Notes from National Finals: Supernova, Latvia 26.02,2017

It's always one of my favourite annual national final processes, and 2017 was no different.  By this point, many of the national finals or internal selections were pretty underwhelming. Saturday nights were congested with heats, semi-finals and finals, so Sunday night brought pleasant relief from all that congestion with the heats, semi-finals and finals of "Supernova", the contest to choose Latvia's Eurovision entry.  In 2015 and 2016 this proved to be a very successful format, thanks to two consecutive entries written by Aminata Savadogo, both of which ensured qualification to the ESC final.

The great thing about Supernova is the diverse and often left-field selection of songs mixed in with the more mainstream entries.  But above all, Supernova has one thing which sets it above and beyond all the national song selections....

Yes, the legend that is the Riga Beaver was back again to entertain us over the weeks during the ad breaks, to the enjoyment of the fandom, the slightly amused confusion of the studio audience and the bemusement and dismissiveness of the professional jury.

Talking of the jury, I thought I would take the completely gratuitous opportunity to post a screenshot of guest judge Intars Busulis in a cardigan.  You know how much I love men in knitwear :)))

OK enough of the gratuitous shallowness and let's get to the music!

As I said earlier, there was a lot of musical diversity over the semi-finals, from the creepy "One By One" by UP, to the "if at first you don't succeed" serial Supernova entrant Markus Riva (below)

Unfortunately he suffered from what I call "the Melodifestivalen law of diminishing returns" where recurring contestants return with weaker songs.  "Dynamite" was a case in point.  Compared to the great "Take Me Down", this was just dire.  This time round he didn't even make the semi-final, never mind the final.



Another Latvian national final contestant from the past returned this year.  Linda Leen's "Who Is In Charge", (above) which made it as far as the semi-final, had bizarre staging and a very unusual musical arrangement. It was a complete mess, to say the least.  Yet something strange happened.  This song surprisingly grew on me and I ended up playing it rather a lot after Supernova ended.  I still can't understand why I got into this song as it is jarring and screechy and all the things I hate, but there you go.  Music still has the power to surprise.

This year's Supernova took that most modern approach, including Spotify streams in the voting. Now you know I'm not a fan of streaming but it just shows how forward-thinking Latvia is.  However, like all voting systems, streaming and YouTube views can be skewed, let's just say.  There were suspicions surrounding unusually large Spotify streams for a certain artist this year for example; however, he wasn't disqualified.

On 26.02.2017, four songs competed in the Supernova final.



1.  "Your Breath" - Santa Danelevica.

The kind of dull contemporary ballad which now pollutes national finals all over Europe - and sometimes even makes it as far as ESC.  Throwing in a drum & bass backdrop "Walk On Water"-style is just a lazy box-ticking "let's make this contemporary" exercise.  I didn't think this was worth a place in the final.

2.  "I'm In Love With You" - The Ludvig.

The Ludvig took the minimalist approach with a song which really didn't have much depth beyond, well, "I'm in love with you".  I can understand its appeal I suppose - a young male singer-songwriter would get votes from young fans as well as old, and it ended up as runner-up.  But after a couple of years where Latvian entries to ESC have had some depth and artistic quality, we expect more.  If this had won Supernova, it would have got completely lost in Kyiv.



3. "All I Know" - My Radiant You.

Yes, that's the artists formerly known as My Radiant U, who also have some Supernova history of their own.  I never thought for a minute that this would win Supernova but I was delighted to see it reach the final.  It came 3rd.  Of course the verses are, um, "inspired" by "Dancing In The Dark" but I don't mind. This was, and is, such an uplifting, catchy and feelgood song which I have continued to listen to long after the contest and it will certainly take up a spot in my year-end chart.  It's just a good pop song, that's all.   And finally....

4.  "Line" - Triana Park.

Even before the final I thought that this would be the best choice for Latvia's Eurovision entry this year, as it is yet another representation of Latvia's uniqueness in the contest. So I was delighted when it won, a resounding win too, well-ahead of The Ludvig even with his high Spotify total. 

I wasn't too familiar with Triana Park's music so I checked out some more of their songs and came to the conclusion that they are staying true to themselves and not compromising their style for Eurovision.  Agnese Rakovska is a compelling frontwoman with her own amazing style.  As for "Line", well yes it is a bit too repetitive, but then again people will remember it; my favourite part of the song is that mid-song breakdown after the second chorus, when Agnese brings the moves and the song just explodes into a euphoric rave classic.

