As of this post, we’re still waiting on the songs by Justin 3 feat. Nanaart and 2018 Eurovision alumni Ieva Zasimauskaitė. Hopefully they’ll drop tomorrow so I can review them alongside the Norwegian hopefuls for their first semi — otherwise, I’ll review them in my Sunday post, like I did last week.

Queens of Roses — “Washing Machine”
All right, I’ll say it — Lithuania could do a lot worse than send this one to Turin. If the Queens are even half as sassy as this song in their live performance, this could go quite far. Yes, it’s cheesy — trashy even — but how many other songs pack this much into three minutes? It’s relentless, memorable, and utterly infectious. This a great example of a song where the full package is far greater than the sum of its parts. I’m aware that this band has tried for Eurovision a few times before, but this is arguably their best attempt. The only question is whether the sugar rush of this song lasts the distance.

Cosmic Bride — “The Devil Lives in Spain”
Given the title of this track, it should be no surprise that there’s a strong flamenco feel to a fair amount of the instrumentation. However, not so much that it distracts from the vocals, which are clearly meant to be the centrepiece of the song. There’s a lot to like in the way this is delivered: the singer (Natalia Kharetskaya) makes full use of her vocal range without seeming to overdo it — I think the quirky, fluidic musical arrangement helps her achieve this. It feels like a song of layers that demand repeat listens to fully explore.

Moosu X — “Love That Hurts”
Imagine a big ballad, but one where the instrumentation is more than just mood lighting and you’ll more or less know what this song is aiming for. The staccato strings (which seem to be coming up a fair bit this year) provide an engaging, dramatic accompaniment throughout, even as Moosu X sings “no more dramas”. Yet again though, I feel let down by the vocals. Moosu X’s attempt at falsetto isn’t particularly convincing, and I think he strains too much in the chorus. The violin solo towards the end is lovely, though.