San Marino: “Crisalide” Emerges
Back in late January, Sanmarinese broadcaster SMRTV finally put to rest all of the rumors floating around their supposed participant (including a heavily-circulated rumor regarding 1956 champion/recent Swiss National Final also-ran Lys Assia), and confirmed that 2012’s performer Valentina Monetta would be representing the tiny republic once again, this time with an Italian-language entry entitled “Crisalide (Vola)”. Like 2012’s “The Social Network Song”, the entry was written by veteran composer Ralph Siegel (bringing Siegel’s Eurovision tally up to a staggering 22, starting back in 1974). Unlike last year, “Crisalide” seems much more tailor-made for a performer of Valentina’s genre and experience.
According to the Sanmarinese Delegation, Valentina was a late addition to the “Social Network” cast last year, as the originally-intended performer pulled out at the last-minute. While 2012’s entry was well-performed, the poppy, tongue-in-cheek English-language entry simply didn’t fit a singer in her late-30s who typically specialized in jazz and ballads. It also had the unfortunate tendency to overshadow the singer’s actual vocal talent. It seems that this year’s song will really allow Valentina to come into her own, just as a butterfly might emerge from her cocoon.
Posted on March 25, '13, in 2013, San Marino and tagged crisalide, eurovision, San Marino, Valentina Monetta. Bookmark the permalink. 2 Comments.
The ESC Insider 
Great singer, but we already knew that. Serious game-face? Check!
Honestly, this did not strike me as the most original of the pack at first glance, like something with which I would have been obsessed a decade ago (my first love in music was Vanessa-Mae, so this pop-classical fusion thing was the starting point for my taste in music). I would also typically doubt its chances of making the Final given that it is San Marino, but I am willing to let the incoming reviews sway me a bit from that position, provided we get not only the capable vocal performance from her but also a good visual presentation on stage (of which the video is does not seem to be the best harbinger).
I cannot say for sure if this is anything by which to go, but my country has this entry at the top of its list according to this poll: http://www.tummiweb.com/scorewiz/poll/country-results
I have decided by now that it is too much of a fan favourite to NOT pass to the Final, but will it really do that well once there? We could be looking at a Wolf Kati-esque result here.
Do you think viewers at home can mistake a micro-state for its larger associated counterpart? Might viewers vote for Italy thinking this is the Italian entry? I have often wondered how Greece beat Cyprus in the televote by so much last year when people seemed to commonly believe that Cyprus had the better song. Then again, Greece did give the better live performance, so that skews the evidence quite a bit. The recaps at the end of each show should prevent that, but you never know.