...and I think I might be in love.
As expected, France has taken a complete 180 degree turn from last year's Afro-Caribbean club jam "Allez! Ola! Olé!" "Sognu", performed in Corsican, is a operatic bolero performed by one of the world's youngest professional tenors. Twenty-one-year-old Amaury, a native of Normandy, rarely sings in French, preferring to record songs in Italian or English. France, however, being France (remember, this is the country that argued in Parliament over whether their 2008 entry should be performed in English or not), will have their song performed in Corsican, the language spoken on the island where Napoleon himself was born and raised. This will be only the second French ESC entry where not a word of the French language will be heard, the first being 1996's "Diwanit Bugale", performed in Breton.
I am not a musicologist, or even an aficionado of opera. I am a proud Josh Groban fan, and I took a few trips to Lincoln Center as a schoolgirl, but that's really the extent of my experience in this genre. I am, however, very impressed by Amaury's talent, especially considering his age, and I hope he's as good live as he is on the studio recording of this single. Obviously, "Sognu" is not the typical Eurovision entry, and it will not be to everybody's liking. However, between Amaury and Italy's Raphael Gualazzi, we're seeing a few songs that step outside of the expected ESC mold of Schlager, Ballads, and Europop and take a risk by bringing unexpected genres to the event. Many "mainstream artists", especially in Western Europe, tend to pooh-pooh Eurovision, claiming that it's no longer a musical competition, but rather a popularity contest or a political event. If Amaury or Raphael make a big enough impact on the scoreboard, we might see opinions like that start to shift.
Or at least I can hope, right?
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
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So we got the video already? Chouette!
ReplyDeleteWhat is up with the spelling? Earlier, the name was reported to be "Sonniu", and now we see it spelled everywhere as "Sognu"!
He is very well-dressed in the video, which is too be expected, given that he is French (I love his sunglasses.)! His hair is also beneficial in offsetting his angular facial features.
Based on his Chabada televised performance, I would recommend that either he works on his facial expressions while singing, or his Final performance focuses not on his facial expressions. I do not enjoy watching people labouring to deliver, which is how it looked in that performance.
If the Molitva mold is anything by which to go, I think this could be a winner, but I am not convinced it will at the moment. I love that we have a song like this in Eurovision, but would I love the song if it were not? Maybe I will, once I give it more time, but for now, I love it for being totally different from what we see in Eurovision, not for being particularly innovative. I know it is not worth talking myself into loving something I would not love otherwise, so all I can do is give it time.
I love Sarah Brightman, and I enjoy classical music in general, so I am hoping to get on board with this one, too.
-Finland
amazing song and singer.
ReplyDeletei like it
good choice from France.
eurovision is getting better with songs like that!
It will be actually the tjird time France will be represented by a song hot sung in French entirely, as in 1992, France were represented by Kali, who sang entirely in the Creole lanuage of some Caribbean islands. There might be words sounding like french, but it is only because creole has naturally absorbed words from French.
ReplyDeleteActually, Kali's song, "Monté la Riviè", while mostly in French-Caribbean Creole, did contain a few lines in French the night of the Eurovision final. The studio version seems to be entirely in Creole, though.
ReplyDelete