Category Archives: 2010
ESC 2010 Reviews: Georgia
Georgia’s another recent addition to Eurovision, only having joined in 2007. Despite this relatively short tenure in the ESC so far, they’ve definitely made their mark, even beyond the scoreboard.
Their first entry, “Visionary Dream (My Story)” by Sopho Khalvashi, was an almost-hypnotic mix of traditional Georgian folk, pop and electronica. Highly underrated, it only came in 12th place (although it did make it through a difficult semifinal round in Helsinki, beating favorites from Cyprus, Switzerland, Andorra, and the Netherlands). Not only that, but its official video could have easily doubled as an advertisement for the Georgian Tourism Board! After watching it a few times, I was ready to book my ticket to Tblisi, find a supra somewhere, and gorge myself on wine, hospitality, and Khatchapuri (mmm…cheese bread…).
The next year, Georgia enlisted blind singer Diana Gurtskaya to sing “Peace Will Come”. As a native of Abkhazia, an autonomous republic in Northern Georgia, Gurtskaya was a witness during her childhood to rioting and war in her region. She fled her hometown of Sukhumi for Tblisi, where she honed her musical ability. Because of her personal experiences of growing up in the midst of conflict, “Peace Will Come” struck a bit of an emotional chord with viewers, and placed 11th in the 2008 ESC. (And, on a different note, her mid-song costume change is even more impressive once you remember that Gurtskaya is completely blind!)
After sending a song with a universally acceptable political message in 2008, Georgia decided to play their cards more aggressively for the 2009 Contest, held in Moscow. In 2008, Russian troops invaded South Ossetia, which, while autonomous, is generally considered Georgian territory. Needless to say, this didn’t make Tblisi very happy. They had originally planned on withdrawing from the competition altogether, but after Georgia won the 2008 Junior Eurovision Song Contest (basically, just like the ESC only even more hyperactive…can you imagine?), they decided to give it a go anyway. However, as a sort of innocuous flipping of the proverbial bird to Russia, they sent a “Disco Inferno”-inspired ditty called “We Don’t Wanna Put In”. (Evidently, “We Don’t Wanna Med Vedev” or “We Don’t Wanna Rush Ya” didn’t roll off the tongue as easily…) Although the Georgian broadcaster denied any rule-breaking (as overtly political songs are banned from the ESC), outcry from the Russian hosts prompted the EBU to issue an ultimatum to Georgia: either change the lyrics or bow out. They took the second option, and withdrew from the 2009 ESC, making headlines all through Europe and beyond.
So what’s Georgia bringing to the table for their triumphant return to Eurovision?
http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/video/xcqeuv
Sopho Nizharadze’s representing Tblisi with “Shine”, one of many big, female-driven ballads that 2010 is offering up. Almost half of the songs in the second semifinal are ballads (or similar), so this might be a tough sell for Sopho. However, she’s in the lucky situation that she’s singing second-to-last, so she’ll be fresh in voters’ minds when they pick up their phones. Out of the traditional ballads this year, this is probably one of my favorites, but it’s not quite as high up there on my personal list as Croatia or Israel. This one could go either way, depending on how Sopho does on the night of performance.
I first heard this song at the end of February, right as the Winter Olympics were coming to a close. As I was listening to “Shine” for the first time, NBC was showing one of its usual compilations of the events of the games, with the glowing scenes of victory mixed in with the heartbreaking moments that came along with this year’s Games. While listening to this song, a clip of the Georgian team walking into the stadium during the Opening Ceremonies played, their members all in black armbands in honor of Nodar Kumaritashvili, the luger who had died the day before in a tragic accident. There was something about listening to Sopho’s song, all about moving forward through pain towards a hopeful future, while looking at the faces of Nodar’s compatriots while the rest of the athletes and spectators stood and cheered in solidarity…I hate to admit this, but it brought me to tears.
Needless to say, it’s good to have Georgia back in the competition.
