One Of The Few Rock Songs

Slovakia is awfully like San Marino when it comes to Eurovision management and planning. Neither have entered good songs since they debuted (well maybe Slovakia was good many years ago when it first entered, but that's history). It seems that in the case of both countries that trend is not going to be changed this year either.

This year after much huming and hawing about whether they would even go to Baku, Slovakia announced that Max Jason Mai was to represent them at the Eurovision Song Contest, with his song Don't Close Your Eyes. This is a rock song. In my opinion as a rock song it falls very short in terms of quality of song. It's a fairly dull song with little to interest the listener. The overall song appears to be anthemic but it does not build at all from the start of the song to the end. The verses don't do anything to lift the song up a gear and the general thrust of the song is not upward, it just slides sideways.

Having said all of that the song does lack any stiff competition against it. This is an interesting trend in the contest this year. Rock songs did frequently appear in the national finals but this year they just could seem to cleanly break out of the national finals. Other than Switzerland (who I suspect have only a slim chance of making the final) there are no other rock songs in the competition this year. Which is a real shame as, though I am not a rock fan I do like the odd rock song just to add to the diversity. I also don't mind listening to a rock song, even though they would not feature majorly on my MP3 player.

Slovakia have a great position in the running order this year and this is what I suspect might just drag Slovakia into the final with. In the past Slovakia have lacked a good number of neighbours to push them into the finals. But the juries do tend to vote for something that is vocally strong and this can come in the form of a rock song. So it boils down to whether the vocal performance is good. We haven't seen Mai perform live before with this song so it shall be interesting.

Verdict: I'm in two minds about this song. On one hand I want a rock song in the final, on the other I think that it is only an ok rock song. The grading was difficult to come up with.

Grade: C+

Maybe Just Leave It For The CD

After what was one of the longest and drawn out selection procedures there were so raised eyebrows when the national final was won by Sofi Marinova and her song Love Unlimited. Having not really come through in the earlier two rounds of the national final this was a surprise

.

When I first heard this song I thought that it was a bit generic and excessively "hard" pop music which I never really was that mad about. The notes hit by Sofia seemed a bit high for my likely too. That said this could be a nice one in a club. There can be little doubt that this actually is a great studio song. It ticks all of the right boxes. The problem is that live this just does work and stinks of a semi-finalist who will be going home earlier than they hoped.

This really is a shame as I never know what to make of Bulgaria at Eurovision, they somehow seem not to try hard enough. They are in the second semi-final and are after Ukraine. Ukraines entry might be a bit more accessible than Bulgarias but that is debatable.

Verdict: This song should never have been let leave the CD. I can't see this qualifing but it is possible that juries might like it as it is technically a good song. Personally, I am not a massive fan of the song but I can fully understand how you might like this.

Grade: D+

A Song For Those Who Listen. Estonia: The Review

I never fully understood why so many people love Eesti Laul however each year I always have a great respect for the winner. While the winner might not exactly always be a potential winner each year Estonia very often offers us something quite different from the rest of the pack. Eurovision 2012 so far appears to be shaping up to be one of many different songs however Estonia’s choice of Kuula by Ott Lepland was a good one [regardless of what I may have said earlier].

Ott certainly appears to be able to pull off the song really well. His convincing vocal performance gives the complex song real credibility. I understand that Ott is rather popular in Estonia. This all helps Estonia’s entry so far. The performance is quite simple and reminds me of Eddie Friel’s performance for Ireland in 1995 [Except the song is much better]. The decision to keep it in Estonian is a great one as it adds huge depth to the song. Ott performs this really well and emotionally. The big problem with the song is that it looks like it will deliver a big crescendo ending but then falls flat. This is probably the only thing I have against the song.  [Trivia fact: Kuula meaning listen is also the same as the word Chuala in Irish, which is the past tense of to listen].

The biggest problem that this song faces is being in semi-final 2. That semi-final looks to be shaping up to be one which will have fierce competition for jury votes with many Balkan ballads, a piano ballad for Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Portuguese entry. If the song was in semi-final 1 I’d say it would have a good qualification chance.

Verdict: This is a really great choice from Estonia but will probably be overlooked in a ballad oriented semi-final. Personally I am a fan of it but I am unconvinced it has all the ingredients to overcome the competition. However as Tobias over on Tobson In Euroland pointed out it offers something to those who listen, I’m just unconvinced that people will actually listen.

Grade: B+

A Song For Those Who Listen. Estonia: The Review

I never fully understood why so many people love Eesti Laul however each year I always have a great respect for the winner. While the winner might not exactly always be a potential winner each year Estonia very often offers us something quite different from the rest of the pack. Eurovision 2012 so far appears to be shaping up to be one of many different songs however Estonia’s choice of Kuula by Ott Lepland was a good one [regardless of what I may have said earlier].

Ott certainly appears to be able to pull off the song really well. His convincing vocal performance gives the complex song real credibility. I understand that Ott is rather popular in Estonia. This all helps Estonia’s entry so far. The performance is quite simple and reminds me of Eddie Friel’s performance for Ireland in 1995 [Except the song is much better]. The decision to keep it in Estonian is a great one as it adds huge depth to the song. Ott performs this really well and emotionally. The big problem with the song is that it looks like it will deliver a big crescendo ending but then falls flat. This is probably the only thing I have against the song.  [Trivia fact: Kuula meaning listen is also the same as the word Chuala in Irish, which is the past tense of to listen].

The biggest problem that this song faces is being in semi-final 2. That semi-final looks to be shaping up to be one which will have fierce competition for jury votes with many Balkan ballads, a piano ballad for Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Portuguese entry. If the song was in semi-final 1 I’d say it would have a good qualification chance.

Verdict: This is a really great choice from Estonia but will probably be overlooked in a ballad oriented semi-final. Personally I am a fan of it but I am unconvinced it has all the ingredients to overcome the competition. However as Tobias over on Tobson In Euroland pointed out it offers something to those who listen, I’m just unconvinced that people will actually listen.

Grade: B

And The Winner Of Eurovision 2012 is....?: Part 3

Continuing on with our series here is part 3, which is dedicated to Russia


Russia

Without a doubt if Russia put their minds to something then they can do it. Eurovision is no different. In 2006-2008 they upped their game and got three top three finishes for their efforts. It goes without saying they have the support of a massive block and when they put the effort in they generally find they score well in the Scandinavian block and outer Balkan block. As great as they are, this year we saw them take a place on the right side of the scoreboard even with a song by RedOne; however that score was probably reduced by the success of Azerbaijan and Ukraine who both finished in the top 5. It was somewhat surprising that they came last with the juries but there you go. It is not possible to say Russia can’t win Eurovision just because they were not in the top 10 for the last three years.

St. Petersburg 2013? You can’t say they won’t until the winner is declared in May.