My draw

So, SVT seem to be taking their time in releasing the semi-final line ups, possibly due to a) the number of last-minute selections and b) changes to entries AFTER the closing date. However I spent literally 5 minutes doing my own personal line up. This ISN’T what I think will happen but more what I’d do if I were in charge. I have tried to create a bit of tension, keep some flow and keep viewers entertained from start to finish.

I have tried to make each entry as individual as possible i.e. tried not to have similar acts following each other OR try to have 2 similar singing or song styles following on. As you will see this has not always been possible. I also wanted the viewer to feel intrigued about what was coming next. It was also important to me that the viewers felt optimistic about the next song if they were not enjoying the present one so they had a reason to watch on.

Here are the two semis, split into their two halves. The only thing that I don’t know that might make a difference is where the producers intend to have a break (or breaks) in the running orders. Songs after the breaks may be at a disadvantage plus it would be an opportunity to place two similar songs next to each other in the running order without being to easily comparable.


SF1
1st half   FIN  NED  GRE  SAN  CRO  MOL  ARM  RUS  HUN
2nd half   MNT  AUT  AZE  EST  MAL  CZE  CYP  ICE  BOS

SF2
1st half   BLR   MAC   LIT   SWI   IRE   POL   AUS   ISR   LAT   SER
2nd half   NOR   DEN   ALB   BEL   GEO   SLO   UKR   ROM   BUL

2016 recap 012

And now, the end is near...

It's felt like a long old slog but finally we have all 43 songs at our laps and all we need to do now is wait and work out who's going to win...

In the podcast I gloss over the fact that all of the song reviews are done and that in this in between time, artists are getting ready for Stockholm. We, on the other hand, have other things in store as you will hear... Please keep in touch with us and I hope you enjoy what we have in store for you throughout April.

Music cones from Yugoslavia and Portugal.

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BULGARIA

The Bulgarian entry was revealed on the 21st March via a video clip on eurovision.tv. Last Month, BNT revealed that they had internally selected former Eurovision entrant Poli Genova to represent Bulgaria  but that the song would be revealed much later. It has since been announced that she will be singing the song “If love was a crime”

This is modern pop song with a slightly ethnic twist. The verses have a good steady rhythm and is quite radio friendly. The first part of the chorus, which contains the name of the song, is a little weak. The tune doesn’t seem to fit the mood of the song and seems a bit too happy and chirpy. The second part of the chorus, which is partially in Bulgarian, is very catchy and repetitive. Poli also sports a very unusual and eye catching one-sided hairstyle which might be a good look for Eurovision.

Poli is already a well known face and name to the Eurovision community. Her musical career began when she was very young and was a member of the group Bon-bon for many years. On her 4th attempt she won the right to represent Bulgaria at Eurovision 2011 but came 12th in her semi final. Since then she has released an album, become a jury member on X-Factor Bulgaria and at the end of last year hosted the Junior Eurovision song contest.

The video has a simple story line and has some interesting views and ideas. The black and white feel works really well. She also looks really interesting and is memorable to the eye. Vocally we know she has a good voice however I would like to hear that she can get her English spot in, especially in the faster parts of the chorus. She will need backing singers as she will need extra oomph in the chorus as well as the overlapping parts at the end. There is something that is missing. On first listen it didn’t gel together for me but felt better on subsequent listens. One would hope that Poli will qualify and she has a good chance of doing so. Her song is possibly one of the few ‘normal’ songs in the second half and I feel that viewers may well relate to this much better in the semi than in the final. I predict an easy route into the final with a finishing place of low teens.

ARTIST – Poli Genova

SONG – If Love Was A Crime

MUSIC – Borislav Milanov, S. Arman, J. Persson

LYRICS – Borislav Milanov, S. Arman, J. Persson, Poli Genova

MALTA [upd]

Back in January, Ira Losco was selected to represent Malta with the song “Chameleon”. Afterwards it was announced that the song choice would be looked at, possibly changed. It was revealed during the delegations meeting that the song had been changed. On March 17th the official video for the song was released. Ira will now be singing the song “Walk on water”

This is modern pop song with a dancy backing track. There is a very long introduction which leads into a slowed down version of the verse and suddenly sparks into life when the bridge kicks in. In essence, the song is very simple in terms of lyrics and song structure. All in all this is a very bad copy of Emilie Sande’s “Heaven”.This is better than Chameleon but only marginally but this also gives me some new reservations. The structure of the song is better and has a better hook. The lyrics are a bit simple and the chorus doesn’t make sense.

Ira Losco was runner up in Eurovision 2002 which kicked off her career in Malta. This fact alone as already made the Maltese participation an early fan favourite. After a 5 year hiatus, she came back to the music scene in 2013 with a new album and featured as a guest during the interval in the Maltese Eurovision selection process. Although not a stranger to ESC, the contest has changed a lot since then and one would hope that somebody of her experience would not be too fazed.

Visually the video is stunning and shows Gozo off in a fantastic fashion. The male dancer is a great addition as it gives the song a much needed quirkiness. Her dresses come of as quite drag queen-ish and I don’t think she looks flattering in any of them. There are few clues as too anything that might be mirrored in the staging. My major concern is that I don’t think she will be able to replicate this level of singing live. She is going to have to have some very good backing singers to help sell the gospel part which possibly means there will be no dancers. Unfortunately this song needs both - this song is going to look good and sound bad or look bad and sound good. This is a great radio tune but is going to flop live. It shouldn’t qualify but probably will, and if it does get to the final it will come in around the high teens.

ARTIST – Ira Losco
SONG – Walk on water
MUSIC – Lisa Desmond, Tim Larsson, Tobias Lundgren, Molly Pettersson-Hammar, Ira Losco
LYRICS – Lisa Desmond, Tim Larsson, Tobias Lundgren, Molly Pettersson-Hammar, Ira Losco

ITALY

The Italian entry was confirmed on March 14th during the official Head of Delegation Meeting in Stockholm. Back in February it was announced that the winning “Big Entry” performer at San Remo would have first refusal of representing the state at Eurovision. The eventual winners of the contest, Stadio, turned down the offer but runner up Francesca Michielin accepted the challenge. There was then a long wait before news came as to whether her San Remo entry, or another song, would go with her. At Eurovision she will be singing a dual language version of her San Remo song called “No degrees of separation”.

Although the All Italian version has been around for months, the version to be performed at Eurovision has not been released yet so I am having to do the review based on the original version. This is a slowish ballad with very little deviation from beginning to end. The verses do not have much of a tune and any tune it does have is not that easy on the ear. The chorus is very similar but there is a definite rhythm and tune to it. The backing track is very minimal and ahs very little rise and fall or oomph. The song also peters out somewhat, which leaves me feeling a little on the confused side.

Francesca was part of the Italian x-factor cast in 2011. Mentored by Simona Ventura, she performed songs by Adele, The Doors, Stevie Wonder and AC/CD proving her versatility. She ended up wining the series signing a record deal with Sony. Her first song debuted at number one on the Italian Singles Chart and later certified double platinum. She has since released numerous tracks, 2 albums, 2 EPs as well as appearing on two top-ten singles by Italian rapper Fedez,  Her song "Amazing” appeared on the Italian version of the soundtrack of The Amazing Spider-Man 2. In 2016 she started her first concert tour and she then appeared in the 2016 Sanremo festival.