Now, if I were a terrible person, I’d put a link here to Georgia’s winning song for the 2008 Junior ESC, “Bzz” by Bzkebi (The Wasps). But I really don’t want to feel responsible for all of the pain and anguish that would cause you all, dear readers. So, why don’t you all just watch the video for “Visionary Dream” again, and leave it at that?
ESC 2010 Reviews: France
Ah, France. One of Eurovision’s Grande Dames, she truly has the reputation of one of the competition’s greatest Divas. Her highest heights were reached in the faded glory days of the earliest years of the contest, and almost entirely by big-voiced and powerful chansons and ballads. She also takes a diva-ish attitude towards the ESC, alternating between adoration and disdain. And, oui, France might not have raised the trophy high since the 1970s (although they lost the 1991 Contest on a technicality), but merde, they’re still here! Their regional and linguistic allies Luxembourg and Monaco have both dropped out (since 1993 and 2006, respectively), but France’s love-hate relationship continues. Back in the 1980s, a network head described Eurovision as a “monument to drivel”, but instead of withdrawing from the ESC, the nation simply switched networks, and after a 1-year absence, they resumed participation.
Another interesting point about France’s relationship with Eurovision is that of linguistics. Traditionally, the ESC uses both English and French as its official languages (as in, the hosts will present the contest bilingually, and points are announced in both languages), and nations are allowed to pick whichever language they’d like to sing in. As time has progressed, more countries have sent songs in English, and hosts only seem to use French nowadays as a ceremonial tool. France has held incredibly steadfast to their focus on their language’s representation in Eurovision. Back in 2008, when offbeat singer Sebastien Tellier was the nation’s choice, there were shocks felt all over France when it was realized that his song “Divine” was almost entirely in English. One member of Parliament made such a fuss that Tellier eventually changed a few lines of his song into French, just to appease his compatriots. (And, to tell you the truth, Tellier’s lyrics were basically unintelligible anyway. He could have been singing in Malagasy, and I wouldn’t have been able to tell much of a difference. But he put fake beards on his backing singers, drove on stage in a golf cart, and sucked in helium onstage. That automatically makes him awesome.) France has dabbled in other languages, however, besides just traditional French. In 1992, “Monté la riviè (Go Up the River)” was sung partially in Hatian Creole. 1993 brought Corsican to the ESC stage for the first time (“Mama Corsica”), and 1996’s entry, “Diwanit Bugale (May You Blossom, Children)“, was sung entirely in Breton.
Anyway, back to what France does best: big songs with bigger voices. One of France’s five victories was the disputed contest of 1969, when four countries actually tied for the victory (it hadn’t occurred to anyone to come up with a tie-breaking method!). France shared their victory with the United Kingdom, Spain, and the Netherlands that year, but Frida Boccara’s “Un Jour, Un Enfant (A Day, A Child) was my favorite of the four. Interestingly, if today’s tiebreaking rules had been in effect back in 1969, France would have won anyway! In 1977, France won its most recent title, sending Portuguese-born Marie Myriam with “L’oiseau et L’enfant (The Bird and the Child)”. Another big, beautiful performance, and another victory.
Last year’s entry tried to follow this beautiful old paradigm. France picked the renowned jazz-pop singer Patricia Kaas to represent them with “Et s’il fallait le faire (And If it Had to Be Done)”, a lush chanson that might have been lovingly lifted from a film noir’s soundtrack. However, despite the beautiful song and emotional performance from Kaas, the song only placed in 8th position.
