Countries in Review: Croatia part 2

Ain't Dubrovnik pretty?

I love writing about my favorite songs for any country, because these are songs I want you to take a listen to and my favorite five Croatian songs are definitely ones that you should take a listen to.

Let's get started!

5.   Magazin & Lidija Horvat-Dunjko   “Nostalgija”   1995    

You take one of the biggest bands from Croatia and put them together with an opera singer and you get this song.  It is undeniably weird and I find it absolutely entrancing.   It wasn't accessible enough to win the contest, but it placed a respectable sixth in 1995.  It also grabbed "douze points" from Malta, Spain, and Slovenia.

4.   E.N.I.   “Probudi me”   1997   

Girl power was big in 1997 and E.N.I. was the Croatian response to it.  Yes, this performance isn't the greatest and they are obviously a knockoff of the Spice Girls.  But it's good bubblegum pop and these ladies are able to pull of some dance moves in cantilevered shoes.

3.   Danijela Martinović   "Neka mi ne svane"   1998  

Yep, Martinović was the singer in Magazin.  She came back as a soloist with this dramatic number three years later and landed in fifth place.  She has a clear voice with a beautiful tone that really pulls you into the song.  Just not crazy about the costumes change and the sexy arms...

2.   Nina Badrić   “Nebo”   2012   

I love this song.  I love her performance.  But the staging and camera angles ruined the song and sabotaged the chances for "Nebo" to make the finals.   There was no need for the dancers.   The backup singers needed to be hidden and in a darker color and Badrić needed to not wear a sheet.  Had they kept the shots on Badrić and allowed people to connect with the song, this would have made the finals.

1.  Goran Karan   "Kad zaspu anđeli"  2000  

This is how a Balkan ballad needs to be performed.  Straightforward staging.   Flawless vocals.  Karan is attractive and knows how to work the stage and camera.   Wish they had gotten rid of the girl in a bag.  But it's 2000--everybody had a gimmick.

And there's my top five Croatian entries.

Rumors are circulating that Croatia will return to Eurovision in 2016, and like many people I hope those rumors are true.   The more I watch Eurovision, the more I love the music from the former Yugoslavia.   Having Croatia back means more music from a region I love.

Next up--Cyprus.

Countries in Review: Bosnia/Herzegovina (part 2)

The Stari Mostar is perhaps the most recognizable landmarks of Bosnia/Herzegovina.

When looking back at my top five choices of Bosnian songs, one thing connects them all--compelling performances by their lead singer.  Having had twelve years of musical training in choral groups, I have major respect for performers who have actual talent in being able to present a song effectively.

5.  Maja Tatić   "Na jastuku za dvoje"   2002

I have a confession to make.  I love female singers from the Balkans with husky, powerful voices and Maja Tatić fits very much in that mold.  The song may be subpar and her styling disappointing, but I could listen to her sing the phone book.  Anybody know if there's a recording of Maja Tatić singing the phone book?  I'll buy it from you.

4.  Hari Mata Hari   "Lejla"   2006

Hara Mata Hari took Bonsia to their best placement at Eurovision, a third place finish.  It's an good example of the "Balkan Ballad".  I only have one big problem, and that's because it is a Željko Joksimović song.    Joksimović is and extremely successful Serbian singer--coming in second and third at Eurovision.   Hari Varešanović, the lead singer of Hari Mata Hari, is a good singer, but he's no  Joksimović

3.  Davorin Popović   "Dvadaset prvi vijek"   1995

This song was never going to win Eurovision.  It feels weird and dated and probably felt that when it was performed on stage in Dublin.   But even with that criticism, it's easy to see how Popović is considered a musical legend back in his home country.  Popović's ability to interpret lyric is something that comes across even though he is singing in Serbo-Croatian.    It wasn't going to win, especially since it followed the eventual winner of the 1995 contest.  However, this song is a nice feather in the cap for Popović--a quality international moment to top off a very successful career.

2.  Regina   "Bistra Voda"   2009

Although this song came in a disappointing ninth in 2009, this is one of the Eurovision songs and performances that has aged quite well over time.  It's a great example of song style, performance, and staging that comes out of the region and how amazing and effective they can be when everything works well together.  I just wish that they had some better camera work--at times it's very static.

