It might seem a touch quixotic, a tiny bit mad, but Ewan is continuing in his quest to review every Eurovision song that has taken to the Finals before the start of the 60th show in Vienna in May 2015. With more than 400 songs already reviewed over the summer, the project is still on course.
And if you can’t bear to listen along every day at EveryEurovisionSong.com (call yourself an ESC fan!), then these regular summaries of the highlights is exactly what you need.
Every Eurovision Song, week 14 & 15 gallery
Germany 1971: Diese Welt, by Katja Ebstein.
It’s time to go big and brash from Germany, with an almost gospel-like number from Katja Ebstein. Putting her experience from the 1970 Contest to good use, Katja Ebstein goes for back-to-back Eurovisions and scores back-to-back third places.
I’m not completely sold on the presentation, it would be fair to say this is very much ‘of it’s time’, with a static singer and a clash of colours on a modern monitor that probably washed out quite nicely in 1971.
I really like the contrast between the verse and chorus – the drama of the quiet, coupled with the power of the message really shines through. It runs out of a little bit of steam at the end with the repetition, but on the whole bravo Germany for this, and bravo to the judges for handing it a podium finish.
(via Every Eurovision Song on Tumblr).
Sweden 1981: Fångad i en dröm, by Björn Skifs.
With such a dramatic opening, you might wonder for a moment if Sweden has crossed some sort of Eurovision demarcation line and sent some prog rock. Alas no, after the introduction the musical experimentation steps aside for a more popular sound. But ‘Fångad i en dröm‘ retains the sense of the dramatic seventies concept album.
It’s helped by the Ziggy Stardust esque package on stage, with Skifs going for the ‘must wear gloves on stage’ fashion statement while keeping the rest of the band in the dark.
The lyrics offer plenty of opportunities for dramatic posing on stage, and Skifs uses every single one of them to maximise the story-telling potential in the song.
It’s not your typical Eurovision fayre, especially in the eighties, so tenth place was probably a fair result. It deserved more on merit but the judges weren’t quite ready to accept something with even a slight edge.
(via Every Eurovision Song on Tumblr).
Russia 1997: Primadonna, by Alla Pugacheva.
How does that theatre saying go? No matter, it’s probably over anyway.
Russia sent one of their biggest names to the ‘97 Contest. Pugacheva has an impressive CV of musical awards and popular acclaim, and it shines through in this performance. The diction is clear, the emotion behind the words is there for everyone to see and hear (even if you don’t speak Russian). I get the feeling that Pugacheva has a background in theatre and is used to over-emoting so those in the cheap seats can see – it’s a bit too dramtic for the close-up nature of television.
Nor am I sure that ‘Primadonna‘ was the best English word to have in the title. It suits the song’s tempo and strucutre, but an OTT Russian performance, with “primadonna” clearly said every ten seconds… it spoils the illusion!
(via Every Eurovision Song on Tumblr).
Germany 2003: Let’s Get Happy, by Lou.
Lou’s ‘Let’s Get Happy‘ is so cheerful that not even the vision of the OGAE UK President dragging up to cover this at Eurostars In Their Eyes can damage the positivity that roars out of this Ralph Siegel ditty.
The live vocals are a bit raspy, but Lou’s enthusiasm counts for a lot. This is what makes a live performance work – bringing fun and excitement to a song that already has a lot of potential.
Yes it is camped up to the ninth degree, but there’s an air of Old Music Hall in this number. Everyone knows the exact role they need to play, the right nudge-nudge wink-wink attitude required to carry this off successfully, and boy do they manage to do that.
It’s an evil earworm, you’ll feel a little dirty when you find yourself singing it, but only after the event. During the three minutes, this is one of the happiest songs in the 2003 Contest.
(via Every Eurovision Song on Tumblr).
Russia 2007: Song #1, by Serebro.
The three female leads are clearly comfortable in each other’s presence, and their voices work well together in a live environment. Getting three voices working in harmony is easy in a studio, in a live hall in Finland it’s a little harder. It’s not perfect (a sense of weariness sneaks in at the end of the number), but it remains tight and controlled throughout the three minutes.
This is a good song, sung well, but with a few small hiccups.
I’m not sold on the outfits, with hints of the clergy, ‘Nuns on the Run’ (minus the drag, obviously), and the choreography seems to run out of ideas in the last minute, with Serebro defaulting to some generic superhero kicks and hair tossing.
I actually think this had a good shot at winning the Contest. Third place on the night (behind ‘Molitva’ and ‘Dancing Lasha Tumbai’) is not because of the song, but because of the slight flaws in the performance. Śerifović was pretty much perfect, and Serduchka relied more on energy and enthusiasm than technical proficiency. While the tiny flaws in ‘Song #1‘ are incredibly minor compared to some train wrecks at the Contest, they were enough to dull the edge.
Bronze has never tasted so cruel.
(via Every Eurovision Song on Tumblr).
Who’s Next On The Stage?
You can follow the project every day at EveryEurovisionSong.com, or check back here on ESC Insight for the weekly highlights. Since we’ve started, we’ve reviewed over 400 Eurovision songs… have we listened to your favourite yet?
I’ve watched them all so far and…
I WILL WATCH THEM UNTIL THE VERY LAST ONE!
Wibble…
Seriously thought, great effort Ewan! You have at least one regular viewer!