FYR MACEDONIA

The Macedonian Final was held on November 12th at the Metropolis Arena in Skopje, hosted by Vasil Zafircev. The winner was chosen by televoting (50%) and by a range of international juries from Austria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Netherlands and Croatia (50%). After conclusively winning the televote, the act going to Vienna will be Danijel Kajmakovski with the song "Esenski lisja" (Autumn Leaves)

This year, FYROM brought back the much missed Skopje Fest to choose their entry. As well as showcasing a range of song genres in the and singers the show was really entertain. In particular the host's interpretation of a range of Eurovision classics was quite funny, especially the full on matador version of "Bandido" and the balletic rendition of "Nocturne" in something which resembled Norwegian! If anything, the most negative thing I can say is that the whole thing took too long to get going as MRT spent most of the first 30mins of the show talking to guests (mostly previous FYROM Eurovision acts) as they came into the hall.

The song is a very contemporary number that probably could be heard on most radio stations - in the local lingo of course. It has a familiar ring to it but that may well just be it's modern nature - not something FYROM has been noted for in the past. The verses of the song are quite predictable in structure and something you can find yourself getting to quite quickly but the bridge part slows the impetus the song has. The chorus could be really special with a backing track rather than the live orchestra. The ending really needs looking at as it has damp squib written all over it as it stands.

My main issue is that as it stands it is too long. I personally think they could shorten the piano introduction, quicken the whole thing up a tad and make the beat in the chorus much stronger. Considering the delegation now has 6 months to finalise an act for Vienna, they could literally do anything.

Daniel seems a very confident and accomplished singer. He has good charisma with the camera and the audience in the hall. It seems like the song is really within him and can comfortably pull it off. I would feel confident to have him as the singer representing my country. However I would definitely think of giving him something better to wear - something than makes him less like Ovi's little brother who has been let out for the night. I would also advise him to stay away from the swivelling dance steps in the middle.

As I have already hinted any kinds of changes could occur between now and May. The first thing to consider would be if they are willing to change into English. Part of me feels that if the language was to be changed it might be worth making the song much more plot driven a la "Running" last year. Secondly the song needs much more of a staging - this again may be affected by any language change. I feel that the song needs backing singers to add atmosphere but does it need dancers too...?

As there is nothing to compare it to, this is tricky.

I certainly don't hate it, yet I don't love it to pieces but it is certainly a great place to start from - it has plenty of time grow, morph and fall into its place in Eurovision 2015.

ARTIST - Daniel Kajmakoski

SONG - Esenski Lisja (Autumn Leaves)

MUSIC -Joacim Persson

LYRICS - Aleksandar Mitevski, Daniel Kajmakoski