After a one-year absence, we finally have news on Hungary's return to Eurovision. A brief press conference was held at 11:00 CET (so, 4 in the morning here in Minnesota...I admit it, I set an alarm to watch it, tweeted, and promptly went back to sleep!), and possibly the worst-kept secret in this year's Eurovision was confirmed: X-Factor alum Kati Wolf's "Szerelem miért múlsz?" would carry the Hungarian banner to Germany this year. Rumors about Kati had been swirling for months, but broadcaster MTV refused to confirm or deny anything, much to fans' consternation!
The song will be partially performed in English (as "What About my Dreams?"), and pared down from its full length of over four minutes, but here's the original studio version:
As soon as I had heard the rumors about Kati Wolf (or, in Hungarian, Wolf Kati...the name order is reversed), I held out hope that this would be the official entrant that would welcome back the Magyars. It's high energy and catchy, with a bit of a retro dance feel that Eurofans will likely love. Their last two entries failed to make the finals, but this one has potential to bring Hungary back to the upper echelon of the ESC scoreboard. My only concern is that "What About My Dreams" will be performed in the same semifinal as Poland's "Jestem", Armenia's "Boom Boom", and Croatia's "Celebrate", which could be seen as similarly uptempo, female-driven pop songs. This will all come down to the presentation, I think, and whoever gets the advantage of a merciful draw number.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
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Not much to add, aside from the fact that entries abridged from a longer length to the required three minutes historically do not do well in the contest. I think it might be because they were fully realized before they were shortened. For example, "Let Me Cry" from Mariana Popova seemed to be missing something when it was in its Eurovision form, but when I heard the unadulterated version, it was just plain exquisite. Let us hope shortening does not take such a toll on this Hungarian entry!
ReplyDelete-Finland
LOve love love this! Gets my 12 points! I actually prefer the shorter version - its proportions are perfect :-) Her voice is extraordinary.
ReplyDeleteA bit worried about the retro Euro-dance feel though - as much as I'm a sucker for it - as this has gone down like a lead balloon in recent Eurovision competitions (cf Iceland, Albania, Sweden). This song is a spectacularly good example of the genre, though, so hopefully it will win through!