My final entry of 2012 is to induct another member into the ranks of Eurovisionaries--Lisa Andreas.
In Eurovision, with all the pyrotechnics, writhing dancers, and thumping beats, sometimes the simplest song and production stands out even more.
This was never more noticeable than during the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest, when Cyprus sent this song.
Lisa Andreas "Stronger Every Minute"
"Stronger Every Minute" was a contrast to the winner of the contest, with the winner being the ur-type of the pyrotechinc dance numbers that ruled the song contest in the period:
Ruslana "Wild Dances" Ukraine
But for me Andreas' understated number has much more impact that the frenzied gyrating of the winning entry. And for once, a lot of people agreed with me. Andreas placed fifth in the final that year, garnering 170 points, the most the country has ever received in the contest.
What amazes me more is that Andreas was sixteen years old at the time of her performance. Her ability to give a mature, nuanced performance at an age where I could barely differentiate my head from a hole in the ground is impressive.
Sadly, her performance on the stage in Istanbul was the high point of her career. Other than making her way to the second round of the fourth season of the UK X-Factor, her post-Eurovision information is sadly lacking, just the basic CV information.
But she is still out there performing, as of 2011 in a group called The Harmonics.
Lisa Andreas, Josh Roots, Samuel Paul Jacques "Ain't Nobody"
She's still a good singer, and were I living in Kent, I'd definitely be searching her out at one of her gigs.
It's a blustery, warm day here in Anchorage, and all the snow has a coat of ice on it. So instead of going out and risking falling down on ice (yet again) this year, I've decided to stay home and catch up on some of the national finals that have already been broadcast.
The Ukrainian national final was held back on December 21st, with twenty different acts vying to represent their country in Malmö, Sweden. It was, in my opinion, a glitch filled, self-serious event, lacking the fun and showmanship of the Belorussian final. But as Ukrainian Eurovision finals go, it appears to be above board, with only one act withdrawing after their performance and apparently no ill will from artists after the show.
Which means, good job NTU. It looks like you're able to run a successful national final.
The Winner
Zlata Ognevich "Gravity"
Ognevich won on her third attempt to represent Ukraine and I have to say Ukrainians made a very sensible choice with sending her to Sweden. She's got a clear, powerful voice--well suited to the ballad she's singing. She was also on key the entire time, which is not something that could be said about some of the other acts. It also doesn't hurt that Ms. Ognevich is pretty easy on the eye, which will likely go over as well.
The only criticism I have is with the harmonies. The balance between Ms. Ognevich and her backing singers is out of whack, but I'm certain that this will be fixed by the time May comes around and this song will do very well.
Should Have Won
Usually this section is reserved for the song that was better than the one that actually one the contest. And "Gravity" is a well crafted Eurovision pleaser. So this time I'm using this to highlight a singer instead of the song.
Tetyana Shirko "Feeling Like A Sir"
Ms. Shirko came in a credible fourth with this rather weird song about making someone "feel like a sir". I had to go to the Internet to figure out what "feeling like a sir" meant, and that's a really bad sign for a song lyric.
(For those of you who are interested "feeling like a sir" means feeling elegant and refined. Follow this link for more information on the etymology.)
However, I can only compare Ms. Shirko's vocals to Minnie Riperton, one of my favorite soul singers ever. I hope Shirko comes back in future years with better songs...
My Favorite
Hmm. I don't necessarily have a favorite, none of them made me want to jump out and embrace the singers whole-heartedly, like Jamala did in 2011 and Gaitana did in 2012, but I'd like to highlight a couple of other songs that were interesting if nothing else.
DiO.Filmy "Medlyak:
If I were choosing a song to amuse my friends at my Eurovision party, "Medlyak" would be the obvious choice. They're the only performer to have quirk in spades.
Matvey Vermiyenko "Otkryvay menya"
I'm also impressed by the performance of Matvey Vermiyenko. Vermiyenko's genderfuck, much influenced by David Bowie circa Ziggy Stardust, is not something I particularly expected. He came in dead last, but his performance was surprising in a very conservative country. I'm not a fan of the song or performance, but I admire him trying to win a place in the Eurovision Song Contest.