The video has some interesting themes and camera angles but I would think they are not ones that would work as live although the passing around of objects might be a good video wall idea. It's also a shame that she looks so emotionless and miserable throughout the whole thing. The full Italian version of the song is 3.40 ish and so they have to eliminate a good chunk of the song. They have also revealed that the last chorus of the song will be in English. I don’t think either f these facts can change my current opinion. I know that this is highly regarded by a lot of people but I find this very boring and uninspiring. I fail to think of who exactly this is appealing to. I find it too 'up itself' for the general public to get emotionally involved and I think the jury may find this too safe or unexciting to bother giving it votes. This is a definite bottom 5 for me and I will be scheduling in a toilet break/tea break/baby feed around this time.

ARTIST – Francesca Michielin
SONG – No degrees of separation
MUSIC – Fabio Gargiulo, Federica Abbate, Francesca Michielin
LYRICS – Cheope, Francesca Michielin, Norma Jean Martine

AZERBAIJAN

The Azerbaijan entry was announced in March 10th. The artist and the song were selected internally based on a ballot by ITV, music and television industry experts and Eurovision fans. The internally selected singer is Samra and she will be singing “Miracle”.

This is a radio friendly pop song with a ballad inspired verse and anthemic chorus. The verses of the song are quite slow and low whilst the chorus is more upbeat The chorus is full of ear worms and you soon start to get the feeling that you have heard this somewhere before. The song flips well between verse and chorus which keeps the flow going until the end.  The repetition of the chorus near the end is a bit too much and it starts to get a little too repetitive after a while. The ending is very anti climactic and feels quite detached for the end. It would have been better to repeat the first line and end on a high or slow down before the end by omitting a chorus at the end.

Samra Rahimli is from Baku, but spent parts of her childhood in Azerbaijan and Russia,  In 2012 she took the stage for the first time at the national selection for the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest. She was the youngest contestant in the competition and eventually came 3rd in her heat. In 2015, she reached the quarterfinals in The Voice of Turkey then joined the cast of The Voice Azerbaijan last autumn, eventually finishing 4th.

The video clip shows some interesting ideas, some of which could be brought to the stage. First of all there is the great use of lighting to emphasise the background changes between verse and chorus. There is also the fact that this is a one-take shot from start to end - something not new to Eurovision. Visually, something with these themes could look very professional. Audio wise I notice that the chorus is VERY backing singer heavy, suggesting that she needs a fair bit of help to see it through. I also wonder if she will be able to start the song off sharp enough and with enough confidence to drive it home. I don’t think it’s a bad song but there is nothing particularly special about it. I also feel that some people will find it too earworm-y and too repetitive. This song leaves me wondering who would vote for it. I would suggest this will do OK in the semi – around 7th – but do marginally better in the final – around the 10th place mark. If it didn’t qualify it would not surprise me, if it won it would not surprise me.

  

ARTIST – Samra

SONG – Miracle

MUSIC – Amir Aly Jakob “Jakke” Erixson Henrik Wikström

LYRICS – Amir Aly Jakob “Jakke” Erixson Henrik Wikström

SERBIA

The Serbian song was unveiled on 12^th March during a special show “Pesma Srbije za Evropu” hosted by Slobodan Šarenac, Vlada Jelić , Dejan Pantelić and Milan Popović. A few days earlier RTS revealed who their internally singer and song would be. Going to Stockholm is Sanja Vučić  - who will be using the stage name ZAA - singing the song “Goodbye”.

This is an odd little ditty and doesn’t sound very Serbian at all. It is a stylistic ballad with jazzy, 1960’s touches, almost Adele like in places. She is also styled a little like Amy Winehouse which suits the song – but not her. It’s a lovely touch to have her in front of an orchestra, this is a Eurovision song that needs the oomph that a orchtra gives rather than something synthesised. The whole song has a great structure and really suits the last minute key change. This is one of the few songs where both parts of the song work really well as do the instrumental parts.

Sanja Vučić has been singing since she was little, she attended a music school and studied in the opera department. She also sang in various ensembles, ranging from ethno music, a jazz orchestra and church choir. She then joined the band ZAA in 2012. The band is noted for its crossover appeal doing ska, dub, rock, jazz and punk. She performed on their "What About" album released in 2014.

Although this was presented on s special show this was a mimed video performance and it is quite obvious that many different takes were used to craft it. First of all she needs to sack the person who dressed her and the person who did her make up as she looks truly awful and over done. She looks more like a slightly drunk fortune teller. Her hair looks like she's just got out of bed,  the lipstick colour makes her look like a blow up doll and the dress makes her look a lot bigger than she actually is. She is obviously not backwards in coming forwards when if comes to performance style and you can tell she has a lot of attitude and passion for what she does. My concern is that it will be more attitude than singing. If she can sing this live AND tone down the visuals ever so slightly this could get a lot of votes. The juries will love this and I think the style of music will appeal to casual watchers. I would hope this will qualify from semi 2 with little fuss and I think this should be a top 10 finisher.

ARTIST – ZAA

SONG – Goodbye

MUSIC – Ivana Peters

LYRICS – Ivana Peters

LITHUANIA

The Lithuanian Final was held on March 12th at the LRT TV Studios in Vilnius, hosted by Andrius Rožickas & Geruta Griniute. Before the final there were 9 shows which brought all of the selected songs and singers down to a final of 6 acts singing a different song each. The winner, chosen by 50-50 split of televoting and jury was Donny Montell singing “I’ve been waiting for this night”.

This is a mid-tempo number that walks the line between ballad and pop song. He starts the song underneath a projected rain cloud. I’m not quite sure what this is supposed to represent but it looks awful. He also has some smoke jets during the chorus. Near the end he does a somersault over a prop of some kind – again I don’t know why. Donny is dressed very casually, a bit too casually. His performance style is a bit over the top and looks more like a raucous rap show than slow ballad. The whole thing takes too long to get going. The verses are not terribly memorable and the chorus has no proper structure to it. Overall this feels like a lot of mismatched things thrown together.

Donny Montell won his first singing competition when he was just 6! His first taste of Eurovision came in 2008 when he entered the Lithuanian national final with two songs – one a solo number, one a duet. The latter did not get to the final but his solo attempt got to second place. His entry in 2009 was disqualified and his two songs in 2010 placed 10th and 5th. In 2012 his entry “Love is blind” won the national final and got a respectable 14th place in the final. He also has over 10 singles to his names and released 2 albums.

Overall this feels like a lot of mismatched things thrown together – it is totally confused. He looks like he is trying to be 18 when he is actually 28. He would do much better if he just stood there with a mic stand and sang the song. As he wrote the song and there is (currently) only him on stage I don’t see anything about this changing. There are so many distracting you, you start to forget there is a song involved. The song itself is a little boring and is every piss poor boy band song from the 1990s and 2000s rolled into one. There is nothing new to hear or see here. When it comes to qualifying, it is in a very friendly semi with lots of neighbours and plenty of chances for some diaspora votes. I suspect this will qualify, although it is very much a car crash of a show.

