SERBIA

The Serbian Final was held on February 15th at the RTS TV Studios in Belgrade, hosted by Maja Nikolic. Before the final there was a show to offer places in the final for 'wildcards'. The winner was chosen by SMS voting (50%) and an "expert" jury (50%). The winning entry was Bojana Stamenov with "Ceo svet je moj" (The whole world is mine)

Back in September, RTS announced they would be back at Eurovision in 2015 after a year away. It then announced that the tree songs in their national final would be written by Vladimir Graić, one of the peple behind their winning entry 'Motlitva. This year saw Serbia choose between 3 acts - two chosen internally, one via the wildcard round, and the songs were then premiered in their selection show.

This is a song of two halves.- the first half is more your stereotypical Balkan ballad with a smattering of drumming whilst the second half is more big diva disco. The start of the song is quite quiet and slowly builds up to the change in the middle of the song. This is almost its problem. The end of the song is a real anti-climax. The genre change is really ear catching and you expect the song to grow and get bigger and bigger but it never quite reaches the heights you expect. When you get tot he end you feel a little bit let down it's almost like it need more repetition of the chorus during the second half and less wailing about.

Bojana is no stranger to competitions. In 2012 she made the final of "Ja imam talenat! - the Serbian 'got talent' show, coming in a respectable fourth. Since then she has appeared on a number of songs as a featuring artist and has worked in children's theatre. She has a powerful singing voice and seems very confident on stage. She certainly gives the song gusto in terms of passion but very much dislike how she has been treated on stage. The dancers are annoying, the use of the 'dress' and the fact that the lighting hides her.

I hope that RTS has seen that the song has been seen in a favourable light but that so much about the performance lets it down. I'd like to see Bojana more free and not tied by the stupid dust sheet she wears OR by the dancers that surround her. I know she's a big girl but that didn't stop Hera Bjork moving about a bit and interacting with the crowd. The backing track needs to be beefed up much more in the last minute or even rearranged to make it more powerful. The show needs to be much more active and interactive with the crowd.

This really isn't as good as it first seems. Bojana is much better than the song and the more you listen to it the more cumbersome it becomes. The tune of the chorus is pretty memorable but isn't repeated enough to make an impression. I have the feeling that this has all the hallmarks of an 'all time fan favourite' or OGAE-wank that doesn't get out of the semi final.

ARTIST - Bojana Stamenov

SONG - Ceo svet je moj (The whole world is mine)

MUSIC - Vladimir Graić, Leontina Vukomanović

LYRICS - Vladimir Graić, Leontina Vukomanović

2015 show 7

Plenty for me to talk about this week - including not knowing what day it is any more....

On today's podcast I look back at the Icelandic, Italian and Serbian entries selected last week and wonder if there is any substance behind the hype (i.e. have we found a winner - no).

I voice my disappointment at the quality of the songs in this years' Norwegian MGP - and the speed of my internet connection - give valid reasons why I've gone off Montenegro, whilst I give very random reasons for why I like this year's German wildcard winner.

There is also music from Malta, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain

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ITALY

The Italian song was selected on February 14th during the 65th Sanremo Msuic Festival held at the Teatro Ariston in Sanremo and presented by Arisa, Emma, Rocío Muñoz Morales and Carlo Conti. The winner of Sanremo was selected using a mixture of a popular jury, expert jury and televote. The winning act was Il Volo and it was confirmed a few days later that they would sing their winning song "Grande Amore" (Great love).

In a similar way to many of the last few years, RAI used Sanremo to choose, or identify a potential entrant/song. For this year's s Eurovision selection process, the winning song and entrant of the 'big artist' section of the Sanremo contest would have 'first refusal' of the offer of representing the country at Eurovision. In the press conference after the final night the group confirmed that they had accepted the invitation to Vienna.

