Tobson's Big ESC 2019 review, part 3

Since 2013, the running order is no longer the result of a draw. Someone involved in the production instead sequences the songs in order to make a smooth presentation and - hopefully - "good tv".

In many ways it was a good decision. When there are 26 songs, the viewers need a good running order to make it through. When the seventh standard ballad invades the stage - this happened more than a few times when we had a proper draw - few viewers enjoy themselves and start reaching for the remote control. Sequencing is a good thing when done well.

However, since 2013 the same person - Sweden's Christer Björkman - has done the sequencing on at least five occasions and maybe that is beginning to shine through. Should there be a clause saying that the responsibility for the running order cannot be held by the same person too many times?

If you want to check out my opinions on the other songs of this semi, you find them in part one and part two.


13 ICELAND
Hatari - Hatrið mun sigra

One of the problems with the ESC is that it is a contest and most people taking part in it would like to be liked and appreciated and voted for. A lineup where everyone is constantly on their best behaviour can be a bit dull. Lucky break then that Iceland is back to form, ready to shake things up with this warning from the future where everything dear to us is broken down and hate will prevail. This contains more sharp edges than we've seen for years and this is likely to offend as many as it will please.

Qualifier:
Yes, absolutely. It must be. Had the live singing been better in the chorus, this could even have been a potential winner.

My grade: 4/5


14 ESTONIA
Victor Crone / Storm

Victor Crone was a delightful sidekick to Behrang Miri in Melodifestivalen 2015 and I have found myself wondering whatever happened to him after that. I never thought he would show up in Estonia, defending the worst kind of washed-up and bleak radio pop of the kind certain commercial radio stations can never get enough of. What a shame. And how terribly disappointing it is seeing Stig Rästa writing something like this when we all know what he is capable of.

Qualifier:
You never know as a large section of the audience really enjoys stuff like this. Or why would they listen to those radio stations in question? Still, my gut feeling tells me this is just too forgettable to go anywhere. It's a no from me.

My grade: 1/5


15 PORTUGAL
Conan Osiris / Telemovéis

Portugal finally scored their first victory in 2017 and now an unusually large part of the fandom think they could be heading for a repeat run. Talk about getting your mojo working! This is a very experimental track with musical influences from here and there and everywhere, suggestively performed by Conan and his dancer. Maybe it is absolutely brilliant but this one keeps flying well over my head. I'd love to love Portugal but to me this is just three minutes of posing and an attempt to make yourself more interesting than you are. I hear the qualities but the final package is not my thing.

Qualifier:
Yes. I bet all its fans out there are right in some way. It should be in the final and will be in the final. Then it is anyone's guess how well it will work there.

My grade: 2/5


16 GREECE
Katerine Duska / Better Love

Iceland finally found their way back on track and so did Greece, apparently. After several years of half-hearted attempts - it must be hard to keep focus while your government first dismantles your public broadcaster, then revives it again - we finally get a focus and contemporary entry, radio friendly and with hit potential. The only problem here is perhaps that it is so much of a radio song that it won't shake audiences enough to get the highest points but this one should have some solid scoring ahead of itself anyway.

Qualifier:
Yes. Clearly. One of the best songs in the running.

My grade: 4/5


17 SAN MARINO
Serhat / Say Na Na Na

Isn't the last place usually reserved for something really good and therefore we could be pretty sure that whoever gets that spot is a sure qualifier? Wrong. That's not how it works. Sometimes the last spot is also a way to keep something unappealing out of sight for as long as possible, to ensure viewers will stay tuned until the end and not zap to another channel. In San Marino's case, however, that can still work to their advantage. A man in his 50's with a message that everything will be good if you sing a happy tune is pretty ridiculous. But after many competitors taking themselves Very Seriously Indeed, this could come across as a very happy and unpretentious closing point. If you don't know what to vote for by now, maybe Serhat will feel like your man.

Qualifier:
I am going to say yes. The happy and lightweight factor could very well be just enough for San Marino to conquer the tenth place. It would be sweet if they did.

My grade: 2/5


UKRAINE (Not participating)
Maruv / Siren Song

It's hard to keep this contest as unpolitical as the EBU would want it to be and even harder when some active participants find themselves at war. The winner of the long Ukranian national final found herself humiliated on live television and then blackmailed by the national broadcaster: if she didn't publicly severe ties with her (Russian) management and record label, she would be disqualified. She refused and the plan backfired spectacularly as all other NF participants refused to take Maruv's place. NTU pulled out of the contest altogether.