And that's Ukraine's national final in a nutshell. Now to tackle Festivali i Këngës, the Albanian selection show...
Belgian chocolates, perhaps the most famous in the world.
(It was either that or Belgian waffles...)
And finally my top five Eurovision songs from Belgium:
Starting with number five:
Kate Ryan "Je t'adore" 2006
Before I sat down and actually watched this performance, I had written this one off as a a typical dance song performed poorly and hadn't given the song a second thought.
I was wrong, Ryan comes off admirably and the harmonies with the two backup singers is superb. The only quibble I have is with the choreography. Everything that the dancers do distracts from the song (like the fluorescent mike stands) and combined with the lack of friendly countries in the contest didn't put it into the finals. Shame. It's a great song and Ryan gave a solid performance.
My number four:
Dream Express "A Million In One, Two, Three" 1977
This one popping up in the top five shouldn't be surprising, considering I cited it in my review of the 2013 Belgian entry.
Bianca, Stella, and Patricia Maessen are no strangers to the Eurovision Song Contest, having represented the Netherlands in 1970, but here, along with Bianca's husband Luc Smets, they had one of my favorite Eurovision songs from the late 1970s. Sure, it's kind of a ripoff of Brotherhood of Man's Save Your Kisses For Me, but the infectious music and the personality of the singers just won me over and has won a frequent rotation in my own personal Eurovision mix.
Number three:
Sandra Kim "J'aime la vie" 1986
Belgium has only won the Eurovision Song Contest once, and even I can't deny that this is a perfect example of mid eighties Europop.
Sandra Kim was all of thirteen years old when she performed this song in Bergen, Norway, and comfortably won the contest, and it's understandable. The satin jacket with huge shoulder pads, acid pink pants and pink bow tie were adorable and perfect for the so-called fifteen-year-old, and her performance was flawless. And the song even ages well--it's good twenty six years later.
My second favorite:
Witloof Bay "With Love Baby" 2011
Even I'm shocked by how highly I rated this one. After going through all of the songs, I would thought I would have put this somewhere in the middle. But after watching their performance in Dusseldorf, I had a complete change of heart and put their performance above almost every other Belgian entry.
I must admit this is due to my own background in choral music. A capella music was always my Waterloo--I had a tendency to go flat and take down the rest of the group I was singing with, so the ability of the six singers of Witloof Bay to both stay on key and not be cringe worthy--another issue I have with a capella singers--puts "With Love Baby" above almost every other Belgian song.
And finally, my pick for best Belgian Eurovision entry.
Pas de Doux "Rendez-vous" 1983
When "Rendez-vous" was presented in 1983, it was radically different than anything else presented in Eurovision. The two singers only sing one phrase over and over again over some faux-Asian synth pop. It's pretty "out there" and it's fantastic risk taking--something that happens very rarely in Eurovision. And it's a risk I happen to like a lot, and that's why it's my personal pick for best Belgian Eurovision entry.
The Belgian city of Antwerp is famous for their diamond cutting, and Belgian
diamond cutters like Gaby Tolkowsky (pictured) are world famous for their ability.
Belgium is an interesting country because it is divided neatly in two into two regions---Wallonia, a French speaking region, and Flanders, a Dutch speaking one. Because of this, there are two national broadcasters and they swap the chore of organizing and selecting a song and singer between them each year.
Because of this language divide, Belgium has done something that no other country has done in Eurovision--sent songs in invented languages. The most successful of these songs is this number, from 2003
Urban Trad "Sanomi" 2003
It was successful, coming in second in 2003. It's not my type of song, but for sheer chutzpah it ranked highly on my list.
Belgium has also sent some rather avant garde choices to Eurovision, the most famous of which is this group
Telex "Euro-Vision" 1980
As for influential Eurovision contestants, Telex is probably second to ABBA for global influence. Their influence as one of the fathers of modern electronica and dance music has been wide reaching, and their acceptance of representing Belgium at Eurovision is pretty surprising. However, in my ranking they ranked so low because the song was built to provoke instead of actually win, which for me is unforgivable.
The rest of the songs in this group make it into this section with one real connecting factor, they put a smile on my face when I hear them. Take a listen to these and tell me you don't want to smile.