So that was Supernova for another year.  I hope LTV use the same format again next year, as it's one of the most unmissable Eurovision national final formats every year.  And as for our furry friend, he certainly didn't disappoint this year, with everything from his rapping and crazy dancing to his incredible improvisation.  Our lives are all the more enriched in the knowledge of how to make an elephant mask out of a cardboard box.  So thank you so much Riga Beaver.  Hope we see you again in 2018!

Notes from National Finals: EMA, Slovenia - 25.02.2017

I've looked in on EMA over the past couple of years with mixed success - I enjoyed the 2015 final but it was virtually impossible to follow last year's final due to my poor internet connection.  (I guess that national finals season 2016 was one of the main factors in my decision to finally get fibre broadband over last summer).

There were big changes in EMA this year - the contest was staged in a much larger venue than the usual TV studio, and with a huge leap in the production values and visual impact.  This clearly shows a lot of ambition on RTVSLO's part, and it became one of my favourite national finals of 2017. The visuals were clearly influenced by Melodifestivalen though: from the 2014 'painting postcards' to the same font for song titles and the announcement of the songs and artists, Melfest-style.

This year's two semi-finals/heats took place over two nights, Friday 17.02.2017 and Saturday 18.02.2017, where 8 songs competed each night for 4 places in the final.  What impressed me straight off about this year's EMA was the variety and diverse musical style of the songs on offer: everything from rock to ska to experimental opera to Latin-pop to EDM to ethno-pop to traditional ballads.

Swedish-based Maja Keuc, under her new artist-name of Amaya, was in the original line-up but pulled out of the contest beforehand, as this didn't fit in with her new career path.  Hmm, strange one - I wonder if there were other factors behind this decision?

I think the right songs made it to the final, although Tosca Beat's adventurous left-field opera number "Free World" which failed to qualify from heat 1, could have added an interesting dimension to the final.

The 2nd heat fought for my attention on one of the very busy "Super Saturdays" when I was watching one of the Eesti Laul heats at the same time.

I quickly concluded that ESC season was rapidly turning into a zoo, what with Francesco Gabbani's gorilla, Riga Beaver, Kerli's live chicken over in Eesti Laul, and EMA pandas.  Or United Pandaz, to be exact,  who accompanied Arsello and Alex Volasko on the "Don't You Worry Child"-influenced "Heart To Heart".   Or should that be Don't You Worry Panda!  It was a lively show but missed out on a place in the final.  Unlike the following songs....

1. "Ne Panike" - Sell Out.

I really liked this on first listen in its heat.  Very inspired by "4 Real" by Athena, Turkey's 2004 ESC entry which is one of my all-time favourite ESC songs.

Sell Out were dressed in matching black shirts and white patterned braces. The song, in Slovenian (extra points from me for native language!) was a feelgood catchy number with a brassy riff.  We even got a bit of the mannequin challenge when the song stops in the middle. (Is that still a thing?) This song didn't get a lot of love from ESC fandom so I was probably in a very small minority here - mainly because it was a very welcome change from a lot of the generic mush which polluted many of the national finals this year.

2. "Flower In The Snow" - Nuška Drašček.

There was also room in EMA for the more traditional ballads.  Nuška was dressed in one of these big fussy creations which you only ever seem to see in ESC, with massive bat-earrings to match.

This came across like a James Bond-style, dramatic ballad, and on first hearing in its heat I thought it was ok, however I didn't like it as much second time round.  Although she sang well, in terms of an ESC entry it did not really have any distinguishing musical characteristics.

Ad break time.  Just before the ads there was an on-screen ident of Lake Bled.  The desktop wallpaper on my laptop is a picture of Lake Bled by the way.  It's so beautiful and I'd love to go there some day.  Ljubljana is also one of my outstanding holiday ambitions.  But back to EMA....

3. "Open Fire" - Tim Kores. 

He seemed a bit of a character in his postcard. Oh, I remembered this one - it owed rather a lot to "Heroes" a bit in the staging.  I quite liked the song although he's not much of a singer and it all ended up a bit half baked. Love love peace peace - and a woman playing drums with burning fake cymbals. The song has an 80s uptempo pop-rock feel but that's ok with me.  It's nowhere near a 2017 ESC contender though.



4. "Fse" - Nika Zorjan. 

First of the evening's tributes to Dinah Nah's hair colour and the first of the final songs co-written by Maraaya.  "Fse" was like a Slovenian language companion-piece to "Here For You".  No sign of the air violinist though!

Nika came across as a likeable performer and she does well, although the chorus needed more oomph to live up to the song's promise.

Ad break time again.  Mercator, Hofer (which has the Aldi logo), Spar, and Mercator again! The Slovenians sure love their supermarkets.

After a Sanremo-style random interview with some Ukrainian woman (?) it was time for the next song.

