LITHUANIA

The Lithuanian act was announced on March 1. Earlier on February 23rd the song was chosen.

The Lithuanian Shows were held at the LRT TV Studios in Vilnius, hosted by Arunas Valinskas & Simona Naine. Over the weeks, singers performed previous ESC entries, versions of popular Lithuanian songs and versions of popular English songs - one more singer was eliminated after each show. The qualifying singers performed the potential entries and one singer was eliminated in each show.

Voting for the singers was a 50/50 mixture of televoting and jury. Voting for the songs was separate from the voting for the singers and was a 50/50 mixture of internet voting and an "expert" jury. Going to Copenhagen is Vilija Matačiūnaitė with "Attention".

 

Although I did not watch much of this selection process it was a refreshing change. Furthermore the outstanding viewing figures it produced mean the selection process went on for 3 more weeks than scheduled! One of the reasons why I think it felt fresh and different was that there was an opportunity to vote from the best singers SEPARATELY from the songs. Far too many times in Eurovision have good acts been lumbered with poor songs and vice versa. This dual voting approach has give the viewers a chance to pick the best combinations.

 

The performance of the song is quite simple in essence Vilija is on stage with a male dancer and 3 backing singers. Vilija dances and sings at the same time with the male dancer very close by. The chemistry between Vilija and her dancer are the main thing here and in the setting of the TV studio it really works - but what to do in a huge arena? Her choices of outfit have been quite diverse over the weeks but I feel that if she is going down the black route the background will need to be much stronger and possibly pulse in time with the music.

 

The song is RnB influenced pop tune with a verse, bridge and chorus - each part having its own distinctive earworm. the verses are quite plain, although do show of the singers lower range. The bridge picks up the pace and the stuttering repetition are not only ear catching but deceptively difficult to sing. The chorus starts with a shout of Attention" which gets the beat going in the song. Also, the start of the song is really in your face and gets you interested straight away the ending however is a little too abrupt.

 

Vocally I don't feel much is wrong but I think that the backing singers detract too much. During this final version they ding in harmony which I don't think works. More power needs to be put on the start of the chorus so my having everyone sing the same thing would be much more powerful. At other times I feel their level is to high in the mix and you start not being able to hear what Vilija is singing. Like the Estonian entry, there is a similarity to Euphoria with the dancing/singing and accompanying male dancer, however I feel this is done in a different way. The style of song and dance are different and the male dancer is very much an equal and integral part of the dance AND the lyrics of the song. Much has to be done to make this small stage set work on a much bigger stage.

 

This year, it looks like out of the Baltic states Lithuania has come out the strongest, which is very rare. I feel that this has a lot of individuality but also has a quality about it that means it wouldn't feel out of place in the clubs or on the radio. This is a 99% qualifier and will possibly get Lithuania their best placing ever.

 

Artist - Vilija Matačiūnaitė

Song - Attention

Music - Viktoras Vaupšas, Vilija Matačiūnaitė

Lyrics - Viktoras Vaupšas, Vilija Matačiūnaitė

ESTONIA

The Estonian Final was held on March 1st at the Nokia Concert Hall in Tallinn, hosted by Marko Reikop & Henrik Kalmet. Before the final there were two semi-finals where the cast of 20 was reduced to a final 10. The winner was chosen by televoting (50%) and an "expert" jury (50%). Then the top 2 progressed to a super final where the televote chose the winner. This was Tanja with the song "Amazing"

As always, the Eestl Laul roll call was a real mixture of song choices and genres with a mix of English and Estonian language songs. I watched some of the final online but as there was so much on during Super Saturday I also gained a lot of opinion from the twitter feeds I was getting. The fan favourite Sandra Nurmsalu only came mid table, nowhere near the superfinal places. The fans then seemed quite dismissive of the 2 finalists and most of the comment regarding this song were not positive.

 

Tanja's performance is quite a feat. Like Loreen 2 years ago she spends most of the song singing and dancing at the same time. However her dancing is much more acrobatic and balanced based. Her male co-dancer is clearly visible and the performance from a dancing point of view is very much a joint production. The song also has breaks in is so she has time to catch her breath.

