Review: Polina Gagarina with A Million Voices

Europe, please welcome the queen of this year’s ballads! Russia has put all its feelings into a great voice and brings us A Million Voices, a powerful ballad made for lip-syncing in front of the mirror. Russia itself may not be welcomed in Europe, but this song surely will be.

It really has everything. It starts with a quiet beginning, leading to the chorus as the music intensifies and finally introducing the drums to make it more dramatic. And then, after the second chorus, the back-up singers get the song ready to the ecstatic “sing it out” ending. Everything comes at its exact moment, and the song grows until the very end, when Polina gives the rest. And this girl really knows how to sing! Her voice is clean, intense and perfect even singing live, where she has proven to be really comfortable with the song. The structure and positive message reminds me of Dina Garipova’s What If, but as I see it this song delivers much more emotion and could fill better Vienna’s stage. The song is so good itself that it doesn’t need any special scenography and definitely no seesaws. It is simple, but a good and powerful simple. I just love it.

For all this, I am pretty sure A Million Voices will sound on Saturday’s Grand Final, and I guess it will be one of the big moments of the night. We won’t go to Moscow for clear reasons next year, but it’s nice to see that great and beautiful songs are possible in one of Europe’s biggest shows.

Review: Knez with Adio

Following last year’s success with Moj Svijet, Montenegro has decided to keep the Balkan ballads flowing and brings us Adio. Knez was one of the first 2015 Eurovision artists to be announced, although we had to wait almost until the March deadline to hear his song. The question is: was it worth the wait?

The first time you listen to Adio you may want to skip the first 30 seconds. The music is ethnic, it is soft, it is nice but it is way too much for a three minutes song opening. The lyrics then are very romantic, and I think Montenegrin is just the perfect language for them (it’s hard to believe that Igranka was sung in Montenegrin too, as it sound so much harsh). That being said, the song is actually a little bit plain, and doesn’t try to grow until the very end. The female back up singers sound really good with Knez voice, and I don’t think it is a song you could actually dislike. As a whole, it is well constructed and it works, although it may seem a little repetitive and kind of boring at some parts (I just wish it had the strength it has after the second chorus). They’ve tried to repeat Moj Svijet’s formula, but I find Sergej much sweeter than Knez, and last year’s song a little bit stronger. The rest is quite the same.

Anyway, I really like Adio. It is very lyrical, warm and I find it somehow spring-like (although I can’t understand a single word).Unfortunately, I think it won’t make through the second semi-final, where there are so many good songs and seven have to go home. At least if they had taken any risk there would be something to blame on, but to me it is just the Moj Svijet-like song that wasn’t as good as Moj Svijet.

Review: Uzari and Maimuna with Time

Belarus gets into the duo mania bringing us Uzari and Maimuna, if you want to consider that him singing and her playing the violin is actually a duo. It is an up-beat song, which is really something in this year’s competition, played by two good-looking people and with a violin in it (something that has been proven to be a good thing in 2008 and 2009 winning songs). Could this be their ticket to success?

The song starts with a gentle piano, and gradually grows with some bass to finally introduce Maimuna’s violin. It is a good beginning, but I just don’t love Uzari’s voice. He doesn’t make any vocal effort throughout the whole song, and it would be literally naked without the back-up singers at some parts. Luckily, the violin gets some of the attention, and helps the bridge to sound special. Without it, Time would be a generic pop song, just that. It has a nice message and a catchy melody that sticks into your head for a while after listening to it, but there’s nothing more to it. At least, not for me.

Will it make through it semi-final? Yes. And it will probably make it to the left side of the chart on Saturday. I like it, and I don’t mind when it pops out in my playlist ‘cause it makes me dance a little bit, but it’s just not my favourite. Better song than last year’s Cheesecake, anyway, so well done, Belarus.

Review: Leonor Andrade with Há Um Mar Que Nos Separa

After making us dance with Quero Ser Tua, it seems that Portugal has grown up a little with Leonor Andrade’s song. It is darker, less cheerful and won’t make you dance. They are completely different, and although at first I just went through it with no special emotion, now I really like Há Um Mar Que Nos Separa.

