Thursday 5 March 2020

SERBIA

The Serbian Final was held on March 1st at the RTS TV Studios in Belgrade, hosted by Dragana Kosjerina, Jovan Radomir, Kristina Radenkovic & Stefan Popovic. Before the final there were 2 semi-finals where 6 songs qualified from each. Voting was split between jury and SMS voting. The winning act was Hurricane with "Hasta la vista"

The three members of Hurricane (Sanja, Ivana and Ksenija) are dressed in similar white outfits with shards of mirror coming of their top half and part way down their legs. These outfits cold come across as quite tacky or even sleazy but possibly because they stay close together it works for as an ensemble piece rather than something provocative. They are also joined part way be 2 backing dancers who wear asymmetric back leotards which doesn't really have with the rest of what's going on.

The three girls embark on quite the full on show here however the girls have their time to shine, not only when singing but also dancing solo and as a group in the instrumental bits. Their backdrop is rather frantic switching between lots of different colours and motifs however, cleverly, during the chorus the emblem and name of the band appears behind them. In the latter half of the show the outline of other 'Hurricaners' can be seen on the screen joining in with the dance. Nearer the end multiple versions of the girls themselves can be seen on the backdrop organised like an infinite army joining in with the dancing.

The song starts with a brassy intro which reappears at points during the song. Verse one is lead by Ivana with the following pre-chorus sung by Sanja then they all join in the chorus. They all have bits in verse 2 while Sanja again has the pre chorus and all join together for the chorus. Just after the two minute point there is a small refrain before one last burst of the chorus which repeats its end lines for a bit longer. There are some extra voices in the background and I think backing singers (on stage or not) might be a worthwhile investment here.

This song definitely takes "fuego" as its bloodline and after a few wannabe tracks last year, this kind of thing is definitely lacking this year. As a result this stands out as being different but also something familiar to the Eurovision stage. The Serbian language does not sound out of kilter with the sound, plus the addition of the "Hasta la vista" phrase is a great hook no matter where you come from! Some might then say this is a no brainer for the final. I would suggest the girls look into getting more singers on board just to make that vocal really stand out, be fuller and keep the tune on point. I don't really get the 2 additional dancers, especially in their current form, and are probably not needed especially if they keep a similar backdrop.
Also, as it stands, this is the only non-english song in the top half of semi 2. They would be foolish to change the language as this currently makes them stand out so much.This is a great ensemble piece and if all of the parts come together this could be a stand out number. I really hope this can qualify, although I suspect this will be a mid table placing in the end.

Artist - Hurricane
Song - Hasta la vista
Composer - Nemanja Antonić
Lyricists - Kosana Stojić, Sanja Vučić


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