AUSTRIA 2021

The Austrian song was released on March 10th with its premiere play on Hitradio Ö3 followed by the video release online. Last year's representative Vincent Bueno had been reselected internally, as had his song., which is called "Amen"

The video mainly takes place in a number of different 'rooms'. There is some opening of doors which coincides with changes in the song. There is also a strange analogy going on with a crow which then morphs from a plain black crow to a multi-coloured one when Vincent finally escapes from his rooms and into the open air.

As you can probably tell from the pared down video the song is pretty straight forward too. The song starts off softly with piano and guitar backing. As the chorus starts the beat starts up and helps the chorus build from the rather sombre verse. This beat stays on during the second verse although his vocals are softer and breathy. I feel like this shouldn't quite work but actually helps the song keep its momentum. After this there is a short bridge which takes the beat away before the last rendition of the chorus. For this one though, Vincent sings the first bit slow and hushed before the beat comes in about this time with a choir helping with the chorus which feels like it is going for the big finish but finishes with Vincent singing the title of the song as the backing fades away,

Bueno started dancing at the age of 4 and later graduated in music and performing arts at the Vienna Conservatory of Music. His big break came in 2008 when he won the Austrian reality show “Musical! Die Show” showing that he could act sing dance and entertain. Over the weeks he performed a range of song from different musicals such as Hair, Phantom of the Opera, Mary Poppins, Grease and Miss Saigon and in the end won over  two thirds of the phone in votes in the final. In 2009 he took part in Austria’s version of ‘Strictly’ coming 7th and had his first taste of Eurovision taking part in the Austrian national final in 2016.

This is rather awkward as there is already another song called "Amen" on the showlist, but for me is is by far the better. Even on a technical point of view, the title of the song is prominent in the chorus, repeated often as is also the first and last words that comes out of Vincent's mouth. The beat really builds and you get a real feeling that every word means something. The video is a little confusing but I could imagine the kind of black turning into technicolour vibe being quite clever or even something about opening and shutting doors on the backdrop. It's also nice to see something totally different from Vincent considering his 2020 song was a Justin Timberlake style up-tempo song and shows that he is really versatile. Last years one probably had its hopes pinned on televotes while this might be hankering after the jury vote and if I'm honest Imuch prefer this once.

ARTIST - Vincent Bueno
SONG - Amen
WRITING CREDITS - Tobias Carshey, Ashley Hicklin, Jonas Thander

RUSSIA 2021

The Russian Final was held on March 8th at the Channel One TV Studios in Moscow, hosted by Yana Churikova. The winner was chosen by SMS voting. The winner was Manizha with "Russian Woman".

At the start of the song Maneza is wearing a large coat which is grey and has what looks like ethnic patterns on it. Part way through which she takes this off  revealing a red jumpsuit with the words 'Russian Woman' in Cyrillic on the back. She is also sporting a very lovely head scarf which gives her an air of Rosie The Riveter. She is joined on stage by  backing singers who surround her like a box. There are occasional fire blasts from the side while the backdrop changes between patterns, signs of nature and words from the text.

The track starts with an unusual chirping beat which definately already has that Eastern European quality. Manizha  starts the singing over this in a slightly low talky tone. The backing track then oomphs up a bit with brass tones and the choral singing. From here the verse goes a bit free form and you start to wonder what is going on. The backing track then changes into a different breakbeat with a Slavic tone which ushers in the English based chorus. This then goes straight into another verse which again is a bit freeform - although he body language is very entertaining! We then have a rather grand orchestral/anthemic bridge which has a choral Russian feel to it. After this comes a slightly elongated English chorus before another rendition of the choral part. The song ends with an energetic dance break over the instrumental

Manizha was born in Dushanbe, Tajakstan but the family fled to live in Moscow in due to the Tajikistani Civil War, subsequently settling in Moscow. As a teenager, Manizha took part in singing competitions such as Rainbow Stars, the Ray of Hope festival and the Five Stars music competition. She has joined a number of musical groups over the years such as Ru.Kola, Assai and Krip De Shin. When she finally decided to do solo projects, Manizha began studying gospel music in both London and New York City. She has two albums to her name, released in 2017 and 2018.

