One of the hardest things you can attempt at Eurovision is being feather-light and get away with it. Romania almost nailed it. Almost.
Mandinga - Zaleilah (Romania 2012)
Being light and carefree is difficult since you have to be really convincing in order to get away with it.
If you sing a demanding ballad, you can allow yourself to slip on a note or two. If you sing about heartbreak you can allow yourself a little too much acting. If you do a dance act, it is OK to focus a bit more on dancing than singing.
But if you want to be light and carefree, you must be perfect. The audience must get the feeling that your performance is born in the moment, that it is the easiest thing, that it just comes to you.
Romania did this perfectly until the semi final, when lead singer Elena had problems with her in-ear and struggled to sing in tune and in the right rhythm. There and then the illusion was lost, for the audience as well as for her.
The performance never got back to feeling as carefree as it would have needed to be and a real contender lost most of its bite. Too bad.
My grade: 3/5
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