Lily Castel & Jacques Raymond "Goeiemorgen, morgen" 1971
Clouseau "Geef het op" 1991
My top five Belgian songs to follow soon.
6. Tom Dice "Me and My Guitar" 2010 Quality song.
7. Lily Castel & Jacques Raymond "Goeiemorgen, morgen" 1971
8. Vanessa Chinitor "Like The Wind" 1999 Enya anybody?
9. Ann Christy "Gelukkig zijn" 1975
10. Clouseau "Geef het op" 1991
11. Micha Marah "Hey Nana" 1979 This came in last in 79, and I don't know why.
12. Urban Trad "Sanomi" 2003
13. Telex "Euro-Vision" 1980
14. Lisa del Bo "Liefde is een kaartspel" 1996 Let's face it, I'm a sucker for a bouncy melody.
15. The KMG's "Love Power" 2007 I'm distracted by the lead singer's tan.
16. Liliane Saint-Pierre "Soldiers of Love" 1987 Cheesy, but in a great way.
17. Robert Cogoi "Près de ma rivière" 1964 The best of the early Belgian entries.
18 Jean Vallée "L'amour ça fait chanter la vie" 1978 A really solid song.
19. Bobbejaan Schoepen "Straatdeuntje" 1957 Schoepen is a Eurovisionary. Watch for a post on him.
20. Nicole & Hugo "Baby, Baby"I don't need to post this one. If you love Eurovision, you know this cheesy number by heart.
The Atomium, the main pavilion of the 1958 World's Fair,
is perhaps the most famous building in Belgium.
Typically, I'm extraordinarily enthused about reviewing a country's entries in the Eurovision Song Contest. But when I got to Belgium, I got stuck. I don't know if it was the sheer number of songs or the quality of songs, but I finally finished this list almost four months after I began.
Belgium has participated since the beginning--1956--and have only missed the contest when they were relegated for lack of success, so there are 55 songs to go through.
So like my previous posts on Austria, I'm splitting my analysis up into three different posts, starting with the the songs that ranked lowest on my list.
I would love to be able to write a lot on these songs, but for the most part they are nothing but pleasant, as the two songs below demonstrate:
Mélanie Cohl "Dis oui" 1998
Serge & Christine Ghisoland "À la foile ou pas du tout" 1972
They're nice but perfectly unmemorable.
And that the issue with many of the Belgian entries--pleasant music doesn't get you to the top of the heap come voting time.
However, I must admit that Belgium did provide two songs that are currently at the top of my list for different reasons.
The first is they entry from 1981:
Emily Starr "Samson" 1981
Risque isn't necessarily a bad thing come Eurovision time, but when risque tips over into vulgar, I have to draw the line, and Ms. Starr crossed that line with "Samson". Her vocal performance is perfection, but the staging and costuming is pretty horrible. The Belgian delegation wanted to go for sexy, with Ms. Starr in a high, double slit dress with dancers behind her. It was meant to complement, the song, but it doesn't work. Starr's desire to show off both of her shapely legs make her look like she's bearing down to give birth and combined with the Josephine Baker/Sally Rand shimmying fan dancers behind her--well, it makes it into something very special. And really vulgar.
But Starr's performance was the saving grace for the song as a whole, and it was ranked well above last place.
That dubious honor went to this song:
Claude Lombard "Quand tu reviendras" 1968
The mopey, somewhat out-of-tune music, Lombard's voice, and the glacially slow tempo make me want to pull my hair out. I can typically excuse all of these facts if there's any sort of levity, but Lombard makes this song seem as serious as nuclear disarmament talks. It's horrible, horrible, horrible, and without a question the worst song Belgium has sent to the contest.
And for those who are interested, here's my ranking from 21 to 55.
