Malmo 2013: Rankings of the 39: 21-16

It is the halfway point of my rankings of the 39 entries at Malmo 2013, which has been over for almost three full months. I know you guys are waiting for who I have for 21-16. So here we go (literally, see below)!

At number 21, is a song that was good, but should have ranked it higher: Gianluca Bezzina with "Tomorrow" (Malta). This happened to be one of my favorite Maltese ESC entries, along with those from Kurt Calleja (2012) and Morena (2008), just to name a few. Gotta love the ukulele used. Guitars and vocals, a perfect combination. At first I thought it was borderline to make it in the grand final, although he did. Good stuff, and one of the best this year.

Another song I thought I would have ranked higher than this was "Gravity" by Zlata Ognevich (Ukraine), at number 20. Great power ballad, I was surprised it not only made the grand final, but also was a top five song. She, along with Ruslana (2004 winner) and Gaitana (2012 finalist) are my favorite ESC representatives from Ukraine. However it wasn't the song in both of her performances that garnered my attention, it was the on-stage presentation. First off, the dress. One of the best dressed this year. Second, her backup singers, which included a man from the UK, and an American woman from the UK. Finally, the big Viking man who carried her to that rock. Was that man on roids? He looked like he was juiced. Funny performances on both night for such a good song.

The American connection continues in the ESC. Make that the Slovenian-US connection. It seemed that Los Angeles is a hotbed of this, and Anze Kopitar isn't the only one. Hannah Mancini (no relation to former boxing champ Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini (I don't think), who currently has a film out) is married to a Slovene national, hence her Slovenian representation in Malmo with "Straight into Love," at number 19. This number is one of my favorites, but would have ranked higher if it lost the dubstep. Sadly, she missed the final, and in the first semifinal, only had eight points, a very sad low result for a song that was better than "Verjamem" by Eva Boto from Baku 2012. Don't know what was wrong with the juries, and it hurt the former Yugoslavian states in the ESC this year.

PeR's "Here We Go" (Latvia) is a beautiful song, and it's on the radio, and the TV shows and so on and on. It is at number 18 on my countdown. It is a great song, and just like a couple others from Latvia in the past (Anmary's "Beautiful Song," whose lyrics I just quoted, just to name a few), is one of Latvia's best ESC entries, in my honest opinion. Again, this has nothing to do with Bud Light, and I'm waiting for A-B/InBev to start using this in Bud Light ads here in the states. This rap/rock nugget is one of my favorites this year and I was bummered that it didn't qualify for the May 18 grand final. I want something more epic to come out of Latvia for future ESC's to come.

There were two duets in Malmo this year. The Esma and Vlatko duet for Macedonia and the Nodi Tatishvili and Sophie Gelovani duet for Georgia, which is at number 17 with "Waterfall." Just like with Jonsi and Greta Salome Stefansdottir at Baku 2012, this was a breathtaking, powerful ballad. What makes it great is this tune was co-written by Thomas "G:Son" Gustafsson, who co-wrote the epic "Euphoria" by Loreen Talhaoui, winner of Baku 2012. This was great, I would have ranked it higher, however there were some more powerful tunes this year. One of Georgia's best in ESC. So who's the joker here, Anri Jokhadze?

At number 16, your 2013 ESC champion, Emmelie de Forest with "Only Teardrops" (Denmark)! Why this low? It is a great, emotional tune with flute elements and there are probably more songs that are more epic than this. Make that 15 songs. She became the third ESC champion for Denmark, and the first since the Olsen Brothers did it a Stockholm 2000. Great song, nonetheless, and was not surprised that she made the grand final with this. One of my favorite ESC winners.

So there you have it, and after this review, the updated rankings:

39. Finland
38. Cyprus
37. Sweden
36. Azerbaijan
35. Belgium
34. Croatia
33. Israel
32. Moldova
31. Serbia
30. Austria
29. Iceland
28. Italy
27. Estonia
26. Ireland
25. Netherlands
24. Russia
23. San Marino
22. Macedonia
21. Malta
20. Ukraine
19. Slovenia
18. Latvia
17. Georgia
16. Denmark

Where will Bonnie Tyler end up? What about Cascada? Koza Mostra? The Swiss Salvation Army? Who See Klapa? Stay tuned.