Eurovision 2025 song (p)reviews: part 6/7 (Austria, Georgia, Sweden, UK)

Well, it's been a while - over a month, in fact, since I last posted any reviews. Thankfully that's because my spare time has lately been taken up fulfilling some other Eurovision-related ambitions, namely researching for some of the Overthinking Eurovision content on YouTube and doing some musical arrangement work.

There's plenty to say about the 4 songs below and so I've had to self-edit quite a lot in order to make the reviews at least readable. For Sweden in particular, I've got a whole other post (possibly a series of posts) lined up, based solely on things I want to write about but that would turn a song review into an essay. So here goes, 4 of the most interesting 2025 Eurovision entries, subjected to my questionable cultural criticism - GO!

(scoring system re-capped below* as ever):

Austria: JJ - "Wasted Love" ★

Even though I don't particularly want to listen to it independently, I still admire and respect Austria's entry this year. Their performer, JJ, has previously been hired to sing countertenor with the Wiener Staatsoper (Vienna State Opera) and there is no denying his vocal prowess in the extreme high range (high enough that he counts as a "sopranist" I believe). However, I think this song lost me halfway through. The first half of the song reveals the intense, laser-like focus of JJ's falsetto voice, wailing emotively about unrequited love. So far, so good. But, at 1min24s the producers had the chance to really change up the rhythm and instrumentation (like Klavdia's "Asteromata" does) and instead we get a plodding half time feel with over-done orchestration, at which point I remember thinking "well I guess this sucks then, there's not much more than a minute left". The sad thing is that I really love the last 30 seconds though, a high-energy EDM play-out. I had no problem with that ending or the ballad feel to start - it's just I'm left wondering why Austria wasted one of their 3 precious Eurovision minutes in the middle.

My biggest worry about this being performed in Basel is that one of the best bits (just like Germany's song) consists of unnaturally chopped up vocal samples during the EDM play-out which I am frankly skeptical can be put across well on stage. During the pre-party season, JJ has relied on playback to carry this bit and simply bounced around in time to the music. Many commentators have suggested this entry as a possible overall winner - I see where that opinion comes from but that final 30 seconds is going to be a real challenge to stage effectively. There are 2 further obstacles that JJ's sheer technical talent might well not be able to overcome: firstly, the instant dislike some people (not me!) have for this kind of intense falsetto voice quality; and secondly, the English lyrics which really do not withstand close examination. You'll see what I mean if you try to answer this one question: what does "water" represent in this text? So despite my respect for the performer, I really do struggle to see why Austria is currently ranked 2nd in the betting odds.

Georgia: Mariam Shengelia - "Freedom"  ★★

I feel like my opinions on this song will be very much contrary to popular opinion, but: this composition scratches a lot of my musical itches, and I genuinely like it. Some commentators on Georgia's entry this year have understandably focussed on the political backdrop to this song's release. But aside from whether you think it's ironic to represent a country with a pro-Russian government by singing a borderline nationalistic song called "Freedom", the remarkable thing about this song is that, well... Georgia has just thrown a bit of *everything* in here, musically speaking.

It starts in almost exactly the same way as one of the most popular classical numbers ever: "O Fortuna" from Carmina Burana. Very similar to Carl Orff's opening Dm(add9) chord, Freedom starts with two bombastic chords: Dm9 and Dm6(add9) sung to the words "sun" and "sky" respectively. Mariam seems to be gearing up for a sultry ballad, and then... what? Energetic 5/8 rhythms? I suppose that does explain why those warrior guys in the music video seem to be marching unevenly... Ah actually, that appears to be a traditional Georgian Khorumi dance, so not as arbitrary as it looks (so much leaping!). And before we've even finished Verse 1 we get a snippet of the James Bond theme tune over this odd 5/8 meter. More accurately you could write this as (3+2)/8, which indicates bars of two uneven beats, one long then one short.

Mariam then goes full Bond Theme for a chorus in 3/4 meter which would sound pretty normal if not for a bizarre chord which is a mix of G major in the choir, with G minor in the orchestra at the same time... or as a jazz cat might call it, a sharp-nine chord. Why would I mention jazz? Because moments later, Georgia transports us to a smokey bar, by the sound of it, one serving very classy cocktails: Verse 2 is delivered in this jazz ballad style, in free tempo. There's even a lovely cello counter-melody that helps take us into the final chorus, another over-the-top lung-emptying vocal passage in 3/4 once more. That uneven 5/8 meter returns for a big finish accompanying a fast-cut video sequence presumably grabbed straight from the Georgian Tourist Board archives.

I understand the commentators that view this as "messy" and of course the political background is awkward at the very best. But I really don't get the people who think Freedom is "boring" or that it was obviously knocked up "last-minute". People will have their own opinions about whether this composition makes sense, but surely you can't deny that there's a *lot* going on here and it's all on purpose?

