Estonia sends Getter Jaani – "Rockefeller Street"
As expected, the Estonians delivered one of the most entertaining, high-quality, and competitive of the National Finals. Since the change over from “Eurolaul” to “Eestilaul” three years ago, the quality of the Baltic nation’s Eurovision selections has gone absolutely through the roof. In the span of one event, audiences heard rock, pop, ballads, electronica, alternative, and even a waltz.
But, of course, there could only be a single winner, and that honor went to 18-year-old Getter Jaani and “Rockefeller Street”!
Getter, like many of this year’s Eurovision performers, is a veteran of one of her country’s televised talent searches (in this case, she came in 4th place on season three of Eesti otsib superstaari, the Estonian version of “Pop Idol”). In fact, her season of Eesti otsib superstaari was hosted by Tanel Padar, who sang as part of Estonia’s winning Eurovision entry from 2001, and Ithaka Maria, who Getter actually beat in Eestilaul this year (more on her later, though). Furthermore, the winner of Getter’s “Idol” season, Ott Lepland, was on the judging panel for tonight’s event. Small world!
I definitely enjoy “Rockefeller Street” (although, as someone who grew up right outside of New York, I hate to point out that there is no actual Rockefeller Street in Manhattan! Rockefeller Center is fabulous, though…). It was written by Sven Lõhmus, the composer behind one of Estonia’s greatest Eurovision songs, 2009’s stunning “Rändajad“, among other tunes. There were other songs that I preferred in this year’s Eestilaul, but I can definitely support “Rockefeller Street” in the ESC this year, even considering it’s geographical misdirection. It’s youthful, catchy, and instantly recognizable. Just as importantly, it’s simply fun! I can easily imagine the Estonians putting together some sort of fantastic stage show for their three minutes on stage in Düsseldorf…this one has potential.
I would be amiss to omit some of my other favorite songs from my review of Eestilaul tonight, so here are a few of my favorites from the Final:
Coming in 8th place was Rolf Roosalu (who competed in last year’s Preselection as “Rolf Junior”) with the modern ballad “All and Now“. Rolf, who has had extensive theater experience, brought in a subdued, yet powerful performance, especially considering his song from last year, “Maagiline Päev“.
In 7th place was “Smile” by MID, a throwback to the early days of 80’s British New Wave. Considering the path that last year’s Eestilaul winner, “Siren“, took, “Smile” would have been a definite continuation in that direction.
The big shock in this year’s final was the under-performance of Ithaka Maria’s fantastic “Hoppa-Pa’Rei!” The bombastic, cello-heavy pop-rock song only came in fifth place, despite high marks from the public audience. Any song that features bad-ass rock yodeling deserves its due!!
Jana Kask’s big-voiced ballad “Don’t Want Anything” came in 4th place. Jana holds the record for the youngest person to win an “Idol”-affiliated show in any nation, having won her title at only sixteen years old.
In a surprise third place (including maximum points from the jury) was Orelipoiss, a musical side project for prolific singer-songwriter Jaan Pehk, who was part of the band Rufus, Estonia’s ESC representative back in 2003. Eagle-eyed viewers might notice Malcolm Lincoln frontman Robin Juhkental singing backup on “Valss“.
Runner-up this year was the quiet electro-pop song “I Wanna Meet Bob Dylan“, performed by Outloudz. As a resident of Minnesota, where Bob Dylan was born and raised, a not-so-small part of me wanted this to win. This one took a bit of time to grow on me after the first time I had heard it, but it quickly became one of my favorites.
I don’t know what’s in the water out in Estonia, but for a nation of only 1.3 million, the musical talent pool seems incredibly deep and well-developed. I have no idea whether or not “Rockefeller Street” will claim a second victory for Estonia, but if Eestilaul continues to embrace local talent and style the way that is has over the past few years, I can’t doubt that a win is in the cards in the not-too-distant future. And, if not, they’re nurturing and exposing local talent, which is always an advantage, even if a performer doesn’t end up making it to Eurovision.
Nadine Beiler’s "The Secret is Love" for Austria!
…and another name is added to our ever-expanding list of participants!
