Despite Festivali i Këngës not quite being the right vehicle for finding the right song for Eurovision, the FiK jury got it right more times than they got it wrong.
This is an excellent example of when things go right and the winner both has a distinctly national flavour (or at least I think it is) as well as a really graspable chorus.
Olta Boka was very young when she won the national final, and perhaps her nerves got the better of her in the Belgrade final (this clip is from the semi final), but she compliments her song very well.
Olta Boka - Zemrën e lamë peng (Albania 2008)
Olta's song was also one of the songs that needed the least amount of revamping after the Festivali i Këngës. A slightly more crisp arrangement and the removal of the rather heavy choir parts was all it took.
A very good entry, in my book. Albania usually delivers, you know.
Olta Boka - Zemrën e lamë peng (Albania 2008 national final)
Friday, December 30, 2011
ESC 2012: "Suus" for Albania
Albania's national final was held over four nights in Tirana and resulted in a very clear victory for "Suus" performed and co-written by Rona Nishliu, a 25 year old singer from Kosovo.
The jurors were rather unanimous in their decision, and the audience in the hall audibly agreed that the right song won.
The right song for Festivali i Këngës, that is. This is a prestigious old festival with a history very much of its own, designed for very different purposes than to find a three-minute pop piece to knock the socks off European competition.
Eurovision demands different things from what a contest like FiK would, could or should produce. Most of the FiK winners have lent themselves quite well to the ESC format, but that is more a co-incidence than anything else.
I dare suggest that Rona Nishliu might get a hard time trying to sell "Suus" to the European audience it wasn't designed for.
Maybe it would be time for Albania to let the Festivali i Këngës be what it is and flourish in its own right and find another modus to select their Eurovision entries?
Rona Nishliu - Suus (Albania 2012)
The jurors were rather unanimous in their decision, and the audience in the hall audibly agreed that the right song won.
The right song for Festivali i Këngës, that is. This is a prestigious old festival with a history very much of its own, designed for very different purposes than to find a three-minute pop piece to knock the socks off European competition.
Eurovision demands different things from what a contest like FiK would, could or should produce. Most of the FiK winners have lent themselves quite well to the ESC format, but that is more a co-incidence than anything else.
I dare suggest that Rona Nishliu might get a hard time trying to sell "Suus" to the European audience it wasn't designed for.
Maybe it would be time for Albania to let the Festivali i Këngës be what it is and flourish in its own right and find another modus to select their Eurovision entries?
Rona Nishliu - Suus from ESC 2012 on Vimeo.
Rona Nishliu - Suus (Albania 2012)
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Preview clip: Spain 1973
Arguably one of the best songs ever to grace the stage of the Eurovision Song Contest, Spain's 1973 effort was not only a strong entry but it also came in nice packaging.
Particularly in the preview shows. The previews were a relatively new and fresh approach still, and TVE made a certain effort to make their entry look good.
Easy tricks for sure - mirrors on both sides of the studio and a nice panorama shot - but the result is very nice. Had I been around in 1973, I'm pretty sure I would have been ready to bet everything I owned an more on Spanish victory.
Mocedades - Eres tú (Spain 1973 preview clip)
In the end, Mocedades didn't quite deliver. Lead singer Amaya Uranga got a bit too tense in the end while Anne-Marie David, representing host nation Luxembourg, stormed in and nailed cameras as well as every single note and won the whole thing by a margin of four points.
Mocedades - Eres tú (Spain 1973)
Particularly in the preview shows. The previews were a relatively new and fresh approach still, and TVE made a certain effort to make their entry look good.
Easy tricks for sure - mirrors on both sides of the studio and a nice panorama shot - but the result is very nice. Had I been around in 1973, I'm pretty sure I would have been ready to bet everything I owned an more on Spanish victory.
Mocedades - Eres tú (Spain 1973 preview clip)
In the end, Mocedades didn't quite deliver. Lead singer Amaya Uranga got a bit too tense in the end while Anne-Marie David, representing host nation Luxembourg, stormed in and nailed cameras as well as every single note and won the whole thing by a margin of four points.
Mocedades - Eres tú (Spain 1973)
Shape it up like Albania
The prestigious Albanian Song Contest that since 2003 has served as national final for Eurovision is usually held sometime around Christmas. I hope Santa brings them a whole lot of luck in a package.
The Albanian selection modus is a bit risky indeed. The time limit for songs in Festivali i Këngës, if there is one, does not correspond to the three minute rule in Eurovision and some years there has been a lot of repackaging to be done once there is a winner.