From what we know, this national final was produced in a very short amount of time and for her and the team to create such a good show is impressive - with an extra 2 months what else could she come up with? Manizha has great stage presence and moves well on the stage. We already know that she is planning to rewrite parts with a bit more English to get over the meaning of the song a bit more. At times I feel like there are too many 'bits' and that a little more flow and connection between them is needed, especially as the chorus is so different. Maybe by keeping those bits in a tidier order might help. That said the overall beat and the instrumentation is absolutely gorgeous and is a bop in itself. I wonder if the title of ‘Russian Woman” is going to put people off voting, just like finding a song called a song called “I love Belarus” a bit of a push to vote for. I am not sure this this is going to be troubling the top of the leader board but is certainly a different genre to make this years mix a lot more interesting.

ARTIST - Manizha
SONG - Russian Woman
WRITING CREDITS - Ori Avni, Ori Kaplan, Manizha

SAN MARINO 2021

The San Marinese song was released on March 7th, via the Eurovision youtube channel. Senhit, who had been internally selected for last year's cancelled contest, was reselected again for this edition. Last year a sudden poll was launched to choose between two possible entries but this year the song was also internally selected. The song she is singing is "Adrenalina" (Adrenaline)

The version released is officially Senhit featuring Flo-Rida and he appears in the official video. The chances of Flo-Rida actually appearing at Eurovision is honestly negligible ! Whether she appears with someone else doing the rap or omits it completely we will have to see! There are plenty of drone shots of different views which are at changeable speeds. Some of the video takes place outdoors with dancers on or around a massive pink compass needed Senhit is also seen wearing a plethora of different outfits and sporting a number of hair colours - and she suits them all! The parts with Flo-Rida are very obviously super imposed in.

The song is in the vein of female up tempo songs like "Fuego" but this has a very definite south Mediterranean feel; slightly Middle Eastern leaning, especially in the intro. During the first verse the beat stays in but the rest of the instrumentation goes out. Unusually we go straight into the chorus - the beat peters out and a more atmospheric feeling and then the instrumental comes in again. Verse 2 offers more of the same but this time the instrumentation is a little bit more full and this continues into the chorus. 90 seconds into the song and we've had two verses and choruses! Here the rap part comes in and the beat mirrors some of the breaks and rhymes in the rap which really works to keep your interest and makes the 30 seconds go pretty quickly. It also helps the last chorus really pop.

Although born and raised on Bologna, Senhit began her career starring in musicals such as Hair and The Lion King throughout Europe. She returned to her homeland in the mid 2000's to begin her recording career and released three albums within 4 years. Ten years ago, Senhit had her first brush with Eurovision, representing San Marino in 2011 with the song "Stand By" and was to rerun to Eurovision last year with "Freaky!". During the last 12 months she has also been tantalising us with her 'Freaky Road Trip to Rotterdam" with her Eurovision cover versions

This is a really catchy and engaging song with plenty to latch onto. This female banger has a slightly unique sound, having not gone down the heavily trod 80s path but also not fooling the the 'Fuego' bath with something heavily Spanish feeling too. I really enjoy the simplicity of the song stricture and proves that huge build-ups to a chorus is just a waste of time! This song feels  'real' and authentic and Senhit's visuals look great and could quite easily be transferred to the Eurovision stage. Whether or not Flo-Rida is part of these plans we will have to see. We do know, however, that the rap part IS staying in so possibly a alternate, closer-to-home replacement might need to be found... This song is radio friendly, catchy, fun and Senhit is here to win!

