As is customary after the Semifinal Draws, many ESC nations are rolling out their entries' videos. Over the past few days, we've seen the official debuts of the Ukranian, Turkish, Moldovan, and Macedonian videos...let's check them out!
The Ukrainians, as per usual, have revamped their entry and officially submitted their song "Angel". Who knows if it will continue to evolve by the time it hits the stage in Germany? I'm half expecting an unfortunate flat tire to hit Mika's car on the way to the venue, with Zlata Ognevich or Jamala just serendipitously hanging out in the arena...
Regardless, I do prefer this edit a bit to the original, as it has a somewhat stronger beat and isn't quite as sleep-inducing as the ballad that we originally heard in Kiev. That being said, it's still not one of my absolute favorites; Mika's English is often tough to parse. I am, however, looking forward to the onstage presentation of "Angel"...with all of the circus themes in the video and the National Final performance, and considering Ukraine's history of over-the-top staging (Svetlana Loboda, anybody?), things could definitely get interesting.
Next up, the Turks have presented their video for Yüksek Sadakat's "Live it Up":
Not really sure what to say about this one...the song's fun, with a bit of an 80's Hair Band throwback feel (despite the lead singer's baldness) and a touch of an ethnic sound from the string section. It's Turkey, so chances are pretty good that it will qualify for the Finals, but there are other pretty good rock songs in this competition that might give Yüksek Sadakat a run for its money if more than one makes it to the show on the 14th. Turkey has made the Top Ten every year since 2007, and has never failed to qualify for the Finals...it's a lot for "Live it Up" to live up to!
Speaking of rock, Moldovan ethno-punk rockers Zdob si Zdub have unveiled the video for their second ESC entry, "So Lucky":
I kind of miss the oversized gnome hats and the unicycle from their National Final performance, but with six members in the band already, they face a quandary: cut a member for the sake of presentation (like they did for "Boonika Bate Doba"), or have the whole band up on stage? We'll have to see what happens when they start their official rehearsals. Anyway, I realize that I'm likely in the minority with this, but I happen to really like this song! Roman Iagupov reminds me so much of Anthony Kiedis from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and, despite my prep-school exterior, I'm a rocker at heart. I've been known to crank the volume up on this whenever it comes on my iPod, and it's become one of my go-to songs on the playlist I listen to whenever I go and work out. I highly doubt we'll be going to Chisinau in 2012, but at the very least, I'll be dancing my arse off when they're playing in the Esprit Arena this May, even if I'm the only one.
Moving on, we've got the new video from (FYR) Macedonia.
The clip from Vlatko Ilievski's "Rusinka" has a pretty cool concept, but it's a bit repetitive and even a little headache-inducing. It sounds a lot better than the live version we all saw at Skopjefest, but Vlatko comes off as a bit of a creeper at times, and he might have been better off not miming the guitar playing at all. Oh, well...can't win them all, I suppose...
Friday, March 18, 2011
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Ukraine: This arrangement of "Angels" is made to be more down-to-earth than the original. The previous arrangement seemed more distant and beyond us, like it did not care to be understood by others.
ReplyDeleteSomething tells me, though, that this girl is a bit up herself. I could be wrong, but I just have that feeling.
Turkey: This video reminds me of those commercials on television I used to watch as a young child, with those conservative "uncool" establishments being randomly taken over by some liberal "cool" establishment, like Chucky Cheese's or Kool-Aid. How unimaginative!
Moldova: My fear was that this would be overrated; now my problem is that I find it underrated! How does that happen? The different individual parts of the song are what I like, not so much the overall flow. Why is this not as popular as expected?
Fyrom: The video is much better than expected (minus the phony line-dancing). I still do not like the song, and I cannot imagine any of my favourite performers making me like it. Tina Karol might be closest to managing that trick if she were to have the song instead.
-Finland