Eurovision 2015: The Aftermath

Although Eurovision has been over for a couple of weeks, I'm typing about it now because I've finally had my yearly Eurovision party.

Congrats to Sweden.  We ranked your fourth.

Usually I have it a little while after the live broadcast, it's an excuse to have people over, make some interesting food, and have a little bit of fun by ranking the songs.

It's always very interesting on where we agree and disagree with the voters from Europe.

Our Favorite:

Aminata   "Love Injected"   Latvia

Latvia's first final qualifier in eight years won us over with the exceptional vocals from Aminata and the extremely modern, almost avant garde, staging.

It was ranked in the top five of everybody at the party and would recieve our "douze points".

Other Winners:

Lisa Angell   "N'oubliez pas"   France

Even though Angell was placed in the "slot of death", performing second on the night of the final, Angell's passionate hit us in the sweet spot, coming in second our voting and would have received ten pomts from us.  Angell receiving only four points was one of the biggest shocks of this year's voting.

Ann Sophie   "Black Smoke"   Germany

Ann Sophie wouldn't have gone away with "nul points" if our little group of voters were considered.  "Black Smoke" came in sixth in our voting and picked up five points from us.  The sexy staging  and the powerhouse vocals worked for this little group of Americans.

The Biggest Loser:

Elhaida Dani   "I'm Alive"   Albania

I'm always happy when Albania makes it to the finals, but I have to agree with almost everybody else at our party and put Dani dead last.  There's no hiding off key, screechy vocals.

Other Losers:

Polina Gagarina   "A Million Voices"  Russia

Although Russia came in seventh in our voting, the little group I had over was made up of members of the LBGT community and their allies.  Politics caused us to vote the song down our list, even though we all admitted she hit this song out of the park.

However, the booking of Gagarina by the crowd was extremely tasteless.  She's just a singer, not a politician.

Nadav Gued   "Golden Boy"   Israel

Israel may have hit the top ten in European voting, but the ethnopop from a guy attempting to be Justin Timberlake attempting to be Michael Jackson got more jeers than kudos.

The fake selfie at the end of the song was a particular groan worthy moment...

And that's Eurovision 2015.   Now it's time to focus on a move and look forward to 2016 and the contest in Sweden.

Eurovision 2015: Russia

A million voices would be very loud...

It is really hard to sit down and type up a review of the Russian entry, since than any other country there is a political bent to the song that should be addressed.

For the third year in a row, the Russian broadcaster C1R has chosen their song internally.  Their choice, released on March 9th, is this song by Star Factory winner Polina Gagarina.

Polina Gagarina   "A Million Voices"

Gagarina has had chart success in the countries of the former Soviet Union and the song is a simple and insipid little song about peace.   Russia's entry is built to be as inoffensive as humanly possible.

The fact that "A Million Voices" is so sweet and inoffensive is where global politics comes into play.   Under the rule of Vladimir Putin, Russia has been acting more like it did during the Cold War--sending military troops into neighboring countries, limiting the rights of gays and lesbians, and pushing national sovereignty in air and sea encounters with other countries.

These choices have made Russia a pariah in much of Europe.   This distaste became very evident at last year's Eurovision, where the Tolmachevy Sisters were booed when they qualified for the final. 

Their song, "Shine", was another inoffensive song about unrequited love and the negative reaction from the audience in Copenhagen was politically beneficial to the Russian government.

"A Million Voices" is another song in that vein--instead of unrequited love the song like "Shine", "A Million Voices" is about unity and peace.   Here's the opening verse.

We are the worlds people/

Different yet we're the same/

We believe/

We believe in a dream

Praying for peace and healing/

I hope we can start again/

We believe/

We believe in a dream

So if you ever feel love is fading/

Together like the stars in the sky/

We can sing/

We can shine

This song is perfect because whatever the outcome, the current Russian government can use the results to help bolster their political power.   If it's well received, it will be spun as Europe supporting Russian ideals.  If it's booed or scores poorly, the "liberal Western Europe" can be blamed for not understanding Russian idealism.

It's quite brilliant in that regard.

As for my personal opinion, I'm rather disappointed.  I wish they would have given Ms. Gagarina something a bit more hard edged to sing.  She has a beautiful voice but the both the lyrics and arrangement let her down.   It leaves me longing for the days where Russia wasn't so worried about the optics of their song.

