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When National Finals Work – Who Sent The Right Song to Baku? Written by on June 7, 2012 | 19 Comments

Yesterday we had a look at the countries that sent the wrong song to this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, leaving behind a more attractive song in their national selection process.

The other side of the coin is that many countries made the right choice, or at least the best choice they could have made given the circumstances. They deserve a little nod of appreciation and “you’ve done a man’s job” from Eddie James Olmos.

So, who do the ESC Insight team think got it right for Eurovision 2012? Let’s start with the easiest call of all.

Sweden were right to send Loreen.

Danny Saucedo would not have won Eurovision. Sean Banan would not have won Eurovision. Thorsten Flinck might have simply stared down the Babushkis until they withered and died, but that would have let Serbia win Eurovision. David Lindgreen would not have won Eurovision. Ulrik Munther would not have won Eurovision (although pay attention, 2013 might be a different matter). It was always Loreen’s to lose.

Denmark were right to send Soluna Samay.

Melodi Grand Prix yet again sends a rather nice song from a selection of rather nice songs. Denmark didn’t have a huge variety to choose from this year, and much as I think Soluna’s song was slap bang in the middle of the road with staging that smacked of six arts students given a grant to buy a cello, it was the best of the bunch. I personally doubt Jesper Nohrstedr’s ‘Take Our Hearts’ would have made it out of the semi-final.

The Netherlands were right to send Joan Franka.

Forget the visuals for a moment, just listen to the three songs that were in the John de Mol’s National Final. It was always going to be Indiana Joan. While the silver and bronze songs were serviceable, ‘You and Me’ was head and shoulders the best song.

Two elements kept The Netherlands in the semi-final. Franka’s voice gave out before the live show on Thursday 24th, and they left the full native American head-dress on her head. I understand it’s a totem, but surely a single feather would have protected Joan and allowed everyone else in Europe to focus on the song, rather than dash for the Barbara Dex nomination forms?

Slovenia were right to send Eva Boto.

Because the other choice was Konichiwa.

Cyprus were right to send Ivi Adamou’s La La Love.

The artist was an internal selection, with the song choice up to a public/jury split vote, and the important thing was this… Cyprus qualified. That’s as good as a victory to the island. Given La La Love was the only other song to chart in the official Top 100 in the United Kingdom the week after the Song Contest (at number 77), and Adamou’s single became a strong bridesmaid to Loreen all over Europe shows this pop number managed to hit a nerve around the continent.

Dammit, why can’t Cypriot jury member Andrew Main be that accurate when he’s on Juke Box Jury duty?

Hungary were right to send Compact Disco.

Even though I’m for Duran Duran, and they’re clearly with Spandau Ballet, the boys brought their A-Game to the live shows just when they needed to, and it was enough. They can hold their heads up high, even though Terry Vision thinks it was rather bland.

United Kingdom were right to send Engelbert Humperdinck.

It’s just that everything else was wrong!

Malta were right to send Kurt Calleja

Even though he’s not called Chiara, Kurt Calleja qualified. There were some real gems in the marathon that is Malta’s selection process, and I had my eye on a few other songs, but at the end of the day Kurt (and brother Kevin on lead guitar, never forget Kevin) brought a packed but not overly flashy staging, an energetic sing-a-long song, and a little bit of Eurovision magic to the stage. We salute Kurt “Epic Dance Man” Calleja.

Azerbaijan were right to send Sabina Babayeva.

Seriously, on the night, for that three minutes, she belted out a power ballad worthy of Celine Dion at the climax of her Las Vegas show. Frankly, this had winner projected all over it. You knew it, we knew it, and Ictimai knew it. So they added fifteen seconds of Alim Qasimov and some traditional Mugham music to the song. Mugham being the Azerbaijani phrase for “we have a good song, we just don’t want to host it next year.”

Who else nailed it with their song selection? Or do you think that someone here should have been in yesterday’s “When National Finals get it wrong?” Let us know!

About The Author: Ewan Spence

British Academy (BAFTA) nominated broadcaster and writer Ewan Spence is the voice behind The Unofficial Eurovision Song Contest Podcast and one of the driving forces behind ESC Insight. Having had an online presence since 1994, he is a noted commentator around the intersection of the media, internet, technology, mobility and how it affects us all. Based in Edinburgh, Scotland, his work has appeared on the BBC, The Stage, STV, and The Times. You can follow Ewan on Twitter (@ewan) and Facebook (facebook.com/ewanspence).

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Have Your Say

19 responses to “When National Finals Work – Who Sent The Right Song to Baku?”

  1. Billy says:

    I personally think for Denmark, Jesper Nohrstedt would have done better than Soluna

  2. God if Slovenia had sent Konichiwa then we all would have guessed that Slovenia would have stayed in the semi finals. I really don’t think anyone saw Verjamem staying in the semi finals though which was a big shame.

