Eurovision 2025 Reviews: Part 2

Eurovision 2025 is drawing ever closer and if I am to finish reviewing all 37 entries before the week of the live shows, I really must crack on! So without any further ado, let's discuss the songs from Azerbaijan, Finland, Georgia, Latvia, Luxembourg and Portugal.

Luxembourg: Laura Thorn - "La poupée monte le son"

Last year saw the first appearance of Luxembourg in Eurovision since 1993, when Tali took the country to the left-hand side of the board in the final with "Fighter". This year the Luxembourg Song Contest has returned and given us Laura Thorn, performing "La poupée monte le son", which translates to "the doll turns up the sound". Most dedicated Eurovision fans will be aware of France Gall, who won Eurovision for Luxembourg in 1965 with "Poupée de cire, poupée de son", a song that remains a much-loved classic - and this year's song feels like quite a clear effort to capitalise on this in its sixtieth anniversary year. There are hints of the original throughout, most notably in the melody of the song's introduction, and looking at the lyrics feels like reading an updated version of "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" with clear themes of female empowerment as Laura sings about not being anyone's puppet and 'turning up the sound', subverting the use of "poupée" in the original. I do wonder how much the general public will understand this message, particularly if the meaning of the song isn't explained well by commentators, as I don't think the original song permeates mainstream cultural discourse in 2025. This song being the clear winner of Luxembourg Song Contest also does raise concerns in me about how Luxembourg are approaching 21st-century Eurovision; last year's selection did attract criticism for being 'dated', and of course this one relies so heavily on previous success. We will see in due course the extent to which Luxembourg are stuck in the past.

If we strip away all context from this song, "La poupée monte le son" is a well-written, catchy pop song. It feels like it could be participating in Junior Eurovision, whilst also seeming to match Laura's vibe as an artist quite well. Most pertinently, it should be accessible to a first-time audience, and I think the use of the French language gives it a certain charm (a 'je ne sais quoi', if you will) that it would lose if it was performed in English. The song's message is relatively simple yet effective (particularly given the original context), however does feel somewhat shallow when one looks a bit deeper. "La poupée monte le son", a feminist re-imagining of France Gall's 1965 entry, is written by two men with musical theatre backgrounds. This has raised eyebrows in the fan community, and whilst I do think that men should be able to write songs of this nature, the authorship feels a bit more questionable given the historical context, or more specifically the relationship between France Gall (who was seventeen when she won Eurovision), and her songwriter Serge Gainsbourg. This isn't the space to cover that issue in depth, but to summarise, Gainsbourg exploited Gall after her Eurovision victory by writing her a song that had a hidden sexual meaning. Gall, who had trusted Gainsbourg, never worked with him again. Of course, much of this will not reach a majority of the audience in May, however, this additional context does leave a bit of a stain for me on what is otherwise a fun, entertaining song.

My Score: 7.5

Georgia: Mariam Shengelia - "Freedom"

Georgia gave the fans absolutely no news until the last possible moment this year, waiting until the 14th March to announce that they had internally selected Mariam Shengelia to perform the song "Freedom" in Basel. After Nutsa took the country to the final last year for the first time since 2016, all eyes were on Georgia to see whether they could do it again. I don't think "Freedom" is the song that will do that, unfortunately. It feels very winding and chaotic, giving us a selection of genres which rather hides Mariam's strong vocals as it sounds like several different songs are all having their finale at once. I'll stick with the vocals for a moment, as I think they are the main positive of this package. As I've said, this is a real mixture of genres, with elements of musical theatre, chanson and a hint of Bond - all of which Mariam carries off, and she seems to be able to drive the song forward very well. However, it's unclear where she is driving it to. The different sounds in this don't blend well, leading to a final cut that just feels disparate and unsatisfying, and then suddenly ends without the feeling that any of its individual parts have reached their full potential.

Georgia's entry this year has, however, courted some controversy for a different reason, as the country finds itself in a tricky political situation. Georgia has, for many years now, been searching for its national identity, flirting with both Europe and Russia in the process, and at the moment, the country is being ruled by the Georgian Dream party, which is pro-Putin and anti-EU. Anything sent to represent Georgia this year was always going to come under scrutiny, and this was only heightened when it emerged that Mariam has aligned herself politically with Georgian Dream. When this is taken into account, "Freedom" suddenly has a very different, far more nationalistic, feel about it, one which doesn't match the values of the Eurovision Song Contest. It feels like Georgia are sending this song not to appeal to the rest of the continent, but to speak to the Georgian people, and I wouldn't be surprised if, whatever happens in Basel, the Georgian Dream party manage to use it to support their talking points. This does leave a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth, however, I think it's only harming what was already a very weak song, and I do fear that Georgia's time in Eurovision may be coming to an end in the near future if this year is any indication.