ARTIST – Donny Montell
SONG – I’ve been waiting for this night
MUSIC – Christian Schneider, Sara Biglert, Aidan O'Connor
LYRICS – Christian Schneider, Sara Biglert, Aidan O'Connor

SWEDEN

The Swedish Final was held on March 12th at the Friends Arena in Solna, hosted by Gina Dirawi & William Spetz. Before the final there were four semi-finals and a second chance round, all chosen though public voting. The winner during the final was chosen by televoting (50%) and a panel 11 international juries (50%). The winning act was Frans singing “If I were sorry”

This is mid-tempo low key song with a very conversational tone about it. The backdrop behind him is back and the gold parts behind in change into different shapes and words. The camera work is a bit jumpy at first but this mirrors the mumbly, tip of  the tongue tone of the song You can hear his English accent – although to my ears it feels like he has over-Lena-ed it and sounds more Mockney Dick Van Dyke than a true British accent. There is not much to the backing track and has a folksy jumpy feel. The lyrics are a bit nondescript and I would say that many of the rhymes are not good and he tries to hard to make the non-rhymes rhyme, e.g. sorry and glory. It sounds more like a poem being rapped out. As a piece of music it reminds me of the style of Just Jack.

Frans Jeppsson-Wall is part Nigerian, part English, part Swedish but lived in Sweden until he was 8. He then moved to London , along with his twin sister. and younger brother . Frans’ best known song is "Who's da Man" about Swedish footballer Zlatan Ibrahimović. It stayed at the top of the official Swedish Singles Chart for 13 weeks. After 8 years away, Frans returned to the music scene with his participation in the Swedish national final. He is the second youngest Melodifestivalen winner ever behind Carola in 1983.

France will needs some backing singers although these will probably end up being out of sight. Frans is a good-looking young man and all the ladies will adore him (as will some of the young men). It is quite a modern song and will probably work well on contemporary and easy-listening radio stations. It doesn’t have much of a tune and doesn’t have any major ups and down or lifts to rise to a big finish.  Part of me wishes that the last chorus has a bigger beat or double-time it just to gather up the pace a bit, otherwise it leaves you a little bit deflated. There is no ‘song’ and he can’t really sing very well. One wonders if the Swedes really want to win again because this has 'not winning' written through it like a stick of rock. The app voting available in Sweden mean that this not only appealed to the younger demographic but made it easier for the to vote for it to - something not transferable to Eurovision itself. I personally would have this bottom 5 but will probably end up around the 10-15 mark.

ARTIST – Frans

SONG – If I were sorry

MUSIC – Oscar Fogelström, Michael Saxell, Fredrik Andersson, Frans Jeppsson-Wall

LYRICS –  Oscar Fogelström, Michael Saxell, Fredrik Andersson, Frans Jeppsson-Wall

CZECH REPUBLIC

The Czech entry was unveiled in March 10^th via a press release. This was followed the next day by a full press conference and release of the official music video. The internally selected singer is Gabriela Gunčíková and she will be singing “I stand”

This is a more classical ballad with a repetitive and simplistic chorus. The verses of the song have a very strong melody and the lyrics, although a little over the top, are not your usual Eurovision fayre. The chorus is a little weak to be honest with 3 of the four lines just being the words “I stand” and have exactly the same tune each time. One might say that the positive about this is that it is easy to remember.

Gabriela is most known for her involvement in a TV competition “Česko Slovenská Superstar” where she came second. Since then she went to America to study at the Ken Tamplin Vocal Academy song and then became a member of the US Trans-Siberian Orchestra, whose genre is a mix of rock and orchestra, with whom she played in two major tours around 120 concerts. She also has 2 studio solo albums to her name.

The video clip had some very interesting theme, many of which could be used on the Eurovision stage. The cinematography of the first and ending shots are breathtaking and leave you intrigued. I also like the geometric projections and overlays – slightly Stromae-eque. However the stop-go animation (although obviously painstaking to make) didn’t really fit the flow or mood of the song. I cannot comment too much on the odds of the being able to sing this live due to it being a video presentation.

Being one of the simpler and more classical style ballads this could have an outside chance of being the first Czech qualifier ever.  This sticks out compared to all the other songs in the second half of semi one which are either up-tempo or stylised ballads. This would be a great ending to the semi, but will probably be placed somewhere in the middle of its half. Czech Republic does not have many ‘friends’ in Eurovision terms but there are  a few Central countries in its semi so might get a few neighbourly votes. If this qualifies, this will be as good as a win.

ARTIST – Gabriela Gunčíková

SONG – I stand

MUSIC – Christian Schneider, Sara Biglert, Aidan O'Connor

LYRICS – Christian Schneider, Sara Biglert, Aidan O'Connor

FRANCE

The French song was unveiled on February 29th by France 2 via their website however it was not officially presented until March 12th on the Dicaire show. It was announced in late 2015 that the French entry for the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest would be selected internally. They were looking for performers 16 to 50 years of age and of any nationality. Songs were required to contain at least 80% French language lyrics. The selected singer is Amir Haddad who will be singing his latest release “J'ai cherché" (I searched)

The song is a standard pop song with some country/folk elements. The verses are in French and the chorus in English. During this performance he is backed by 4 female singer/dancers who alternate between hand microphones and and using microphone stands. They are also dressed the same and have tambourine each. The song structure builds well and the balance between the French and English is just right. Having the chorus in English is a clever turn as the verses sound very lyrical in French but the have all the memorable hooks in the chorus. The ooooh-ing starts right from the beginning sets up the motifs and ear worms straight away.

Amir was born in France but moved to Israel in the early 1990s. In 2006 he took part in Kokhav Nolad singing mainly French language songs, however he did not win. After the competition ended he signed a music deal with a French label where he released music in both French and Hebrew. He then entered the French version of “The Voice” in 2014. He sang “Candle in the wind” in his blind audition and all 4 judges turned but chose to be on Team Jenifer. He eventually came 3rd in the competition and joined the other competitors on the Voice Tour.

This needs a lot of work. Although this was presented as a 'show' I very much doubt this is what we will see in Stockholm. If it is then this is going to fall very flat. First of all the backing singers were miming and I don't think that the oooohing can sound that good live. Amir doesn't do all the singing so the extra singers need to be really very good. If it starts off badly I don't think this can crawl back. Amir needs to be the star of the show and with so much going on behind him it is a bit of a distraction. If it starts off badly I don't think this can crawl back. Oddly,if this was trying to qualify from a semi I think it would just because it stands out so much from everything else but as a ready made finalist I am not sure how well this would do. It is contemporary and quite radio friendly but the show needs much more direction. Maybe with the freedom of a bigger stage, better backdrop and more scope for camera angles, this could get something out of the bag. I can see this ending up in the low teens.

ARTIST – Amir Haddad

SONG – J'ai cherché (I searched)

MUSIC - Nazim Khaled, Silvio Lisbonne, Skydancers

LYRICS – Amir Haddad, Johan Errami, Nazim Khaled

AUSTRALIA

The Australian entry was finally was unveiled March 10^th  via a music video. On 3rd March, the act was revealed during Conchita Wurst’s concert at the Sydney Opera House. The song Dami Im will be singing is called “Sound of silence”. 

This is mid-tempo song with a repetitive and anthemic chorus. The first verse sets up the crescendo to the chorus really nicely and the whole thing really stands out. The chorus has a great tune to it and if she can belt this out live it will be amazing. However when you expect the second verse to a bit more power and beat to it, and it doesn’t it falls flat and that is it’s weak out – as is the ending which is a bit sudden. I’m not to sure about the ‘face time’ lyric either.

Dami Im was born in South Korea and emigrated to Australia when she was 9. Within a few years she has become a talented musician -  being finalist in the Yamaha Youth Piano Competition, and winning the Nora Baird Scholarship and the Queensland Piano Competition several times. In 2009 she graduated from the University of Queensland with first class honours in a Bachelor of Music. Dami then has a short lived career in Korea as a gospel singer before auditioning for X-Factor Australia. Initially she was eliminated at bootcamp but was reinstated when another contest pulled out of the Over 24s category but then she went on to win the whole contest.

