I love acoustic music, and quite frankly who doesn't. Heck, back when MTV actually showed music, "Unplugged" was one of my favorite shows. So when a few of the contestants put out acoustic versions, I jumped all over that.
First of is Sabina Babayeva (Azerbaijan) who gives "When the Music Dies" a little flamenco flair. It doesn't have the same power notes as the official version, but her voice is just gorgeous.
Iris (Belgium) also shines in "Would You." I really think it suits her voice a lot better, and the entire song seems a bit sweeter and less generic pop.
Roman Lob (Germany) gives yet another swoon-worthy performance of "Standing Still." I swear, if this song played on American radio, people would think it was the new single by The Fray.
And as a bonus, here's the acoustic version of last year's winner, Ell & Nikki's "Running Scared" (Azerbaijan). There's harmony in that song I never knew existed before!
While I love Eurovision (and perhaps I would even consider myself a Eurovision geek), that's not the only thing I love. I love good young adult fiction and dystopian stories. Hence, my love for Suzanne Collins' amazing trilogy, The Hunger Games.
Recently, Jezebel.com ran several articles discussing race as it relates to The Hunger Games. The most shocking, in my opinion, was an article about angry racist tweets. Without spoiling the books, the tweets questioned why black actors were cast as certain characters (the characters are described by the author as being black) and one even said that she was no longer saddened by a character's death when she found out the character was actually black.
With this in the back of my head, I should not have been shocked by the racist comments directed against 2012 Ukrainian competitor Gaitana.
Gaitana, one of the pioneers of R&B music in Eastern Europe, is of Congolese and Ukrainian descent. She was born in Kiev, but spent the next four years in the Republic of the Congo before returning to Ukraine with her mother. She sings in three languages and knows two more, and writes and composes all of her own songs. She plays the saxophone. The Kyiv Post called her unpretentious and discussed how she likes to cook and wants to have children.
However, as as Armenia and Azerbaijan have already shown us, an international singing competition is the best place for complex demographic and political issues to be addressed. As the Kyiv Post reported, Yuriy Syrotyuk, a senior member of the Svoboda party (an extremist right wing party that, among other things, seeks to include nationality on Ukrainian passports and ban adoption of Ukranian children by non-Ukrainians), criticized Gaitana's selection, stating “Gaitana is not an organic representative of the Ukrainian culture” and that, since Gaitaiana is biracial, Ukraine will be “associated with a different continent.” He further stated, "As we want to be accepted to the European Union, it could be our opportunity to show the Europeans that we are also a European nation. We need to show our originality."
Let's take a look at that statement again. Gaitana does not deserve to represent Ukraine because she's not white enough. Despite being born in Kiev, having lived most of her life in Kiev, and being a pioneer of Ukrainian music, in the eyes of some, the simple fact that she is biracial somehow makes her not a true representative of Ukrainian culture (never mind that there a hell of a lot of originality in the song itself).
Does she need a birth certificate? Would that make you happy?
Syrotyuk later tried to backtrack, claiming he was merely criticizing the Ukrainian selection process, and did not make any comment about Gaitana's race or skin color. Really? REALLY?! The concern that was Gaitana, a biracial woman, would make people associate Ukraine with Africa. If that's not a comment about skin color, I don't know what is. And, to be sure, I'm certain that the true representatives of Ukrainian culture are white performers such as Verka Serduchka and Svetlana Loboda who sing in English. Ukraine: Come for the glitter, stay for the drag queens.
Now I wish I could write this whole thing off as someone who really truly misspoke (at best) or a racist with a microphone (at worst). After all, in 2012, a biracial singer couldn't really cause that much of a stir outside of Tea Party-esque circles. Boy, was I wrong. These are all comments copied directly from the official "Be My Guest" youtube video:
I didn't write this to imply that Ukrainians are any more racist than anyone else, or than race relations are more problematic in Ukraine than here in the United States or elsewhere in world. Rather, it's to show that no matter how far we think we've come, there's still a long way to go. What shocks me isn't that there are people who have these thoughts, and we can't police thoughts. But rather, what shocks me is how blunt they are in saying it.
Claiming Gaitana is somehow unfit to represent Ukraine because of her race says the wrong thing not just about Ukraine, but about humanity. Whether you love or hate the song, she has worked hard to be able to get up onto that stage, and the color of her skin should have no bearing on whether or not she's "Ukrainian enough" (whatever that means).
