Cloudless — “All Be Alright”
The opening sequence of this song with its low guitars sounded promising, but it all went downhill as soon as the vocals started up. With lyrics full of bravado, an attitude that’s way too much wannabe rock star rather than the authentic thing, and a backing track that doesn’t really have much to say for itself, this is disappointing. I don’t do this often, but I went and listened to some of their other music, and they sound much more confident and coherent in Ukrainian, even though I can’t understand a word. English is not compulsory for Eurovision success these days, and not even for building a broader fanbase — ask Go_A.

Michael Soul — “Demons”
I wonder how many of this year’s entries to Vidbir can be traced back to the ongoing tensions between Ukraine and Russia — there’s certainly some anxiety in a few entries this year (and I fully understand). This singer takes on a strange character, occasionally singing that he’s “your demon” and other times trying to encourage the listener to fight. I guess it’s meant to represent an internal struggle with good and evil? The sound and production is modern and clean, but overall this song is pretty dark and confusing, which probably isn’t helped by a demonic voice chanting the seven deadly sins in the background. All in all, probably weird enough to rule it out from contention if Ukraine want to keep their perfect qualification record.