RUSSIA

The Russian song was released on March 12th via the premiere of the video on the C1R channel and and available to download the next day. On March 2nd the broadcaster had announced that punk-rave band Little Big had been internally selected and the song would be known in due course. Their entry is called "Uno" (One)

The setting of this song is very simple and although this might lack imagination it does mean lifting this hook line and sinker onto the Eurovision stage would have been very easy indeed. Sonya and Ilich are centre stage with thee backing singers on one side, a keyboardist behind them and a dancer to the other side. They are all dressed very individually, all have their own microphones and spend most of their time looking down the camera and there is not very much interacting at all. There are some dance moves for the instrumentals and the chorus which would have gone down a storm.

The song as synthy-latino feel stretching to the fact that the chorus is a list of numbers in Spanish. After a small piano intro Sonya and Ilich take it in turns to sing the lines in verse 1. A beat is introduced during the pre-chorus and then goes straight into the repetitive chorus. This is followed by a dance break filled with synth sounds. Verse 2 is just Ilich by himself and is almost more spoken than sung. We then hear the pre chorus and chorus twice through. The song then quitenes back down to just piano with Sonya singing the last line of the chorus on repeat before beefing up once more for 2 more choruses. The song then sounds like it is about to go for a third repetition but stops abruptly instead

A couple of years ago, Little Big had a viral hit with their dance along song "Skibidi" (and the video challenge this then inspired) and their Eurovision song fits in well with this legacy. This is certainly a 'Eurovision song' with the odd looks to camera, strange outfits, dance routine and repetitive lyrics. I think that people watching this would see this as the stereotypical fun and kitschy Eurovision song and would vote for it because of that. I think the juries may have been more split about it. Some will've seen this as a 'millennial' entry and know that this is the kind of thing that goes viral but some may have disliked the genre and their style of performance and looking more for something more 'grown up' and contemporary. Either way I think with the publicity of the contest under their belts this could have been a summer hit. Hopefully they will be asked back next year for some more fun !


Artist - Little Big
Song - Uno (one)
Composers - Ilia Prusikin, Viktor Sibrinin, Denis Tsukerman
Lyricists - Ilia Prusikin, Denis Tsukerman

RUSSIA

The Russian entry was unveiled on March 8th with the video being premiered on youtube. A month earlier it was revealed that 2015 runner up Sergey Lazarev would once again be representing the country. His song is called “Scream”.

The video is reminiscent of fairy and folk takes. The very start looks like a cross between the BBC2 show “Arena” titles and “In the night garden”. Although there are different actors in the scenes there is also the use of shadow puppetry, animations and slow motion camera work. In between these shots we see Sergey singing the song passionately. Thereare lots of fighting dragons, running from danger, swords and shield and saving maidens in distress. The whole thing is quite dark and mysterious which fits with the tone of the song.

The song is heavily orchestrated and it is very clear that the use of a proper orchestra in the recording gives this a highly emotional and dramatic feeling. The start is very small and quiet, the first verse being very understated, low in tone and almost talkative. This goes into the pre-chorus which is basically a staircase of notes, with the tune doing a set of scales up and down. Then starts the chorus which is basically the word ‘scream’ elongated over the whole sequence then repeated again, which is a little disappointing considering the amount of effort it has taken to get to this point. There is then another verse, pre-chorus and chorus followed by what almost feels like false finish. There is then a mini coda section where Sergey sings in unison with what sounds like himself and this part really sounds more interesting than everything that has gone before. He does a lat chorus by the harmonised singing keeps going. This idea should have been picked up earlier in the song instead of leaving it right at the end.

Overall I feel every so lightly disappointed at this entry. Although the music is beautiful and extremely well structured the lyrics are terribly underwhelming. In particular I find the fire/liar/drier rhyme rather strange and I think the phrasing is a little odd. It’s almost like they have picked key words, put them together in a way that makes a bit of sense but most of all has the most emphasis. But most of all, the one word chorus is a let down.

That all said, we know from his previous attempt at winning Eurovision, Sergey can sing and we also know he can cope very well indeed with intricate and complex staging so the whole package will provide a lot of unforgettable drama which might overshadow some of its lyrical misgivings.

This will qualify with no problem whatsoever but he needs to be warned that in a semi with plenty of male ballads he might have to up his game to make sure his entry is not diluted by everything around him. This is good but I am also equally disappointed at the same time.

ARTIST – Sergey Lazarev

SONG – Scream

MUSIC -  Philip Kirkorov, Dimitris Kontopoulos

LYRICS - Sharon Vaughn, Dimitris Kontopoulos