21. Ingenborg "Door de wind" 1989 Isn't Ingeborg adorable? Isn't the song weak?
22. Mélanie Cohl "Dis oui" 1998
23. Reynaert "Laissex briller le soleil" 1988 A nice song, but it is very much of the late 80s.
24. Pierre Raspat "Judy et cie" 1976 One more Judy and he'd be Cary Grant.
25. Louis Neefs "Ik heb zorgen" 1967 Seems like a song out of a musical never written.
26. Sergio and the Ladies "Sister" 2002 I wanted to rank this higher, but the vocals were weak.
27. Fud Leclerc "Ma petite chatte" 1958 My personal favorite of Fud's four entries
28. Barbara Dex "Iemand als jij" 1993 Her clothes were much more memorable than her song.
29. Jacques Hustin "Fleur de liberté" 1974 Poor guy had the flu, so that's why the lack of energy.
30. Lize Marke "Als het weer lente is" 1965 Another good singer let down by a dog of a song.
31. Jacques Raymond "Waarom?" 1963 Why indeed?
32. Phillippe Lafontaine "Macédomienne" 1990 Another good singer, but the song is very dated.
33. Stella "Si tu aimes ma musique" 1982 I love you when you sing with your sisters...
34. Iris "Would You" 2012 Poor girl. She was a nervous wreck onstage.
35. Tonia "Un peu de poivre, un peu de sel" 1966 The overemoting ruined the song for me.
36. Jean Vallée "Viens l'oublier" 1970 Nondescript.
37. Louis Neefs "Jennifer Jennings" 1969 Pandering to the English speakers, are we?
38. Serge & Christine Ghisoland "À la folie ou pas du tout" 1972
39. Ishtar "O Julissi" 2008 Sanomi did it much better.
40. Bob Benny "Sepember, gouden roos" 1961 It's perfectly OK.
41. Emily Starr "Samson" 1981
42. Patrick Ouchéne "Copycat" 2009 Seriously? An Elvis impersonator?
43. Frédéric Etherlinck "La voix est libre" 1995 I can't figure out if he blew out his voice...
44. Fud Leclerc "Mon amour pour toi" 1960 Overwrought.
45. Nuno Resende "Le grand soir" 2005 EMI, this song isn't work blocking in the US. Trust me.
46. Fud Leclerc "Ton nom" 1952 Fud swings. I fall asleep.
47. Nathalie Sorce "Envie de vivre" 2000 She's got a nice voice, it's just a shame she got off key.
48. Linda Lepomme "Laat me nu gaan" 1985 The song is pitched too high for her voice. Shame.
49. Jacques Zegers "Avanti la vie" 1984 You're no Serge Gainsbourg, Jacques Zegers.
50. Bob Benny "Hou toch van mij" 1959 Poor guy is singing his heart out for no real reason.
51. Mony Marc "Le plus beau jour de ma vie" 1956 Sadly, it's just uninteresting.
52. Morgane "Nous, on veut des violons" 1992 An appealing singer with a really lousy song.
53. Xandee "1 Life" 2004 If only she had stayed in tune...
54. Fud Leclerc "Messieurs les noyes de la Seine" 1956 This is sleep inducing.
55. Claude Lombard "Quand tu reviendras" 1968
I have to admit in the economic climate in Europe right now, the way the Belgians have chosen their entrant is very cost effective.
Radio Télévision Belge Francophone, the French language broadcaster in Belgium, internally selected Roberto Bellarosa, the winner of the Walloon version of The Voice, a singing competition that has spread across the world.
RTBF selected three songs to be presented to the public on a radio program, and a combined jury and phone vote selected the song that Bellarosa would sing in Sweden.
The Winner
Roberto Bellarosa "Love Kills"
I think it's a perfectly innocuous song I can't understand the English lyrics--his accent is somewhat incomprehensible. But I may have been hypnotized by the eyebrows or the the leather pants, both of which are pretty incredible.
As it stands right now, I don't think it has a chance of making it out of the semifinal it's placed in, but we have six months and I expect changes will be made.
Should Have Won
Roberto Bellarosa "Love Kills"
It's not because I think it's a great song, which truthfully I don't. The other two songs presented were worse, and out of the three I would have chosen it myself.
My Favorite
Truth be told, I don't really care for any of them so I can't say that any of them are my favorite. So I'm posting up a Belgian Eurovision entry I really do like.
The songs keep coming thick and fast this Eurovision season, and Switzerland is the next country in the Eurovision pipeline.
The country has one of the more complicated selection processes, with the media organizations representing the French, German, and Italian regions of Switzerland selecting songs to go to the national final--four from the German region, three from the French region, and two from the Italian region.