 

The song is a minimalist dance style ballad. Like the performance it is very much a nod and have gained inspiration from "Euphoria". Tanja does not have the most stand out of voices although she must have some sense of control to be able to dance and sing to a decent standard. The staging of the Estonian final was quite simple and I feel that will a much stronger background, and possibly a better dress, it will be even more visual.

 

I think that the similarity to Euphoria is very clear, almost too clear. It is similar visually as well as in the song. Although I think this will gain votes from the public if juries are looking for individuality and something original - this is not is. I can also see a slight backlash from Eurofans who are also looking for something new and not a carbon copy of something that many hold dear to their hearts. Plus having read the lyrics to the song they almost don't make sense...

 

My feelings about this are mixed. I feel that the visual presentation of the song is really strong and Tanja's performance level is really outstanding. It's a shame this is not the Eurovision Dance Contest But the song is poor. This is possibly the first entry this year that I feel has more chance of not qualifying than getting through to the final. I think it will qualify but is not a contender for winning at all.

 

Artist - Tanja

Song - Amazing

Music - Timo Vendt, Tatjana Mihhailova

Lyrics - Timo Vendt, Tatjana Mihhailova

IRELAND

The Irish Final was held on February 28th at the RTE TV Studios, hosted by Ryan Tubridy. The winner was chosen by 5 regional juries (50%) and televoting (50%). The winner was announced as Can-Linn featuring Kasey Smith with the song "Heartbeat".

 

As has become customary, the Late Late Show hosted the Irish final. Although there were only 5 songs in the final each one was different and showcased a different aspects to current Irish music. However this year's final will be overshadowed by the bickering between Billy McGuinness (mentor of Laura O'Neill) an  Linda Martin who acted as a reviewer along with Louis Walsh. The mentor's issue was the fact that Walsh was a biased guest having been close with Eoghan Quigg and Kasey Smith in the past and that Martin was biased because she was on 'the payroll of Walsh'. Although I feel this issue is quite genuine, trying to sort it out on the night was futile and ultimately took away the whole night from the singers.

 

Heartbeat was very much the fan favourite and although it just won the jury vote, it did win the televote. This seems like a popular win - not because it was the best song or was a song seen by some as a potential winner but more that Eoghan Quigg's song (which came second) would have been a major flop in Copenhagen.

 

The performance of Heartbeat was not what I was expecting at all. For me it fell very flat. Kasey was centre with two female backing singers behind, 2 male Irish dancers either side of her and a female violinist in the corner. I was expecting Kacey to be a little more active in the performance - not necessarily with a full blown choreographed routine but just with some movement and interaction with the crowd. The movement was created by the two dancers but this was over the top and old fashioned. This all said the very small stage made this feel worse.

 

The song starts off very low and slow then the beat kicks in. The song starts to engage much more at this point. It is really in the chorus that the song shines. The repetition of the title is also very prominent. The lull moving from the first chorus to the second verse need to be looked at. At this point I feel that the beat needs to be even stronger almost like it needs extra mass in it to keep people interested in the song. Kacey's vocals are really good and she seems like a very experienced performer and I think she would benefit from 'letting go' a little.

 

This is a good song with a good singer - but it needs more.

The staging needs to take a leaf from Ryan Dolan last year with the red background and Celtic symbols. This would contrast well with Casey's look as well as the beautiful dress she was wearing. If she is to stand still she needs to have definite direction to the camera and/or some simple yet powerful armography... maybe even some kind of walking based movements from side to side in time with the music. Part of me also feels that the dancers either need to go or need to be pared down to just the chorus. Alternatively it could be changed so that it's Irish dancing in the chorus but a more modern style elsewhere.

 

This is a very strong entry from Ireland and is an almost certain qualifier. This has the potential for an early frontrunner. Very little needs to be done to the song and on a bigger stage there may well be the opportunity to pull something really striking out of the bag.... Can Ireland afford to have it now...?

