One of the last songs to be released this year, Georgia chose Nutsa Buzaladze’s song “Firefighter” through an internal selection process. Nutsa Buzaladze will perform 11th in the second semifinal.
At first, this song completely blended in with many of the other female pop numbers this year (Cyprus, Malta, Albania, and Israel). It’s another pop power ballad that would get lost in the sauce and didn’t stick in our memory a ton. Like, we could half remember parts of the tune once we remembered that the entry even existed (oof). This feels like a classic entry from 2004. It’s nothing particularly new or revolutionary, however it does touch on some Eurovision tropes that we enjoy (for example, rhyming “fire” with “higher” and rising from the ashes like a phoenix).
HOWEVER, Nusta Buzaladze absolutely shot up our ranking when we saw her performance at the London Eurovision Party – OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS. She knocked it out of the park!
C’s play-by-play description of “Firefighter” live @ London Eurovision Party:
Within the first 10 seconds of this video, we know that Nutsa is built different. Those first opening lines she immediately grabs our attention and shows us she’s not here to mess around. Then the first dance break hits and she starts up with the choreo: whipping her hair back and forth, then she’s on the ground hitting the beat, and then it’s time for the second verse! When she opens her mouth to sing again, we’re thinking she has to be out of breath – but NO. She’s clearly practiced this breath control thing and has cleverly placed her “oh oh ohhs” to cover her standing up again and is totally prepared to belt out ANOTHER suspended high note before the next chorus. The bridge brings the energy back down to a clear focus on her rich voice, and honestly chills. Then she JUMPS with the audience for a full 10 seconds before she delivers the last chorus. Finally here, we can hear that she’s a bit out of breath for the few ending lines but she’s not even done. After the song ends, she sings again with the audience for a few seconds and her voice is still going. Completely mind-blowing. This is a PHENOMENAL performance.
Comparing her live vocals with the studio version is crazy. The studio version completely washes out the raw power of her voice that was clearly on display in London. From the music video, this seemed like yet another basic attempt to duplicate the success of Eleni Foureira’s “Fuego” from Cyprus in Eurovision 2018. Easily a dozen countries have tried to replicate Eleni’s ability to perform at 200% singing and dancing capacity for those 3 minutes – most notably Chanel with “SloMo” for Spain in 2022 (which U&C will never get tired of referencing). But with this London Eurovision Party performance, Nutsa Buzaladze seems poised to join this top-tier list of female performers who can truly take their song to the next level.
So, in our ranking, we have placed “Firefighter” in our #16 spot. Not way at the top, because the song itself is still a bit derivative and basic, and also just not our favorite genre or type of Eurovision song. On the other hand, if the performance in Malmö can match the power and energy of her Eurovision Party performance, this is absolutely an entry to keep an eye on. But if the staging falls short, it remains to be seen if Nutsa’s stage presence and vocals alone will be able to elevate this otherwise somewhat clichéd song. The last time Georgia qualified for the Eurovision Final was in 2016. This year, could they have a clear shot not only at the Final but maybe to the top 10? Fingers crossed! 🤞🔥👩🚒
Discover more from UC Eurovision 2025
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
UC Eurovision 2025 