A really stupid move as this would have been this year's game changer and the entry that would have blown the likes of Cyprus, Switzerland and Iceland out of the water. Sexy and catchy, yet with a very dark undercurrent of menace, it would have troubled and enthused the masses. A great loss for the contest but if the NTU is going to keep bullying their own participants in this way there is no need for them to come back at all.

Question:
Why are so many of the songs pulled out of the competition like that brilliant? Broadcasters could pull out with their Piero Esteriore-entries instead.

My grade: 5/5


If you want to agree or disagree with me, please leave a comment or send me a tweet. All the preview clips can be seen here.

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Tobson's Big ESC 2018 review, part 5

The fifth and last part of my Big Review will focus on the six songs that already made it all the way to Saturday night and the 2018 ESC final. If you want to know more about what goes on in the semis, then check out parts one, two, three and four.

Before 2008, ten countries were pre-qualified for the final in addition to the big spenders. Nice for them but clearly the current system is better. Just because you are good one year does not guarantee that you deserve a place in the final also the next year. Thanks to that system we had to sit through horrors like "Loca" and "Together We Are One" on a Saturday.

Another advantage of the current system is that no prediction made before Friday morning - the day before the final - is anything but advanced guessing. Not until then do we know what the competition really looks like. And that is so very exciting.

Since we don't have the running order for these songs as yet, here are the big five alphabetically and then Portugal last.

FRANCE
Madame Monsieur / Mercy

One of the many songs in this lineup that actually has something to say. The message can be seen as an accusing finger towards rich Europe refusing to lend a hand and help people in need. Beautifully understated and presenting its drama between the lines instead of using fireworks and pyro. Heavily dependent on its spot in the running order and what will come before and after but if everything turns out right, it could be France's best placing for many years.

Potential winner:
No, that would be a surprise if so. On a good day it could possibly make its way into top five and become an international radio hit.

My grade: 4/5

GERMANY
Michael Schulte / You Let Me Walk Alone

Another really emotional effort, this time about losing a parent. Is this the Sobral effect, that the ESC suddenly seems to attract singers and songs that sound more sincere after some years of more streamlined music designed for other purposes? Michael Schulte is likeable and has a good voice and knows how to pull on the heartstrings. Unbearable for some, wonderful for others.

Potential winner:
No, hardly. But Germany is maybe not in need of a victory as much as they need to steer clear of that dreaded last place they flirted with so massively for the last few years. That should be mission completed.

My grade: 3/5

ITALY
Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro / Non mi avete fatto niente

As I child I usually struggled to embrace the Italian entries and look at me now. For the third year in a row, Italy is my personal favourite with this very engaging duet about the violence surrounding us all and how everything must still be worthwhile. Meta and Moro deliver for dear life with aggressive conviction and the Sanremo winner illustrates that the Italian team are still very keen of showing how seriously they take their presence in the ESC these days.

Potential winner:
Yes, this one must be in with a chance. A favourable spot in the running order and the points could start ticking in.

My grade: 5/5

SPAIN
Amaia & Alfred / Tu canción

You know it must be a good year when even Spain shaped up. Seriously bitten by the Sobral bug, this updated equivalent of Sergio & Estíbaliz provide a hyper-romantic and soothing ballad about falling in love. Icky sweet and yet adorable unless you are completely immune to young love. A bit old-fashioned and maybe a bit too similar to last year's winner to go all the way but it sure is a great improvement on recent Spanish entries.

Potential winner:
No, unless all the planets and stars line up the right way. This year is so hard to predict anyway.

My grade: 3/5

UNITED KINGDOM
SuRie / Storm

Every time I hear this song my inner vision paints an image of a group of people sitting around a table. They have been told they must write a song together and nobody can eat or sleep or leave until it is ready. So they all put in bits and pieces until they have a melody and a lyric that doesn't mean anything to anyone but still it is a song, so they are free to go. Poor SuRie is a lovely performer and would have deserved something meaningful to sing instead of this bleak and poor songwriting exercise.

Potential winner:
No. Au contraire - this is the most likely candidate for last place in the final. Possible nul-pointer. Who on earth would vote for this? And why?

My grade: 1/5

08. PORTUGAL
Cláudia Pascoal / O jardim

Something clearly clicked into place last year, and Portugal is delivering another piece of something that is totally their own thing. The live vocals and sound mix need improvement from the Portuguese final - compare to the fabulous studio version - but this is a charming and introverted slice of pop. Let's hope Portugal stays on this more contemporary track forever.

Potential winner:
No. RTP can sleep easy. Maybe this song won't even break into the top 15, but who cares? It is a brave effort by a very likeable performer. On home ground you can do what you want - you already won.

