Eurovision 2015: Belarus

My walk through the national finals continues with Belarus.  BRTC, the Belorussian national broadcaster held a one night final on December 26th.

I look forward to the Belorussian final because unlike most other countries, there's always a little bit of gaming the result--giving fans something to talk about all the way to May.

Well, except for this year....

With the international attention to the squirrelly policies behind their selection process, this year's show was relatively scandal free.   The only thing that could be considered questionable was of the contestants purchased ad time during the national final to advertise upcoming musical dates.

Yeah, it's not necessarily squeaky clean, but for Belarus it's the cleanest Eurovision vote in years.

Muzzart   "Only Dance

And having heard Muzzart, I'd go out and go see their show live, so smart move on the advertising.

But really, the strive for transparency was refreshing, because in previous years this song would have gone through in a heartbeat.

MILKI  "Accent"

Although the song is a bit of disposable Soviet bloc pop, the songwriter behind "Accent" was Alexander Rybak, the Belorussian-born winner of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest.  In prior years, the contest would have been a Potemkin village of a show to insure this song going to Vienna and adding another feather to one of Belarus' international names.

However, the judges and televoters thought otherwise, relegating it to fourth place.

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But even with the strangeness of the selection process, I always recommend watching the Belorussian National Final since they have a lot of variety on the stage.

Where else would you see this,

Rostany   "Electric Toys"

this,

Beatress  "Fighter"

and whatever this is on the same stage.

Janet   "Supernova"

Each and every song is different and no matter your musical taste, there is something out there for you.

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But after all the voting was in, the winning song was none of ones posted above, but this number.

Uzari and Maimuna   "Time"

Yes, it's rather Eurovision by the numbers, but it's also well written and well performed and should be able to translate to the Eurovision stage easily.

A lot of work needs to be done on the staging, though.   Maimuna needs to share the stage with Uzari and not be relegated to short cuts and bad lighting.  The violin is as integral to the song as the singing and the two performers share billing.   But you can tell there were awkward cuts and bad lighting on the young woman...   

My guess for the shady camera work is the fact Maimuna is Afro-Belorussian and that people in Eastern Europe have major issues with race and didn't want to jinx the success of the song in the final.

OK.  You've won.  Now don't be cowards and keep her in the shadows.

Eurovision 2015: The Netherlands

Next up on the Eurovision songs in review is the Netherlands.  The Dutch broadcaster, AVROTROS, followed their successful format from the prior two years and internally selected a successful artist to represent their country in Vienna.

Trijntje Oosterhuis was announced as the Dutch representative on November 10th and she is quite successful in her home country.  Oosterhuis, like Anouk and Ilse Delange, has a number of gold and platinum albums under her belt.  She is also one of the judges on one of the most popular shows in the Netherlands, The Voice of Holland.

But for me, the biggest surprise is that I have been a fan of hers before she was ever considered for Eurovision.  I own two of her albums.   She's a damn good singer.

So let's take a listen to the song:

Trijntje Oosterhuis   "Walk Along"

Great singer:  check

Great performance:  check

Great song:  um

I hate to say this but I'm disappointed by the song.  It's so repetitive.   Oosterhuis is selling it, but the song feels like it's over about a minute before it actually does.

But could it win?  Yes.  Lousier songs have won Eurovision.
Will I be rooting for Oosterhuis throughout this entire contest?  Yes.

Go Netherlands!

Eurovision 2015: Malta

You have to hand it to the Maltese.  Even though the country has a population of a little over 400,000, they can put on a slick and professional show with talented performers.

Unlike most other countries in Europe, Eurovision is the pinnacle of musical success in Malta and is really the only way Maltese artists get exposure in other parts of Europe.

This year's national final was even more impressive than most, since they were reusing much of the infrastructure built to host the 2014 Junior Eurovision Song Contest--including a renovated shipbuilding complex into the performance venue.

I think all of this comes together in the winning song:

Amber   "Warrior"

Amber has been a bridesmaid four times in the Maltese national final, but this year she received top marks from all of the jurors and the voting public.

Can't fault their choice either.  Amber had a good voice, they've styled her well, and the song's not too bad either.

But my personal vote would have gone to this song:

Chris Grech  "Closed Doors"

It's the Maltese Sting!   Who could resist the Maltese Sting?

Well, everybody.  He came in fourth.

I fully expect that Malta's got another song to take them to the final, and for the Eurovision-mad country that's a good thing.

And before you go, please enjoy the singing nuns.

Ekklesia Sisters   "Love and Let Go"

Eurovision 2015: Macedonia

Well it's that time of year--when countries start choosing their songs to send to Eurovision.

In fact, the first song chosen was chosen more than a month ago, when the country of Macedonia held Skopje Fest 2014 to choose their entrant to send to Vienna.

It was a perfectly nice show, especially for a country of 2 million people in one of the poorer areas of Europe, yet at times it did feel like talent night on a cruise ship.

Risto Samardžiev & Vlatko Ilievski   "Sever-Jug"

Aleksandra Mihova   "Srce čuva spomeni"

None of them were horrible, but none of them screamed "success at Eurovision".

Out of the twenty songs competing, the winning song was the one I would have chosen:

Daniel Kajmakoski   "Lisja esenski"

Will it get out of the semifinal?  If it's staged like it is in the above clip, not likely.  Kajmakoski looks kind of tragic in the outfit he's wearing and the song sounds rather generic.

It's also hard to watch when compared to the interval act.  Kaliopi, the Macedonian entrant in 2012. performed three of her songs and put all of the other singers to shame.

Kaliopi   "Ne zaboravaj"

I will confess I am a Kaliopi fan--"Crno i Belo" was my favorite song from the 2012 contest--but there is not comparison between this years entrant and Kaliopi.  Kajmakoski is nowhere near the level of Kaliopi and makes it seem less likely for Kajmakoski to actually succeed.

However, the Macedonians have six months to get the song, staging, and performance perfect and turning my opinion today on its heels.