The song is a stereotypically Italian dramatic ballad sang in an pop-operatic style. It is very orchestral and classic but its style is a little bit on the old fashioned side - even taking into account the group's age. The style of song is in the fashion of modern classical acts such as Il Divo and Collabro who won 'Britain's Got Talent'. In Eurovision terms, this style is not unfamiliar with Bonaparti.lv and Amaury Vassili taking opera to the stage in the last decade. The song has a good structure and grows on you listen after listen and has some very lovely lilting, lyrical chord changes and dramatic orchestral high points.

The trio, Il Volo, consists of Piero Barone, Ignazio Bochetto and Gianluca Ginoble who are all under the age of 23. Although they are young they are very experienced in terms of recording and performing as soloists and as a group. They have performed in many countries throughout the world publicising their first album back in 2010. There is a real discrepancy between the audio and the visuals and it takes you a while to work out that these young guys are singing in that style.

A lot needs to be done to this to be made Eurovision ready. Firstly, it needs to be shortened as it is currently about 40 seconds too long. Curtailing the intro, instrumental breaks and possibly shortening the first verse would possibly put pay to this with minimal faff. It could even be sped up a little bit. They will need to make sure the backing track has the orchestra on full belt - volume level 11! Much will have to be worked on behind the scenes to make this into a show. The boys will have to do much better than walking back and forwards, fist pumping, pointing and standing with a wide gait. They need a big background to go with this - not just pictures of statues. Part of me feels a film of an orchestra behind will make it feel like you are watching something substantial and operatic - this may well go down well in Vienna!

The problem with this is that to many this will feel like a gimmick and almost jokey. The tune isn't quite as instant as other songs in terms of being a memorable but the style of song will stand out. Annoyingly I feel this song would benefit from being in a semi-final then final as multiple listens makes you more aware and more appreciative of them and the song. This almost belongs in the 'who knows' camp because it could easily sway one way or the other. Will depend if other operatic songs join the mix AND if it gets a favourable draw.

ARTIST - Il Volo

SONG - Grande Amore (Great Love)

MUSIC - Francesco Boccia, Ciro Esposito

LYRICS - Francesco Boccia Ciro Esposito

A video of their reprise can also be found on the RAI website - 

http://www.rai.tv/dl/RaiTV/programmi/media/ContentItem-40153a0a-69dc-410b-aa24-34d1141db87e-sanremo15.html

ICELAND

The Icelandic Final was held on February 14th at Háskólabíó in Reykjavik, hosted by Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir, Guðrún Dís Emilsdóttir & Salka Sól Eyfeld. There were 2 rounds of voting - the first to select the top 2 and the second to select the winner. In the first round the voting was 50% televoting & 50% "expert" jury while in the second round the winner was chosen by televoting alone. The winning song was "Unbroken" performed by María Ólafsdóttir.

This year's Söngvakeppnin followed a similar process to previous editions. Before the final there were 2 semi finals of which 3 songs qualified from each plus an extra 'wildcard' participant. During the semis, all songs were sung in Icelandic but for the final, songs had to be sing in the language to be performed at Eurovision and as a result of this 5 of the 7 finalists changed to English.

The song is a earthy, hippy-ish ballad which seems to have a lot of influences. It has shades of Florence and the Machine with tones of stereotypical Disney ballads. In some ways it is a very simple song. The start is a little quiet and seemingly low for Maria. If she has nerves on the night this might knock her off before she's even began. The 'letting go' earworm - no not 'let IT go' - is a great one to kick straight into the chorus. The chorus is a little garbled but the tune is quite memorable.

Maria looks like a little Icelandic pixie and has a voice to match. She certainly looks the part and sings the song really well. her English is great although she has that very slight hint of a Scandinavian accent which makes it feel even more cute and pixie-ish. She shows great confidence on the stage, especially at the start when she is seemingly on her own and engages well with the camera which will be key to getting the votes from home.

As a stage act, this really works - the styling, the light boxes, the dancers, the outfits, even the lights in the audience -  but it will need to be ramped up a lot to look good on the stage in Vienna. They need to take the team that they have and make it bigger, more engaging and of course make better use of the increased space they will have in Vienna. That said they don't want to take it to 'Gravity' proportions and I think keeping it simple and ethereal will be the key.