 

Artist - Can-Linn featuring Kasey Smith

Song - Heartbeat

Music - Hazel Kaneswaran, Jonas Gladnikoff, Rasmus Palmgren, Patrizia Helander

Lyrics - Hazel Kaneswaran, Jonas Gladnikoff, Rasmus Palmgren, Patrizia Helander
 

POLAND

The Polish entry was revealed on February 25th. During the TVP show Świat Się Kręci (The World Goes Around), the broadcaster announced they have internally selected the duo Donatan and Cleo to represent them in Copenhagen. The song they will be performing is "My, Słowianie" (Slavic Girls)

 

This song has already been a hit in Poland since its release back in November last year and its video has been a massive hit on youtube gaining over 40 million hits. They recently performed the song at an awards ceremony on a big (almost Eurovision-esque stage). This, along with their music video, which I have attached the English version, are the basis of what I am reviewing.

 

The song, as it stands, is very much reliant on its chorus. The beat of the song is quite slow, as mirrored by the dancing, but the speed of singing at times is quite fast. It has a very modern RnB stompy-clappy beat until the instrumental part which is full on folk accordion. The song from this point of view is quite steady it starts quite in your face but then doesn't really go any where. The unusual structure of the song keeps you interested, twinned by the tonal quality of the Polish language. Cleo's voice is nothing special and the song isn't really that stretching but she does do a good enough job at being just about screechy enough in the high parts to sound interesting rather than flat. A note of caution must also be added to the amount of backing on the track which will need to be provided to in the flesh.

 

The performance value here is most interesting. Nothing REALLY happens. Donatan is in the back somewhere being the DJ character, Cleo is dressed in a modern way with a very nice heavy side plait whilst the girls around her are in traditional dress if not a bit low in the cleavage area. A lot of the visuals of this song has come from the 'infamous' video. I would guess that something of this ilk will be used in Copenhagen, possibly maximised on the video screens.

 

Rumours are that the duo are planning some kind of dual language version for the Eurovision stage. Having seen the English language version of this song I hope they don't. My main concern is the amount of vocals needed to keep the performance value up. With 6 people maximum on stage, this leaves 4 people for backing vocals which I feel they will need. Hopefully they can find 4 girls who are not only fantastic Polish singers but also look good, can dance and can twirl about in a circular skirt without getting dizzy.

 

After a couple of years away, Poland will be hoping for a good show and a place in the final with this one. This song will get points from the Eastern European countries as well as from those with a large Polish diaspora. It is an odd song which does stay in your head. However a lot of this will depend on the quality of the singing and the visual performance - both of which need some work. I predict a qualification spot to the final and with a solid show a possible top 10.

 

Artist - Donatan and Cleo
Song - My, Słowianie (Slavic Girls)
Music - Cleo
Lyrics - Cleo
 

2014/07

Our first "Super Saturday" has been and gone and we are now 4 songs nearer the total of 34!
Only another 3 'wonderful weekends' until the deadline!

This SHOULD have been a podcast all about the songs chosen to represent Latvia, Hungary, Spain and FYROM but it all went a little bit to pot... The outcomes (although not quite final yet) of the Belgian and Lithuanian selections got me thinking and I came to the conclusion that Belgium may we have shot themselves in the foot... What do you think?

In honour of the ever developing cake theme there are songs from Russia, Yugoslavia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Luxembourg... can you guess what they might be...?

Follow us on twitter at https://www.twitter.com/DVVHolland
or like our facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DVVHolland to find get the latest information about blogposts and podcasts or even have a look back at our old ones :o)

You can download or listen to it here http://www.archive.org/details/recap2014_07

Click here to listen to this podcast in your usual music player (M3U Playlist)

SPAIN

The Spanish Final was  held on February 22nd at the TVE TV Studios in Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona, hosted by Anne Irgatiburu. The winner was chosen by televoting (50%) and an "expert" jury (50%). Due to a tie in the voting after all the votes, the televoting percentage took precedence. Therefore the winner was Ruth Lorenzo with "Dancing in the rain".