1.  Dino Merlin   "Love In Rewind"  2011

This song is an earworm and it's the rare earworm I don't mind having stuck in my head.  It's been that way ever since I first heard it back in 2011.  The sunny, upbeat feeling of the song isn't an obvious choice for a successful song at Eurovision, but came in sixth in Düsseldorf even from the dreaded place of second in the running order.  Had it drawn a better place in the second half of the contest, this could have been a contender to win in a rather weak year.  (And I would have been much happier.)

Finally, I'm through with Bosnia and Herzegovina.  Next up, Bulgaria.

Eurovision 2013: Finland

Well, back again to Scandinavia for my next Eurovision final analysis--if you actually believe that Finland is considered part of Scandinavia...

The final of Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (another fun national final to type) took place on February 9th, with eight songs competing to go to Malmö.

It really was a night of poorly named bands, with groups named Last Panda, Lucy Was Driving, and Great Wide North, but none of them were successful., because they were all beaten by

 

The Winner

 

 

 

 

Krista Siegfrids  "Marry Me"

 

I really, really, really despise this song.   The music is fun, poppy and very reminiscent of a Katy Perry number.  But the lyrics.  Oh, the lyrics.  Here's the chorus:

 

So marry me, I'll be your queen bee/

I love you endlessly/

I do it for you, for you, for you/

Yeah, I do it for you, marry me, baby

 

I'll play your game, I'll change my last name/

I'll walk the walk of shame/

I do it for you, for you, for you/

Yeah, I do it for you, marry me, baby

 

And we have to blame these terrible lyrics to Swedish-based American songwriter Sharon Vaughn.  Vaughn had some minor hits in the 1970s on the American country charts, but had her biggest success back in 1980 as the songwriter of the Willie Nelson hit  "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys".

 

She's a fairly prolific writer, but this song just offends me. 

Update: Sadly, I misread the lyricist of the song. It's not Sarah Vaughn, who actually wrote the lyrics to the song performed by Diandra. My mistake for misreading the line where the lyricists were noted.

The lyrics to marry me were actually written by committee--by Krista Siegfrieds, Erik Nyholm, Kristofer Karlsson and Jessika Lundström.  It also makes me think that my analysis below is less likely to be true, which is even more depressing.

This song is very much in the style of Katy Perry, who does empowering pop songs, and the juxtaposition of the girl power anthem with the frankly misogynist lyrics is disconcerting.  

 

But I'm a guy, so I needed to get a woman's opinion on the song.  So I walked into the next office and played the song for  my coworker Samantha S., who has just gone through her own wedding, so in my mind she would be the perfect person to give another opinion on the lyrics.  

 

I'm glad I did, because she didn't see the song as being misogynist, but a sly commentary on "all the things that women do, but we know what we shouldn't do", especially when it comes to men.  It's a read that I can get behind, and makes me feel a little less infuriated by the lyrics.

 

The problem, though, is that this read requires a command of the English language and a willingness to parse the lyrics.  But the average listener to the song in Europe, who may not have that strong command of English, won't be able to get that subtlety and that is a problem for me.

 

That said:

 

Should Have Won

 

 



 

 Krista Siegfrids "Marry Me"

 

 

Even though I consider the song to be rather horrid, it was the only song that I could potentially go anywhere in Malmö.   The rest of the songs were more along these lines:

 

 

Arion   "Lost"

 

Compared to Siegfrids' performance, which was fun and polished, most every other performance looked like amateur hour at a local bar. 

 

However, one of the other performances did stand out:

 

 

 Mikael Saari  "We Should Be Through"

 

I have to admit I appreciated this song more for the sheer audacity of the performance than the song itself.   "We Should Be Through" put the focus on the music more than any Eurovision song I can remember since this entry:

 

 

 

Secret Garden   "Nocturne"  1995   Norway

 

 

I don't think Saari would have been as successful as Secret Garden (which won the whole shebang back in 1995), but I do love the attempt to send something so orchestral to a modern Eurovision Song Contest.

 

It was a fairly lackluster contest, and for once, I don't recommend watching the other songs, but I am waiting to see how "Marry Me" fares in May.  It's either going to sink like a dead weight or be a contender.  It should be pretty interesting...