My grade: 4/5

So who will be the winner of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest? No idea. I am avoiding the rehearsal clips as I want as much of a surprise as only possible as the live shows go on air. Ask me again on May 11th, and I will give you my most educated guess.

But a tough battle between the likes of Israel, Czech republic, Italy and France would be nice. Throw in Finland and Sweden for the fun of it. Maybe I am right and Belgium is a dark horse waiting in the wings. And then Alexander Rybak comes in and wins it all?

I have a feeling this will be a very entertaining year. Fasten seatbelts.

Tobson's Big ESC 2017 review, part 2

It feels good to be up and running and finally make my way through the competing songs of the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest. If you missed Part One with the five first entries in the first semi final, you can find it by clicking here.

In this second part we will find something progressive and something classy as well as various kinds of old-fashioned. Which can be a wonderful thing at times but not necessarily a way to make Europe fall at your feet.

06. MONTENEGRO
Slavko Kalezić / Space

At one point during the preselection season it seemed every country in existence opted for big ballads belted out with gusto by female performers in possession of various kinds of vocal capabilities and for a while the entire lineup threatened to turn into a dull and difficult shout-fest and nothing more. When this Montenegrin piece of gay disco landed it was easy to regard this as the entry that would save us all from boredom. Then we got a couple of really decent uptempo numbers and Montenegro ended up a bit in the shade.

Qualifier:

No, most probably not. The greatest weapon in Slavko's arsenal is his gay aesthetics but that is also his biggest problem. He might turn viewers away in some countries while other parts of this continent saw things like these already in the late 1980's and will find them tame and old-school. The song is likeable but hardly strong enough to persuade anyone and the chorus is more repetitive than truly convincing. Not bad but not enough.

My grade: 3/5

Slavko Kalezić / Space (Montenegro 2017 preview)

07. FINLAND

Norma John / Blackbird

Typically enough, Finland enters a haunting ballad in a year when more than a fair share of the participating countries put their faith in ballads. But maybe Finland got it right this time after all. Leena Tirronen is a truly captivating vocalist and the piano break really gives this entry a flavour of its own. Coming after more standard eurovision ballads like Georgia and Albania also gives the audience an idea about this one perhaps being more original than most others. If the live performance is kept understated, clean and elegant like in the national final - please, don't add any dancers or anything! - this one could stand out and at least get heavily voted by the juries.

Qualifier:

Borderline. Finland has the bad habit of easily getting overlooked once it is time to vote, but if quality means anything to anyone anymore this one should be bang in the final.

My grade: 4/5

Norma John / Blackbird (Finland 2017 preview)

08. AZERBAIJAN

Dihaj / Skeletons

In what must surely be a strange coincidence, Azerbaijani entries have done pretty badly at the ESC since the EBU imposed stricter rules with heavy punishment for any country getting caught manipulating the televote anywhere. Maybe they missed being in the upper regions of the scoreboard and if they did, this could well be a return to form as they - for the first time since their 2008 debut - make use of a domestic songwriter. And this songwriter surely did his job right. This is modern, this is suggestive and this is ridiculously catchy. The way Dihaj and her backing singers sing the chorus almost in canon is an old trick but beautifully executed. Articulation leaves a lot to be desired - I had no idea what she was singing until I read the lyrics - but that isn't really a problem when the final product is this solid. Azerbaijan's best entry since 2011.

Qualifier:

Do whales poop in the ocean? Yes, this is a sure qualifier. If Dihaj can deliver the goods convincingly on stage, this one could go very far in the end.

My grade: 4/5

Dihaj / Skeletons (Azerbaijan 2017 preview)

09. PORTUGAL

Salvador Sobral / Amar pelos dois

The first time I heard this song I thought it sounded like a Eurovision winner. If the year had been 1957, that is. Then I listened again and got totally knocked out. This song is timeless rather than old-fashioned, and this soft evergreen easy listening style has huge audiences around the world. Michael Bublé, anyone? Then it doesn't hurt to have a performer like Salvador Sobral either. The boy is so immensely talented, so devoted to his music, so sensitive. Bursting with talent and with a very personable approach to performing. This one is sure to be divisive come Eurovision week but being as original as this one - in a lineup as streamlines as this year's - really should pay off.

Qualifier:

Yes. I want to believe this is not only a qualifier but also has a shot at becoming Portugal's best showing to date.

My grade: 4/5

Salvador Sobral / Amar pelos dois (Portugal 2017 preview)

December 2: Carlos & Cândida

Behind the second door of the Eurovision national final Christmas calendar, we find the entry that ended fourth in the 1983 Portuguese final.