5. "Wild Ride" - King Foo.  

I don't have much to say about this.  It was a rock-influenced song fronted by Slovenia's foremost Anastacia tribute act, and that's about it really.

6. "On My Way" - Omar Naber.

Yes, that Omar Naber, who represented Slovenia the last time Ukraine hosted ESC so there was a little deja-vu vibe going on here.  The song had quite an emotional pull for me (I was going through a bit of a low time during national finals season this year) and his vocals were strong but controlled, and the song has a big finish.  However, his edgy look did not match the rather middle-of-the-road song.

7. "Heart of Gold" - BQL.

One of the big pre-contest favourites and foregone-conclusion winner was "Heart of Gold", another Maraaya composition, sung by the young male duo BQL, pronounced 'be cool' (groan....!).  The best way I can describe this song is 'acoustic reggaeton' with a flavour of the current popular style of Chainsmokers-style 'minimalist dance' and unusually a more contemporary song than you would expect in the traditionally more conservative Slovenian national selection.  I can understand its appeal but for me the staging didn't work when the two singers were apart, and it only really made sense when they are together on stage.  The vocals could have been a bit better too.



8. "Zažarim" - Raiven.

Pink hair #2 from Raiven, competing in her second consecutive EMA.  She brought her harp too. This was all very mystical and 'potential ESC entry' and also quite Aminata-influenced.  The verses reminded me of "Bring Me To Life".  If this was selected for Slovenia it would probably get lost among the other female midtempo ballads already chosen, and the lights effect on her catsuit would just be yet another been there done that gimmick.

Last year's Slovenian representative ManuElla returned for the interval act, this time lip-synching her new song "Salvation", a decent enough country pop number with the added potential for a wardrobe malfunction.(!)

Another blast from a more distant past: Toni Cetinski with a piano-version of his 1994 Croatian entry "Nek Ti Bude Ljubav Sva" and a new uptempo pop-rock song "Laku Noc" .  What's really annoyed me about this year's EMA was the use of fake cheering/applause which is a very unwelcome trend! I find this kind of thing really offputting and unnecessary and it became more and more annoying as the night went on.

The third special guest was none other than ESC defending champ Jamala, singing what else but "1944" a song which still delivers massive chills, even if it's not to everyone's taste.

More ads for sausages and Mercator cars etc but I'm getting a bit bored with Bosch dishwashers now. But sausages again!  Enjoy - it's from Europe!

After the jury vote Omar was in the lead and then the televote results are announced Melfest-style. BQL topped the televote as expected, but not for the first time in this or in recent years, we were in a situation where the winning song was not a unanimous choice.  Despite the pre-contest momentum and expectation that BQL would win EMA, it was Omar Naber who would be going to Kyiv, representing Slovenia with "On My Way" which very quickly became one of the least popular songs among the fandom and written off as 'dated' and 'old-fashioned'.  For those of us who still saw some redeeming features in a well-sung dated and old-fashioned song, it was then revamped to its complete detriment.  The only way I can see this qualifying is a "Colo(u)r of Your Life"-style vote, although I think it's reasonable to attribute much of that song's success to diaspora voting, which Slovenia doesn't really have.  So I may be wrong, but it looks as if Omar will be on his way....back to Slovenia after the semi-final.

Notes from National Finals - Germany: Unser Song, 09.02.2017

Over recent years, Germany has tried everything from internal selections to multi-artist national finals.  In the case of the latter, there have been some quality artists and songs, but in recent years they fell foul of the "curse of the underdog".  The situation wasn't helped either by the shock refusal of Andreas Kummert to compete 2 years ago, or by Jamie-Lee's very individual (but misunderstood) styling.

In 2017, there was a change to Germany's selection process, and not for the better either.  Five unknown singers would compete in a series of rounds, whittling down along the way to find the best fit of song and singer to represent Germany in Kyiv.

Cologne is the venue and once again, Barbara Schoneberger (pictured above in the opening number) is the hostess with the mostest.  She is a big personality with a great sense of humour, and it could be said that she would need to have a great sense of humour to wear that skirt :O

There's a panel of judges this year, featuring schlager star Florian Silbereisen, popular singer-songwriter Tim Bendzko, and the one and only Lena Meyer-Landrut, Germany's last ESC winner in 2010.

The first round features all five of this year's lambs to the slaughter contestants, when they will sing a cover version each and then there will be an elimination round, leaving three singers.

Round 1: The Cover Versions

"Folsom Prison Blues" - Helene Nissen. 

