Pop in Eurovision 2023

Happy Sunday friends!

It is official-all the 37 songs participating this year have been revealed! Now it is time for Eurovision pre-parties and streaming the ESC 2023 playlist on repeat to memorise all songs. One of the (many) reasons that I love Eurovision is how musically diverse this contest is. It is crazy how on the same stage you can see an emotional ballad followed by a heavy-metal performance and an ethnic dance pop song. I guess this is the magic of Eurovision, expecting the unexpected and exploring different genres from all across the globe.

This year I noticed 2 trends; pop and bands. After Maneskin’s triumphant victory in 2021 there was a definite increase in the number of bands participating in the contest. Kalush Orchestra also won the contest last year! Hence this year many countries decided to enter the contest with bands, either of rock or pop genre. But also this year pop dominates the playlist. Pop is considered the most popular genre in Eurovision, and many people associate Eurovision as a pop contest. However, there are so many different variations of pop. Grab a coffee and let’s see some of the pop entries of this year!

💙💛💙💛💙💛💙

·     💙United Kingdom (Mae Muller with ‘I wrote a song’)

 

‘I wrote a song’ is a summertime empowering pop anthem that will definitely be a commercial success. Mae Muller will represent UK in home ground with this upbeat pop song, giving strong Little Mix and Ava Max vibes. As she wrote on TikTok, “This song is for the girlies that went through heartache, hurt or pain and came out of the other side, who persevered and came out stronger, who took the high road and chose to love themselves’’. “Crying at home? Absolutely not. Spend the night at home? It’s a no from me. […] It’s giving growth. It’s giving empowerment. It’s giving liberation”. It was only released last week and already made it to the top 30 in UK charts! After the launch to space last year, UK decided to stay up there.

 

·     💛Cyprus (Andrew Lambrou with ‘Break a broken heart’)

 

You can’t break a heart that is broken, Andrew sings in this powerful pop ballad. Andrew is not a stranger to the Eurovision world, having entered Australia Decides in 2022 with the uptempo electro-banger Electrify. This year he will represent Cyprus, hoping to give Europe some great vocal moments and Cyprus the magic ticket to the grand final. It is a well-written, radio-friendly piece with relatable lyrics that make the listener feel his heartbreak!

 

·      💙Georgia (Iru with ‘Echo’)

 

Iru will represent her country with her song ‘Echo’, a powerful ethnic pop entry. She is already a Eurovision star having won the Junior Eurovision with the group Candy in 2011, reforming for a special performance at the 20^th Junior Eurovision in Yerevan last year.  Echo is a song about the power of love, with Iru singing ‘I’ve got a big faith, My love is my crown’.

 

·      💛Armenia (Brunette with ‘Future Lover’)

 

This is not the classic pop song, showing how board the pop genre can be. Brunette will perform ‘Future Lover’, an alternative pop entry giving strong Billie Eilish vibes. After last year’s commercial success with Rosa Linn’s ‘Snap’, Armenia decided to follow the same recipe and send a young, fresh artist with a unique song. ‘I just wanna make art, read books and just find someone who likes me enough to kiss my face, I wanna explore with him and visit old bookstores and cute little things, like drink smoothies at near cafés’,  Brunette will sing, lyrics that will make this song big.

 

·       💙Austria (Teya & Salena with ‘Who the hell is Edgar?’)

 

For the first time in Austria’s history two women will represent the country, with their song ‘Who the hell is Edgar?’ And of course they mean the Boston-born writer and poet  Edgar Allen Poe, famous for his dark and spooky themed material. It is a satire song criticising the music industry and the struggle artists have to make money, with songwriters getting just  0.003 cents per stream. As they sing: ‘Zero dot zero zero three, give me two years and your dinner will be free’. It is an upbeat pop anthem with some viral dance moves resembling Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance!

 

·       💛Israel (Noa Kirel with ‘Unicorn’)

 

‘It's gonna be phenomen-phenomen-phenomenal’ Noa sings in this powerful pop ethnic dance song  Unicorn. Israel always includes traditional traits of their culture in their songs, which is the secret of their Eurovision success! It is a powerful pop song about determination and unleashing your inner strength. ‘I won’t look back, I won’t look down, I ‘m going up you better turn around’. The development of this song is so diverse, starting as a radio pop song, then introducing some voguing, some sprinkles of ethnic character and finishing with a heavy beat and fierce rhythm.

 💙💛💙💛💙💛💙

And here are some of this year’s pop songs! Which one is your favourite? What music genre would you like to see next? Let me know in the comments! Have a nice Sunday!

Sofia :)