If Patricia Kaas, a well-known and respected singer who has sold an estimated 16 million records worldwide, couldn’t bring the competition back to Paris, maybe it was time for a change from France’s old wheelhouse. And that’s where 2010’s French representative, Jessy Matador, comes in.
http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/video/xd62m9
Jessy is a multi-talented performer of Congolese descent, and the network who’s sponsoring his participation in this year’s Eurovision is actually getting a bit of a two-for-one deal: because this song is so upbeat and summery, it’s also going to be used to promote this year’s World Cup, being held in South Africa. “Allez Ola Olé” is undoubtedly different from almost anything else that France has sent before, and it’s also very different from anything else in the 2010 competition. This might work to France’s advantage or not; it’s difficult to tell. But, fortunately for Jessy, France automatically qualifies to the Final (along with Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, and reigning champion Norway), as major donors to the EBU. To tell you all the truth, I personally didn’t love this song the first time I heard it. However, in all fairness, the first time I heard it was in the middle of winter in a frigid-cold Minnesota, and the only thing I was really interested in was a cup of hot chocolate and making sure my car was running properly. Now that the weather’s more comfortable, I find myself warming up to this fun soccer chant. Bonne chance!
ESC 2010 Reviews: Finland
ESC 2010 Reviews: Estonia
Due to the ongoing global economic crisis, belts all over the world have had to be tightened. Of course, this idea extends to Eurovision. For many nations, budgets have been slashed in the arts and media, and sending an entry to the ESC doesn’t come cheap by any means. And don’t even get me started on how much it costs to host the contest to begin with! (According to ESCtoday, Norwegian broadcaster NRK estimates this year’s event cost at over €24 million, or $31.7 million.) Because of this, many previously participating nations have had to either drop out of the ESC for the year (Hungary, the Czech Republic, Montenegro, and Andorra) hold off on re-entering (San Marino, Luxembourg, and Monaco), or wait until 2011 to enter for the first time (we’re still waiting, Liechtenstein!). Estonia and fellow Baltic nation Lithuania nearly fell victim to this pitfall, but because of the generosity of local foundations and media organizations (in the case of Estonia) and the investment of private companies (as in Lithuania), we’ll see smiling faces from Tallinn and Vilnius on stage in Oslo this May. We’ll come back to Lithuania in a little while, but for now, we’re here to talk about Estonia.
To be completely honest with you all, up until last year Estonia could have almost completely fallen off the Eurovision map and few people would have noticed. They made their debut back in 1994, but finished a disappointing second-to-last (Lithuania, also debuting, actually finished in last place that year, scoring the dreaded “nul points”). They actually won the contest back in 2001, the first nation from the former Soviet Bloc to do so, but out of the almost sixty winners that Eurovision has had since 1956, Tanel Padar and Dave Benton’s “Everybody” has to be my least favorite. (Pardon me while I channel Simon Cowell for a moment, but “Everybody” was the ultimate in cruise-ship-meets-awkward-bar-mitzvah-disco-kitsch, and either Greece, Denmark, or Russia should have won it that year. Their 2002 entry, “Runaway“, was much better, but the singer was from Sweden! There, I got the rant out of my system. Now let’s never speak of this again.)
After their success in the early part of the last decade, they really fell off the mark. As the semifinal system was set up in 2003, no Estonian entry could break through and make it to the finals. They tried girl-pop, neo-folk, Brit-style rock, and whatever the hell this was. Finally, though, they struck gold in 2009 with the haunting, ethereal “Rändajad (Nomads)”, performed by Urban Symphony. I’d normally put a link in here to have you go to YouTube to see this clip, but this one, in my humble opinion, deserves a full embed. It was possibly my favorite entry from last year, along with Bosnia & Herzegovina, and it deserved to be placed higher than its eventual 6th-place finish (although, as a consolation, it was the highest-ranked non-English song in the competition that year).
I’ve heard that song a thousand times since last year’s contest, and I still haven’t grown tired of it. After such a great showing in 2009, and knowing how dangerously close they came to dropping out of the ESC this year, I had a feeling that the Estonian Preselection, “Eestilaul”, was going to be either a hard-fought battle among great tunes, or a low-budget affair that would make my eyes cross in a mix of horror and hilarity (do I need to show you “Leto Svet” again?). I decided that I was going to challenge myself and watch this year’s Eestilaul.
Oh, and just so everyone is clear on this point, I speak no Estonian whatsoever. But, I’m a glutton for linguistic punishment, so I don’t let an arbitrary speed bump like “not understanding what people are saying” stop me!
