Joseph June — “Deadly”
Okay, I’ll start by talking about the things I like about this entry. June’s voice is smooth and melds nicely with the general vibe of the song. The bridge is the best part of the track — it glides into the chorus without any fuss. So there’s that. Unfortunately, as far of the rest of this song is concerned, I’m not a fan. I don’t like the lyrics and think he would have been better off singing in Lithuanian, given that recent contests have shown that a song not in English is not the barrier it would have been a decade ago. Too much of this song feels overthought, like the stutters, which aren’t as clever as June might think. It’s all a case of trying a bit too hard to be cool.

Urtė Šilagalytė – “Running Chords”
Classic ballad which builds slowly towards a welcome shift in tempo, when the lyrics beginning with “I’m running” are accompanied by some “running” strings. This song is best categorised as being “okay”. There’s nothing that I don’t like, but then there’s also very little that really grabs my attention. The lyrics could be better, but at least there’s a narrative — the vocals are good, and the song itself is pleasant and inoffensive without feeling particularly original.