ARTIST - Senhit
SONG - Adrenalina (Adrenaline)
WRITING CREDITS -   Joy Deb, Linnea Deb, Malou Linn, Suzi Pancenkov, Eloise Ruotsalainen, Kenny Silverdique, Thomas Stengaard, Jimmy Thörnfeldt, Dillard Tramar, Chanel Tukia,  Senhit Zadik Zadik 

ITALY 2021

The Italian final (Festival della canzone Italiana di Sanremo) concluded on March 6th at the Teatro Ariston of Sanremo, hosted by Amadeus & Fiorello. The festival lasts 5 evenings with different rounds and demographics of voting happening each night. On the Saturday evening, the public was able to vote for their favourites and after the the different voting results had been put together, the top 3 songs were placed in a 'superfinal'. Here, the overall winner would be decided from a combination of demoscopic jury (33%) press jury (33%) and televoting (34%). The winning act had first refusal to go to Eurovision, and during the winners' press-conference they confirmed they would be accepting the invitation. The winning act was Måneskin with the song "Zitti e buoni" (Shut up and behave)

During the four nights that they performed this song they wore a number of different outfits in a range of different colours, usually with all members of the band in the same outfit. The set up of the stage was generally the same with the lead singer front and centre, a guitarists on each side and the drummer at the back. The guitarists and singer move about quite a bit and interact with each other around the stage. The lighting and backdrop of Sanremo is rather basic and for the most part the stage was dark with plenty of red flashes against a dark background.

The song starts with one of the signature guitar riffs and and a pretty beefy drum beat then lead singer Damiano comes in with his monotonous verse. Not sure if this could be classed as rap, especially with such a raspy tone to his voice. The verse part is rather prolonged, almost like 2 verse in one and the backing track builds throughout the song. The chorus runs straight in from the verse and here the note are held for a tad longer making the rhythm stand out from what has gone on before. Then there is a instrumental break before the next verse which is pretty non-stop - the tempo and cadence of the  Italian language really lends itself  to this part. After another chorus there is another different instrumental where the strings of the orchestra really stands out. Then there is a extended bridge which mirrors this backing track and slows the pace down before a final chorus.

All the members of the band went to the same high school in Rome when they decided to set up a band. One of the founding members, guitarist Victoria, is half Danish hence the Nordic-inspired band name (forever pronounced wrongly throughout!)  which means Moonshine. Their big breakthrough came in 2017 when they participated in the 11 series of X Factor eventually coming second. Their chart record is rather impressive with five top 10 singles and their debut album going 3x Platinum. Their second album will be released in the coming days.

The song has some great earworms. The guitar riffs are really infectious and work well on their own and with singing on top of it. They must be given some credit for a half decent stage show under rather restrictive circumstances and staging but also that the live result is actually not that dissimilar to that of the the studio version. I can imagine given a bit more scope in the staging this could be visually stunning The whole thing is really catchy and if proably the best rock song out of the songs we already have on the setlist and i can imagine this doing really well. Obviously the Sanremo songs have additional live orchestral backing and the studio version is obviously more guitar based. It will be interesting to see in the reworking of the song (which will have to happen as it is just a few seconds too long) if they add some strings to give the song more ooomph. This did well in the Italian televote as their fans we well versed on voting for them during their stint on X Factor. Europe-wide, however, I don't see this as a winning song but could potentially cipher votes from acts that might purely on its originality

ARTIST - Måneskin
SONG - Zitti e buoni (Shut up and behave)
WRITING CREDITS - Damiano David, Victoria De Angelis, Thomas Raggi, Ethan Torchi

PORTUGAL 2021

The Portuguese Final (Festival da Canção) was held on March 6th at the RTP TV Studios in Lisbon, hosted by Filomena Cautela & Vasco Palmeirim. Before the final there were two semi-finals selecting the top 5 from each semi-final The winner was chosen by televoting (50%) & 7 regional juries (50%) However, there was a tie at the end of the voting, the televoting portion of the vote took precedence. Going to Eurovision is The Black Mamba with "Love is on my side"

The band is spread out on stage, which may or may not be due to COVID planning. As we look at the stage, the singer is front and centre with two guitarists either side, a pianist on out left and a drummer on the right. They are all dressed rather smartly in shirts, ties and some of them suit jackets too. The lead singer is also porting a rather fetching hat. The setting is made more memorable by use of a black and white film filter during the first minute. There are also small montages of old clips on the back screen which gives it a slightly retro and laidback feeling.