The main Eurovision website often streams individual national finals (and they currently have the whole thing archived here, if you want to check it out), so I watched the whole thing, from top to tail. First, I was surprised how much I actually understood, not because Estonian bears any resemblance to English (it doesn’t at all), but because the competition was colored with so much humor, poking fun at the music industry, Eurovision clichés, and even at the artists themselves. Despite being almost completely in a language that I have no comprehension of, the program was universal enough for me to really get into, and I sometimes queue up the show and watch it over again, just for the fun of it. And out of the ten songs in this year’s Eestilaul, there were actually quite a few gems, and I’ve currently got about half of the selections hanging out on my iPod. Here are some of the greatest hits from 2010:
6th place) Groundhog Day, “Teiste seest kõigile (Inside all of us)”: A mid-tempo rock song with a soaring chorus. It’s a shame that ESC songs are limited to 3 minutes, maximum, because this was great, albeit too short.
4th place) Iiris Vesik, “Astronaut”: A more avant-garde offering reminiscent of Björk or a more offbeat Kate Bush. Surrealist and dreamlike…one of a kind
3rd place) Violina featuring Rolf Junior, “Maagiline Paëv (Magical Day)“: Possibly trying to take the violin-torch from Urban Symphony and last year’s ESC winner Alexander Rybak, Violina and Rolf Junior present an upbeat, danceable track that would even make Mr. Burns from the Simpsons smile. At the very least, Mr. Smithers would appreciate it…
2nd place) Lenna Kurrmaa, “Rapunzel“: Bringing to mind some of the girl-groups of the late 1950s and early 1960s, with just a touch of rock to make it current, Lenna’s offering was sweet and sassy, and it nearly took the Eestilaul title this year.
So, after all of that, who’s going to Oslo?
This year’s Eestilaul victor is “Siren” by Malcolm Lincoln! (The lead singer, Robin Juhkental, took the name from an incorrect answer on the Estonian version of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire”, where a contestant was convinced that Abraham Lincoln’s first name was actually Malcolm.) This is definitely one of those songs that people will either love or hate. I personally LOVE it, and have it in my top 5, nestled up with Israel, Croatia, Turkey, and Germany. It’s like no other song being presented this year, with a chorus that at times makes me think of British New Wave from the mid-’80s, and from different angles I hear touches of Motown and the current indie/hipster scene. I can almost guarantee that traditional fans of Eurovision will hate this song (Slaviša?), and I’ll be shocked and ecstatic to see it pass through to the finals (even though it’s in the first semifinal, which is somewhat weaker than the second, and neighbors Finland, Latvia, and Russia can possibly send some regionally-influenced votes their way), but as a stand-alone song, in terms of how uniquely crafted and creative this is, I think that “Siren” is absolutely genius.
My hat’s off to you, Estonia, and I look forward to next year’s Eestilaul!
ESC 2010 Reviews: Denmark
Denmark, having entered the ESC back in 1957, was the first Scandinavian entry to enter the contest, and they were also the first Nordic nation to chalk up a win, with 1963’s timeless and elegant “Dansevise“, performed by husband-and-wife team Grethe (vocals) and Jørgen Ingmann (guitars). (And, just as a point of trivia, Jørgen’s 1961 version of “Apache” hit #1 on the US Singles list, making him one of the few Eurovision stars to find success on the American charts. The song was later covered and/or sampled by The Shadows, The Sugarhill Gang, Fatboy Slim, Amy Winehouse, M.I.A., and The Roots.)
Despite Denmark’s long history in Eurovision, they’ve only won once more, with 2000’s “Fly on the Wings Of Love” sung by the Olsen Brothers (coincidentally, one of whom was also named Jørgen). The following year, they scored a respectable 2nd place with “Never Ever Let You Go“, co-written by Søren Poppe. Last year, they sent a fantastic pop-rock song, “Believe Again“, co-written by Irish superstar Ronan Keating (and later recorded in Dutch and Afrikaans, hitting the charts in the Netherlands and South Africa), but it only made it to 13th place. So, as far as I can tell, Denmark’s key to success is the letter Ø!
