SWITZERLAND

The Swiss song and act was unveiled on March 4th with the release of the music video. Before the release, there were no clues as to who or what the entry might be. Going to Rotterdam is Gjon Muharremaj - professionally known as Gjon's Tears - with the song "Répondez-moi" (Answer me)

The video is filmed in black and white and seems to fit in with the low key instrumentation and emotional lyrics and tune of the song. For quite a chunk of the song we have shots of Gjon's head and shoulders, although for some of this he is being rained or snowed on! I could imagine quite a honed down show where the focus is tight on him then slowly gets bigger. When he is being more active you can see him walking or sitting in different rooms, walking past people doing different things such as reading, sleeping or arguing. Near the end he enters a white room where lots of people are frozen in tableau all doing rather random poses and dressed very individually.

The first verse is quite long but sets up the pattern and phrasing of the song. There is lots of repetition, near rhyme and voice modulations that keeps it familiar yet interesting at the same time. The chorus carries on this aural feel but this time with some oh-oh-oh ing and ends with some pretty impressive high notes. We then have the second verse which follows the pattern from before with another chorus. This time there is almost a false ending with a short lull before he starts the final rendition of the chorus but this time the backing singers take the lead whilst Gjon does more of the high notes. The song is very lightly orchestrated with only a pulsing beat present in the second half of the song. It is certainly a slow build but once you get past that you find that it builds nicely to a suitable and memorable finish.

Even in an apparent year of ballads, this one sticks out a mile - even more so when put in the context of its place in the semi final. First of all it is in French and I write there are only two other non-english songs in its semi final, which also looks rather female heavy. I think they need to emphasise the individual qualities of this song and hope that Gjon can pull of an epic vocal show. I don't expect to see any dancing or dancers but he will need a batch of backing singers. His voice in particular is very haunting and at times it almost doesn't feel like he is speaking French, that said the chorus has now taught me some wonderful French idioms which I might have to use somehow!
As much as I have time for this song, I know that the world of Eurovision can be quite a fickle one. Maybe the song is a lit too stylised and the story/message might also be lost on viewers without hints. Part of me feels that a similar fate to "Limits" could be on the cards for this song, even more so because the song is not in English. I think I might end up slightly heartbroken if this happens!

Artist - Gjon's Tears
Song - Répondez-moi (Answer me)
Composers - Xavier Michel, Gjon Muharremaj, Alizé Oswald, Jeroen Swinnen
Lyricists - Xavier Michel, Gjon Muharremaj, Alizé Oswald, Jeroen Swinnen

SWITZERLAND

The Swiss entry was unveiled on March 7th with the video being premiered on youtube. Although the Swiss delegation had made public some of the acts and songs in the running, no actual news was given out about the selected act or song until the day of the announcement. Representing Switzerland is “Deutschland sucht den Superstar” winner Luca Hänni with the song “She got me”

The concept of the video fits very well with the threads of the song. He is in a bar and is interacting with the different people in there and they all end up dancing with each other. Many of the females are dressed in latin dance dresses that one might expect on Strictly Come Dancing whilst the men are dressed in shirts and loose bow ties in a kind of tango-esque fashion. The dancers certainly emphasise the rhythms of the song and also encourage you to feel the song itself. The whole thing is also shot quite dimly with a very slight browny-sepia tinge that gives the piece a vintage feel or a sense that the place is rough and slightly sordid.

The song is a mid tempo latino number with a slight nod to the East in its orchestration. It starts off quite sparse but in the pre-chorus the pace is built up by the call and response between Luca and his backing singers. The click track goes into double time during the main chorus which then leads into the beefy instrumental. This order is gone though again and is concluded with more call and response with his backing singers. The mood drops with a softer rendition of the chorus, leading into another instrumental and a final chorus. Considering the beginning of the song was quite formulaic, it goes a little bit too free form at the end and loses its flow.

I can imagine a modified version of the video would be a great staging but this would probably require more than the 6 people on stage to create. He definitely needs a good batch of male singers to create the call and response parts. However I would also say that this sounds very highly processed and with all the singing and dancing it might be too easy for him to get too carried away. The song itself lends more than a whiff of Fuego and Despacito and this familiarity could work either way.

In a semi jam-packed with ballads this number will definitely be a much needed injection of fun, rhythm and fun to the proceedings. Also its neighbours Austria, Germany and Italy can vote in this semi so its route out into the final is pretty much guaranteed barring a vocal disaster. It’s a good song, not one of my faves but stands out really well.

ARTIST –  Luca Hänni

SONG – She got me

MUSIC -  Laurell Barker, Mac Frazer, Luca Hänni, Jon Hällgren, Lukas Hällgren

LYRICS - Laurell Barker, Mac Frazer, Luca Hänni, Jon Hällgren, Lukas Hällgren