Eurovision First Listen: "Is it Right" for Germany to send Elaiza to Denmark?

Short answer: Yes. Long answer: Germany may have a sleeper hit at the Eurovision Song Contest with "Is it Right" by Elaiza.

Germany gets an automatic pass to the Eurovision Song Contest final because it is one of the illustrious Big Five countries. One of the downsides of that distinction is that entries such as "Is it Right" by Elaiza only get to perform on the stage once instead of treating the audience to multiple performances. Take a listen:

Although folk/coffeehouse acoustic is one of the dominant themes of this year's Eurovision entries, "Is it Right" is one of the few I find to be genuine in its execution. I found myself intrigued by how the clicking of the keys of the instruments were just as much a part of the music as the corresponding notes. The vocals are on-point, and the story conveys a complete idea—which has been surprisingly lacking in several entries this year.

"Is it Right" reminds me of "Madness of Love" (Italy, 2011): a quiet song, hypnotic in its execution, and a performance that doesn't get bogged down in the glitz and gaudiness of the Eurovision machine. Much like Italy's entry, I could see this song finishing much higher in the standings than people will expect. Granted, "Madness of Love" likely received "welcome back" points (it was the first Italian entry since 1998), the juries won't ignore the instrumentation and the televoters will find themselves entranced. I am looking forward to this performance in May.