This was a video presentation but might offer some clue as to what we could see on the night. I quite like the dancer and has that contemporary style that suits that kind of dancer. She will also need some backing singers as at the end she appears to be singing both parts. Part of me worries that Australia not having form or known allies in the semis will count against them. I also wonder what impact her race might have. Eurovision has not had many (if any) south Asian performers although the K-pop culture is very widespread. This is a very good song and one that could be heard and sell Europe-wide. She is also famed for her stage costumes and with something really classy and memorable this could be a stand out song. If she can belt this out in the semi, the juries will fawn over this like crazy and will have no problem making the final. I cannot see it winning but could be the big winner sales-wise.

ARTIST – Dami Im

SONG – Sound of silence

MUSIC – Anthony Egizii, David Musumeci

LYRICS – Anthony Egizii, David Musumeci

GREECE

The Greek entry was unveiled in March 10^th via a video and press conference. A month earlier, ERT announced that Argo (formerly Europond) has been internally selected by the broadcaster to represent them at Eurovision. Their song is called “Utopian land”

This is a typically Greek sounding song in terms of orchestration. It starts in 7/8 tie then reverts back to a more ear friendly 4/4 time, however it does go back to 7/8 near the end too.  The verses are rapped in Greek/Pontian whilst the chorus is sang in English. The rapping parts sound ok, as do the singing bits but put together they sound a little odd. Moreover the changes in time signature also jar a little. The backing track, as a whole, has a great quality to it shame that the instrumental parts are a little messy at times.

This is the first time for quite a while that a relatively unknown act has been sent to Eurovision to represent Greece. Argo consists of a four singers - Vladimiros Sofianidis (who also wrote the song) , Christina Lachana, Ilias Kesidis and Maria Elbrus and two instrumentalists - Konstantinos Topouzis playing the Pontian lyre and  Alexandros Papadopoulos is playing the tabor. The band has been going since 2001 from their base in Thessaloniki. Their work is normally performed in Greek and the dialect of Pontian although this song also has some English. Their work is inspired by hip-hop but they use a whole range of classical and national instruments as well.

The video gives us no clues at all about what the performance might be like in Stockholm as it seemingly does not contain any of the 6 performers of the band. Being 6 of them there is no room for extra singers or dancers to support them. The entry seems very lacklustre and lackadaisical and doesn’t really go anywhere or come to a peak. I am not sure how well this would go down in the hall as it doesn’t have enough power or emotion to get everybody going. Greece have a 100% qualifying record to the final and I think this puts that in serious jeopardy. Looking at its position in the first half of semi 1, they do have some neighbours and diaspora votes but I am not sure how a jury will react to this. If there’s any justice, this will not qualify. If it does, it is bound to be a very poor show in the final, possibly bottom 5.

ARTIST – Argo

SONG – Utopian Land

MUSIC – Vladimiros Sofianidis

LYRICS – Vladimiros Sofianidis

SAN MARINO

The San Marino entry was revealed on March 9th at a press conference held at the Grand Hotel Intercontinental in Paris. Back in January it was announced that SMTV has internally selected Turkish singer Serhat to represent the principality. The song he is singing is called “I didn’t know”

This is a gentle ballad with a slightly strange chorus setup. It starts with a slow Mediterranean-style guitar before going into the first verse. Serhat’s style of ‘singing’ is highly individual – it is extremely gravely and low and you have to listen very hard to understand what he is saying. The chorus, although odd, does stand out. It has groups of 3 lines, rather than the normal 4 and each line goes down a note rather than the usual up. However it has an interesting flow to it and has a lot of scope for repetition. The ending is quite sudden and very anti-climactic.

Serhat is a well known TV and music personality back in his homeland of Turkey. With his TV company , End Productions, he headed a Turkish version of “Jeopardy!” and a game based on Connect 4. For these, he won numerous hosting awards. He has also fronted his own chat show and produced numerous song and dance contests. He has released a number of songs, his first released back in 1997.  His most successful being “Je M’adore” which was number 1 on the Deutsche DJ Black/Pop Charts, and made the top 10 in the British, French and Swiss Dance Charts.

This was another video presentation however the video is very pointed in its story and look so one much wonder if this look will be transferred to the Eurovision stage. Part of me thinks that the publicity this got (San Marino was trending on twitter in the UK due to people talking about this entry on the day it was released) that even if the video is odd, they would be silly not to cash in on this and keep the style. He is definitely making a very bold statement with the strange head strap and detachable monocle... Serhat’s accent and vocal performance cannot be much worse than what is on this record. I think the broadcaster is hoping that the Turkish diaspora, who don’t have an entry in this year’s Eurovision, will vote for this instead. This will get points, but not from the jury. If this qualifies - there may well be a riot!

ARTIST – Serhat

SONG –  I didn’t know

MUSIC – Olcayto Ahmet Tugsuz

LYRICS – Nektarios Tyrakis

CROATIA

he Croatian entry was revealed on March 9th via HRT’s public radio station HR2. A few days previously it was confirmed that that Nina Kraljić will perform for them in Stockholm, The song is called “Lighthouse”.

This is an atmospheric song with more of a whiff of “Only Teardrops” about it. It almost has a slight Celtic sound about it. The verses are very predictable in terms of tune and lyric but her delivery has an interesting twist to it. I would describe it as “Ellie Gouding – if she could actually sing” The chorus, however,  is slightly disappointing from a lyric standpoint. She needs to sing along with the chorus rather than trilling over the top of it, she does so in the last chorus and has much more impact. The last chorus also has a key change.

Nina is no stranger to singing competitions. Back in 2009 she auditioned in the Croatian version of their “Got Talent” show. She got to the final but only made it to 10th place. Six years later she re-appeared on Croatian TV screens, popping up on “The Voice - Najljepši glas Hrvatske.” She joined Jacques Houdek’s team – a singer known in Croatian national finals circles. She reached the finals and won the series.

As a radio presentation, it offers no clues at all as to performance style or how she can sing this live. The style of the song is very individual and really suits her interesting voice. The title of the song suggests something sea worthy or something involving revolving, pulsating lights. This song really fits that ‘neo-folk’ genre that she has made her name and could be a breath of fresh air on the night. She also has a striking look and with the right dress she could look amazing.  My fear is that she won’t be able to do all the warbling and note changing on the night and will therefore lose its special sparkle. I really hope this does well as I think this song is something special but with even just an ok performance it might not be enough. This should do enough to qualify as it is different to everything else in the top half of semi 1. Should also be a jury favourite so will get a sizable amount of votes from them. I find this song very appealing and hope it does well.


ARTIST – Nina Kraljić
SONG – Lighthouse
MUSIC – Andreas Grass, Nikola Paryla
LYRICS – Andreas Grass, Nikola Paryla

FYR MACEDONIA

The Macedonian entry was unveiled on March 7th via a song presentation live on MRKTV. Back in November they announced that Kaliopi would once again be representing the former Yugoslav republic at Eurovision. The song she will be singing is called “Дона” (Dona)

This is typical Eurovision ballad with slight Balkan and Italian influences. The song is in her mother tongue of Macedonian. It stars off quite blandly, in particular the tune is very unpredictable and isn’t easy to track. The bridge between the verse and chorus though is very pretty and has a lovely lilting quality. The chorus on the other hand is more bombastic and dramatic and leads into a lovely orchestral part. This has a whiff of Pachabel’s Canon about it but then leads back into a dreary verse. The ending is extremely weak and far too sudden for a song of this genre and style.

