Saturday, February 26, 2011

Nadine Beiler's "The Secret is Love" for Austria!

...and another name is added to our ever-expanding list of participants!

Tonight, the second of our four returning nations revealed their song for Eurovision 2011 (we already know about Italy's "Follia d'Amore", and while we know that Senit will be representing San Marino, her song has yet to be officially announced.  As for the Hungarians, we're still waiting!).  Since leaving the competition after a disappointing score in 2007, Austria has been biding its time on re-entering the ESC, citing a frustration over the bloc voting that helped Serbia, Russia, and Norway to victory, among other frustrations.  However, when Germany won a resounding victory last year, the Austrians had no reason to argue, and they rejoined the fray.

This year, Austria served up a pretty extensive National Selection, with thirty songs competing in an online component, fighting it out for ten spots in the televised final.  Making it to the final were local stars, including two winners from the talent show StarMania, the winner of "Germany's Got Talent", and even Joe Sumner, the son of British musical legend Sting.

After all of that, who gets to cross the border into Düsseldorf?


Nadine Beiler was the winner of the third season of StarMania (a season that also showcased Eric Papilaya, Austria's 2007 ESC representative).  The 20-year-old singer has had a few Top-20 singles in her homeland, and her debut album cracked into the Top 5 (she is expected to release her follow-up album later this year).

Compared to the Lithuanian entry that we saw yesterday, this is a major improvement in the ballad department.  When I heard "C'est Ma Vie", I thought of "Butterflies", last year's Belorussian representative.  "The Secret is Love", however, reminds me more of "Há Dias Assim" from Portugal.  Instead of treacle, Nadine gives some measure of substance.  However, I have a feeling that detractors will claim that she's trying too hard to be like certain American pop or R&B divas (Christina?  Beyoncé?), and I can definitely see where they'd be coming from.  I doubt that "The Secret is Love" is this year's new front-runner, but it's definitely a respectable return from a nation that we've missed in the competition.  Welcome back, Austria!

4 comments:

  1. It sounds like something from Eurovision 2002 or 2003, or from an American Idol audition tape.

    To me, it is a bundle of clichés, with that (overrated and, frankly, cheap-sounding) a cappella beginning, and that list of virtues given by those backing singers during this "dramatic build-up". I do not like this one at all.

    Now that you say it, it does sound a bit like last year's Portuguese entry, but that one was of higher quality than this one.

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  2. I would have to disagree with you, Samantha! I find this one overworked without substance, which is not a good combination. It worked for Azerbaijan in 2008, so will it work again for Austria this year?

    What is Joe Sumner doing in Austria, by the way?

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  3. I'm not quite sure what brought Joe to Austria, but his collaboration with Klimmstein came in 3rd place...I'm sure if I understood more German, I'd be able to figure out what people were saying about him in the interviews during yesterday's program! ;-)

    (Oh, and notice that while I said I liked "The Secret is Love" more than "C'est Ma Vie", I didn't say I *liked* it! I also expect my first impressions to evolve over time, both for this song and Lithuania's.)

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  4. I actually cannot recall a time I have been so frustrated by rising action, and I doubt rising action is supposed to have that effect (that "fly, fly, fly" part is not supposed to be that annoying, is it?). I know she only has three minutes to sing this song, but other competing songs are three minutes long without sounding so disjointed. They had better fix that, pronto!

    Also, forgoing all discussion of cultural and linguistic pride and integrity, which I know is on everyone's mind, I think this song would be better off being in German. That way, we can learn that list of virtues in German!

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