The music video is set in what looks like an old disused warehouse or dock. Although the first few shots may make it seem like it is going to be another one in black and white you soon discover that this isn't quite the case and is more down to a muted colour palette. At the start he is by himself but soon there is quite the ensemble joining in his dance routine. There are also some shots of him doing slow motion jumps in the air and light projections on his face. It's very noticeable that the shot selections that it is forever moving and that it changes from setting to setting within a matter of seconds.
Vincent is dressed quite casually throughout in tight black jeans and tshirt with either a black leather jacket on a larger cream coat. His dancers are all wearing black and you don't really see their faces. It would not surprise me if his Eurovision stage show was going to be like this as it seems to come very easy to him to perform like this, although he will have to mind singing and dancing at the same time. It is quite clear from the video that Vincent is quite the mover and if he can sing and dance like this at Eurovision it is certainly going to stand out.
This is quite a modern uptempo number which might be mistaken as being the Swedish entry or something that Justin Timberlake might have got his hands on first. The song starts straight into verse one but has a pared back soulful feel to it with just a piano on the track. As he moves into the short pre-chorus the beat starts to creep into the song just in time for the chorus to take off. This has a very bassy feel with almost a disco tinge to it. There are lots of syncopations and missing beats which keep you on your toes. We flow nicely into the second verse but the following pre-chorus is much more low key with the first art almost acapella. The beat does eventually come back again and we then got backingot a fully fledged chorus. We then have a short instrumental part which a whispered part, which seems a little odd with only 40 seconds left to go, which then rolls into a shortened chorus. This feels like it should be the end but there is a short piano outro which doesn't really finish the song off well and is going to be difficult to perform with the crowd noise on top of it.
This certainly gets points for being upbeat, commercial and contemporary for modern music radio. The chorus is quite catchy and has plenty of oh-oh-oh earworms as well. It builds up nicely and each different section of the song has it's own definite feel and nothing feels superfluous - apart from one part...I do however have reservations about the end of the song. Unless there is some kind of visual clue, either through the dancing or the lighting or something it's going to be have to be made clear that there is still a small amount of the song left to go. If I had my way I'd just get rid of it and make the ending much bigger and memorable.
Although this is a great pop song, I wonder that in a year like this does it stand out enough to make its own way? This song is in the first half of semi two and I think this might be at a disadvantage. Once you've been through all 18 songs, which span a wide range on genres, does this one stay in your head? Does this one compel you to vote? This one is right on the cusp and most of its fate will depend on the staging and how well this is performed on the night.
Artist - Vincent Bueno
Song - Alive
Composer - Artur Aigner, Vincent Bueno, Felix van Göns, David Yang
Lyricists - Vincent Bueno
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