Eurovision 2017: Denmark

Denmark seems to love sending save, middle-of-the-road songs to Eurovision.   On occasion, these choices allow them to win the whole contest.  In recent years, they haven't been able to send the song to the final.

They're hoping to change that with this ballad.

Anja   "Where I Am"

This is one of those songs that is more about the artist doing a lot of vocalizing than actually interpreting the lyrics of the songs.  It's rather reminiscent of last year's Australian entry.   The difference is that the Danish song is much lyrically weaker that the Australian entry from last year.   You can remember the words of "Sound of Silence", but "Where I Am" is the song where the girl sings about "putting down my armor".

Anja is vocally strong and the chorus will be memorable enough in the recap to likely allow the song to qualify.   I can't see this challenging for the win.  

Eurovision 2015: Denmark

And now I'm finishing up the last of the Scandinavian entries this year--the Danish entry.

DR, the Danish broadcaster set a high bar this year, wanting to "have the ten strongest songs ever in the history of Dansk Melodi Grand Prix".   That's a pretty strong statement, especially from a country that won the Eurovision Song Contest just two years ago.

So here's the winning song.

Anti Social Media   "The Way You Are"

Instead of having a crazy, anarchic energy you would expect from a band called Anti Social Media, there is a flatness to the performance that is highly disappointing.

They're paying homage to the British Invasion bands with their song and sound, but they're doing so without the energy that made The Beatles or even The Monkees fun and popular.

The Monkees   "Daydream Believer"

"They Way You Are" feels very much like it should be the b-side to "Daydream Believer", doesn't it?

It's not a strong entry, and unless they pull out the stops, I can't see this being an easy qualifier.

----

Yet for all of my apathy for the song, after going back through Dansk Melodi Grand Prix, I would have voted for it.  Out of the ten songs presented, it was the best song.  

All the other songs presented went into one of two camps, illustrated by the entries by Sara Sukurani and World Of Girls

Sara Sukurani   "Love Me Love Me"

World of Girls   "Summer Without You"

"Love Me Love Me" is a song that was successful in the contest ten years previously, while "Summer Without You" was deliberately strange to the point of alienation.

If the songs that were presented in this year's Danish final were the strongest ever, I would have to worry about the quality of prior years.

-----

In other words, you made the best choice you could, but better luck next year.

Eurovision 2015: Iceland

Can you believe that the population of Anchorage is about the same as Iceland?

On the American television show "The Price is Right", there is a little tune played when a contestant loses.

Go ahead an play the clip.    Now you know exactly how I feel with the winning song from the Icelandic national final--Söngvakeppnin 2015.

Söngvakeppnin 2015 ended on Valentine's Day this year, with seven songs competing for the chance to go to Vienna.  And like most years, the Icelandic national final has some cracking little songs, which is amazing considering the country has a population roughly the size of the Municipality of Anchorage.

Unsurprisingly, I enjoyed a number of competitors, like this little love song by a 16-year-old young lady.

Elín Sif Halldórsdóttir   "Dance Slow"

And this R&B number:

Friðrik Dór   "Once Again"

But instead of something new and unique, Iceland has chosen this, the song I ranked second to last in the final.

María Ólafsdóttir   "Unbroken"

Um, Iceland.  Didn't Denmark send this song two years ago?

Emmilie de Forest   "Only Teardrops"

It's not a one to one match, but "Unbroken" does feel like a pastiche of a winning Eurovision song.  It's slick, polished, and performed competently.  I just doesn't feel particularly fresh or original, something I crave with my Eurovision songs.

However, this song is built to make it to the left side of the column of the night of the Eurovision final and I don't expect it to do anything less.  It doesn't mean I have to enjoy it.

Eurovision 2014: Armenia

Every year there's the song that's touted as the front runner. This year the song from Armenia is "that" song.  Take a listen.

Aram Mp3  "Not Alone"

I may be damming this song with faint praise, but I must say "Not Alone" is very polished and very professionally produced.  I'll also say that Aram Mp3 is a competent singer and the song is well suited to his voice.

Yet the song doesn't linger after listening to it.  Nothing makes me want to listen to either the song or the singer again, making the love that is being show for it mystifying.

It's the same argument I had with the Danish entry last year, which was pegged to win when it came out fo Dansk Grand Prix and stormed to victory in Malmö. 

 Emmilie de Forest  "Only Teardrops"  Denmark  2013

Although the songs are very different, both of them have the same level of polish and professionalism.   They're songs that are calculated to appeal to the widest possible swath of people.  They're songs tailored to win the contest.

