Few songs over the last year or two have made me cry. You can count them on one hand, in fact. And two of those songs are by Ben Platt. If you don’t know the name, you’ll know the face. Platt is a singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spans stage, television, and cinema.
You would know him from Dear Evan Hansen (stage and screen adaptation), Netflix’s The Politician, or earlier on in his career as the lovable and geeky college kid Benji from the Pitch Perfect movies. But more on Platt’s multidisciplinary talents in a minute.
Storytelling And Nuance
Maybe it’s because he’s an actor that Platt understands the stories behind music and how best to deliver a narrative. And we’re talking stories that are real and heartfelt. Not yet 30-years-old and he is showing a level of self-awareness beyond his years, and this feeds into his song lyrics.
I’m always impressed by songs that can tell stories. Brevity and being concise is key to making the storytelling ‘land’ in the relatively small workspace a song allows. It takes a deft hand and fine brush stroke to achieve, and the perfect example is in Platt’s ‘Dark Times’. Look at the delicacy of both the song and subject matter – growing up and realising you’re different. From a Eurovision Song Contest standpoint, where’s the ‘vote grabbing’ moment? Where is the gut punch that makes a song memorable? Hint: Just wait for the third verse and final chorus.
Musicality And Performance
There aren’t many entertainers who successfully have a foot in both acting and music camps. And even fewer can say they’ve won three out of the four major EGOT awards. With a Grammy, Tony, and Emmy award to his name, Platt only (!) needs an Oscar to complete the coveted set and join the likes of Audrey Hepburn, Whoopi Goldberg, Rita Moreno, and Andrew Lloyd Webber.
I believe this versatility is largely down to Platt’s musicality – there’s an effortless authenticity to his music. Yes, I know it’s that word that keeps coming up in the Song Contest community: authenticity. But it’s so important not just for the Contest and scoring high with Europe and Australia, but isn’t it what all artists want from their art, too?
Then there’s the voice. Platt always has an incredibly strong vocal, with what I would describe as a tightly compacted vibrato, which helps to add colour to his simpler songs. But it’s his falsetto and mixed voice that really stands out. He often demonstrates in his songs a real ease switching between each type.
If more evidence was needed on Platt’s vocal ability, then look no further than his run as the title role of Broadway’s ‘Dear Evan Hansen’. If you’ve seen the show, you’ll know that in each performance Platt must destroy himself emotionally and sing an array of vocally challenging songs. He did this for over a year (longer if you count the off-Broadway production) and his vocal cords lived to tell the tale! That’s not luck, that’s good technique from an outstanding professional.
Oh, you want more proof? Netflix broadcasted Ben Platt Live From Radio City Music Hall back in 2020 and it showcased not just his musical talent, but his personality, too. Furthermore, look at the performance of Imagine, the lead single from his recent album Reverie on The Late Late Show With James Corden. Tell me that staging isn’t just like a Song Contest set up!
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times: to win the Contest you need a performer with stage experience. It doesn’t have to be a veteran performer, just someone who knows exactly what they’re doing and commands our attention for three minutes. If you’ve got ‘can stand on a huge stage, sing flawlessly, and connect with an audience’ on your Eurovision checklist, consider it checked off.
The Pitch
I don’t know how aware Platt is of the Eurovision Song Contest, but I know he’s in tune with the British music industry. In May this year, he did an interview with long-standing music and pop culture brand, NME, in which he said he was “obsessed with Olly Alexander” [of Years and Years fame]. And in that same interview he revealed that after winning his Tony award, he found himself asking “so what now?” Well Ben, I have a little project for you that may well boost your profile in Europe. From the UK’s perspective, the BBC would do well to find someone like Platt who has mastered his stagecraft and his songwriting ability.
So, there we have it. Let’s send a talented and credible American LGBTQI artist with broad appeal to Eurovision. But when has that ever happened?
Katrina ‘waves hi’ by the way.