entry of the bunch in my opinion. Classic Australia it seems. I'm curious about the live performance, it could make or break this. But over-all I'd def be bored by this if they sent it.
4. Didirri – Raw Stuff ... It starts out sounding promising, but it loses me by the end. But I also just find it really hard to connect with piano ballads anyway. It's a quality entry though, just needs people to pay attention and I'm not sure it has enough impact on its own to grab that attention. Maybe if they create a really magical atmosphere.
5. Jack Vidgen – I Am King I Am Queen... That ending is ... a lot. I'm so eager to see this live, could be a hot mess or actually brilliant. The song is just okay though.
6. Mitch Tambo – Together... It has cool ideas and has potential, but the end product just falls sort of flat, because it's fitted into this way too generic mold.
7. Jordan-Ravi – Pushing Stars ... I don't really like this, but it's quite pleasant at least.
8. Casey Donovan – Proud ... I could see this winning Australia Decides with a powerful live performance. Doesn't do much for me in the studio cut though.
9. Montaigne – Don’t Break Me... She is such a cool indie artist, but this totally lacks identity and feels so plain. A boring product just wrapped in a shinier package than some others. Such a shame tbh.
10. Diana Rouvas – Can We Make Heaven ... Super boring. Like a come-back single for a seasoned artist that flops, because the song isn't up to par and they just aren't that cool anymore.