Maybe in the end, we should just take what Gaitana herself says to heart. It's not about politics or demographics or xenophobia. It's simply life. “Of course I am Ukrainian! I live here, I work here, I sing here, I fall in love here.”
We're down to our last six contestants! Just as a quick refresher, last year's winning entry automatically qualifies for the finals. Additionally, the five countries that contribute the most money to the EBU ("The Big Five") also gain automatic slots. The rest of the countries need to battle it out in the semi-finals. I guess money can't buy happiness, but it can certainly buy a lot.
Azerbaijan
First Appearance: 2008
Highest Place: 1st (2011)
Sabina Babayeva - "When the Music Dies"
Wow. A stunning blend of traditional Azeri folk music (listen to those instruments) with Western music, with great pipes to back it up. It should continue Azerbaijan's streak of placing in the top 10, and it might make a run to keep the contest in Baku next year.
Italy
First Appearance: 1956
Highest Place: 1st (1964, 1990)
Nina Zilli - "L'amore è Femmina (Out of Love)"
Wow. Again. If Babayeva is the Azeri Adele, I suppose that makes Zilli the Italian Amy Winehouse. The song is original, catchy, and she nails it (translation available here). Don't bet against the contest going back to Rome next year. As a note, Zilli originally announced that she would be singing "Per Sempre" before changing to the current song. I'm really not sure which one I like more.
Spain
First Appearance: 1961
Highest Place: 1st (1968, 1969)
Pastora Soler - "Quédate conmigo"
Yeah, so the Finalists are making it really difficult to pick a favorite. So ballads can really be hit or miss, and this is definitely a hit. One of the ways I try to judge a song is to see if I can feel the emotions without knowing what on earth they're singing about, and this one definitely passes the test (translation available here). Eurovision to Barcelona again? And as a fun fact, all of Spain's entries have always been either totally or partly in Spanish
France
First Appearance: 1954
Highest Place: 1st (1958, 1960, 1962, 1969, 1977)
Anggun - "Echo (You and I)"
How did Lady Gaga get into the competition? Seriously, if that song and video don't scream Gaga, I'm not sure what else does (translation available here). France is looking to bounce back from some rather disappointing placement lately, and they've picked one of their biggest stars to do it. This won't do too badly (nothing like a fun, upbeat, catchy dance number), and it will be interesting to see if anything comes of Anggun's self professed claim that 98% of her fans are gay with Azerbaijan's poor gay rights record. Bit of trivia: Anggun was born in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Germany
First Appearance: 1956
Highest Place: 1st (1982, 2010)
Roman Lob - "Standing Still"
Following in the footsteps of Lena, Germany's sending another young performer. Maybe I'm a sucker for the smooth vocals and the dreamy eyes, but that's probably where he's going to pick up his votes. It won't win, but it probably won't do too poorly either. Also, does anyone else think this sounds exactly like The Fray?
United Kingdom
First Appearance: 1957
Highest Place: 1st (1967, 1969, 1976, 1981, 1997)
Englebert Humperdinck - "Love Will Set You Free"
So Humperdinck, despite being a bajillion years old isn't even the oldest singer thanks to those crafty Russian babushkas. The song is really great, and despite being a bajillion years old, Humperdinck's still got it. It's certainly better than Blue. Humperdinck, Humperdinck, Humperdinck!
So this is a really tough group for me to pick a favorite. If I'm going to choose, I'll narrowly go with Italy over Spain.
We're in the home stretch, cats and kittens, with our last pot of semi-finalists. Central and Eastern Europe ahoy!
Austria
First Appearance: 1957
Highest Place: 1st (1966)
Trackshittaz - "Woki mit deim Popo"
Definitely one of the most original songs in this year's field (translation available here). Much like a glow-in-the-dark badunkadunk, you just can't stop watching. I'm really looking forward to see the performance, and perhaps a little bit of humor will take them a long way.
Bulgaria
First Appearance: 2005
Highest Place: 5th (2007)
Sofi Marinova - "Love Unlimited"
This Romani singer is known for her five octave range, which is on display. Although it's probably closest to the pop dance numbers of the younger contestants, it might just be original enough to score a few points. Bulgaria hasn't had much success lately, but this could finally turn things around. Final note: Although the song is primarily sung in Bulgarian, it contains "I love you" in 10 languages (translation available here).
