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.

What the person who said about ESC: “More gala, less jalla” thinks about the entry “Jalla” from the Cypriot participant Antigoni is not known, but here we were served jalla, which in its original Arabic language means “come on/hurry up”, but which has instead acquired a meaning of being something that alludes to unreliability, sloppiness and tastelessness.

Tasteless is probably the last word I would use for the artist Antigoni, whose last name is Buxton and is actually British, but of Cypriot origin. The lady is best known for being on the British Love Island, although she has been making music since 2019, so she has a solid musical background.

Not unexpectedly, this artist’s music has roots from her Mediterranean origins and I don’t know if it’s common to dance on a table in those latitudes, but she took this dancing on a table to new heights when she brought us the biggest table of all time on an ESC stage.

The rhythms and dancing were on par with the table, unfortunately the vocal effort was not quite at the same level, at times they were so shaky that she should have hidden under the table at times.

In addition, I feel that she is not quite able to let go, the dancing becomes quite stiff at times and the atmosphere is simply not as fun as it could have been if the feeling in the song had come across on stage as well, but she should have shown charm and joy in her performance, it added to the fun.

This country hasn’t had a national final since 2015 and I doubt they’ll go that route next year, no they’ll probably play it safe and choose an artist and you shouldn’t be surprised if this artist is one of the first to be revealed by the 2027 group of artists.

Featured image – ESC Covers