Like previous years, ESC COVERS will again share a blog post from Morten Thomassen of OGAE NORWAY with his views on the positions reached by all 35 2026 entries. ESC Covers google translated it from Norwegian to English.
For Swiss Veronica Fusaro, the fact that she finished in 11th place must be doubly bitter. It’s one thing to be the country that received the most points out of those who didn’t qualify, but there were still 15 points missing to beat Cyprus for the final spot. Worse still, the song “Alice” actually ended up in 9th place both with the jury and in the telephone vote, but since the countries Switzerland beat in the two different votes received more combined points, the “average” of 9 + 9 of all things was 11.
You have to be well-liked in one of the votes to make it to the finals, and no one can say that Veronica didn’t do her best to convince those who voted that she was worth betting on, but unfortunately that didn’t happen.
For me, this is a very typical radio song and such songs should have a clear visual expression for it to stand out and I think that’s what you get here, there’s a lot of confinement and despair that is expressed on stage and it’s always a bit tough with a guitar solo.
Vocally, it’s also within range in my opinion and the artist appears credible throughout the performance, so I think the biggest problem with the song is that it was a bit boring for many and a good show didn’t get enough people on the vocal hook and she thus failed to score enough points.
But, our Swiss friends should be commended for once again creating a show that builds up the song and makes it appear much more interesting than it might be when you only listen to the song and don’t have a visual impression of it at the same time.
After hosting the international final last year, it’s questionable how big the desire is to win, but with a slightly more exciting song next year, it should be possible to secure another final spot, this was the first time since 2018 that they missed out.
Featured image – ESC Covers