The tune and feeling of the song is akin to "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera as well as Justine Pelmelay's Dutch song from 1989. The start is very melancholic and atmospheric and has a nice orchestral feel. This fades out to just piano as the first verse starts, however the transition from verse to chorus is a little awkward especially as the chorus is so repetitive. There is then another verse and chorus which leads into a guitar led part which has the backing singers carrying on with the chorus the song then winds down to the last line of the chorus which the lead singer sings.

The band has been around for just over a decade and have three albums to their name, each released in 2010, 2014 and 2018. Their style of music seems to have international appeal and they have travelled extensively on tour through Europe, the USA, South America and Africa. The majority of their songs are in English although they have recorded some tracks in their native tongue.

This song really stand out from the crowd, whether you like the song or not. It's feel is a bit bluesy, jazzy sometimes a bit country and I feel like certain jurors and general viewers will enjoy this song a lot. It has a lot of repetition which helps it get in your head and the lead singers voice and presence on stage is also very memorable. I also think this will sound very much at home on any adult contemporary radio station in the world.  I feel that the backing track could be made a little more full to make those transitions more flowing. This is the very first time Portugal have sent a song totally in English and I don't think this fact should be taken lightly. In a country where they have real pride in their national song traditions, for a song like this to get jury and televote support means the song must be well thought of. I hope this does well purely on the basis that this is something different to a lot we've seen up to now.

ARTIST - The Black Mamba
SONG - Love is on my side
WRITING CREDITS - Tatanka

DENMARK 2021

The Danish Final (Dansk Melodi Grand Prix) was held on March 6th at the DR TV Studios in Copenhagen, hosted by Tina Müller & Martin Brygmann. The winner was chosen solely by SMS and mobile app; firstly to select a top3 then a second round to select the winner. The winner was the duo Fyr & Flamme (Fire & Flame) with the song "Øve os på hinanden" (Practice on each other)

The setting is VERY eighties with a Tron-esque grid of colour. the guitarist, Laurits, is already on stage on his plinth while Jesper strides on confidently during the intro, Laurits is blond and wears a silver  jacket and blue satin trousers, Jesper has a violet jacket, white vest and grey trousers. The backdrop changes throughout the song, going from a moving grid type affair to a strobing pulsating triangle. Jesper does a bit of dancing during the song, although nothing highly choreographed and during the last minute he comes off his podium and dances around the rest of the stage and singing to the camera.

The song begins with a strong eighties guitar/synth intro and feels genuinely retro rather than a modern take on the genre. The first verse does not have a typical form or rhythm to it and you can find it hard to memories or have feelings towards. The pre-chorus however has a much more memorable sound but comes and goes too quickly. The chorus is a little underwhelming and doesn't seem to more the song onto a different plane from where it has already gone - in fact the short instrumental after the chorus has more character than the chorus itself. After a shortened second  verse, we go into another pre-chorus/chorus combination. After this the song seems to loosen up a little more into a bridge and final chorus. The song then ends with a final burst of instrumental.

The duo of Jesper and Laurits has been together for around 4 years although it looks like they have only been releasing music in the past 2 years. Laurits has some solo music available on spotify and is also the lead singer of another Danish band called The Grenadines. Jesper is best known in Denmark as an actor, including a lot of comedy and satire roles. The band seem to take themselves seriously as a band who make 80s style music, although many have wondered if this is some kind of 'act' or 'joke' because of Jesper's background.