Sø, if my theøry stacks up at all, Denmark may have already shøt themselves in the føøt by submitting a sadly “ø-free” søng, “In a Moment Like This”, sung nøt by American Idøl-winner Kelly Clarksøn, but by Chanée and N’Evergreen.
It seems almost tailor-made for Eurovision, with familiar pop hooks that bring to mind The Police’s “Every Breath You Take” and Tina Turner’s “Simply the Best”. Just add an appropriate key change, two good-looking singers, and a good stage presentation, and you may end up with a frontrunner for this year’s title. It’s not my personal favorite this year (although I’d definitely put it in my top dozen or so, and it’s growing on me quickly), but the bookies seem to favor it, and ESC fan clubs all over the continent are definitely supporting it, with or without the Scandinavian Voting Bloc advantage. I’d be surprised if it didn’t hit the Top 5 in this year’s Finals!
Gøø∂ Lüçk, ∂éñmå®k!
ESC 2010 Reviews: Cyprus
Cyprus, more than possibly any other nation participating in the Eurovision Song Contest, has felt the sweet sting of Bloc Voting. As the language and culture of Cyprus is so inextricably linked to that of their Mediterranean colleague Greece, votes between the two are almost always high. Since the start of audience televoting (as opposed to a vote dictated by national jury) back in 1998, the two nations have exchanged maximum points with each other whenever possible. (However, Cyprus hasn’t actually qualified for the finals since the 2005 Contest, where Greece ended up winning, so over the last few years, this point has been somewhat moot.) Thanks to the magic of YouTube, here’s a video showing just a few of the recent 12-point scores given from Cyprus to Greece (be sure to listen up for the boos and groans from the audience and commentators!)
Cyprus has felt the negative side of bloc voting, however. The island nation entered the ESC in 1981, about seven years after a Turkish invasion of the northern portion of the country. The nation is still somewhat divided, with a Greek southern half and a semi-independent Turkish northern half (although the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is only officially recognized by Turkey itself, and the “Cyprus” that participates in Eurovision is exclusively the Greek-speaking portion). Because of this sore spot between the two nations, no points had ever been exchanged between Ankara and Nicosia until 2003, when Cyprus gave Turkey a then-astonishing 8 points, securing them a win over the Belgian entry that year. The next year, Cyprus sent Turkey 4 points, Turkey returned the favor with one point, and, having apparently gotten the goodwill out of their systems, they’ve never voted for each other again.
Cyprus’s results have been middling, at best. They’ve only come in last place once (in 1986), and their highest placings were a trio of 5th-place finishes in 1982, 1997, and 2003. My two favorite Cypriot entries, although radically different and from two different decades, were actually sung by the same artist, Limassol native Evridiki. Her 1994 entry, “Ime Anthropos Ki Ego” (“I’m a Person, Too”) was a powerful, melancholy ballad featuring a traditionally Greco-Cypriot instrumental break. In 2007, Evridiki was back with an upbeat techno-pop song sung entirely in French, “Comme Ci, Comme Ça“(“So-So”). It’s amazing to think that such divergent songs came from the same singer (she also sang the 1992 entry, “Teriazoume”, which was more of a standard love-ballad). Unfortunately, both “Ime Anthropos Ki Ego” and “Teriazoume” only made it up to 11th place, and “Comme Ci, Comme Ça” didn’t even qualify for the finals, but I have them in my iTunes playlist anyway, and listen to them both more often than I care to publicly admit.