Kaliopi has been sincing since she was a child having won the Zlatno Slavejče Festival in 1976. Her main break came with the formation of the band “Kaliopi” with Romeo Grill where they released a number of successful albums. She took a break away from music when the duo disbanded and returned in 1996 winning

Skopje Fest and had the chance to represent Macedonia at Eurovision. But during the one and only non-televised audio pre-selection, Macedonia was eliminated from the Contest. After a successful solo career of 15 years MRT invited Kaliopi to represent Macedonia in Eurovision 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Kaliopi performed the song "Crno i belo" qualified from the second semi-final and was placed thirteenth in the final and has become a firm fan favourite.

This was a video presentation so one can only guess at what this might turn into live. The video was a bit amateurish and some of the backgrounds are really badly superimposed. Personally I find this song very boring. It has taken me several listens to get into the structure and even then I still cannot get my head around the verses. I would guess that she would be able to really pack a punch with this song and will go down well in the hall. Looking at the country breakdown of semi-final 2 this could struggle – partially due to the language barrier, partially neighbourly voting, partially due to the ballad heavy make up of the show. As much as Kaliopi is a great personality and great fun during ESC week, I cannot see this qualifying.

ARTIST – Kaliopi

SONG – Dona

MUSIC – Romeo Grill
LYRICS – Kaliopi

ROMANIA

The Romanian Final was held on March 6th at Sala Sporturilor Lascar Pana in Baia Mare, hosted by Cornel Ilie, Ioana Voicu & Jo. Before the final there was a semi-final where 6 of the 12 qualified for the final - four were selected by a jury the other two were chosen by televoting. Televoting only was used in the final. The winner was Ovidiu Anton with the song "Moment of Silence"

This is rock ballad straight out of musical theatre. It also has a slight medieval sound and after the first chorus it also has the orchestration of a Bond theme too. Ovidiu is joined by 4 very close backing singers who also strut around and emote the meaning of the song. There is also a leather-clad sword-wielding dancer on the podium to his right. The song has a very straightforward structure although it is not exactly straightforward to the ear. There isn’t much or a rise and fall and doesn’t grow in the way you would expect. It might help if Ovidiu kept a bit back at the start in order to build the song up.

Although Anton studied, classic guitar and piano at school, the music he loved was rock music. In 1998 he formed the group Carpe Diem and he toured with them for 4 years. He came 2nd at the Mamaia National Festival in 2003 and represented Romania at the Golden Stag International Festival in 2005. He then fronted Trupa Pasager band with which he performed hundreds of concerts and participated in Eurovision 2010 national selection. He participated in Selecția Națională four times previously, finally winning his place at Eurovision on his fifth attempt.

This I feel is going to be a real Marmite song – you either get it or you don’t. The rock style will appeal to some, the music edge to it will appeal to others. But many may also see it is quite stilted and possibly even over the top. Personally I find the song a dull and passionless vocally. Although Ovidiu looks like he’s giving it his all, it doesn’t sound it. In addition I find the setup quite stilted. I can see what they are trying to achieve but it is still too static. The dancer is a good idea - but not isolted at the side. I also get the concept of the costumes but think these need a bit of a revamp. Romania currently has a 100% qualification rate to the final and this is possibly the first song that may jeopardise that. But looking at the semi final split I think they have enough a) neighbours b) diaspora votes and c) rock loving countries to just get them through. This will do OK but not great and predict a finish around the 15-20 place mark.


ARTIST – Ovidiu Anton
SONG – Moment of silence
MUSIC – Ovidiu Anton
LYRICS – Ovidiu Anton

POLAND

The Polish Final was held on March 5th at the TVP TV Studios in Warsaw. The winner, chosen solely by televoting was Michał Szpak singing “Color of your life”.

The song is a typical rock ballad very with a very slight tinge of music theatre. The chorus of the song has a similar tune to the instrumental part of “I will survive” The verses tendto go on a little bit as the tune is a little mumbly. The key change comes too late and is also abit on the ‘will he – won’t he’ side.  He looks rather striking with his long curly hair, little moustache and black painted nails. I also quite like the dark suit under the red military style jacket but he needs some better shoes and trousers that don’t show his ankles. He is backed on stage by three electric violinists, cellist and pianist and the background screen was extremely non-descript for the song.

Michał is no stranger to television contests. In 2011, he took part in the first edition of the Polish version of X Factor. Although his preferred genre was hard rock he also performed in different genres and he eventually came second. Later that year he released his first album called XI. This contained songs in Polish and English In 2013 he entered the Russian Song Festival and won.

This was not the song we expected to win the national final, however I think that is because the favourites faltered rather than him performing amazingly. The whole thing is just OK and therein lies the problem. Michał has a really goo voice and a strong one at that but his accent is a little annoying and in particular cannot quite pronounce the 'th' phoneme correctly. The key changes are a little nervy an I wonder if they could drop the key ever so slightly to begin with in order to keep the power. Visually this needs a lot of work. In needs a background theme that will mirror the words of the song or have colour in it. He is too static on the stage and he either needs to 'rock out' a bit more or have some dancers with him. I don't think this will qualify but they have quite a few favourable nations in its semi final, this could offer up a shock.


ARTIST – Michał Szpak
SONG – Color of your life
MUSIC – Andy Palmer
LYRICS – Kamil Varen

ESTONIA

The Estonian Final was held on March 5th at the Saku Suurhall in Tallinn, hosted by Ott Sepp & Märt Avandi. Before the final there were 2 semi-finals with 5 songs qualifying from each.. In the first round of voting, a top 3 was be chosen through a50/50 combination of  televoting and jury. The second round was telvoting only. The winning artist was Jüri Pootsmann and song is called “Play”.

The song starts as a piano driven slow ballad but soon turns up a gear as the piano backing goes into double time almost. The flow between the verses and choruses work well as you are lead by the beat of the piano. Juri seems quite confident in his delivery of the song and the song certainly seems within him. Juri is mainly lit just on once side which makes him quite menacing but not quite sure this fits in with the song. The same can be said about the odd video screen behind him, although I loved the flashing balls! The semi-final staging was much more eye catching.

Jüri Pootsmann won the 2015 series of “Eesti otsib superstaari” this also having spawned other Eurovision artists such as Ott Lepland, Birgit Õigemeel and Getter Jani. Jüri was famed for his interpretations of old school soul classics. His Eurovision song was co-written my half of last year’s Estonian performers, Stig Rästa.

Firstly the performance needs a revamp. They need to tell more of the story through the staging as it is not obvious as it is. The song’s lyrics don’t seem menacing but the show as is certainly seems sinister. It is a tune led song so the lyrics and story needs help to get through. This is most evident as the title “Play” is not prominent enough in the song. This is a very stylised song sung in a very particular way. The good side about this is that is sounds very individual and will be easily remembered in the line up. The down side is that unless this is you preferred style or genre of music I don’t see who would vote for this. I think this should just scrape a qualification space -,on the basis that is has a few neighbourly countries and I think this will be a song the jury will love. That sad I would guess a very middling 15th-ish result in the final.

ARTIST – Jüri Pootsmann
SONG – Play
MUSIC – Fred Krieger, Stig Rästa, Vallo Kikas
LYRICS – Fred Krieger, Stig Rästa, Vallo Kikas

RUSSIA

The Russian entry was unveiled on March 5th first via a video first shared online then premiered on the RTR news broadcast. Back in December it was announced that Sergey Lazarev had been internally. His song is “You’re the only one”.