One of the things that is slightly tricky about this liver national final performance is that they used a live band during the show, something that won't be used during Eurovision itself. Having listened to the studio version, the backing track is a more coherent and bring through that 80s feel. The big problem is that this song goes nowhere. even of it was in English the tune is not particularly memorable and the song as a whole is really nothing special. The national final performance with the podiums felt rather odd and at first I though it may have been a COVID intervention until Jespers danced behind him on his! The outfits are absolutely terrible and the whole stage could do with filling up with other instrumentalists or dancers. I don't see this troubling the scoreboard.

ARTIST - Fyr og Flamme
SONG - Øve os på hinanden" (Practice on each other)
WRITING CREDITS - Laurits Emanuel

 

ESTONIA 2021

The Estonian Final (Eesti Laul) was held on March 6th at Saku Suurhall in Tallinn, hosted by Tõnis Niinemets & Grete Kuld. Before the final there were two semi-finals with 6 qualifying from each. The winner was chosen in two rounds: first to find a top 3 using a 50/50 televoting/jury split then the winner was chosen solely by televoting. The winner was last year's Estonian entrant, Uku Suviste, with the song "The lucky one".

The staging of this is simplistic and helps deliver the message of the song. The stage is rather dark and Uku looks tiny amongst the darkness. He is wearing a white buttoned shirt and dark trousers with an undone bowtie around his neck and kneeling on the floor. There is a clever insert where it looks like Uku has fallen backwards and the stage turns to water but is actually a video clip. He walks forward onto the stage where chains are hanging all around him which seems like an odd shift of metaphors having just had the water one. Slowly, the back drop starts to light up, with more underwater shots in between, and as the song gets to the end flashes of pink start appearing on the backdrop before turning totally dark.

The singing starts almost immediately with Uku singing in a very low hushed tone. The backing track is very atmospheric making the whole thing rather mysterious and intriguing. During the second part of the verse his voice is more full but still with a sense of mystery. The bridge has an unusual mix of long held notes followed by short sharp rhyming parts which certainly catches your ear.  The chorus has a good mix of choir and synth beats although feels a bit mid tempo. However this section is rather short compared to the amount of time it takes to reach it. Verse 2 is much shorter and this time goes straight into the chorus which doesn't quite have the power as before. Strangely the bridge then comes after the chorus and really builds up to the final chorus.

Uku comes from a bit of a showbiz family; his father being a tv producer and his mother being an opera singer. In fact many of his close family are opera singers but Uku studied pop and jazz in Estonia before studying for some time at Berklee College in America learning the art of modern song writing and production techniques. In 2012 Uku took 3rd place at the New Wave contest and started a brief career in musicals. He's also participated in the Voice Russia, getting to the semi-finals. This song is his 4th entry in Eesti Laul with two wins and one second place to his name which cements him as one of the competition's most successful participants.

Compared to his winning song last year, it's in the same vein but slightly less annoying! I enjoy the build up through the first verse, bridge and chorus but that takes up over half the song so the second half feels rushed and squeezed which undoes all the good work. I wonder what difference it might make if the bridge was put after the second verse and had a double chorus after it. Personally, I like the water motifs but would lose the chains (unless there were chains visible when underwater maybe..?) In a sea of female bangers, a song like this could stand out as something safe and more stereotypically Eurovision for the casual waters at home but I wonder if the entry is powerful enough to get people to actually vote for it.

ARTIST - Uku Suviste
SONG - The lucky one
WRITING CREDITS - Dimitris Kontopoulous, Uku Suviste, Sharon Vaughn 

SERBIA 2021

The Serbian song was released on March 4th, via the Eurovision youtube channel. The group Hurricane who won Beovizija last year was invited to represent the nation in 2021 Unlike last year this year's entry was internally selected. The song they are singing is called "Loco Loco" (Crazy , Crazy)

The video has three main settings - singing in the bath, singing sola and singing altogether in a stereotypical might club. The video has an 80s tinge to it and the night club scenes even have a filter on them to look slightly blurry like old archive footage. They also have very full on make up and masses of curly hair, shoulder pads, leopard print, feathers, shiny fabrics, large earrings and sunglasses. When in the bath they are wearing little but this is  obscured by the disco balls in the tub with them. All these different sections are cut rather finely, changing plenty and often, possibly to emphasise the change of person singing and the craziness in the title. 

