The best of Eurovision 2015
On Saturday, European countries (and Australia, for some reason) faced off against each other for the 60th time in the Eurovision song contest. Sweden won, with Russia coming in close second.
Personally, I wasn't that impressed with Sweden's entry. As for Russia's entry, "A Million Voices" - the song is not subtle. And oh so very political. But what bugs me most about this song is that it's basically an ad for Russian-style federalism. The idea of the many ethnic groups united behind the banner of one country always looked better in theory than in practice. Especially after the annexation of Crimea was followed by rules toughening penalties for encouraging "separatism" gave the whole thing an extra sting of hypocrisy.
Polina Gagarina is a good singer. SHe deserved better than to have her introduction to the wider world mired in this tripe. If you want to see her at her best, listen to another one of her songs. Any of her other songs.
With that obligatory comment about winners and politics aside, I wanted to talk about the parts of Eurovision 2015 I did like. While, as everybody and their maiden aunt pointed out that this year's music was more subdued and, well, safer than what we've come to expect from Eurovision, there were still plenty of entertaining songs.
I admit that the big reason why Latvia's entry caught my attention was singer Aminata's enormous.. dress-type thing. But when you look past it, it's still a pretty strong performance - and a strong voice.
I would be inclined to give Montenegro's entry credit for actually performing the song in its original language. Most choose to go with English versions. I can see why artists due it - in theory, at least, it broadens global appeal. But it's nice to see the artists saying "screw that - my song should be good enough for you as it is."
Plus, translating a song is tricky. I feel like that's a big part why lyrics of Eurovision entries tend to sound a bit silly in English.
Speaking of songs that aren't afraid to trust the power of their original language - here's the Spanish entry.
Every anime fan on Twitter seems to have pointed out that Georgia's Nina Sublatti is dressed like Ryuk from Death Note in her country's entry. I think she was going for raven imaginery. Either way, it works pretty well.
mysticowl complained that Serbia was robbed and, after seeing the video, I kind of have to agree with her. At the very least it deserved to be in Top 5. (That said, this may be my Slav biases talking, but I like the original Serbian version even more)
According to mysticowl, Russian twitter was pretty enthusiastic about Belgium's entry. She said that she had no idea why, but personally... I can see it. It got a nice beat, and Loïc Nottet is strong performer.
And finally, as an honorable mentions of sorts... Israel's entry starts slow and speeds up into 1990s boyband. The lyrics are inane even by Eurovision standards, but it is actually quite catchy, IMHO.
Personally, I wasn't that impressed with Sweden's entry. As for Russia's entry, "A Million Voices" - the song is not subtle. And oh so very political. But what bugs me most about this song is that it's basically an ad for Russian-style federalism. The idea of the many ethnic groups united behind the banner of one country always looked better in theory than in practice. Especially after the annexation of Crimea was followed by rules toughening penalties for encouraging "separatism" gave the whole thing an extra sting of hypocrisy.
Polina Gagarina is a good singer. SHe deserved better than to have her introduction to the wider world mired in this tripe. If you want to see her at her best, listen to another one of her songs. Any of her other songs.
With that obligatory comment about winners and politics aside, I wanted to talk about the parts of Eurovision 2015 I did like. While, as everybody and their maiden aunt pointed out that this year's music was more subdued and, well, safer than what we've come to expect from Eurovision, there were still plenty of entertaining songs.
I admit that the big reason why Latvia's entry caught my attention was singer Aminata's enormous.. dress-type thing. But when you look past it, it's still a pretty strong performance - and a strong voice.
Click to viewI would be inclined to give Montenegro's entry credit for actually performing the song in its original language. Most choose to go with English versions. I can see why artists due it - in theory, at least, it broadens global appeal. But it's nice to see the artists saying "screw that - my song should be good enough for you as it is."
Plus, translating a song is tricky. I feel like that's a big part why lyrics of Eurovision entries tend to sound a bit silly in English.
Speaking of songs that aren't afraid to trust the power of their original language - here's the Spanish entry.
Every anime fan on Twitter seems to have pointed out that Georgia's Nina Sublatti is dressed like Ryuk from Death Note in her country's entry. I think she was going for raven imaginery. Either way, it works pretty well.
mysticowl complained that Serbia was robbed and, after seeing the video, I kind of have to agree with her. At the very least it deserved to be in Top 5. (That said, this may be my Slav biases talking, but I like the original Serbian version even more)
According to mysticowl, Russian twitter was pretty enthusiastic about Belgium's entry. She said that she had no idea why, but personally... I can see it. It got a nice beat, and Loïc Nottet is strong performer.
And finally, as an honorable mentions of sorts... Israel's entry starts slow and speeds up into 1990s boyband. The lyrics are inane even by Eurovision standards, but it is actually quite catchy, IMHO.