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.

Countries in Review: Belgium (part 3)



Belgian chocolates, perhaps the most famous in the world.
(It was either that or Belgian waffles...)

And finally my top five Eurovision songs from Belgium:

Starting with number five:

Kate Ryan "Je t'adore" 2006

Before I sat down and actually watched this performance, I had written this one off as a a typical dance song performed poorly and hadn't given the song a second thought.

I was wrong, Ryan comes off admirably and the harmonies with the two backup singers is superb.  The only quibble I have is with the choreography.  Everything that the dancers do distracts from the song (like the fluorescent mike stands) and combined with the lack of friendly countries in the contest didn't put it into the finals.  Shame.  It's a great song and Ryan gave a solid performance.

My number four:

 

  Dream Express   "A Million In One, Two, Three"  1977

This one popping up in the top five shouldn't be surprising, considering I cited it in my review of the 2013 Belgian entry. 

Bianca, Stella, and Patricia Maessen are no strangers to the Eurovision Song Contest, having represented the Netherlands in 1970, but here, along with Bianca's husband Luc Smets, they had one of my favorite Eurovision songs from the late 1970s.  Sure, it's kind of a ripoff of Brotherhood of Man's Save Your Kisses For Me, but the infectious music and the personality of the singers just won me over and has won a frequent rotation in my own personal Eurovision mix.

Number three:

  

Sandra Kim "J'aime la vie" 1986

 

Belgium has only won the Eurovision Song Contest once, and even I can't deny that this is a perfect example of mid eighties Europop. 

 

Sandra Kim was all of thirteen years old when she performed this song in Bergen, Norway, and comfortably won the contest, and it's understandable.   The satin jacket with huge shoulder pads, acid pink pants and pink bow tie were adorable and perfect for the so-called fifteen-year-old, and her performance was flawless.  And the song even ages well--it's good twenty six years later.

My second favorite:

Witloof Bay   "With Love Baby"  2011

Even I'm shocked by how highly I rated this one.  After going through all of the songs, I would thought I would have put this somewhere in the middle.  But after watching their performance in Dusseldorf, I had a complete change of heart and put their performance above almost every other Belgian entry.

I must admit this is due to my own background in choral music.  A capella music was always my Waterloo--I had a tendency to go flat and take down the rest of the group I was singing with, so the ability of the six singers of Witloof Bay to both stay on key and not be cringe worthy--another issue I have with a capella singers--puts "With Love Baby" above almost every other Belgian song.

And finally, my pick for best Belgian Eurovision entry.

Pas de Doux   "Rendez-vous"   1983

 

When "Rendez-vous" was presented in 1983, it was radically different than anything else presented in Eurovision.  The two singers only sing one phrase over and over again over some faux-Asian synth pop.   It's pretty "out there" and it's fantastic risk taking--something that happens very rarely in Eurovision.  And it's a risk I happen to like a lot, and that's why it's my personal pick for best Belgian Eurovision entry.

Eurovisionaries: Carola

Anchorage has been hit by some pretty bad weather over the past few months, and it was capped off by a freak windstorm that knocked out power tom most of the city--my neighborhood went without power for a day., while other people I knew didn't have power for up to a week.

Luckily, other than the power outage, my house didn't get that much damage, just loads of little branches and lots of birch leaves to clean up. 

But while I was doing the cleanup songs from Sweden's queen of Eurovision were running through my head.

Carola Häggkvist, more commonly known as Carola, has represented Sweden three times in Eurovision, coming no lower than fifth place.  Her straightforward schlager stylings, combined with her outspokenness on her personal beliefs, have made her both extremely popular and controversial, and have led her to be a successful singer thirty years after her

 

Carola first showed up at Eurovision in 1983, as a sixteen year old singing this song.

 

 

 

"Främling"  Sweden  1983

 

 

She had a great deal of success with this song, and the album with the same name sold over a million copies, country, setting her up as a national pop star at the tender age of sixteen.

She attempted to parlay her success with "Främling" into becoming an international star--going to Japan and recording with the Bee Gees--but success outside of Scandinavia eluded her, and in the late 80s she took time off from recording.
 

However, by 1990, here career was on a downtick by 1990, when she attempted to represent Sweden at Eurovision for a second time.

 

 

 "Mitt i ett äventyr"  1990

 

She didn't win the contest, but came in a credible second, which spurred her on to compete again next year, where she won both the Swedish national final and the contest entirely with this song.



"Fångard av en stormvind" Sweden 1991

 

And yes, while cleaning up from the storm I was singing this song.  It is rather obvious, an English translation for this could be "Caught in as Windstorm", but it is a catchy piece of pop music, and it's Carola's crowning achievements.

The funny thing is that her win was controversial, at the end of the 1991 contest, Carola's song tied on points with the song from France, but was declared the winner after they counted the total number of 12 point and 10 point votes.  It is a catchy song. 

After her success in Eurovision, her career has never really stopped.  Carola continues to record and release a new album ever few years, and she even came back to Eurovision a third time in 2005 with this song.

 

 "Invincible"  Sweden   2006

 

And unlike most returning winners to Eurovision, Carola didn't have a terrible fall from grace.  "Invincible" came in a very respectable fifth place.

