Lena and the attitude

I surfed onto German site Queer.de the other day to read their review of Conchita's new album. I've been looking forward to Conchita making more music and was curious to see how it landed with the critics.

They liked it quite a lot and I had a listen to a few tracks and decided I have to listen in full some day.

Then I couldn't help but see that they also reviewed the new album by Lena Meyer-Landrut, so I decided to have a peek at that as well. Only it wasn't much of a review, more like a big plea for Lena to give up on music altogether and do something more useful with her time.

I haven't heard her new album, I must admit as much. Maybe it is disappointing. I've liked Lena's later output in general but that's really beside the point.

I doubt the reviewer would have taken that kind of attitude towards a singer that hadn't won the ESC. I know nothing of this reviewer - this is not aimed against him or that particular review - but often winning the ESC means the press will be nice with you for a while and then tear you down.

I suppose many winners would agree that at some point in their career, people seem to have held their victories against them. Like their victories would diminish their work, somehow. Conchita is everyone's darling now, but what will it be like in a few years?

Björn Ulvaeus of Abba has said in many interviews that the Eurovision victory was a door opener at first but soon made people assume they would fade away, since that was what ESC winners were supposed to do.

Personally I love Lena. Both her entries are among my favourites of recent years - especially "Taken By A Stranger" is a masterpiece - and I hope she'll stay in the business for as long as she pleases. Regardless of what reviewers and others might say.



Lena - Taken By A Stranger (Germany 2011 preview)

Runner-up: Turkey 2010

For almost thirty years Turkey had been the given loser at Eurovision. They kept entering original, ethnic, interesting, inspired entries, often breaking out of the typical mold and it never seemed to pay off.

Regardless what they came up with, Turkey almost always ended in the bottom half. Not seldom in the bottom five. Then came Sertab Erener and hit the ESC like a flash from a clear blue sky. Nothing would ever be the same again.

Suddenly Turkey had turned into a top player that more often than not made its way into the top ten. Helped by a heavily televoting diaspora perhaps, but that's not the whole truth. Turkey had turned into a credible contender, a country people would happily vote for.

Still original, this is energetic and melodic rock - a genre that used to fare as badly in eurovision as the average Turkish entry, but now it seemed the Turks were the kings of everything.

How wrong can you be? Only two years later, TRT was to pull out of the ESC and are yet to be seen again.

A deserved 2nd place?
Yes. Brave, ambitious and not your typical eurosong. Very well done.



Manga - We Could Be The Same (Turkey 2010)

Estonia: Lenna's time to shine?

Ever since being the lead singer of Vanilla Ninja (and representing Switzerland at the 2005 ESC in Kyiv), Lenna Kuurmaa has been one of Estonia's top stars. After going solo, her notoriety has only grown and grown, also in other areas beyond singing.

But she can't keep her paws off Eurovision anyhow. Perhaps Eesti Laul is just the perfect showcase to launch new hit singles, perhaps the girl would just love to get back onto the ESC stage. This year she makes her third solo showing and hopes to better her two second places to date.



Lenna - Rapunzel (Estonia NF 2010)

Her second place in 2010 was a real shocker. She was the big pre-contest favourite, being a sky-high leader in all the polls. She was the one to beat and then suddenly, in the super final, the Estonian public went more unpredictable than ever and opted for sending Malcolm Lincoln to Oslo instead.

In 2012, it was more of a two horse race with Ott Lepland winning in the end. Not a very hard defeat, probably, as Lenna has later said "Kuula" is one of her favourite songs ever.



Lenna - Mina jään (Estonia NF 2012)

I can shake the feeling that Lenna could find herself in second place again this year, this time after Sandra Nurmsalu. Perhaps her song this year is too much of a grower to be a perfect choice for a contest where you need to be reasonably instant. But if Lenna was to go to ESC as a solo singer, it would be all worth it.



Lenna - Supernoova (Estonia NF 2014)

Absent friend: Portugal

Eurovision 2013 is shaping up to be quite a good year with a solid selection of songs, perhaps not the strongest edition ever but more than acceptable.

Too bad then that there are several good friends from the past who decided, for various reasons, to give the Malmö party a miss. I thought I'd lend some of them a thought, at least. To show them they are not forgotten.

Portugal being absent isn't really a big shock, there were indications already last year that the budget of RTP might not allow any kind of excesses. As far as I can understand, they plan on being back as soon as the figures have improved.

Portugal has the less than flattering distinction of being the country with the biggest number of participations and no victory - but they have had some really good entries through the years.



Anabela - A cidade até ser dia (Portugal 1993)

Already from an early age I had an ear and an eye out for the underdogs of the contest, the countries whose songs stood out but kept scoring poorly, and was happy whenever they did a bit better than expected. I was cheering when Anabela got two top marks during the voting, but still would have wanted this very sweet song to do even better.