It worked well with the 2004 entry, which became more modern and snappy in its shorter version, and it seemed to work wonders with the tune for Kyiv as well.
Ledina Çelo - Nesër shkoj (Albania 2005 national final)
The four minutes of Nesër shkoj were efficiently boiled down to a rather perfect ESC version in English, and quite a few people were convinced Albania was about to land another top ten finish.
Ledina Çelo - Tomorrow I Go (Albania 2005 preview clip)
But as rehearsals progressed in Kyiv, all Albania fans woke up to a new reality. Ledina, who had started rehearsals brilliantly, started to grow more and more nervous, she started losing her camera angles and - worst of all - she started to sing badly.
The last rehearsal, the one the backup-juries listened to, was outright terrible.
It all went a bit better on the big night, but completely without the security, gravity and finesse there was to start with. Albania finished in 16th place on the night.
Whoever wins the upcoming Festivali i Këngës, I wish them the opposite experience to Ledina's. It would be awfully nice to see Albania back in top ten again.
Ledina Çelo - Tomorrow I Go (Albania 2005)
The Albanian selection modus is a bit risky indeed. The time limit for songs in Festivali i Këngës, if there is one, does not correspond to the three minute rule in Eurovision and some years there has been a lot of repackaging to be done once there is a winner.
It worked well with the 2004 entry, which became more modern and snappy in its shorter version, and it seemed to work wonders with the tune for Kyiv as well.
Ledina Çelo - Nesër shkoj (Albania 2005 national final)
The four minutes of Nesër shkoj were efficiently boiled down to a rather perfect ESC version in English, and quite a few people were convinced Albania was about to land another top ten finish.
Ledina Çelo - Tomorrow I Go (Albania 2005 preview clip)
But as rehearsals progressed in Kyiv, all Albania fans woke up to a new reality. Ledina, who had started rehearsals brilliantly, started to grow more and more nervous, she started losing her camera angles and - worst of all - she started to sing badly.
The last rehearsal, the one the backup-juries listened to, was outright terrible.
It all went a bit better on the big night, but completely without the security, gravity and finesse there was to start with. Albania finished in 16th place on the night.
Whoever wins the upcoming Festivali i Këngës, I wish them the opposite experience to Ledina's. It would be awfully nice to see Albania back in top ten again.
Ledina Çelo - Tomorrow I Go (Albania 2005)
Song Of The Day: Yugoslavia 1984
To celebrate the return of Montenegro, my song of the day highlights one of their finest moments. Depending on how you see it.
Reliable sources claim that TV Titograd won the 1984 Yugoslav final due to extensive cheating (including lots of online whispering), and the song hasn't even got a very strong montenegrin connection at all.
Vlado Kalember was the former singer of Srebrna Krila from Zagreb. Izolda Barudžija had been a member of Aska (representing TV Beograd) in 1982, and in 1983 she provided backing vocals for Yugoslavia together with her sister Eleonora.
Their duet had apparently been turned down by TV Zagreb for the 1984 national final, possibly even with the same song. "Ciao amore" was credited to Montenegrin songwriters (as the rules stipulated this), but the rest of the duo's subsequent album was mainly written by Sarajevo-born Đorđe Novković.
In Luxembourg, Izolda and Vlado (credited as Ida & Vlado) bombed completely and ended second last out of nineteen participants. I never understood why the judges had to be so harsh (or how they could prefer drivel like that song from Switzerland) but those are the rules of the game.
Izolda & Vlado - Ciao amore (Yugoslavia 1984)
The fun doesn't end there, though. You should also check out the duo's hot and revealing video clip - a bit too much so for mainstream taste. Turkish television deemed it improper and refused to broadcast it during their preview show.
What do you say, is this too much skin for your liking?
Izolda & Vlado - Ciao amore (Yugoslavia 1984 preview clip)
Reliable sources claim that TV Titograd won the 1984 Yugoslav final due to extensive cheating (including lots of online whispering), and the song hasn't even got a very strong montenegrin connection at all.
Vlado Kalember was the former singer of Srebrna Krila from Zagreb. Izolda Barudžija had been a member of Aska (representing TV Beograd) in 1982, and in 1983 she provided backing vocals for Yugoslavia together with her sister Eleonora.
Their duet had apparently been turned down by TV Zagreb for the 1984 national final, possibly even with the same song. "Ciao amore" was credited to Montenegrin songwriters (as the rules stipulated this), but the rest of the duo's subsequent album was mainly written by Sarajevo-born Đorđe Novković.
