On the 3th of February 2023, Ireland will hold its national selection “Eurosong 2023″, as part of “The Late Late Show“.
6 artists will take part in the selection.
In this article, I will give my personal review of the songs:
#1. ADGY – “Too Good for Your Love”
It is a dance club pop, with house elements.
The song starts with a short instrumental part, composed of electric keyboards.
Afterwards, he starts singing with deep low voice. The first verse is pretty slow. In the pre-chorus, the melody gains rhythm, we can hear dance beat with string elements and keyboards playing.
He sings this part with a higher tone of voice.
The chorus starts with fading backing vocals, the beat gets stronger and faster as the chorus progresses. The majority of the chorus includes the word “love”. The chorus ends with an instrumental upbeat section, composed of electronic keyboards playing.
The second verse starts with the electro beat as its basis, the melody is based on processed string melody. The pre-chorus is a bit faster, but keeps the same melody as in the second verse.
The chorus starts with fading backing vocals and electronic beat that explodes slowly.
The song ends after this chorus, and maybe it is too soon.
The song has a tight production. On one hand, it sounds like a dance club from 2005, on the other hand it is something you still can hear in 2023.
The flow of the song is build correctly and the song is catchy in general. However, I would like to say that something is missing in the song. It isn’t only about duration, but the fact the chorus is too simple in its second half “love love, love love”.
#2. Connolly – “Midnight Summer Night”
It is an alt indie pop ballad.
The song starts with a short instrumental part, based on piano and some effects.
As the singing commences, we can distinguish her unique voice.
The first verse has mis rate. The atmosphere is dark and mysterious. She sings it with a mid-high tone of voice, We can hear some percussion elements and a windy beat with short amplitude.
The chorus starts quite simply. The production relies of studio effects. We can hear pre-recorded vocals as backing vocals.
The second verse starts right after. It is a bit more rhythmic, but still can be defined as a ballad. This verse is quite short. She sings it with a thin voice.
The second chorus starts the same as the first one. She sings it with a wider range of voice.
The second chorus is finalized with some vocal improvisations (the “ahhahh” part).
The song ends with the first verse, in a cyclic form.
It is very artistic, a song that relies on creating an atmosphere.
Personally, this is the kind of a music I like to listen to outside of Eurovision.
However, I think she could have put more effort here as well.
This is a song that must be stages wisely.
The staging should deliver the message, I see some smoke machine in my imagination.
I’m sure she is a good vocalist and this is an advantage.
The final product is good.
#3. K Muni & ND – “Down in the Rain”
It is a hip-hop pop rap song.
The song starts with a periodic short beat.
One of the vocalists opens the first verse with a typical rap singing. His voice is warm. The melody is quite basic and relies on the mentioned beat. The rhythm of the song is build by the singing itself.
The chorus is more melodical, the vocal direction is more singing rather than rap or fast talking.
The second verse is performed by the second performer. His accent make the singing sound a little bit different, His singing is much faster. The melody stays almost the same, but also includes guitar plating this time. At a certain point, it feels like the second chorus is too long or at least very monotonous.
The second chorus is performed by the first performer.
The third verse is performed by the first performer as well, but it is more rap in its style.
The second half of this verse has a different direction, in what sounds like a more melodical hip-hop (for some reason, remined me of French rap).
The song ends with a last chorus.
It sounds like they have a great chemistry together. What I liked here was the commination of different genres. However, something about the melody with the acoustic guitar playing remains too simple and flat. The verses and the chorus are based on almost the same melody. What changes between the different parts is the singing.
And one last remark: haven’t we done with mentioning the rapper names in the songs in 2003?
#4. Leila Jane – “Wild”
It is a pop ballad.
The song starts with a short instrumental part composed of piano playing.
She starts the singing part with a natural echo/reverb.
The rate of the first verse is quite slow.
The pre-chorus is a little bit faster, at the melody includes a basic beat.
In the chorus, she sings in a higher tone of voice. The melody is based on acoustic guitar playing, with a combination of bass guitar. The second half of the chorus is more melodical.
This is where we can hear Leila singing in a wide range of voice.
The second verse has a similar structure to the first one, however this time we can hear some backing vocals. After a short simples keyboard, we get the chorus again.
