Slovenia: Lea Sirk – Hvala, ne

Felix: What do Elhaida Dani, Vilija Matačiūnaitė and Anri Jokhadze have in common? They sang what I thought were the most awful Eurovision songs of the decade. What achievement does Lea Sirk accomplish in 2018? Her song is even worse than “I’m Alive”, “Attention” and “I’m A Joker” combined.

While “Hvala, ne” begins rather okay, they can’t be serious with the chorus, can they? Of course, you can try and stuff as many syllables into as few notes with even less melody as possible, but then the music doesn’t fit the lyrics and vice versa. And even the music alone: The so-called “chorus” sounds like a bridge, builds up, and then suddenly… beep beep… hvala, ne… no thanks? No thanks to a fucking CHORUS?

Someone in Slovenia must have found something good about this mess, but I, a musician with over 35 years of experience, fail to. As will Europe, juries included.

Elhaida Dani had more elegance, “Attention!” was more to the point, and while “I’m A Joker” was horrible too, it had at least more coherence.

Slovenia is a beautiful country. EMA had many good alternatives.

But further exposure to this tasteless, abysmal, unprofessional entry? Hvala, ne.

Shi: The song title is a self-fulfilling prophecy if I’ve ever heard one.

Martin: Slovenia really feels like a small country these last few years. I don’t want to pile in on the negativity party, as I feel like we’ve been negative enough already – and it’s certainly true that I don’t hate this song as much as Felix does. (Who could?) But it’s not especially great and the chorus quickly becomes naggingly irritating. Never a great sign.

video and title image source: eurovision.tv