Once I realised that the Eurovision powers-that-be were actually going to release the foreseen semi final rosters, I knew I had to get my two penneth in first. The semi draw is always an important part of the Eurovision timeline and would have given us some idea as to the placings of the favourite and possibly some ideas of staging (sometimes countries needing vast staging change can be placed after a 'break' usually 1/3 or 2/3 of the way through each running order. As we din't fully know any of these details, that's something I'm just going to have to imagine!
After a short umming and ahhhh-ing session I decided upon these two running orders for the semis
Obviously we know what is in each semi AND who is in the bottom and top halves of each draw.
My personal taste sways the order a little bit but I have tried to keep similar songs apart and keep the genres switching. I have also tried hard to keep song not in english apart too, especially when they are few and far between.
There are some really hard decisions to be made:
top half of semi 1 has a lot of mid-tempo dance-y songs
bottom half of semi 1 has a glut of girls singing ballads
top half of semi 2 is quite uptempo
bottom half of semi 2 has a lot of tracks that are mid-tempo and slower.
The real running order won't be anything like this (it never is!) and I wait to see what they came up with!
Shite or Alright episode 6 - 700 points for a blank tape
Eurovision 2020 may not be going ahead but by golly are we still going to review them!
Whilst reviewing the last batch of songs we made the following (useless) comparisons -
Frances Ruffelle gone goth
4 people who were about to do a bank robbery
Poundland Adam Lambert
Chrome, metal and high quality ferric cassettes available RIGHT NOW
Anton Du Beke wouldn't be seen dead dancing to that
The singing version of Putin
He could be the Tania Evans to their Fettes Brot.
The songs under the microscope today - as ever in alphabetical order - are:
Armenia, Germany, Moldova, North Macedonia, Sweden, Switzerland and Ukraine
If you have enjoyed the podcasts, please get in touch and/or share my stuff :) Follow us on twitter at https://www.twitter.com/ESCarmchair or like our facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ESCarmchair to find get the latest information about blogposts and podcasts or even have a look back at our old ones :o)
Eurovision 2020 may not be going ahead but by golly are we still going to review them!
Whilst reviewing today's songs we also made the following critiques and descriptions -
Hold your plums
Nodding off in the chorus
Every Robin Schulz record
A piece of wet lettuce
Chacarron by El Chombo
A plastic excuse for your inability to control your own drugs
Mr Wilson's Second Liners instead of the dancers
The songs under the microscope today - as ever in alphabetical order - are:
Albania, Cyprus, Israel, Lithuania, Romania, Serbia and United Kingdom
If you have enjoyed the podcasts, please get in touch and/or share my stuff :) Follow us on twitter at https://www.twitter.com/ESCarmchair or like our facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ESCarmchair to find get the latest information about blogposts and podcasts or even have a look back at our old ones :o)
Shite or Alright episode 4 - Dustin The Turkey Trapped In A Hedge
Eurovision 2020 may not be going ahead but by golly are we still going to review them!
Whilst reviewing today's songs we also made the following 'helpful' pointers -
Spitting my tea out
The cast of Avatar but with extra glitter
Girls mumbling
The Belgians have agreed on something...?!?!?!
Where's his Wati-B cap?
A Jennifer Ellison comeback record
Tim Vincent by numbers
The songs under the microscope today - as ever in alphabetical order - are:
Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Ireland and Spain.
If you have enjoyed the podcasts, please get in touch and/or share my stuff :) Follow us on twitter at https://www.twitter.com/ESCarmchair or like our facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ESCarmchair to find get the latest information about blogposts and podcasts or even have a look back at our old ones :o)
Eurovision 2020 may not be going ahead but by golly are we still going to review them!
Whilst reviewing today's songs we also made the following critiques and descriptions -
cow pox
fanny favourites
the best prodigy song is, of course, ....
serhat/Telly Savalas/MC Sar
Tsunami was the best song!
Real Housewives of Baku
Another pointless and soulless NF
The songs under the microscope today - as ever in alphabetical order - are:
Azerbaijan, Denmark, Georgia, Italy, Portugal and San Marino.