Mainly it is there to illustrate my never-ending crush on Carlos Paião who had already represented Portugal in 1981 with the outstanding "Play-Back".

In the meantime he had turned into a big star at home and teamed up with a good friend for a sweet and slightly nationalist duet.

Carlos Paião and the ever-smiling Cândida Branca Flor was a good match and they received thunderous applause by the end of their performance. Unfortunately neither one was about to have a happy end.

Carlos Paião died in a violent car crash on his way home from a concert, only 30 years old. Cândida was deeply affected by the death of her friend and would sink into depression some years later, as her career hit a rough patch. In 2001, she committed suicide.



Carlos Paião & Cândida Branca Flor / Vinho do Porto (Portugal NF 1983)

Semi 2: 07 Portugal

I feel for Portugal.

For many years, Finland and Portugal walked side by side through Eurovision with the shared distinction of having the biggest number of participations without a victory. Since Lordi's victory, Portugal travels down that route alone.

A couple of years ago, it felt like RTP had sorted out a few problems and kept sending solid entries that made it to the final. It felt like it could be a matter of time until they won too. Then they lost it and fell back into semi final hell again.

That could be about to change for the better this year. Not only did the best song win the national final, it has also been given a most welcome facelift since then. It's a simple and straightforward little tune with a good hook, but will it stand out? The risk is that it will feel like a nice little break and be forgotten by the time the phone lines open.

Qualifier:
Borderline. As always with Portugal, they need a bit of luck also. But the song is good - I liked it at once and it grew on me ever since.

My grade: 3/5



Leonor Andrade - Há um mar que nos separa (Portugal 2015)

Portugal: roll out the remix

I probably should criticise Festival da Canção more often, as it suddenly managed to produce the best Portuguese entry in years. Didn't really see that one coming.

Leonor Andrade is a good singer and her song is a pleasant soft rocker with potential. But it would still take some work to transform it from being a likeable album track to a Eurovision contender.

It needs more intensity. More drama and a fuller arrangement. Some dramatic strings, perhaps? Backing singers?

It also needs a bit of a re-write. Not much, but after the promising verse the chorus feels flat, like four identical lines being sung over and over. Which is pretty much what it is. Some tweaking and fixing - could you change one of the lines a bit to add more character - and Portugal would have a very probable finalist onboard.



Leonor Andrade - Há um mar que nos separa (Portugal 2015 studio version)



Leonor Andrade - Há um mar que nos separa (Portugal 2015 live version)

Portugal in need of a makeover

Portugal and Finland used to walk through the Desert of Eurovision together, sharing the distinction of being the countries participating the biggest number of times without winning. Then, on their respective 40th participation, Finland won while Portugal crashed and burned in the semi final.

Watching parts of this year's Festival da Canção made me think of Albania's Festivali i Këngës more than anything.

They both have long and rich traditions and have meant a lot to their respective countries, especially while they both were isolated countries with little influence from abroad.

FiK has several times failed to select the best song for Eurovision, since that wasn't the original aim of the contest. It was there to reward the right song for Albania.

Festival da Canção was indeed set up to be the national selection for Eurovision but has steadily declined since its heydays. This year it had failed to attract a single contemporary pop song or anything that would feel up to date or relevant.

Simone de Oliveira is marvellous and a living legend of song, but her entry could easily have been the follow-up to her 1965 ESC entry "Sol de inverno". Not an international hit in the making, perhaps.

Maybe it would just be time for RTP to lay Festival da Canção to rest. Create a new national final where new and exciting names from the pop world are invited to take part or start making internal selections. Anything would do. But the way things are, Portugal will never get anywhere close to their first Eurovision victory.

But out of the songs we have to work with, it seems Simone de Oliveira already said she would not go to Vienna in case she wins. Two winners declining the trophy in the same week - what were the odds?

So I say the best choice would be Yola's fado ballad. Also Leonor Andrade's rock ballad would do, especially with a bit of work and improvement. Either one of these could possibly take Portugal to the final in Vienna, while RTP figures out what to do for next year.

Portugal rejected Adelaide (How could you, Portugal?)

Last night I went to see "The Imitation Game", had too much candy to eat and felt far too sugary coated to be able to sleep. I decided to watch the Portuguese semi final instead.

The first Portuguese final I ever saw was the one back in 1996, which in retrospect has proven to be possibly the best Festival da Canção on record. At least four or five songs were really good in the sense that they would have been suitable for Eurovision, something I haven't really experienced since.

