As I mentioned in my review of Austrian Eurovision songs, I would be writing more about Global.Kryner, the Austrian entrant in 2005.
They opened the Contest that year with this Latin/German beer hall number.
Global.Kryner "Y Asi"
It didn't do well, coming in 21st out of 25 songs in the the semi-final, but based on the presentation video above, it was far and away my favorite song that came out of that year's contest.
I loved it so much I actually ordered the album, the first time a performer from the Song Contest actually made me part with my hard earned money.
And I'm glad I did, because they are a fantastic cover band.
They sold me on a Madonna song!
Global.Kryner "Like A Virgin"
They made me realize what a great piece of pop writing this is!
Global.Kryner "Toxic"
They were able to reinterpret an overdone standard in an interesting way!
Global.Kryner "Somewhere Over The Rainbow"
f you haven't listened to their music, you really should go seek them out and pick up one or two of their CDs. They perform sunny, fun music that is well worth a listen.
I admit it, I'm proselytizing a bit, but they are Eurovisionary, and well worth a bit of promotion.
I have to admire the Greeks. Even though their economy is in free fall, they are still willing to enter Eurovision.
Eleftheria Eleftheriou "Aprhodisiac"
It's a catchy little number, Ms. Eleftheriou is in complete control of the stage, and it's certain to do well enough to make the top half of the board in the finals.
The thing is, I don't expect the song to win, and that's another smart move on the Greek's part. They've sent this basic song twice before.
Helena Paparizou "My Number One" 2005
Kalomira "Secret Combination" 2008
They came in first and second respectively, which means this type of song is very popular among Eurovision watchers. But, in my opinion, it's just a little too generic to make it to the top.
However, come the night, I may be forced to eat my words on this one.
After a little break, I'm back,and now I'm taking a listen to Lithuania's entry.
Donny Montell "Love Is Blind"
I have a feeling that I'm going to be going out on a limb, but I like how the song is structured--it builds and builds and builds, which will always suck me in, just like my favorite dance song ever.
Kylie Minogue "Love At First Sight"
I agree, it's like comparing filet mignon to pink slime, but there is building in both songs. (And I do love an excuse to put up my favorite dance song ever. If they played this at Mad Myrna's, I'd be there most Friday nights.)
But Donny really should be compared to another Eurovision entrant, the 2005 entrant from Sweden.
Martin Stenmarck "Las Vegas" Sweden 2005
What started out as interesting and kind of unique to me turned into a sound-alike to a former Eurovision song that didn't do so well. (Stenmarck came in 19th out of 25 in the final that year.)
And I expect Montell to fall in the same place. He'll make it to the final, but the song will get lost win the shuffle.
Compared to all of the other countries in Western Europe, Andorra is a newcomer to the Eurovision Song Contest, and the reason is simple. To take part in the Eurovision Song Contest the country must have a broadcaster that is a member in good standing of the European Broadcasting Union, and Andorra didn't have a national broadcaster until 1989, when the Andorran government created Rádio i Televisió d'Andorra and didn't join the EBU until 2002.
Considering the city of Anchorage, Alaska is more than three times as big as the country of Andorra, I was shocked to find that the Caldera Spa in Andorra is the continent's largest.
Andorra has entered the contest only six times, from 2004 to 2009, without any success in making it to the finals, and has not competed since, for financial reasons and is not likely to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest again.
Had the country had more success in the contest, I suspect that that they would still be participating, but in their six years, they never made it out of the semifinals.
The reason is pure and simple--a small country new to broadcasting and on a very tight budget is not likely to be capable of putting on the quality of performance that other countries--like Sweden or Azerbaijan are capable of putting on. So they're at a disadvantage in getting votes, and having a small talent pool to draw from, you're not likely to be able to pull the quality of singers you could get from countries like Russia or Greece.
That means these songs have to be graded on a curve much lower than the Albainian songs.
The Worst
After listening to this song more times than I care to admit, I have to say that the worst song in my mind is this one:
Marian van der Wal "La Mirada Interior" 2005
It's not because of the singing. Ms. van der Wal is able to stay on key, which can't be said by other entrants. What this song suffers from is "let's throw a lot of crap on stage and see if it works" syndrome.
That's not to be said that it's a bad thing. In fact, two recent winners--"Believe" and "Fairytale" could be said to have "thrown a lot of crap on stage", but unfortunately in this case, it worked against the song. The Grecian outfits on the women, the half naked men in velour bell bottoms, and the fans. They just didn't go together, and distract from the singer, not enhance the performance.
The Best
How I desperately want to say that this song is the best:
Jenny "Sense Tu" 2006
If I were judging the best on the quality of singing, Jenny is head and shoulders above any of the other Andorran songs. And it's the only Andorran Eurovision song that I don't skip over when it comes on the stereo in my car.