Tonight, the second of our four returning nations revealed their song for Eurovision 2011 (we already know about Italy’s “Follia d’Amore“, and while we know that Senit will be representing San Marino, her song has yet to be officially announced. As for the Hungarians, we’re still waiting!). Since leaving the competition after a disappointing score in 2007, Austria has been biding its time on re-entering the ESC, citing a frustration over the bloc voting that helped Serbia, Russia, and Norway to victory, among other frustrations. However, when Germany won a resounding victory last year, the Austrians had no reason to argue, and they rejoined the fray.
This year, Austria served up a pretty extensive National Selection, with thirty songs competing in an online component, fighting it out for ten spots in the televised final. Making it to the final were local stars, including two winners from the talent show StarMania, the winner of “Germany’s Got Talent”, and even Joe Sumner, the son of British musical legend Sting.
After all of that, who gets to cross the border into Düsseldorf?
Nadine Beiler was the winner of the third season of StarMania (a season that also showcased Eric Papilaya, Austria’s 2007 ESC representative). The 20-year-old singer has had a few Top-20 singles in her homeland, and her debut album cracked into the Top 5 (she is expected to release her follow-up album later this year).
Compared to the Lithuanian entry that we saw yesterday, this is a major improvement in the ballad department. When I heard “C’est Ma Vie“, I thought of “Butterflies“, last year’s Belorussian representative. “The Secret is Love”, however, reminds me more of “Há Dias Assim” from Portugal. Instead of treacle, Nadine gives some measure of substance. However, I have a feeling that detractors will claim that she’s trying too hard to be like certain American pop or R&B divas (Christina? Beyoncé?), and I can definitely see where they’d be coming from. I doubt that “The Secret is Love” is this year’s new front-runner, but it’s definitely a respectable return from a nation that we’ve missed in the competition. Welcome back, Austria!
Yüksek Sadakat will "Live it Up" in Düsseldorf!
After two months of waiting, TRT has finally released their highly anticipated song for Eurovision: “Live it Up” by rock band Yüksek Sadakat (High Fidelity). The name of the band was released back in late December, with mixed reactions coming from Eurovison fans everywhere. Some people were thrilled to see the continuation of the strong tradition of Rock from the Turks, who had sent impressive entries in the genre back in 2004, 2008, and 2010. Others were disappointed to see a lack of hip-shaking pop, and still others were confused about why TRT picked a band that was well-known, but not quite as monstrously high-profile as maNga.
After a half-hour question-and-answer session aired live on TRT’s music station and broadcast through Eurovison.tv’s live stream, we finally have some clarity on what the Turks are going to be serving up.
“Live it Up” is, as its title suggests, an upbeat song with a message: let loose and party! In that way, it’s not too dissimilar to Athena’s “For Real” from a few years back. Only instead of the ska vibe we got from Athena, Yüksek Sadakat’s going for more standard, straightforward rock. The lyrics might be a bit simple, but the song is a lot of fun, and I definitely expect it to survive the semifinals (especially considering that brothers-in-arms Azerbaijan are in the same semi). Does it make as much of an instant impact as “We Could Be the Same“? I’m not sure. But with time, I’m cautiously optimistic that “Live it Up”‘s popularity will grow, as it does for most Turkish entries.
Evelina Sašenko – "C’est Ma Vie" for Lithuania
Another day, another hole filled on the Eurovision 2011 list of players!
After last year’s near-miss with InCulto’s lighthearted, fun-spirited, trouser-ripping ditty “Eastern European Funk“, the Lithuanians decided to go in another direction for 2011…
Evelina Sašenko will be singing “C’est Ma Vie (It’s My Life)” in Düsseldorf for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011, but this could have just as easily been inserted into 1994, 1962, or almost any other ESC year. I want to like it, and I’m happy to see the first official ballad of the year, but this is just…syrupy. I feel like I need to take a shower just to rinse the treacle out of my hair. Evelina has an undeniably lovely voice, and I wish her all the luck in the world, but she’ll be going up against high-energy tunes from Poland, Norway, Georgia, not to mention perennial powerhouse Turkey, among others, in her semifinal. “C’est Ma Vie” is pretty, but so far it looks like it’s getting my “Cotton Candy Award” for the year: incredibly sweet, and enjoyable for the three minutes you have it, but as soon as you consume it, it dematerializes and is gone.
