Hello welcome to my series of quick takes designed to get you ready for Eurovision 2019. Just some quick thoughts / my take on each of the 41 songs this year. The countries are in alphabetical order so without further ado: Austria.

Country: Austria
Singer: PÆNDA
Song: Limits
Personal Score: 24 out of 41
My Prediction: NQ

I kept waiting and waiting for this song to go off and wow me but it stayed quite flat the entire time and since it’s not just one note but also has a really distinct and strange vocal styling it’s hard to really get hooked. I think this could be the type of song that really opens up for an emotional moment on stage but the recording itself is a bit flat. I’m not actually sure what I would do with a staging for this type of song but I think it’ll end up like Blackbird from 2017: beloved for a few people but mostly ignored by the jury and the audience at home because it offers none of the thrills that we’re looking for in a scant three minutes. No fireworks, no vocal prowess, no hooks, and no drama. I think the worst part is that its so clear that the song is very meaningful for PÆNDA. It’s been beautifully and thoughtfully crafted but I just think its in the wrong arena here but it could be a surprise qualifier as out of the box thinking has previously helped Austria stand out.