Emilija V — “Overload”
If I gave these songs a score out of five stars, this one would get three or maybe three-and-a-half. It has nothing objectionable about it: good vocals, dynamic instrumentation, decent lyrics (a bit strange at times but I’ll overlook it) and drum-rolls to transition to an EDM chorus. Admittedly, I found these drum-rolls ultimately a bit disappointing in terms what awaited them on the other side music-wise, but maybe that’s my summary of this song: when it had the chance to perhaps elevate itself beyond its baseline it didn’t really pull it off, leaving me with another case of feeling that its full potential wasn’t reached.

Lolita Zero — “Not Your Mother”
Heading into trance territory here, with deep, deadpan vocals which are mechanically detached in their approach to delivering the lyrics. This sounds like it came straight from a trendy nightclub in Vilnius. There will be some dance enthusiasts who fall in love with this song (and I quite like it myself), but the lyrics and minimal and not particularly interesting — and while I’m always in favour of greater musical diversity at Eurovision, this is probably going to be too much for most people. It would be good if it progressed to the semi-finals at this selection at least, just for the variety.