ALBANIA

The Albanian Final was held on December 28th at the Palace of Congress in Tirana, hosted by Klea Huta & Enkel Demi. There were also2 shows on December 26th & 27th where the 16 songs were presented. The winner, chosen by an "expert" jury was Herciana Matmuja with "Zemërimi i një nate" (One night's anger)

I have come to expect from Festivali i Këngës a evening full of rock influenced songs which go on far too long. Strangely enough this isn't really one of them! It does need a fair bit of tweaking but possibly not in the ways that "Identitet" or "Suus" were previously, However I write all of this with a heavy heart as the wrong song ended up winning. (Me Ty... was a far better song)

Herciana is a fantastic singer and has lovely, pure voice. Before she sang in the FiK final she was greeted by a very long applause by the appreciative and knowing audience. She delivers the song (in the local lingo) with a lot of feeling and gusto. She performed it twice on the night and seemed to perform it perfectly both times. The start of the song is very odd. A guitar-violin laden storm of frenzy before the lyrical piano kicks is. I suppose it would be a start to get the eyes and ears watching but would probably disappoint people when the real tune begins. Although the title of the song seems quite negative, Herciana can look a bit too happy at time, unless of course the title is a bit of a misnomer. She has a style reminiscent of Nadine Beiler with the sharp black bob hairstyle and flattering black dress.

As with many FiK entries there staging is very simple, focusing on the singer, however she fully uses the backing singers, who are tucked away in the orchestra, so they will need to be on stage. I think that her looked really comfortable on stage and could possibly take a little bit of direction (choreography would be to strong a word). I could imagine her doing something akin to 'the man in Farid's box' routine

The song is an interesting choice and many choices need to be made before it goes to Copenhagen.

1) Will they get rid of the superfluous 20 second rock introduction? Or leave that in and get rid of something else? (The song currently is about 3.25)

2) Will it stay in Albanian or go to English? Will it be a bit of both or will they translate it into something different (i.e. Italian)

3) If they do keep it in a non-English tongue, how will the stage reflect the meaning of the song? Will dancers be needed?

I feel that in the Celtic-clad '90 this could have been a sure fire hit. Although the song is rhythmically interesting and technically challenging I'm not sure that it would be appreciated by the televoters at home. There are too many tunes and rhythms to remember and it takes far too many listens to get into it (I've listened to it at least 5 times and still cannot sing the chorus tune) Here's to an interesting makeover!

Artist - Herciana Matmuja
Song - Zemërimi i një nate (One night's anger)
Music - Genti Lao
Lyrics - Jorgo Papingji



2014/01

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!           Sod that there is Eurovision to be had!!!

2014 may not have yet officially started but Eurovision 2014 is well underway.
Ukraine chose their entry just before Christmas (review is up) and Albania's Festivali i Këngës selected their entry on the 28th (review will be  up next week)

I look at what the Eurovision calendar has planned for us over the coming weeks and why this year in particular Eurovision entries are seemingly selected in waves, or as the saying goes, like buses - all coming at once! Most of them coming right near the closing date!

To keep the 'holiday' feel I select a few songs that tenuously link to this time of year!

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UKRAINE

The Ukrainian Final was held on December 21st at the NTU TV Studios in Kiev, hosted by Timur Miroshnichenko & Tetyana Terekhova. The winner was chosen by a mixture of SMS voting (50%) and an "expert" jury (50%) the winner was the song "Tick Tock" sung by Mariya Yaremchuk.

As we have come to learn with many Eurovision entries, especially from Ukraine, when this song gets to the stage in May, it won't look or sound anything like this. As it stands, the song and performance is a mess. The rest of the Ukrainian final must have been REALLY bad.

Mariya is a not a bad singer, although her pronunciation needs a little bit of work (but this is compounded by the quick delivery of the lyrics). The self-penned song could also be improved by Mariya getting some help with rewriting the lyrics so they actually make some sense! Also there is too much oh-oh-ing and whoa-whoa-ing which doesn't really help connect you with the track. The introduction is somewhat incongruous with the rest of the song and after a few listens you start to wonder why it is there. However, the start of the chorus, although slightly nonsensical, is memorable and has a feel of the earworm about it. Also has a feel of  "Have Some Fun" about it and that did REALLY well didn't it. (no).

The staging is appalling although the colouring and size of the stage have really hindered this and of course will not be such a problem in May. The dancers are too close and there are too many distractions. Her hair looks matted and her dress looks like one Ruslana passed off as being too slutty - even for her. The part when the background turns to cogs and wheels is nice and could be effective in May. She could do with more of a gimmick but that makes me think the Hell Machine could be making a come back!

In parts this is a very typical Ukrainian entry (nice looking girl, awful outfit, mid-song lift into the air) however it sounds more like a mid-placed finalist from Belarus. However, as we know a makeover is much needed and I am sure this entry will sound much more polished, punchy and memorable between now and May - they have a 100% qualification to the final to uphold!

Artist - Mariya Yaremchuk
Song - Tick Tock
Music - Mariya Yaremchuk
Lyrics - Mariya Yaremchuk