ARMENIA

The Armenian entry was released on March 10^th on various listening and video services. Way back in November, it was revealed that Srbuk, a former Armenian X Factor and Voice of Ukraine participant, had been internally chosen by the local broadcaster. Her song is called “Walking out”.

The video is shot in black and white although some of the shots bring through the colour red. Even though the narrative of the video is quite simplistic is bring out a lot of emotion from the song. Most of the video takes place in what seems like a studio but with a ceiling of strobing and flashing lights. She is surrounded by a number of male dancers who interact with her but not always in a positive manner. There is a lot of barging and pushing around and a lot of anguished faces. There are also shots of female dancers in different guises randomly inserted into the shots but each one only lasts a second or so, if that. Although it breaks the firey tension in the bulk of the video, these scenes are rather abstract and don't actually add or distract from the main body.

The song heavy ballad and that has very bluesy/urban feel to it. The song starts off which 2 verses in quick succession. The tune of this is very staccato and a lot of it is quite talkative and monotone. This leads into a short pre-chorus which is much more melodic and shows Srbuk’s higher register. This leads to the chorus which is quite full on again but only lasts 15 seconds which just isn’t long enough to get it into your system. We then have two more verses but this time it goes straight back into the chorus but this rendition is longer, almost 30 seconds, which works much , much better. There is then a very mellow coda which leads into the final goes of the chorus AND a key change! Most of the work here is done by the backing singers whilst Srbuk is freestyling and shouting her way through until the end

On the face of it this is a really good song. The hook is catchy in the chorus and some of the melodies and repetitions make it feel like it could be a really cool jazz song. But it is not. This song is swallowed up by the production values and I actually think that in the verses she is fighting against the music rather than being complimented by it. I also wonder if her stage show will be this aggressive as I don’t think that will be something people will vote for. I also wish there was a tad more room for light and shade in her voice because it just seems full on in the main chorus..

I think that this should qualify from semi two although it will have a lot of male ballads to fight off. I think this is just too busy and loud  in the main parts of the song to make a serious impact

ARTIST –  Srbuk

SONG – Walking out

MUSIC -  Lost Capital, tokionin

LYRICS - Garik Papoyan