But regarless what the Portuguese opted for, the juries remained unimpressed. Ballads got thumbs down as well as this truly bang-up-to-date pop number from Dora.



Dora - Não sejas mau p'ra mim (Portugal 1986)

Well, whatever the Portuguese say or do, the remain the only country to date to ever enter a piece of revolutionary socialist disco. That must be worth something.



Os Amigos - Portugal no coração (Portugal 1977)

During the days of the Portuguese dictatorship, the local musicians and intellectuals gladly made use of this naive and innocent song contest in order to whip up some controversy and - if possible - protest about the regime without the censorship picking up too much of it.

Maybe it didn't result in fantastic scores or high placings, but it created some really original and engaging songs, most of which really should have done better.



Simone de Oliveira - Desfolhada portuguesa (Portugal 1969)

These are just a few of my personal favourites - I could easily have added at least ten more - and I really hope Portugal soon will burst back into the ESC in top form. I know they have it in them - it was only three years ago that they contributed a masterpiece like this.

And typically for Portugal it should have scored much better.



Filipa Azevedo - Hà dias assim (Portugal 2010)

ESC reject: Norway 2010

We hear so many of these stories at Eurovision; a relationship on the rocks but I promise to change so give me another chance and please stop looking like you're actually leaving. This is yet another one, but with a few more twists in the tale than most.

This girl really has a problem, doesn't she? She's not just a tad jealous, this one. She goes berserk as soon as something slightly female approaches and it is a mystery she can go through three minutes on stage without attacking her attractive backing singers.

Venke Knutse's sweet baby voice delivery goes very nicely together with the Mad Glenn Close-attitude (neat reference to "Fatal Attraction" in the lyrics), even if I might have wanted a little more of Lena's "maybe I'm cute but I'm also lethal so beware"-approch, used in Germany's 2011 entry.

You sort of understand the bloke and can't really blame him for leaving. Until the bridge, that is, when the lyrics suddenly reveal that this jealousy is rather well founded and triggered by the man himself.

What is left is the feeling that this couple probably deserves each other. That, and a miraculously sweet, fluffy and appealing little pop creation.

How Norway could select that pompous and sopophoric mega ballad instead is beyond me.



Venke Knutson - Jealous 'Cause I Love You (Norway 2010 national final)

Song Of The Day: Lithuania 2010

How about going a little bit crazy? Offer Europe some funk, some kazoo, some rather gorgeous legs? No?

Lithuania's best placing to date came with another humourous effort, a joking protest song, in 2006, so nobody can blame them for trying the concept again.

And in all fairness, InCulto had remembered to pack a far better song in their suitcase when leaving for Oslo than LT United had in Athens. And compared to the other bunch, who were unhappy about the fact nobody ever votes for Lithuania at eurovision, InCulto had a little bit of a message in their entry.

Lithuania and its brothers in the East feel like second class countries in Europe, and when they go west it is only to end up as second class citizens who clean other people's homes and then wash other people's dishes. And who's going to tell them they are wrong?

Right or wrong, the voters remain relatively unmoved and this anthem for anyone who ever felt a bit outside in the Europan family did not make it to the final.



InCulto - East European Funk (Lithuania 2010)

I think they should, though. It is a rare thing at Eurovision to come across humour songs that actually are a bit funny. And InCulto amuse me very much.

They already did back in 2006, when their entry "Welcome To Lithuania" ended second in the national final.



InCulto - Welcome To Lithuania (Lithuania 2006 national final)

Tobson's Winners: 2006 - 2010

During these five years, further modification was tried out by the EBU. After a nightmare of a semifinal in 2007 (with twenty-eight songs in the running), the qualification system was completely re-vamped in 2008.

Now, only the host country and the big four were guaranteed a place in the final - everyone else had to go through the two semi finals. This has resulted in way stronger final line-ups than before.

Not only stronger line-ups - it is in general much harder to predict the result this way. The final changes everything: the draw, the odds, the chances, the favourites. In short, the two semis contribute to way stronger television than before.

Also, the juries have been forgiven and are back in the game gradually since 2008, where they got to select the tenth finalist in each semi final. In 2009, they did that too but also had a fifty percent say in the final result. And from 2010, they have half the power already in the semi finals.

To tell you the truth, I am not convinced that this was a good move. It could have been, but I still see the same old countries voting extensively for neighbours and friends, the juries obviously joining the game rather than doing anything to prevent it. Also, as from 2011, the juries seem to have favoured strong voices over pop songs. They would need a reminder that this is a song contest - not a singing contest - and that we do not want to return to the old hit-less days of the 90's again.

2006 - Russia



Dima Bilan - Never Let You Go (Russia 2006)

Of course I am deeply happy that Finland won, that's beside the point, but in my book Russia was by far the best. A lavish stage show, slick presentation and one of the best pop compositions to grace a eurovision stage in the last ten years.

The whole production is classical and modern at the same time, and for some reason I find the slow drum loop a tiny bit Beatles-esque.