 

Due to having RTVE on satellite I was able to watch the final in full. Although it was a very small and relatively short final it seemed to be full of enthusiasm and passion. Each contestant was given a gift which made most of them cry or make the audience start clapping an chanting like a bullfight. The ending was slightly farcical as Ruth and Brequette ended up with the same point score. Brequette seemed to understand she had lost but Ruth had not cottoned on she had won. Once Anne Irgatiburu had explained the outcome, with eyes wide open, Ruth exclaimed questioningly "SOY YO?! SOY YO!?!" (It's me?!?! Is it me?!?)

 

Ruth Lorenzo 's performance was very simple. She was atop a small platform with 3 white clad backing singers and a pianist behind her. She was wearing a beautifully sculptured silver dress that creates a movement that isn't actually there. Although she gets quite passionate towards the end there is no body movement. All the movement is done my the camera. Ruth has a very powerful voice, which is shown off to its best in this song so I feel the less movement the better.

 

This a very much a modern style of ballad. A powerful tune with a slow but strong beat in the background. This beat keeps you in touch with the song and not let you just nod off. Although the title is in English, this is most definitely a dual language song. The verses are in Spanish whist the chorus is in English. This balance seems to work well but most of all you can see the ease in which Ruth has in singing in English - something not always second nature to Spanish speakers. Although a modern song it feels strangely Spanish. There is a lot of scope for passion and emoting, very much like Pastora Soler 2 years ago.

Although we are talking early days here, Ruth has to be one of the strongest singers put up to the job this year and I think no matter what happens she will do a good job in Copenhagen. The song is full of hooks and will appeal to a wide range of voters. There is quite a lot of repetition which will stick in people's heads and I think the quality of her voice will stand out. Her experience on the X-Factor in the UK has stood her in good stead for singing under pressure.

Thankfully it looks as though "Super Saturday" was one diverse weekend!

This song is a big, strong power ballad and any other country who decides to do something similar will have a fight on their hands. As Spain is in the big 5, they go straight into the final. I think this will do well. The juries will probably place this high, she will get points form a lot of countries (including quite a few from the UK!) and I think the euro fans will adore this and it will go big in the hall.

 

Artist - Ruth Lorenzo
Song - Dancing in the rain
Music - Ruth Lorenzo, Jim Irvin, Julian Emery
Lyrics - Ruth Lorenzo, Jim Irvin, Julian Emery

 

HUNGARY

The Hungarian Final will be held on February 22nd at the MTV Studios in Budapest, hosted by Gábor Gundel-Takács, Éva Novodomszky, Krisztina Rátonyi & Levente Harsányi. Before the final there were 3 quarter finals and two semi finals. During the final, the jury chose their top 4 from which the televptes chose their winner. Going to Copenhagen is András Kállay-Saunders with the song "Running".

 

I will admit that 'A Dal' has kind of passed me by this year and have really only been able to catch up though recap videos on youtube. As will my Hungarian finals and representatives in the past there was great amount of variety in terms of arts and song style. The Jury's top four were all very different and gave the televoting public a wide choice.

 

Kállay-Saunders is a solo artist although he is not on stage alone. He is backed my 2 female backing singers, 2 secretly hidden dancers and a female pianist who the song seemingly revolves around. The sense of story telling here is quite elements and the staging has been cleverly designed and choreographed to rally emphasize the story of the song. In this way I think this act is really strong from a visual point of view. It is almost like you could pick this up and plop it straight onto Eurovision Island.

 

The song is full of different parts. Although the tempo is quite constant the beat before the tempo runs at different speed which make sit feel like the song is changing pace. The verses are mainly piano lead and emphasise the words in the song. During the bridge parts segue between the beat changes although sometimes it is speeding up sometimes slowing down. The choruses are quite in your face and up-tempo with the quick drum and bass sound and the repetition of the title really fits this change of pace.

 

Out of all the songs chosen for Eurovision, this is the one that feels most ready. It feels like it is almost there, feels like I've seen what's going to be on stage in May. I think that the song has almost nowhere to go and to me that might be the problem. Everybody else has space to grow but I'm not sure how this could be improved. Maybe they will surprise us and come up with a brand new representation but I would be shocked it they did - unless they utilised a feature of the Copenhagen stage.