An interesting choice here for a cover version.  However, as a recent convert to Johnny Cash's music (thank you faithful travelling companion!!), I am paying especially close attention to how she performs this.  Helene is young and cute and wears big Harry Potter glasses.  She reminds me of those student buskers which you'll find in any city on any Saturday afternoon.  She is just too "shouty" on this song, This performance bizarrely reminds me of the late Lena Zavaroni, a child star discovered in the 70s on "Opportunity Knocks" (the 'Got Talent' of its day), who used to belt out songs which were far too grown-up for her.

"Love on Top" - Yosefin Buohler.

Next up is Swedish-German Yosefin who performs a lightweight and somewhat "cabaret" cover of the Beyonce song with the multiple key changes.  It's a mistake for her to cover such a big song requiring a spectacular vocal.  What has become of the musical variety which characterised German national finals over recent years? I am just despairing at this year's final already.

It's also a shame though that regardless of what you think of the contestants, that two of them won't get the chance to sing even one of the two songs in the running.  This is an extremely flawed format for a national final.  A far better idea would have been for just one straightforward final of 5 artists singing the 2 competing songs each; this covers-round is just an irrelevance.

"Dancing On My Own" - Felicia Lu Kürbiß.

Of all the songs in all the world....why, really, would anyone choose this dismal cover-of-a-cover?  If such a thing of an international court of crimes against music existed, then Calum Scott's cover version of Robyn's classic song - which topped my 2016 hate chart on this blog - would be first in the queue to be tried.  Felicia does the best she can, but she seems to be modelling herself a bit too much on Lena.

"You Know My Name" - Axel Maximilian Feige.

I'm not so sure about the manbun - it's not the best look is it?  This song was originally performed by Chris Cornell and was the theme to the James Bond film Casino Royale.  It's perfect for Axel's gritty rock voice and, although many of the notes fall short to begin with, he eventually gets there. Although he is no Chris Cornell, Axel admittedly does have a good voice but I'm not feeling much charisma here.  Maybe it's nerves, I don't know....

"When We Were Young" - Isabella Levina Lueen.

It becomes clear very quickly that Levina is the favourite as she is cheered throughout her very decent, tuneful cover of the Adele song which is a safe choice here.

After the votes are counted, it's time for two of the singers to be eliminated.  We say goodbye to Yosefin (unsurprisingly) and Felicia - I'd like to think she was punished for that terrible song choice (!), but I thought she would sneak a qualification place over Helene.  Oh well, there you go!

This final is already at a very cringeworthy stage.  I'm even getting the feeling that Barbara is not usually her sparky self, and this feels like a contractual obligation.

Round 2:  "Wildfire" (Marit Larsen/Tofer Brown/Greg Holden)

I think what's annoying me about this whole national final shenanigans is that there is no room in it for German-language music.  Now I can understand sending a song to ESC in English (although I wish that, even for one year, that all countries would submit an entry in their native language.  Not gonna happen though, is it?) The covers round would have been a good chance for the singers to express themselves in their own language, but that was a missed opportunity.

So I had hoped that if we couldn't hear anything in the German language, then it would have been good at least to have German involvement on the songwriting side.  As it turns out, neither of the two songs in contention are written by German songwriters and are "bought in" co-writes.  This is one aspect of the modern ESC which I really struggle to deal with.  It would be nice if a country was represented by a song even co-written by a native of that country, but it's just another aspect of that generic, globalised mish-mash which ESC has become, and I feel that the contest has lost something special as a result.

"Wildfire" - Helene.

So, the cute young shouty-busking-student is growing in confidence after that surprise qualification to the ESC songs round.  Her take on "Wildfire" is an upbeat country-flavoured song in the style of Amy Macdonald. The performance is lively enough but her vocals suffer as a result.

"Wildfire" - Axel.

This song seems to suit his rough, gritty voice.  Unfortunately it loses the momentum thanks to the low-key staging and there is not much in the way of "performance" as he just sits on a stool.  The lyrics of the song may say "run through the wildfire", well Axel, never mind running - getting off the chair would be a start!  Axel looks as if he'd rather be anywhere else and he's not "selling" the song at all.  He is not bringing the charisma or the confidence which will make all the difference in being chosen as this year's German representative.

By the way there is a simultaneous English language commentary running through this long final which is very beneficial for us non-German speakers.  It happens that Tim Bendzko (below left), who is injecting a lot of honesty into his comments, isn't too delighted with Axel sitting down either.

"Wildfire" - Levina.

Visually, Levina puts me in mind of a mix of Emma Marrone and Lena Meyer-Landrut.  There is cheering throughout her interpretation of the song which she turns into a mid-tempo ballad.  Unlike Axel, Levina knows how to work the camera, she is very confident and is coming across like the winner of "Unser Song" already.