The song starts will a synthesised brass bassline with the name of the song and band in the intro followed by an extended instrumental in the same vein. The first verse is a little less frantic and the backing track is less beat driven which helps create build up for the next parts. The short pre-chorus is more staccato and monotone, almost a bit shouty, and helps the beat build up in response. The chorus has that dancehall bassline while the girls sing repetitive monosyllables which sound a little bit silly to an English ear - but makes total sense in Serbian. The backing track business continues as the instrumental and flows back into another verse, then pre-chorus and chorus. Then flows in a different style of instrumental which is rather minimal but keeping the dancehall syncopation - I can imagine this being a rather pivotal dance break section - which leads into a key change and a final chorus. After some big notes and showy-off vocal gymnastics the name of the song 'Loco Loco' is once again repeated.

Hurricane the band has been together since 2017. Ivana is a successful dancer having won multiple national dance championships as well as duetting with Eurovision participants Jala Brat. Ksenia, is Knez's daughter and was one of  his Eurovision backing singers in 2015. Sanja was a member of the pan-genre band ZAA for five years prior to Hurricane and she also represented Serbia as a soloist back in 2016. Needless to say they already have quite the following amongst fans and have a lot of performing experience between them.

The song is in a very similar vein to their song from last year, but this one lacks any of the of the power of "Hasta La Vista" Yes, it is really great that the girls are singing in Serbian but to get any purchase for a non-Serbian speaker you need good rhythm, repetitive tunes and some charisma from the girls. but this song is overly complicated and you need multiple listens to even think about what is going on. To me, the girls look a bit aloof and sometimes smarmy, like a too-cool-for-school 6th form clique who've 'made a pop video'. Something about this is also missing for me in basic terms of  not sticking in my head. Maybe a conducive dance routine might help emphasise the repeated parts of the song but I am kind of clutching at straws here. I am also hoping their staging is less busy than the video and helps the girls (and the audience) focus on their vocals although I suspect the pre-recorded vocals may well be high up in the mix.

ARTIST - Hurricane
SONG - Loco Loco (Crazy Crazy
WRITING CREDITS - Nemanja Antonić, Sanja Vučić

AUSTRALIA 2021

The Australian song premiered on March 4th, with its first play on Australian radio station Triple J. The next day it was available to find on all online platforms and on the 6th it had its first live performance at Syndey Mardi Gras. The singer Montaigne, who won Australia Decides in 2020, was reselected again for the 2021 edition however this song was internally selected. She will sing the song "Technicolour"

During her performance at the Mardi Gras Montaigne was joined on stage by 2 female dancers. All three of them are dressed in different white outfits although the dancers start with black coats and shed them at the command 'take off your cloaks'. Montaigne was singing live, which in itself was pretty impressive, does some dancing although most of it is on the spot with some armography, foot swivelling and kneeling. It felt rather simplistic and could easily be beefed up with more dancers as well as benefiting from a proper backdrop and props.

The song structure is rather straightforward compared to many of the songs we've reviewed up to now. The verses show off Montaigne's lower register as well as her yodelling technique. Here her voice sounds Celtic, almost Sinead O'Connor like. The yodelling continues in the pre-chorus but her voice seems a little more agitated as the lyrics become more emotional but suddenly breaks off into a more shouty call to arms part and goes straight into the repetitive chorus. We then repeat the verse/pre-chorus/chorus medley before a brief respite with some more vocal runs and some rather high notes before the final chorus which also initiates a rather unexpected key change. 