It certainly has an anthemic quality to it and would not sound out of place in the radio. Plus Maria herself will appeal to young girls and will provide some much needed eye candy for the boys. I think this is a certain qualifier, even more so if it becomes the SF2 end song (having been pre drawn in the second half already) I think this is a very strong contender

 and will almost definitely bring Iceland it's best result this millennium but could this be their first win? It's looking a real possibility.

ARTIST - María Ólafsdóttir

SONG - Unbroken

MUSIC - Ásgeir Orri Ásgeirsson, Pálmi Ragnar Ásgeirsson, Sæþór Kristjánsson

LYRICS - Ásgeir Orri Ásgeirsson, Pálmi Ragnar Ásgeirsson, Sæþór Kristjánsson, María Ólafsdóttir

2015 show 6

Another week, another load of Eurovision news.

Lots to talk about this week including:
 - Dansk Melodi Snooze Prix
 - the shame of being part Irish
 - not liking Eurovision being 'political'
 - what I *really* think about Australia being in the final of ESC.

The first song is dedicated to the great people at the brilliant Eurodummies podcast who 'helped' me name my unborn child... If you have any other alternative suggestions - let me know !!!!


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DENMARK

The Danish Final was held at the Gigantium in Aalborg on February 7th, hosted by Esben Bjerre & Jacob Riising. The winner was chosen by  5 regional "expert" juries (50%) & SMS voting (50%). The winning song was "The way you are" by Anti Social Media.

This year's Dansk Melodi Grand Prix followed a similar process to those of previous years although instead of a simple jury panel the 'experts' were split regionally 5 ways. Then the public votes were split and points allocated based on percentages, as in the Melodifestivalen final, which ended up with a close and exciting end result.

The song is a 60's tinged pop boyband song, in a similar vein to something McFly might have done years ago. The tempo of the song is quite gentle and doesn't really pack the punch of a standard Eurovision entry. This all said there is a definite structure to the song and a lot of repetition and has quite a simple melody which you can find yourself humming along to at a moments notice. But this is not a typical Eurovision song - in a bad way. It doesn't really have much character, hook or oomph to it. It is the proverbial vanilla and the antidote to anything Conchita-ish.

The band and whole act doesn't seem to fit the song. Their name suggests that they should be angry, grungy, a bit wild - yet they look far too well behaved and conformist and it makes you wonder if you have missed something. Besides that, the set up (as is) is quite distracting. A lot of focus is put on the lead singer however this can make it at times feel more like a solo performance. His vocal ability is quite good and seemed to be able to interact with the crowd and the camera quite well. There is also the distraction of the two female backing singers. They take up not only a lot of song time but a lot of camera time and you start to wonder who is *really* the star of the show here.

They won't do much to the song but they need to do a hell of a lot of work to the performance quality. Basically 'the band' is totally redundant as all they did was play their instruments and move about a bit - only one of them used a microphone. Considering the song relies heavily on backing vocals they either need to start singing or they need to be got rid of. The backing singers need to be much more co-ordinated and better placed on the stage. The back drop needs to be much stronger and NOT to end with the title on the back wall.... If there is one thing about the song I can be certain of and that is you can't really miss what the song is called.

The problem with this year's Dansk Melodi Grand Prix was that all 10 songs were utter rubbish and I would be able to find fault with any song they would have put through. But this song is just so nondescript it makes me scratch my head with wonder how it won (in retrospect, the massive jury wank helped). It's so poor it even makes me think "Talking to you" and "All night Long" are actually not a bad songs. Plus, when you look at their draw in SF1 you could see this drowning in a eastern European sea of craziness and sink without a trace. Right now this has no chance in hell of qualifying based on the fact that the countries yet to select in SF1 only have to choose something half decent to be better. If it does qualify it will be bottom 3 in the final.