Time for a musical interlude - something finally in German!  Tim Bendzko performs "Leichtsinn" and I have decided that is way better than any other songs we've heard in this cringeworthy, lengthy and interminable final.

Elimination time again.  Helene leaves the competition, and Axel and Levina are the only ones still in contention.  They will now perform the second prospective ESC entry.

Round 3: "Perfect Life" (Lindy Robbins, Lindsey Ray, Dave Bassett)

Lindy Robbins has written quite a few hit songs over recent years including Jason Derulo's "Want To Want Me" and "Skyscraper" which was covered by X Factor winner Sam Bailey.

Like "Wildfire" this song isn't all that spectacular either and you just wonder, is this really the best that Germany can do?  Can we tempt Stefan Raab out of retirement??

"Perfect Life" - Axel.

He sings this well, but I just wish that he showed more personality in his performance as it just looks as if he can't be arsed.  He's got a distinctive voice and I think he could make a good recording artist if he gets the right material.  But he's not winning this competition.  He performs this song as a mid-tempo ballad with little James Bond-style musical flourishes.

"Perfect Life" - Levina.

All together now... "I am titaaaaaniiiiiuuuum!"

This version of the song has a lawsuit-worthy intro as it is clearly inspired by the David Guetta/Sia track - although many have also pointed out the "Every Breath You Take" guitar riff which has been ripped off by many other artists over the last 30 years.  The artists tonight are performing with a live band which is one very positive aspect of an otherwise unremarkable final.  I presume that the recorded version of Levina's take on this song will have more of a dance beat?  Whatever, it goes big in the hall and the audience are clapping along from the beginning.

So now it's another round of voting, to decide who's done the best version of each song.  In an unsurprising result, it's Levina versus Levina: the voters have decided that she sung the best versions of both songs and so it's on to the final round, where she will sing each song again.  No wonder she's probably got a sore throat by now!

By the way, did I say how rubbish this format is?  They're singing the same songs over and over again .It reminds me of the old Andra Chansen format which was thankfully dropped.  Anyway, no matter how many times they sing "Wildfire" and "Perfect Life" I still struggle to remember them.  In the end, the voters choose "Perfect Life", probably because it's got that Titanium recognition factor.

The epic final finishes almost 3 hours after it started,so congratulations if you lasted for the duration. Germany really needs to rethink the way it chooses its Eurovision entries. This is not the best format, that's for sure.

So just how well will Germany do in this year's Eurovision Song Contest?  Levina seems a confident performer and sings well enough, but at this point, the whole package just isn't special enough to get Germany over to the left-hand side of the scoreboard.

Notes from National Finals - UMK, Finland, 28.01.17

Hello again!  The past few weeks have been very busy and I haven't had the time to blog, so I'm taking the opportunity of some very welcome extra free time over Easter weekend to bring you my backlog of (long-overdue) reviews from this year's ESC national selections.

All of my national final posts will as usual be written in present tense/real-time, based on the notes which I wrote during each national selection.

Let's climb into the time machine and go back 11 weeks to the end of January and the Finnish national final.

This year YLE went for a one-off final of UMK, the format which they have used over recent years to select the Finnish Eurovision entry.

This year's show is hosted by Finland's 2013 ESC representative Krista Siegfrids, who remains a big favourite of the fan community.  No wonder, because she is a very entertaining host this evening with an equally entertaining line of outfits, from the toilet roll holder dress....

...to this colourful combo with matching glasses....

,,,and who could forget this?

Krista clearly has a great sense of fun and lots of personality, and she is the perfect fit for hosting UMK.  I can see her hosting this show for many years to come.

It could be argued that whoever made the final selection for UMK was also having a great laugh, given the number of 'novelty' songs included in this year's final line-up.  Before the contest though, there was one very clear favourite in the fan world, which would kick off the competition.

1:  "Circle of Light" - Emma.

Kicking off with the overwhelming fan favourite of early season.  This hybrid of "Only Teardrops" and "Hear Them Calling" was tipped to win UMK but it very quickly becomes apparent that it would not be such a foregone conclusion as the live performance falls short of what we all expected.  It's more 'Rakas we are not fine' as Emma, dressed in a drab and unflattering outfit, struggles with her vocals and even the fire on stage doesn't do what it should.  The staging is all very mystical, but it's not enough to save a poor performance.

2.  "Arrows" - Alva.

Some environmentally unfriendly use of hairspray in the postcard :)  This is a rather lightweight and bland effort, the kind of entry which usually comes 6th or 7th in a Melodifestivalen heat.