Montaigne's breakthrough came in 2014 when her song "I am not an end" got good radio play in Australia and was followed up by the release of her EP called "Life of Montaigne". In 2016 she released her album "Glorious Heights" which helped Montaigne win the ARIA for "Breakthrough Artist" which is no mean feat. Her second album came out in 2019 and the next year won "Australian Decides" with Don't Break Me. Her music is very singer-songwriter led however her music is also seen as 'art pop' because of her production style and visual presentations.

Compared to her 2020 entry this is more pop influenced. There are many changes in the song which show off the different facets of her voice but the transitions of the song need a lot of work. The song is much more level in terms of production in the studio version and I feel the backing track needs more rise and fall to make the parts stand out more. In particular, the change from pre-chorus to the technicolour chant needs more of a pow moment between them. I also hope that this staging is not what we are getting at Eurovision. Obviously she'll have more of a backdrop but I also wonder if she'll have more dancers to make the stage come alive more. I also think Montaigne's choreo doesn't fit with the song. perhaps if she has more dancers she might be able to get away with doing less. This all said, her live vocal performance is really outstanding and if she can pull something like this in May she will do herself justice. 

ARTIST - Montaigne
SONG - Technicolour
WRITING CREDITS - Jessica Cerro, Dave Hammer

MOLDOVA 2021

The Moldovan song was released on March 4th, with the release of the official music video on youtube. Natalia Gordienko who had won the Moldovan national final in 2020 was selected to try again in 2021, however this time round her song was also selected internally. Her song is called "Sugar". 

The video is set in a pink studio with a 'sweets' theme. Natalia is dressed in a light blue bodice with a lacy top, blue ankle socks and rather large platform shoes. During the song she is joined my male dancers in pink and female dancers who are dressed as ice cream cones. There is also a shot of a man who she is singing to the song to/about. At the end of the song Natalia rips of the man's face to reveal that his head is made of rainbow cake and starts to eat it.

The song is full of short sharp shifts of rhythm which keeps you on your toes but also makes it lacks flow, build and definition. It starts with a short verse supported by a simple beat and during the pre-chorus the beats become more syncopated. Next is an instrumental brass earworm incorporating a simple dance routine (if not a slight rip off of On Fire from last year) We then have the chorus which is sung using her full voice before another go at the brassy earworm. The next verse is even shorter than the last one (and barely registers) before going straight into the pre-chorus, chorus and brass refrain. The comes a rather oddly placed bridge which really halts the flow before a final brass part to the end.

Natalia Gordienko is a seasoned performer and has been singing and taking part in competitions since she was 15. Back in 2006 she took part in the Eurovision Song Contest taking the stage with Arsenium and Connect-R with the song "Loca" only coming 20th out of 24 songs in the final. Although this was not the best result she came back the next year to place 1st in the prestigious "New Wave" contest which has been the springboard for many Eastern European artists. She has  released many different songs, in English, Russian and Romanian but not with much chart success.

This song has been masterminded by Phillip Kirkorov and Dimitris Kontopoulos who have had a major hand in a number of significant Eurovision entries over the past two decades. and have a definite style of song and visual production. However this really not my style and I find the production of this video really off-putting. I wish Natalia actually sang most of the song rather than the croaky 'ickle gurl' voice she seems to out on for the most part. I also find her styling really far too provocative, not to mention female backing dancers just being a pair of legs while the men get normal costumes. I feel like people will like this song because of the production and the stable it comes from rather than the singing and performing prowess of Natalia herself. As for the song itself, its structure is all over the place and feel like it is several parts put together with no focal point. I wonder if this song is a little too soulless or lacking character and oooomph. Compared to her 2020 song this feels a little tacky and Natalia has turned into a  "Poupée de cire, poupée de son"

ARTIST - Natalia Gordienko
SONG - Sugar
WRITING CREDITS - Mikhail Gutseriev, Philipp Kirkorov, Dimitris Kontopoulos, Sharon Vaughn