SAN MARINO

The San Marino entry was part was revealed on March 15th via a clip on SMTV's Telegiornale, followed by the official video premiere the next day. There was then a special edition of "Serenissima" dedicated to the Eurovision entry on the 20th of March. Going to Vienna is the duet of Michele Perniola & Anita Simoncini with ‘Chain of lights".

Back in November it was announced that San Marino would be sending Michele Perniola and Anita Simoncini to Eurovision - both of these singers having performed and represented the principality at Junior Eurovision. The song is once again composed by Ralph Siegel.

This is a mid tempo orchestral song with a Disney-esque feel but slightly changes tact after 2 minutes. The start of the song is particularly ear catching with the strings playing behind Michele's quiet vocal and to which Anita joins in. There sounds like a lot of production on their vocals, almost a bit too much and I think they could have been mixed much better. Their accents are not too bad, although chain of hearts sounds more like chain of farts! At times it sounds like she is the 'star' of the song and that you probably wouldn't miss it if Michele wasn't there at all. The structure of the song is great up until 2 minutes when it seems to suddenly change and go into a more major key ad then there is the talk part which sounds really tacky.

The duo, although young, already have a fair bit of experience. San Marino native, Anita, was part of The Peppermints in 2014, while Italian-born Michele represented the principality with their first jESC entry in 2013 but also won the popular Italian TV series "Ti lascio una canzone" in 2012. Many would put this pairing down to the popularity and press attention that two Junior artists would get graduation to the adult contest, as well as being very different in style to the previous competitor Valentina Monetta.

One should be able to say that the candle theme will play a part somewhere! I don't think this gives us much of a clue as what to expect at Eurovision but one thing I hope they do between now and then is to work on the chemistry between each other. They seem quite good at connecting with the camera but I want to feel like they are a duet singing together not 2 separate people on stage. Hopefully they can work on making their lines come out in a pronounceable way and don't sound too quick and slurred.

In some ways I a disappointed with they style of this song. I was hoping for something a bit more vibrant, a bit more fun, something young and befitting of their age - or even befitting of Junior Eurovision. This is a little stilted and serious and almost feels a little old for them. This said I think they will get a younger vote and may even get a few votes for being possibly the cutest competitors this year. This song is in the first half of semi one which is not only ballad heavy but duet heavy as well. The only chance I feel this has of qualifying is if this is drawn as the opening number as I think it will stand out more than being somewhere stuck in the middle. I don't rate their chances of a second final this year.

ARTIST - Michele Perniola & Anita Simoncini

SONG - Chain of lights

MUSIC - Ralph Siegel

LYRICS - John O'Flynn