My Score: 1.5

Latvia: Tautumeitas - "Bur man laimi"

Latvia is another country that broke a long-standing non-qualification streak last year, when Dons, performing "Hollow", took his country to the final for the first time since 2016, defying the odds in the process. The Latvian national selection Supernova was generally regarded by fans as being quite strong this year, with several contenders who could have done well at Eurovision, however the eventual winners were six-piece folk group Tautumeitas, with "Bur man laimi", which translates to "curses and hexes". Following in the footsteps of similar previous Eurovision entries, such as Tulia from Poland, Go_A from Ukraine, and Pasha Parfeni from Moldova, this song is aimed at the part of the Eurovision fan community that enjoys watching a group of people, usually from Eastern Europe, keeping old choral traditions alive in a song about nature - and this I think it does very well. The song itself has a relatively simple theme; the singers are casting their aforementioned curses and hexes in order to help the forest grow; but I think the real magic with this lies in Tautumeitas themselves. The way their vocals overlap with each other and with the song's instrumentation, coupled with their long hair and flowing dresses, takes the audience to a different time and place.

"Bur main laimi" offers a much-needed break from some of the more bombastic numbers this year with its wholesome and down-to-earth nature. However, I do worry about its immediacy. The first half of this song is lovely, with well-executed harmonies and instrumentation that keeps you guessing about where it will go next. But you're soon not guessing any more because at every turn, it seems to keep going the same way. After about a minute and a half, this song has given you everything it has to offer, and it then seems to run out of steam a bit, becoming repetitive in its sounds and gestures before moving to a vocal solo that sounds out of place. I believe that there is a huge amount of beauty, and rich quality, in this song, but do worry that there isn't enough variety to sustain a three-minute package. Will audiences lose interest after the first two minutes and eventually forget to vote for this? With the semi-finals being solely decided by televoters now, I do think Latvia are going to need to pull it out of the bag with the staging, really leaning in to the folk elements of the song that made entries like "Shum" stand out so much, without being afraid of putting off some of the voters in Western Europe who might not understand - after all, you don't do well at Eurovision from being in the middle of the pack for everybody, and the success of this song will lie in its ability to build up a passionate collective of supporters on the night in Basel.

My Score: 6

Portugal: Napa - "Deslocado"

Portugal is one of those countries who do what they want in Eurovision. They see no need to send a song with any kind of mass appeal to the rest of the continent - they send something that they like and see what happens. I respect this strategy, and it has worked for Portugal in recent years; the country has qualified for the final every year since 2019. This year, Portugal's national selection Festival da Canção was somewhat more chaotic than usual, with several fan favourites being knocked out in the semi-finals before Napa eventually emerged as the winners with the song "Deslocado". As usual, the song feels like something only Portugal could send - it has an incredibly relaxed melody with hints of both upbeat and bittersweet. It's gentle throughout, with hints of 90s indie music that we don't hear very much at Eurovision any more - so again I think it's great that Portugal are sending something like this rather than trying to follow any current trends or appeal to televoters.

Personally, I do enjoy "Deslocado" whilst it's on. It's calming, and feels relatable and safe in a playlist where many songs are quite clearly ramping up the shock factor. However, the key part of my above judgement might have to be that I enjoy it whilst it's on. The song runs through me like a gentle breeze, but doesn't leave much impression on me once it's finished. For quite a long time, I wouldn't have been able to sing any of "Deslocado" back even after having just listened to it. I am happy to report that now I'm more familiar with it, the melody does stick in my head a bit more, but of course the vast majority of the audience on the night will be hearing this for the first time and I wonder whether this song, much like a gentle breeze, might not be enough to make an impact when we have songs in a similar style with more obvious messages, such as Slovenia's entry, and with a more accessible sound, like Lucio Corsi's song for Italy. Whatever happens, this will be a song fondly remembered by its fans, and hopefully won't put Portugal off continuing to do their own thing.