This year, Cyprus has decided to go a bit out of left field. Instead of taking a home-grown singer (or going back to Evridiki for a fourth time), their national selection yielded a victory for an unknown Welsh singer named Jon Lilygreen and his backing group The Islanders, singing “Life Looks Better in Springtime”, written by two natives of Cyprus educated in the UK.
http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/video/xcq5xj
Jon’s song shares some vague similarities with Belgium’s Tom Dice. Both are decently attractive guys in their early twenties, strumming on their guitars. However, Jon’s production feels a lot more fleshed out and lush, as if it were the winner’s song on American Idol, while Tom’s feels more organic and “coffeehouse”. All in all, it comes down to a matter of personal taste. I tend to prefer Tom’s, but as “Life Looks Better in Spring” is being performed in the second semifinal, while “Me and My Guitar” will be in the first round, they might not even go head-to-head against each other. We’ll just have to wait and see, but it might just take a Welshman to take the Cypriots out of the semifinals for the first time in four years.
ESC 2010 Reviews: Croatia
Croatia, like Bosnia & Herzegovina, entered the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time as an independent nation back in 1993. Just like “Sva Bol Svieta”, Croatia’s entry “Don’t Ever Cry” quietly alluded to the then-ongoing conflict in the Balkans. Out of the three debuting countries in Millstreet that night, Croatia scored the highest, beating out Bosnia & Herzegovina and neighbor Slovenia. Since that night, Croatia has generally scored fairly well, although their only victory came back in 1989, when the Croatian broadcaster bore the flag for a then-unified Yugoslavia and Riva’s “Rock Me” took the crown to Zagreb.
Two of my favorite Croatian entries were from back-to-back years. In 1998, Danijela Martinović opened the show with the wistful, almost lullabye-esque “Neka Mi Ne Svane” (“May Dawn Never Rise”), and finished in fifth place in the first ESC to feature audience voting alongside a jury ballot. The next year, Doris Dragović came in 4th place in Jerusalem with the more uptempo “Marija Magdalena“. (Incidentally, these two songs are my personal nominees for “Best Mid-Song Costume Change“, next to the United Kingdom in 1981, Latvia in 2002, and Georgia in 2008. Just saying!)
However, it looks like this year’s entry might be joining Danijela and Doris as my favorite entry from Zagreb ever! As per usual, Croatian broadcaster HRT held their traditional national selection “Dora”, and the winner, chosen via a public and jury vote, was Feminnem with “Lako Je Sve” (“Everything is Easy”). Now, as I mentioned in the Bosnia & Herzegovina article, Feminnem are no strangers to the ESC. Their song “Call Me” won 14th place in 2005, and they’re ready to better their score with this powerful and beautiful ballad, which dips back and forth between sweet and heartbreaking.
http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=10304790&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1
Feminnem: Lako je sve – The official video from Eurofest Croatia on Vimeo.
My prediction for the ladies from Feminnem? Well, they’ll be performing in the difficult Second Semifinal, but if they pass, then they’ll have the benefit of a beautiful song, performers who are no strangers to the Eurovision Stage, and the fact that they’re a member of the often-advantageous Balkan voting bloc. If they make the finals, and they put together a good staged performance, you can expect a Top Ten, if not a Top Five position. It’s definitely one of my favorites this year.
ESC 2010 Reviews: Bulgaria
Who would have guessed that the hardest entry to write so far (and, therefore, my delay in putting this post out) would be Bulgaria, of all places? It’s not because I’ve got a massive wealth of information to choose from, like with my entries on Belgium or Bosnia & Herzegovina, that’s for sure. Bulgaria made its Eurovision debut in 2005, making this only the sixth entry for the country. It’s not that they’ve had a massive impact on the contest, for better or for worse. They’ve only had one real positive “standout” entry, their 2007 percussion-heavy and techno-inspired song “Voda/Water“, which took Bulgaria to their highest placing ever, a very impressive 5th place. This was also the first time that the Bulgarian language was used on the ESC stage (which, as an unabashed language geek, makes me happy to see).