This year, feeling the current line-up of songs for Vienna is quite meagre, several fans have started pinning their hopes on Portugal finding that masterpiece entry that will make them a real contender. Nothing in the first semi would point in that direction, to be honest. But at least there was Adelaide Ferreira.

Adelaide - in case you don't remember - represented Portugal back in Gothenburg 1985, where she was a bit of a press favourite and seen as a possible surprise in the making before her entry crashed and burned on second last place.

Thirty years later, she was back in the running with her song Paz. Perhaps not the strongest song since the beginning of pop culture but well performed and clearly one of the better ones in this semi. Click here to see it on RTP's web.

But do the Portuguese reward her for trying? Indeed they didn't. Really not the way to treat a lady. Remains to be seen if they are about to treat Simone de Oliveira any better in the second semi.



Adelaide - Penso em ti, eu sei (Portugal 1985)

Nobody's favourite but mine, part 2

It seems you good people didn't quite agree with me being the only one to like either of the songs in the first part of this series. Well, I guess I wouldn't be myself if I didn't push my luck and tried to challenge you with five more songs that I sometimes think I'm the only one in the world to care for. Am I?



Gemini - Dai li dou (Portugal 1978)

After a couple of years with serious songs with political undertones, Portugal suddenly decided to send in a wonderfully (annoyingly, according to some) bouncy little song about a kite flying high in the sky. Simple and catchy (or possibly repetitive), performed by another one of these groups of four people, clearly modelled on Abba.

The verses may be a bit clumsy but the chorus is so happy in all its simplicity and the choreography is probably so easy not even I could make a mess of it. Cute.



Cocktail Chic - Européennes (France 1986)

Things weren't exactly running smoothly in France at this point. There had been almost ten years since their last victory and the contest changing hands from TF1 to Antenne2 had resulted in a national final nobody wanted to be part of or associated with. So the best thing they could come up with this year were a bunch of popular backing vocalists who would finally have their big chance of performing as a group.

With styling as impeccable as their vocal delivery (some of those notes are really rather wobbly), the French girls didn't stand a chance during the voting and ended in a pale 17th place while the three other countries singing in French - Belgium, Switzerland and Luxembourg - all made top three.



Gunvor - Lass ihn (Switzerland 1998)

Through the years I have often been better at predicting the last place than picking a winner but this was a nul-pointer I never saw coming. I thought Gunvor had written herself a nice little ditty, perhaps a bit average but still catchy and retainable enough. It even featured Egon Egemann and his white violin, that would surely make an impression?

Despite being up against real non-songs like Spain and Greece, Gunvor somehow managed to cling to her zero points all the way through the voting. Her career, already deeply affected by local scandal newspapers and their shameless publication of pictures and details of some less glamourous aspects of her life, never recovered from this and Gunvor decided to retire from the spotlight. A real shame. And her song wasn't even bad to start with.



Christina Simon - Heute in Jerusalem (Austria 1979)

Eurovision is a circus full of glitter and happiness and more or less obvious attempts at attracting points from all directions. There is nothing wrong with that and I want it to be like that, but it does make it a less suitable arena for people who are actually trying to say something.

Austria thought the final in Jerusalem would be the perfect place to tell the world they would prefer peace instead of war and employed Christina Simon to be their voice in this slow and demanding jazz number. Of course it didn't stand a chance and as Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty right before the final it even felt less relevant also lyrically. Last place was still really unfair and my question remains the same as ever: what's the point of having juries if they can't recognise quality?



Aleksandra & Konstantin - My Galileo (Belarus 2004)

At first I had no idea how to react to this. Was it really in English? Were those real words? Is it supposed to sound like this? I didn't know what to expect from Belarus in the first place but I most certainly did not expect this. Despite being reluctant at first, it started growing on me with it's odd folksy sound and before Eurovision week in Istanbul was over I had sung this song in front of a small crowd at the Belarusian party and my friend had kissed Aleksandra's feet. A regular day at the Eurovision Song Contest, you know.

Semi 1: 13 Portugal

You can't hold it against people that they vote for a genre they like and understand. Swedish audiences will heat up for schlager while many Portuguese will love a good pimba. Or any pimba at hand.



Suzy - Quero ser tua (Portugal 2014)

For people not familiar with pimba, this entry could seem a bit cheap at first. That isn't really a problem, as it is part of the genre. Cheap and fun, and this is fun enough. Suzy is a likeable performer, who could perhaps be mistaken for Kati Wolf's Portuguese sister.

The bigger problem is the general execution of the song. The wobbly backing vocals. The dreadful off-beat drumming that can be heard over the backing track. These are things that need to be fixed.

