The running order is no longer established by a draw in order to give every song the best possible starting position. So it would be nice to know why the first semi kicks off with this particular entry.
Aram Mp3 - Not Alone (Armenia 2014)
When Armenia announced that their internally selected entrant was a comedian-turned-singer I must admit to radically lowering my expectations but I was proved very wrong indeed. This is a modern, intriguing and very ambitious entry with a long and intense crescendo that finally turns into the most credible dubstep element to date in the ESC.
Passionate, tempestuous, exquisite.
But also the kind of entry that would need a couple of songs in front of it in order to stand out. You benefit less from being different if you are the first one on stage and the audience has nothing to compare you to. The choice of having Armenia open the semi is really hard to understand.
Not Alone is also a top favourite with the bookies. Why waste a song like that so early in the running order?
Qualifier:
Absolutely. No bad starting position in the world could hold this entry back at this point. It will qualify with ease and then hopefully have a better spot in the final.
My grade: 5/5