With the exception of “Voda”, Bulgaria’s entries over the past few years have left me somewhat cold, frankly. Even this year’s song, “Ангел си ти” (“Angel Si Ti”/”You’re An Angel”, performed by Bulgarian heartthrob Miro), which is a pleasant, yet generally standard uptempo Europop song, hangs around the middle of the pack. It’s not bad, by any stretch, but it’s not earth-shattering, either. I’ll let you be the judge, of course!
http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=10427670&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=00ADEF&fullscreen=1
Miro Angel si ti from Bulgoc on Vimeo.
It will be sung near the end of the particularly strong Second Semifinal, where it will have to fight with heavy hitters like Israel, Armenia, Turkey, Sweden, and Denmark for the right to make it to the finals. It is slated to be performed immediately after Ireland and right before Cyprus, who will both be offering slower, more emotionally charged songs. Will this help Miro stand out, or will he be like the little cup of sorbet served between two heavy courses in a banquet, doomed to be an afterthought compared to the rest the meal? In this case, I really think that it will come down to the staging and presentation. Miro’s an established performer and well-known name in parts of Eastern Europe (not to mention easy on the eyes), so if he can make Oslo love him as much as Sofia does, he might be able to take Bulgaria into the finals for the first time since “Voda”. Or he might just be like audio cotton candy, with the sugary floss dissolving into nothingness.
ESC 2010 Reviews: Bosnia & Herzegovina
Bosnia’s history in Eurovision has truly been one of redemption. Rising from the horrors of the Balkan Conflict of the early-to-mid 1990s, they have now become one of the more successful entrants into the ESC in recent years. Despite never having won the contest in its fifteen appearances, they took the bronze position in 2006 and have qualified for the finals each year since the establishment of the semifinal system.
Bosnia’s inaugural entry, in 1993’s contest in Millstreet, was Fazla’s “Sva Bol Svijeta” (“All The Pain in the World”), which directly referenced the then-ongoing conflict back home in Sarajevo. With heart-wrenching lyrics such as:
| Sva bol svijeta je noćas u Bosni | All the pain in the world tonight is in Bosnia |
| Ostajem da bolu prkosim | I’m staying to defy the fear |
| I nije me strah stati pred zid | I’m not afraid to stand in front of the wall |
| Ja znam da zapjevam, ja znam da pobijedim | I can sing, I can win |
Europe had to not only take notice of the song, but of the plight of the conflict itself. Considering that Eurovision had basically been founded as a cultural response to war, putting the theme of wartime strife front and center struck a poignant note with the audience. When it was time for the votes to be cast in Millstreet that evening, and hostess Fionnuala Sweeney received the call from Sarajevo, the spectators were brought to their feet, their cheers at times nearly drowning out the weak, static-filled connection, rife with feedback. The first two minutes of this video chronicle that moment.
Since that night in 1993, Bosnia and Herzegovina have fared generally well in the ESC. In 2005, they were represented by the girl-band Femminem, who will actually be bearing the Croatian flag in this year’s competition (but more about them later!). In 2006, the emotional, Balkan-influenced ballad “Lejla“, sung by Hari Mata Hari, was hotly predicted to win in Athens, yet was beaten into a surprise third place by the Finnish and Russian entries.
For the 2008 contest in Belgrade, it was decided that Bosnia and Herzegovina would go in a slightly different direction for their national entry. That result was “Pokusaj” (“Try”), one of the strangest, yet sweetest songs ever to come out of the competition. Performed by eccentric rocker Laka and his younger sister Mirela, the song is a wide-eyed, childlike blend of rock, playground rhyme, and performance art, incorporating laundry, brides, inexplicable knitting, and an ensemble on Mirela that’s a strange blend of Helena Bonham Carter, Raggedy Ann, and Roseanne Rosannadanna.
Just watch it, and you’ll understand.
(For the record, I’ll have that song stuck in my head for the next week and a half…)
Last year’s entry for Moscow was another 180° shift from the wacky and wild wonder of “Pokusaj”. National broadcaster BHRT selected rock group Regina, who had been performing together since 1990. Their entry, “Bistra Voda” (“Clear Water”), was a powerful song almost reminiscent of military marches. Presented simply, yet passionately, it resulted in a 9th place finish, and the song was selected internally by the songwriters competing in Moscow as having the best overall composition.
