Patriks Peterson — “Can’t Get You Outta My Head”
Straightforward pop song that doesn’t try to do more than is needed to present a respectable effort to the world, which it does. Peterson’s voice has a slightly muffled, husky quality which is unusual enough to allow him to get away with avoiding big notes or other vocal exercises. Lyrically it’s fairly unremarkable, but the chorus certainly does get in your head — and that’s important. The instruments are sparse when they need to be, swelling when it’s handy to have the vocals amplified. The production might be a bit muddy at times, but overall this is a pretty good package — I’m just not convinced it has that something special which would join the front runners.

Raum — “Plans”
I’m enjoying this pop-punk revival of which “Plans” is a good example. Rolling drums, clanging guitars, lyrics about the joys and perils of dating and relationships (in this case, the former) — it’s all very familiar but in a comforting rather than predictable way. The singer even has the slightly nasal voice you often hear from US pop-punk singers in particular. The song spends the first 45 seconds luring you in with the promise of the speed and crash of instruments that follow for the rest of the track, which is on the shorter side at 2:34 — but it doesn’t need more time. This may not be the most original track going around, but it’s one of the most energetic, and as we all know, Eurovision is about performance as well.