But the staging is completely wrong. It's absolutely atrocious, and I can understand why it came in last in the semifinal that year. I'm certain the choreography and costuming was going for sexy, but it just comes across as sleazy and makes poor Jenny look dumpy. She's an attractive woman, but in the overlong lace housecoat over a black negligee, she just looks kind of sad.
I'd also like to say this was the best song:
Anonymous "Salvem el món" 2007
But poor Niki Francesca was absolutely terrified. His vocals were flat and he appears to he hiding behind the microphone. Lead singers should have charisma, and considering the rest of the staging was so strong
So, to cut the difference, my best is this one.
Susanne Georgi "La teva decisió (Get A Life)" 2009
The singing is gruff, not up to par with Jenny and the staging isn't as good as Anonymous, but as a whole it's the most pulled together entrant Andorra ever entered. Besides, Ms. Georgi is pretty darn cute when she's holding her guitar.
So I'll summarize--from best to worst
1. Susanne Georgi "La teva decisió (Get A Life)" 2009
2. Anonymous "Salvem el món" 2007
3. Jenny "Sense Tu" 2006
4. Marta Roure "Jugarem a estimar-nos" 2004 The dancing was great, sadly the singing wasn't.
5. Gisela "Casanova" 2008 My god, what is she wearing?
6. Marian van der Wal "La Mirada Interior" 2005
And as always, if you're interested, you can listed to all of the songs by following this link.
Welcome to the first of my "Country In Review" Eurovision posts.
The nice thing about deciding to to the "Country In Review" blog posts is that I get a chance to take a look at the songs from a country at a whole instead of looking at the songs in comparison to other songs in a given year.
(Although I have to admit that I might enjoy this because I like ranking things and have since I was a little kid.)
And since I'm anything if not methodical, I'm staring alphabetically, and that means Albania is the first country I'm reviewing.
The former Enver Hoxha Museum in Tirana. From what I understand, a good place for some high-speed tobogganing.
Albania has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest since 1994 and has always been sponsored by Radio Televizioni Shqiptar and has chosen their entrant through their year-end concert program Festivali i Këngës. Festivali is a multi-day show performed in the Pallati i Kongreseve and is pretty impressive as national finals go, with a full orchestra, high productions values, and a lot of talented Albanian singers. (I recommend looking around for clips from Festivali. It's well worth your trouble.)
And after listening to all of the Albanian entrants a number of times, I have to admit I had judged the country's songs rather harshly in the past. I had just dismissed the Albania's songs because it's in the Balkans, which in my mind means that you can send crappy songs and they'll do well because the other countries in the region will vote for you.
But after listening to the Albanian Eurovision songs, I'm shocked by the quality of them. The songs are for the most part, quite good.
So let get going:
The Worst
By far, the worst song is the Albanian entrant from 2005:
Ledina Çelo "Tomorrow I Go"
Pretty much it's a cheap rehash of the winner of the 2003's contest,
Sertab Erener "Every Way That I Can" Turkey
except that Ms. Erener has stage presence out the wazoo and singer/dancers with a great gimmick, while Çelo has refugees from a Greek vaudeville act.
The Best
I thought that this one was going to be easy. Before I decided to do this post, there was only one Albanian entry that I've ever rated highly, and it's the entrant from 2010:
Juliana Pasha "It's All About You"
Ms. Pasha is pitch perfect on the song, the backing singers are fantastic, and the person who did the lighting design for the stage in Oslo deserves an award. I like playing it loud in the summertime with the windows down in my car and it's gotten me through mile 20 of a marathon. I still don't understand why it came in sixteenth, but then again, my personal favorites never seem to do well.
But while listening to all the entrants, I had to add the the first Albanian entry to the best list as well.
Anjeza Shahini "The Image of You"
Ms. Shahini can sing can't she?
Ever since I first heard this song, I've been singing it. The chorus is super catchy and the melody is tricky enough to stay hooked in my brain.
It's still give the top prize to Pasha, but instead of by a country mile, I'll have to give it to her by a nose.
For those of you who are interested, here's a ranking of all the songs, and if you'd like to hear them all, just click this link.
4. Aurelia Gaçe "Feel the Passion" 2011 Scary stage presentation ruins song
5. Kejsi Tola "Carry Me in Your Dreams" 2009 More like nightmare, if your dream is this.
6. Luiz Eljji "Zjarr e ftohtë" 2006 Performance was really bland.
7. Frederik Ndoci "Hear My Plea" 2007 Performance was melodramatic, toomelodramatic.
8. Olta Boka "Zemrë e lamë peng" 2008 Completely forgettable.
9. Ledina Çelo "Tomorrow I Go" 2005