ARTIST - Anti Social Media

SONG - The way you are

MUSIC - Remee S. Jackman, Chief 1

LYRICS - Remee S. Jackman

2015 show 5

Another week closer to Eurovision!

I look back at the last week in Eurovision land which includes the finals in Cyprus and Switzerland. Not much going on in terms of song selection but lots of 'preparatory' news this week with many broadcasters setting dates and making announcements about future announcements!
I also take a sneak peak at the 60th anniversary show (which looks really interesting!) as well as some surprising breaking news regarding next years Eurovision!!!!

Music comes from Cyprus, Norway, Switzerland and Germany


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CYPRUS

The Cypriot Final was held on February 1st at the PIK TV Studios in Nicosia, hosted by Antri Karontini. Before the final there were 8 shows to whittle down the initial 50+ entries to a final of just 6. The winner was chosen by an "expert" jury (50%) and televoting (50%) which ran for the week before the final The winning song was "One thing I should have done" by Giannis Karagiannis.

The selection process this year are very different to those seen in previous years to choose Cyprus's entry. The core judging panel consisted of Elena Patroklou, Alex Panayi, Despina Olympiou and Tasos Trifonos and you needed at least three yeses to pas through. The next stage called "Eurochallenge" saw the 4 judges joined by Christer Björkman and Dimitris Kontopoulos. and in the final they were joined by Nicola Caligiore and Bruno Berberes. The elongated process meant you heard the finalists several times before the final - therefore getting to know the songs AND the artists

The song is a soft ballad in the ilk of "Me and my guitar" or "Stronger every minute" - the latter was written my Mike Connaris who also had a hand in this year's entry. The song is a very thoughtful and heartfelt song which has a very gentle and endearing quality. The chorus has a memorable tune and is repeated just enough to make a mark without becoming repetitive. The acappella part in the middle is a real stand out point and can imagine the arena either cheering support or even singing along at this point.

Giannis has a very interesting look and will appeal with his slightly shy-geek look. He also has a look that doesn't necessarily say 'singer' and so seeing him sing has a slight charm and surprise as you would not expect him to sound like that.. His voice is quite small and gentle, which suits the song and he has been very consistent throughout all the rounds, performing at a good level each time.

The song works as it is and needs very little doing apart from some production tweaks. It requires simple staging, simple production and simple backdrop and from that point of view they will need to think very carefully about the story they want to tell with the visual images. I also think Giannis's geeky look needs to stay, but may also require a little bit of tweaking depending on other visuals. The black and white used at the start during the final was an excellent touch. Although the song needs no dancers I'm not sure about backing singers. During the auditions process it was just Giannis and a backing track and it felt more sincere and clear.

I think this song will stand out and will appeal to the archetypal BBC Radio 2 listener although it also has that singer/songwriter youth appeal to it too. As long as it is not surrounded by songs that over power it I think this could do well. Although possibly not a winner (but I said that about the Common Linnets) I think this will qualify and will score a good enough placing to make sure Cyprus comes back again next year.

ARTIST - Giannis Karagiannis

SONG - One thing I should have done

MUSIC - Mike Connaris, Giannis Karagiannis

LYRICS - Mike Connaris, Giannis Karagiannis

SWITZERLAND

The Swiss Final was held on January 31st at the Bodensee Arena in Kreuzlingen, hosted by Sven Epiney. The winner was chosen by televoting (50%) and an "expert" jury (50%). The winner was Mélanie René with the song "Time to shine".

Previous to the final there was an extensive search for songs and artists by each of the national TV areas as well as an open internet qualification. This was followed by an 'expert check' round where 18 acts were reduced to a final of 6. During the final, each act not only performed their song for Eurovision but also a non-eurovision cover song of their choice

The song is a modern ballad with strong beat. The start of the song is quite dull in terms of backing and it is hard to see where the tune sits. At times, it feels so low that you wonder if she is singing in tune at all. The verses are a little freeform and the phrases skim over the 4/4 beat which makes it a little uneasy on the ear and hard to predict and therefore hard to engage with. The chorus, however, is very strong and really shows of Melanie's range and rich vibrato. She is backed by three backing singers and a small band including a guitarist who rocks out during the solo.