This year, the challenge goes to 26-year-old Vukašin “Wookee” Brajić, a participant in “Operacija Trijumf”‘s 2009 edition. His pop/rock style brought him to the runner-up position in the “Pop Idol”-type show; will it do the same for him in Oslo? His song, chosen internally by BHRT, is entitled “Thunder and Lightning”, and, like the aforementioned Albanian entry, was adapted into English from its original Bosnian. Unfortunately, unlike the Albanian’s switch from “Nuk Mundem Pa Ty” to “It’s All About You”, “Thunder and Lightning” is almost a direct, word-for-word translation from the original song, “Munja i Grom”. While it’s great that the integrity of the words are still intact, the rhyme scheme now feels messy, and the lyrics sound almost amateurish. If Vukašin sings in the original Bosnian (or even switches between the two languages), it will likely sound smoother and less jarring. My friend (and fellow ESC geek) Slaviša, who’s a native of Banja Luka, tells me that the Bosnian reaction to the release of this song has been less than positive, especially compared to the acclaim that Hari Mata Hari, Laka, and Regina all received. However, I personally like Vukašin’s voice (he sounds almost like an accented Jon Bon Jovi, at least to my New Jersey-bred ears), and I’m always happy to see more rock on the ESC stage. That being said, the version of Bosnia’s 2010 entry on my iPod is “Munja i Grom”, not “Thunder and Lightning”. I predict that it will pass through to the final, but likely won’t score much higher than 10 or 15th place.
Here’s the official English version, followed by “Munja i Grom”. Which do you like more?
ESC 2010 Reviews: Belgium
Unlike the other entries I’ve written about so far, Belgium is one of Eurovision’s original participants. They took part in the ESC’s inaugural contest in 1956, and have only been absent three times since then (1994, 1997, and 2001, due to low cumulative scores from earlier years). Despite such a long history in the contest, Belgium has only won the thing once, back in 1986, with 13-year old Sandra Kim’s “J’aime la vie” (if you want a bit of a laugh at how far the world has come in terms of fashion since 1986, check out her performance here…and I though Belarus had a lock on the mullet?!).
One of the cool things about how Belgium manages their participation in the contest is that because of the division between the French-speaking (Walloon) and Flemish-speaking populations of the country, they have two broadcasters picking the nation’s songs, alternating year by year. The entries from French-speaking broadcaster RTBF tend to fare better in the competition than their Flemish counterpart, VRT. Belgium’s lone victory and two second-place finishes were all from RTBF, but VRT’s entries have never done any better than 6th, and that was back in 1959! (Granted, the Walloons haven’t been doing too fantastically in recent years, either. They sent an Elvis impersonator last year. Seriously.)
Trying to change VRT’s luck this year is Tom Dice (real name: Tom Eeckholut), the runner up in the Flemish version of “X Factor”. He was selected internally by the network with the hopes of bringing Belgium back into the finals for the first time since 2005. His song, “Me and My Guitar”, is a simple, yet enjoyable track that I could imagine someone singing while sitting in the lounge at my old college dorm.
Tom’s voice isn’t perfect, and he isn’t as drop-dead gorgeous as some of the other participants in this year’s competition, but Tom has the sort of sweet, earnest, and genuine “everyman” quality that appeals to me. We’ve all known a Tom Dice or two. He’s the acquaintance you sat next to in High School Trigonometry, or the dude you sometimes see at the coffee shop you always go to, or the quiet guy four cubicles down from your desk at work. You might not know much about him, and you might have walked by him a thousand times without even realizing it, but you still want him to succeed at whatever he’s going for. That’s why I’m pulling for Tom to at least break into the finals.
And let’s face it…any nation that can give us this deserves a break, don’t you think?
The ESC Insider 