Even though her last attempt to represent Sweden fell flat, not making it into the Melodifestivalen finals,

 

"One Love"  Johnson and Häggkvist   2008

Carola has continues to have a successful career, with her most recent album, "Elvis, Barbra & Jag" hitting the top of the Swedish album charts, and she's likely to have continued success in the future.

What else can Carola be but Eurovisionary?



Countries In Review: Belarus

As the summertime--with its warm temperatures and hours of sunshine continue to distract my judges--it's time more me to continue reviewing countries, and next on my docket is Belarus, a country I know very little about.

I am blessed with having a coworker who was born and raised in the country of Belarus, and I've been lucky to learn a great deal about Belarus--from the time of Rus to the modern day--and she's shared with me wonderful stories and pictures of the country, including the one included in this post.

The Cathedral of Saint Sophia is one of the numerous churches found in Polotsk, and is the oldest church in the country of Belarus.             Photo courtesy of Olga Segelavich
 

As for Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest, I had to do a bit of research on my own.

Belarus hasn't been the most successful country in the Eurovision Song Contest, making the finals in only two of the seven years they've competed. 

Unlike many countries, who attempt to do something completely original, Belarus seems to copy successful entries from other countries in previous years.

The best example of this "borrowing" could be found in Belarus' most successful entry in the ESC.

 

Dmitry Koldun "Work Your Magic"  2007

 

I must admit that the James Bond feel of the song, combined with the interesting dance moves and a rather strong performance from the Princess Di lookalike works really well.

 

But compare it to the Russian entry of the prior year, the "borrowing" is self evident.

 

 

 

Dima Bilan  "Never Let You Go"  2006

 

When the cribbing is well done, I'm have no issue with it.  I prefer Koldun to Bilan and wouldn't have minded a better placement than sixth, which is where "Work Your Magic" placed in 2007.

 

However, borrowing can also produce something that is totally inferior to the song it's using as a template--for example my vote for the worst song Belarus has ever sent to Eurovision.

 

 

 

3 + 2 "Butterflies"  2010

 

I admit I might be controversial, since this was the other of the two Belorussian songs that been performed in the Eurovision final, but this song is absolutely horrible.

 

However compare the song and staging to the following song, which was performed the prior year.

 

 

 

Jade Ewen  "It's My Time"  United Kingdom 2009

 

The classy route really worked well for Ms. Ewan, who gave the UK their best placement in years, but instead of giving the floor to one very talented singer, they gave it to five less talented singers who were off key--making the song ear-cringingly bad.  Combined with a stupid gimmick and lyric that is trite makes "Butterflies" my least favorite Belorussian entry.

 

But that gloss of class really helped.

 

My favorite Belorussian Eurovision song is probably going to be controversial as well, but for an entirely different reason.

 

 

 

 

Anastasia Vinnakova  "I Love Belarus"  2011

 

 

People say that politics and Eurovision are not connected and the European Broadcasting Union tries to keep political songs out of the contest.  However, this song can be seen as very political when looking at the climate of Belorussian international politics at the time. 

 

The previous December, Alexander Lukashenko the President of Belarus, won his fourth election as president.  His reelection was marred by protests and soundly condemned by most Western countries, who felt the elections were neither free nor fair and the European Union increased sanctions on the president and other high level members of the Belorussian government.

 

"I Love Belarus" was announced as the Belorussian entry to the Eurovision Song Contest a few months later, Ms. Vinnakova's ode to the love of her country can be read as more than a light pop song.  It can also be read as a statement from Belarus to the rest of Europe--which has even more power when you realize that this song was delivered in Germany--the center of the European Union.

 

There's no way you can deny that the combination of politics and pop makes this a tantalizing song, and is why this is definitely my favorite Belorussian song.

 

And for those of you who are interested, here's how the rest of the Belorussian entries stacked up:

 

1.  Anastasia Vinnakova  "I Love Belarus"   2011

2.  Aleksandra and Konstintin  "My Galileo"  2004   Let's face it, I love quirk.  Even if you can't understand a word the singer is saying.

3.  Polina Smolova  "Mum"  2006    A for effort, dear, but WHAT are you wearing? 

4.  Litesound  "We Are The Heroes"   2012   Had they not changed the song and made the group wear ridiculous outfits, this one would be a contender for my favorite.

5.  Dmitriy Koldun "Work Your Magic"  2007

6.  Angelica Agurbash "Love Me Tonight"   2005   Enjoyed the gimmick, wish she could stay on key.

7.  Ruslan Alekhno   "Hasta La Vista"  2006   Why didn't this work?  It should have...  It just doesn't.

8.  Petr Elfimov  "Eyes That Never Lie"  2009  They promised hard rocking, but Elfimov is a low rent Tom Jones with over-processed platinum hair.

9.  3 + 2   "Butterflies"  2010

 

And that's it for Belorussian entries to Eurovision.  I'm looking forward to next year's contest and what they'll send.  Will they be original or will they send the Belorussian take on "Euphoria"?  Either way, I'm I'll have an opinion.





Countries in Review: Andorra

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. 

Next up, Armenia.