2015 Show 4

Hello - and the podcast is finally back!

I start the show with a little recap over why we've been quiet over the last few weeks as well as a little look forward to my next 11 weeks of maternity leave panic!

After some tech-troubles I now hope to get the website back up to speed!!! However being out of the loop has meant a limited knowledge of ESC-related things so this podcast is a little under-rehearsed and freeform.
I take a quick look back at some of the news as well as a look at the Swiss and Cypriot finals at the weekend. Reviews of these AND the surprise reveal of the French song should be up ont he website in the coming week I end with a mini rant about the recent 2015 semi draw...

We also have music from Conchita (no beard), one of the Aspelunds, one of the village people and Macedonia's version of Boudicca....


Follow us on twitter at https://www.twitter.com/DVVHolland
or like our facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DVVHolland to find get the latest information about blogposts and podcasts or even have a look back at our old ones :o)

You can download or listen to it here https://archive.org/details/2015_Show4

Click here to listen to this podcast in your usual music player (M3U Playlist)

GEORGIA

The Georgian Final was held on January 14th at the 1TV Studios in Tbilisi. The winner was chosen by an international jury (50%) & SMS voting (50%) which ran for two weeks before the final. The winning song was "Warrior" written and sung by Nina Sublati.

The final was an odd affair, with a presentation in the new year and a long voting window before the announcement. Many may see a similarity to the bizarre way the French broadcaster chose Twin Twin last year. The five competing songs were all very different, almost a bit too different, which could have made comparing the songs quite difficult. However, Warrior came first in both parts of the judging.

The song has a definite style and feeling. The verses and chorus have definite patterns which repeat over and over again however the verses are much stronger. The song isn't really in a set genre as it seems to dip into rock, goth and has an eastern-style electro break down in the middle. The main down side to the structure of the song is that it doesn't really go anywhere. The song stays on the same level from beginning to end which is a shame. 

Nina is no stranger to competition as she won the Georgian Idol competition in 2013. She has a good voice and an engaging personality. I do feel that she needs a little bit more help getting the words out correctly but I feel this is more of a lyric issue than a pronunciation one. Although her ability to sing is not questioned, neither is her sense of style. She has a very unique look, one possibly not seen at Eurovision, with her dark make up, tattoos and  black leather dress. Her dark style may appeal to the more rocky followers of Eurovision and might also appeal with fans of gothic series such as Game of Thrones and such like. During the song she doesn't really do much but in some ways she doesn't need to as I don't think dancing walking around or even having over done armography would suit her or the song. She seems to interpret the song with gusto and attitude.

The first thing that needs to be sorted is the song length. As is, it is about 20 seconds over. This could be negated quite quickly by either getting rid of a chorus or by chopping off most of the over-extended intro. Then there is the trouble with the lyrics. It seems to be some kind of Georgian Eurovision trait to have a song in badly written English. Parts of it need to be re-written to make sense or at least contain words that are actually found in a dictionary. As far as the performance goes the track requires backing singers but I don't think it needs much more. I almost see this song as having a "Euphoria" type staging with Nina centre and a dancer possibly around her, emphasising her status as the Warrior in the song. Maybe having drums or an industrial setting might help too. Lastly, it would help if the song really ended on more of a crescendo as I feel the song lacks a real punch, especially for a song that is so feisty.

The obvious comparison now will be with the OTHER song called "Warrior" at Eurovision in 2015. I will admit that after a listen or two I couldn't quite keep it in my head but after a few more it really starts to stick. Although not immediate, this song certainly screams Warrior more than its Maltese cousin. I think this will do pretty well in May although possibly not engaging enough to be a winner.

ARTIST - Nina Sublati

SONG - Warrior

MUSIC - Nina Sublati

LYRICS - Nina Sublati

2015 show 3

Happy New Year to you all!!!!

 In this episode I catch up with most things Eurovision-y, however as most things seem to be happening in February and March I seem to have got away with such a long gap between podcasts

Reviews of Belarus and Albania are already on the website so I haven't gone too much into detail about what I think about them, although you can probably guess my reaction to the unveiling of the national final in Georgia. I also talk about the three hosts of Eurovision this year and wonder if Conchita has what it takes to be in the green room.

In between news bites there is music from Monaco, Denmark, Germany and Greece


Follow us on twitter at https://www.twitter.com/DVVHolland
or like our facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DVVHolland to find get the latest information about blogposts and podcasts or even have a look back at our old ones :o)

You can download or listen to it here https://archive.org/details/2015_Show3

Click here to listen to this podcast in your usual music player (M3U Playlist)

ALBANIA

The Albanian Final was held on December 28th at the Palace of Congress in Tirana, hosted by Turjan Hyska, Floriana Garo & Liberta Spahiu. Before the final there were 2 semi-finals of 13 songs, with 9 qualifying from each. The winning song was "Diell" (Sun) sung by Elhaida Dani.

As ever the Albanian song was chose using their "Festivali I Këngës" competition, this edition being the 53rd one! This year's competition had a range of styles and genres although 'Balkan-esque Ballads" seemed to protrude most. All semi finals and finals were judged by a jury of Albanian music professionals, including 2012 entrant, Rona Nishliu. "Diell" seemed to be the favourite beforehand and easily took the victory.

The song starts a bit like "L'essenziale" however the tune and structure is completely different. As the song goes on, more rocky elements are introduced to the backing, including a guitar solo in the middle. The verses are quite breathy whilst the real power comes in during the choruses. I think the song is also lifted due to the presence of the live orchestra, something with will not be there in May.

Elhaida is possibly the most famous Albanian singers at the moment. Not only has she appeared in previous "Festivali I Këngës" but in 2009 she won Star Academy Albania and in 2013 she won "The Voice of Italy". So one can firmly say she is used to performing consistently live in front of a huge audience. If I had one criticism of her style it would be that she over-does it a bit and can sound like she's really straining. During the final she wore a very nice red dress with slicked back hair. This seemed to suit her as she moves around the stage with ease and seems to like to uses her arms a lot!

As ever, this Albanian song as it stands is nearer 4 minutes than 3 minutes. Apart from the guitar solo, I can't really see what they can take out without losing all the aspects of the song. The other likely change is the language. After her win, Elhaida said that the song would more than likely be performed in English. Although I am generally a bigger fan of mother tongue entries I think this would benefit from a change although part of me wonders if a change to Italian would be even more beneficial..? I don't think they should do too much to the performance quality. She doesn't need any backing singers and doesn't require the distraction of extra dancers or even a dynamic backdrop.

This is a very slick song but there is something missing at the moment. I don't feel much connection to her or the song, something that may change with a language switch. The first bit of the chorus is really the only part of the song which is at all memorable and I don't think after 25 other songs in the final this will be at the top of any televoting list - apart from Italy and San Marino maybe. It's not really the style of Eurovision songs I like but I feel that a discerning jury panel may well give something like this full marks.

ARTIST - Elhaida Dani

SONG - Diell (Sun)

MUSIC - Aldo Shllaku

LYRICS - Viola Trebicka, Sokol Marsi