First of all, I must say I love non-English entries in Eurovision. Listening to other languages is something I really like about the contest, and I think it is something that shouldn’t be lost. For this reason, I find Há Um Mar Que Nos Separa more special than if it was sung in English. The melody is fine, with some pop-rock attitude, but it lacks that growing part that could make it even better. Although it gets better and with more energy on the studio version, I see Leonor trying to deliver more emotion than the song actually lets her and I don’t like it. It sounds really good, but you don’t get surprised by anything in the whole song, at least in my opinion. It’s not a random ballad to add to the list, but I wish it was a little bit more of everything, something made really to shine in Eurovision stage.

The thing is, I like the song and I find it kind of warm. I like her voice, I like her style and as a whole it is a nice entry, but I’m afraid this won’t go through its semi-final. In the end, it’s not a risky entry, and I think that’s what countries like Portugal must  go for in Eurovision in order to reach to the people. 

Review: Electro Velvet with Still In Love With You

As one of the Big 5, United Kingdom’s choice was something everybody was waiting for. And exactly three minutes after Still In Love With You was released it was already one of the most hated ones. It reminds me of that Charleston dance you can play on Just Dance, and the lyrics really make no sense to me. Why, UK? Why?

Being honest, the melody is catchy and at least is something you may want to dance. But was it really necessary to make a rhyme every three words? They’re trying to tell that they care for each other, but I can’t hear anything but nonsense sentences one after the other. It doesn’t have a chorus to stick to, and I really hate that monkey part. It seems that they had run out of ideas and just wanted to get to the three minutes limit somehow, suddenly reminding themselves of The Jungle Book and going straight for that. Apart from that, their voices are fine and suit the song, although they can’t really show much because, as I see it, the song isn’t really a singing challenge. About the video, it is ok, kind of glamourous and modern at the same time, something you can think about while trying to ignore the song itself.

In my case, this song sticks in my head for a while after I listen to it, but it doesn’t mean I like it. It’s not special, it’s not strong, it doesn’t throw any powerful message. UK hasn’t done well in the last years, but it seems like they’ve even stopped trying. Still in Love With You is original and different from the other 39 contestants, but that doesn’t make it stand any higher. It hasn’t been right, hon.

Review: Monika Linkytė and Vaidas Baumila with This Time

After last year's Attention disaster, Lithuania has brought a fresh and positive song. And I just LOVE it. At first I listened to Vaidas version and fell for his voice. He is sweet and warm, and you can feel as if he was singing it for you. Then I listened to the final version and couldn't stop smiling for the three minutes. It really seems like thy've fallen in love.

The song itself is kind of simple, what makes her remarkable are the lyrics and how they really seem to feel what they're saying. It reminds me of Malta's 2013 Tomorrow, with some light guitars just to hold the message. I liked National Final version better, 'cause I think the final part is a little bit messy now with the back up singers, but it brings spring and happiness to the contest, and it has really earned my heart. And they really know how to sing together. Although at the beginning Monika sounds a little unconfident, I can imagine them filling the stage on May.

So, being honest, this song isn't a winner. But it certainly has chances to be on the Grand Final (despite the awful 1st performing place they've been assigned today). As I've said before, it is positive, it is fresh, and I love it! What about you?

PS.: Please, please, please keep the cute kiss! It is simply perfect!

Review: Genealogy with Face the Shadow

Armenia has certainly tried something different with Face the Shadow. Firstly, they got us wondering week after week who would complete their 6 people team, and once we knew them they made us wait a little bit longer for the song. The result: too many artists, too many styles and a song that doesn’t really stick into your head. I’m not saying that I don’t like it, but I think is too much.

The piano part at the beginning is really sweet, although it gets a little bit dramatic when Mary-Jean sings. Then the song grows with the first Don’t Deny (I actually liked this song name better, I find Face the Shadow somehow creepy), and once everybody has sung their part they join their voices for the first time. It works on the studio version, but since they haven’t still performed live and I doubt they have rehearsed enough together, I am a little concerned of how that would sound on the stage. The six of them are experienced singers (Inga dazzled me back in 2009 with Jan Jan), but it could really become a disaster. Going back to the song, after that chorus the song enters its third music style and leads us to the tremendous ending, which, I must admit, is really Eurovision stuff.

I am really looking forward to hearing the live version, ‘cause I think songs get real once you see them on the stage and it is really different from the ballad-mania we’re living this year. Until then, it will just sound in my car (just as Lonely Planet does), but it won’t make me dream of Yerevan 2016.