If you have enjoyed the podcasts, please get in touch and/or share my stuff :) Follow us on twitter at https://www.twitter.com/ESCarmchair or like our facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ESCarmchair to find get the latest information about blogposts and podcasts or even have a look back at our old ones :o)
Shite or Alright episode 2 - Emeli Sande Fights Dirty
Eurovision 2020 may not be going ahead but by golly are we still going to review them!
Whilst reviewing today's songs we also made the following critiques and descriptions -
Do they make Hooch anymore...?
Like Katie Price with bears
SEND BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER
Less Skrillex, more Screwfix
A flood of wet wipes around a fatberg
The John Lewis version of Saara Aalto
"Put those Cheetos down!!!"
Des'n'Tina
Craig Phillips
A pensioner with an 'og-pog'
The songs under the microscope today - as ever in alphabetical order - are:
Croatia, Finland, France, Iceland, Latvia, Malta and Norway.
The Russian song was released on March 12th via the premiere of the video on the C1R channel and and available to download the next day. On March 2nd the broadcaster had announced that punk-rave band Little Big had been internally selected and the song would be known in due course. Their entry is called "Uno" (One)
The setting of this song is very simple and although this might lack imagination it does mean lifting this hook line and sinker onto the Eurovision stage would have been very easy indeed. Sonya and Ilich are centre stage with thee backing singers on one side, a keyboardist behind them and a dancer to the other side. They are all dressed very individually, all have their own microphones and spend most of their time looking down the camera and there is not very much interacting at all. There are some dance moves for the instrumentals and the chorus which would have gone down a storm.
The song as synthy-latino feel stretching to the fact that the chorus is a list of numbers in Spanish. After a small piano intro Sonya and Ilich take it in turns to sing the lines in verse 1. A beat is introduced during the pre-chorus and then goes straight into the repetitive chorus. This is followed by a dance break filled with synth sounds. Verse 2 is just Ilich by himself and is almost more spoken than sung. We then hear the pre chorus and chorus twice through. The song then quitenes back down to just piano with Sonya singing the last line of the chorus on repeat before beefing up once more for 2 more choruses. The song then sounds like it is about to go for a third repetition but stops abruptly instead
A couple of years ago, Little Big had a viral hit with their dance along song "Skibidi" (and the video challenge this then inspired) and their Eurovision song fits in well with this legacy. This is certainly a 'Eurovision song' with the odd looks to camera, strange outfits, dance routine and repetitive lyrics. I think that people watching this would see this as the stereotypical fun and kitschy Eurovision song and would vote for it because of that. I think the juries may have been more split about it. Some will've seen this as a 'millennial' entry and know that this is the kind of thing that goes viral but some may have disliked the genre and their style of performance and looking more for something more 'grown up' and contemporary. Either way I think with the publicity of the contest under their belts this could have been a summer hit. Hopefully they will be asked back next year for some more fun !
Artist - Little Big
Song - Uno (one)
Composers - Ilia Prusikin, Viktor Sibrinin, Denis Tsukerman
Lyricists - Ilia Prusikin, Denis Tsukerman
The Azeri song was unveiled on March 10th via the release of the music video online. A few weeks previous it had been revealed that Samira Efendi (stylised as Efendi) had been internally selected by İctimai Television. Her song is called "Cleopatra"
Most of the video takes place in a vast desert area. For the first part of the video Efendi and co are dressed in modern versions of Ancient Egyptian costumes with lots of black, gold and ornate make up and headwear. As the song moves on her style changes into much more modern garb - baseball caps, jackets and jeans but in a similar colour scheme. Her last outfit a very elaborate, and tight, black dress which is very stiff looking and seems quite restrictive or maybe she is not a confident dancer. There are plenty of dancers around throughout the whole thing and certainly adds some energy to the showcase.