Sweden: KAJ - "Bara Bada Bastu"  ★★★★

When I first started drafting my review of this song I thought I was going to have to post this review in a "national final honourable mentions" post. Back then, Måns Zelmerlöw was the clear favourite to win Melodifestivalen (Sweden's national final contest) and my main concern was making people aware of the fantastically talented and funny KAJ. I am extremely pleased to say that I was wrong and that I can now review this miniature masterpiece knowing that it will officially represent Sweden this year, and that KAJ are in no need of help when it comes to publicity, lying as they do in the number one spot as far as the bookies are concerned. In fact, I would have reviewed this weeks ago had I not been working on two arrangements of it (one for SATB choir, another for brass sextet) which obviously I urge you to go and buy right now 😊. As you can see from my 4-star rating, I love this song and this group, for exactly 6 reasons:

1. It's a song about an specific thing (how great it is to go for a sauna) not just "love love, peace peace".
2. It strikes a perfect balance between being humourous and wholesome. It's funny, but it's not really a joke entry. These lads really do actually love going for a sauna and they are truly proud of it.
3. Most of the lyrics are in Swedish, a fact which in context is frankly revolutionary: Sweden haven't sent a song in Swedish to Eurovision since 1998. Even then, that was arguably because of the language rule that had obliged them to do so since 1977.
4. Kevin, Axel and Jakob from KAJ are all from a Swedish-speaking region of Finland called Österbotten. So not only is their Swedish dialect quite distinctive, there are also a few words in Finnish and the whole song is playing up stereotypes that Swedes have about Finns.
5. The sung vocal style that this song is performed in is quite distinct from the typical pop style. Since the 1960s, I'd say, it's been really common in rock and pop to have a vocal line that is comfortably low and achievable for most female voices yet uncomfortably high for most adult male voices, unless the owners of those male voices want to sound horribly uncool singing an octave down. I actually have a hunch that this feature of pop music is responsible for the decline in men singing in choirs (possibly a subject for another whole article). Singing the chorus for Bara Bada Bastu an octave down, though, feels natural, wholesome, and proud. That lower octave is present in the live performance and the vocal style overall is full-voiced, almost classical in tone (unsurprising if you've heard Jakob belt out a parody version of Nessun Dorma).
6. Despite an entirely conventional compositional structure (verses, choruses, intro re-purposed as a linking passage, breakdown section and intro turned into a coda section, cheesy up-a-tone key change for the final chorus) the arrangement and orchestration is perfectly executed in its small details. The accordion line that starts off the whole number is actually present throughout the verses and the breakdown, used as a quiet, floaty, ambient background. The rhythmic feel is tango-like to match the lyric about Arja Saijonmaa, with a very slightly swung feel at a steady tempo. Outside of the choruses, we get a bass line that feels solid but bumps along with just enough syncopation to make you move your hips. Verse 2 adds a seductive snaking accordion counter melody. Vocal harmony is added judiciously, just when it's wanted most. A simply fantastic production job.

Add all the above to the perfectly-pitched stage concept (grill sausage, chop wood for fire, solemnly enter sauna, sweat, dance party!!!) and I am not at all surprised that this is popular across Europe already.

I'm also particularly pleased that my intermediate Swedish language skills have had a healthy workout these last few weeks as I've become a super-fan, bought their entire back catalogue and listened to as many Swedish-language interviews with KAJ as possible. If you haven't already seen it, I challenge you to check out this "Eurovision Press Simulator" segment from Melodifestivalen and not laugh (it's got subtitles for the non-English bits, don't worry!). It's a very strange feeling to be a mega-fan of the current favourites, but what can I say? I recognise a quality song and strong performers. So to Kevin, Axel and Jakob, I say: lycka till, pojkar!

United Kingdom: Remember Monday - "What The Hell Just Happened?"  ★★

This was a very pleasant surprise: the UK is sending a trio of women with huge experience singing live in musical theatre, paired with an interesting and catchy song that shows off their vocal harmony skills. It's another entry branded as "messy" or "confusing" by some commentators though, an assessment with which I strongly disagree. It does swap frequently between a few different "feels", but there's nothing here that should be particularly shocking to a mainstream fan of pop or rock: there are 2 ideas that sound obviously like tunes from that quintessentially British band Queen, specifically "We Are The Champions" (in the titular refrain) and "Don't Stop Me Now" (the up-tempo verse sections). There's a chilled out free-ish tempo bit that, at the beginning, makes a first-time listener wonder whether they're getting a ballad. There's a short section in triple meter ("...I'm like, usually keep it clean...") and my favourite part ("...Freedom!...") has a half-time feel with slightly swung 8ths that gives us just a little splash of funk for a handful of bars.

All that chopping and changing in the accompaniment is the perfect foil for Lauren, Holly-Anne and Charlotte's exemplary harmony singing. Obviously the studio recording sounds polished - possibly too polished - but live, this trio really genuinely can sing accurately, with focus and intent. There's plenty of video footage from the pre-party season and nobody should be worried about these performers' vocal reliability. Who knows how well Remember Monday will fare in the rankings, but I'm confident we Brits will be well-represented and much appreciated in Basel.

32 down, 5 more to go...

I'm so close to finishing the reviews now - stay tuned for the final batch of reviews and my picks from the national final season that didn't quite make it to the big show in Basel!

* Scoring system recap:

Remember that at this point my overall my goal is to review the songs themselves in their studio versions. I'm using the same starring system I used from 2023 and 2024, namely:

no stars = if I had control of the playlist I would turn it off or skip

★ wouldn't skip if it came up on shuffle

★★ on my "2025 Eurovision Favourites" playlist on Spotify

★★★ spent my own money getting a digital download; gone digging around their back catalogue for more stuff

★★★★ bought their entire back catalogue; checking out tour dates