Eurovision 2017: Romania

God bless you, Romania.   You have sent the crazy song to Eurovision.

Ilinca ft. Alex Florea   "Yodel It!"

Romanian rapping and yodeling.   It's not good.  You can't understand what they say.   They look kind of stupid.  Yeah, I kind of love it too.

There's not doubt that this is qualifying--it fills the "let's vote for the crappy song" quota that a lot of people crave when watching Eurovision.    This will do a lot better than it should, but that's what makes Eurovision great.

Eurovision 2015: Romania

In a year of perfectly bland and safe national finals, finally a country gave a Eurovision WTF moment.    I have been hoping for one of these all season.

Super Trooper    "Secret Place"

God bless you Romania.

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Selecția Națională 2015 took place on March 8th with twelve songs presented.  Like many other countries, the Romanians had a variety style format, so there's a song everybody is likely to enjoy.

Blue Noise   "Love Won't Run Away"

Luminița Anghel  "A Million Stars"

Aurelian Temișan feat. Alexa   "Chica Latina"

I do realize I use enjoy rather loosely, but the Romanian broadcaster knew how to put on a show and I can appreciate that.

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However, after hearing the first song performed, it was obvious that it would be the winner.

Voltaj   "De la capăt"

Voltaj is a well known band in Romania--they've released nine albums and won international music awards.  

The staging and camera work were polished and professional something missing from many of the other performances.

And the song is also really moving.  It's an extension of work the band is doing to give support to children whose parents live and work outside the country--the song can be read as a message of love to a child living far away.

It couldn't lose, and I can't disagree.  This was the right choice.  

Eurovision 2013: Romania

Romania is a country that has had a very successful track record at Eurovision in the past few years, so the results of their national final--Selecția Națională--usually produces a song that could potentially contend in the Eurovision final.

I have to say that the Romanian public chose the most interesting song to be sent to Eurovision this year.

 

Cezar   "It's My Life"

 

Interesting, right?   Cezar is a classically trained countertenor and this song an audition piece, featuring his vocal range.  It brings to mind a song from a couple of years ago:

 

 

Malena Ernman   "La Voix"   Sweden   2009 

 

I have to admit that "It's My Life" is definitely stands out this year--as many other commentators have noted, this is a serious ballad laden contest.  Cezar's performance is the antithesis to that, and it's one of the few songs that have a whiff of camp to it--something that has been missing from the contest in the past few years.

 

As for Cezar's chances to make it to the final, I have to say it's questionable at best.   Although Ernman did rather well--coming in fourth in her semi-final--a man singing at the level of a mezzo-soprano is much less acceptable than a comely blonde.

 

But Romania is the last song in the semifinal it's placed in and Romania has qualified every year that a semi-final has been in place--so it's likely to qualify and sink to the bottom on Saturday night, much like "La Voix" did.

 

I can respect the choice of the Romanian public.  I don't understand the choice.   I would have gone with the song that won the jury vote:

 



 

Electric Fence   "Emilia"

 

It its own way, "Emilia" is as odd as "It's My Life", but it's weirdness is very much of many of the Moldovan entries of previous years.  Those Moldovan entries have become personal favorites, and I would have loved seeing Electric Fence bouncing around the stage in Malmö.

 

Would it have been a better choice?  I honestly don't know.  But it would have been fun to watch.





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.

Eurovision 2012 Entrants: Romania

Finally, the last song in the contest to be reviewed, and it's Romania. 

Mandinga  "Zaleilah"

There really isn't much to say about this song other than this is a great little summer number.  It does exactly what it is supposed to do--make you want to get up and dance

The only way it could potentially fail is if the lead singer does one of two thing-lose her voice before the perfomance or wear something so tasteless that it puts off the voters, and I doubt that either would happen.

I suspect this will be a top five song, and it will also be top five at the Eurovision party I'm throwing in June.    However, I know that there will be comments on the band's name...