 

This song is a welcome diversion from the "Of Monsters and Mumford" genre we've seen so much from. It sounds modern, he looks modern but I also think the story telling aspect of this will reel in the views. However, is this song they type of song people will vote for? Strangely I think this will gain more favour from the juries than those at home. Plus the fact that Hungary has no true 'Eurovision friends' means that Kállay-Saunders will have to work doubly hard for his final spot.

Artist - Kállay-Saunders
Song - Running
Music - András Kállay-Saunders, Krisztián Szakos
Lyrics - András Kállay-Saunders, István Tabár

 

 

LATVIA

The Latvian Final was held on February 22nd in Ventspils, hosted by Eriks Loks & Nauris Brikmanis. Before the final there were two semi-finals where the list of 24 was reduced to a field of 12. The winner will be chosen in two rounds of voting - firstly to select the top 3 and then to select the winner. The voting in both rounds will be a mixture of televoting (50%) and an "expert" jury (50%). The winning song was "Cake to bake" by the group Aarzemnieki.

 

Being chosen on Super Saturday meant I only caught parts of the final. The final three of Dons, Samanta Tina and Aarzemnieki could not have been more diverse and I think the winning act could not have been more surprised. Although very much an 'underdog' at the outset, it was quite obvious that the song's childish charm and catchiness seemingly overrode its simplicity and this raked in the viewer votes.

 

The four piece guitar/violin combo also do all the singing. To say they are 'freeform' is a bit obvious, one could almost say 'untamed' or even 'unrehearsed'. Right now they seem a bit like 4 friends having a good time - this now needs to turn into a Eurovision final qualifying act! They seem quite inexperienced at this kind of thing and I would suggest that they spend the next 3 months honing the act and song so that it is as slick and catchy as popular, without losing its charm.

 

The song is very minimal - no drums no bass just strings and voices. The song has a very straightforward structure which is very repetitive and there are plenty of things to get stuck in your head. The chorus really emphasise the name of the song and you will be singing it within minutes. The "cep cep kuku" bit does go on for a bit but gives another chance for people to join in whatever language they speak or just clap along. The sentiment of the song is very clever and isn't really about cakes...

 

The problem that really need ironing out with this song are the vocals. Although they are not bad singers the lyrics do seem too garbled and therefore the true meaning of the song is well and truly missed. Therefore it turns into another novelty song - about cakes.  I don't think anybody would have predicted this song winning the Latvian final, however it does feel very Latvian. It has the carefree nature of Brainstorm, the madness of Arnis Mednis and the catchiness of Pirates of the Sea - a cake mix in itself!

 

I would have preferred Dons to have won the ticket but you cannot disagree with public feeling!
Now starts the hard work. As it this has very little chance of qualification but with some polishing, a bit of reworking and well needed practise it might turn into a song Latvia can be proud of. It is in quite a 'friendly' semi final and probably will get votes from Estonia, Russia ,Sweden and Iceland (at a push). But let's face it no serious Eurovision jury will touch this with a barge pole...

 

Artist - Aarzemnieki
Song - Cake to bake
Music - Guntis Veilands

Lyrics - Guntis Veilands

FYR MACEDONIA

The Macedonian song was presented on February 22nd during "The Hit Of The Month" show hosted by Aleksandra Jovanovska and Marko Mark. Back in August MRT announced that Tijana Dapčević had been internally chosen to represent the Balkan nation. During the show she presented two versions of her song - one in Macedonian "Tamu kaj sto pripagjam" (There where I belong) and one in English "To the sky"

 

I did not watch this presentation live as there was already enough going on during this first Super Saturday. However from the comments I have looked at regarding this performance this song is not really in her typical style but seems to have garnished some quite favourable reviews.

 

The performance was a little odd. Tijana was dressed quite smartly and plainly in black. She has a very striking presence on stage although I'm not sure this visual suited the style of the song. Firstly she mimed both versions of the song which didn't give us any idea about how well she can sing these songs. Secondly there was very little set up for the performance as she was all alone standing on a small stage flanked by some steps. There will need to be other people on stage to do the backing vocals. As the song is powerful and strong it will need much stringer visuals. Although Tijana looked very much like she was enjoying performing and obviously is quite an outward performer it will need a much bigger show in Copenhagen.