How sad to see that in only two years, the lovely Dima Bilan would grow into a pompously arrogant nobody. And even sadder to see him win, when he clearly no longer deserved it.

Real winner:
Lordi - Hard Rock Hallelujah (Finland)


2007 - Georgia



Sopho - Visionary Dream (Georgia 2007)

Ever wondered what "Ray Of Light" would have sounded like had Madonna been born in Tbilisi? Wonder no more.

Georgia's debut entry in Helsinki is a real knockout of an entry, it doesn't sound like anything that was ever heard at the ESC before. A wild mix between etno, ballad, aggressive beats, sword dancing and, in the middle of the storm, the wonderful Sopho Khalvashi, queen-like and supreme, keeping the whole thing together.

Too demanding for the average voter, perhaps, but it gives me serious goose bumps.

Real winner:
Marija Šerifović - Molitva (Serbia)


2008 - Bosnia-Herzegovina



Laka - Pokušaj (Bosnia-Herzegovina 2008)

As eurovision has filled up with more and more quality pop songs, modern and chart-friendly, it just gets harder to decide which one is my favourite each year. Often something quirky makes the top of my bill, I've noticed.

Calling this entry quirky would be something of an understatement, though.

It is artistic, experimental, edgy, boundbreaking, melodic, fun and Wogan hated it. Laka is a real artist (and his sister too) who uses his three minutes in full to present himself to a potential audience, not caring the slightest for the people who won't understand. When eurovision allows something as demanding as this to make top ten, that's when I really love my old contest.

Real winner:
Dima Bilan - Belive (Russia)


2009 - Bosnia-Herzegovina



Regina - Bistra voda (Bosnia-Herzegovina 2009)

If there is one national that truly emerged like a real quality engine since the semi finals were introduced, then it is Bosnia-Herzegovina. Once they got their machinery running, after the civial war and some hopeless attempts at staging fair national finals, few others can match the Bosnians when it comes to personable performers, strong melodies and memorable performances.

Rock band Regina, who possibly heard a track or two by Coldplay through the years, deliver a tender, delicate melody line, demanding and inviting and the same time, and how this song didn't reach higher than ninth place remains a real mystery for me.

Real winner:
Alexander Rybak - Fairytale (Norway)


2010 - Germany



Lena - Satellite (Germany 2010)

When there are forty-something entries in the line-up, the chance that your personal favourite will be the winner in the end diminishes quite clearly. My joy was immense as my big pre-contest favourite made it all the way in 2010.

Even more so since I had been hoping for Germany for a few years already. They had been trying to deliver quality entries for quite some time without really getting it right, ending in failure year after year in spite of creating quite a few domestic hit singles.

Lena was a bull's eye in many aspects: young, appealing, hit friendly, equipped with a bubbly personality. A dream winner for Eurovision in many ways. And the importance of one of the Big Four countries winning can hardly be over-estimated.

Real winner:
Lena - Satellite (Germany)

Norway missed a few pearls as well...

Most of the Nordic countries have successfully re-invented their national finals during the last years, and Norway has been working very hard on finding ESC success.

They have been successful as well. Wig Wam in 2005, Maria Haukaas Storeng in 2008 and, of course, Alexander Rybak in 2009 all left lasting impressions on the international audience. Not bad for the country that used to end in bottom five every year for such a long period of time.

But who is perfect? Also Norway has rejected a few personal favourites of mine during the last ten years. It would have been most interesting to find out how these ones would have fared had they reached the ESC.



Venke Knutsen - Jealous Cause I Love You (2010)

I was never a fan of Didrik Solli-Tangen's pompous old ballad and can't help thinking that Venke would have spiced up the Oslo happening quite a bit with her output, presence and wacky lyrics.



Velvet Inc - Tricky (2009)

Of course Rybak was the right choice. Nobody else could have crushed all resistance in Moscow like he did. But had Norway opted for this slick pop praline instead, nobody would ever have known that.



Veronica Akselsen - Am I Supposed To Love Again (2008)

Mellow and melancholic. Very sensitive performance, also. Again, not strong enough to better Maria's fifth place in Belgrade, but a very proud entry for any country.



Ann-Mari Andersen - Ándagassii (2008)

Ethnic, haunting, suggestive piece of modern pop. Slick production and soft, appealing lyrics in Sami. One of the best and most progressive entries that Norway ever left behind.



Mocci - Tonight (2006)

And then there is always Mocci, who has the distinction of missing out twice with modern, urban sounding entries. Her 2006 Sophie Ellis-Bextor sound would probably have been too laid-back in Athens (and had she hit the notes as poorly as she does in this clip, she could have had to fight it out with Fabrizio over the last place) but the song is good. And her 2001 effort would have rocked Copenhagen and filled a real void in the extremely weak line-up of that year.



Mocci - You've Got The Motion (2001)