This is a up-tempo pop song with a strange beat. The beginning is a little odd and random but if he starts off from the gong it would make a much better start. The verses have a good structure and they key is very interesting to your ear. The ‘pre chorus’ is probably the stand out part of the song as the chorus proper is a little too predictable. At about 2.30 there is a slow part which goes on a bit too long and seems a little out of place but this is followed by a final chorus with a key change.

Sergey is one of Russia’s biggest stars having been involved in many singing, dancing and acting projects. As a youth he appeared in many plays, concerts TV shows and singing competitions. He was half of the duo Smash!!, formed in 2000 and having huge success around many ex-soviet states and most of Asia. However they split in 2004 releasing just two albums. His solo career then took off and has since released numerous singles and albums in Russian and English. Back in 2008 he tried to enter Eurovision but was beaten into 4th place, with Dima Bilan winning the national final.

Although this was a video presentation, there are a few clues as to the stage performance might be. There is the use of projections over his body which could be quite tricky to replicate but I really enjoy the overhead shots so you can see the video wall on the floor. Although some of these ideas might not be viable they themes, like the crumbling floor and falling, might be used in other ways. All in all this is a very slick and polished show. Obviously one has to take into account whether he will be able to pull this off live.

My main reservation is that this sounds like a song that was given to Sakis Rouvas first, he rejected it then was given to Sergey. In some ways it is quite reminiscent to Sakis’s 2009 Greek entry. Sergey even looks a bit like him in the video. Also from beginning to end it is about 10 seconds too long and by eliminating the start and possibly truncating the slow but it should come under 3 minutes .This is a very serious contender and will probably win semi-final 1 and is almost a definite top 5, if not top 3. Stylistically I would prefer this not to win but in the line up of past Russian entries, this sits much more comfortably with me.

ARTIST – Sergey Lazarev

SONG –You’re the only one

MUSIC – Philipp Kirkorov, Dimitris Kontopoulos, John Ballard, Ralph Charlie

LYRICS – Philipp Kirkorov, Dimitris Kontopoulos, John Ballard, Ralph Charlie

2016 recap 011

One only a couple of days left before we almost know everything about Eurovision 2016.

I apologise profusely for this episode. As you will hear a very wriggly Squirt gets a lot of air time and creates a lot of dead air. He then causes me to lose all my notes meaning I had to stop and start all over again. PLUS the fact I had had a really horrible day at work mean that an activity I thought I'd enjoy ended up with me feeling even worse.
I promise that the last recap podcast will be less stressy!


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MONTENEGRO

The Montenegrin entry was unveiled on March 4th via a special tv presentation broadcast from Bečići. Back in October 2015 it was reported that Highway will represent Montenegro but very little was released about the song until the end of February, The song they will be performing is called “The Real Thing”.

This is a rock/dance song with the emphasis on the rock. Sounds like something Papa Roach or Slipknot might have come up with. It start with a bass line and beat, the lead singer starts shouting on top of it then it becomes lightly dubsteppy and scratchy then guitar laden. The song seems to alternate between these genres. The verses are poor lyrically as is the chorus, although at least the verses have a tune, except that neither of them work together as a cohesive unit. The most charismatic person on the screen is the female dancer on the backdrop.

The Highway band became famous through their participation in the second series of X Factor Adria. Artists from Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Croatia participate in the show. They eventually came fourth. During the contest they participated as a trio - Petar Tošić, Marko Pešić, Luka Vojvodić – but after the announcement that they were going to Eurovision a fourth member was added. This was Bojan Jovović, former member of the band “No Name” who represented Serbia and Montenegro at the Eurovision in 2005.

Montenegro have become somewhat famed for their slightly odd ball choices, and on the face of it this should have been a straight forward boy band choice. But oh my goodness that is NOT what we’ve ended up with. This is just flat out noise. In fact, the song would be improved no end if it was left as a three minute instrumental. The lyrics of the song and even the tune of the song doesn't fit with the backing track. It leaves you bewildered. Luckily this is not in the same semi as the Georgian song as that would have overshadowed them completely. This will get some votes from neighbours and from lovers of this style of song, but it won't be troubling the final.

ARTIST – Highway

SONG –The real thing

MUSIC – Luka Vojvodić, Maro Market.

LYRICS – Skansi

THE NETHERLANDS

The Dutch song was unveiled on March 4th at press conference in Amsterdam held by AVROTROS. Back in September 2015, the Dutch broadcaster internally selected the singer Douwe Bob but all information about the song was held until the conference. The song he will be singing is “Slow Down”.

The song is a plodding country song. Part of me wishes I could stop the review there...

The verses of the song are nice enough and hold a nice enough tune but the chorus is over repetitive in terms of lyrics and the tune is too static, feels more like a stuck record than a proper chorus. In fact the best part of the song is the ending as the song actually slows down. The piano instrumentation is possibly the stand out part of the track. It certainly sounds like the kind of song that would be lapped up by the American country scene but not in Eurovision.

Douwe has singing in his blood as his father is a member of the group The Fool. Douwe himself started on the piano then moved to playing guitar. His big break came in 2012 when he won the Dutch show “De beste singer-songwriter van Nederland”. His first release after winning the show, "Multicoloured Angels", got to number 17 in the Dutch Top 40. Since then he has also released 2 albums with most of the songs written or co-written by himself.

As it was a video premiere, I don’t get a feel for his performance style or as to how it might be presented on stage. Coming from a reality-show background I wouldn't see much problem in him feeling comfortable performing in front of millions of people and as he had a hand int eh song himself, it should be comfortable for him to sing.  It is very likely, as seen in the video, he will sing playing the guitar and probably backed by a small band. The problem is, I don’t think any of this matters. This is such a boring, plodding, nondescript song and this is so disappointing. It seems as though AVROSTROS have become sucked in by the success of the Common Linnets that they have become blinkered by the idea of keeping down the country route. This won’t going to set the Globen alight with emotion or with vigour. However it might cause a queue to the gents. This won’t be qualifying

ARTIST – Douwe Bob

SONG – Slow down

MUSIC – Douwe Bob, Jan Peter Hoekstra, Jeroen Overman, Matthijs van Duijvenbode

LYRICS – Douwe Bob, Jan Peter Hoekstra, Jeroen Overman, Matthijs van Duijvenbode

ISRAEL

The Israeli Final was held on March 3rd at the IBA TV Studios in Neve Ilan, Jerusalem, hosted by Asi Azar & Rotem Sela. Before the final there were 24 shows, starting from December 5th. The winner was chosen through app voting alone. The four finalists were split into duels in two rounds of voting – the winner of each going through straight to the final whist the jury chose a wildcard to join them.. The winner was Hovi Star with the song “Made of Stars”.

The song sounds like a Amy Winehouse number but the backing track screams Bond theme.  The verses are quite mysterious and build up well but the chorus doesn’t go here you think it should and so you feel a little bit let down. I feel like it should be bigger and more epic, not going down in key. Each line of the chorus starts with the words ‘made of stars’ so it is very repetitive. The key change in the bridge is inspired and the final chorus sounds so much better. Hovi also has a very unique look. He feels unbelievably tall – or maybe everybody else in Israel is really small – and has a great haircut. At first glance he seems a bit Adam Lambert-eque.