Melanie is a relative newcomer although she has competed in many competitions and has studied and performed abroad. She has a very strong and distinctive tone to her voice and the fact that she writes her own stuff means she can use her voice to the best of her advantage. Her diction is also very clear and doesn't really show any kind of accent when she sings. She also has an interesting look about her but could do with a more flattering dress.

I think the backing music needs more work and needs to have something else to catch the ear in the verses. Obviously, changes need to be made to the staging of the song. I quite like the backing singers and think they should be kept as prominent on the Eurovision stage - especially if they keep their interpretive arm movements. It would be nice to see Melanie is something a bit more sassier and in keeping with the feeling of the song, although the white did look nice on her. They will probably keep in the guitar soloist as it may give her an excuse to rock out a bit

Although not the favourite going into the Swiss final, it was quite obvious that she was by far the best singer there. The song, although not bad, does lack in catchiness and immediacy and won't be crowned the winner in May. She is much better than the song. It's a song that is too punchy to be a flag waver but not quick enough to be a foot stomper. I think juries are more likely to give HER points for vocal ability rather than the song.

ARTIST - Mélanie René

SONG - Time to shine

MUSIC - Mélanie René

LYRICS - Mélanie René

FRANCE

The French song was surprisingly unveiled on January 23rd via an announcement on the France 2 website. However before the day was done, other snippets of the song had leaked onto the internet and the broadcaster was forced to release a full length clip. The song, called "N'oubliez pas" (Do not forget) will be sung by Lisa Angell.

The only firm announcement regarding France's participation in this year's Eurovision was made way back in August as it was revealed that the contest would move from France 3,  where the contest has been shown since 1999, back to France 2. But no information was made or garnished from this fact regarding song or artist selection. However, it seems like the host broadcaster was busy making plans with very little fuss at all.

The song is very much a French ballad and in some ways feels quite old fashioned in style. The motif of the song seems to be that of World War One, although many parallels have been drawn to the recent situation regarding the shootings in Paris.The first minute is very slow to get going and it is not until the second minute does the song starts to get into its stride. The verses are a little pedestrian - the first verse seems to go on forever. The chorus is much more memorable but is not repeated enough in the structure of the song to make a mark in your mind. The third minute feels like an over extended bridge. You feel that at any minute it will go back to the chorus but never does and you find your self at the end of the song feeling like you've missed something.

Lisa Angell is little known outside her homeland. According to Spotify, she is France's version of Susan Boyle - due to her becoming famous in her forties by appearing on a French talent show. Her most successful album was released last year and was a covers album of songs from the 30s, 40s and 50s. As this is a recorded clip it is tricky to judge how well she can perform the song live or how it will come across. It seems as though she has experience on singing in TV shows and in bars and clubs but will she be able to fill a Eurovision stage?

I am hoping that this is just a rough copy of the song we will hear in Vienna. There is so much that needs to be done to this song to fulfil its potential. The last minute needs to have an extra chorus and the starting verse needs to be shaved down a tad. The odd big note or key change would not go amiss either. Judging by the sentiment of the song, this is going will have come across in the backdrop and performance. It may needs backing singers but I don't feel that dancers would be at all suitable for the song. Lisa will also have to have a great connection with the camera. I hope she does a live version of this soon.

France have had a very haphazard history in Eurovision over the past couple of decades and maybe they are thinking that going back to what they do best will stand them in good stead. However I fear that it will come across as too old fashioned, even for the juries, and will end up doing little better than last year. Maybe if they get the tone of the song and ambiance right it might strike a chord but there is very little change of seeing this even on the left hand side of the scoreboard.

ARTIST - Lisa Angell

SONG - N'oubliez pas (Do not forget)

MUSIC - Robert Goldman

LYRICS - Robert Goldman