Blind Channel reinvigorated Finland’s love for rock at Eurovision last year, and unsurprisingly they selected another rock band. This time, the nation chose well established group The Rasmus with their song ‘Jezebel’. Is Finland in for another Top 10 result this year?
Anita
Song and Vocals
Finland certainly had one of the, if not the best national final this year, with every song boasting Eurovision potential. While The Rasmus was difficult to beat, I don’t know that they were the best choice overall for Eurovision. Nonetheless, here we are, with the international group taking to the Eurovision stage.
Jezebel is fairly standard rock song, perhaps even leaning more into pop-rock, in contrast with the ‘violent-pop’ track from Blind Channel. The guitar intro leads into a lyrical mish-mash, which goes on to be a recurring theme for this song. Some of the lyrics are truly ridiculous, and if anyone manages to get an actual message from this song, I salute you. Despite that, the melodies are catchy, especially in the chorus.
The biggest downfall for this track is certainly the live vocals. The lead singer struggled through the national final, which is another reason I was surprised that this did go on to win. It’s hard to compete with such a big name band, but the live performance can’t be ignored at Eurovision for the name alone.
Performance and Act
I expect a fairly classic rock staging for The Rasmus, with the group on stage ‘playing’ their instruments matched with quick camera changes between members. I also expect that the group continues with their yellow and black theme from the national final, as the nation doesn’t usually deviate too far from the national final staging.
Conclusions
Should the staging be good, it may distract from the fact that this won’t be a great live vocal performance. Opening the show is a big task, but I do believe the group is up for it. Based on name alone, this should do relatively well with the televote, but should it reach the final, I don’t expect results as high as Blind Channel.
Rating
7/10
Dennis
Song and Vocals
Oof, the vocals… I was not expecting such a weak display by such an experienced vocalist as we have heard. However, I still expect with all their experience that The Rasmus will work that out in Turin. As far as the song goes, apart from the weird lyrics it is a strong entry in the style that they have had big successes with in the past.
Performance and Act
Just the fact that The Rasmus are on stage gives the Finnish entry something memorable to me, and possibly many people of my generation. I expect the visual act to get a full make-over for the actual shows in May, but the band elements will of course stay incorporated no matter what. This is a rock group and they will show that.
Conclusions
I love it that a big band like The Rasmus is taking the Eurovision stage. That fact alone won’t guarantee them a spot in the final though, let alone a top result in that final. The vocals need to improve in Turin, which is step one to success. Then the people outside of their fanbase will also hop on The Rasmus train for a lot of televotes.
Rating
8/10
Team Scores
Steef: 8/10
Erik: 6.5/10
Josh: 6/10
Heath: 4.5/10
Kaitlin: 3/10
Selim: 4.5/10
Morena: 5/10
Average Score: 5.8/10
What do you think of Jezebel? Follow our Eurovision 2022 reviews here. You can support your favourite acts in our Eurovision 2022 poll, which you can find here.