Eurovision 2011: The Best of the Rest (Part 1)

Like many Eurovision fans and fanatics (myself included), the period between the end of May and the beginning of December is often a melancholy bit of time while we wait for news on the next year's edition and constantly re-hash the events of the past.  For me, this is the perfect time to look back on the songs that didn't quite make it to Düsseldorf this year; some of these also-rans are just as entertaining or endearing as the tunes that made the journey to the main event.  Out of the forty-three nations that sent songs to Germany this year, thirty-four of them had national selections (and the rest, like France, Belarus, Turkey, et cetera, were internal selections made behind closed doors).  Needless to say, there's a lot of ground to cover!  So, starting alphabetically...

Albania: For me, the Albanian Preselection (or Festivali i Këngës) is one of the more underrated events of the Eurovision year.  It occurs early in the ESC cycle (generally falling around Boxing Day), and it tends to involve both young, fresh faces as well as veteran performers.  This year's FiK winner was Aurela Gaçe's "Kënga Ime", which eventually became the epic, aquiline "Feel the Passion".  However, in second place this year was the lovely duet "Ende ka shpresë (There is Still Hope)", written and performed by Alban Skenderaj and Miriam Cani.  

I don't know if this song would have been translated into English (as so many other Albanian entries have been over the past few years), but if it had, it could have possibly given Azerbaijan's Ell and Nikki a run for their money.  
 
(And, for the record, another personal favorite of mine was Kamela Islamaj's "Jetova per te dy (I Lived for Us)", which came in 10th place in the FiK.  While it might not have gone over as well in the ESC as "Ende ka shpresë", I absolutely love Kamela's soulful, bluesy, voice.)

New Videos from Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Latvia (plus, new versions for France and Croatia!)

Over the past week, a number of new videos have been released for this year's Eurovision hopefuls.  Let's have a look, shall we?

First up, Armenia has revealed the official clip for Emmy's "Boom Boom", featuring German-Armenian boxer Arthur Abraham:

Well, at least the Armenians are probably realizing just how kitschy their song is...having Emmy and her pals dance around in a ring, wearing bedazzled boxing gloves and randomly turning into comic book characters is a pretty decent sign that they're taking "Boom Boom" with a grain of salt (and I, for one, could use a margarita after watching it.  Oy...)

Next up, we've got Armenia's cross-Caucasus neighbors (and perpetual rivals) Azerbaijan, who released a second clip for Eldar and Nigar's "Running Scared":

Compared to previous years' entries from Baku, "Running Scared" is elegant, subtle, and sweet.  The video is visually beautiful (not only because of the landscapes, but also for the copious shots of Eldar and Nigar!).  I'm not quite sure why Azerbaijan insisted on recording a second video for "Running Scared", as their first version was definitely not unpleasant, but considering the country's penchant for Eurovision excess, they probably just figured that any money spent was money well spent.

Emmy sends "Boom Boom" for Armenia

This weekend, Armenia finally made its decision for Eurovision.  Singer Emmy was internally selected by broadcaster ARMTV back in December, but it was only this weekend that the four candidate songs were fully presented to the public and voted on by a 50/50 audience/jury split.  After all of the ballots were tallied, the winner was "Boom Boom":


"Boom Boom" beat out two other upbeat songs, "Hi" and "Ayo", and the ballad "Goodbye" for the victory.  Frankly, out of all of Emmy's potential entries, this was actually my personal least favorite. The beginning reminds me of "I Wanna", the Latvian winner from 2002, and while the bridge seems promising, the chorus seems clichéd.  However, Armenia has an incredibly strong track record in their short Eurovision history; since their debut in 2006, they've made the Top Ten each year.  I anticipate that Armenia will put together a very high-energy stage show, and considering that traditional voting allies Russia, Georgia, and Greece are in their semifinal, they should be a pretty strong bet to pass into the Finals on May 14th.

Major news from Armenia!

Another day, another confirmation...

Armenian broadcaster ARMTV announced that an internal selection process has chosen Emma Bejanyan (better known to the Eurovision world as "Emmy") as their representative in Düsseldorf this May.  I've mentioned Emmy in an earlier post; her duet with Mihran "Hey (Let Me Hear You Say)" came in second place in last year's National Final to Eva Rivas's "Apricot Stone".  While Eva did perform well in Oslo, coming in 7th place, it seems that Armenia didn't want to let Emmy go by the wayside.  A public call for songs has been established, and we should know what she will perform within the next few months.

In the meantime, here's a little sampling of some of Emmy's other work:



So, what do you think?  Does Emmy have a shot at besting the 4th-place finish set by Sirusho back in 2008?

Congratulations and Condolences...

I've only got a quick moment to write, but I just wanted to cover two quick points...