3.  "Love Yourself" - Günther and D'Sanz.

Yes, Günther - he of "Ding Dong Song" and "Like Fire Tonight" fame - is back, and this is when it gets dangerous.  I decide to go and make some toast at this point of the evening. Whilst waiting I am caught up in the excitement of this uptempo dance-pop tune with hilarious lyrics, and start singing along with it and dancing around the living room.  Unfortunately I forget to check on my toast.  The grill on my super-duper new cooker makes toast a lot more quickly than the previous one, so in no time at all I start to smell smoke, and then the smoke alarm starts beeping very loudly indeed...!!

"Love Yourself" is old-school singalonga-Eurodance/pop and whilst there appears to be no place for that in the Eurovision Song Contest these days, we still need the likes of it in a national final.

4.  "Reach Out For The Sun" - Anni Saikku.

The combination of a) preventing a fire, b) rescuing my toast and c) my internet connection deciding to give up, means that I miss most of this song. I have to end up shutting down my laptop and restarting which means I also miss the start of this next song.  Although that may be a good thing.....

5. "Caveman" - Knucklebone Oscar and the Shangri-La Rubies.

*Update* I listen to both songs later and conclude that neither of them would trouble the top end of the scoreboard, however Anni's song was quite pleasant and I'd maybe listen to it again. As for Oscar and friends, I just don't see the point.  This probably denied a more deserving song a place in the final, but we shall never know.

6.  "Blackbird" - Norma John.

In my previous 'first listen' post from November 2016, I got my information wrong as I thought the singer's name was Norma, when in fact none of them are called Norma, or indeed John!  This is in fact a duo made up of Leena and Lasse, who also wrote the song.  In that post I also wrote the following:

"...for me this is the standout of the national selection and could have the best chance of getting Finland a decent result at ESC.  This song's slow brooding drama immediately made me think of something which would turn up in Norway's MGP...If they get the staging right, this could do very, very well."

Regardless of the ever-changing interpretation of what constitutes a great Eurovision entry, I would say that it would be a song with immediate impact and which stays with you after only one hearing. After that first listen, the dark and beautiful "Blackbird" fulfilled that remit and immediately became my favourite in that early national finals season.

On the night, it doesn't disappoint.  Leena is dressed in a black lace-topped gown which perfectly matches the darkness of the song.  The staging is minimal and the piano solo is exquisite. Just wonderful.

7. "Helppo Elämää" - Lauri Yrjola.

Extra points from me for a song in the native language.  This is minimalist, contemporary pop which would sound fresher if someone else hadn't got there first.  Every year in national finals you'll hear at least one song which is strongly influenced by a Eurovision entry from the previous year.  What do those flashing lights and stark industrial beats in the chorus remind you of?

Thank you Sir Hat, on Twitter, for pointing out the similarity of this song to last year's Latvian entry.
Lauri tries his best, but he's no Justs.

8. "My Little World" - Club La Persé.  

At this point my internet connection decides to give up again, which means that I miss most of this song. What a drag, indeed.  This song has quite a memorable chorus but the rest of it is just a mess.

9..  "Perfect Villain" - Zühlke.

A very Norwegian flavour, as the team of writers include A1's Christian Ingebrigtsen and former MGP contestant and host Silje Nymoen.  In this year's UMK final there have been some very iffy vocal performances, but Zühlke delivers some strong and confident vocals although it must be said, the lyrics of "Perfect Villain" are a little silly, what with all those references to the X-Men and Superman.

10.  "Paradise" - My First Band. 

In another life this could actually be quite a decent little modern pop tune, but the absolutely hideous lyrics and irritating falsetto completely drag it down to gutter level.  This is the other favourite to win, but if it was only between this and "Circle of Light" I would have to go for Emma's song.  My First Band really want to be Maroon 5 (a band which I once liked but now despise for their bandwagon-jumping desperation).  The lyrics are vile, the staging is vile....please don't let this win.

So that's it.  Songs over and it was time for a couple of interval acts.  Firstly, the Norwegian teen twin sensations/irritants (delete as appropriate) Marcus and Martinus, who are very popular in Sweden and Finland as well as in Norway.  One of their songs is called "Bae" which is one of those annoying modern expressions which I've never understood, but then again I'm too old for all that nonsense...!

On to the international jury votes.  The UK votes are delivered by none other than high-profile Wiwibloggs frontman William Lee Adams.

After the jury votes, the top 3 are as follows:

1. Norma John
2. Zühlke
3. Emma.

The second interval act is Jenni Vartiainen (above), who is clearly in a different class.  Perhaps a Margaret Berger-style entry might be good for her in future, should she ever decide to finally participate in ESC?

