In today’s choice of artist that would fit into the Eurovision Song Contest, I have picked an artist who logically and strategically fits the bill, and is artist who is everything I want the Song Contest to represent.
How It Started
Alice Merton was born in Frankfurt in 1993 to a German mother and an Irish father. Her father was a mining consultant which meant that the family moved regularly first to Connecticut then to Oakville, Ontario then when Alice was thirteen to Munich ;before moving to England upon her graduation and then returning to Germany to study at the Popakademie Baden Würtemmberg in Mannheim.
Her studies in Mannheim allowed Alice to begin establishing herself within the German music industry first as a contributor to Fahrenhaidt’s new album ‘The Book Of Nature‘, and then as an award winner for new talent in November 2016.
Her big breakthrough came at the end of 2016 when ‘No Roots’ was released, an ode to growing up on the road and living a modern, nomadic lifestyle. The song gained worldwide success and even though the EP and subsequent album haven’t quite lived up to the breakout success of her first single, they have still brought Alice a European Border Breakers Award, collaborations with Tom Odell and AWOLNATION, and even a stint as a coach on The Voice Germany, becoming the first female coach to win a series.
What Comes Next?
The potential of what Alice Merton can achieve is massive. She is representative of the complicated multi-cultural upbringing that many people of recent generations (including myself) can relate to. She combines an English sensibility with German cultural understanding and Canadian humility (at a gig of hers I attended, she expressed excitement and gratitude that the crowd stayed around for the encore). Her music is pop-accessible whilst offering a rock-based edge that makes it distinctive, fresh and exciting (much like our Eurovision winners from this year). Most excitedly however, she’s only released one album and with her still being in the early stages of her artistic development, it still feels like there’s a lot more to come, evidenced by her newest single Vertigo.
Thinking about Alice Merton doing Eurovision, it is worth asking with the wonderfully unique question of which country?
‘Vertigo’ for example, competed in the UK OGAE Song Contest national selection this year and is currently competing in the German OGAE Video Contest national selection. Her Irish paternal heritage could also make her an attractive prospect for RTE. Whichever nation does eye her up as a potential entrant, they will have to do it soon.
Looking at all evidence available that Alice Merton’s career is on a very upward, very international trajectory and whilst she might already be too well known and globally popular an artist for competing at the Contest to be entirely worth her time, if there was a window to make it happen, it would be now in advance of her second album being released presumably before the end of 2022.
If one of those three broadcasters did manage to land her as their nation’s entrant, it would be a big benefit to the Eurovision Song Contest. Alice is an artist unlike anything Eurovision has seen before who would represent a proportion of the global population with complicated cultural backgrounds who for one reason or another have spent much of their upbringing constantly on the move.
From a marketing standpoint, from a competition standpoint and from a music standpoint, Alice would offer an entirely new dimension to the Eurovision Song Contest. Convincing Alice herself to be give over the months of time required to compete might be a challenge too far, yet she is the perfect template for the type of artist that would represent an exciting opportunity for both the competition and the way that competing nations choose to represent themselves.
Send Alice Merton to Eurovision.
(Find out more from Melissa Alice Merton on her website, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube).