SWEDEN EUROVISION 2022 - REACTING TO CORNELIA JACOBS 'HOLD ME CLOSER' [FIRST LISTEN AND REVIEW]

Hi guys, and welcome back to my channel! If you're new here, my name's Rachel and I'm a huge Eurovision fan, as well as a musician. In today's video I reacted to for the first time to Sweden's entry for ESC 2022: 'Hold Me Closer' by Cornelia Jacobs. Sweden have a good input into the popular music industry, with a strong chart presence and multiple song-writing credits. And this is precisely why I pay attention to them when it comes to Eurovision. Last year, Sweden finished mid-table with 'Voices' by Tusse, a song that was quite generic, and in my opinion, not up to their usual standard. However, that seemed to be a blip, as they have come back stronger this year with a female artist, the first since 2014. 'Hold Me Closer' has a lush and orchestral quality to its backing track, which is mainly driven by a thick and wonderful string section. It also cleverly takes the music from orchestral to synth pop-like by adding in a nice chugging 80s inspired synth bassline into the second verse, which was a nice touch in my eyes. The vocal and general performance on stage was very professional, Cornelia carrying herself with confidence and singing the lyrics with conviction. All that being said, I do have a few criticisms about this. Whilst the backing track is so lush and sophisticated, I can't say that the lyrics and melody match up to this. The lyrics aren't anything striking or new, just quite average if I'm honest. There's no clear standout melody line either. The chorus is nice, but due to the descsening and formulaic melody line, there is a mismatch between the melody and backing track. I also struggled to recall some of the verses. There was also quite a predictability about it all - it was quite easy to identify in my mind where the song was going: Quiet First Verse - Quiet Chorus - Building Second Verse - Full Chorus - Quiet Bridge - Closing Full Chorus. This is not innovative or groundbreaking... But bearing that all in mind, this is a good and strong entry from the swedes once again, and there is no doubt that this will finish in the top ten, potentially the top five. It's universal and will be consumed and appreciated by lots of demographics across all four corners of Europe. Initial Score: 8/10 Intro 00:00 Reaction 01:40 Thoughts and Comments 06:04 Outro 11:23 Thanks for watching my video! Consider subscribing if you haven't already, and feel free to leave a comment down below as to your thoughts on this entry. "Copyright Disclaimers Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favour of fair use" #Sweden #Eurovision2022 #CorneliaJacobs