Hungary
First Appearance: 1994
Highest Place: 4th (1994)
Compact Disco - "Sound of Our Hearts"
An underrated performance by an MTV Europe award winning band. The electronic rock is certainly a welcome change, but it's almost overshadowed by the music video. Hungary has frequently not placed as high as it deserves (Magdi Ruzsa being the prime example), but this should at least make its way out of the semi-finals.
San Marino
First Appearance: 2008
Highest Place: 16th in the semifinals (2011)
Valentina Monetta - "Facebook Uh, Oh, Oh (A Satirical Song)"*
This is what happens when parody viral video becomes an art form (200,000 views within the first 5 days, and to compare, Jedward only has about 130,000 in total)! It's gotten horrible negative reviews, including in Forbes, but in my humble opinion, it's absolutely brilliant (and really Eurovision, are you now trying to take yourself far too seriously?) Love it or hate it, you can't stop watching it, and if the Russian babushkas can have a little fun, so can San Marino! And to explain the asterisk: That is the original title and video. However, a few days after it's release, the EBU ruled that the song violated contest rules for having a commercial message about Facebook (although, really, I'm not sure it's all that commercial, given that Facebook is free). In response, San Marino basically just replaced "Facebook" with more "Oh oh ohs" and took out that great reference to Mark Zuckerberg. The not-as-awesome version is available here.
Slovenia
First Appearance: 1993
Highest Place: 7th (1995, 2001)
Eva Boto - "Vergamem"
Taking things in the complete opposite direction than San Marino, we have our youngest competitor (she's only 16, folks!) The song is pretty enough, and she certainly has stage presence, but the voting hasn't been kind to Slovenia in recent years, but look for things to possibly change this year (translation available here). Slovakia
First Appearance: 1994
Highest Place: 18th (1996)
Max Jason Mai - "Don't Close Your Eyes"
The only real rock song of the competition (which is a shame) but this one is pretty cool. It will probably draw heavily on the over 25 crowd, especially those who have a soft spot for acts like 30 Seconds to Mars. Slovakia has never done well in the competition, but with any luck, this will be distinct enough from the dance and pop to place pretty high.
Final thoughts? With all due respect to everyone else...SAN MARINO! SAN MARINO! SAN MARINO!
Just two more pots to go before moving onto our finalists! This is our most random pot to date, and if anyone can see the pattern in the countries, please share...
The Crayola Twins are back for another shot at the prize. And I can't believe I'm saying this, but....that song is really damn catchy. Like humming all day catchy. And if last year taught us anything, it's that they do know how to put on a show. I really can't believe I'm gonna write this next part, but if they sing like this live and they put on a great performance, Jedward could be your new Eurovision champion.
Latvia
First Appearance: 2000
Highest Place: 1st (2002)
Anmary - "Beautiful Song"
A surprisingly restrained song that reminds me a bit of the Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift version of pop country (am I the only one who hears a bit of a twang there?). Simple, but unique, is frequently underrated but can definitely win people over ("Satellite" springs to mind) so I wouldn't be shocked if this winds up doing a lot better than the odds suggest. Plus, the Anglophiles might be willing to throw it a few points for the references to Johnny Logan (three time Eurovision winner for Ireland), Mick Jagger, and Paul McCartney.
Lithuania
First Appearance: 1994
Highest Place: 6th (2006)
Donny Montell - "Love Is Blind"
The best part of this song is the somewhat unexpected shift between ballad to disco dance number, and the fact that his voice sounds good in both halves may win him some points (especially from the swooning female youth). Don't expect a shocking win though.
Malta
First Appearance: 1971
Highest Place: 2nd (2002, 2005)
Kurt Calleja - "This Is the Night"
So, speaking of swooning female fans, Kurt Calleja seems poised to pick up more of those than even Tooji or his other young male pop star competitors. Malta has been one of the most successful countries to never win Eurovision, although lately it hasn't been doing too well. It's a long shot to win, but don't be surprised if this catchy pop song winds up making it into, and doing well, in the finals. Bonus points for writing his own lyrics and music.