Because of that, the songs themselves are completely bland.  Instead of being something that will make a lasting impression, they hit immediately.  

"Not Alone" could very well win the contest, but it's not one that will make any impression on the European musical landscape or have any sort of afterlife once the Contest is over. 

Eurovision 2014: Finland

Thanks to eurovision.tv, the official web site for the Eurovision Song Contest, I'm able to view many of the national finals in their entirety, and last night's viewing was the Finnish national final, Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu.

Finland has used UMK for the past three years to choose their song to send, and after a three show preliminary, the final was broadcast on February 1st.

Watching Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu, the Finnish national final, I feel like I've been sucked into a world where things don't make much sense, starting off with the opening number.

It's like a black comedy version of an Olympic opening number--colorful, confusing, and really foreign.  It's not bad--just very Finnish.

The songs were confounding as well.  I still can't figure out why some of these songs were in the final of the Finnish national final.

MadCraft  "Shining Bright"

I hadn't realized that skater culture had a following in Finland, and MadCraft is aping the look and feel of skater punk bands like Blink-182.

Nor had I realized that punk girl groups were still alive in Finland.

MIAU  "God/Drug"

Hukka ja Mama  "Selja"

And I have no clue what this is--Finnish folk country?  Or just the song to accompany one of my pizza induced dreams...

But when all was said and done, the Finnish jury and public chose the most commercial song in the finals

Softengine  "Something Better"

It's a rock song that doesn't sound dissimilar to something Coldplay or U2 might have performed about five years ago and feels very much like this song from the 2011 contest.

A Friend in London  "New Tomorrow"  Denmark 2011

Denmark did quite well with their rock anthem, coming in fifth back in 2011, and Finland has a chance to do the same with Softengine.

The only thing they need to work on is their performance.  There's a lack of energy in "Something Better" that makes the song feel generic.  With a little bit of work on the presentation of the song, I could see this finishing quite well on the night of the finals.

Eurovision 2013: The Aftermath (part one)

I've had to give myself a day before I posted this up, because I'm rather disappointed by the results of this contest.

I must admit that I've never been much of a fan of the winning number, but I can appreciate it's got catchy chorus and a hummable melody.

Emmelie de Forest  "Only Teardrops"   Denmark

It just seems rather generic.   As my friend Michael W. noted, it "sounded like he had heard it before" but in  a hundred different songs".  It's not a song that is particularly memorable or original.

But as Eurovision tends not to reward originality, this is an example of a perfect winner.   De Forest will become one of those artists that will not make a splash outside of her country again but be back at Eurovision year after year after year.

Could she become her generation's Lys Assia?  Only time will tell.

My Predictions: Final 2013

Like everybody who has a love of the Eurovision Song Contest, I've been sitting down and analyzing the running order for the final.

Here's the running order, as determined by the lovely people at SVT.

1. France

2. Lithuania

3. Moldova

4. Finland

5. Spain

6. Belgium

7. Estonia

8. Belarus

9. Malta

10. Russia

11. Germany

12. Armenia

13. Netherlands

14. Romania

15. UK

16. Sweden

17. Hungary

18. Denmark

19. Iceland

20. Azerbaijan

21. Greece

22. Ukraine

23. Italy

24. Norway

25. Georgia

26. Ireland

Of course, I'm going to be looking at my personal favorite, Anouk for the Netherlands.  Unluckily drawn into the first half, she's got a good position--the last song in the first half.   She's also between two really lousy songs--the Armenian ecoballad and the (forgive me for offending delicate sensibilities) salute to menstruation--Romania, which will hopefully make the song stand out.

Anouk   "Birds"   the Netherlands

I hope for a good result for the Dutch entry--maybe a top ten position.   I doubt Anouk can win--the song is kind of too classy for the room.  If it does, just expect me to be very, very, happy.

As for likely winners, if I were to put down some money, I'd actually go with Ukraine. 

Zlata Ognevich   "Gravity"   Ukraine

It's well placed and if performed the way it was in this clip, it's worthy of winning the Eurovision Song Contest.

And as a long shot, I'd put some money down on this song too:

Krista Sigfrieds   "Marry Me"   Finland

Hatred has turned to love on this one.  

But to be honest any number of countries songs would be worthy.   Norway, Georgia, Ireland, Italy, Greece,  France, Russia, Moldova, and Iceland are all songs that I would be happy to see win.  

