Strobe Lights (Belgium 2025)

We're out of the A's and into the B's now! And then straight on into the C's since there's only one B country participating, but before we go any further - 

Here's Red Sebastian, representing Belgium with Strobe Lights!

(Source)

(Although, on seeing that name, another Red Sebastian is the one that springs to mind, and he sings pretty well too and can even conduct...)

(Source)

Ahem.

Lyrics: 58%
Composition: 67.5%
Vocals: 84%
Staging: 68%
Vibes: 65%
Overall: 68.5%

Verdict: More red than my relatives' house during Lunar New Year.

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LYRICS - Total: 14.5/25 (58%)
Subject Matter: 5/10
Effective Use of Language: 3.5/5
Clarity: 4/5
Flow: 2/5

Love song. Automatic 5/10 unless coming from a boring/interesting angle. He's comparing (being in) love to an alternate dimension, where love turns everything on its head and he feels like he's in a maze where "clocks never tick" and "love is the ending" - if you manage to get to the end, of course. I don't mind the comparison. It's very relatable without being described in a completely generic or typical way.

I'm... not a fan of how some of the stressed lyrics and the meter here mesh (or don't mesh) together. This is unfair to other songs not in English, but since Strobe Lights is in English I have no choice but to let it be a part of the score. It's not terrible - but it definitely stood out enough to affect my enjoyment of the song. I mean, "I feel so *A-live..." just sounds so damn awkward. It's phrased that way to musically match the "Skintight" before it, but no one places stress on the "a..." of "alive". It's always on "...live". Same for "Silence ne-VER felt so loud". To me, it feels so unnatural that it jerks me out of the world that Red Sebastian is trying to build.

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COMPOSITION - Total: 13.5/20 (67.5%)
Melody/Bass: 4/5
Instrumentation: 3.5/5
Development: 2.5/5
Coherence: 3.5/5

I like this one. Much more rave-y than Kaleen, who dropped a non-rave rave song that had a non-rave dance in it. It's very atmospheric and does a good job of worldbuilding, especially the ending.

On the other hand, I'm not sure the music really moved on much from its opening lines. Both melody and bass sound kind of same-y all the way through, and it didn't sound like there was much of an evolution in theme. Unlike in Wasted Love, I feel like the ending section didn't give anything new - it was mainly the same but louder and instrumental. Not every song has to evolve - but this one felt like it was largely over after the first chorus.

The instrumentation is fine, but I didn't think anything about it stood out particularly much.

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VOCALS - Total: 21/25 (84%)
Vocals: 17/20
Immersion: 4/5

The high sustained notes were impressive. especially that final note. The rest of it was... good to okay, though the low bits sounded a bit like they were on the edge of his range and some of the jumps were just a little off and he had to slide his way to the right note, (which, to be fair, might not have been the case; maybe my ears are hearing the wrong thing).

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STAGING - Total: 17.5/25 (70%)
The Show: 7/10
The Story: 7.5/10
Outfits: 2.5/5

... yeah, this kind of seems to be the year of red, doesn't it? I suppose RS was going for that club/rave feel, which would match the song. It annoys me somewhat, but it fits, so I guess I can't take away marks here.

I liked the RS clones, as well as the floor "mirror" and LED/scattered version of him. It really brings through the "otherworld dimension" aspect, and "clocks never tick" combined with the frozen versions of him was nicely done. The party aspect with the filled background of the ending definitely enhanced the feel of the rave.

The outfits, though... too much red, too weirdly reflective. I'm not really feeling it, not for this performance, anyway.

(Part of my brain is saying it gives off kinky bdsm vibes lmao)

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VIBES - 65%
Not bad, just not really my thing.