2013 Finalist: Spain

In this competition for popular music, Spain has surprisingly often chosen to let their own colours and folklore shine through - also this year's entry has a distinct taste of ethnic music.



ESDM - Contigo hasta el final (Spain 2013)

In the 90's, when Ireland had their win-athon and a set of bagpipes were a stronger weapon than any chorus in the world, Celtic flavours were often heard at Eurovision, often as a sort of gimmick or colourful decoration that possibly could make your song work.

These days, the Celtic sound only pops up occasionally and in this case it comes in a most genuine form as ESDM - El Sueño de Morfeu - come from northern Spain where the Celtic heritage is strong and most influential.

If we start in the positive end, I really like this band. The singer has a warm and sensual timbre that reminds me ever so slightly of my personal house gods Mecano, and this song has a good chorus including some good hooks and steady handles.

So why did they have to make things so complicated?

The long intro might be artistic and pleasant, but it takes forever until the song really starts. When it does, the group keep fiddling with the tempo and the intensity: suddenly it goes up, then it goes down and the listeners never stand a chance of knowing what kind of song this really is, where it wants to go, what it wants to say. After three minutes, this song is still a stranger.

The whole entry feels unfocused, diffuse and pretty hard to grasp. Which is a shame as the chorus - when the group gives it full gas and drowns it in Celtic pipes - is really rather good.

Potential winner:
No, far from it. Spain could find themselves struggling this year as I can't see who will instantly fall in love with this song and vote for it. A bad slot in the first half of the running order and all hope is lost. Unfair, but such is life.

My grade: 2/5

Apart from Mecano - which is a great compliment - this song makes me think of another eurosong with a Celtic flavour, quite a good chorus but a long tedious intro as well as a meek and uninspired verse that lost this group basically all their points in the final.

Will ESDM have a better fate in Malmö?



Dervish - They Can't Stop The Spring (Ireland 2007)