 

The song has a lot of memorable parts - the introduction is quite in your face and gets you into the song straight away. It's a shame this bit isn't made more of. The tempo seems to shift from fast to slow which keeps you engaged but can make it feel a little disjointed. The bridge part after about 2 minutes is quite interesting, would she be able to get that note? Also it would be nice if they made more of the drumming part too. However this part is just too long for an instrumental and Tijana looked lost at this point. The ending is very poor and just ebbs away without any punch or definition. It must be noted that Tijana has a lovely velvety low voice which I felt showed itself off more in the Macedonian version than English.

 

My main concern here is that the performance level needs to be bigger. Although this was only a presentation it would have been nice to have more of an idea of what they might have had in store for Eurovision. Also it is not clear which language she will be singing at Eurovision. I feel it sounds better in Macedonian but will be more accessible in English. Unfortunately the English lyrics are not really that good. Plus another 10 seconds needs to be shaved off the song (the bridge part?)

 

This is not a bad entry from FYROM. Their entries of the past have not been very noteworthy and I think this may well be their best entry yet. Proof will be needed to see if she can sing and perform this live. Macedonia don't really have many friends in their semi final and so will really need to make people want to vote for it. Considering it is so different to the songs already chosen this may well give her a fantastic advantage.

 

Artist - Tijana Dapčević
Song - Tamu kaj sto pripagjam (There where I belong) / To the sky
Music - Darko Dimitrov, Lazar Cvetkoski

Lyrics - Elena Risteka

 

 

ICELAND

The Icelandic Final was held on February 15th at Háskólabíó in Reykjavik, hosted by Ragnhildur Steinunn Jónsdóttir & Guðrún Dís Emilsdóttir. Before the final there were 2 semi-finals where the list of 10 was reduced to a final of 6. The winner was chosen in 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. Wining the ticket to Copenhagen was the group Pollapönk with the song "Enga fordóma" (No prejudices)

 

I did not watch any of the Icelandic shows but did follow a lot of the comments and reactions through twitter and the Eurovision website. I did also watch replays of the acts in the final on you tube. Mot of he songs were what I would call typical Icelandic fayre with some folky and rocky numbers (and even a rogue operatic turn!) However the stand out track was definitely the winner although many would say it stood out for the wrong reasons.

 

This rock/pop number is a welcome change to the entries chosen so far, which cannot be a bad thing. The 4-piece band, all playing instruments, are backed by 2 backing singers. The set up is quite striking as the guys all wear different colours. Yes, it looks like they ARE the Icelandic Wiggles... Although they are playing instruments they end up doing a lot. There is some armography, audience participation hand capping and some Status Quo-esque dad dancing. Think Inculto but with electric guitars.

 

During the Superfinal, the two acts were required so sing the song in the language they would perform in Copenhagen. Up to now, the song had been in Icelandic all the way but for this final performance the last minute or so was in English. The song has a feel of 90s Brit Pop and makes me feel strangely nostalgic - not sure why. The 'na-na-na' parts are extremely catchy and the chorus has a very memorable tune. They also blend together really well in the singing. The English parts don't work as well and feels like they've struggled to fit the words they want into the pace of the tune. All Icelandic would have worked better.

 

The problem is that it does come across as a bit of a 'joke' entry. They look a bit funny, the stuttering parts make it sound weird and the dancing is a little bit cringe worthy. It was quite obviously when the votes came in a lot of the Eurovision fans were not at all happy with this result. However beneath this exterior this is a really catchy and enjoyable song waiting to come out.

 

I think this was the best choice and will do well. It will certainly get enough votes from the semi to get into the final and considering some of the songs that we've already got will be a breath of fresh air. I think this will appeal very much to the "Radio 2" type person and I predict this will do much, much better than people think. I may be going against the grain here but this may well be my early guilty pleasure!

 

Artist - Pollapönk
Song - Enga fordóma (No prejudices)
Music - Heiðar Örn Kristjánsson

Lyrics - Heiðar Örn Kristjánsson, Haraldur F. Gíslason