This time, the chorus is more melodical and the bear, alongside guitar playing appears from the beginning.
The bridge commences with some effects over her voice, together with some vocal improvisations.
The last part of the song in another chorus, with more unplugged pulled back production, based on the electric guitar.
The quality of the song is high. I can see why some people might claim the production is quite predictable. The “dosage” of each ingredient just feels right and her voice is beautiful.
#5. Wild Youth – “We Are One”
It is a boy band pop song.
The song has the typical elements of stadium hymn songs.
The songs starts with a short instrumental part, composed of keyboards playing.
The lead singer open the song with an accurate singing. The melody is quite simple, and relies on guitar stringing as well. In the first verse, the emphasize is on the lead singer’s voice.
It feels like the melody has been put on lower volume, and let me say on a lower priority as well.
In the chorus, we can hear the lead singer is more challenging pitch which makes his voice even more special. He starts singing the chorus alone, but towards the peak point, we can some of the other members as backing vocalists. The melody of the chorus is based on the piano playing, but later on we can hear string elements, as well as electric guitar playing.
The chorus is also the point where the song steps one step towards the pop-rock world.
The second verse has a higher tempo. The singing is a bit faster, and the melody is based on combination of electric guitar and bass guitar stringing, with the basis of the keyboards playing. The lead’s singer voice is more raspy.
Then again, we get the chorus which starts with a very simple production, and little by little gain its energy back. The structure of the chorus is a bit different this time, the guitars play a bigger role, and we can hear more of the other band members singing.
The lyrics deliver some cliches, like “We are one” or “We might be different, we might be unique”.
The song sounds like one of the tracks of successful boyband from the beginning of the 2000’s.
I can’t say it isn’t pleasant, but something here feels to me “too by the book”.
#6. Public Image Limited – “Hawaii”
The song starts with a short instrumental part, composed of string elements, drum beat and electric guitar playing.
The lead singer opens the song with a very unique voice. The first verse is based on guitar playing. He lengthens some of the syllables. In some parts, his singing sounds more like a talking.
In the chorus we can hear some of the band members singing like a choir. The melody is based on guitar stringing. It doesn’t suggest a lot of the lyrics level.
The second verse arrives right after. The beginning of this verse sounds like the singer has chosen to sing it “outside” of the melody. The second chorus repeats on the same lyrics. The leas singer John sings the majority of the chorus in strangled voice. I am not sure if this is a limited vocal ability, or just a matter of style. As the song comes closer to its end, the production is richer with more instrumental presence,
Several things bothered me here: First of all, something about the singing wasn’t accurate and it created a dis-harmony for the listener’s point of view. Second of all, the lyrics effort is not enough. There are 4 sentence (more or less) that repeat again and again in order to “fill” the melody.
Last but not least, the lead singer had some dirty words about Eurovision
My Personal Ranking
- Connolly – “Midnight Summer Night”
- Leila Jane – “Wild”
- ADGY – “Too Good for Your Love”
- Wild Youth – “We Are One”
- K Muni & ND – “Down in the Rain”
- Public Image Limited – “Hawaii”
My Prediction
First of all, let’s not forget that Wild Youth are quite popular band in Ireland.
This is why they will probably will be ranked high in the public vote.
However, let’s not forget that the results will also be determined by jury voting.
Based on the song quality and performance potential, I can see 4 acts with some advantages over the others:
- Connolly – “Midnight Summer Night”
- Leila Jane – “Wild”
- ADGY – “Too Good for Your Love”
- Wild Youth – “We Are One”
Connolly is a young artist (!8 years old) and this can be for her merit or the opposite. Being good live will add her more bonus points that usual. The tiny stage of “The Late Late Show” can create the required intimacy.
Those who are seeking for an upbeat contagious pop, might vote for ADGY, who has no similar acts to him in this selection.
Leila Jane will suggest a professional and tight performance, and might get support from different group of ages.
Therefore, I can see a disagreement between the public and the jury, which will lead to a narrow margin winning of one of those 4.
Having said this, I’m a little bit worried that the 2 female ballads will cancel each other.
What do you think about the Irish selection for Eurovision 2023?
Who is your personal winner?
Who will represent Ireland at Eurovision 2023?