  3. Henning says:

    I am suprised that the German Seclection Process seemed to work, dispite poor viewer-ratings, the near non involvement of Stefan Raab and some dreadful innovations for the “Unser Star ..”-Show. Also “Standing Still” was a bit above average song (just listen to the runner-ups version of the same song).Also Raab did very little to promote the song or Roman Lob, So nobody was expecting anything even the proclaimed target of “a Top 10” placing didn’t seem posible. But Roman isn’t Lena, and he did take matters into his own hands (probably guided by Thomas D. of course) and they finised 8th wich is great success for all involved, and had proven that the German selection somhow did work.

  4. Ewan Spence says:

    After Jedward, I think Roman got the loudest screams on the red carpet from the public bleachers in Baku at the Welcome Party!

  5. Henning says:

    Think of how much more Roman could have achieved with bit more adventurous arranged song, or a “better” song. I think he did the most of it, and it’s mostly down to Roman’s warm and open personality. Too bad Terry Vision didn’t get to interview him.

  6. togravus says:

    Estonia certainly got it right too. ‘Kuula’ was not my favourite song in Eesti Laul, which was once more packed with interesting songs, but it is my favourite Eesti Laul 2012 song now. And you cannot argue a 6th place anyway.

  7. Ewan Spence says:

    Ott was so far ahead in every poll there wasn’t really a competition, was there! I’m sure Lenna will try again!

  8. togravus says:

    I certainly hope that Lenna will try again. She had a fantastic song this year. I would not mind Tenfold Rabbit either. They were my favourites in Eesti Laul 2012.

  9. Peter says:

    Kaliopi was an inspired choice for FYROM as well, even if it did take Terry’s interview for me to really fall in love with her.

  10. Miss Purple says:

    I loved “Mina Jaan”, I wanted it to win Eesti Laul, but oh well… can’t complain that they made a good choice results-wise.

  11. Ciaran says:

    Really you thought Az had a shot at winning again???

    I was really surprised by their result, I expected a top 10 due to the neighbourly and turkic votes but never considered it a contender.

  12. Hunter says:

    While I fully recognize that “Konichiwa” is a terrible, terrible song, it is my guilty pleasure. If it had gone to Eurovision, yes, it would have stayed in the semi-final, but it would have been so much fun! That said, Eva was a great choice, and I’m sad she didn’t make it to the final.

    Azerbaijan chose a nice song, but it’s taken me until now to warm up to it. I don’t understand its massive appeal. I think it’s a fine song, but I don’t think it should have done as well as it did. A top 10, maybe.

  13. Seán says:

    Russia deserves credit for selecting the Grannies too. Dima Bilan was the obvious choice from the outset, given that the grannies had not qualified in 2010 against a lesser song – [I know you like it, Ewan but it was good but not for Eurovision]

    Dima was the clear obvious choice, with a large support base, as soon as he was in the selection I thought it was game over. But somehow, with an oven behind them, the Grannies won.

  14. Ben says:

    The only one I disagree with here is Cyprus. Sure La La Love is commercially relevant enough to get a satisfactory result for Cyprus, but I can’t help thinking that “You Don’t Belong Here” might have just edged up the scoreboard a tiny bit more, provided Ivi could hit the notes. The first time I heard it, I thought straight away “Oh that’s a radio hit, very Kelly Clarkson, there’s your song Cyprus” and dismissed La La Love as (I love this term,) fanwank. Frankly I don’t think La La Love suits Ivi, especially considering the poor thing can’t dance for shit. And on the night, the vocals were very strained and the choreography just reminded me of Bucks Fizz.

  15. Gavin says:

    Estonia surely sent the right song. Whilst I love the song in Estonian, I think he might have done better if he sang it in english.

  16. Not that I like to be quarellsome – I just like to be brief (Hmmmm?? – written later!). But I disagree about UK, Azerbaijan, Slovenia and Cyprus.

    The British song itself is good. But the choice of singer seemed rather misplaced compared to the current British music scene. The super power of modern pop didn’t actually SHOW that this year. But the songwriters made it a nice, ageless song, and his is still a more than capeable performer

    Azerbaijan. Well, she did the most of it. But not the best singer in the world can make gold out of dust.

    Slovenia. Eva Boto’s song was very ordinary, and bore a striking resemblance to their entry last year. A rather old-fashioned cliched euroballad (if they still exist). Just the sort of music that NOT bring new fans to ESC. The twins however, had a more more interesting style. Fresh music, with distinction and quality. Imagewise they might have looked a bit “weird”, but who cares. It’s about music at the end of the day.

    Cyprus. OK, she is cute, the song is an “earworm”. BUT it’s a bit cheap I must say. I found her two other songs more original and musically strong

    Having said that – this is based on my personal opinion, considering what I think is good music. Not sure if e.g. Cyprus would have bettered their 17th (?) place with a different song. But that’s not the point either 🙂

  17. Peter says:

    @Gavin: I’m glad Ott didn’t try changing the song into English, and actually think it would have done worse if he had.

    The danger is that translating the lyrics can lose some of the energy and passion from the performance as the song no longer has the same connection with the singer any more. I believe Iceland suffered from this exact same problem, as none of their live English performances were even close to the original Icelandic version from the NF.

  18. OrangeVorty says:

    Send Konichiwa… just different to all that usual Balkan stuff!

  19. brunotoste2002 says:

    Really great.
    My country Portugal, of course, didn’t send the right song.

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