ARMENIA

The Armenian entry was revealed on March 12th via the reveal of the official video clip on the eurovision.tv website and on youtube. Representing Armenia in May will be the band Genealogy singing "Don't Deny".

From the start it was revealed that the group would be a band of singers of Armenian descent from all over the world. This would be used to highlight the remembrance of the Armenian Genocide of 1915. It was also announced that the song "Don't Deny" would be a nod to the event and a possible way of engaging with others of Armenian descent through the Eurovision network.

The song is an oddly styled ballad that tries to accommodate the ranges and styles of the 6 very different artists. The verses are of and odd length and cross over the phrases which makes it quite odd to predict what is going to happen next. The chorus however is very simple if not a little bit on the shouty side. The strangest part is the instrumental after about 2 minutes which feels oddly out of tune and out of key, especially when if goes back to the rock chorus when it's finished. If anything it does have a big ending which does give it a bit of ooomph.

The band, Genealogy, is made up of  Essaï Altounian (Europe), Tamar Kaprelian (Americas), Vahe Tilbian (Africa), Stephanie Topalian (Asia), Mary-Jean O'Doherty Basmadjian (Australasia) and finally Inga Arshakyan, who also represented Armenia in 2009 who comes from Armenia. Unfortunately this highlights a few issues 1) that some of their English pronunciation is not very good and 2) some of their voices really don't blend very well. I would have thought that for the recorded track they would've found a way of making their voices fit together but if they have failed to produced it well for the track I fear it might sound awful live.

I think a lot is going to have to be sorted out before they get to Eurovision in May. Firstly they need to work out in the cleverest way possible how to make their voices blend together because right now they don't. Work needs to be done on making the harmonies blend together properly and making it pleasant to the ear, and if this means turning certain people microphones off a certain time, or telling them not to sing, then so be it. On the plus side because of their genetic connections they all look really good and look like a connected group.

This is a very disappointing effort. I find this terribly difficult to get into and remember. Although I have sympathy for the message the song is trying to convey the message is lost due to the messy nature of how it is presented.  I also think that the 'theme' of the song might not be entirely translated onto the Eurovision stage due to its political message.  The chorus is the only thing about this that stays with you and that has been lifted note for not from Portugal's 1988 entry "Voltarei". This will, obviously, appeal to the Armenian diaspora but outside of that I don't know who would vote for this and I honestly don't see this as a song even juries would vote for. If it qualifies I would be very surprised.

ARTIST - Genealogy 

SONG - Don't Deny

MUSIC - Armen Martirosyan

LYRICS - Inna Mkrtchyan