Portugal managed to make slick entries out of national final disasters before - Flor-de-Lis comes to mind - but the question is if it will be enough. Does this song have enough bite to make it to the final?

Qualifier: No, most probably not. This will be the kind of song that is pleasant for as long as it goes on but that few will feel passionately enough about to vote for.

My grade: 2/5

ESC 2014: how few can we be?

It feels like the Malmö final was just the other weekend, doesn't it, and yet we are beginning to know a little bit more about next year's final already. We know that Copenhagen is the chosen city, we know the venue and we know the dates.

Unfortunately, we had some bad news in the shape of withdrawals as well.

In Malmö, I thought 39 countries felt a bit few to fill up two semi finals. With thirty-three countries going through the semis, it left one semi with no more than 16 songs. Honestly, I already find that number balancing on the edge of being too few.

What do we know about the Copenhagen lineup, then? We know that Croatia and Cyprus have decided not to take part. Apart from being a lean year for countries beginning with the letter "C", it would bring the number of participants down to 37 unless the EBU members absent in 2013 decide to come back.

That doesn't look too promising either. Out of the non-participants of 2013 only one - Portugal - seems to have stated any sort of ambition to be back. That would leave us with 38 countries and 16 songs per semi. Acceptable, I guess.

But what if the hard times pushes another country or two out of the Copenhagen final?

The problem with having too few songs per semi final is that it makes non-qualification even worse. Say that you have thirteen songs in a semi and only three songs fail to make it to the final - the national press would rip their flunked performers to shreds.

So where do we draw the line? Is it acceptable to have 15 songs per semi? Or 14? At the same time as you cram the final with more songs than you really have time for?

I'd still push this old idea of mine and have fewer songs in the final. If there are sixteen songs per semi, it is more than enough if eight songs qualify per heat. That would make a neat and manageable final of 22 songs.

And the day all countries come running back to the Eurovision Song Contest - then you just change it back again. Well worth a try if you ask me.

Fallen favourites: Spain 1985

As the participants rehearse in Malmö and most people - including myself - are busy predicting how the contest will end this year, maybe it's about time reminding ourselves how hard it can be to foresee what will work with the voters and not.

It doesn't matter how many people believe in you in advance - it is the grand total of points you manage to accumulate on the scoreboard that decides your fate, nothing else.

Paloma San Basilio knows this, for instance.

Being a celebrated star - not least after singing the lead role in the Spanish production of "Evita" - she was chosen to sing a grand ballad composed by Juan Carlos Calderon, who had almost won the contest in 1973, scoring a worldwide hit with "Eres tú".

"La fiesta terminó" had everything needed to win: passion, intensity, an strong chorus and an exquisite performer. I think it is safe to say most people assumed the Spanish entry to be the ballad of the evening, cemented in the final top five.



Paloma San Basilio - La fiesta terminó (Spain 1985)

I doubt I will ever understand what went wrong, but the juries heard or saw nothing of greater value in Paloma's performance. Spain had to content themselves with a shared 14th place out of 19 participants. A result that remains a mystery.

I sometimes wonder who these people in the jury were. They voted for pleasant but light-weight entries from United Kingdom, Ireland, France and Switzerland but paid no attention to grand ballads?

If it is any consolation to Paloma and her fans, Spain was not the most badly treated ballad of the night. The press on location in Gothenburg had taken not of the classy performance by Adelaide and considered Portugal to be a bit of a dark horse.

This particular dark horse had to go back home with a total of nine points and a second last place.

A number of songs in Malmö are also going to disappoint before the final is over. We just don't know who they are as yet.



Adelaide - Penso em ti, eu sei (Portugal 1985)

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)

Tobson's Ranking: #21 Portugal

I used to consider this as nothing but a snoozefest... and then I saw the light.



Filipa Sousa - Vida Minha (Portugal 2012)


I thought this to be just a poor man's "Senhora do Mar" (which I wasn't particularly fond of in the first place), but sometimes being surrounded by the right group of people will make you see a song differently. As one of my colleagues really liked this one I decided to give it another shot.

Filipa and her backing singers deliver a very polished package with a fair share of real pathos and emotion.

Too bad it didn't break though to the greater part of the audience, but quality isn't always enough in a competition where you also need a certain amount of luck.

(And I am still waiting for the day when the Portuguese will bring us a convincing and heavy-scoring modern pop entry that could bring the contest to Lisbon. What is taking them so long?)

My grade: 3/5

Songs of the Day: Portugal 1984 - 1985

Usually I content myself with just one Song of the Day, but since I haven't published any in a while I thought I could have two today. Are you with me on that? Splendid!