I have to say that I was highly disappointed by watching the show, unlike the Belorussian national final, the quality of songs seemed to be sub par.
A case in point:
Ally "Catch Me"
This was really one of the two best songs sent into the Swiss Italian radio and television broadcaster in Switzerland? Seriously?
Unfortunately for Ally, the Swiss voting public agreed with me, and "Catch Me" got less than one percent of the public vote and she came in dead last.
On the other end of the voting table--
The Winner
Heilsarmee "You and Me"
I can understand why this band of ragtag musicians pulled together from Salvation Army bands in Switzerland did well.
My opinion on this can be summed up by three divas of British television in the 1990s:
Lily Savage, Cilla Black, and Barbara Windsor "You Gotta Have a Gimmick"
And trust me, the Salvation Army in Switzerland got themselves a gimmick. Pretty much put together a diverse group of musicians--the people in the group range from 20 to 94--and put together with a passable Christian rock song it pushed them over the other eight songs.
Yet after the watching the Heilsarmee clip over and over again, I find there's something missing, and that's chemistry. Watching the two singers together, it feels like they're singing in their own separate worlds. It might be argued that they're members of the Salvation Army, and any appearance of chemistry might be verboten, but when you're in a duet and singing a song with lyrics like:
No there's nothing that can hurt us/
Whatever there may come/
Let it hear from near and far/
This is how it's meant to be/
We're together you and me
there had better be some chemistry, even if the song is about your relationship with God.
But the group has six months to bond, so there's a chance that the chemistry will have time to form.
Should Have Won
In my opinion, the Swiss should have voted for this song.
Chiara Dubey "Bella sera"
Young women singing by themselves have a good track record in the contest, and Ms. Dubey's almost pitch perfect performance wowed me.
Biggest problem, the song was in Italian. The sheer fact that the song was not in either in English or the majority language of the country--German cost the song votes. She came in fifth.
My Favorite
After watching the songs, I have to say my personal favorite song is one that did rather poorly:
Nill Klemm "On My Way"
It's a basic lite rock number a la Bryan Adams, but the aerobicizing dancers who look like they fell off the Rock of Love Bus is kind of hilariously endearing. It had no chance, really, coming in eighth, but for the fact it makes me smile, it deserves a shout out.
Well, it's the beginning of the Eurovision season, and first out of the gate is Belarus.
And the first thing I want to say is never change. Although the winner of the contest wasn't a particular surprise, the ten songs in the final were unique and different--showing the musical tastes of Belarus as a whole, and I liked that very much.
Oh, and thanks for bringing them back to play their Eurovision hit.
Aleksandra and Konstantin "My Galileo" 2004 (from the Belarusian final)
Any reason to hear this song is a good reason in my way of thinking....
But back to the important stuff:
The Winner
Alyona Lanskaya "Rhythm of Love"
An unsurprising win, since she had won the previous year (and lost per a presidential investigation). So her return with a dance number pretty much allowed her to walk away with the win--she picked up the maximum points with the both the jury and the phone vote.
Should Have Won
Alyona Lanskaya "Rhythm of Love"
Belarus hasn't had a lot of success in the Eurovision Song Contest, making the final only twice in the nine years they've competed, and "Rhythm of Love" was the most likely of the ten songs to make it to the final in 2013. and they've got plenty of time to jigger with the song to make it work in Malmö.
At least lose the lying on the floor and the half naked men. Neither equal success in Eurovision. Look here and here for examples.
My Favorite
Please, go listen to all ten songs. It's worth the thirty minutes of time. You can see the Belarusian Henry Rollins, enjoy the song stylings of a group that may unironically be called The Beaver Band, and this:
Nuteki Band "Save Me"
Is it hard rock Coldplay? Is it performance art metal? I don't know, but it's sure worth a watch.
But my favorite is the one that was completely unexpected--Belarus has a lot of ethnically flavored music, and love their heavy metal music as well, so this was an unexpected delight.
Daria "Catch Me Again"
Yep, it's the lost number from Cabaret. Naturally, it wasn't going to win--in fact it came in dead last in the public vote, but wow is she good...
And I want to say something to the ladies of Viva Voom Brr-lesque, please use this song, I will come and throw dollar bills...