Serebro   "Song #1"   Russia   2007

I'd vote for "Song #1".  I wouldn't vote for "A Million Voices".  

Eurovision 2013: Russia

Sometimes you hear a song for the first time and just know immediately it's going to be in contention to win the contest.

Russia has decided to send that song this year.

Dina Garipova  "What If"

 

Russia has sent a "by the books" Eurovision song--a lovely young woman singing a sweeping song that has a very catchy melody.  (And calls of plagiarism.  But that's a discussion for another time.)

I would always put Russia through to the final of any Eurovision Song Contest, but there is one reason I think it's a contender--and that's the choice of the singer.

Ms. Garipova was the winner of Soros Goros, the Russian version of the American TV show The Voice.  She has ample experience in front of cameras in high pressure situations.  I can see her hitting the stage in Malmö, presenting the song perfectly, and picking up medium to high marks from across Europe.  In this year, where the field of songs is wide open, that level of performance could win the entire contest.

Is it to my personal taste?  No.  Could it win?  Hell yes. 



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: San Marino

Do you wanna be more than just a friend?

Do you wanna play cybersex again?

If you wanna come to my house

Then click me with your mouse OK.  I realize I'm beating a dead horse with my review of the San Marinese entry, because pretty much everybody has had the same reaction the "The Social Network Song" and it's really the easiest song to criticize.  I mean, all you really need to do is read the lyrics at the beginning of the post to understand why.  I do not condone any song that uses the word "cybersex". And with an introduction like that, you're probably dying to hear the full song: Valentina Monetta  "The Social Network Song" Although the song's lyrics are really smutty, I have to say the music is catchy and that's because the music was written by Ralph Siegel, who is Germany's Mr. Eurovision,   Siegel is famous for composing nineteen songs that were performed at Eurovision, most famously this winner: Nicole  "Ein Bißchen Frieden"  Germany 1982 Yep, Nicole's song about peace is a long, long distance away from hooking up online. But vulgar lyrics aren't my big issue with the song, there have been some songs with vulgar lyrics before, and I can overlook it. Serebro  "Song #1"  Russia 2007 It's pretty awful, but I'm willing to forgive this.  And that's because the girls singing it are barely out of their teens.   It is sexist and ageist, but teenaged girls singing songs that are barely covered come ons are more acceptable than a more mature woman--especally a woman who has been tarted up to look like a teenager.  It's a shame really, because Monetta has a decent voice and is very attractive.  Had she been given a song that would fit with her image, she could have sold the song into the finals, but this song is definately not going there.

Eurovision 2012 Entrants: Russia

Squee!

It's Buranovskie Babushki!

Buranovskie Babushki  "Party For Everybody"

Not the greatest song, but who cares!

It's Buranovskie Babushki!

Why Did You Send This?: Russia 2010

I think it's absolutely fantastic that many of the countries have national finals that allow the public to decide which singer goes on to represent their country at the ESC.  And most of the time, I can understand why the people voted the way they did, even if I disagree with their decision.

However, every once in a while, the people's vote is so egregiously wrong.  Take Russia's national final in 2010.

Who wouldn't have voted for these ladies?

Russia 1's national final broadcast presented 25 songs, and after the voting was completed, Peter Nalitch and Friends won with over 20% of the vote with their song "Lost and Forgotten".

Peter Nalitch and Friends  "Lost and Forgotten"

It's emotive, "romantic", and so screechy I can barely make it through half of the song without turning it off.

It's mind blowing that it (and another song) were more popular with Russians than this:

Buranovskiye Babushki  "Dlinnaya-dlinnaya beresta i kak sdelat' iz neyo aishon"

Catchy and heartwarming, isn't it? 

This group of six ladies from the Udmurt Republic, a constituent entity of Russia, became something of an Internet sensation for their performance, garnering them a feature on NPR's Morning Edition, something that Nalitch was not likely to get.

And it's understandable, the simple performance of the song in Udmurtian is able to transcend national boundaries, something "Lost and Forgotten" is unable to do.

Had it gone to the Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo, I think it would have given Lena a run for the top of the board, or at least get more votes from non-Eastern Bloc countries