You have to hand it to the LPS kids: they did this the hard way, qualifying for the EMA semi-final after weeks and weeks in EMA Freš. Then they qualified to final and beat out fellow Freš qualifiers Luma more favoured acts like June Jones and Batista Cadillac. Apparently LPS stands for Last Pizza Slice, which I guess is somewhat appropriate given where they’re headed in a couple of months?

I still find this to be a weird song — it’s almost an anachronism, which is extra strange given the youth of the performers. The singer has a deadpan voice which works as an effective counterbalance to the chirpy guitars and blaring brass instruments. The band stand there in their matching suits and deliver the song with the same understated vibes of those lead vocals. It’s like they just want you to close your eyes and take the song in that way rather than watch a show. I imagine they’ll deliver something different at Turin, but it’s a remarkable strategy given that even at the national selection phase most people still expect some choreography or at least a more arresting stage performance. But no, LPS are just going to do their thing — and credit to them, it’s worked well so far!

In what looks like to be a highly-competitive first semi-final, I can’t see this qualifying unless people decide they need a palate cleanser from some of the more wacky entries elsewhere in the line-up. Even then, there will be more conventional choices than this one, which has quirky moments like the slow down in the last minute when we’re used to hearing a lift in Eurovision songs. This might endear them to juries or some of the televote, but I’m not convinced at this stage that it will be enough. I enjoy the first half of this song, but for me it runs out of steam in its final minute. LPS will need to keep gathering momentum for a while longer if we’re going to see them in the Eurovision grand final.