The televote scores are announced in Melodifestivalen/ESC 2016 style, with votes converted to points.  What we learn from this is that Alva is more popular with the televoters than with the juries, whilst they don't love Anni and Lauri as much as the juries did.  Juries and televoters do agree on the top 3 though - so that means that Norma John will represent Finland in Kyiv with the brilliant "Blackbird".  Here is the final scoreboard:



For me, "Blackbird" is the best Finnish entry since "Something Better".  It has the emotional strength to appeal to both juries and televoters across Europe.  If they keep the staging simple, and just focus on Leena's haunting and powerful vocal performance, I would hope for at very least a place in the final....and if it achieves that, then who's to say that a top 10 finish wouldn't be out of the question?

(All pictures above are screenshots from YLE's coverage - http://areena.yle.fi/tv)

Notes from National Finals - Eesti Laul, Estonia 04.03.2017

For me, Eesti Laul is always one of the strongest national selections in ESC and this year was no different.  I'm not usually one for watching heats and semi-finals, especially in the high-demand Super Saturday weekends when there are so many contests competing for attention; however, choices had to be made and I chose to invest in the whole Eesti Laul process this year.  

The semi-finals were staged in what appeared to be a TV studio, whereas the final was in the completely different environment of the 2002 host venue, the Saku Suurhall in Tallinn.  The move to the larger venue last year was very successful and I hope this venue will host the final for years to come.  

This year's final was opened by last year's Eesti Laul winner, Jüri Pootsmann, with his latest song, the drum-driven "Silmades", which led on to a special performance of "Play" accompanied by Stig Rasta on guitar and a choir backing.  Jüri seems to be growing in confidence as a performer and I hope he goes on to greater things. 

1. "Keep Running" - Liis Lemsalu.

A good, uncomplicated pop song which was sung by a charming performer.  The audience got in on the act, flashing glow sticks. Liis was all alone on stage but surrounded by lots of pink orbs!  It was a solid start to the show.  

  

The two presenters, Mart and Ott, were also responsible for the between-song sketches ("Reklaam") which were done in the form of spoof adverts.  Sometimes they were funny, but as the show went on they started to annoy me and they got in the way of the flow of the songs.  

2.  "Verona" - Koit Toome and Laura.

Back in't day in 1998, still one of my most favourite Eurovision Song Contests ever, a young Koit Toome represented Estonia with "Mere Lapsed", in the final year of compulsory native-language entries.  19 years on and a) he still reminds me of Gary Barlow and b) he hasn't really aged that much, has he?  Koit and Laura were dressed up for the occasion, more straight outta Vegas than Verona, and they gave a very strong and professional performance of a song inspired by Romeo and Juliet, with a Verona as a metaphor for love lost and found.  

3. "Have You Now" - Whogaux and Karl-Kristjan featuring Maian.

You would have to be living on Mars not to be aware of the chart-conquering boring-dance-music phenomenon that is the Chainsmokers.  Song number three was basically just a Chainsmokers tribute act, with the two singers - an irritating hipster in a hat, and a Holly Willoughby lookalike in a dress and trainers - walking around in a circle on stage.  This kind of thing is popular, but it did nothing for me. 

4. "Slingshot" - Lenna Kuurmaa. 

When I saw this song in the semi-final I had initially wrote it off as yet another in a very long line of Sia-alikes, but Lenna had won me over by the end of the song.  She  was surrounded by her backing singers doing slow but sharp choreography, then she disappeared during the middle-8 of the song, only to reappear, flying above the audience, to bring that "wow" moment.  It was another very controlled and professional performance from Lenna - I like her and I hope that she will get a chance to represent Estonia at ESC some day, with a stronger song.  

5. "All I Need" - Daniel Levi. 

Firstly I have to explain that I always get Daniel Levi and Markus Riva mixed up.  Now you are probably wondering why, as one is Estonian and one is Latvian, but they always seem to be competing in their respective national finals in the same years and I have to always remind myself which is which.  #badfan

Daniel must have offended a barber, with that hairdo.  He also had to perform mainly in darkness, accompanied by lasers, but at least he resisted the temptation to do that moving-lasers-about thing like David Lindgren on "We Are Your Tomorrow" in Melfest 2016.  But I digress.  This song was ok, but not great, and his vocals weren't always up to scratch.  

6. "In or Out" - Elina Born.

