GEORGIA

The Georgian result was announced on February 15th at the GPB Studios in Tbilisi. At the start January, Nika Kocharov & Young Georgian Lolitaz were internally selected to represent Georgia. All the songs were presented on February 3rd and the winner was be chosen by an international jury (50%) and televoting/internet voting (50%) which ran from February 4th-15th. The winning track was “Midnight Gold”.

This is very ‘alternative’ and harks back to the ‘90s Britop era rather than anything one might perceive as ‘Eurovision-y'. The song structure is slightly off kilter and there are lots of phrase bending riffs to keep you on your toes. The tune is very basic and there isn’t really a definable verse/chorus structure and the guitar riff seems to take the place of the chorus – that said it is a very catchy guitar riff! After the 2 minute mark it does go a bit strange with a lot of ear bending twitching and repetitive, shouty lyrics. The whole thing does leave you wondering "What was that??!?!" but at least it gives you a reaction as opposed to some of the vanilla tracks chosen this year. The song is about ten seconds over the limit and this could be easily remedied by deleting some of the middle part which does go on for a bit too long.

To be honest after searching high and low for information about Nika Kocharov & Young Georgian Lolitaz, only very basic info is known. The band is formed of lead singer Nika Kocharov, vocalist and bassist Gia Iashvili, guitarist and keyboardist Nick Davitashvili and drummer Dima Oganesian They are a band that have been going for 15 years now and have spent some time living, working and recording in England. It doesn’t look like they have had much in the way of any commercial successes in Georgia or elsewhere.

You have to give the band some credit that they have actually agreed to do Eurovision but that have not compromised their style or music genre in doing so. The song totally goes with who they are and in that way it stands out – there won’t be many songs like this! That said, it isn’t your normal Eurovision fayre – this could be a plus OR a minus. Yes, the Euro fanboys and schlager lovers will diss this until the cows come home and Eurovision-watching veterans may well look on in horror and/or puzzlement. It has a certain charm, even nostalgia, and someone of my age and ilk might feel the same. Those into the more indie/alternative scene may watch Eurovision just to vote for it! There is no outward performance aspect but with focused direction and better camerawork this can be altered. It almost doesn’t matter if it qualifies or not! I really hope it does - for the sake of having a wide range of musical genres in the final - but I fear it won’t.

ARTIST - Nika Kocharov & Young Georgian Lolitaz

SONG – Midnight Gold

MUSIC - Kote Kalandadze

LYRICS - Kote Kalandadze