There is no lack of quality ballads in this year's Eurovision Song Contest. Slow, powerful, well crafted, well performed. That is a very good thing, but how many quality ballads is there room for in the final?
Carl Espen - Silent Storm (Norway 2014)
I must admit that I wasn't exactly blown away by this silent storm at first. It had the word "winner" written all over it in the Norwegian final without particularly touching me. Just like with Azerbaijan's ballad it took more than a fair share of repeated listening before this one hit home here.
In many ways, Azerbaijan and Norway are the female and male version of the same song. The slow pace, the vocal delivery, the desire to unravel your melody line without stuffing it with hooks. Both video clips also feature a large amount of papers caught in a whirlwind.
Just like Dilara, Carl Espen also delivers a great vocal performance and captures the audience, or at least the parts of the audience willing to listen.
Qualifier: Yes. Denmark did Norway no favours by placing it third in the running order, but it would be a complete shocker if this one wouldn't make it. But if it ends up too close to Azerbaijan - or another slow number - in the final, it might struggle. How many quality ballads can we handle in a final?
My grade: 3/5
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