Really there are only three songs that are likely winners that I don't particularly care for.

Cascada   "Glorious"  Germany

Emmilie de Forest   "Only Teardrops"   Denmark

Both of them seem way too generic to actually inspire love, but they are true fan favorites. 

Farid Mammadov   "Hold Me"   Azerbaijan

And on this one, the song is very much back burner to the fantastic gimmick.   It's like the sand lady from Ukraine a few years back.    That's not a particularly flattering comparison, but it's going to get votes.



But all of this analysis is really pointless.  I'm just looking forward to tomorrow morning--the final starts at 11 AM local time here in Alaska.   And then comes my favorite part of the Eurovision season.  The Eurovision parties to determine Alaska's Choice!

Eurovision 2013: Denmark

This is "Only Teardrops" too...

Dansk Melodi Grand Prix, the Danish national final, took place back on January 26th, with ten songs competing for a chance to perform just across the Øresund Strait in Malmö, Sweden.

It took me until now to review the contest, because some of the songs and performances were not readily available on YouTube, my source for all of the national finals.

But after some digging, I was able to find the full contest, and I feel like I can comment the contest as a whole, even though I may not be able to post links to the actual performances--like Brinck's performance of  "Human"--which I would love to vivisect because it was bad in so many ways.

But instead I'll write about:

 

The Winner

  

 

Emmilie de Forest    "Only Teardrops"

 

Denmark wants to win the contest again, and their choice of song pretty much proves it.  "Only Teardrops" takes a things from prior successful songs--staging notes from "Euphoria" last year and the Celtic flair from the Irish winners back in the 1990s.  Then they stole the lighting and costuming from this song:

 

 

Aloysha   "Sweet People"   Ukraine   2010

 

Altogether, the song is very eye catching and likely to do well in the contest, fitting in with the goals SVT has for the contest.

 

Do I personally like it?   Not really.  I find the song and performance overly melodramatic.  But then again Loreen and "Euphoria" didn't speak to me either.

 

Should Have Won 

 

It's either a good thing or a bad thing that there were really no stand outs for me on what song should have won, and I can't even criticize the songs that made it into the top three and the superfinal.  However of the three songs in the finals, I would have voted for this song:

 

 

 

Simone  "Stay Awake"

 

I will admit this this song feels dated--it looks and sounds like something that might have been sent to the contest in the late 90s or early 00s.  But Simone controls the stage in a way that de Forest didn't, and I must confess I'm all for a Latin beat and girls swirling around in fringe-covered dresses.  So I have to go with my own personal preference here, even though I think "Only Teardrops" will be stronger in May in Malmö.

 

 

My Favorite

 

I'm going to go a little outside the box for my favorite, because I really enjoyed the interval act--a medley of Eurovision winning performances:

 

 





 

 Brotherhood of Man   "Save Your Kisses For Me"   United Kingdom   1976

Herreys   "Diggi-Loo  Diggi-Ley"   Sweden   1984

Johnny Logan   "Hold Me Now"  Ireland   1987

 

I have to say I enjoy having old winners brought out and have them perform their winning songs, and this medley is more watchable than most of the songs that were presented in the actual contest.

 

Is that bad?

 

All in all, I think Denmark put on a good show and chose a strong song.  That's what a successful National final should be.

 





 

 

 







Alaska's Choice 1964: Copenhagen

Back again with the next entry for the Alaska's Choice, this time for 1964.

First the basic facts--Denmark, the winner of the prior year's contest hosted and the show was presented from Copenhagen's Tivoli Koncertsal on March 21st, 1964.   Unfortunately, due to a fire at the Dutch broadcaster, no recording of the full contest exists to view, so like the 1956 contest, we had to use recordings.  Luckily this year an audio recording still survives--so our votes were taken from that recording.

For the first time in a number of years, there were a change in the countries that participated.  Sweden withdrew from the contest due to a boycott from their singers, while Portugal entered for the first time.  With Spain and Portugal in the contest, Eurovision became politicized and a protester stormed the stage after the Swiss entrant, holding a sign protesting the autocratic governments of the two countries on the Iberian Peninsula.

Unfortunately, the political climate may have had an affect on the results of Portugal's first entry:



António Calvário  "Oração"

 



Calvário's song received no points from any of the other juries, and came in dead last in the competition (along with the songs from Germany, Switzerland, and Yugoslavia).

I suppose the "nul points" results for four countries really is unsurprising, because the winner of the contest received a third of all the possible votes, marking Italy's first victory in Eurovision.