A funny point of fact, though…as France’s song will be performed in Corsican, and both Belgium and Switzerland will be singing in English, the only bits of French that we’re likely to hear in Eurovision 2011 will be from…Lithuania?!?
Preview: Super Saturday!
This upcoming weekend is truly going to be a bit of an embarrassment of Eurovision riches, so to speak, with eleven nations picking or announcing their songs between Thursday and Sunday. (Of course, I’ll be trying to update the blog as much as I can, considering I only have one pair of eyes, one computer, and no international stations on my satellite dish…grrr…) What will you be watching?
Here’s a quick run-down of what we all can expect this weekend:
Thursday: National Final in Lithuania
Friday: Song revealing in Turkey (to be performed by rock band Yüksek Sadakat), and a National Final in Austria, returning to the contest for the first time since 2007.
Saturday: National Finals in Moldova, Ukraine, Latvia, Denmark, Estonia, and Serbia, plus semifinals in Sweden and Croatia.
Sunday: National Finals in Slovenia and (FYR) Macedonia.
(The Armenian National Final was also originally scheduled for this weekend, but due to the sudden passing of singer Emmy’s father, the event has been understandably postponed. I believe I speak on behalf of Eurovision writers and fans everywhere when I express my sincere condolences to Emmy and her family in this difficult time.)
It’s Poli Genova for Bulgaria!
The next song and artist to enter the official 2011 Eurovision line-up comes from Bulgaria. After a 19-song marathon of a National Final in Sofia, young Poli Genova took the title with her song “Na Inat (Stubborn)”.
Poli is no stranger to competition; she was the runner-up for the Bulgarian National Selection back in 2009 with the song “One Lifetime is Not Enough“, and she was also part of the group that represented Bulgaria in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest back in 2007. They grow up so quickly, don’t they?
Last year, Bulgaria failed to reach the Finals with local star Miro and his song “Angel Si Ti”. In fact, Bulgaria has only managed to reach the Finals once in their entire Eurovision history (2007’s “Voda“, which reached an impressive 5th place). Do you think Poli will take “Na Inat” back to the heights that Elitsa and Stoyan took Bulgaria four contests ago?
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Dino’s "Love in Rewind"
Well, the Bosnian presentation show just wrapped up a few minutes ago, and after a number of great performances from last year’s representative Vukasin Brajic, 1997 Italian representatives Jalisse, and Turkish superstar Mustafa Sandal, we finally got to hear what we had been waiting for:
Dino Merlin, who represented Bosnia and Herzegovina back in 1999 with “Putnici” and wrote the nation’s 1993 entry “Sva Bol Svieta“, will sing, surprisingly enough, in English this year with “Love in Rewind”. This mid-tempo song has a positive feel…it’s really quite lovely, actually! But that being said, I’m not a huge fan of the choreography. I loved Laka’s childlike performance back in 2008, but somehow it doesn’t quite work as well for Dino.
Watch his performance below, and let me know what you think!
All in all, I think that Dino Merlin’s done Bosnia and Herzegovina proud once again. He’s a well-respected veteran performer known all throughout the region, and I would be shocked to not see him not qualify out of his semifinal on May 12th. (But, in all honesty, I would have loved to have heard “Love in Rewind” sung in Bosnian…)
(Edit: I’ve had a few days to let “Love in Rewind” sink in, and as I review the song and the video, I’ve come to the realization that in a strange way, the carnivalesque atmosphere presented this week with the song actually works really well. The song and performance keep steadily growing on me, and it doesn’t even matter anymore if he’s singing in English, Bosnian, Esperanto or Korean. In my eyes, this song is absolutely beautiful as it is. I disavow my previous doubts and congratulate Dino on a masterful composition!)
Raphael Gualazzi – Follia d’amore for Italy!
After fourteen years of absence, Italy has finally given us an entry for Eurovision! Going on at this very moment (or, as I’m writing this article, anyway) is the final night of the San Remo Song Festival, one of the most popular musical traditions in Europe. In fact, Eurovision itself was modeled on this Italian song competition over fifty years ago.
