Sweden: Team Flinck

Tis the Melodifestivalen final tonight, and I hate when there's clear favourites and everyone else might as well go home

Especially when they're shit!

Yeah! 

 

National Finals and national singers

In this article on Ell and Nikki from Azerbaijan, someone in the comments wonders the following:

maybe it would have been better for them to sing an Azeri song in the ceremony because it's a bit strange that the people who won azerbaijans people of tge year award is doing a performance in English! Don't they ever sing any other songs together? Preferably in Azeri? 

Remember of course that Ell and Nikki don't spend any other time together (I'm not convinced they even like each other). They were only put together for that song, and have other careers going on, so naturally, they only ever sing that song. By this point, they must be glad that their victory lap is almost over and they can stop singing that song. 

But it raises an interesting question in the current eurovision climate. Where swedish songwriters are everywhere, where everyone sings in english, where the producers are big American hotshots, how 'national' is your nation's entry? 

It seems that for most nations the nationality of the performer matters. Ell and Nikki sang an English language song written by a Swedish/American team, but they still represented Azerbaijan, because they are from Azerbaijan. (Even if Nikki lives in London.)

If you're in the UK and you were a hardcore geek you might have watched that abysmal channel 5 documentary in2010 where Justin Lee Collins wanted to sing in the Eurovision, but not for the UK. Not surprisingly, he never got to. He tried his chances with Estonia, Andorra, and Ireland. Estonia would only allow an estonian citizen to enter. Andorra just didn't want to enter. 

It was his chance with Ireland where it got most interesting. It was suggested to Justin that he'd have a better chance with Ireland because they were closest to the UK, and they always had lots of singers from the UK. 

Technically, that's true. Dana was Ireland's first winner in the Eurovision, and she's from Derry, in Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK. HOWEVER, someone in Channel 5's production needed a lesson in politics and geography. Northern Ireland, and being Irish or English is a bloody minefield. They're not called The Troubles for nothing!  The only UK people to represent Ireland at the Eurovision are Northern-Irish people, who presumably define themselves as Irish. Justin was on a hiding to nothing, since he's not remotely Irish.  I always thought the runner-up in Ireland's 2009 national, the Latvian Kristina Zaharova did quite well to come second. In the current form of the Eurovision where performers are the only symbol for the nation, it so matters what it says on their birth certificate. (Hence, it concerns me that Jedward represent Ireland!)

With the announcement of Željko Joksimović for Serbia, it seems fairly certain that once again they are retaining a very specific national sound, with a Serbian performer of ethno ballads. If you look at the rest of former Yugoslavia, all have chosen a  performer who is specifically born in their country, or in one of those tetchy disputed regions like Kosovo, as Rona Nishliu is. 

In fact, so far the only country that doesn't have a singer who was born in their country is the country that's usually very sensitive about their nationality is France, who have Anggun, who lived in Indonesia till she was twenty. Of course it's still very French. 

Denmark National Final

Dear Broadcasters. When you know a lot of obsessives from across the world are going to be watching your internet live feed, could you try and make it work properly. Please! I gather I was not the only one who couldn't make much of most of last nights Danish entries because the video kept jumping constantly.

The song that won in the end was Soluna Samay's Should Have Known Better

Does anyone else hear Seal's Crazy in the chorus or is that just me? Barely 30 seconds into a song, and I'm thinking of something else. I'm also thinking, what is that outfit? Is she planning on invading Europe after the contest? I can't decide if that outfit makes me think more of Cheryl Cole or Colonel Gadaffi. I don't really want to thin of either.

This song leaves no impression on me at all, and it kinda bores me. So it's probably going to be a winner. Sigh.

Finalist: Yeah. She's young, she's pretty, she's singing in English about love, it's inoffensive, easy-going. Still, at least I know what I can go to the toilet during on the 26 May.

Albania National Final

I don't know very much about Albania. From watching their national final, Festivali i Këngës, I am going to assume they are a country with a limited budget, with a somewhat staid approach to musical competitions. The songs seemed to rattle through quite quickly, and performers walked on, sang and walked off again, with barely a breath between them. Though with 20 songs to get through, and a lot of very stale 80s dross, I will say I was quite grateful. 


I gave up after what I believed to be, and correctly guessed was, the winner had performed: Rona Nishliu with Suus.

I like this song, I think it's very dramatic and emotional. But I really don't think it will suit Eurovision very well. Notice that the song is 4 and a half minutes. Us freaks will know that eurovision entries must be a maximum of 3 minutes. I'm not sure where you would cut this song down without butchering it, and making it a bit too loud, or a bit too quiet, or just very uneven.


Albania have repeatedly changed their songs to English for the final, I hope they leave this one as is. I think the idea of the song comes across anyway. 


Finalist: I don't know. II like it, it's very dramatic, but I'm not sure if it's not too depressing and dragging for the rest of the show. It will be hilarious inbetween the two comedy entries of the year. (there's usually at least two!) Please keep it in Albanian, translating this seems unnecessary. 

Switzerland National Final December last year.

So, since I only created this blog today I've kinda forgotten about Switzerland's National Final. That's ok though. I don't think the final created a winner, nor do I think there was a winner that was missed. The 2 and a bit hour show dragged, with so many songs I forgot what was even going on, except every so often the fat trendy DJ guy would say mean things, and everyone would boo.

Sinplus was the victor. I like the wave of indie/rock genre that has really appeared since Lordi's victory. However, this is a bit too soft for me, with lots of empty pep-talk of the you can be want you want to, believe in yourself etc variety. At least, I think that's what they're saying, in all honesty, the only word I understand 'Unbreakable.'

On the plus side though, at just over two minutes, this is going to be one of the shortest songs in the competition

Overall feeling: A song that might scrape into the final if it's the last song in the semis, not very memorable, but not offensively bad.