 

Gigliola Cinquetti  "Non ho l'età"

 



And, of course, nether of these songs fell in the same place in our voting.   Calvário landed in 10th place, while Cinquetti came in fifth.

To be honest, the voting for this year's Eurovision Song Contest surprised me--I had expected Cinquetti to do as well with our group as it had done with the voters in 1964, but she was beaten by a number of "also rans"/

Finland took fourth with this number about doing nothing on Sunday:



Lasse Mårtenson  "Lasikotellen"

 

 

And the Dutch moved up from tenth to second with Anneke Grönloh's upbeat song about a very forgiving girlfriend:

 



 

Anneke Grönloh "Jij bent mijn leven"

 

But the big shocker is the winner of our poll:

 

 



 

Udo Jürgens  "Warum nur warum"

 

Good old Udo kept coming back in the mid 60s trying again and again to win the contest, but for us, he won the first time out.  Had Europe been as sensible as we were, and voted for what I considered his best song, perhaps we wouldn't have been subjected to two more years of his sleep inducing music..

So there's 1964 in a nutshell and a surprising Austrian win.  Stay tuned for 1965...


Alaska's Choice: London 1963

Now that the summer has started to end, the birch leaves are falling off the trees, and schedules have finally gotten back to normal, it's time to get back to my Eurovision blog with Alaska's Choice for 1963.

The 1963 Eurovision song contest took place on March 23, 1963, but breaking with tradition, France did not broadcast the contest, citing financial difficulties.   The slack was picked up by the country of the second place finisher, and the BBC picked up the slack for the second time, putting on one of the more memorable Eurovision Song Contests.

Instead of following the normal format of broadcasting a live concert, the director of the contest, Yvonne Littlewood, decided to use the state of art facilities to broadcast a contest that looked completely different than ever before.  Using boom microphones, a separate studio for the performers and audience, and a variety of staging effects to enhance the songs, the Eurovision Song Contest in 1963 became less a concert and more of a variety show.

A good example of this song is the winner of the 1963 contest.

Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann  "Dansevise"  Denmark

 

This song, had it been shot in a concert setting would have been lost, but the camera work brought an intimacy to the song that took it to the top of the heap that year. 

 

But it only came in fourth in our voting, with our top points going to this entry.

 

 

Esther Ofarim  "T'en vas pas"  Switzerland

 

And many Eurovision purists might agree with our choice, since there was controversy with the Danish win.  During the voting portion of the contest, the Norwegian spokesperson gave out strange votes with Switzerland receiving a number of votes.  After a bit of confusion, The Norwegians asked to be returned to after the rest of votes were given.  When the Norwegians did return, the voting was cleared up, and Switzerland received no points, handing the Danes the win.

 

Do I think this is the case.  No.  Do I prefer the Swiss song?  Yes.

 

But I do feel sorry for the Dutch entrant.

 

 Annie Palmen  "Een speeldoos"  the Netherlands

 

 

Annie Palmen tied for last in the contest, getting no votes from the jury, receiving the dreaded "nul points".  Sadly, she didn't fare much better from the Alaska voters, coming in dead last here too. 

 

I could write more, but some I've already written about--like the Austrian song that came in second in our poll, or about  two other singers who will be featured in later posts.

 

So that's Alaska's Winner for 1963., stay tuned for our choice for 1964.

My Picks: Semifinal One

Well, tomorrow is the day when Eurovision begins in earnest, with semifinal one.

Sadly, I'm going to be stuck at my office, crunching numbers while Europe votes for their favorite songs.  So between projects I'll be furiously refreshing my web browser to find out the ten songs that will move on to the final.

And like most people who blog on the Eurovision Song Contest, I'm choosing my ten songs and we'll see how they do.

1.  Finland  "När jag blundar"  Pernilla Karlsson

This song in my favorite of all the songs in the contest this year; I would have never thought that a Swedish language song would be that way.  I hope that Ms. Karlsson will get enough jury votes to make it through to the final, because where it's placed, I don't think the viewing audience will vote for it.

2.  Austria  "Wiki mit dein Popo"  Trackshittaz

Although I can see why this song can offend people, I like it and hope it makes it to the final.  It has a crazy energy that no other song has this year, and that energy makes it one of my favorites.

3.  Israel  "Time"  Izabo

Out of all the songs in the contest, this is the song that has the seal of approval of the lovely Janet S., which means that it's going to delight the other people at my Eurovision viewing party.  Any Eurovision song that is accessible to my Gen X friends is A-OK in my book.

