Let me preface this review by saying that I love Senhit as a singer- she has a beautiful voice, amazing stage presence and clearly loves Eurovision. She carries this song well, but ultimately, I feel she deserves better. It’s always challenging to bring an older genre to the Eurovision stage, but San Marino manages to do disco fairly well. The chorus is undeniably catchy and the energy is through the roof throughout. While the verses are forgettable, they set the song up nicely, allowing for needed respite between the high impact choruses. My main gripe is with the lyrics- they clearly refer to BDSM and non-conventional types of love, which is fine, but you’d expect such lyrics to have a sultry melody underpinning them, whereas we have an intensely peppy disco beat throughout that doesn’t match the tone of the song at all. Don’t get me started on the use of the word ‘cray’- does anybody actually say that anymore? Ultimately, we have 90s disco with modern (ish) lyrics in a disco number that is essentially an ode to BDSM. It’s a bit all over the place. Still, it’s a catchy number, even if the word ‘freaky’ is massively overused. The chorus is undoubtedly the best bit, and it does stay with you, but this wouldn’t be a song I’d listen to over and over.
Prediction for how this would have done had ESC gone ahead: I would render this song a borderline (but probably-non) qualifier. It is from an outdated genre and would really struggle with the juries, but I reckon that it would make the top ten of the televote, even if it didn’t qualify overall. Senhit has done Eurovision before and has many fans, plus San Marino did qualify last year with Serhat. With memorable staging, this could have edged through. If it did, it would probably end up 20-26 in the final.
Score- 5.5/10
Ranking- 37/41
38. Slovenia- Voda
39. Estonia- What Love Is
40. Belarus- Da Vidna
41. France- Mon Ailée
The Euro-Vine 