This year, I feel Portugal has selected rather a dull ballad for Eurovision which is a shame since Portuguese ballads often have been really good through the years.

In 1984, Maria Guinot sang her own poetic song about how, in the middle of the great silence, she suddenly finds the right words to say. Or how she, when being among so many people, can finally see who she truly is herself.

A touching and atmospheric entry, not quite as well recieved by the juries as it should have been.



Maria Guinot - Silencio e tanta gente (Portugal 1984)

The Portuguese grapes were, however, to turn even more sour the next year in Gothenburg. Their singer Adelaide, also co-writer of her song, recieved quite a lot of positive attention from the press - dubbed one of the classiest performers by one Swedish newspaper.

She belted out her dramatic ballad with gusto and conviction but completely failed to capture the hearts and votes of the jury. Only the Greek jury, voting last out of the nineteen participants, saved her the humiliation of a last place.

Adelaide, a contender for last place? I can't believe neither my ears nor my eyes, to be honest.



Adelaide - Penso em ti, eu sei (Portugal 1985)

Song of the Day: Portugal 1967

In my 2012 review, I ask myself why Portugal keeps sending in songs in a style that Europe keeps rejecting time after time. But in all fairness, the Portuguese have tried very different sounds and styles through the years.

The fourth Portuguese entry was really something extravagant at Eurovision back in 1967 - a very deep, rough and interesting soul vibe that felt raw and unpolished in comparison to what other r'n'b reached the charts back in the day.

They have managed to beat quite some life and attack into the Austrian orchestra and Eduardo himself sings his heart out, investing all he's got into this song.

The earned him three little points in the end, but this is a musical eruption of a kind I wish Portugal would give us more often.



Eduardo Nascimento - O vento mudou (Portugal 1967)

The 2012 review, part six

The first five contained some good and some not so good... In this bunch of songs, the line-up will take a turn for the better, at least in my book.

6. PORTUGAL



Filipa Sousa - Vida minha

Portuguese television really tried to shake up their national final this year by auditioning vocally secure performers and then commission suitable songs from them. All that effort, and still we end up with a song very much like many others that RTP contributed in the past.

There is nothing wrong with Filipa, there is nothing technically wrong with the song, but I can't help but wonder when the message will start sinking in. When will the Portuguese realise this is not the sort of entry that anyone votes for? They had a good string of entries a couple of years ago, but now I wonder if they even want to win.

Qualifyer:
No, most probably not. The people who voted for "Senhora do Mar" in 2008 will still like this, but the competition for ballad points in this semi final is absolutely crushing. A Portuguese qualification would, and should, be a big surprise for most.

My grade: 1/5

7. UKRAINE



Gaitana - Be My Guest

If there is one country that never lets us down completely, then it must be Ukraine. Every year, they send in good songs by good performers and on top of that they stage something really effective on stage, to further enhance their entries.

This year is no exception, as the Ukrainians take the opportunity to promote the upcoming football championships with a hit tailormade to be the official Uefa song of 2012. Gaitana is also a sparkling and exciting presence, who is sure to blow extra life, energy and conviction into this, and I can't wait to see what this will look like in Baku.

Qualifyer:
Yes. The song is maybe not the best one Ukraine ever sent to Eurovision, but this entry will surely be bigger than the song come May.

My grade: 3/5

8. BULGARIA



Sofi Marinova - Love Unlimited

Had this song contest been an arena where only musical aspects had been taken into consideration, then Bulgaria could be sure of success this year. This is a very pleasant house-light-production that you can enjoy both listening to and dancing to, and Sofi Marinova is a vocal asset that feels steady and reliable throughout the entire number.

But this is a televised event where people are also able to see what songs look like and that is where this team has to start working. The performance in the national final is static and uneventful, the dress is ill-advised and whenever Sofi has no singing to do she starts feeling lost on stage. This clip also contains dancers, but it is not obvious that Sofi and her dancers will look good together.

This could turn out to be a real mess, and then nobody will listen to the song.

Qualifyer:
Yes. I want to believe that the Bulgarians will get on top of things and sort their performance out. I really want to see them back in the final again. I feel they belong there.

My grade: 3/5

9. SLOVENIA



Eva Boto - Verjamem

This entry manages to pinpoint the problem in using a casting show as eurovision selection. You find an excellent girl like Eva Boto, who sings fantastically and has a very fresh appearance, but then suddenly you need to find a song that will suit her.

I might be old-fashioned, but in a song contest you need a strong song coupled with a performer that can deliever it in the best way possible. In this case, I feel that Eva and the song (written by the man behind "Molitva" as you can tell) never completely embrace each other. She sings it brilliantly, but it doesn't feel like her song. It feels like it was written for somebody else, somebody different, and I can sense that.