This song is a literal jigsaw puzzle of bits, some of which work some of which doesn't. The songs starts with Efendi vocalising in that mystical Eastern way whilst a number of ethnic instruments start up. We start with verse 1 and the pre chorus before the song suddenly stops in favour of some Buddhist chanting and the chorus then slams back out the other side. The chorus is very earwormy made mostly of la-la-las and the title o the song. Verse 2 continues the pattern but the beat here is doubled which gives it a much more modern feel. The pre chorus this time is much shorter before the chant starts again and the chorus resumes. There is then a instrumental/dance break which goes into a bridge but this time we go straight into the chorus but the beat here is much more prominent. As the song reaches its crescendo the beat keeps on doubling after each line before coming to a stop on the final line.
The thing about this song is that it has a very clear identity - you can imagine the kind of urbanesque take on Ancient Egyptian culture and the stylised dancing a bit like in the video. But for me the song deteriorates as it continues. When the instrumentation and melody take centre stage is feels really interesting but as the song goes on the beat increases and gets stronger it almost loses its power and actually sounds quite annoying in the very final chorus. The tune is not that taxing so she should have been able to nail this well. However I cannot be the only person who find the chanting at the start of the chorus superfluous and to the point it feel like its been shoehorned in to give it another gimmick. This would have easily qualified but may have come across as gimmicky or too in your face when next to some of the more contemporary entries in the final.
Artist - Efendi
Song - Cleopatra
Composers - Luuk van Beers, Sarah Lake, Alan Roy Scott
Lyricists - Luuk van Beers, Sarah Lake, Alan Roy Scott
The Maltese song was revealed on March 9th vi the release of the music video.. The Maltese entrant had already been decide through X-Factor Malta would once again be going to Eurovision. The final of this selection was held on February 8th at the Malta Fairs & Convention Centre in Ta' Qali, hosted by Ben Camille. The winner was chosen in 3 rounds of televoting with 1 contestant being eliminated at the end of each round. The winner was 2015 Junior Eurovision winner Destiny Chukunyere and her song is called "All of my love"
The video has a number of different settings and 'looks' interspersed with shots of free runners running through different terrain and shots of swooping birds of prey. The video is also very much an advert of slow motion effects. For some of the video she is pictured alone but at some points she is flanked by a lot (and I mean A LOT) of dancers. The video takes place in differents outdoor settings, at different times of day and through different weathers. At one point she is wearing a gloriously huge black ball gown and sporting a black and gold headdress which makes her look very regal. Personally I prefer the parts with her hair down as it makes her look much more youthful and a little less severe, especially taking into account the style of the song.
The video starts will a spoken word intro reminding us to 'fulfil your Destiny' a play on the artist's name. We start off will another sparsely orchestrated soundscape with the first verse on top. Destiny's vocals are very prominent and made more atmospheric by the addition on extra reverb and echo on top. During the pre chorus the backing track stays pretty similar but has the addition of a steady but not prominent beat. The whole thing then jumps up a gear once in the chorus - the backing track is richer and the beat is now in double time. The end of the chorus has an interesting call and response part with the backing singers which could have been interesting with a live audience. The next verse sounds much more sassier with just a beat and very little else, this leads into the pre chorus and chorus like before. This sequence ends with a bridge with a driving gospel sounds which includes the ensemble singing as one, and claps and some epic big notes at the end from Destiny. We end with one last reprise of the chorus but with some repetition of the ending.
This is an amazing song and would have been a firm firm favourite in the hall. It has a great structure and has the right amounts of peaks and troughs without compromising the flow of the song. The tempo is key here as it is easy to switch it from no beat to normal beat to double with no fuss. It would not have needed much in terms of staging because we all know so well that Destiny is an amazing vocal and physical performer and her character oozes out of her. We might have seen Malta's first ever win, our first solo winner of colour and our first Junior to Senior Eurovision victor... but now we will never know.
Artist - Destiny Chukunyere
Song - All of my love
Composers - Sebastian Arman, Bernarda Brunovic, Dag Lundberg, Borislav Milanov, Joacim Persson, Cesár Sampson
Lyricists - Sebastian Arman, Bernarda Brunovic, Dag Lundberg, Borislav Milanov, Joacim Persson
