Serbia as an independent nation set the bar high after winning on debut in 2007, and since then, has had fairly consistent results. Over the last few years, they’ve held either small scale national finals or internal selections, and it’s for the most part at least getting them into the final. This year they went the internal route, and former Eurovision backing singer (for Nina in 2011) Tijana Bogićević who will perform as the lead with the song In Too Deep. Will it be sending the contest back to Serbia?
This is one of three songs in semi-final two alone that was written by Borislav Milanov and Joacim Bo Persson, and judging by those three songs, everything they touch turns to musical gold. I wasn’t expecting Serbia to send a song like this, but I can’t complain because I really enjoy this. The first verse grabs you in, the pre-chorus piques your interest and then you hit the super catchy chorus. This song actually reminds me quite a bit on Nano’s song for Melodifestivalen, Hold On, and this isn’t me doing the typical Eurofan thing where I claim plagiarism, it simply has similar vibes through the choruses. I also really enjoy the space between the second chorus and the bridge. It has strong cultural vibes which differentiates it from a simple pop song, and that’s always a plus in my book.
I think Serbia drew the short straw when it comes to running order, as they’re performing first in the second semi-final. I don’t think this is an opening song, it’s actually more of a closing song to me, so I am a bit baffled as to why this was put first. Regardless, it of course doesn’t rule them out of the race. I think this song has pretty big potential dependent on how they choose to stage this. I honestly don’t have many ideas, and I can’t really picture it in my head, so I’ll have to wait and see what they come up with. I’d be a bit worried it does get left behind, but it would be unfortunate as I’d love to see this in the final. The other concern would be that it’s in a really strong semi-final. There are certain qualifiers, and quite a few of them, leaving very little wiggle room for the uncertain qualifiers to squeeze through and take those last spots. In the battle of the Boris and Joacim songs of 2017, this would be my second favourite, behind Bulgaria but slightly above FYR Macedonia.
Overall, I really would like to see this qualify, however not at the cost of my top, top favourites, (i.e, Austria, Hungary, Denmark, Bulgaria, Norway and Belarus primarily). This is a song that I enjoy and can easily listen to over and over, and I think with the right staging and vocal impact, this will see the final. With all that said, I’m pretty happy to give this song an 8.5/10