I think Eva would have been better off with something slightly more youthful, slightly more in tune with what she knows and where she is in life.

Qualifyer:
Possibly. It is still a well-crafted song and Eva is a real talent. If the televoters won't play ball, the juries should recognise the vocal qualities here. But it could just as well end up a few points short of qualification.

My grade: 2/5

10. CROATIA



Nina Badrić - Nebo

When your national final keeps giving you dismal entries and bad results, it is never a bad idea to scrap the whole thing and call up a real star and ask them to do the job for you. Nina Badrić is a real star and her mere presence will probably make it easier for Croatian television to convince real talent to give the ESC a shot next year.

Just too bad that the star in question seems to have selected a song that means a lot to her personally rather than finding the best possible entry. This is a fine song with a clever construction, and a good showcase of her own songwriting talent, but it takes too many listenings for the chorus to truly impose itself for this to be a real contender.


Qualifyer:
Yes, anything else would be a big surprise. But this star might have to content herself with a place a bit further down in the final.

My grade: 3/5

Nul points: Portugal 1997

Dublin 1997 offered us another double nul-pointer, just like in Munich 1983. If Norway's entry really deserved its fate altogether, I can't help but feeling a bit sorry for Portugal.

The Portuguese entry is a fine and slightly experimental ballad with a big, breezy chorus and an atmospheric, tense verse with a suggestive spoken response from the backing singers. Normally the juries should have recognised the musical qualities of this composition.

But you have to deliver also. And neither Célia nor her boys delivered.

The backing group has a most unfortunate lack of timing in their delivery and according to press reports Célia was completely out of tune during many rehearsals, including the one the juries listened to. Why would a jury invest their points in somebody who sings badly?

Nul points?

No no no. Shaky delivery or not, this is still a very pleasant and slightly original ballad entry in a year that still saw too many ballads in the line-up. And if a song as dull, predictable and formulated as the Irish could end in second place, then Portugal would deserve at least a tiny complimentary point or two.



Célia Lawson - Antes do adeus (Portugal 1997)

Song of the Day: Portugal 1986

Tonight Portugal will select their entry for Baku and I'm keeping my fingers crossed so hard they almost crack.

If there is one country I would wish success and a victory more than most, then it would be Portugal. Finland used to run neck to neck with them, sharing the dubious glory of being the country with the biggest number of participations without victory.

Then Finland won and Portugal is left alone with the title. Nobody else comes close.

Just like Finland, Europe has been harsh to Portugal through the years - even when the Portuguese have sent in strong, interesting, appealing entries (and they have!) the response has usually been lukewarm. Their best placing to date is a sixth place, and only a handful of times have they been among the pre-contest favourites.

1986 was a typical year when Portugal gave its all and the juries just refused to understand. Dora came in as a fresh breeze, singing last on the night, sporting a very fashionable outfit and the song had a distinctly modern feeling to it. All she got for that was twenty-eight points and a fourteenth place.

I wish that Portugal will select the best possible entry tonight and that the voters will be in a Portuguese mood come Baku.



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

Song Of The Day: Portugal 1973

When Portugal made its Eurovision debut, the country was still under harsh dictatorship and its first ten entries were all products of the totalitarian regime and its cultural rules.

Since you were not allowed to speak your mind, the domestic poets tried to sneak their lyrics past the strict censorship of the national broadcaster and win a place in the national song contest.

Ary Dos Santos played this game very well, he wrote the lyrics for no less than four winning songs, some of which had critical messages between the lines. "Tourada" being a very fine example of this.

The song is not exactly your typical pop hit, but it has a very persistent chorus that is catchy in its own little way.



Fernando Tordo - Tourada (Portugal 1973)

This lyric doesn't stand out as particularly dangerous to me but apparently it contains blistering criticism of the country's leadership as well as the double standards of a society that puts up with being controlled.

And somehow you can hear how scornful it is. It sounds really cheeky, obnoxious and arrogant in a refreshing way. Hearing it today, I'm sure it would still annoy the life out of somebody. Fernando Tordo is also a very likeable performer, almost as cheeky as the song itself.

It was also given quite an amusing preview clip, I must say.



Fernando Tordo - Tourada (Portugal 1973 preview clip)

Not only did it result (surprisingly) in one of Portugal's better placings, it is also (less surprisingly) a real evergreen on home ground. When covered by another of my favourite Portuguese ESC performers of recent years, it recieved a very enthusiastic response from the audience.




Rui Drumond - Tourada