Eurovision 2015: Russia

A million voices would be very loud...

It is really hard to sit down and type up a review of the Russian entry, since than any other country there is a political bent to the song that should be addressed.

For the third year in a row, the Russian broadcaster C1R has chosen their song internally.  Their choice, released on March 9th, is this song by Star Factory winner Polina Gagarina.

Polina Gagarina   "A Million Voices"

Gagarina has had chart success in the countries of the former Soviet Union and the song is a simple and insipid little song about peace.   Russia's entry is built to be as inoffensive as humanly possible.

The fact that "A Million Voices" is so sweet and inoffensive is where global politics comes into play.   Under the rule of Vladimir Putin, Russia has been acting more like it did during the Cold War--sending military troops into neighboring countries, limiting the rights of gays and lesbians, and pushing national sovereignty in air and sea encounters with other countries.

These choices have made Russia a pariah in much of Europe.   This distaste became very evident at last year's Eurovision, where the Tolmachevy Sisters were booed when they qualified for the final. 

Their song, "Shine", was another inoffensive song about unrequited love and the negative reaction from the audience in Copenhagen was politically beneficial to the Russian government.

"A Million Voices" is another song in that vein--instead of unrequited love the song like "Shine", "A Million Voices" is about unity and peace.   Here's the opening verse.

We are the worlds people/

Different yet we're the same/

We believe/

We believe in a dream

Praying for peace and healing/

I hope we can start again/

We believe/

We believe in a dream

So if you ever feel love is fading/

Together like the stars in the sky/

We can sing/

We can shine

This song is perfect because whatever the outcome, the current Russian government can use the results to help bolster their political power.   If it's well received, it will be spun as Europe supporting Russian ideals.  If it's booed or scores poorly, the "liberal Western Europe" can be blamed for not understanding Russian idealism.

It's quite brilliant in that regard.

As for my personal opinion, I'm rather disappointed.  I wish they would have given Ms. Gagarina something a bit more hard edged to sing.  She has a beautiful voice but the both the lyrics and arrangement let her down.   It leaves me longing for the days where Russia wasn't so worried about the optics of their song.

Serebro   "Song #1"   Russia   2007

I'd vote for "Song #1".  I wouldn't vote for "A Million Voices".