4.  Moldova "Lăutar"  Pasha Parfeny

Who doesn't love a little bit of Moldovan fun?


5.  Albania "Suus"  Rona Nishlu

I have to say this song has grown on me, but I doubt that this will  appeal to enough people who hear it for the first time to make it through.  It's just so dramatically different than anything else, having it in the finals will


6.  Russia  "Party for Everybody"  Buranovskiye Babushki

I love the idea of them more than I like the song, but they're sure to make it through to the final, but there's still


7.  Denmark  "Should've Known Better"  Soluna Somay

This is the song that I still think could potentially make it were it released by a known American artist like Kelly Clarkson.

8.  Greece  "Aphrodesiac"  Eleftheria Eleftheriou

It's Greece by the numbers, but it's still peppy and you can tap your feet to it.  That's good enough to catch the ears of most people.

9.  Iceland  "Never Forget"  Greta Salóme and Jónsi

 There is something to be said for a really decent pop song presented by two seasoned performers.   I just hope he's not wearing that stupid string tie.

10.  Romania  "Zaleilah"  Mandinga

This is the catchiest song in the semifinal and probably my guilty secret song, because it's not the type of song I go for.

The sad thing is that I'm certain one or more of the songs on my list are going to be dropped, and I'm suspecting the two weakest songs on my list are Finland and/or Albania.     One of them is going to get replaced by the "dynamic" duo from Ireland for certain, and a number of other songs could take out the other without any problem.

But we'll see tomorrow night.

Alaska's Winner: 1957 Frankfurt am Main

Ten countries submitted songs to this contest-the seven from 1956 along with Austria, Denmark, and the United Kingdom. The contest was broadcast from Frankfurt am Main, Germany  and each country performed one song,  supposed to clock in at a time of three minutes.

The problem is that a number of countries didn't follow that rule, and this contest set records for song length.

Nunzio Gallo  "Corde Delle Mia Chitarra"  Italy

Italy's Nunzio Gallo sang a song that lasted 5 minutes and 9 seconds, the longest song ever performed at the Eurovision Song Contest, and was cited as the reason that a strict 3 minute rule has been in place since.

But Nunzio's longwinded song was balanced out by the United Kingdom's entrant

Patricia Bredin  "All"

Coming in at only 1 minute and 52 seconds, it's the shortest song ever performed in the Eurovision Song Contest.

But there's a story even more importantly to Eurovision lore, the first scandal associated with the contest happened in the performance of one of the songs.

Birthe Wilke and Gustav Winckler  "Skibet skal sejle i nat"

Although now, this love song about a man leaving his love to go in a sea voyage seems tame, the prolonged kiss at the end supposedly scandalized viewers who were watching on television sets throughout Europe.

But none of these were the winner, with the juries--ten listeners in each country selecting their favorite song--favored the Dutch song by a margin of almost two to one margin.

Corry Brokken  "Nel als toen"

And suprisingly, Alaska's Choice is the same as the juries.  If fact our top three were identical to the juries, with Paule Desjardins from France coming second and the kissing Danes third.  I guess it proves there is some kinship between the 49th State and Europe.

So congratulations to the Netherlands and their win.  I can't wait to find out who we choose as the winner in 1958...

Eurovision 2012 Entrants: Denmark

Well, this is the time of year where it starts getting fun if you are a fan of the Eurovision Song Contest.  From now until the end of May countries are picking their entrant to the ESC.  It makes the end of winter go by so much faster, since the first signs of spring here in Alaska are still a few months away.

This entry is all about Denmark, since the winner of the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix was decided this weekend.  
I was expecting some quality, since over the past few years Denmark has done really well, coming in fourth in 2010 with Chanée and N'Evergreen and fourth with A Friend In London. 
So let's see what the Danes chose.

Soluna Somay  "Should Have Known Better"

I'm kind of speechless. It's the strongest song so far, and it's likely to be another Danish entry that does well in the finals.

It's good.  Ir's good in a way that if given to a singer like Kelly Clarkson, it would have the potential of actually making the US music charts.

Or maybe I'm deluded by my own personal like of songs sung by chicks with guitars.

I do hope they change their costumes and staging.  It looks like Soluna raided the closet of Adam Ant while the rest of the group went shopping at American Apparel, neither of which looks particularly good.

What do you think of Denmark's entry?