Can North Macedonia (and Kaliopi) beat the odds against them and make the Eurovision final with "Dona"?
Country: North Macedonia
Song Title: "Dona"
Artist: Kaliopi
Second Semi-Final: Position 8
Last year's entry: "Autumn Leaves" - Daniel Kajmakoski (DNQ - 15th Place, SF#)
North Macedonia is always in a tough spot when it comes to Eurovision. As a smaller nation, they don't have the support of their negihbors to guarantee an entry will make the final, even when the performance is good. And yet, when compared to countries in similar positions (San Marino and Montenegro, looking at you guys), North Macedonia at least seems to be trying to send something they think can make it through to the finals. After hiring a former R&B group to be backup for their entry last year, they've gone back to the drawing board and sent the only singer who's cracked the finals, Kaliopi. How does her entry this year, "Dona", stack up now that the running order is set?
I give this song massive points for completely being in a non-English language, but it's a bland ballad in a semi-final that's already pretty full of those. Kaliopi definitely has stage presence (and the live vocals to pull this off), but I don't think it's enough to carry her through to the final this time. As mentioned before, North Macedonia just doesn't have the support of its neighbors for something like this to make it through, and I can't picture for the staging for this getting too complex.
Looking at the song in the context of its semi-final ordering neighbors, Kaliopi is right between Ireland's "Sunlight" and Lithuania's "I've Been Waiting For This Night". Both of those songs are more uptempo than the mid-range "Dona", which could either work in its favor (as something unique), or mean it gets completely washed out by the two more energetic numbers. This song definitely feels like it's on the lower end of the bubble. I wouldn't completely count it out (especially if it does well with the juries), but it has a big uphill climb if it wants to reach the Eurovision peak.