FIRST PREDICTION SUMMARY
Qualification Chances: 99.9%
Televote Appeal: 75%
Jury Appeal: 60%
Final Result Approximate Prediction: 8th
Greece’s Marina Satti has finally released her Eurovision 2024 entry Zari. An eclectic mix of urban and traditional elements, the song is very reminiscent of musicians like Rosalía who combine culture with modern beats, in a fresh way. This is one of the most current offerings of the entire year and rightfully has become one of the fan favourites.
I was very excited when Marina Satti was announced. She has been on the radar of many a eurofan for years since the release of Mantissa which happens to be one of my favourite Greek songs of all time (I’ve participated in way too many fan contests!). She is an artist who has clear artistic vision, puts a lot of effort into visuals and ensures her music is produced to a top standard, making her the exact caliber of artist Greece should have been sending to the contest. Whilst they got top 10s with Amanda and Stefania, their songs were the furthest thing from fresh and you can already see Zari having impact domestically which is only good for the perception of Eurovision in Greece. After last year’s little debacle with poor Victor, this is exactly what Greece needed to do, to seriously be back in the game.
The song is very dynamic with a lot of instrumentation almost all over the place but the repetitive ‘Ta Ta Ta‘ bits ensures memorability. Those parts may be seen as overkill but there’s enough going on in the song that lets them also fade to the background. There’s rich traditional instrumentation from the off and Marina’s high vocals sound very good on this. The music video does not give away any real idea of what a performance may look like but you already can tell there’s so much creativity that can be put into a performance. It’s not a safe song at all and is a risky entry to send to a contest but that’s what also makes it an exciting choice in many ways. The best part of the song in my opinion is the introduction of the male choir at the very end which all builds into the perfect finish for this dancey song. It’s a song that gets you dancing but does it in a quality and fresh way. A lot to praise and one that suits my personal taste a lot so it’s time to become very harsh to avoid the bias!
I really struggle to see this song fly well in your Scandinavian countries and also countries like the UK, Ireland etc., where sounds like this are not palatable, unless they play up to stereotypes on steroids. This does somewhat lump into Mediterranean girlbop territory and these are the countries whose televotes awarded less points to even contenders like Slomo and Fuego. Please note I am not comparing this at all to those two entries but just simply saying, if those generic radio songs were a bit of a tough sell there, this will be far more of one. For example, this is just going to kill off your average Danish mum. For that reason, I can’t see this as a contender for the win. Those regions will easily flock to wackier entries like The Netherlands and Croatia, and more radio friendly ones like Sweden (even with their opening slot).
You also have Italy with a similar summer-y Mediterranean bop which is done in a far more palatable way and which further puts this out of winning conversation for me. As much as I would absolutely love a song like Zari to win the Eurovision Song Contest, I wish there was more proof to make me believe it can happen. Still, I feel like the diaspora should be activated by this song and we should be seeing a few televoting points from countries with a sizeable Greek population like we used to in the late 00s. This does feel like its almost back to those glory days.
I do also worry about the jury vote. The chaotic song structure may not appeal and this kind of almost urban sound is very looked down upon in many places. Some just won’t get what Marina is trying to do and there are vocal moments in so many other songs that I don’t think this is the kind of song that can win jury votes. Still, some across the continent especially in the Balkans and South, should appreciate the sound and the expected professional performance can only help. Cyprus should give this 12 again and there’s enough artistic quality from Marina from some countries to also award some points. For now, I’m thinking something like 11th-15th from a jury vote.
I’m often harsh on my favourite but the clips of choreography demos I’ve seen so far have all been promising. I am a bit skeptical about the talk that the performance will all be recorded in one shot, but after seeing some clips of proposed choreo, I actually think that might work, if tastefully done. Either way, a lot of effort is being put in by ERT for this and there is a clear vision from Marina which almost always lends to a quality performance. I’m expecting something slick and polished that should give it far more credibility to jurors. The song is current and I do think when we’ve seen massive global successes from artists like Rosalia, that there is a world where this gets a lot of Gen Z maybe even millennial televotes. Marina’s video shows she knows how to have fun and I just think there’s a good vibe. I still am extremely skeptical that this does not sell well in the north and west of Europe and thus do not have this as a semi final winner nor a serious contender to the trophy. However, a respectable lower top 10 should be in reach.
I’ve probably predicted way too many entries around 8th place but for now I just think it’s very possible and of course I will show my first full prediction with the entire lineup as soon as I’ve managed to pump all the individual reviews out. Riskier entries tend to have higher ceilings as well it should be noted and I can see comparisons from entries such as Manizha which were also deemed to not be palatable enough but in the end actually did very well. Granted said risks can also not pay off and there’s a world where this falls to the Conan Osiris/Blanca Paloma world of misunderstood amazing Mediterranean entry (hence 99.9% qualification chance) but I do think the clear Greek identity and drafts of choreo might ensure this a far better fate.
Zari seems destined to become a cult fan favourite for years to come and Marina has no doubt been put in a position to monetise from this participation. My favourite entry by far this year and I’m very much looking forward to the performance! Very hard to stay unbiased with this one!
