Well, it’s less than two weeks before I depart for Baku, and the lull of post-preseason-to-pre-Eurovision activity will be replaced with a veritable maelstrom of news, rehearsal footage, interviews, punditry, and behind-the-scenes gossip.  Sounds like a perfect opportunity to publish my own Unranked Rankings, don’t you think?

As some of you might remember from my list last year, it’s very hard for me to pinpoint an absolute favorite.  My preferences change with my mood, the direction of the wind, and whether or not Venus is rising in Scorpio.  In order to placate my often-indecisive streak, I put songs together in groups according to my general opinion of them.  Keep in mind, however, that this list is subject to change as we see the staging of the entries, or simply as time passes (for example, I couldn’t stand “I Love Belarus” at first, but now it’s a complete guilty pleasure that I dance around to in my apartment when I’m sure nobody’s looking).  Furthermore, these rankings are completely unrelated to how I think the songs will actually do on the scoreboard in Baku!

Let’s dive in, shall we?

As always, all songs are available on the official Eurovision.tv YouTube playlist.

Love It!!!  (These songs are the ones that struck me immediately, and have continued to impress me the more I listen to them.  Hearing these songs played four times in a row wouldn’t bother me in the slightest):

• France: Anggun – “Echo (You and I)”
• Iceland: Greta Salóme & Jónsi – “Never Forget”
• Italy: Nina Zilli – “L’amore è femmina (Out of love)”
• Norway: Tooji – “Stay”
• Slovakia (Yes, I said Slovakia. I like rock. Deal with it.): Max Jason Mai – “Don’t Close Your Eyes”

Really Like It! (These songs hit my eardrum really well, but not quite as well as the tunes listed above.  I’ll listen to them happily, but maybe just once at a time…):

• Albania: Rona Nishliu – “Suus”
• Estonia: Ott Lepland – “Kuula” (This one also wins my annual “Mom’s Choice Award”).
• Germany: Roman Lob – “Standing Still”
• Hungary: Compact Disco – “Sound of Our Hearts”
• Israel: Izabo – “Time”
• (FYR) Macedonia: Kaliopi – “Crno i Belo”
• Netherlands: Joan Franka – “You and Me”
• Sweden: Loreen – “Euphoria”
• Turkey: Can Bonomo – “Love Me Back”

Guilty Pleasures (I hate to admit how much I love these entries, even though I realize that my credibility as a Eurovision Journalist might suffer because of it):

• Georgia: Anri Jokhadze – “I’m a Joker”
• Montenegro: Rambo Amadeus – “Euro Neuro”

Not Bad! (These songs are enjoyable, but not quite as memorable as their counterparts in the first three categories):

• Austria: Trackshittaz – “Woki Mit Deim Popo”
• Azerbaijan: Sabina Babayeva – “When the Music Dies”
• Bosnia & Herzegovina: Maya Sar – “Korake Ti Znam”
• Denmark: Soluna Samay – “Should’ve Known Better”
• Finland: Pernilla Karlsson – När Jag Blundar”
• Malta: Kurt Calleja – “This is the Night”
• Moldova: Pasha Parfeny – “Lăutar”
• Russia: Buranovskiye Babushki – “Party for Everybody”
• Serbia: Željko Joksimović – “Nije Ljubav Stvar”
• Slovenia: Eva Boto – “Verjamem”
• Spain: Pastora Soler – “Quédate Conmigo”
• Ukraine: Gaitana – “Be My Guest”
• United Kingdom: Engelbert Humperdinck – “Love Will Set You Free”

So-So (I don’t actively dislike these songs, but they leave me feeling somewhat unenthusiastic):

• Belgium: Iris – “Would You?”
• Bulgaria: Sofi Marinova – “Love Unlimited”
• Cyprus: Ivi Adamou – “La La Love”
• Greece: Eleftheria Eleftheriou – “Aphrodisiac”
• Ireland: Jedward – “Waterline”
• Portugal: Filipa Sousa – “Vida Minha”
• Switzerland (This has more to do with “song-fatigue”, rather than the quality of the entry, as I’ve been listening to this since December…): Sinplus – “Unbreakable”

Snatching Defeat From the Jaws of Victory (These entries lost their luster after unfortunate remixes):

• Belarus: Litesound – “We Are the Heroes”
• Croatia: Nina Badrić – “Nebo”

Not For Me (I’m not really a fan of these entries, but I don’t find them ear-rippingly terrible):

• Lithuania: Donny Montell – “Love is Blind”
• Romania: Mandinga – “Zaleilah”

Umm…No.  (Need I say more?):

• Latvia: Anmary – “Beautiful Song”
• San Marino: Valentina Monetta – “The Social Network Song (Oh Oh Uh Oh Oh)”