Now there is no doubt about it that Elina is in my list of fabulous Estonian female ESC contestants - "Goodbye To Yesterday" still remains one of my favourite ESC entries of recent years.  When I heard she was coming back to Eesti Laul, I was quite excited - but that was followed by extreme disappointment after seeing her first performance of this on the semi-final.  Where had the cool and classy Elina of 2015 gone?  In her place was another version of Elina, (under)dressed in a very revealing leotard.  The overall effect of the styling and staging was just trashy and cheap, and it completely overshadowed the song (another Stig Rästa co-write, by the way).

7.  "Suur Loterii" - Ivo Linna. 

67 year old Ivo is an Estonian music legend who previously represented his country back in 1996.  I find it hard to dislike "Suur Loterii" as a) it is in Estonian and b) it's a sweet and likeable song.  If my mum was still here she would have described this as "a nice song" too. I'm glad he made it to the Eesti Laul final :)

8.  "This Love" - Rasmus Randvee. 

Like Daniel Levi before him, Rasmus must also have offended his barber as he has another one of those lopsided-haircuts!  

This song was co-written by Ewert Sundja from Ewert and the Two Dragons, who have been hugely popular in Estonia over the last few years.  So "This Love" had some credibility to begin with, and Rasmus gave a very enthusiastic and strong performance, throwing himself around and giving it all he had.  I never really paid too much attention to it in the semi-final, but he took it to a whole new level in the final and so we should not be surprised that he ended up as one of the superfinalists.  

9. "Feel Me Now" - Ariadne.  

A big contrast to Rasmus' powerful indie anthem, "Feel Me Now" wasn't trying to be anything else other than a sweet, lightweight and understated little pop song.  Her styling reminded me a little bit of Zara Larsson, and she did the 360 back-to-the-audience shot which was a regular feature in Eurovision 2016.  I liked this song in the semi-final and also in the final, but the only thing I didn't really like about it was the song's title. 

10. "Spirit Animal" - Kerli. 

In the world of internet Eurovision fandom there is a certain word - you know, that one, which is used to describe songs/artists which are massive favourites among particular sections of the fandom. "Spirit Animal" has been one of  those songs this year.

My problem with this song is that it tried too hard to fit the new Eurovision stereotype of a very "modern" and minimalist song which is more of a performance piece accompanied by striking visuals.  In a contest with several very impressive vocalists, Kerli's voice just sounded rather weak and the song wasn't memorable enough to cover up her vocal shortcomings.  

The Eesti Laul final was broadcast in two parts, with the second part devoted to the superfinal where the 3 songs with the biggest combined jury and televote from the main show would then compete again solely for the televote.  

The three finalists were Kerli, Koit and Laura, and Rasmus.  Unfortunately during the superfinal, my internet stream was playing up, presumably collapsing under the weight of running Andra Chansen and Eesti Laul at the same time, and not to mention the reaction of a shocked fandom coming to terms with the fact that Loreen did not make it to the Melfest final...!

Back at Eesti Laul, Måns Zelmerlöw was doing his interval act thing, with a medley of "Heroes" and "Glorious".  This was followed by a group called, I think, Beyond Beyond, although by that point my internet connection was "beyond" a joke!

Eventually it was restored in time for the results.  Rasmus was 3rd - well done to him and I hope we see him back in Eesti Laul again.  Then in a night of shocks came yet another shock result - "Verona" won, beating "Spirit Animal".  By the look on Koit and Laura's faces, I don't think they were expecting that either!

The win had hardly been announced and Twitter, and presumably everywhere else in social media land, was incandescent with rage, that another fan-fave had been eliminated, this time at the hands of an "old-fashioned cheesy song".

Well, I say, what's wrong with cheese?????  

Yes, "Verona" is old-school Eurovision.  But in yet another national finals season when songs without tunes outnumber memorable melodies, and indeed when the 'Melodi' is sadly absent from the contests bearing that name in Sweden, Denmark and Norway, you have to ask if things have got so bad that you can't send a song with a tune and/or memorable chorus to ESC anymore without it being branded "old-fashioned", "cheesy" and the like.  The same criticism was levelled at Sergey last year of course.  

But what about those songs in many a national final this year, which have tried so hard to be "current"?  The tropical house ones? (Although I do have a soft spot for the daft and funny "I Love My Phone" from the Lithuanian national selection).  The ones which are inspired by Sia's "Chandelier"/"Titanium"? The ones which are inspired by Shawn Mendes or the Chainsmokers? All of these may be "current" but they will also become dated very quickly, because they lack that "timeless" quality.  That same quality which characterises many of the Eurovision songs which certain fans accuse of being "dated". That thing called.... "a tune".

OK, rant over.  There will be more national final reviews to come over the next couple of weeks, when I'll be taking a look back at the selections from Finland, Sweden, Latvia, Germany and Slovenia.