A few weeks ago, it was announced that the Italian singer would be selected form the pool of San Remo entries and determined by a special jury including network representatives, the Mayor of San Remo, and performer Gianni Morandi, who was one of the event’s hosts. The winner of the festival wouldn’t necessarily be the Italian representative to Eurovision, so rumors and hopes began flying everywhere. Would it go to Nathalie Giannitrapani, the singer-songwriter who won the Italian version of the X-Factor last year? Would it possibly go to Al Bano or Ana Oxa, two veterans with Eurovision experience? Would it go to Giusi Ferreri or Anna Tatangelo, two young and promising performers? Or would it go to one of the unknown performers from this year’s “Giovani (Newcomers)” category?
It looks like the answer came from the latter question; the winner of this year’s Giovani Competition, jazz singer-songwriter Raphael Gualazzi, will represent Italy with his song “Follia d’Amore (Folly of Love)”.
The 29-year-old Gualazzi has been active in the Italian jazz scene for a few years now, but he only just released his first full-length album, “Reality and Fantasy”, this past year. He’s undoubtedly talented, and definitely has that Michael Bublé vibe about him, but I’m not sure if this song was the right choice for Eurovision. As good as the song might be, there’s often a distinct separation between “good songs” and “good Eurovision songs”. Will this have the far-reaching appeal to get to voters from Moldova, Sweden, Malta, and Ireland? I’m not sure yet…
But, then again, Eurofans have been drooling all over themselves once the news broke that Italy would be returning to the ESC…RAI could probably send a drunken man in a chicken suit to sing a polka off-key and dance the Macarena, and they’d probably do half-decently! Viva Italia!
It’s Eldrine for Georgia!
Next up on the long list of Eurovision decisions was the Republic of Georgia, giving us either their fourth or fifth entry to the ESC, depending on if you count songs that were selected, or songs that actually made it to the competition! (Check out my entry on Georgia’s history in the contest for more information…)
After seven performances, the eventual winner was the electro-rock group Eldrine and their song “One More Day” (I’m including the studio version of the song along with the live National Final Performance, as lead singer Tamar Vadachkoria was suffering from the flu…)
This is a complete departure from what we’ve seen from the Georgians; instead of reaching for an emotional ballad, it seems that the country has taken the lead of maNga, last year’s runner-up from Turkey, and have selected something completely modern, infusing rock, electronica, and hip-hop into their entry. Of course, it wouldn’t be Georgia without a big-voiced female lead singer, so we’ve got Tamar!
We haven’t heard the entry from Turkey’s Yüksek Sadakat, but we can expect that to be rock, as well. Both Turkey and Georgia are performing in the first half of the first Semifinal in this year’s Eurovision…will they cancel each other out, or stand up against one another and both proceed to the Final? Only time will tell, I suppose…
Lucía Pérez – "Que Me Quiten Lo Bailao" for Spain!
After weeks of Eurovision covers from twenty-four different artists, we finally have a winner in Spain. Auryn, Lucía Pérez, and Melissa each sang three potential Eurovision entries, which was then narrowed down to the top song from each artist. Those three songs then went head-to-head against each other, with the winning song carrying the Spanish flag to Eurovision this year.
Beating Auryn’s “Volver” and Melissa’s “Eos“, the 2011 Spanish entry to Eurovision will be Lucía Pérez with “Que Me Quiten Lo Bailao”!
“Que Me Quiten Lo Bailao” literally means “may they take away from me what I’ve danced”, but it really means something along the lines of “they can’t take away the good times”. This sunny pop song definitely ticks a lot of boxes…it’s catchy, youthful, and memorable, with a singer who is both sweet and experienced. (Lucía is a two-time veteran of the Viña Del Mar Festival in Chile, a competition known for not only the quality of the music performed, but also for the passion of its crowd. If you don’t perform well on the stage of the Quinta Vergara, the audience, known as “El Monstruo”, will let you know!)
Generally, I enjoy “Que Me Quiten Lo Bailao”…it’s very sweet, but it lacks a certain impact. It almost reminds me of Train’s song “Hey, Soul Sister“. It was a huge success (in the American market, at least), but yet it still faded a bit into the background (probably why it was used in so many commercials here last year). What are your thoughts?
The ESC Insider 