There will always be a market for silly songs. But then there is good silly and then there is bad silly. You can never guess which one Belarus went for.
Alyona Lanskaya - Solayoh (Belarus 2013)
I watched the Belarusian final for Malmö and thought Alyona Lanskaya was one of the better performers they ever selected. I also found "The Rhythm of Love" a more than decent little song.
But then, Belarusian tv is very anxious to do well at Eurovision. Who can blame them, given the close to aggressive interest their president has shown the event, poking his nose into most things, personally replacing singers and songs in the past?
So - exit the winning song. Instead they opted for a little number penned by Belgian Marc Paelinck who has competed three times before, always failing to achieve the predicted amount of success.
The new song is a happy-clappy pseudo-latin number with clumsy lyrics. It wants to be tempesteous and sexy but ultimately lacks every kind of passion. Alyona is still a good performer, but the preview suggests even she is struggling to find any real purpose or ambition in this ditty.
Belarus is very eager to please as many as possible. If they dared to rely on their singers and allow a bit of artistic integrity, they would probably do better.
Qualifier:
Possibly, but I would not bet my last money on it. Who is going to love this song enough to vote for it?
My grade: 2/5
I've been so bored with thise pseudo-etno-dance ditties that were so fashionable in the Eurovision during the 2008-2012. They were nice and fresh in the beginning, but soon they became copying each other. This year, the line up is remarkably lacking these Quele-queles, Haba-habas and Jan-Jans and frankly I don't miss them a bit.
ReplyDeleteThe Belarussian song tries to follow in that vein, but dear Mr. Lukashenko, you have missed the train.
Oh dear, this is so old-fashioned! For me it isn't the genre on its own, it's the song which is just poor.
ReplyDeleteWell I never really trusted Lukashenko's musical taste...