Hovi Star's (real name Hovev Sekulets) first steps in show business started as many Israeli singers do, during his military service. He then appeared on Israeli tv screens back in 2009 as he participated in “Kokhav Nolad 7” and survived until week 5. He then kept on working, appearing at a number of concerts, co-writing songs for other artists, singing as a featured artist and appearing as a performer at Pride week. Then in 2015 he joined the IBA talent seach show “Rising Star” and won the show by just 1%.

It must be said that the end of the Israeli selection process was a little on the rushed side at the end and songs were not fully presented at their best. After winning, the delegation quickly announced that Hovi’s staging, performance and song would all be revamped, although the style and arrangement of the song would remain unchanged. This I can understand as, apart from the background screens with people’s faces, there is nothing to the show. Hovi has a very good voice and this style of song suits his voice and personality well although I think he could be even more diva-esque in his attitude. The gold tinged suit is ok but I think he will need something much more elaborate at Eurovision.

On first listen to the song I was quite unimpressed although it grew on me after 3 or 4 listens. If this is replicated in Europe then it might be a struggle to get out of the semi-final however I am hoping that with a revamp this could be made into something more memorable. He is drawn in the first half of semi 2 and the second half is very uptempo so will everybody remember this? The jury is out…

ARTIST – Hovi Star

SONG – Made of stars

MUSIC - Doron Medalie

LYRICS – Doron Medalie

ARMENIA

The Armenian entry was unveiled on March 2nd via ARMTVs website. Back in October 2015, the Armenian broadcaster announced that Iveta Mukuchyan would be representing the former soviet state although it was not revealed until February 216 that “LoveWave” would be the title of the song.

This is a very contemporary ethereal song although not too dissimilar in structure to “Not Alone” by Aram mp3. It starts off with a spoken word, whispery monologue. This is all well and good but you can barely hear a word as it's said so quickly and her breathy voice is not attractive. She starts singing and all seems well. Her  singing voice is reminiscent of Anastacia, This then leads into an overly long and winding build up to the next part  but it seems to go on forever. The chorus stars with some oohing and then another too quick and badly dictated line. It’s only after you are half way through the song do you actually get to the first proper verse/chorus progression. All of a sudden it ends again.

Iveta Mukuchyan, although born in Armenia, spent most of her life in Hamburg. She returned to Armenia in 2009 and started studying jazz. She participated in the fourth season of Hay Superstar (Armenia’s version of Pop Idol) in 2009 coming in 5th place. However she returned to Germany in 2012, participating in of The Voice of Germany and opted to be in Xavier Naidoo’s team. Since leaving the show she has released solo material and been a featured artist on other singles too.

This was a video presentation so there are few clues as to the stage performance that might be offered or as to how well she can sing this live. The video does show Iveta in a number of different outfits which could work on stage and I love some of the body contour light shows at the end. The song takes far too long to get going and I think many people will get about 45 seconds into the song and give up and put the kettle on. If you can push through the pointless beginning parts there is a good song longing to push through. She will need a good set of backing singers to help her with the chorus and it will need some dynamic staging. I am not fully convinced she can be dynamic AND sing the song full out. This is a really bad song with a really good song waiting to come out. This leaves you feeling a bit odd and wondering if you have missed something. A lot of style and not much substance.

Will the Armenian diaspora and former Soviet voting be enough to get this through – possibly not. I’m not sure who else would vote for it apart from those compelled politically or genetically. This is in no way shape or form a Eurovision song. That said, I could see this as a good semi final 1 opener as it has that kind of winding up feeling but this might just set up the atmosphere for the other songs after it. If I had my way this would not make the final but if it does it won’t be troubling the left hand side.

ARTIST – Iveta Mukuchyan

SONG – LoveWave

MUSIC – Lilith Navasardyan, Levon Navasardyan

LYRICS – Iveta Mukuchyan, Stephanie Crutchfield

LATVIA

The Latvian Final was held on February 28th at the LTV Studios in Riga, hosted by Ketija Šenberga & Toms Grevinš (and, of course, interval entertainment from the Riga Beaver) Before the final there a series of heats and semi-finals to reach a final of 4. The winner, chosen by televoting/internet voting, was Justs singing the song “Heartbeat”.

The song is a pop/dance song with a minimalist backing track and performance style. The laid back backing track and almost non-existent performance means that you really focus on the words and tune of the song. It’s quite a predictable tune with some predictable rhymes but isn’t performed confidently and will a lot of attack. He is backed by a pulsating light show n the video wall which beats in time with the backing track. Justs himself is dressed very causally in jeans, shirt and tan leather jacket. He also has look of 90’s George Michael about him in the hair and stubble department, although will a slightly youth ful and innocent charm.. His voice is not bad although he really pushes hard to get the chorus out powerfully. His gurning can be a little off-putting especially as his face looks drastically different when singing softly.

Justs Sirmais is a real newcomer to Latvia never mind the world of Eurovision. It seems that he started singing in the school choir and studied a number of different musical style and genres. He has a number of projects under his belt and is currently studying to become a jazz and pop vocal teacher. It seems that this is the first notable event in Justs career! One thing that is notable is that he has a good team around him. The song is written by last year’s Latvian entrant Aminata and Justs also seems to be signed to her record label.

This is a very strong song with a very powerful yet pared down performance. The fact that he is stood by himself with no trickery, props or fancy visuals that reminds you that this is a SONG contest. He’s got an interesting look but he could possibly spend a few euros buying some new trousers. But n a recent interview, Justs announced that there would be a whole new look and staging for Eurovision using the same tam at 2015. This slightly fills me with dread as I liked the understated performance as it was. I am just hoping they don't go too over the top because then it will a) be too much and b) look like everything else.

Latvia finds itself in the first half of semi 2 and part of me thinks this would be a great show opener – it would probably put most of the songs behind it in the shade straight away. They have a number of neighbourly and friendly countries in that semi so I would say qualification was almost a given. With a favourable draw in the final this could well be a solid top 5 and viable winner

ARTIST – Justs
SONG – Heartbeat
MUSIC – Aminata Savadogo
LYRICS – Aminata Savadogo

NORWAY

The Norwegian Final was held on February 27th at the Spektrum in Oslo, hosted by Silya Nymoen & Kåre Magnus Bergh. The winner was chosen in two rounds of televoting - the first to select the top 4 and the second to select the winner. Going to Sweden is Agnete with the song “Icebreaker”

The song is literally a song of two halves. The verses are quite atmospheric and hs a feel of Loreen’s “Eurphoria” abou them. It’s slightly dark and mysterious and interesting to listen to. The chorus kicks in and the whole tempo, emphasis and style of the song changes as it becomes a beat-driven r’n’b ballad with a repetitive chorus. This continues throughout the song during the performance Agnete is stood on top on a huge plinth which dismounts by using the spiral staircase around the outside. When the lighting changes we also see a female dancer inside. However one cannot deny that she looks stunning with her long blond hair and her champagne coloured two-piece ball gown.

Although only 21 years old, Agnete is almost a veteran at this game. She first came into the public eye in 2008 when as lead singer of The Blacksheeps, they won Melodi Grand Prix Junior 2008 with their song "Oro jaska, beana". The song went on to win Song of the Year at the Spellemannprisen Awards and peaked at number-one on the Norwegian singles chart. Three years later the band entered adult Melodi Grand Prix with the song "Dance Tonight" but came second. Last year she took part in he Danish version on Strictly Come Dancing “ Skal vi danse” and went on to win.