1) On November 20, the 2010 Junior Eurovision Song Contest was held in Minsk, Belarus.  I mentioned the JESC briefly in the past, but for those of you who are unfamiliar with it, it's a smaller-scale contest for performers under the age of 16 (the minimum age to compete in the full Eurovision).  This year, 14 songs were submitted, mostly from Eastern Europe.  Despite all indications that Georgia's Mariam Kakhelishvili would with with her Lady Gaga-inspired "Mari Dari"(which, in my opinion, toes the line between cute and terrifying), the eventual winner was Armenia's Vladimir Arzumanyan with "Mama", beating Russia's "Boy and Girl" by a single point.  Here's the winning performance:

This is Armenia's first victory in any of the EBU-sanctioned competitions (the ESC, JESC, or Eurovision Dance Contest), and while I was personally rooting for Belgium, Lithuania, or Sweden, I can't deny that 12-year-old Vladimir really worked it out on stage, and while many might grumble about political votes or diaspora support, I do think that the little guy from Stepanakert earned his victory.

2) On the more solemn side of things, however, I'm saddened to report the passing of Ladislav "Laci" Demeterffy, better known to the ESC world as "75 Cents".  In 2008, he performed alongside Croatian representatives Kraljevi Ulice with their song "Romanca".  The elderly Laci (who picked his pseudonym as a reference to his age at the time) waxed poetic, flirted, and even did a bit of scratching on an old gramophone while on stage, and he holds the record for the oldest Eurovision contestant ever.  He passed away peacefully on November 19th in Zagreb at the age of 77.  This was one of my favorite performances of that year, due in no small part to Laci's contribution.  May he rest in peace, and may his loved ones be comforted by the fact that he made so many people happy with his most famous performance (seen below).


Until next time!

ESC 2010 Reviews: Armenia

General Stats:
Competing in ESC since: 2006
Best Result: 4th Place, 2008 ("Qele Qele", by Sirusho)
General Trends: Since Armenia's debut, the country has consistently ranked in the Top 10 in each of the contests that they have entered. Since the introduction of the semifinal in 2004, only Armenia, Greece, and Azerbaijan can claim this accomplishment! Granted, Armenia and Azerbaijan have only competed since 2006 and 2008, respectively, but this is still pretty impressive.

Last year's song, "Nor Par (Jan Jan) (New Dance [My Dear])", performed by sisters Inga and Anush Arshakyan, melded pop, jazz, and traditional Armenian music into a fun, danceable earworm complete with velour, lasers, and approximately twelve feet of braids per performer.  Their tenth-place finish might have been their nation's lowest placement to date, but it was an incredibly memorable performance.  I honestly hated it when it first crossed my path...it sort of reminded me of the Sweeney Sisters on Saturday Night Live (Jan Hooks and Nora Dunn).  The Arshakyan Sisters' manic scatting was grating at first, but the final arrangement and presentation turned it into something fantastic.

This year, Armenia chose its representative via a traditional National Final, where nine songs competed on Valentine's Day for the right to represent their nation in Oslo to try to bring the competition to Yerevan in 2011. Throughout much of the lead-up to the National Final, it was rumored that duo Mihran and Emmy had been internally selected for the ESC with their song "Hey (Let Me Hear You Say)", with stars such as Ricky Martin, of all people, lending support. However, when it came to the National Final, Mihran and Emmy were pipped at the post by 22-year-old Eva Rivas with her song "Apricot Stone".

Despite the fact that this is the first Armenian entry since their debut to be sung entirely in English, that doesn't mean it's completely devoid of local culture. Apricots are seen as a symbol of Armenia, supposedly originating in what is now their territory. Even the scientific name of the apricot, Prunus armeniaca, alludes to its origin. In the song, the lyrics speak of the harshness of the world, how the apricots given to Eva by her mother would comfort her in times of fear and loneliness, and how they remind her to "get back to her roots". Eva grew up in Russia to Armenian parents, so even though she herself may not have written the lyrics to "Apricot Stone", the back story behind this sometimes happy, sometimes melancholy ethno-pop tune rings generally authentic.

Of course, it wouldn't be Eurovision without a little extra controversy, would it? As details of the Armenian entry emerged, many fans from Turkey expressed their dismay at a song that carries such a surreptitious political message. Especially in recent times, where international scrutiny of the 1915 Armenian Genocide is seemingly at an all-time high, many Turkish fans saw the acceptance of "Apricot Stone" as a bit of a slap in the face. One of the many rules of the Eurovision Song Contest is that no entry should be overtly political. However, in recent years many entries have either flexed or broken this rule. Last year, Georgia's entry "We Don't Wanna Put In" was disqualified for its dig at Vladimir Putin (and considering that the 2009 Contest was held in Moscow, this was a pretty big deal). However, in 2005, a modified political chant from Ukrainian band Greenjolly was allowed to compete, as long as the ongoing Orange Revolution wasn't directly mentioned in the song.

So, what do you think? Is Armenia making an outright dig at Turkey, or is Turkey being too sensitive about a song about a mother making sure her daughter is getting enough fiber in her diet? Or should we all just have listened to Ricky Martin and have had Mihran and Emmy go to Oslo, instead? Listen to the song, and let me know what you think!



Despite the fact that the Turkish Diaspora in Europe is often seen as a major voting bloc in Eurovision, I predict that "Apricot Stone" will qualify for the final, and might eke out a position in the Top Ten. However, considering that their semi-final includes both Turkey and rivals Azerbaijan, this might be a tough squeeze. We'll see what happens on May 27th!