Portugal
First Appearance: 1964
Highest Place: 6th (1996)
Filipa Sousa - "Vida Minha"
Moving away from pop, we have Portugal's Fado entry. Sousa certainly knows how to sing and truly captures the longing and melancholia of the genre (translation of the lyrics available here) . If it sounds a bit familiar, the songwriter also wrote Portugal's 2008 entry "Senhora do mar (Negras aguas)" (also Fado) as well as entries for Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Unfortunately, it likely won't do as well as it probably deserves ("Senhora do mar" only came in 13th). Interesting note, Portugal has never submitted a song other than in Portuguese.
Romania
First Appearance: 1994
Highest Place: 3rd (2005, 2010)
Mandinga - "Zaleilah"
I'd never heard a Latin dance song featuring a bagpipe until this (translation available here). Soloist Elena Ionescu was advised by another Romanian singer to appear as naked on stage as possible in order to be remembered. Frankly, it's upbeat and fun, which is really what dance and pop music is all about. I must say, I'm a little sad that it beat out the Stephenie Meyer-inspired "Twilight" (and before you ask, that would not be the first Eurovision song about vampires).
My final thoughts? Look for Jedward to make a dash for first, hopefully with Malta hot on their heels.
We're half way done with the semi-finals! Only three more pots and the finalists to go! Today's pot is a strange mix of Mediterranean and the Benelux.
Armenia
First Appearance: 2006
Highest Place: 4th (2008)
Armenia withdrew from the competition on March 7, 2012, citing safety concerns for its delegation, a month and a half after the pots and semi-finals had been allocated. For a discussion about the icy relationship between Armenia and Azerbaijan that lead to this decision, click here.
Belgium
First Appearance: 1956
Highest Place: 1st (1986)
Iris - "Would You"
At 17, Iris is one of the youngest competitors in this year's competition, and it shows. The song is nice, in that teenage ballad way (am I the only one who could see Taylor Swift singing something this this?), but I don't think it will score that high. "Would You" won the song selection in Belgium with 53% of the vote, while the other option, "Safety Net" garnered 47% of the vote. However, don't underestimate the youth from Belgium; Sandra Kim won with "J'Aime la Vie" at age 13 in 1986, the youngest winner in Eurovision history.
Cyprus
First Appearance: 1981
Highest Place: 5th (1982, 1997, 2004)
Ivi Adamou - "La La Love"
Another upbeat song by a young competitor, and this one is oddly catching (trust me, after a listen or two, you'll find pops into your head at random times). Eurovision betting odds say that it will do well, although Eurovision isn't likely to be coming to us from Nicosia next year. I'm definitely a big fan of the Snow White motif, although did anyone notice in three minutes, Adamou shows more emotional range than that other Snow White (Kristen "Bella Swan" Stewart).
Greece
First Appearance: 1974
Highest Place: 1st (2005)
Eleftheria Eleftheriou - "Aphrodisiac"
Another upbeat song by a young competitor, and this one is oddly catching (trust me, after a listen or two, you'll find pops into your head at random times). Eurovision betting odds say that it will do well, although Eurovision isn't likely to be coming to us from Athens next year. Wait, is that the same thing I just said about Cyprus? Yes, because they're both nice, fun, upbeat songs that enjoy alliteration. Eleftheriou was actually born and raised in Cyprus (more similarities?) Is anyone else getting vibes of Helena Paparizou (first place in 2005) or Kalomira (third place in 2008)?
So, it's a nice little song that's a change from the ballads and pop numbers in the pot so far. And if you listen to it, it's a kind of sweet (she's talking about playing "Indian" with a friend when she was five). But the outfit...the backup dancers. We're about thisclose to awful stereotype and thisclose to the craziness that Eurovision sometimes can become. I'm not sure which way it's going to fall yet.
Turkey
First Appearance: 1975
Highest Place: 1st (2003)
Can Bonomo - "Love Me Back"
Turkey gives us an interesting mix of modern pop music with traditional flare. The song has yet to grow on me, but the video more than makes up it. Interesting note: Bonomo is of Jewish descent, yet is representing a nation that, as a Muslim state, previously chose not to participate in Eurovision when it was held in Jerusalem.
Five more down, only a few more to go. Pick from this pot? Cyprus.