My Score: 4

Azerbaijan: Mamagama - "Run With U"

Azerbaijan is a country that seems to be struggling to find their identity in Eurovision at the moment. They first joined the contest in 2008, and from then until 2013, racked up a series of impressive top ten results, including a victory in 2011. Since then, however, they've never quite managed to reach those same heights (with the possible exception of 2019). Recently, Azerbaijan have changed the way in which they approach Eurovision, moving away from the tried and tested formula of borrowing songs from Sweden, and instead encouraging and nurturing local talent. Unfortunately, this hasn't worked very well for them so far, with the country failing to qualify for the final the last two years, but credit where it's due, they are sticking with the strategy and this year are bringing us Mamagama, with "Run With U". It's a fairly standard pop song that brings a little taste of the 80s in the best way possible. As with several other songs this year, it isn't groundbreaking, but this is a song that knows what it's doing, and I think it does it well.

Having said that, I think this is far from perfect, and my main bugbear with "Run With U" is the timing of the song. The best part of the song is the catchy chorus, but this doesn't arrive until more than a minute in to the song, and isn't given more than thirty seconds throughout the whole thing. I do think that's a mistake, as, given a more prominent feature in the song, this could be something for audiences to latch on to, and as it is, there is a lot of pre-amble which, given the amount of time it uses, doesn't create the required build-up for me. I think that's another problem with the entire song - it doesn't really build. Every time I listen to this, I keep expecting it to go somewhere else but then it ends and I don't feel like I've really moved that far from where I started. Nevertheless, I do think there's enough potential in this song for it to succeed if Azerbaijan stage it well. The music video is good, and they could be on to something if they manage to re-create this, but given the issues I believe this package has - as well as the instant disadvantage I believe it incurs for representing a country with as little momentum in the contest as Azerbaijan - I really think the stars will need to align for this one.

My Score: 5.5

Finland: Erika Vikman - "Ich Komme"

Finland really seem to be on a roll in Eurovision at the moment. Their national selection, Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu, has been widely regarded by fans to be among those of the highest quality for the last few years, and has produced a series of entries that have all qualified for the final, most notably "Cha Cha Cha" by Käärijä, which came second in 2023, winning the televote in the process. This year saw the return of Erika Vikman to UMK. She was a fan favourite when she entered originally in 2020 with the song "Cicciolina", narrowly missing out on the ticket to Eurovision. However, this time, "Ich Komme" was enough to get her over the line. This is another one of this year's orgasm songs (to put it bluntly), with a very camp performance that is the polar opposite of understated. I'm going to compare this song quite a bit to "Milkshake Man" by Go-Jo, this year's Australian entry which I discussed earlier. Of the two, "Ich Komme" is more obvious in its lyrical content, with the German title "I'm coming" being repeated throughout the song as Erika talks about welcoming her lover. This is a song that knows exactly what it's doing - it's confident and sexy, and the use of the Finnish language means that it probably won't raise quite as many uncomfortable questions as entries such as Olly Alexander's "Dizzy" last year.

As I've mentioned, Erika's performance is sexy, possibly even sexual, but manages to stay on the right side of explicit. Whilst they are referred to throughout the song, we never see Erika's partner as she performs the song alone, doing so suggestively but still leaving quite a bit for the audience to fill in themselves. It would have been the easy option to enlist an attractive dancer to gyrate along with Erika, but this way, the package feels more accessible, and I think the appeal is therefore maximised. I think that of the songs this year that all share a similar theme, this one does it best. It has the polish that we have come to expect from Scandinavian entries, with an energetic performance and a more profound underlying message - Erika's artistry has been known to champion female sexuality in the past. For that reason, I think the presence of songs such as Australia's only serve to highlight the quality of this entry. My only concern, perhaps ironically, given what I have just said, is that this will be 'too much' on stage. It's incredibly visually arresting, and the song has a thumping beat throughout that really does draw you in, however, I fear that for the first-time viewer, it might just feel like an assault on the senses. Having said that, I do think one thing this song has going for it that not too many others do is that it's going to go down an absolute storm in the arena, and I think it is in a small group of songs this year that have the potential to do very well in the final.

My Score: 8

Another six songs ticked off the list - I did enjoy writing this, and feel like I've shared quite a variety of sentiment among this group. After two sets of reviews, France still hold on to the lead, but of course there is much more to come and I hope to share more opinions in the very near future!