I find this song highly irritating. I often joke that some songs sound like the writer or the chorus and the writer of the verse wrote their parts in separate rooms but this actually feels like this is true. Either that or the writer shoved two separate songs together in the hope of making one good song. The parts separately are not bad by put them together and it sounds odd. There is no flow, no proper build up and no cohesion that takes you step by step throughout the song and I personally think this is a huge issue. I also find the words of the chorus quite laughable “I’ll be your icebreaker, when your stuck in frozen water” – you know, just in case none of you have worked out what ice is *really* made of…! In terms of stage show, it ALMOST works. I have a huge issue with Agnete leaving the audience’s view whilst she descends the stairs. If anything, I would prefer if they turned the plinth round so you could actually see her get down but still see the dancer inside.

Norway find themselves in a good situation as they are drawn in the second half of semi 2 but in a draw full of quite catchy uptempo songs it could struggle. Without a huge hook or story to get them through I don’t think they have a chance of winning. It might just scrape a qualifying place but not much more than that.

ARTIST – Agnete

SONG – Icebreaker

MUSIC – Agnete Johnsen, Gabriel Alares, Ian Curnow

LYRICS – Agnete Johnsen, Gabriel Alares, Ian Curnow

SLOVENIA

The Slovenian Final was held on February 27th at the RTVSLO TV Studios in Ljubljana, hosted by Klemen Slakonja. The expert jury selected the top 2 songs and the winning song was solely chosen by teletoving. The winning song was “Blue and red” sung by ManuElla.

The song is a country-pop number in the style of early Taylor Swift. With a title like Blue and Red you can imagine that this gives you some clues to the styling and lighting of the piece. The use of some black and white shots is quite eye catching but it might be nice to seep out the red and blue parts to emphasise the title once again. ManuElla is backed by 2 female backing singers and a small band who also help with backing vocals. The chorus has a good structure and the pace and key suits her voice well. The chorus is less impressive, especially as the first part is her yodelling for almost no reason. This part is also repeated twice at the end which is a very bad way to finish. She moves around quite well and have a good connection with the camera. The major talking point is the ‘costume change’ which is not very impressive at all, but does answer the question why her white military outfit looks a really bad fit.

Manuela Brečko was only 16 when she entered her first major TV talent competition “Bitke talentov” although she did not reach the latter rounds. Five years later she entered “Misija Evrovizija”, in the hopes of becoming Slovenia’s entrant to Eurovision in 2012, however she was eliminated just before the grand final. Since then she has released a number of songs, including duets and collaborations, and now it looks like her Eurovision journey is back on track.

This song and performance needs a lot of work. The verses are really good and full of promise but by the time the yodelling has stopped you have lost all interest. Making the verses punchier in the backing track and quieter during the yeah-yeah-yeah parts might make it more interesting.  Manuella has a nice enough voice and her accent has a nice lilt to it. I can see what they are trying to do in terms of the staging but it needs to be much more bombastic and over the top or they need to make it a dreamy “Love Story” set up to it.  Although it doesn’t need to be said, they need to lose the awful costume change or at least re-figure it so that is has an impact. Luckily for Manuella, the second half of semi 2 is turning out to be a real hodge-podge of different singing styles and song genres but they also have a handful of neighbours voting too. With a standout set up she could scrape through to the final.

ARTIST – ManuElla

SONG – Blue and red

MUSIC - Marjan Hvala, Manuella Brečko, Leon Oblak

LYRICS – Marjan Hvala, Manuella Brečko, Leon Oblak

HUNGARY

The Hungarian Final was held on February 27th at the MTV Studios in Budapest, hosted by Csilla Tatár & Levente Harsányi. Before the final there were 3 quarter finals and 2 semi finals to whittle down the long list of 30 down to a final of 8. The winner was chosen through two rounds of voting. In the first round the jury’s top 4 were chosen, whilst in the second round televoters would chose which of the 4 would go to Sweden. The winning song was “Pioneer” sung by Freddie.

The song is effectively a power ballad but has a very drum filled backing track, emphasised by the drummer/dancer with him on stage.  The verses are quite bland and they flow into a whistling infused bridge which finally leads into a very strong and powerful chorus. Freddie, along with the dancer, is joined on stage by 3 backing singers who have light up sticks – possibly to mirror what the dancer has. Freddie certainly hasn’t dressed up for the occasion – or attempted to brush his hair – and it doesn’t give of the best of first impressions.

Freddie (real name Gábor Alfréd Fehérvári ) took part in “Risng Star”,the Hungarian version of Israel’s “HaKokhav HaBa” which took place in 2014/15. Freddie came a respectable 4th which was enough for him to get a record deal and start releasing his own music. His first song “Mary Joe” was a domestic summer hit in 2015 and his winning song Pioneer is only his second single release.

This is really quite bland. The chorus is very strong and has a good melody and I also understand that the song is trying to tell a story but there are too many parts that just don’t work. The whistling part in the middle is so affected and fake it sounds awful and certainly doesn’t fit in with the storytelling aspect of the song. Freddie’s voice is too scratchy for this song- I want to hear the words and most of the time I can’t. Although I understand that the drummer is trying to emphasise the drum beat of the song, he is quite off-putting, especially when he doesn’t drum half the time! This will struggle as it is in the first half of semi 1 and as there are already some strong songs in the second half, I don’t see this qualifying at all.

ARTIST - Freddie

SONG - Pioneer

MUSIC - Borbála Csarnai

LYRICS - Borbála Csarnai

FINLAND

The Finnish Final was held on February 27th at the YLE TV Studios in Helsinki, hosted by Roope Salminen & Krista Siegfrids. Before the final there were 3 semi-finals each containing 6 songs with 3 qualifying in each. The winner was chosen by 10 juries (50%) & televoting and online voting (50%). Going to Stockholm is Sandhja and “Sing it away”.

The song is a modern pop song with dance, almost disco, touches. The structure of the song is similar to Sigma’s “Changes” or Major Lazer’s “Lean On” although is very different to these in style. The song starts quite slow but become much more upbeat in the chorus. The chorus is very repetitive – too repetitive almost – and most of it seems to be carried by the backing singers. In some ways it feels a little incongruous as the first verse sets you up thinking you are going in one direction but you are taken to another.  She has a nice set up with the DJ and 4 backing singers – who she needs! The act is highly choreographed but is quite simplistic in its dance moves and the ending is a bit too “High School Musical” for my liking.

Sandhja has released a couple of singles in Finland over the past 3 years as well as an album called “Gold” however it seems as though these were released with little sales success but did get some radio play. Sandhja is half Fininsh, half Guyanese/Indian and has a very striking look. Singing hasn’t always been her profession as she is a trained nurse.

The UMK format has been relatively successful for choosing Finish entries, but I think this is their worst choice to date. Sandhja is an OK singer but she seems a bit out of her depth singing this one, and is very obvious during the chorus. She also gurns a lot and pulls some very negative faces when singing. I also think she could wear something much more colourful. The song makes no real impact on you whatsoever which is not good news being that they are in the first half of semi 1. It must also be noted that although she won the final, she only came 3rd in the Finnish televote – it was the jury vote that sealed her win. I can only finish by re-iterating how disappointed I am with this entry and I am 90% sure this is a non-qualifier.

ARTIST – Sandhja

SONG – Sing it away

MUSIC - Thomas Burchia, Conrad Hensel, Anna Leyne

LYRICS – Thomas Burchia, Conrad Hensel, Anna Leyne