In Luxembourg, Izolda and Vlado (credited as Ida & Vlado) bombed completely and ended second last out of nineteen participants. I never understood why the judges had to be so harsh (or how they could prefer drivel like that song from Switzerland) but those are the rules of the game.
Izolda & Vlado - Ciao amore (Yugoslavia 1984)
The fun doesn't end there, though. You should also check out the duo's hot and revealing video clip - a bit too much so for mainstream taste. Turkish television deemed it improper and refused to broadcast it during their preview show.
What do you say, is this too much skin for your liking?
Izolda & Vlado - Ciao amore (Yugoslavia 1984 preview clip)
Montenegro is back!
After two years of absence (and, seemingly, a change of heads in the entertainment department) TVCG has decided to join the fun again and send an entrant to Baku.
A smart move, really.
A small and relatively new country like Montenegro, with a heavy tourism sector, couldn't really afford staying away from such relatively cheap advertisement as taking part in the ESC.
Not that any of their entries as independent country so far has had a lot of impact. Montenegro is yet to make it out of the semi finals, and with entries like "Ajde kroči" it is not a real surprise either.
An internal selection has appointed Rambo Amadeus to represent his country in Baku and a man with a name like that certainly deserves some attention. He is the stage persona of Belgrade-based poet Antonije Pušić and sounds quite a bit like a local Serge Gainsbourg.
Being quirky in an oddball way could be a good idea in Eurovision (think Laka of Bosnia-Herzegovina in 2008) but also disastrous (think Gipsy.cz).
Equipped with a good song and a graspable chorus, Rambo Amadeus could hopefully provide us with three rather interesting minutes in Baku.
Rambo Amadeus - Urbano, samo urbano
A smart move, really.
A small and relatively new country like Montenegro, with a heavy tourism sector, couldn't really afford staying away from such relatively cheap advertisement as taking part in the ESC.
Not that any of their entries as independent country so far has had a lot of impact. Montenegro is yet to make it out of the semi finals, and with entries like "Ajde kroči" it is not a real surprise either.
An internal selection has appointed Rambo Amadeus to represent his country in Baku and a man with a name like that certainly deserves some attention. He is the stage persona of Belgrade-based poet Antonije Pušić and sounds quite a bit like a local Serge Gainsbourg.
Being quirky in an oddball way could be a good idea in Eurovision (think Laka of Bosnia-Herzegovina in 2008) but also disastrous (think Gipsy.cz).
Equipped with a good song and a graspable chorus, Rambo Amadeus could hopefully provide us with three rather interesting minutes in Baku.
Rambo Amadeus - Urbano, samo urbano
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Melodifestivalen gem: Copycat Hadar 1975
Recently, I posted Glenmarks' 1974 melodifestivalen entry, a lovely little song that stood out as very different in their standard repertoire.
One year later, they would be back again, but this time mainly as a backing group for young Hadar Kronberg - a fresh talent recently signed by Bruno Glenmark's record company.
The question here is how obviously you can steal someone else's idea without decomposing with shame.
This song is a catchy little number by singers in extravagant outfits and a pseudo-historical effective title gimmick with a vaguely French connection. I wonder what Abba were thinking when they saw this.
Abba's conductor had the Napoleon outfit, Bruno Glenmark conducts with toy guns in his hands. This links in with the lyrics about two men duelling about this woman they both love. Duel or possibly Russian roulette, the lyrics are a bit vague on which method is chosen in the end.
All in all, a rather dubious package from a copyright perspective. But it is a very jolly and upbeat schlager. Surprisingly much so for a song that deals with imminent death.
Hadar & Glenmarks -Lady Antoinette (Sweden 1975 national final)
One year later, they would be back again, but this time mainly as a backing group for young Hadar Kronberg - a fresh talent recently signed by Bruno Glenmark's record company.
The question here is how obviously you can steal someone else's idea without decomposing with shame.
This song is a catchy little number by singers in extravagant outfits and a pseudo-historical effective title gimmick with a vaguely French connection. I wonder what Abba were thinking when they saw this.
Abba's conductor had the Napoleon outfit, Bruno Glenmark conducts with toy guns in his hands. This links in with the lyrics about two men duelling about this woman they both love. Duel or possibly Russian roulette, the lyrics are a bit vague on which method is chosen in the end.
All in all, a rather dubious package from a copyright perspective. But it is a very jolly and upbeat schlager. Surprisingly much so for a song that deals with imminent death.
Hadar & Glenmarks -Lady Antoinette (Sweden 1975 national final)
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